Battle of the Bastards

It was high time I jumped on the bandwagon and watched Game of Thrones. So in midst of exams, holiday shopping, moving houses, and all the packing, and re-packing and packing, I still found myself enough time to sit down five to six hours a day, to finish all six seasons right before the holidays started.

The show (as a whole) is beyond phenomenal, there is no doubt about that, but there is one episode in particular I would like to talk about - Episode 9 of season six, - Battle of the bastards.
It is a simple good vs. evil fight, resolved on the battle field, but excellently shows the chaos, the confusion, the brutality and the implementation of the battle strategies on the actual scene of the fight. The allies and the enemies all look the same, and for some time we are as confused as Jon Snow on who exactly to fight. These are just men in mud, charging and killing one another. The bodies around him grow in heaps and the limb less ones twitch and groan in pain, but the fighting goes on - that's the reality of war.

So far in the series, such a exhaustive battle scene isn't shown. Daenerys conquers three cities through her words and her show of dragons and never does resolve to fighting. We never see Rob Stark fighting, but alone hear his praise. The battle of the Black Water was a test of wits - winning without actually fighting, and the war between Stannis and the Boltons was a mere shot from the sky, because it was very evident on who was going to win.

So now, we have the favourite character who has risen from the dead, and the other loathed, by us and the people on screen, and we all want him dead as soon as possible.
Both are bastards and both want Winterfell. Jon Snow has a smaller army, an array of wildings and soldiers from his allies in the North while Ramsay Bolton has a bigger army, a hostage and also excellent battle strategy, making us want to root for Jon Snow even more.

First, *spoiler* Rickon Stark is killed, an arrow through his heart, on an empty battlefield, minutes before Jon Snow can save him. Jon is enraged and charges into battle, first on horseback, and then on foot and the background score heightens the tension. We see him alone on the field, and the Calvary approaching him, and just when we think it's all over, the allies are fighting by him. The music abruptly stops, and the cling and clang of the swords take over.

So far Jon has only fought in snow; the vast, empty white landscapes that are stained with blood after a fight. And now here he is in all the muck, and the dirt and the confusion and chaos. Ramsey's army on the other hand is well prepared. The scene where there corner Jon Snow and his men in a circular trap is ingenious. Jon is pushed deep down in the stampede as the Ramsey's men charge forward. He pushes himself up and comes out straining for breath, like coming out of water. Not far away from him, Ramsay is still clean, and hasn't found the need to get down from his horse yet. You detest him, but you need to appreciate the characters intelligence.

All hope is lost at this point, but after a period of tense silence, a horn blows, and from a distance, comes Little Finger's army charging forward.
Jon and Ramsey's fight eventually ends in an one on one, and several punches to Ramsey's face is as satisfying to us as it to Jon Snow and Sansa. There is one particular moment towards the end that really shows us how grown Sansa has become, in terms of her mindset. When Ramsey's own hounds devour him, she looks on, first with a flicker of pain, and looks away, but immediately turns back and relishes the moment of triumph.

On one side, you can call it a predictable episode; you know who is going to win, and who is going to die. But the dip and rise of suspense and tension is consistently maintained, making us root for Jon Snow throughout. The visuals are stunning, and the brutality on the scene of battle is true to life.