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"'''The Children'''" is the fourth season finale of HBO's fantasy television series ''Game of Thrones'', and the 40th overall. The tenth and final episode of the fourth season, the episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Alex Graves.

"The Children" received overwhelming acclaim from critics, with praise directed at the deaths of Shae and Tywin Lannister, Bran reaching the Heart Tree and the fight scene between Brienne and Sandor "The Hound" Clegane.

This episode marks the final appearances of Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rose Leslie (Ygritte) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed). It also marks the final appearance of Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane) until the sixth-season episode "The Broken Man".

==Plot==

===In Meereen===
Daenerys receives a citizen who wants to be sold back into slavery because he feels his life as a slave was better than as a freedman. Next citizen brings charred bones of his daughter, who was killed by Drogon. Drogon has not returned and Daenerys chains her two other dragons Rhaegal and Viserion as a precaution.

===Beyond the Wall===
Jon meets Rayder and tells him that he wants to discuss an end to their conflict. A massive cavalry charge led by Stannis and Davos overruns the wildling encampment. Mance surrenders and Stannis takes him captive, on Jon's suggestion. Bran's group reach the large Heart Tree. Jojen is killed by a group of wights, but Hodor, Meera and Bran are saved by a Child of the Forest, who leads them to meet an old man, who tells Bran that while he will never be able to walk again, he will be able to fly.

===In King's Landing===
Gregor lies dying from Oberyn's poisoned spear, but Qyburn says that he can save him and Cersei ousts Pycelle from his laboratory and gives Clegane's care over to Qyburn, who tells the procedure may change him, but will not weaken him. Cersei tells Tywin that, if forced to marry Loras, she will admit her incest with Jaime and that her children are the issue of such. In the dungeons, Tyrion awaits his execution, but Jaime helps him escape. Tyrion, before escaping, sneaks into the Tower of the Hand and kills Shae and Tywin. Tyrion then escapes on a ship bound for Essos with help from Varys, who boards with him.

===In the Vale===
Brienne and Podrick find Sandor and Arya. Brienne recognizes Arya and tells her about her oath to Catelyn. Sandor is unconvinced of her loyalties and after a brutal fight, Brienne knocks Sandor off a cliff and unsuccessfully searches for Arya. After they leave, Arya leaves Sandor to die and boards a ship to Braavos. She shows a captain the coin Jaqen gave her.

==Production==

===Writing===
The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.
The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, 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, and Bran II.

===Filming===
"The Children" was directed by Alex Graves. The Thingvellir National Park in Iceland was used as the location for the fight between Brienne and The Hound.

==Reception==

===Ratings===
"The Children" was watched by 7.09 million Americans during its premiere hour, a 32% increase from the previous season finale. In the United Kingdom, the episode was viewed by 1.850 million viewers, making it the highest-rated broadcast that week. It also received 0.085 million timeshift viewers.

===Critical reception===
The episode received universal acclaim. All 35 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive, with an average score of 9.5 out of 10. 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."

IGN writer Matt Fowler called it a "strong seasonal send-off with tons of violent twists, and turns." 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. At its best – and "The Children" is certainly this show at its wide and wild best – ''Game of Thrones'' is all of these things, simultaneously." 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."

===Omission of Lady Stoneheart===

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''. 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. A day later, director Alex Graves stated that the character was never planned to appear in the fourth season, and that he did not know whether she would appear in the fifth.

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.

===Piracy===
The episode set a BitTorrent record with about 1.5 million downloads within 12 hours and set a record for 250,000 users sharing the file at the same time.

====Awards and nominations====

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