Game of Thrones Season Five in Review
Now that it's been about two weeks since the finale of season five premiered, I think it's time to take a moment to reflect on the past season. I can honestly say that I enjoyed this season, although my feelings about it were somewhat mixed. If you're a book reader like me, you'll know that this season was almost a complete departure from the books, and the only way to be okay with that is to try to separate the show from the books in your mind. I try to look at the show and the books as completely different creative projects with differing story-telling agendas. That worked pretty well for me this season, although, I have to say, some moments just fell completely flat for me. Let's review:
The Good:
The Army of the Dead: I was generally pleased with the way Jon's plot was handled this season. As you all know, I'm not the biggest fan of Jon -- but even I have to say that his plot was really on point this season. The massacre at Hardhome was such an incredibly awesome and anxiety inducing scene and even his death was handled beautifully. Personally, I don't think he'll stay dead, but that long, tight shot of Jon's dead face with the blood pooling in the snow was really powerful. Here's a personal prediction: Jon will be resurrected by Melisandre, the Red Priestess, and then proceed to march on Winterfell with an army of Wildlings and, hopefully, rescue Sansa in the process. I know a lot of people online are speculating that Jon warged into Ghost or he'll be resurrected by Bran's magic or become a White Walker or something like that, but, personally, I don't think the show would have returned Melisandre to the Wall unless she was going to do something there. Also, with Jon dead, I have a feeling Melisandre won't be too welcome with the new Lord Commander -- whoever he may be. It makes more sense for Jon and Melisandre to form some sort of coalition with the Wildlings; although, I hope Jon doesn't get wrapped up in the burning-people-alive thing (except Ramsay, I would be okay with him burning Ramsay if he caught him).
Shame: Cersei's plot/the King's Landing plot was pretty similar to the story line of the books, which, I think, helped it a lot. I appreciate this plot because it's nice to see the powerful people, such as the Lannisters and Tyrells, being challenged after they laid waste to the countryside. Realistically, a regime as incompetent and brutal as the Lannister's would not go unchallenged forever. If you think about it, the common people in Game of Thrones have endured four seasons of war and civil unrest and three changes of leadership. Obviously, they would start to rebel after a while. The Faith Militant plot is all about consequences for the powerful when they trample of the powerless a little too hard and I think there's something very powerful about that. At the same time, the Faith Militant has a cult vibe that's really scary. I mean, you know you're in trouble when you start feeling bad for Cersei (her walk of shame scene was really powerful, but really hard to watch). Overall, this plot has a lot of levels of complexity and interest and I'm looking forward to exploring that next season (of course, with the added bonus of Maester Qyburn and his freak show). My personal prediction is that things will not improve in the next season for King's Landing. Tommen has been proved to be an ineffective leader and I'm rather looking forward watching things spin out of control (I know that you'll try to keep control, Kevan Lannister, but you and your ridiculous name are going to lose that battle). My hope is that Dany swoops in on her dragons just in time to take King's Landing, which, of course, will be on the brink of total collapse.
On The Road with Tyrion: I feel like it's physically impossible for Tyrion to have a bad season, which is a testament both to the greatness of the character and Peter Dinklage's acting chops. Although the scene where he meets Dany seems ridiculously improbable and staged, I have a feeling that I'm really going to enjoy watching him interact with her and rule Meereen in her stead. Heck, I'm already enjoying it.
The Bad:
Blah, Blah, Dragons, Blah: Daenerys had some good, exciting moments this season (I particularly liked her scenes with Drogon the Dragon -- #Drogon2016), but, overall, I just felt that Dany's season fell flat. Sure, it was interesting enough to be entertaining from week to week, but after her great conquest of Meereen last season, I found her plot very vanilla. This isn't really surprising, because her plot in Meereen in the books was a little lack luster as well, but I hope the showrunners can come up with something better for her next season.
The Many Faced God: As many of you know, I don't have a lot of love for Arya's story line. In general, I just find it uninteresting. That being said, there were some cool moments for Arya this season. I liked the Hall of Faces and the House of Black and White sets a lot. Overall, however, her plot was way too disconnected from everything else. As in the books, I feel that Arya is becoming a character that we as readers can no longer recognize -- someone we don't have any real investment in. The show doesn't resolve this problem. Hopefully, they'll find some way to make her interesting and relevant next season.
