All fans approached the latest episode of Game of Thrones with trepidation after the metaphorical hell of episode four.
Too bad we didn’t know that literal hell, flames and all, was waiting for us. Prepare yourself for in-depth ranting and spoilers ahead.
Let’s start with the positives – the music in this episode was amazing, the attention to detail with sets (even when they’re being destroyed) was as excellent as always, the actors were trying their hardest – special kudos to Lena Headey for being the GOAT of GOT.
And now for the plot and character arcs – what happened? I know we all said that Dany should just burn the whole place down but we didn’t actually mean it! Not like this.
Drogon burns most of King’s Landing.
I think we all should have known from the moment that the Mother of Dragons said: “Let it be fear”, that things were going to get ugly. Poor Varys was the first to fall at the hands (or flames, I guess) of Drogon for the episode.
Willem Gous (21), a student taking part in the Young Minds Entrepreneurship program of Stellenbosch University, says that the issue is that Dany is making decisions with her emotions now and that rulers shouldn’t rule with their emotions.
While I did appreciate Jaime and Tyrion’s beautiful brotherly moment while Tyrion was freeing him, I am sad that Jaime still cared enough about Cersei to go and try to save her. By freeing him, Tyrion was at least also thinking of the innocent lives that could be spared.
The fight between Euron and Jaime had me barely rooting for Jaime, seeing as he is only marginally less of an asshole than Euron at this point in time. I would honestly have been fine with both of them just killing each other.
But no, Jaime had to go and die with Cersei via rubble. Serves them right though, they did not deserve a noble death. Treat people like dirt and you deserve to become dirt.
Carryn-Ann Nel (33), a journalism lecturer at Stellenbosch University, says of their deaths: “What a let-down.” She explains that the expectation was there that she would be murdered by one of her brothers or Arya. “But actually deep in your heart, you wanted to see her suffer,” Nel says.
The Hound and the Mountain’s battle (a.k.a. Cleganebowl) was titanic, I will give them that. I was sad to see Sandor Clegane go but at least he got to take his brother down with him. He also managed to talk some sense into Arya, thus saving her and for that I will be eternally grateful.
Qyburn also died, in case anyone cares. Cersei definitely didn’t.
I felt bad for the Starks during this battle. Jon is busy having moral dilemmas about his crazy girlfriend/aunt burning innocent people alive, and Arya is barely surviving and witnessing the horrifying deaths of innocent people.
I’ve always joked that we should have more female rulers because there would be so much less violence but it turns out we’re all garbage. I am disappointed at the Breaker of Chains for causing so much unnecessary death and destruction.
Arya Stark looks desolately at a lone horse after the carnage of the battle.
“I feel as lost as that poor white horse in the end,” says Journalism Honours student, Roxanne Mooneys (25).
Nel believes that Dany is now Arya’s target but claims that she is uncertain about who will sit on the Iron Throne.
Mooneys says: “My mom and my grandma used to talk about Dallas and that whole season where at the end of it, they found out it was someone’s dream. So, I feel like at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if David and Dan [the writers of the show] show us that this has all been Ned Stark’s dream.” Mooneys explains that she lowkey wants it to happen because then “all the bad things will go away”.