Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5: An Episode full of Destruction and Disappointment
And here it was- the big episode, Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5. The episode that Emilia Clarke said should be watched on the biggest screen you can find. I want to ask her just one question: Why? Before I start I just want to say that I’m not doing a recap of the episode in this post, I just wanted to share my views and feelings about this episode. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, DO NOT READ, cz duh, SPOILERS AHEAD!
I’ve seen every episode of GOT, more than once, and yet this is the first episode that I just wanted to end. Not because I couldn’t stand to watch it or anything but just because….I got bored.
Yeah, you can hate on me for saying that. I was just disappointed. And hey, I’m in for the whole #madqueen take on Daenerys. And it was definitely going to happen. They’ve teased it so many times in the previous seasons that if you were surprised you’ve obviously not been paying attention. Her first instinct is to burn, every time. My issue was how they showed the entire ordeal. Emilia Clarke was amazing, her acting bang on but David Benioff and DB Weiss were not that convincing in their storytelling. The sad part is, they didn’t have any time constraint or anyone on their backs telling them that they had to complete the season in 6 episodes. But I guess they were on a hurry to get it all over with and I feel that the transformation just needed more time. Yes, she’d lost her best friend, her closest advisor, and 2 of her dragons. But why, after they started ringing the bells in King’s Landing, did she not go for Cersei? She could have gone straight to the Red Keep but nooooo, she decided to take revenge on the millions of innocents that had nothing to do with the deaths of the people she lost.
Yes, she talked about the fact that the people don’t love her like they love Jon and hence she would be leading with fear but it just didn’t seem plausible that she would immediately turn into the kind of person that slaughters innocent people. We’ve seen her grow from that helpless girl to a true Khaleesi and breaker of chains. That she would turn evil with a blink of an eye just didn’t make sense. Maybe if they had shown it over a course of a few episodes it would have seemed believable. Also, was she trying to seduce Jon? Or was she attempting to see how Jon really felt about her? I’m a little unclear on that. Either way, Jon doesn’t seem to share the incest bond with the Lannisters.
Moving away from the ‘Mad Queen’ part of the episode, I still had issues with other bits. How is it, that they show the killing of one dragon so easily (relatively) in one episode and then show Drogon as invincible in another? Drogon easily destroys the Iron Fleet and parts of King’s Landing in a snap of a finger. Even though there are soo many ‘Scorpions’ planted here and there to kill Drogon, the arrows miss everytime. And they don’t shoot the arrows at the same time either. There are around let’s say 10 scorpions. On spotting the dragon they should have all been aimed at it? Apparently not. The Lannisters like to shoot one scorpion at a time. And they were only able to shoot 3 arrows before Drogon completely destroyed them all.
Another question I have is- where did all those Dothraki come from? Maybe they were always there but I just assumed that after the ‘Battle of Winterfell’, most of them had died. The episode was so dark anyways that even if they had survived, we wouldn’t have seen it.
I have to say, there were some lovable moments in this episode that I must talk about and by lovable I mean unexpected:
1. Cersei’s Death
Cersei ended up dying in the arms of Jaime. Yes, after all you theorizers out there thought that Jaime was ultimately going to kill Cersei, joke’s on you cz Jaime really did love her, still. Even after she sent Bronn to kill him. It’s still not clear whether Cersei was really pregnant or not to me until this episode. She was going to die, so why would she lie at this point about her child? Either way, hats off to Lena Heady, she’s truly a spectacular actor. Her tears do invoke juuust a little sympathy for her. But I must say, I expected much more from her. I mean where was the passion! The passion she showed when she destroyed the crypt, when she forced Ellaria (of Dorne) to watch her daughter die and even when she cuts off Missandei’s head.
2. Arya and The Hound’s friendship
Truly one of my favorite moments of this episode! Ser Sandor Clegane truly has had the best transformation! He truly cared for Arya and he saved her not once but three times now. As they’re making their way to the red keep he tells her that she better turn away and let go of the revenge she seeks unless she wants to turn into him. I don’t know if Arya suddenly had an awakening or if the intensity of Clegane’s words were such that she understood she had to let go, but I’m so glad she did. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have made it.
3. Qyburns death
I hated him and I’m happy he’s dead.
4. Lord Varys’ Death
He was expecting it I think. He didn’t scream or cry and faces his death head on. I’ve always admired Varys and I’m genuinely going to miss him. I wonder how Tyrion and Jon are feeling now, realizing Varys was right. Tyrion’s definitely filled with a lot of regret.
5. Arya, Tyrion and Jon in Shock
We may have seen the Mad Queen coming, but evidently these 3 didn’t. Arya’s shock at the complete devastation of the city and the burnt ashes of the mother and her child still clutching her toy at the end made me see the old vulnerable Arya again. And Jon’s face when he realizes this is not an attack anymore but actually a massacre. Tyrion, I don’t know why, also seemed surprised. He should have seen it coming. I must say, Tyrion is using his feelings more than his head nowadays.
6. Jaime’s and Tyrion’s Goodbye
I may be biased towards this scene because I’ve always felt their love was genuine. Even in episode 4 when they’re drinking together, it was fun to watch them. I did get a little sad when they say goodbye to each other, but I’m happy he tried to give Jaime and Cersei one last chance to escape. It showed how much Tyrion truly loved his family.
Pointless parts of the epsiode:
1. Jaime’s and Euron’s fight- sucked. I’m just happy Euron’s dead.
2. Clash of the Cleganes: Sandor and Gregor’s fight- Fun but pointless. It’s hard to kill a man who’s undead.
3. Daenerys’ Vengeance
Though I am utterly disappointed with how this episode turned out, I’m still hoping that the final episode of the series will deliver more. It’s obviously not the end, there’s still around 60 min of the series left. My hope is that they show a Sansa and Dany showdown. I really hope Tyrion survives but who knows. It seems that Tyrion, Arya and Jon are all against Dany now. If they stand with her, it would be due to fear. Who does Queen Daenerys really have now other than Greyjoy? No one. She’s truly alone. I wonder if Arya would kill her in the series finale.
Either way, I’m not going to waste any more time thinking about it. We’ll know soon in one week!
Comments