Quite often,Game of Throneshas been critiqued for choosing to end its seasons on muted notes.
But it certainly left the sullied and unsullied alike feeling like they got kicked in the stomach.
Martins published A Song of Ice and Fire books to date.
At this point, there are (probably) no major surprises left to be spoiled.
But like Ned Stark, his ignorance of the details or personalities around him was his doom.
…ButJon does have other friends in Castle Black….or at least fans.
So Melisandre is in Castle Black, and Jon Snow is lying dead in it.
So, he cant stay dead, right?Right.
For those who dont recall, Melisandre is just one of several red priests/priestess we have met in Westeros.
There was another in season three in fact, who went by the name of Thoros.
And in case you forgot, whichGame of Thronesshowrunners David Benioff and D.B.
So, Jon Snow is dead.
But I dont think Kit Harington need worry about clearing his shooting schedule for this summer just yet.
Maybe this Faustian deal with the red witch might even make her slightly tolerable again.
Shell need that after everything else that happened tonight.
However, it was not Stannis who will facilitate either prophecy since he is no chosen one.
Yet, it is not to be.
In fact, I dont believe for a second Stannis died.
No, for whatever reason, Brienne saw a beaten but human Stannis and chose to spare his life.
However, no previous season has ended with so many cliffhangers piling up to the Seven Heavens like this.
Did Stannis live or die?
How about Sansa and Theon?
Martin picked up during the writing of his last two books,CrowsandDragons.
For two seasons, we have waited to see Theon do something resembling redemption.
However, she did not play the game like the series promised and her arc demanded.
Instead, she was brutally victimized by Ramsay (repeatedly) and then saved by Theon.
Sansa did not acquit herself or retake Winterfell.
Thus for the time being, this perfectly solid ending to the Winterfell melodrama still feels hollowed out.
At least Sansas sister Arya got to finish her seasons plotline in more spectacular fashion.
Even Varys is back!
I imagine that still might be the end game when she crosses the seahopefully next year.
So, any narrative stalling that might have occurred in Meereen, it still felt worthwhile.
Which is more than I can say about Dorne.
But on the show, Jaime was given one boring task to doretrieve Myrcellaand he failed.
That was his arc, folks.
It has already been revealedGame of Throneswill be shooting in Spain again for season six.
If that means more time wasted in Dorne, I can already feel the stomach turn with queasiness.
Sadly though, spectacularly for Martin means maliciously cruel.
But when her humbling and humiliation finally came, it was in the most grotesque and unsettling of forms.
Undoubtedly, this sequence will be scrutinized for its depiction of a woman humiliated and violently disrobed in public.
However, I do not think this scene was gratuitous or sexist at all.
Rather, it is a damningly knowing critique of religion and how women are often viewed in it.
No, Lancel is a man, and Cersei is a woman.
Cersei must become synonymous in Westerosi history books with the whore.
And this knowledge that Headey is able to convey on Cerseis face is devastating.
Game of Throneshas had some scathing indictments about the history of religion, medieval or otherwise, this season.
I have written in the past about howthe High Sparrow is greatly based on Savonarolaof Renaissance Florence.
No, the High Sparrow is a nastier piece of work for this fantasy.
Martin can still make readers and viewers complicit with the strangest bedfellows after all these years.
As a whole, the fifth year ofGame of Throneswas the most violent and grimmest 10-hour chunk yet.
Still, as a whole, season five cleared the series stormiest weather from the source material.
I hope you have enjoyed it too and will be along for the ride again.
Until then, at last my watch has ended.
you’re able to follow this Lord Commander Crowon Twitter here.
read more: Game of Thrones Season 8 Predictions and Theories
Rating:
3.5 out of 5