Sansa in the North: Sansa's plot was mishandled in so many key ways this season. I gave the showrunners the benefit of the doubt in regards to Sansa for most of the season because, in general, they tend to deliver on the plots they establish. In this case, I was disappointed.As I said a few weeks ago:
The Dornishmen: I was so annoyed with this painfully ridiculous plot. I love the Dornishmen in the books, but the show Dornishmen were flat out CRAZY. Well, when I say the Dornishmen, I mostly mean the Sand Snakes. First of all, I don't understand why they felt the need to kill Myrcella in the first place. Their father died in an honorable, fair combat that HE AGREED TO. He knew the risks when he fought the Mountain; he didn't need to be avenged. And, even if he wanted to be avenged, killing Myrcella certainly wouldn't have been the way he would have done it. As he expressed in season four, Oberyn respected the sanctity of childhood and understood that Myrcella was an innocent. Plus, why would you start a war to avenge an individual? Were the Sand Snakes not paying attention to Robb Stark's war to avenge his father. IT'S A BAD IDEA. Do you know why? Becuase you're going to destroy your resources and errode your politicial support, making you less powerful than you were when you began. Plus, what did they hope to accomplish with this war? Did they want to kill the Mountain. If so, they're too late because the Mountain is already (mostly) dead. Did they want to sit on the Iron Throne? If so, that's a HORRIBLE idea. The people and Lords of Westeros are not about to allow illegitamite Dornish girls with no claim to the throne whatsoever to rule them. And, in any case, they would be terrible leaders because they'd always be going to war with whoever looked at them funny. As I said in my last episode review:
Aside from all the Sand Snake stupidity, Jaime and Bronn also had idiotic plots this season, which was sad because I like them both so much as characters. I explained a few weeks ago that:
The Winter to Come (Things I'm Looking Forward To):
Back with the Dothraki: I don't know what's going to happen to Dany among the Dothraki (and, quite frankly, I'm a little scared to find out), but I'm certainly looking forward to seeing where it leads her).
Jon Snow, Resurrected: I refuse to believe that Jon is dead and I look forward to his return next season.
Tyrion in Meereen: Tyrion ruling another city on the brink of collapse? This is going to be AWESOME.
Valar dohaeris
The Good:
The Army of the Dead: I was generally pleased with the way Jon's plot was handled this season. As you all know, I'm not the biggest fan of Jon -- but even I have to say that his plot was really on point this season. The massacre at Hardhome was such an incredibly awesome and anxiety inducing scene and even his death was handled beautifully. Personally, I don't think he'll stay dead, but that long, tight shot of Jon's dead face with the blood pooling in the snow was really powerful. Here's a personal prediction: Jon will be resurrected by Melisandre, the Red Priestess, and then proceed to march on Winterfell with an army of Wildlings and, hopefully, rescue Sansa in the process. I know a lot of people online are speculating that Jon warged into Ghost or he'll be resurrected by Bran's magic or become a White Walker or something like that, but, personally, I don't think the show would have returned Melisandre to the Wall unless she was going to do something there. Also, with Jon dead, I have a feeling Melisandre won't be too welcome with the new Lord Commander -- whoever he may be. It makes more sense for Jon and Melisandre to form some sort of coalition with the Wildlings; although, I hope Jon doesn't get wrapped up in the burning-people-alive thing (except Ramsay, I would be okay with him burning Ramsay if he caught him).
Shame: Cersei's plot/the King's Landing plot was pretty similar to the story line of the books, which, I think, helped it a lot. I appreciate this plot because it's nice to see the powerful people, such as the Lannisters and Tyrells, being challenged after they laid waste to the countryside. Realistically, a regime as incompetent and brutal as the Lannister's would not go unchallenged forever. If you think about it, the common people in Game of Thrones have endured four seasons of war and civil unrest and three changes of leadership. Obviously, they would start to rebel after a while. The Faith Militant plot is all about consequences for the powerful when they trample of the powerless a little too hard and I think there's something very powerful about that. At the same time, the Faith Militant has a cult vibe that's really scary. I mean, you know you're in trouble when you start feeling bad for Cersei (her walk of shame scene was really powerful, but really hard to watch). Overall, this plot has a lot of levels of complexity and interest and I'm looking forward to exploring that next season (of course, with the added bonus of Maester Qyburn and his freak show). My personal prediction is that things will not improve in the next season for King's Landing. Tommen has been proved to be an ineffective leader and I'm rather looking forward watching things spin out of control (I know that you'll try to keep control, Kevan Lannister, but you and your ridiculous name are going to lose that battle). My hope is that Dany swoops in on her dragons just in time to take King's Landing, which, of course, will be on the brink of total collapse.
