After a slow start, season 5 of Game of Thrones has ended breathlessly, with the fates of many of its leading characters hanging in perilous balance. It has left a series of questions in its wake:
*Has Brienne of Tarth killed Stannis Baratheon? Did Theon Greyjoy and Sansa Stark jump to their freedom, or to their death?
*Has Myrcella and Jaime Lannister’s reunion as father and daughter ended in tragedy?
*Will Cersei Lannister be able to win back King’s Landing from the clutches of the religious fanatics who have taken over?
*What path will Arya Stark choose: to remain herself, or become no one?
*Is Daenerys Targaryen again a prisoner of the Dothraki?
*Will Tyrion be able to govern Meereen? And finally: Is Jon Snow really dead?
For the most part, the season has ended in a flurry of inconclusive action. The satisfactions have come very late, and are very few: Theon has finally stirred within Reek. Brienne has finally been able to keep an oath. Arya has finally taken a name off her kill list. Drogon has finally come back to Danaerys. Sansa has found out that her younger brothers are alive. Tyrion and Danaerys have met, and are now a team. Varys is back, at long last.
But the most compelling episodes in the entire season have contained the first real unveiling of the two elemental forces that are at the heart of the story: the "ice" of the White Walkers, and the "fire" of Daenerys’ dragons.
Here’s a look at some of the hits and misses of Season 5.
The hits
Tyrion-Danaerys
Two fan favourites meet in an interwoven plot-line which is consistently satisfying. Tyrion begins his journey suicidally depressed and determined to drink himself to death. Daenerys struggles with ruling Meereen, caught in a stasis between consolidating her rule and her desire for the Iron Throne. When they meet, Tyrion has a new-found purpose: helping Daenerys understand the land she means to conquer.
Drogon
For far too long, we’ve been watching Daenerys Stormborn, the only person who has been able to hatch dragons in three hundred years, without these creatures. Like never before, we see Drogon coming to her aid when she needs him the most. We see her facing him head-on when he roars at her, instead of shrinking away from his sheer size and ferocity. She’s not called "Mother of Dragons" for nothing, and the Sons of Harpy, as well as the audience needed to be reminded of this.
Visually, Drogon is a powerful creation, and represents the core of the fantasy that is still unraveling, slowly but surely. It’s a treat to watch Tyrion’s first open-mouthed look at him flying over the ruins of Valyria, and even more so to see Daenerys flying away on his back.
White Walkers
The entire "Hardhome" sequence is spectacular. We witness the uncanny powers of the White Walkers, and the relentless malevolence of their Undead hordes, that multiply with every battle they fight. But on the other hand, we discover that Valyrian steel shatters White Walkers like ice.
Arya and the House of Black and White
Arya is finally in a space where she doesn’t have to worry about being hunted or being on the run. She can focus on her training to serve the Many-Faced God instead. Here is an essential paradox: she has the choice to become ‘no one’ and understand that she can no longer carry out Arya Stark’s revenge, versus her strong and abiding love for her family and her desire to avenge them.
The eerie temple of the Many-Faced God is beautifully portrayed, and with Arya, we are starting to learn of its many mysteries.
Jon Snow
His character grows into a capable Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and becomes the only one, other than the lovely Samwell Tarly, to have successfully killed a White Walker. He saw the Night’s King create what looked like thousands of wights and, along with the Wildlings, is the only person who understands the full extent of the horror that’s approaching with winter.
Romance
In the brutal world of the show, it’s sweet and rare to see real romance: both Missandei-Greyworm and Gilly-Samwell story-lines give us this. As complicated as their situations are, these characters truly care about and look out for their respective love interest. Both couples broke the sexual tension that had been building up since last season, and in both cases the physical affection was initiated by the woman. In Missandei’s case it was a kiss, and in Gily’s, clambering on top of Samwell in bed. (“Oh my,” says Samwell Tarly.)
The misses
Gratuitous sexual violence
The show lost many viewers this season and received widespread condemnation because of its unacceptable tendency to visit absolutely gratuitous sexual violence on so many of its women characters. Sometimes it is merely to highlight the sadism of a character who has already been over-established as sadistic. Sometimes it is to advance the development of another character’s arc. As a result, it adds nothing to the plot and serves no purpose other than to be sensationalist. We get it that horrible things happen to people in this universe, but the show’s unremitting use of sexual violence as a plot device is not okay.
For example, in the finale, did we really need to see Meryn Trant whip little girls for his pleasure? What was the point of the Sand Snake baring her breasts to Bronn, especially when she is given so little else to do? Sansa’s rape is just the most terrible instance in the constant use of her character as a means to advance other people’s story arcs. It’s made worse because it occurs after her first real moments of self-possession.
Ramsay Bolton
This particular season has lacked for a really convincing villainous figure. Previous seasons have given us villains like Walder Frey, Roose Bolton, and Tywin Lannister. In Season 5, Roose fades into the background while we are forced to sit through the relentless, mind-numbing sadism of Ramsay Bolton. He is as unidimensional as a character can get. Even Joffrey was more plausible than this, because at least his sadism was contextualised by Cersei and Jaime’s bewilderment at it.
