WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
Welcome to peak Game Of Thrones. As these episodes first aired, this programme
was easily the biggest show in the world.
Rising to such pressures, the show’s producers mostly maintained their
confidence with the approach that had worked so well thus far: careful
character development, reaping the sowed seeds of earlier instalments’ storylines,
adding layer upon layer of richness to the imagined world of Westeros. The ultraviolence is of course still there,
and the boobies, while the culling of characters, large and small, alone or in
groups, continues unabated. The whole
thing feels like a gradual focusing in on what’s really important, lasering
through so much detail to what is actually an incredibly tight narrative. In its course, events tangibly pivot, the
characters having reached the furthest distances of their spreading out, and, as
if pulled by gravity, reunions, regroupings and rapprochements punctuate our
progress so that we finally feel a sense of an approaching ending. Yet, as fans, we hope this remains a long way
off, as any Game Of Thrones content is quality content.
One of the most significant reunifications is that of Sansa
and her (supposed) half-brother Jon Snow at Castle Black in the fourth
episode. She hasn’t seen any close family
since the end of series one, and, with Jon
at the Wall since that season’s second episode, it’s remarkable how much we
have longed for them to embrace each other as siblings, despite how little time
on screen they’ve actually ever spent together.
With Sansa finally free of Ramsay, and Jon’s watch ended (because he
died and was resurrected by Melisandre, the latter proving useful for once),
the two reform the Starks and set out to gather the Northern houses to their
cause against the Boltons. This culminates
in another legendary episode: Battle Of The
Bastards. While not the only instalment
in the season with a 9.9 rating on IMDB, this episode boldly declares not just
that Game Of Thrones now has as much budget as a Hollywood blockbuster, but
also that it can handle epic scenes just as well as, if not better than, any
cinema fare. Dominating nearly the whole
episode (with just a touch of Daenerys and her deliciously sexually charged
first meeting with Yara Greyjoy) this immense sequence takes grip and never
lets go. From Ramsay’s cruel execution of
Rickon (I’m still devastated) to the moment when all seems lost as the
Wildlings and Northmen are pincered against a pile of dead bodies by the
Boltons’ spears, there is no let up. And
you don’t want any: this is pure pay-off for hours and hours of careful, artful
build up. As Ramsay’s own hounds devour
his smug face off while Sansa enjoys witnessing his just desserts, we’re left
to remark at how ambitious an act of story-telling her whole journey and
transformation is.
Meanwhile, her younger sister is also awash in character
development. Arya spends a lot of this
season at the theatre, on a job from her new employer, the Faceless Men. Watching Ned Stark’s beheading and Joffrey’s season-four poisoning enacted by luvvies
serves not only as a great recap, but also brings to life what succulent tabloid
fodder the exploits of the Lannisters and their like would provide in any news cycle. Before indulging in this hobby, though, Arya
is busy being blind, the punishment for using a face without permission. A girl has been very naughty. Of course, workplace bully, The Waif, is on
the scene, beating Arya with a stick, proving she really is a nasty piece of
work who goes about beating up the disabled.
She later pursues Arya through the higgledy-piggledy streets of Braavos
in thrilling chases, brutally murdering the lovely Lady Crane in the process
and causing a lot of fruit to be spilled, much to the ire of hardworking market
traders, so the moment when we see The Waif’s face added to the wall at the House
Of Black And White is a cause for deep satisfaction. Don’t mess with Arya, ok?
Whilst the youngest Stark girl is free to get home, we’re
also reintroduced to her old travelling companion, the Hound. Absent for the whole of season five (like Bran and pals) to give the
other plotlines room to breathe and catch up, the scarred one resurfaces in a
sept-building crew, learning life lessons from a guest-starring Ian McShane before he is
hanged in his own construction by some deviant members of the Brotherhood Without
Banners, who also massacre the rest of the workers for the sake of
completion. In true Thronesian style,
Clegane Junior gets bloody revenge and we start to trust our feeling that maybe
he is one of the good guys, even though he did punch Brienne, Sansa and Arya a
lot.
The sept-building sequences here, though, can tend to feel
like a bit of bagginess when compared to other, much tighter structures. I’m talking about The Door. This episode brings together a great deal,
explaining Hodor’s origins with the eye-opening wonder of a true epiphany, all
while detailing the origins of the Night King and culminating in another great
burst of zombie apocalypse as the lair of the Three-Eyed Raven is compromised
and invaded. Poor old Meera has to drag
Bran though countless blizzards while he wargs about, but luckily Uncle Benjen crops
up to save the day. Given how many scenes
play out in snowstorms, I’m surprised more characters don’t take to hats. Jon Snow and Meera both have luscious curly
hair, but it’s not enough to keep their ears warm in biting winds. I just get concerned for them.
