User Reviews

For the first three seasons, Game of Thrones was divided into three major plotlines. The War of the Five Kings, Daenerys' storyline as she builds an army on Essos and the Night's Watch plot. But the primary storyline for these seasons was Westeros' medieval war, and at the center of it lay the main conflict of the show Starks versus Lannisters. Since the very first season of the show with the death of Eddard Stark, the archetypal protagonist, the viewer understood that nobody is safe in the world of Game of Thrones, and this is what made this show the most unpredictable on television. In this world honour and morality isn't a superior quality in terms of survival and it even has great repercussions on the characters. Our heroes do not always prevail and sometimes the realism of the unexpected can be incredibly brutal to witness. That is what makes The Rains of Castamere the magnum opus of the first three seasons of Game of Thrones, and one of the finest episodes in the history of television.

Ned Stark's death served as two things in the story. First as a warning about the perils that lurk in this world and that anything can happen in it, and also as a catalyst for the Stark family's redemption arc. As the Stark-Lannister conflict intensified Robb had accepted his role as King in the North and led his own military campaign with great success. His father's death defied narrative conventions, served to the purpose of launching a new stage of the same conflict and symbolizing a setup for the real storyline to take place. Robb wins every battle he has and is a living image of his father's honour. Called on nobly avenging his father's death, Robb assumed the hero's role in the War of the Five Kings plotline. The idea planted in the viewer's mind was that Ned died, so Robb could reclaim glory for his father and family and for the North. At worst, he would die as a true hero honourably and beautifully, but that's really not what Game of Thrones is about. Few shows have ever dared to abandon their central conflict in such a way, especially without a pleasing resolution first being offered to fans.

At Edmure's wedding, what makes us think our heroes will prevail is the event itself. Everyone is having a good time, the band is playing lighthearted traditional songs, our characters reminisce about the good times when Ned was still alive. Robb and Talysa talk about how if their child is a boy he will be name Eddard, Catelyn finally accepts their relationship and everything looks fine. As they take away Edmure and Roslyn for the bedding ceremony the guards take away most of the torches and the door is closed. The Rains of Castamere starts playing, a song that serves as an anthem for the house Lannister as it tells the story of the destruction of house Reyne (Rain) by Tywin Lannister after they rebelled against his house. The song is a reminder that a Lannister always pays his debts. Still it comes much unexpected as the murders of the Stark family and army are as brutal as they are sudden, and this time there is no new hero to rise and assume the mantle. The Red Wedding isn't only the loss of character figures we've come to know and love, or even the symbolic endpoint of a vanquished war effort within the geopolitical arena of Westeros. The deaths at The Twins represent the death of a way we interact with stories, the destruction of an idea about how tales are meant to unfold and the forced abandonment of the typically redemptive arcs we expect from our narratives and from genre fiction like Game of Thrones in particular.

We were tricked into believing that Robb's ultimate strategy for conquering Casterly Rock was smart, while distracting from the problems with Walder Frey. The family values of loyalty and honour are central to the Stark way of life, but the problem with all members of the family is that no matter how unreasonable a strategy may be, they always try to uphold their honour. In this world however, adaptability is key, while moral stability is almost always penalized. This is reflected best on this episode where the Starks think they are protected by the 'guest-right' after they have eaten the bread and salt. "Doing the right thing" is a strategy the Lannisters don't use, but they exploit the false sense of security their enemies have to defeat them, which makes them the most adaptable and formidable opponent in Westeros.

The Rains of Castamere delivered the death of the hero's journey and the demise of trust in traditional character arcs and storylines. Many years after its release, the episode continues to be one of the magnum opuses of Game of Thrones and one of the most disturbing events ever seen on television. This episode marked a new stage of Game of Thrones storytelling, we lost characters we knew and loved, but most importantly we lost a way of understanding stories, it killed every idea we've ever had about the fate of our heroes and how stories unfold and that is what makes it one of the greatest episodes in the history of television.

One of the best episodes of Game of Thrones is a shocking episode of Who Was Expecting the Death of Rob Stark and Catelyn Stark in Season 3 of the series, and the Lannister melody in the episode is the best melody in Game of Thrones Episode The most sad thing is that Arya Stark arrives to meet his mother and brother, but upon her arrival the betrayal began.