That entire Dorne sub-plot
The big pre-season highlight of the strong Sand Snakes has been entirely squandered. They are shown fighting unconvincingly, stripping gratuitously, playing little girl games, and pouting like spoiled brats. There was so much potential to make them believable, likeable characters we could root for. Instead, they are reduced to a two-dimensional plot for Jaime and Bronn’s ridiculous adventure, which could well have been resolved by the exchange of ravens between King’s Landing and Sunspear.
The big absences
Conspicuous absences this season include the piratical Greyjoys, Bran and Hodor, and the vastly reduced screen-time given to Varys and Littlefinger. After the revealing of Littlefinger’s pivotal role in starting the War of the Five Kings, the last is more than a little frustrating. For those of us who have read the books, the absence of Lady Stoneheart (who is also known as ‘Mother Mercy’ in the books), despite the cruel naming of the finale, is a big blow. And where are Loras and Margery, or the redoubtable Queen of Thorns?
Failed plotlines
At the Wall, Stannis Baratheon had a vision. He wanted to be a good king, bring an end to the strife, and unite the seven kingdoms. He was also set up over several episodes as a loving father who was fiercely proud of his daughter. He could have been the one king who truly understood the real threat of the White Walkers. All this was destroyed in one fell swoop in a ludicrous child-murdering U-turn that is incredibly hard to believe.
Slippery Littlefinger leaving Sansa to the fiendish Boltons is no less out of character. His one credible known backstory is that he deeply loved Catelyn Stark. It’s one thing to betray Ned Stark out of ambition and jealousy, but leaving Sansa to the man that killed her mother and brother and thinking no harm would come to her doesn’t make much sense.
Some of the deaths
Barristan Selmy dying at the hands of a few untrained Sons of Harpy after a very short time as advisor to Daenerys is the waste of a great character. The man who was known as the best swordsman in Westeros was given a very short shrift.
Sweet Shireen Baratheon was one the last real children left in the show: Bran has to shoulder world-changing responsibilities, Rickon is bewildered without his parents, Arya has lost everything, and Tommen has to be king. Shireen was a delight, earnest and devoted to her books, and so intelligent that one could imagine her making a great heir to the throne. Her end was senseless.
And for the big one. In the books, the stabbing of Jon Snow is much more open-ended, and George RR Martin has since hinted that he’s not really dead. One of the most enduring fan theories, almost accepted as gospel, has to do with Jon Snow’s parentage and an important prophecy that will determine the ending of the story. And yet, the showmakers Weiss and Benioff insist that he is really dead. We’ll only find out for sure next year, or perhaps the year after that. Until then, we can only say to ourselves: Valar Morghulis.
*Has Brienne of Tarth killed Stannis Baratheon? Did Theon Greyjoy and Sansa Stark jump to their freedom, or to their death?
*Has Myrcella and Jaime Lannister’s reunion as father and daughter ended in tragedy?
*Will Cersei Lannister be able to win back King’s Landing from the clutches of the religious fanatics who have taken over?
*What path will Arya Stark choose: to remain herself, or become no one?
*Is Daenerys Targaryen again a prisoner of the Dothraki?
*Will Tyrion be able to govern Meereen? And finally: Is Jon Snow really dead?
For the most part, the season has ended in a flurry of inconclusive action. The satisfactions have come very late, and are very few: Theon has finally stirred within Reek. Brienne has finally been able to keep an oath. Arya has finally taken a name off her kill list. Drogon has finally come back to Danaerys. Sansa has found out that her younger brothers are alive. Tyrion and Danaerys have met, and are now a team. Varys is back, at long last.
But the most compelling episodes in the entire season have contained the first real unveiling of the two elemental forces that are at the heart of the story: the "ice" of the White Walkers, and the "fire" of Daenerys’ dragons.
Here’s a look at some of the hits and misses of Season 5.
The hits
Tyrion-Danaerys
Two fan favourites meet in an interwoven plot-line which is consistently satisfying. Tyrion begins his journey suicidally depressed and determined to drink himself to death. Daenerys struggles with ruling Meereen, caught in a stasis between consolidating her rule and her desire for the Iron Throne. When they meet, Tyrion has a new-found purpose: helping Daenerys understand the land she means to conquer.
Drogon
For far too long, we’ve been watching Daenerys Stormborn, the only person who has been able to hatch dragons in three hundred years, without these creatures. Like never before, we see Drogon coming to her aid when she needs him the most. We see her facing him head-on when he roars at her, instead of shrinking away from his sheer size and ferocity. She’s not called "Mother of Dragons" for nothing, and the Sons of Harpy, as well as the audience needed to be reminded of this.
Visually, Drogon is a powerful creation, and represents the core of the fantasy that is still unraveling, slowly but surely. It’s a treat to watch Tyrion’s first open-mouthed look at him flying over the ruins of Valyria, and even more so to see Daenerys flying away on his back.
White Walkers
The entire "Hardhome" sequence is spectacular. We witness the uncanny powers of the White Walkers, and the relentless malevolence of their Undead hordes, that multiply with every battle they fight. But on the other hand, we discover that Valyrian steel shatters White Walkers like ice.
