New videos go behind the scenes of the Game of Thrones season 4 finale, delving into the farewells and betrayals of “The Children.”

In the “Inside the Episode” featurette for the Game of Thrones season 4 finale, showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss tick off pivotal scenes in rapid succession. The writers discuss Jon’s meeting with Stannis and Davos, and Cersei’s confrontation with Tywin.

“It’s a huge gamble on Cersei’s part,” Weiss observes. “She goes up against him, and she wins.”

On Daenerys’ decision to chain up her dragons, Benioff wryly observes that to Dany the conquerer, the creatures “were an asset in scaring the shit out of everybody.” But to Dany the ruler, “they’re becoming a liability… she realizes that she has to put the interest of her people in front of the interest of her dragons.”

The showrunners also discuss Arya’s decisions not to trust Brienne, and to leave the Hound alive. Weiss says that Arya is a “product of this education” which Clegane has drilled into her – the soft will die, and Arya is no longer soft.

Finally, Benioff and Weiss dive into Tyrion’s actions at the end of “The Children.” Benioff feels that Tyrion breaks when he finds Shae in his father’s bed, and that her calling Tywin “my lion” is the final betrayal. Weiss admits that Tyrion’s actions effectively turned Shae back into a prostitute, but ultimately the scene is a “tragedy of these two people who genuinely loved each other, and who both felt betrayed by one another,” says Benioff, “and end up trying to kill each other.”

As for Tyrion’s killing of Tywin, Benioff feels that throughout the scene, “he’s quite convinced that he’ll be able to talk himself out of this one.” But, Weiss observes, “It’s all of Tywin’s shortcomings as a person and a father coming together in a perfect storm in this moment, to fatal effect.”

Another video, titled “Brienne vs. The Hound,” features Gwendolyn Christie and Rory McCann breaking down one of Game of Thrones‘ most intense duels.

“It was something mythical,” Christie says of the knock-down, drag-out fight. She says that the scene was almost dream-like in its adrenaline, as Brienne is “pushed beyond her limits.”

McCannn agrees. “She became really, really strong!” he laughs. “There was no pretending. I feel like I’ve been in a real fight.”

Finally, author George R. R. Martin weighs in on “Why Stannis Attacks the Wildlings.”

“Stannis has realized that he’s going about [making himself king] all wrong,” Martin says. “He’s been trying to become king to save the realm, when he should have been saving the realm to become king.”

Game of Thrones season 5 will air next Spring on HBO.