On the season finale of Season 5 for Game of Thrones, titled Mother’s Mercy, Stannis leads his troops to war. Sansa attempts to make her escape, while Daenerys is alone with Drogon. Arya also deals with an old foe, Meryn, while Jaime finishes his retrieval of his daughter Myrcella.
- His thoughts on the season finale of Game of Thrones, Mother’s Mercy
- Her thoughts on the final episode of Season 5 for Game of Thrones
Stannis’ War Against House Bolton is Short-Lived
Stannis prepares for war as Melisandre encourages him. He prepares his troops for battle, but he is given some bad news–many have deserted him. About half of them. Then more bad news. His wife committed suicide in the night by hanging. Then even more bad news–Melisandre sees the writing on the wall, and deserts herself.
Stannis, the stubborn man he is, chooses to march on to Winterfell. His troops arrive, looking very beaten and worn. Getting ready to siege the area, we see that Stannis is vastly outnumbered, and now surrounded by Bolton’s troops. Ever the bold, Stannis charges headlong into the fight. The fight seems to be over quickly, with Stannis’ army devastated. Stannis lives, though he is severely injured. Stannis fights off a few men who come for him, but another person comes for him…
Stannis’ Game of Thrones Ends
Brienne had been lingering outside of Winterfell, hoping for signs of Sansa, when Podrick rushes back to her, telling Brienne that he sees Stannis approaching Winterfell. Brienne seems to have a tough time deciding what to do–wait for Sansa or head towards Stannis. She chooses Stannis. She arrives, finding Stannis wounded. She introduces herself to Stannis, telling him of her witnessing her master’s death. Stannis admits to killing Renly, and Brienne executes Stannis.
Ramsay has had his fun on the battlefield, picking off the remaining wounded for fun. He decides to head back to visit his wife.
Theon Saves Sansa
Sansa, meanwhile, had decided to make her daring escape from Winterfell. She heads to the tower, and sees the battlefield. She wanders more, looking for an exit, but runs into Myranda with Theon. They demand that Sansa goes back to her room. Sansa refuses though. Myranda threatens to wound her severely, but Theon saves her, throwing Myranda to her death. Ramsay and his men then arrive back, so Theon and Sansa move quickly, jumping over the walls of the castle, into the snow.
Arya’s Revenge on Meryn in Braavos
Over in Braavos, Meryn Trant is beating three young girls for the fun of it, as they quiver in fear. One doesn’t seem to react to the beating though. This angers Meryn, who strikes again and again. He orders the other two girls out, and punches the girl in the stomach. Then a mask comes off, and Arya is revealed. She stabs Meryn in the eyes, then shanks him several times in the chest. Arya tells Meryn that she is excited to kill him, and to cross him off her list. She stabs him a few more times. She tells him he is no one and nothing and finishes him off by slitting his throat.
Arya’s Blind Punishment
Arya returns to the temple, trying to replace the “mask” she took. But she is caught. The Faceless man then drinks a poison, killing himself to even the debt of death. Arya cries, and mourns the loss of her friend. Then the Faceless Man appears behind her. She pulls the face off the dead person, and the faces keep coming off, no matter how many she removes. The Faceless Man tells her that she is, “still someone”. Then Arya’s vision fades away as she goes blind…
Jaime Says Farewell to Dorne and Doran
Jaime Lannister says his goodbyes to Doran, and prepares to take his daughter Myrcella and her fiancé, Trystane, home. Ellaria even apologizes to Myrcella for how she has been, giving her a goodbye kiss. Bronn says his goodbye to his lady friend he made as well.
Jaime Lannister’s Touching Moment with Daughter Myrcella Doesn’t Last Long
On the boat home, Jaime tries to explain to his daughter about his relationship with Cersei, but Myrcella says she knows, and is even glad that Jaime is her father. They have a touching moment, but it is short-lived. Myrcella’s nose begins to bleed. She begins breathing deeply and falls over. From the shore Ellaria looks at the boat leaving, and her own nose bleeds. She then takes a swig of the antidote to the poison we have seen her use before…
Daenerys Missing from Meereen
Tyrion, Daario and Jorah all sit in Daenerys’ chamber as Tyrion tells the two how hopeless it is for them in their love for Daenerys. Missandei and Grey Worm come in, and Grey Worm tells Jorah that he should not be there. But Missandei and Daario say that Jorah saved Daenerys. The group decides that they should look for Daenerys. But Daario asks Tyrion to stay behind with Grey Worm so that they can govern the city while the rest find Daenerys. Daario asks Missandei to stay behind as well to aid the others too, leaving just Jorah and Daario to find Daenerys.
