June 15, 2014. That was the night the world collectively lost its mind. If you were watching HBO back then, you remember the sheer weight of "The Children." It wasn’t just a finale. Game of Thrones Season Four Episode 10 was the moment the series stopped being a political drama about chairs and started being a full-blown epic tragedy that took no prisoners. Honestly, looking back from 2026, the show never quite hit these heights again. It was the perfect storm of George R.R. Martin’s source material and the peak of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s adaptation skills.
Everything changed.
Characters who had been stuck in the mud for years finally moved. Some moved to other continents. Others moved to the grave. It’s sixty-six minutes of relentless payoff. Most shows save one big shock for the finale, but "The Children" decided to just break every heart in the room simultaneously.
The Toilet Shot Heard 'Round the World
Let’s talk about Tywin Lannister. Charles Dance played that man with such terrifying gravity that you almost forgot he was a villain. You sort of respected him, right? Then comes the crossbow. Tyrion Lannister, pushed to the absolute brink after a season of being mocked and sentenced to death, finds his father in the most undignified place imaginable: the privy.
It's a brutal subversion of the "great man" trope. Tywin dies on a toilet.
The dialogue here is sharp enough to cut glass. Tyrion’s "I am your son. I have always been your son," is basically the thesis statement for the entire Lannister family dynamic. It’s pathetic. It’s cathartic. It also represents a massive departure for Tyrion’s character. In the books, A Storm of Swords, there’s a whole bit about Tysha—Tyrion’s first wife—that the show mostly glossed over, but even without that extra layer of spite, the scene in Game of Thrones Season Four Episode 10 remains the most significant death in the series. It left a power vacuum in King’s Landing that literally caused the rest of the show to happen. Without Tywin, the Sparrows don't rise. Without Tywin, Cersei unravels.
Brienne vs. The Hound: The Fight That Wasn't in the Books
Book purists might remember that Brienne and Sandor Clegane never actually fought in the novels. In the show? It’s arguably the best choreographed brawl in television history. It’s not "pretty" movie fighting. It’s two tired, desperate people biting ears and kicking groins.
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Gwendoline Christie and Rory McCann went all in.
What makes this part of Game of Thrones Season Four Episode 10 so visceral isn't just the violence; it's the misunderstanding. Both of them think they are protecting Arya. Both of them are technically "good" in this moment. But because they can't communicate, they try to murder each other. When Arya stands over a broken Sandor Clegane and refuses to give him the "gift of mercy," it’s a chilling reminder that the little girl we met in Season 1 is gone. She’s cold. She’s becoming No One.
Stannis Baratheon Finally Does Something
For three seasons, Stannis was just the guy moping on Dragonstone. Then, out of nowhere, the iron bank pays off and he rides into the North. The visuals of the Baratheon cavalry shredding through the Wildling camp are stunning. It’s the first time we see the scale of the Wall truly challenged and then saved.
Mance Rayder’s face when he realizes the "rightful king" has arrived is priceless.
This moment in Game of Thrones Season Four Episode 10 solidified Jon Snow’s role as the bridge between the two worlds. He was ready to die to kill Mance, and instead, he becomes the diplomat. It’s a huge growth spurt for Jon. He stops being a follower and starts being a leader, even if he doesn't want the job yet.
The Three-Eyed Raven and the Skeleton Problem
Now, not everything was perfect. We have to be honest. The introduction of the Children of the Forest and the Three-Eyed Raven (the original version, played by Struan Rodger before Max von Sydow took over) felt a bit... weird. The fireball-throwing felt more like Harry Potter than the gritty realism we were used to. And those skeletons? They looked like something out of a 1960s Ray Harryhausen movie.
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But the emotional core—Jojen Reed’s death—hit hard. Meera Reed’s grief was the only thing that made that sequence feel grounded. This was our first real look at the "deep magic" of Westeros, and while it was clunky, it set the stage for the Bran Stark endgame that eventually (for better or worse) finished the series.
Dany’s Heartbreak in the Catacombs
While the boys were fighting in the snow and the mud, Daenerys Targaryen was learning that ruling is way harder than conquering. This is the episode where she has to chain up Viserion and Rhaegal.
A father comes to her with a pile of charred bones. His daughter, Zalla. Drogon did it.
The scene where she leads her "children" into the dark and chains them up is devastating. Emilia Clarke’s performance here is underrated. You can see the moment her idealism dies. She realized she couldn't control the monsters she hatched. It’s a dark mirror to the episode title. Everyone is "The Children" in this episode—Tyrion and Tywin, Arya and the Hound, the literal Children of the Forest, and Dany’s dragons. Everyone is grappling with the legacy of their parents or their creators.
Why This Episode Ranks So High
If you look at IMDb or various fan polls, Game of Thrones Season Four Episode 10 sits comfortably near the top. Why? Because it’s the end of an era. This was the last time the show felt like it was following a meticulous, airtight blueprint. After this, the show started to outpace the books, and the "teleportation" issues of later seasons began to creep in.
But here, the pacing is masterly.
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The episode covers:
- The aftermath of the Battle at the Wall.
- Bran reaching his destination.
- Brienne and the Hound’s duel.
- Arya’s departure for Braavos.
- Tyrion’s escape and double-murder.
- Dany’s realization of her own failure.
That is a staggering amount of plot to fit into an hour without it feeling rushed. It’s a masterclass in editing.
Common Misconceptions About "The Children"
Some people think Shae was trying to protect Tyrion or that she didn't mean to betray him. Honestly? The show makes it pretty clear she was done. When she reaches for that knife, she’s trying to kill him. It’s tragic, but it’s not a misunderstanding. She was a woman scorched by a world that treated her like property, and she lashed out.
Another thing people forget is that Jaime Lannister is the one who releases Tyrion. Their goodbye is short, but in the context of what happens later (the weirdly botched reunion in Season 8), this moment is pure. Jaime chose his brother over his father. It’s the peak of his redemption arc before the writers decided to have him "never really care about the innocents."
Actionable Insights for a Rewatch
If you’re planning to dive back into the series, don't just jump to the big fights. Watch Season 4 as a whole. It’s the most cohesive season.
- Focus on the foreshadowing: Watch how often Tywin mentions family legacy. It makes his death on the toilet ten times more impactful.
- Track Arya's coin: The Faceless Man's coin has been in her pocket since Season 2. The payoff in the final scene of this episode is three years in the making.
- Look at the lighting: Notice how King’s Landing gets darker and more claustrophobic as the episode progresses, while Arya’s final shot is on a bright, open sea. It’s visual storytelling at its best.
Game of Thrones Season Four Episode 10 remains a benchmark for how to do a season finale. It didn't just end a chapter; it burned the book and started a new one. It gave us the closure we wanted (Tywin) and the heartbreak we didn't (the dragons), leaving us desperate for more.
To get the most out of this episode today, compare the treatment of "magic" here to the later seasons. You'll notice that in Season 4, magic still felt dangerous and costly, whereas, by the end of the series, it became more of a plot convenience. Watching the transition of Bran Stark from a boy to a vessel for the Three-Eyed Raven starts in earnest here, and it’s a much more subtle transition than people remember. Take note of the music too—Ramin Djawadi’s score during Arya’s departure is titled "The Children," and it’s a haunting remix of the main theme that perfectly captures the feeling of leaving home forever.