Game of Thrones. Season 8 Episode 5. The penultimate episode. Obviously spoilers ahead for all of season 8. Before I really get into the review I’ll just explain that I didn’t really start watching this show until the build up of this oncoming season. I watched the entire show in a month and a half. I love it that much. I’ve honestly never watched a show where I can’t just watch one episode at a time (besides maybe Breaking Bad). I mean, I also wanted to catch up but even if season 8 wasn’t around the corner, I still would’ve watched that much. All that being said, before I dive into just this episode, I want to address some of the criticism this season has faced so far. Whether it’s warranted criticism or not.
Sure, I’ll admit this season’s writing has been lazy. No doubt about it. One moment in particular is Daenerys forgetting about the Iron Fleet and Rhaegal being shot down. How do you forget about that when you were JUST told about it like 10 minutes ago in the show. Anyway, I don’t think they’re destroying complete character arcs though. I do think it’s rushed though. I understand why it’s rushed. HBO has deadlines and David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had to meet them. There’s probably a lot of pressure to do that. However, they did fold under pressure it appears. Dany has always been leading up to be a tyrant since the very beginning of the show as we look back now. Although, I think the way it was written showed that her actions are justified and that she’s the good guy. But now, after this season she has gone full mad queen. In only 5 episodes. They just rushed her character along. Sure, she has shown signs of going mad queen in the past but this season how they got to that point was just too fast. Speaking of not writing characters well, can we talk about Euron? My god, he is the most useless character they have put into this show. He was absolutely irrelevant and written so poorly. Yet, he technically ends up killing Jaime, a major character. I thought that was really lame honestly.
Let’s talk about this episode though and how it relates to that criticism and how some of it is unfair. First, RIP Varys. I mean did he deserve it? It was treason and that’s always been punishable by death. He was still a great character though. Another thing I want to mention is the moment between Jaime and Tyrion when Tyrion sets him free. That was actually great and may have been one of the best moments of the episode. Now to the battle. Now again, I just want to mention….how come last episode Euron and his Iron Fleet were marksmen with the arrows….and then in this episode they absolutely suck out loud? That’s turrible as Charles Barkley would say. Anyways, Dany makes quick work of Cersei’s army and it’s over. I thought the scene where everyone was begging her to ring the bells was great. Basically the equivalent of “throwing the damn towel.” Anyways, they do ring the bells but Dany hasn’t had enough.
So, she burns the whole city to the ground. Just like her father would’ve done. Again, I can understand why it led to this. But how we got here is just poor. This again shows why you can’t have favorite characters in this show (unless it’s Arya because she is objectively the best). I would’ve liked to see more from Jon’s point of view from this carnage. I know it showed him trying to stop it but I would’ve liked to seem him try to actually stop Dany or something. I mean how much does he believe in his queen now? I guess we’ll find out. Instead of bashing the writing again, I’ll talk about what this episode and season has done well. The cinematography of this episode was just brilliant. I mean that’s never been a downfall of this show anyway. The shots of the carnage and chaos was breathtaking honestly. I did like how we followed that one civilian and her daughter through it all and how Arya got woven into it. Speaking of Arya and cinematography, the final scene was interesting. I don’t know how that horse survived but Arya’s interaction with it was shot great. I don’t know if it came from the Bible like some people are saying but otherwise it’s great.
One of the best shot scenes, was personally my favorite scene from the whole episode. And that is Cleganebowl. Sandor Clegane or The Hound finally fighting his brother, The Mountain. That fight was epic. Just when I thought The Mountain was going to crush another person’s head (I couldn’t stand to watch it again) the Hound stabbed in the head. Yet, he DIDN’T DIE. So the Hound just said f it and pushed both of them down the castle. That shot was amazing. RIP The Hound. One of my favorite characters in the show, definitely top 3. Definitely a satisfying death for The Mountain and Qyburn as well. What has been criticized as not a satisfying death is Cersei’s. Honestly, I can’t complain too much about it. Did she deserve more? Of course, she was probably the most ruthless and hated character in the whole show. However, the symbolism of the castle falling on top of her after all of her ignorance and denial to leave was pretty good. I saw someone say on Twitter no one of real importance as killed anyone else of real importance. Ah, how did the castle fall? By itself? No Dany knocked it down. Also, I just want to say don’t read Twitter for Game of Thrones takes. People will literally say anything about an episode just to disagree with people. And I’m the idiot for getting mad at that stuff.
Overall, I honestly thought this episode was great though. At the end of the day, it’s a good episode. I’ve been trying to figure out how I would rank it in comparison to other episodes though. Honestly, I think there are plenty of other episodes that are better. Battle of the Bastards, Hardhome, Winds of Winter and Spoils of War are a few that come to mind. That being said, with this season one of the criticisms is that this show has been “ruined for fans.” That’s bullshit. This season doesn’t take away anything that has already happened. Sure, its the ending and it should be ended right. However, just because it’s not ending the way YOU want it to end, doesn’t mean it’s bad. I feel like that shouldn’t be something to complain about. This show honestly put it on itself. It raised our expectations so much from past seasons that since this season isn’t it’s strongest (it’s not the worst either) it’s kind of a let down. However, in comparison to all other tv I think it’s still fantastic. If I were to rate this episode as a standalone from all other tv it is an 9/10. If I were to rate it in GoT context, it’s probably a 7/10. So there’s my review and my assessment of this episode and season as a whole honestly. Now we wait for the grand finale next week.
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