Game Of Thrones Season 5 Finale Recap - Mother's Mercy
Well that's not what I was hoping for, yup, certainly not what I was hoping for. My favorite characters had a rough go of it in the season finale, but maybe not as bad as the fate of the show itself. Yes, that's right folks - I'm starting to wonder if the show...may...have...lost of it's mojo. More on that later.
Direwolf Badassery - NONE. You'd think that if Ghost can sniff out when Sam is going to die he may be able to sniff out when his master is about to die or is dying a terrible death. Thanks Ghost, you get negative points for the episode and finish the season with a healthy 1 point.
Margaery Mayhem - Nowhere to be seen and I'm questioning why I ever had this be a category this season.
1. Stannis really had a rough go of it in the first 20 minutes of the episode. Troops gone, daughter burned alive, wife hung herself, and then total massacre of his remaining men. Oh yeah he's probably dead. Then again he was saved by the power of editing (more on that in a second).
2. One of the episodes best moments was seeing Theon finally emerge from his Reek persona and toss Ramsay's little minion over the ledge to a very brutal death. But then he and Sansa jumped of the castle walls (WTF) and were met with the power of editing.
3. So there it is again, these edits on the show where it leaves a characters fate in the wind until either: A) George R. Martin writes a new book B) The actors negotiate their agreements C)The writers figure out what the hell is going on in the story D)All of the above. The massive lack of closure for Stannis, Sansa, and Theon really bothered me - what about you?
4. Arya murdering the shit out of that guy was exhilarating but not as exhilarating as the meta-implications of Sir Jaqen running through different faces. Lookout here comes a MIND MELT - it reminded me of the legendary book The Hero with a Thousand Faces which touches on the familiarity of heroes across cultures. Since Arya is one of the few to travel across the sea and is trying to re-invent herself I wonder if perhaps she has many faces to cycle through before she can truly finish her heroic journey.
5. RIP Myrcella, we literally barely knew you or really cared about you, but let's be honest you were doomed from the opening scene of this season where a young Cersei learned her children will all die. Glad you got your special moment with Daddy tho. Finally, Jaimie Lannister's journey from cocky badass who you love to hate to total softy who can barely fight is complete.
6. I really feel for Drogon who had "the itis" so bad he couldn't fly and left Daenerys surrounded by a swarming sea of Dothraki. It was the second time we got CG horses tonight and it was still impressive. Now - where she goes from here will be interesting but thankfully she won't be stuck in Mereen talking politics!
7. The politics of this episode were all about Cersei and her long walk home. This scene reminded me of two moments from past episodes. The first is from Season 3 where Joffrey is attacked by a rowdy crowd in the streets - just like her son Cersei's contempt for the common folk always comes back around. And finally in many scenes Margaery has been amongst the common folk and been admired - I think she'll end up Queen again in no time.
8. Where the hell was Littlefinger this episode? Time traveling to Baltimore - that's a reference to the Wire folks. Oh my god that would be an epic connection.
9. So I guess I've been avoiding Jon Snow's brutal death. The writers foreshadowed it a little too heavy with the Ollie stuff all season but I was shocked. I don't think he's really dead though - Melissandre is going to resurrect him - we've seen what the Worshippers of the Red God can do and I think she'll bust it out for him (cause you know she busted something else out earlier this season for Jon, sorry that was in poor taste) but maybe I'm just coping. It would really suck if really is gone, but at least he got Sam out. Perhaps a goofy Maester Sam series where he travels around Westeros curing ailments and telling legends? Oh my indeed.
10. Overall I give this season a 6. I would have given it a 4 but that epic battle episode with the White Walkers saved the whole joint. The whole thing seemed to drag out a lot of little story beats into a season long slog. Am I alone in thinking this - let me know on comments or social media. Until next year folks - Valar Marghulis.
Stay tuned for my recaps and videos coming. I think I'm going to do one for True Detective!