THE RAINS OF CASTAMERE has long been regarded as the show's most infamous episode and with good reason. Seeing it now, repeated after all these years, and it still holds up as one of the most unflinching and brutal episodes of television history. The last 20 minutes or so are sheer perfection when it comes to drama, but there's no ignoring the earlier events either, packed with action, incident and growing tension as they are. A masterclass in production and a true high point of the show's history, this is what GAME OF THRONES is all about.

I had read the books so I knew what was coming. But I was still flabbergasted by the visceral images as the Red Wedding took place. The whole episode was teeming with suspense and you could feel the tension whether you had read the books or not. I can only imagine how it felt for people who hadn't picked up the subtle foreshadowing of previous episodes. It was spooky how chilling everything came together. But this episode had several more important things happening other than the RW: Jon and the wildlings (which I found boring even in the books) kicks up a notch; Bran experiences some seriously weird stuff that is extremely important to not just his story arc but the entire series. Dany's scenes were typical of her standing around letting the men do the fighting but Jorah is officially friendzoned for life.

Though it is tempting, don't skip over Bran or Jon's parts just to get to the end. The payoff of waiting is worth it and you get some character and plot development as well. But Rains of Castamere will go down as one of the most shocking episodes of any TV series ever. This proves that no other show can even touch this series. I can't find one thing wrong with it.

i don't understand why some of viewers think this episode was the best! it was not only heart breaking but shocking and painful! i mean,with the death of Robb stark,there will be nothing standing in the way of Joffrey until Daenerys stop rescuing slaves and finally attack king's landing! so i guess there will be nothing worth watching in at least the next 5 episodes which means we have to wait 6 months for another good episode! and the war was actually nothing comparing to the 9th episode of season 2 where Stannis Baratheon attacked kings landing.although I agree that this unexpected scene(death of Robb) was a necessary change after a few boring episodes but i really hopped it could end another way...

OK so I've done a little bit of binge watching of GOT after constant pestering from friends and even strangers about how great this show is, and I'm not about to turn round and say that it's bad but this episode was the one that kind of made me feel like nope I don't get it. Up until this episode I was beginning to lose interest, too many plot lines, too many characters, so many races, religions, histories, battles, uncles, aunties, cousins and uncles again. Not even real history goes into this sort of vague detail through the medium of entertainment look at the Borgias or the Tudors for example. I suppose what I'm kind of most perplexed about is why build up all this screen time with Rob Stark taking the focus time and money from other more interesting characters, OK so a believer could argue that this is to make the 'red wedding' so shocking but what came before this scene was so pedestrian and dull that it was all but totally obvious what was going to happen. I don't know if I've really cared about a single character who has died so far other than maybe ned stark. I'm being over critical but only because if an episode of something or a movie is going to get a rating of 9.8 it's pretty much going to be the greatest thing ever seen and alas this is a very healthy distance away from many great episodes of TV shows I've seen. There are too many inconsistencies, weak plots and betrayal within a betrayal zzzzzzzz. Ultimately I shall carry on and finish what I started, the shows well made and Peter Dinklage is immense, but so far I am starting to find myself debating with people who talk about game of thrones like its some sort of masterpiece instead of accepting it's a nicely produced little fairy tale with loads of swearing and sex to make it even more cool just in case you don't like the magic and trendy armour and stuff.

The main part of the story in this episode is the marriage of Edmure Tully to one of the granddaughters of Walder Frey. It starts a little uncomfortably as Robb apologises for breaking his vow to marry one of Walder's daughters but things get better; Edmure is certainly not disappointed by his bride and as the celebration progresses everything seems happy… right up until the moment it becomes obvious that Walder Frey doesn't except Robb's apology and intends to have his very bloody revenge! While all this is going on we also see Arya and Sandor Clegane getting closer to the site of the Wedding where Arya looks forward to being reunited with her family. Elsewhere Daenerys's forces move against the city of Yunkai and Bran and his fellow travellers take shelter in a mill and are almost found by the group of Wildlings that includes his brother Jon Snow.

