Came to 'Game of Thrones' fairly late in the game and due to being so busy the binge-watching was gradual. Have found myself truly loving the show, very quickly becoming one of my favourites. It totally lives up to the hype and not only does it do the brilliant source material justice (a rarity in television) it is on its own merits one of the finest, most addictive and consistently compelling shows in recent years and quality-wise it puts a lot of films in recent years to shame.
It is always a Herculean task following on from such greatness seen previously. "Oathbreaker" had a tough task succeeding, and being just as good as, the previous episode "Home" considering how superb that episode was (one of the best Season 6 and latter season episodes). A tough task that it almost succeeds completely in, it's not quite perfect and it's not as special but it has a vast majority of what makes 'Game of Thrones' so great and signs that one shouldn't give up on the show.
Tommen needs to develop a stronger personality and have more meat to his material before being considered as a love to hate character for me. Actually though there is hardly anything wrong with "Oathbreaker". It doesn't matter that it is not as action-packed as the previous two episodes (compared to "The Red Woman" actually that's a good thing), while not quite being a slow or quiet episode either. It also doesn't matter that it doesn't have as many reveals, shocks or cliff-hangers as "Home".
What "Oathbreaker" does brilliantly in is putting things in place for what is to follow, without feeling like filler, forwarding story momentum and advancing character development and interplay. Daenerys and Arya are particularly well done in this regard and it was wonderful to see some development to Khaleesi. The highlight of the episode though is the Tower of Joy, totally exhilarating.
Have nothing to fault the cast, who give uniformly never less than great performances. Iwan Rheon plays a true slimeball to perfection, now Ramsay is my definition of a love to hate character.
Visually, "Oathbreaker" looks amazing, as one would expect for 'Game of Thrones'. The scenery is throughout spectacular, the sets are hugely atmospheric and beautiful on the eyes with a real meticulous eye for detail and the costumes suit the characters to a tee. The make-up is beautifully done. As well the cinematography and editing, which are cinematic quality as well.
One cannot talk about "Oathbreaker" without mentioning the thematically, orchestrally and atmospherically multi-layered music scoring and the unforgettable main theme. Again, worthy of a high-budget fantasy/action/drama film.
The writing is thought-provoking and very rich in layers with plenty of passion and sensitivity.
Summing up, terrific. 9/10 Bethany Cox