Tyrion is Greeted by an Old Friend – Varys
As Tyrion watches Jorah and Daario leave, Varys approaches, catching up with Tyrion. Varys gives Tyrion advice–learn to figure out which friends are not really friends, and learn about his enemies. Varys seems to offer his services to help Tyrion. To what end, we do not know yet.
Daenerys’ Capture
Moving over to Daenerys, she tells Drogon that they have to go home. But Drogon is pretty wounded. Drogon refuses though. Daenerys opts to look for some food. Unfortunately, her search is cut short with a group of warriors finding her. Daenerys drops something on the ground, probably to leave a clue as to what happened. She is then surrounded by hundreds of soldiers on horseback.
Cersei’s Confession in King’s Landing and Her Granted Mother’s Mercy
Poor Cersei has been still locked away in her cell. Another woman comes in telling her to confess to her sins. She finally does so, confessing to the High Sparrow. She names her cousin as the person she had bedded rather than Jaime Lannister. The High Sparrow asks if there are any other men, and she says there are no other. He then says that her children are not fathered by the now dead king. Cersei denies these accusations though.
Cersei’s Atonement
Cersei is then told that she will be put on trial. She pleads to have one drop of “Mother’s Mercy”, to see her own son. She is told that she can return to the keep. She is free to go, but after her atonement. She is then stripped naked, and cleaned by some religious women. Her hair is then cut short. She is then forced to walk back to the keep, naked in front of an unruly crowd. One religious woman follows her chanting, “Shame, shame, shame”. She is marched down the roads, and the crowd begins to get unruly, screaming obscenities at her, and throwing food at her. Cersei tries to remain composed, but she has a look of hurt on her face. Her feet become bloody, and she begins to tear up, and struggles to stop her sobbing, until she finally reaches the keep. Finally away from the crowd, she begins to break down.
Inside the keep, Qyburn covers her, and tells her it is good to have her back. He also introduces the newest King’s Guard member–the Mountain, who has been reanimated.
Castle Black – Melisandre Returns, Samwell Leaves with Gilly as Jon Wrestles with his Decisions
At Castle Black, Jon talks with Samwell about the White Walkers. He is concerned that they will be able to get over the wall eventually, and they do not have any weapons to fight them. Snow also feels disgusted with himself, sacrificing his own men to save Wildlings. Samwell then asks Jon for a favor–to be sent away with Gilly and her baby to the Citadel. He thinks he will be of more help there studying their library, and is concerned about Gilly and her baby dying. Jon Snow seems to honor his request. We also find that Samwell “very carefully” broken his oath against women.
Jon then sees off his friend and Gilly and they leave via a horse drawn carriage.
The Death of Jon Snow
Davos, meanwhile, tries to get Jon to fight for Stannis, when Melisandre strolls in. Davos asks what happened, but she remains silent.
Later, Olly comes in to tell Snow that Uncle Benjen was found. Jon rushes out to see, but he is in for a not-so-pleasant mutiny. He is led out by Alliser, but what Jon finds is a sign that reads, “traitor”. Then Alliser stabs Jon in the gut, and tells Jon, “For the Watch.” Then each soldier takes turns stabbing him, saying the same phrase. Olly even gets his own stab in. The men leave Jon lying in the snow, as he bleeds out.
His thoughts on Game of Thrones‘ Season 5 Finale
Game of Thrones can be such a depressing show, and this finale certainly is one of those depressing ones. Two characters who I’ve mostly found despicable, Jaime and Cersei, I actually feel horribly sorry for. Jaime loses his daughter right after telling her she is a product of incest, after he had come so far to save her. Then Cersei is forced to walk nude for what looks to be a few miles, which would be such a miserable experience. The Mother’s mercy she asked for was granted, but the High Sparrow really made her pay for it.