Talking of septs, it’s all getting a bit bothersome over at Cersei’s. Margaery only ends her imprisonment by faking
devotion (whereas the split ends look real), saving her grandmother’s life by surreptitiously
urging her to flee despite being under the hawk-like glare of Septa Unella. As all the Sparrow and High Sparrow
inconvenience arises from Cersei’s own scheming, it’s only fitting that she
should endeavour to end it with her greatest scheme to date. While the massive explosion at Baelor’s Sept
results in the cast genocide of her dreams (seeya Margaery, Loras, Mace, Kevan,
the High Sparrow himself and even little Lancel in the cellars beneath), the
loss of his beloved proves too much for her last surviving child, and King
Tommen, the first and probably last of his name, tosses himself out of a Red
Keep window (not a euphemism) while the flames burn in the distance. As a series climax, the tension that builds
to the wildfire tearing through half of King’s Landing is irresistible, from
Lancel spotting those bright green drops, to Margaery realising everyone in the
sept is in danger. None of the seven
gods save the High Sparrow and sadly his condescending ramblings are no
more. This final episode in fact
averages a death every five minutes, with Grandmaester Pycelle stabbed to death
by Qyburn’s kids’ club, and Walder Frey’s throat sliced open by Arya in super
assassin mode, potentially borrowing some skills from old pal Hot Pie to bake
Walder’s sons into a pie that shows absolutely no evidence of a soggy
bottom. Just a fingertip.
Up North, Bran’s visions further flesh out the Mad King’s
backstory, with some genius casting giving us a brilliant young Ned Stark
(fingers crossed for a spin-off of Robert’s Rebellion with the same cast) who
out Sean-Beans Sean Bean. And we have the formation of a good-guys
supergroup, with Ser Davos Seaworth teaming up with Jon Snow and his Wildling
brethren (including the hilarious Tormund).
Melisandre, though, is first to be voted off, after Davos confronts her
about burning to death the lovely Princess Shireen (a scene so horrific I
completely omitted it from my season five
post).
And finally, in the Bay formerly known as Slaver’s, Daenerys
continues to kick arse. Righting centuries
of Dothraki sexism, she liberates the Dosh Khaleen and burns the Khals,
amassing the world’s largest horde to deliver Meereen from those pesky slavers
(up to mischief again). She makes Tyrion
her hand, luckily missing the excruciating scenes where he tries to make Missandei
and Grey Worm drink or tell jokes, but dumps Daario to have him babysit her cities. But not before she’s burned a few enemy ships
on her dragons. Maybe she even enjoys it
a bit. Maybe. We then launch into the acceleration that
comes to characterise these later series.
Varys somehow flits back and forth to Dorne in journeys that would have
taken a season each if they were in series two
or three, but he quickly gets Ellaria Sand
and Olenna Tyrell onside (not before she’s cussed the Sand Snakes which shows
that great minds think alike), and before we know it, Daenerys is finally
(after talking about it for six seasons) returning to Westeros with an army. We have momentum and the conclusion feels in sight.
Best newcomer
Let’s go for Melessa Tarly (also in Sex Education). When Samwell brings Gilly and Little Sam home
for a stopover en route to Old Town, she exudes the warmth and care that we can
see shining through in her heroic son.
While his father almost chokes on his venison at the sight of a Wildling
dinner guest (he would have preferred a whore), Melessa shows only compassion.
Most valuable character
Lady Lyanna Mormont is a clear fan favourite, whether
offering 62 Bear Islanders to the Stark cause, or outdoing all the other
Northern lords when it comes to her loyalty, resurrecting the old cry of “The
King in the North” while pointing out that every other house compared to hers
has been rubbish.
Best death
Whoever built Pyke had little concern for health and safety. Atop cliff stacks, each part of the castle
teeters over churning stormy seas, linked only by creaking rope bridges
designed to swing in the constant wind and rain. Alas, then, that Balon Greyjoy, didn’t ever
have these reinforced or develop a
better centre of gravity, as his cheeky brother Euron easily tosses him over
the edge (not a euphemism, again) and the man we’ve seen be mean to Yara and Theon
over and over plummets to his death on the rocks below.
Jaw-dropper moment
In the season’s closing minutes, we see Lyanna Stark whispering
in her brother’s ear while she dies after childbirth. Then we see the baby in Ned’s arms,
apparently doing Blue Steel. What secret
did she impart? We’ll have to wait till
the next season to find out, but with Jon Snow’s face suddenly replacing the
baby’s in the next shot, the rumours of his origin finally appear to get the
first hint of confirmation. Jon… Targaryen?
