9.) Gryff takes a beating
For better or worse, everyone gets what’s coming to them in Game of Thrones (yes, this includes Jon Snow) and Gryff Whitehill gets his when Rodrik Forrester makes an agreement with Elaena Glenmore and her brother’s elite archers to capture and drive Gryff and the Whitehill garrison out of Ironwrath.
Later, Rodrik and his mother are in the Great Hall when Gryff and some of his soldiers are drunkenly re-enacting Ethan Forrester’s murder by Ramsay Snow. Eventually, Rodrik decides he has seen enough, and summons the Glenmore archers. Gryff is quickly placed under arrest, and what follows is yet another emotionally charged moment. The player takes control of Rodrik and has the opportunity to beat the daylights out of Gryff to the point where they can jab out Gryff’s left eye. Before it goes too far, Lady Forrester intervenes, reminding Rodrik that the Whitehills still have the youngest son, Ryon in captivity.
10.) Ludd Whitehill holds Ryon at fork point.
The Forrester’s receive a rather odd invitation from House Whitehill, talks for peace. Obviously everything that has transpired in the game up to this point should make any player skeptical (I know it did me), but none the less Rodrik must go and at least entertain the idea. After all, the Whitehills still have Ryon, and the Forresters have a battered Gryff Whitehill to trade. Once you arrive at the Whitehill stronghold, everything feels wrong. Lord Whitehill is not in the meeting room, armed archers overlook your position, seemingly ready to fire at a moment’s notice, and even more disconcerting, you are locked in the room. There is no where for the Forrester’s to run, but it’s clear that the Whitehills mean business. Fortunately, it’s not the kind of business you were thinking of.
As it turns out, the Whitehills are having problems keeping up with Roose Bolton’s demand for ironwood weapons, and they need the Forrester’s help. Unsurprisingly, Ludd Whitehill wants to keep his foot down on the Forresters, only offering that he won’t destroy their house. Rodrik plays his ace in the hole, revealing that Gryff and the Whitehill garrison are defeated and imprisoned. Obviously, this doesn’t go over well with Ludd Whitehill and he grabs ahold of Ryon, shoving a nasty looking fork into his cheek. Seriously, that thing looks more like a torture device than a fork.
It is here that the player gets yet another set of impactful decisions. Accept the deal, beg for mercy, call Whitehill’s bluff or attack. Obviously, things get really (REALLY) bloody if you attack, but unfortunately only results in a simple Game Over.
11.) Where is everybody?
In the climax of episode four, the Forrester’s return home from Highpoint to an ominously empty courtyard at Ironwrath. A menacingly familiar laugh can be heard from the Great Hall and as Rodrik and company walk ever closer, they realize that Talia is in trouble. Ramsay Snow sits at the table, eating their food and drinking their wine, asking Talia to sing the song she made for Ethan’s funeral. What’s most concerning about it all, is that Ramsay appears to know things that he shouldn’t; very personal details that only a select number of people know. The traitor has been talking…
12.) Ramsay Snow flays Arthur Glenmore
Rodrik and Talia are forced to take a walk through the woods with Ramsay Snow unarmed. Ramsay reveals that he has learned of the Forrester’s alliance with the Glenmore’s and unsurprisingly, is not happy about it. And when Ramsay Snow is unhappy about something, people tend to die. Rodrik and Talia are brought to a clearing where Arthur Glenmore is being punished and interrogated by Bolton soldiers. He’s been gashed and slashed more times than you can count. As Ramsay talks to Rodrik, he continues to cut up Arthur, who is screaming in agony. But for Ramsay, it’s just another day on the job. Ramsay finally finishes Arthur by cutting his stomach open, letting his innards fall out and Ramsay sums up the Forrester’s current state of affairs with one line. “Not sure you’ll have much luck finding other allies.”