This is a series that hasn't been scared of killing off major characters but I didn't expect the cull we get at the infamous 'Red Wedding'. Not having read the book and having avoided spoilers this was a real shock when I first watched the episode. The other events are inevitably overshadowed but are still enjoyable; most notable the events at the mill where Bran shows that his skills as a worg a far more powerful than suspected and we learn whether Jon has truly switched sides or if he is still a member of the Night's Watch as Orell suspects. The battle of Yunkai is less action packed then one might expect, no doubt the budget had been spent elsewhere! It still features a decent fight though and the way it is told means we don't learn the outcome before Daenerys, who was waiting in her camp. To use a cliché the episode is a roller-coaster of emotions although unlike a roller-coaster it comes crashing down at the end not near the start. The shock of what happened to the Stark's is emphasised by Arya's arrival and her realisation that something is terribly wrong. The cast did a fine job; most notably Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark when she begs for her son's life and David Bradley as the vengeful Walder Frey. Overall a brilliant episode that was shocking without being gratuitous.

Season 1 episode 9-Baelor- It took me a few minutes to absorb what they did and how that episode ended. I haven't read the books and when Ned Stark's head rolled on the ground i was shocked .

Now that shock , if i may say so , pales in comparison to the shock i experience during the last 10 or so minutes of this episode.

The first 40 odd minutes of this episode felt lazy , incomplete , as if there was something missing. Now i being an amateur did not realize what they were building all this while. I wont dwell into the story much but this was by far the best episode of the season so far.

I am now eagerly waiting for the season finale and something tells me its gonna even top this episode.

Perhaps the best episode of Season 3 so far. Game of Thrones continues to impress. Not only it amazes with its enchanting backdrop and the direction, the show is greatly unpredictable because of the politics involved. This episode is a perfect allegory. Who would've thought that Walder Frey teamed up with the Lannisters. The Lannisters are truly on a political gaiety here obliterating every obstacle on their way to victory. Robb stark is finally out of their way. On the other hand, Daenerys Targaryen is starting to jolt victory slowly and maintains her conquest towards King's Landing.

I seriously don't know how this season will play out or the forthcoming seasons for that matter, but this is truly a fantastic episode.

Never insult a king as they say, 'cause he'll make you pay......

10 out of 10

I had many doubts entering this episode that they wouldn't be able to do the Red Wedding justice..... I was wrong! Despite a few very minor issues, the Red Wedding was translated perfectly onto the screen, in the best episode of season 3.

I had three criticisms of this episode that ultimately prevented it from being a better episode than Blackwater and Baelor in my eyes. Firstly, whilst Michelle Fairley displayed Catelyn's grief brilliantly, I would've liked to have seen her react in the way the character did in the books. After, a pregnant woman has been stabbed multiple times in the fetus, a grief stricken mother clawing at her own face wouldn't have been as outrageous as the showrunners feared. Secondly, it's comforting to know that today's society can cope with a human massacre, but still finds the massacre of a CGI animal too much to handle. Finally, I'm well aware of HBO's budgetary restrictions but regardless, they didn't do a good job of convincing me that three guys no matter how badass they're, could've sacked an entire city!

Now on to discussing the largely unparalleled brilliance of this episode. Despite only having one scene, I unlike many others, found Sam's portion of the episode necessary. Sam and Gilly are heading off towards the Nightfort which may have seemed unimportant, but actually did a good job of foreshadowing next week's events and an encounter with a very mysterious figure. Also, I loved it when Gilly called Sam a wizard, as this was a great callback to Sam's wizardly aspirations that he outlined in season 1.

Jon and Bran who are two of the show's most inconsistent characters especially in Bran's case, had a great interlinking story this week. Jon's split loyalties were finally brought to the forefront this week as despite his best efforts, he was faced with the task of killing an innocent man. I thought that Harrington's acting here was his best to date as we saw him make an agonising decision, that culminated in a brilliant action scene. Jon's line as he finished love rival Orell was appropriately badass and rounded off a well done fight scene. I also thought that Rose Leslie did a great job of portraying how betrayed Ygritte felt at that moment. Meanwhile, Bran was sitting painfully close to Jon, in an episode that may as well have been given the tagline of so near, yet so far. Bran's warging abilities were on full display here, as he warged into Hodor in a particularly tense scene, before warging into Summer and saving his brother's life. Bran's story, was rounded off by the poignant departure of Osha and Rickon, which was well acted by both and saw Rickon talk properly for the first time in ages.