Of course the depressing scenes continue. Stannis’ army is obliterated in his war. I found Stannis honorable in a strange sort of way, but after he burned his daughter, I wasn’t too upset to see him dead. Especially at one of the bright moments of the episode, with Brienne finally getting her revenge. Revenge is the bright part of the episode. How depressing is that? There were a couple other bright-ish points to the episode though. Arya’s taking down of Meryn, the creepy child molester/abuser was good to see. Again, gruesome, and is a bit hard to describe as a “bright” spot. Also, seeing Theon make a move to save Sansa was good. That again involved murdering someone, so again, makes it hard to really be happy about it.
Then there is Jon Snow. The poor guy says goodbye to his only friend, and he is then given a glimmer of hope about his uncle, only to be betrayed by everyone that he is supposed to be leading. It is so hard to see each of these people shank him in the gut.
As for the next season, I really hope we get to see Jon Snow come back from the dead somehow. But I am very worried it will be to be a villain, and I think Game of Thrones has enough villains. In my Game of Thrones recaps, I feel like it is just all death and destruction to talk about. Why can’t there be a time where the recap is all about how happy things are? I guess that wouldn’t be Game of Thrones then.
Her Thoughts on the Season 5 Finale of Game of Thrones, Mother’s Mercy
As you’ve probably noticed, and as we’ve mentioned before, it seems like Episode 9 of each season of Game of Thrones (which always consists of 10 episodes) tends to be the most exciting episode. However, this season, it seemed like Episode 8 was that episode, with the White Walker attack. Episode 9 had its moments, but Episode 8 was where it was at this season. Typically, the season finale is a bit lackluster, but this season did end with a bang — Jon Snow’s death.
I’ll admit, I was shocked. Does this happen in the books? I only got to the very beginning of Book 5 and still haven’t gone back and finished yet, so I didn’t see this coming. When Olly came in and told Jon that Uncle Benjen was back, I thought that was a pretty cool way to end the season, as I had been wondering if we would ever see him again, and wanted to know just what exactly he has been through this whole time he’s been gone. So I felt just as surprised and betrayed as Jon Snow did when it was revealed that this was all a ploy to kill him. I kept thinking something would happen to stop this, that maybe Ghost would intervene on his behalf, or just… something, anything. Jon Snow couldn’t die. There was so much more that he needed to accomplish. I know Game of Thrones and George R.R. Martin is known for killing off popular characters, but Jon Snow seemed like he had so much more story ahead for him. And yet, as he lay there bleeding out, with no one around to help him, the truth slowly sank in. Jon Snow is dead.
In the interim between this episode and now, there’s been much speculation that Jon Snow is not permanently dead. That he’ll be back, somehow. I don’t know if I want him to come back, because that would kind of seem like a cop out. If you’re dead, you should be dead. Especially since the show isn’t using a certain other character who in the books dies but comes back to life in another form. However, at the end of this episode, we do see that the Mountain, who died, has been brought back. So I guess if the Mountain gets to live, why not Jon Snow too?
Speaking of characters with ambiguous deaths, what about Stannis? We didn’t actually see Brienne kill him. What if she spared him for some reason?
One death that is not ambiguous is that of Myrcella. You just knew something was wrong when Ellaria was so amiable upon their sendoff, and when everything just seemed so great and out in the open between Jaime and his daughter. There can’t be any lasting happy moments in Game of Thrones, there’s always something looming just around the corner to cancel it out. Where does this leave Trystane now that he can no longer wed Myrcella? Will the alliance with Dorne fall apart?
So many questions going into Season 6. What will happen to Daenerys now that she has been captured? Will Theon and Sansa get away? Will they join up with Brienne? What trouble will Tyrion get into? It looks like this could be a pretty exciting season!
Game of Thrones Season 6 Trailer
Things look pretty exciting for Season 6 for Game of Thrones. Things seem to pick up right after the events of Mother’s Mercy, with Jaime returning to King’s Landing, Cersei reuniting with her son, and Davos seemingly given leadership over an army. Daenerys deals with her captors, and Tyrion seems like he will have a run in with a dragon or two. Let’s just maybe have a little less doom-and-gloom–maybe?
Season 6 Trailer for Game of Thrones
