It may be strange seeing a positive review for this episode, considering that the first reviews you'll see are incredibly negative and in my opinion, undeservedly so. This episode has great dialogue, funny interactions and steady plot development and closure for the Blackfish's story, defending his home to his dying breath.
Firstly, Arya's story-line has gotten a lot of backlash. Why? Because people can't make any leaps in logic and just enjoy the show. I really get the vibe that people like hating on it as it seems everything they see as a negative could've easily been explained away if they just stopped to think about it. Okay, so she got stabbed. She made a mistake and apparently, that's out of character for her because apparently she's now a Mary Sue and can't make mistakes. Really?! She didn't know they were after her, which is evident when she asks Jaqen if he sent the Waif to kill her, so why should she be on high alert. We don't know how deep the stab wounds were as it was a small knife the Waif used, and I'm not a medical professional, but for plot's sake I can accept that it can be stitched up. But some may ask: "How come an assassin failed to make any significant wounds?". Well, because she clearly hated Arya and wanted to make her suffer instead of killing her instantly.
After Arya is stitched up, we get a touching scene between her and Crane, reminding us that there's still some warmth left in her and she's not a full-blown murdering psychopath yet. Sadly, Lady Crane later dies in brutal fashion and Arya, who has been moderately stitched up & had time to recover, jumps out the window using her assassin skills. Granted, she's probably having an adrenaline rush as she's running for her life and therefore: briefly forgotten about her wounds until she falls down the stairs.
Unfortunately, we don't get to see the fight, but it makes sense because there was no way Arya could fight her in daylight. I like the look of admiration on Jaqen's face as he watches her go, and some may ask why he didn't kill her. To those people, I say you haven't been paying attention. Many times did Jaqen go on about a face being added to the Hall, one way or another. He just didn't care who it was, so he lets her go.
By the way, he didn't want her dead because she betrayed the Faceless Men's ways again, he wanted her dead because she didn't kill the woman for his God, so she was a substitute for Crane's death, but the Waif took Arya's place after all. This story-line may have gone on for a bit too long, but it wasn't pointless because now Arya can actually fight and she actually earned it. That's like saying Robb's story was pointless because he died before accomplishing anything.
This episode isn't perfect, but I gave it a 10 because A: I liked it and B: to combat the overly-harsh low scores the episode is getting for unjust reasons. Quick flaws with the episode: Tyrion's interactions with Grey Worm and Missandei started off a bit repetitive, although it paid off in the end, and Dany's entrance could've been handled better. Also, I would've liked to have seen the Blackfish go with Brienne, but I understand why he didn't, though I would've liked to have seen him die in a blaze of glory as well as the Waif dying a very gory death.
I would give this episode an 8.5/10 if it weren't for the overly harsh reviews.
Firstly, Arya's story-line has gotten a lot of backlash. Why? Because people can't make any leaps in logic and just enjoy the show. I really get the vibe that people like hating on it as it seems everything they see as a negative could've easily been explained away if they just stopped to think about it. Okay, so she got stabbed. She made a mistake and apparently, that's out of character for her because apparently she's now a Mary Sue and can't make mistakes. Really?! She didn't know they were after her, which is evident when she asks Jaqen if he sent the Waif to kill her, so why should she be on high alert. We don't know how deep the stab wounds were as it was a small knife the Waif used, and I'm not a medical professional, but for plot's sake I can accept that it can be stitched up. But some may ask: "How come an assassin failed to make any significant wounds?". Well, because she clearly hated Arya and wanted to make her suffer instead of killing her instantly.
After Arya is stitched up, we get a touching scene between her and Crane, reminding us that there's still some warmth left in her and she's not a full-blown murdering psychopath yet. Sadly, Lady Crane later dies in brutal fashion and Arya, who has been moderately stitched up & had time to recover, jumps out the window using her assassin skills. Granted, she's probably having an adrenaline rush as she's running for her life and therefore: briefly forgotten about her wounds until she falls down the stairs.
Unfortunately, we don't get to see the fight, but it makes sense because there was no way Arya could fight her in daylight. I like the look of admiration on Jaqen's face as he watches her go, and some may ask why he didn't kill her. To those people, I say you haven't been paying attention. Many times did Jaqen go on about a face being added to the Hall, one way or another. He just didn't care who it was, so he lets her go.
By the way, he didn't want her dead because she betrayed the Faceless Men's ways again, he wanted her dead because she didn't kill the woman for his God, so she was a substitute for Crane's death, but the Waif took Arya's place after all. This story-line may have gone on for a bit too long, but it wasn't pointless because now Arya can actually fight and she actually earned it. That's like saying Robb's story was pointless because he died before accomplishing anything.
This episode isn't perfect, but I gave it a 10 because A: I liked it and B: to combat the overly-harsh low scores the episode is getting for unjust reasons. Quick flaws with the episode: Tyrion's interactions with Grey Worm and Missandei started off a bit repetitive, although it paid off in the end, and Dany's entrance could've been handled better. Also, I would've liked to have seen the Blackfish go with Brienne, but I understand why he didn't, though I would've liked to have seen him die in a blaze of glory as well as the Waif dying a very gory death.
I would give this episode an 8.5/10 if it weren't for the overly harsh reviews.