13.) Asher and the pit fighters
After failing to get Daenerys Targaryen to give them the sell swords they needed, Asher and Beskha head into Mereen to try and recruit the infamous pit fighters to their cause. As Beskha puts it, “these aren’t soldiers, these are animals you unleash”. It’s immediately apparent that this is a different world. Severed heads sit like casual decor on the tables and a dog walks around with a severed hand in its mouth as a chew toy. Yum. Asher eventually jumps into the pit to prove his mettle in a one on one, fight to death. After winning, Asher gets the army he needs to help save his family, but at what cost?
14.) Gared vs the White Walkers
It seemed a matter of time before the White Walkers made an appearance and the ramifications of the encounter did not disappoint. Players should immediately recognize that these walkers are the wildlings that Gared, Cotter and Finn fought and killed in the previous episode. Within moments, Finn is mortally wounded after being stabbed by a spear, and despite Gared’s best efforts to fight off the attacker, there is nothing that can be done to save his life. Gared, Sylvi and Cotter find themselves surrounded and that they have little choice but to make a run for the mysterious North Grove.
15.) And the traitor is…
The traitor reveal is a very tense scene. It builds itself up, quietly and slowly, keeping you on the edge of your seat in a “come on already!” kind of way. Who the traitor is depends on the choices you made when playing as Rodrik that have all come together and built up to this moment. It starts with who you chose as your Sentinel, but also depends on whether you choce to be more aggressive or diplomatic. Either way, this scene segues into the final and perhaps most gut wrenching moment in the game to date.
16.) Who stays behind?
From a narrative altering point of view, this could be the most impactful scene of the entire game. The player is left with one decision, one Forrester brother must stay to hold the gate for the other, while the other one dies at the hands of Whitehill soldiers. Asher and Rodrik both make compelling cases for who should live. Rodrik is a proper lord in every sense of the word, and House Forrester will need the right leader to see them to victory. Asher, on the other hand, is fresh off the boat with a small army of pit fighters that will only listen to him, and look down upon royalty. If the Forresters are to win the fight, they will need the pit fighters on their side. Regardless of who you pick, the lone Forrester is cut down in a painfully brutal fashion.
There is only one chapter left in Telltale's Game of Thrones, and the stakes have never been higher. Expect lots of blood, and even more lovable characters to get the axe. Who do you think (if anybody) will be left standing when it's all said and done?
Game of Thrones was an IP that seemed to make all the sense in the world for a Telltale game when it was first announced. With the massive success of 2012’s The Walking Dead, why not go from capitalizing on one successful brand name to arguably an even bigger one? Like its source material, Telltale’s standalone storyline has a tendency to take your heart, rip it out, throw it against the wall and repeat this process as beloved characters meet their untimely ends. Fortunately, death isn’t the only trick up Telltale’s sleeve, and the story thus far has had its share of intrigue and insanity. So without further ado, here are the craziest moments from Telltale’s Game of Thrones.
1.) Gared Tuttle and the “medicinal use of maggots”
After being stabbed in the leg while trying to avenge his family’s murder against Whitehill and Bolton soldiers, Gared Tuttle finally limps into Ironwrath. Carrying the Greatsword of Lord Gregor Forrester and an urgent message for his Uncle, Gared collapses on the ground and is taken into the Great Hall where he is tended to by Maester Ortengryn. Here the player takes part in a surgical procedure on Gared’s leg by holding his wound open while the Maester casually sprinkles live maggots inside it to prevent infection. What’s even more disconcerting is that those maggots, four episodes later, are still in there…
2.) Ethan Forrester is killed by Ramsay Snow
Fans of the books and the TV show need no introduction on the kind of monster that Ramsay Snow is and prides himself on being. At the climax of Episode One, young Ethan Forrester who has just recently taken the reigns as lord of Ironwrath, accepts an audience with Ramsay to try and resolve a dispute over the possession of the prized Ironwood with the Whitehills. It quickly becomes apparent that Ramsay has no intention of resolving the dispute, informing the Forresters that a garrison of Whitehill soldiers will instead reside within Ironwrath and that half of their land will now belong to them. To add insult to injury, Ramsay takes a liking to Ethan’s twin sister, Talia, and threatens to take her as his hostage. No matter what choice the player makes, Ramsay plunges his knife into Ethan’s throat in typical Game of Thrones fashion, killing off a character before their time.
