I want to get it out of the way right at the start that I loved this episode! So if you are one of those that hated it and thinks that Season 8 has ruined this show, you aren't gonna get any of that criticism here. This will be full of spoilers cause I want to get in deep with what happened and why I thought it worked so well.
Now that I've slept on it and seen soooooooooo many people complain about this episode on Twitter I think this might be, to me, one of the single greatest episodes in TV history. Game of Thrones has always been a show that isn't just unpredictable but stuck to their guns with their characters and taken them in directions that makes sense as humans. Humans make very rash/stupid decisions and this show has been full of stuff like that. Characters getting killed unexpectedly and by people you wouldn't think could pull it off. Just take the Red Wedding as an example. So many big name characters got killed in that episode and it still stands as one of the most shocking endings to a TV show ever. I think Episode 5 of Season 8 had that vibe and I loved it for that.
I'll start with Dany killing Varys at the beginning. His loyalty to the people and wanting true peace was his greatest characteristic. Yeah he made some decisions over the seasons that were questionable but they were all in service to the greater good and that continued in Episode 5. After learning that Jon is the true King and seeing how Dany was slipping he was going to send out messages to let people know and once Dany found out she killed him for treason. Treason has always lead to death in this show but this one hurt cause I really liked his character and thought he would be one of the few to survive. His line about how he hoped he was wrong about Dany was so good and set up what happened later. And I also want to point out that Dany wasn't eating and it kind seemed like Varys was trying to maybe poison her? The opening scene with him and the girl who worked in the kitchen was interesting and hinted that they were up to something. So that's another reason she may have killed him.
The stuff with Tyrion was all so good! I get why he told Dany about Varys because he really trusted her to make the right call and he believed in her to be a great queen. Once he found out about Jamie being captured his mind changed though guess what, I liked that as well because it fit his character. I've seen some people complain that he always lets his family off the hook and never learns his lesson to not trust them and I think that's somewhat right. Jamie is the one member of his family that liked him and treated him with respect. He saw a good side to Cersei and wanted to show everyone that but she wouldn't budge from her high horse long enough. The scene with Tyrion and Jamie last night was drama at its finest and one of the best moments this season in my opinion. I also loved how much Tyrion cared about the people in Kings Landing with stressing about letting people surrender once the bell rang. Good stuff!
The stuff with Arya and the Hound was so good! I loved their look in the crowds with their hoods up looking like badasses on a mission. Once they reached the war room and the Hound told her if she went further she would die I loved that she still wanted to go but him grabbing her and giving his speech was excellent! His "You want to end up like me" line was simple but amazing and her standing down was the right move. I loved her using his real name and thanking him! Such a great end to their arc and they will always be one of my favorite on screen duos! And I also loved the fight with the Hound and the Mountain. Such a fitting ending for both of them and we got our answer what he saw in his vision of the fire. Literal poetry. And having Arya deal with all the people burning all around her and trying to save that mother and her daughter was excellent. The image of her covered in ash is one that is burned in my brain forever.
Before I hit the big point I want to talk about the stuff with Cersei. I thought that Jamie and Euron fighting made total sense. They both loved Cersei and Euron was so big headed that of course he wanted to fight Jamie to have her to himself. Cersei staying in the Red Keep as long as she did was great and showed her stubbornness that she would win. What I liked even more though was when she knew it was over and she left an emotional mess. Cersei and Jamie going out below the Keep in each others arms was perfect to me. Through everything they loved each other and we got to see her raw emotion when she knew she was going to die. So good and I much preferred that to her getting a sword in the head or something.
Ok...now on to Dany turning into the Mad Queen. God Damn that was amazing and I give all the credit to the writers of this show to have the guts to make a call like that! I've been waiting a long time to have a character in a major show/movie to do something like this and I finally got it! Once the bell rang and she had that look in her eyes I knew that her winning the battle wasn't the real reason she was there. She wanted to show her power to the world and show Cersei that those people she brought in wouldn't save her and they didn't! There were so many signs over the years that lead to this moment like: in Season 4 when she killed all the slave owners even if they were just innocent bystanders, Season 6 when she burned all of those Dothraki in Vaes Dothrak, in Season 6 again when she threatens to basically kill everyone in Meereen, and last season when she killed Sam's father and brother for no other reason than to show her authority. I don't understand the crowd of people saying her turn was out of nowhere and not consistent with her character cause it totally was if you have been paying attention. It's been coming for like 4 seasons now and if you didn't catch that then that's on you and shame on every single one of you that have taken to Twitter to diss the writers of this show. It's not their fault that your'e dense and didn't pay attention! I also want to point out that Dany had a vision of the Throne in Season 2 in what looked like the Red Keep with no roof and covered in snow. Well after this episode we know that the roof is probably gone and it's not snow but ash. So good!
I also loved that once Grey Worm started attacking Jon was in shock and knew he fucked up. Him holding his men back was great and trying to protect the people was so in character for him. He knew that he had been blindsided by love and that Sansa was right all along!
So all in all I loved this episode but it goes a bit further than that. This was the perfect setup for the finale next week and this episode was epic beyond words. I have a few screenplays that I have written and a few short films under my belt so I get how fucking hard it is to write for characters you care about and that's what we got here. It went beyond writing good characters it went into the realm of doing what this character would really do in this situation if this were real. This might be the most real episode of the series because it's full of humans making human errors. I hope to create something even remotely in the same ball park as this in my life. I'm so ready for the finale next week and I have a feeling I'm going to love it and be an emotional mess after!
Comments
Post a Comment