Despite my earlier criticism, I again found the story of Daenerys very compelling this week. Daario, Jorah and Grey Worm's fight with the guards of Yunkai was one the best in the show's history, due to the way it expertly dealt with displaying the contrasting fighting styles of the three. Despite the fact that I loved the irony of Jorah lecturing Barristan on honour, I found the final scenes of this plot line to be the most interesting. The look of dismay on Jorah's face as he realised that Dany only cared about the safety of Daario was priceless!

Now lets close off with the shocking events in the Riverlands. Arya and the Hound has some fantastic back and fourth dialogue about their respective associations with death, as the thought of a family reunion became too much for Arya. I loved in particular the scene where Arya convinced the Hound to spare an innocent man, before the Hound asked if he was the master assassin Arya spoke of. This was very funny and was followed by some more humour at the Twins where Walder made jibes about Robb's wife and indicated to Robb that he could've had "that", when the beautiful Roslin walked out. The humour was rounded off by the Blackfish grimacing at the sight of Walder's other daughters looking at him, with this example showing how the writers and the director did a brilliant job of masking the imminent massacre. The massacre itself was very brutal, with the stabbing of a pregnant Talisa compounding the misery that book readers already felt. Roose Bolton is probably one of the most accurately cast characters in the show, with his chain mail stunt and killing of Robb asserting his position as one of the main villains in the saga. Despite all of these positives, it was Maisie Williams as Arya who made this sequence so shocking and brilliant. Her horror as she became aware of what was unfolding was one of the saddest moments in TV history.

Ultimately, this was another masterpiece episode for Game Of Thrones, upholding the tradition of episode 9 in each season being the game changer that sets the standard for other shows to aspire to.

Best Quotes: Roose Bolton: "The Lannisters send their regards." Sandor Clegane: "Is that him?" Jon Snow: "You were right the whole time."

The Rains of Castamere is the second last episode of Game of Thrones: Season Three, and this episode feels like it could have easily been the last of the show because of how many things are resolved in this episode just from The Stark's arc alone. This episode is the reason the series exists; the show-runners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss pitched Game of Thrones to HBO with THIS story right here.

HBO loves making their serialized dramas have a true sense of believability to them, and Game of Thrones gave us this fateful chapter in George RR Martin's ambitious story. The Rains of Castamere is not just the name of the episode, but the name of a song that's been played throughout the series and is about this: the treachery of The Lannisters: 'in a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws'. And of course in this case, The Lannisters persuade Lord Walder Frey, hosting Robb (The King in the North) under his roof, to kill The Starks: an event to be known as 'The Red Wedding'.

The Rains of Castamere is an upsetting tragedy and for some viewers it put them right off the series for good; but there's still a massive story after this episode's finished and that's the beauty of HBO television shows: they're cinematic sagas getting the best stories squeezed out of them.

As a chapter in the Game of Thrones saga, The Rains of Castamere is THE turning point in the show and it has just about everything that makes the show haunting and memorable.

The episode was only good for others because people died and it was dramatic, but from my perspective the episode was overrated as rob stark was wasted potential and it was an annoying episode.

This is not a "I hate what they did" rating...this is a "more blood does not equal a better episode" rating. I knew a little of the "red wedding" and had deduced that many beloved characters would die (I was worried that it was going to be at Tyrion's wedding)...but not that we would lose almost all of our connection to the series' original family. It is a great risk to cut ties to most of your original characters...and considering that GoT continued to be recommended to me gives me hope that the series will make it through it, but to me, a 9+ rating on IMDb means wall-to-wall greatness...not a rating on how much gore there was. It was a pivotal episode, but not a great one...and I don't need a bunch of throat-cutting to like an episode.

In all of the fiction / adventure series, Rob would be the charming heroic prince that conquer evil, and Walder Frey would be the minions who aid and assist the hero unconditionally.

But in this episode, the writer tells us that ordinary characters like Walder Frey also has feelings. When the old ugly Walder Frey is angry, he can and will kill the charming prince. The charming prince cannot get away with breaking his vows just because the audience like his pretty face. Characters are equal and the game is fair, regardless of whom the audience favor.

This is paradigm-shifting in the entire history of television and drama. There is not one single story that dare to allow an unattractive character who had less than 10 minutes storyline killing and insulting a perceived protagonist with many charm, fans, and storylines.

But GoT did it and we, as audience, love it.