3.) Rodrik Forrester learns of his father’s fate.
Power is fleeting in the world of Game of Thrones. You can be the most respected name amongst your people one moment, then hauled off in a corpse cart the next. Such is the fate of Lord Gregor “The Good” Forrester. Rodrik, who we find survived the Red Wedding after all, wakes up in such a predicament. When the player takes control of Rodrik for the first time, one of the first context inputs is to roll over a body that appears to stand out from the others in the cart. Eventually the cart hits a rock, and the lifeless face of Rodrik’s father stares back at him. It is a cruel reminder how quickly a person is discarded when they are no longer useful in this world.
4.) Mira Forrester is attacked by the soldier Damien in the garden.
After attending a tense meeting over ironwood supplies with a Whitehill representative, at the request of Tyrion Lannister, Mira Forrester returns to her chambers to find that it has been ransacked. She discovers a note that tells her to meet in secret in the gardens at night. That night, she learns that the author of the note is Damien, a guard who was posted in the meeting room earlier that day. Things quickly take a turn for the worse, as Damien reveals that he has no intention of helping Mira, but instead is there to assassinate her. Just when all seems lost, the coal boy, Tom, slams a wooden board into the side of Damien’s head. Here the player has a choice to kill Damien or run. No matter which one you choose, Damien is killed either by Mira’s hand or Tom’s, and presents an unenviable dilemma, that no amount of secrecy can silence forever.
5.) Asher, meet Drogon
As Asher and company are cornered by the Lost Legion, they find they have little choice but to blindly enter a cave they find on a whim. Inside, Malcolm and Beskha hold off the incoming soldiers while Asher ventures deeper into the cave to find an exit. Asher finds an opening in the cave but before he can get to it, a dragon emerges from below the exit and confronts him. Fans of the TV show might recognize this dragon as Daenerys Targaryen’s beloved Drogon. Asher backs off and makes his way towards Malcolm and Beskha as Drogon bears down on him. Eventually the two confrontations collide and Drogon unleashes its fiery breath on the combatants. Here the player is faced with one of Telltale’s signature “Who are you going to save?” moments, as Drogon will burn either Malcolm or Beskha.
6.) Mira can’t cut a deal
There are points in the game that coincide with major events from the main story. Although the player doesn’t actually witness these events, you know exactly what they are when they happen, assuming you are up on the story. As every Game of Thrones fan can attest, nobody was sad when Joffrey Baratheon met his end. As it turns out, Mira Forrester probably could have done without it, at least at that moment. In her quest to make the Forresters the sole provider of Ironwood for the realm, Mira had an agreement in place with Tyrion Lannister, the Master of Coin, who has a decree to make the arrangement official, laying on his desk.
After Tyrion is arrested for Joffrey’s murder, Mira races back to Tyrion’s quarters with the coal boy, Tom, to recover the decree before the guards can ransack the room. What follows is an intense race against time as Mira frantically scours the room. Eventually the player will find the decree in a lockbox on Tyrion’s desk and make their getaway before the guards can catch them.
7.) Gared Tuttle avenges his family
Gared Tuttle is working a late night duty shift atop the wall, when Britt, the man who killed Gared’s family comes to relieve Finn, who is also working. Britt, being the sociopathic murderer he is, can’t help but brag about the details of the killing, and eventually both characters draw their swords for a long awaited duel. Gared eventually bests Britt, and players are given the choice to spare him, kill him or (the best choice IMO) kick him off the wall.
8.) Rodrik doesn’t stay down
The climax of the third episode, Swords in the Darkness, is a confrontation between Gryff Whitehill and Rodrik Forrester. Gryff demands that Rodrik show him obedience after it is revealed that Talia has bitten a Whitehill guard for stealing food. Gryff knocks Rodrik to the ground, and one of the most intensive stand-offs of the entire series commences, Get Up or Stay Down. Gryff threatens to kill Talia if he gets up, so it’s up to the player to test both Rodrik’s and Gryff’s resolve, deciding between a fear for Talia’s life or the perception that the Forrester house is still strong.
