The Children (Game of Thrones)

"The Children" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones.

In the episode, Stannis Baratheon attacks the wildling camp beyond the Wall, as Jon Snow tries to meet with Mance Rayder; Bran Stark meets the Three-Eyed Raven; Qyburn tries to revive Gregor Clegane; Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne encounter Arya Stark in the Vale; Daenerys Targaryen is forced to chain her dragons up in the dungeons in Meereen; and Jaime Lannister sets Tyrion Lannister free before Tyrion is to be executed.

This episode marks the final appearances of Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rose Leslie (Ygritte) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed).

The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss,[1] This episode contains content from two of George Martin's novels, A Storm of Swords, chapters Jon X, part of Jon XI, Jaime IX, Tyrion XI, and Arya XIII, and A Dance with Dragons, chapters Daenerys I, Daenerys II, part of Tyrion I and Bran II.

The site's consensus reading, "Capping off the best season of Game of Thrones to date, "The Children" provides enough satisfying plot developments for a finale, while its twists and turns leave you wanting more.

"[9] Sean T. Collins of Rolling Stone wrote, "Sometimes Game of Thrones is a widescreen epic fantasy, other times it's a small-scale study of violent lives.

"[10] TVLine named Rory McCann and Gwendoline Christie the "Performers of the Week" for their physical acting in their fight sequence, and wrote that it "was one of the finest examples of the form in recent TV history – absolutely too epic to ignore.

"[11] After the episode premiered, some fans of the novel series voiced their displeasure over the omission of Lady Stoneheart, a character from the end of A Storm of Swords.

[12][13] This was in part fueled by a photo posted to Instagram two months earlier by actress Lena Headey that many fans assumed was a confirmation of the character's inclusion in the finale.

[16][17][18] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, actress Michelle Fairley stated that the character may not ever be included in the TV series, though she did not give a definite confirmation either way.