You can guess what kind of wedding I am referring to by just reading the title of this article. I don't think I need to explain what happens in one of the TV's most popular episodes titled, "The Rains of Castamere" from Game of Thrones. I won't say similar events take place in this Warrior episode as well, but the impact of what happens is nothing less.
The last episode hinted what would happen in the eighth episode and without any delay, it begins with the most anticipated wedding of Li Yong and Mai Ling. I have never seen a Chinese wedding before even in a film or on TV, and I haven't concentrated on it if I got to watch one, so this was a first experience for me as well about how things go. For a moment, I thought Li Yong will fight a few of the Long Zii warriors as a tradition, but that was just a tease and everything went fine, and the couple got happily married, did they?
Before jumping on to explain my title, let me explain what else happened during the wedding and during the reception party. Parallely, Buckley has won the elections and now he is a full-time Mayor of San Francisco. He begins his Mayor journey with an anti-Chinese speech as Leary and Strickland congratulate him from the crowd. Though Strickland and Leary have just started their friendship, there are already signs of some rift between them. But we will see how it goes in the upcoming episodes. Meanwhile, at the wedding reception, everything seems to be according to the plan and expectations of Mai Ling. All the guests she wanted are present including her brother and the Hop Wei. The couple seems to be happy until Kong Pak asks Li Yong to join him with the elders for a surprise gift.
Are you thinking that this surprise gift was a mutiny planned by Kong Pak? Absolutely not, Kong Pak and Li Yong are very good friends, but he indeed brought Li Yong to the elders to warn about Mai Ling and asks him to take the lead of Tong instead of her. Li Yong leaves abruptly and joins the reception, but he didn't speak a word of it to Mai Ling. The reception might be over, but the night is long. As Mai Ling and Li Yong enjoy their wedding night, all the elders are getting chased to death one by one. By the morning, the only survivor left was Kong Pak and he doesn't hesitate in confronting Mai Ling. Li Yong comes in between as they fight to the death.
As I wrote in the last episode analysis, the tide seems to be turning. The episode continues the trend as we see more glimpses of who is the ultimate villain, who is attaining redemption, and who is betraying whom?
The eighth episode titled, "You Know When You're Losing a Fight," has many other revelations as well. Father Jun seems to get back to his senses, at least for a few minutes, however, his lethal attack on Young Jun at the end proves that he is certainly yet to be fit, mentally. Young Jun is still paranoid about Ah Sahm and warns him about his relationship with Yan Mi, he discusses his paranoia with Father Jun as well. Meanwhile, Bill O'Hara is not holding things back as he goes to the police station along with Dylan Leary to free the two Irishman locked up for stealing vegetables. He was able to get most of the constables and Inspectors there on his side, but the new police chief Atwood was not going to make things easy for him. However, instead of arresting Bill for trying to illegally free the Irish, he challenges him to a one-on-one fight which he loses. What happens to Bill the next day is likely going to be the talk of the next episode, but the fight between Bill and Atwood was a treat to watch, so don't miss it.
To be honest, this episode is one of the best this season because it emotionally took me on a ride. I was sniffing some red wedding kind of stuff. HBO didn't repeat the same exact event, but it surely reminded me of the same. The unexpected killings that happened during the night surely make this a Grey Wedding if not red.
Meanwhile, Li Yong completes the last rite of his dear friend Kong Pak, whom he killed while fighting. Mai Ling tries to talk to him, but his loud shout makes Mai Ling run away. As a grieving Li Yong walks into the shadows, the episode ends so does the wedding.
Final Score - [9/10]