On The Road with Tyrion: I feel like it's physically impossible for Tyrion to have a bad season, which is a testament both to the greatness of the character and Peter Dinklage's acting chops. Although the scene where he meets Dany seems ridiculously improbable and staged, I have a feeling that I'm really going to enjoy watching him interact with her and rule Meereen in her stead. Heck, I'm already enjoying it.
The Bad:
Blah, Blah, Dragons, Blah: Daenerys had some good, exciting moments this season (I particularly liked her scenes with Drogon the Dragon -- #Drogon2016), but, overall, I just felt that Dany's season fell flat. Sure, it was interesting enough to be entertaining from week to week, but after her great conquest of Meereen last season, I found her plot very vanilla. This isn't really surprising, because her plot in Meereen in the books was a little lack luster as well, but I hope the showrunners can come up with something better for her next season.
The Many Faced God: As many of you know, I don't have a lot of love for Arya's story line. In general, I just find it uninteresting. That being said, there were some cool moments for Arya this season. I liked the Hall of Faces and the House of Black and White sets a lot. Overall, however, her plot was way too disconnected from everything else. As in the books, I feel that Arya is becoming a character that we as readers can no longer recognize -- someone we don't have any real investment in. The show doesn't resolve this problem. Hopefully, they'll find some way to make her interesting and relevant next season.
Sansa in the North: Sansa's plot was mishandled in so many key ways this season. I gave the showrunners the benefit of the doubt in regards to Sansa for most of the season because, in general, they tend to deliver on the plots they establish. In this case, I was disappointed.As I said a few weeks ago:
Sansa is marrying Ramsey Bolton? What! Why??? If you've read the books, you know that this is most certainly not how things so down. I want get into that too much, but I will say this: I am very concerned about Sansa. Like, it seems very un-Littlefinger to marry her to someone who -- by his own admission -- he doesn't know anything about. (Or does he? You never know with LF -- that's my new nickname for Lord Baelish). I feel like someone should probably have figured out that Ramsey is a psycho by now and that this whole ill-fated venture is going to end in tears.As many of you know, there was a lot of controversy over the portrayal of rape and sexual abuse in Sansa's marriage to Ramsay Bolton. While I understand why some chose to criticize the plot and sincerely sympathized with those who found the scenes disturbing and upsetting, I have to say that I don't think attacking Sansa's plot for its portrayal of sexual violence is a legitimate way to criticize the show. If you've been watching the show for any length of time, you should know that it's incredibly violent. Hardly an episode passes by without a death (or several). So, generally, I find it peculiar to be outraged by the portrayal of Sansa's rape while ignoring Ramsay's other atrocities; as far as I recall, there was no real criticism of Theon's torture and castration or the portrayal of Ramsay hunting women in the forest. Setting this aside, however, I do have to say that marrying Sansa to Ramsay was ill-conceived from a plot perspective. In the first place, it is completely nonsensical that Littlefinger would abandon Sansa in the North with someone who, as he admitted, he knew nothing about. Littlefinger is far to invested in Sansa and has already risked far too much for her to thoughtlessly sacrifice her to the Boltons. Furthermore, after going to King's Landing we saw no further evidence of any plan regarding Sansa on Littlefinger's part -- it seemed like he had totally forgotten her. All of which is weird and out of character for Littlefinger. However, my biggest issue with this plot was the devolution of Sansa's character. Last season, we saw that Sansa was learning how to play 'the game,' so to speak. She was learning to rely on herself, be an active agent in her own life, and effectively manipulate those around her. But, as soon as she marries Ramsay, all of these skills went out the window. I was confident that the show runners would devise some way for Sansa to save herself, but she never did. Sansa didn't even make an attempt at controlling or manipulating Ramsay or Roose or forcing anyone to be invested in her survival or well being. In short, she went back to being the girl who waited around to be victimized by Joffrey. Shame!
