content: "'''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".