Arya and the House of Black and White
Arya is finally in a space where she doesn’t have to worry about being hunted or being on the run. She can focus on her training to serve the Many-Faced God instead. Here is an essential paradox: she has the choice to become ‘no one’ and understand that she can no longer carry out Arya Stark’s revenge, versus her strong and abiding love for her family and her desire to avenge them.
The eerie temple of the Many-Faced God is beautifully portrayed, and with Arya, we are starting to learn of its many mysteries.
Jon Snow
His character grows into a capable Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and becomes the only one, other than the lovely Samwell Tarly, to have successfully killed a White Walker. He saw the Night’s King create what looked like thousands of wights and, along with the Wildlings, is the only person who understands the full extent of the horror that’s approaching with winter.
Romance
In the brutal world of the show, it’s sweet and rare to see real romance: both Missandei-Greyworm and Gilly-Samwell story-lines give us this. As complicated as their situations are, these characters truly care about and look out for their respective love interest. Both couples broke the sexual tension that had been building up since last season, and in both cases the physical affection was initiated by the woman. In Missandei’s case it was a kiss, and in Gily’s, clambering on top of Samwell in bed. (“Oh my,” says Samwell Tarly.)
The misses
Gratuitous sexual violence
The show lost many viewers this season and received widespread condemnation because of its unacceptable tendency to visit absolutely gratuitous sexual violence on so many of its women characters. Sometimes it is merely to highlight the sadism of a character who has already been over-established as sadistic. Sometimes it is to advance the development of another character’s arc. As a result, it adds nothing to the plot and serves no purpose other than to be sensationalist. We get it that horrible things happen to people in this universe, but the show’s unremitting use of sexual violence as a plot device is not okay.
For example, in the finale, did we really need to see Meryn Trant whip little girls for his pleasure? What was the point of the Sand Snake baring her breasts to Bronn, especially when she is given so little else to do? Sansa’s rape is just the most terrible instance in the constant use of her character as a means to advance other people’s story arcs. It’s made worse because it occurs after her first real moments of self-possession.
Ramsay Bolton
This particular season has lacked for a really convincing villainous figure. Previous seasons have given us villains like Walder Frey, Roose Bolton, and Tywin Lannister. In Season 5, Roose fades into the background while we are forced to sit through the relentless, mind-numbing sadism of Ramsay Bolton. He is as unidimensional as a character can get. Even Joffrey was more plausible than this, because at least his sadism was contextualised by Cersei and Jaime’s bewilderment at it.
That entire Dorne sub-plot
The big pre-season highlight of the strong Sand Snakes has been entirely squandered. They are shown fighting unconvincingly, stripping gratuitously, playing little girl games, and pouting like spoiled brats. There was so much potential to make them believable, likeable characters we could root for. Instead, they are reduced to a two-dimensional plot for Jaime and Bronn’s ridiculous adventure, which could well have been resolved by the exchange of ravens between King’s Landing and Sunspear.
The big absences
Conspicuous absences this season include the piratical Greyjoys, Bran and Hodor, and the vastly reduced screen-time given to Varys and Littlefinger. After the revealing of Littlefinger’s pivotal role in starting the War of the Five Kings, the last is more than a little frustrating. For those of us who have read the books, the absence of Lady Stoneheart (who is also known as ‘Mother Mercy’ in the books), despite the cruel naming of the finale, is a big blow. And where are Loras and Margery, or the redoubtable Queen of Thorns?
Failed plotlines
At the Wall, Stannis Baratheon had a vision. He wanted to be a good king, bring an end to the strife, and unite the seven kingdoms. He was also set up over several episodes as a loving father who was fiercely proud of his daughter. He could have been the one king who truly understood the real threat of the White Walkers. All this was destroyed in one fell swoop in a ludicrous child-murdering U-turn that is incredibly hard to believe.
Slippery Littlefinger leaving Sansa to the fiendish Boltons is no less out of character. His one credible known backstory is that he deeply loved Catelyn Stark. It’s one thing to betray Ned Stark out of ambition and jealousy, but leaving Sansa to the man that killed her mother and brother and thinking no harm would come to her doesn’t make much sense.
Some of the deaths
Barristan Selmy dying at the hands of a few untrained Sons of Harpy after a very short time as advisor to Daenerys is the waste of a great character. The man who was known as the best swordsman in Westeros was given a very short shrift.
Sweet Shireen Baratheon was one the last real children left in the show: Bran has to shoulder world-changing responsibilities, Rickon is bewildered without his parents, Arya has lost everything, and Tommen has to be king. Shireen was a delight, earnest and devoted to her books, and so intelligent that one could imagine her making a great heir to the throne. Her end was senseless.
And for the big one. In the books, the stabbing of Jon Snow is much more open-ended, and George RR Martin has since hinted that he’s not really dead. One of the most enduring fan theories, almost accepted as gospel, has to do with Jon Snow’s parentage and an important prophecy that will determine the ending of the story. And yet, the showmakers Weiss and Benioff insist that he is really dead. We’ll only find out for sure next year, or perhaps the year after that. Until then, we can only say to ourselves: Valar Morghulis.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!