The Dornishmen: I was so annoyed with this painfully ridiculous plot. I love the Dornishmen in the books, but the show Dornishmen were flat out CRAZY. Well, when I say the Dornishmen, I mostly mean the Sand Snakes. First of all, I don't understand why they felt the need to kill Myrcella in the first place. Their father died in an honorable, fair combat that HE AGREED TO. He knew the risks when he fought the Mountain; he didn't need to be avenged. And, even if he wanted to be avenged, killing Myrcella certainly wouldn't have been the way he would have done it. As he expressed in season four, Oberyn respected the sanctity of childhood and understood that Myrcella was an innocent. Plus, why would you start a war to avenge an individual? Were the Sand Snakes not paying attention to Robb Stark's war to avenge his father. IT'S A BAD IDEA. Do you know why? Becuase you're going to destroy your resources and errode your politicial support, making you less powerful than you were when you began. Plus, what did they hope to accomplish with this war? Did they want to kill the Mountain. If so, they're too late because the Mountain is already (mostly) dead. Did they want to sit on the Iron Throne? If so, that's a HORRIBLE idea. The people and Lords of Westeros are not about to allow illegitamite Dornish girls with no claim to the throne whatsoever to rule them. And, in any case, they would be terrible leaders because they'd always be going to war with whoever looked at them funny. As I said in my last episode review:
Once again the Sand Snakes have delivered a perfect 10/10 on the stupid meter. They've been doing stupid stuff all season, but this episode took the metaphorical cake. Let me count the idiotic things they pulled off in an hour: killing Myrcella even though they were told not to and she had absolutely nothing to do with the death of Oberyn (not to mention that Oberyn probably would have been against killing Myrcella because he spent his entire life trying to avenge his sister Elia, who was an innocent woman killed because she was trapped in a war), starting a war between Dorne and the Lannisters, messing up Jaime's super cute scene with his daughter, and creating a really awkward/ weird relationship between Tyene and Bronn. Seriously, what was with that ear bite???? Let's hope Doran executes them all so that we can be done with their idiotic plot.
Aside from all the Sand Snake stupidity, Jaime and Bronn also had idiotic plots this season, which was sad because I like them both so much as characters. I explained a few weeks ago that:
Either the Water Garden is the worst guarded palace in the WORLD or this was Jaime and Bronn's scene was the worst executed moment in the show's history. I refuse to believe that they got in because they're just that good at stealth -- these are the two guys who couldn't even get three feet into Dorne without getting caught. I understand that they're wearing guard uniforms (which might fool some), but they certainly don't fool ACTUAL GUARDS. I feel like someone should have asked them for ID or something. Also, why did they try to kidnap Myrcella in the middle of the day in the most obvious way possible. Surely they should sneak into her bedroom through a secret tunnel and ride away on white stallions in the darkness. They certainly shouldn't wander into the garden on the off chance that she's hanging out there. (On an unrelated note, why is Myrcella walking around the garden 24/7. Doesn't she stop for lunch? For those who haven't read the books, the Water Garden is not just a garden, it's a sort of pleasure palace. Sometimes they go inside and, like, do other things). Anyway, the really convenient part is that the Sand Snakes just happen to arrive at the Water Gardens at the exact same moment -- while the prince of Dorne sits like ten feet away. I'm just surprised it took them more than five seconds to be caught. Clearly, Doran needs to get better security and no one knows how to plan a kidnapping. They should get advice from those slavers who nabbed Tyrion and Jorah. That was efficient.In season six, let's just leave Dorne and not come back.
The Winter to Come (Things I'm Looking Forward To):
Back with the Dothraki: I don't know what's going to happen to Dany among the Dothraki (and, quite frankly, I'm a little scared to find out), but I'm certainly looking forward to seeing where it leads her).
Jon Snow, Resurrected: I refuse to believe that Jon is dead and I look forward to his return next season.
Tyrion in Meereen: Tyrion ruling another city on the brink of collapse? This is going to be AWESOME.
Valar dohaeris
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