Viewing Review: Game of Thrones 8 Episode 5

This post contains spoilers for, ‘The Bells’, episode 5 of GAME OF THRONES. Though, the fate of the Seven Kingdoms is at stake here. Now is not the time to be squeamish.

“They say that every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin and the world holds its breath.” —Varys, Master of Whispers

The above are very ominous words from Varys. And this is what happened in this episode. Everyone held his breath to see what Daenerys would do with the continued existence of King’s Landing hanging in the balance. And what happens? She sacks the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms. This is what happens if you piss off a person who controls a dragon. It’s a show of absolute power, and there are a lot of stories that emphasize where that kind of raw power takes you. This doesn’t bode well for the ultimate fate of the ‘Breaker of Chains’.

That’s not to say there weren’t chances to stop Daenerys from going on a war path. The quickest solution was initiated unsuccessfully by Varys himself. If you were astute enough to notice at the beginning of the episode, Varys was talking to a young girl named Martha. From their exchange, you could see hints that Varys was trying to poison Daenerys’s food, but she wouldn’t eat. Varys never saw this plan come to any fruition because he was executed by Drogon for betraying Daenerys.

Then there was Tyrion who with the help of Jaime plotted to have the city surrender by ringing the bells. Part of the plan was for Jaime to escape with Cersei out of the city to lead a new life. The ringing of the bells happened, but it did not matter. Daenerys decided that she was too angry to let Cersei’s shenanigans from last episode go. Cersei and the city needed to be taught a lesson. As she shared with Jon, if she is not loved then fear will do. And Daenerys was a scary sight to behold in this episode.

What about Jaime and Cersei? They never made it out of the Red Keep alive. The tunnels under the Red Keep that leads to the coast had been blocked due to Drogon’s rampage. This left the two siblings trapped to die in each others arms as the underground chamber collapsed around them. It was a sweet yet tragic moment. That left Tyrion as the last Lannister standing by episode’s end.

What about King’s Landing? It’s reminiscent of the burning of Rome while Nero fiddled. In this case it was dragon fire while Cersei watched the destruction from the Red Keep. There was a lot of chaos to go around accompanied by a lot of senseless killings. Every citizen of King’s Landing was a target, civilian or soldier, of Drogon’s dragon fire or Daenerys’s army. It was a slaughter. Jon could only do so much to stop his troops from joining in the carnage. But, what can you do when your opponent attacks you with intent to kill? You still had to defend yourself, and Jon ended up killing soldiers because they were attacking him.

Pity that the city was taken so easily. Again, what do you expect with a dragon? It was a mismatch to begin, and Tyrion knew it. What about those vaunted scorpion ballista that shot down Rhaegal? What about the Iron Fleet? What about the Golden Company? They were no match for one angry queen and her child dragon. From my observation, it appears that these dragons are more dangerous with a rider than without. It probably has something to do with a Targaryen connection to dragons. I just can’t help but notice that the time the other two dragons were defeated was when there were no riders. Whenever the dragons had Targaryen riders, they were not so easy a target. This was shown with how Daenerys made mince meat out of everything even before her army entered King’s Landing. Hell, she barely needed her army. When all the scorpion ballista were taken care of, there was really no way to take down Drogon. That air superiority was just too much.

Other highlights includes Qyburn getting killed by the Mountain, and a duel to the death between brothers Hound and Mountain. The brothers die together from a fall from the collapsing structure of the the Red Keep. The duel was pretty brutal as can be expected from the Cleganes. Sandor did Arya that single act of kindness which probably saved her from a similar death as his. Though with what Arya experienced, and the focus on her emotional reactions to the fall of King’s Landing, you can expect her to play a major role in the last episode.

Then there was the duel of Jaime and Euron. Euron dies at the hands of Jaime, but Euron delivers a fatal stab at the side of his stomach. Jaime leaves Euron’s body by the coastal cave that leads to the Red Keep. He seeks out Cersei, and I’ve already mentioned the fate of the Kingslayer and the former Queen.

Things to expect? I don’t think Daenerys will live long to enjoy the Iron Throne. I think she’ll be killed by Arya when she least expects it clearing the way for Jon to take the leadership reigns. You can’t kill Jon. That would be lousy storytelling since he died already and was brought back to life. I also think that Grey Worm won’t survive next episode as well. There’s no point in him living now without Misandrei. He’ll probably sacrifice himself for Danerys to no avail. What about Tyrion? Sadly, I don’t think he’ll survive as well. He’s lost heart after Daenerys has shown her lack of mercy to the civilian populace. Bron will probably kill him. Bron will probably die next episode as well though I’m not sure how.

‘The Bells’ is the second to the last episode of GAME OF THRONES. Story strands ended, and actions committed by characters in this episode will have dire consequences in the last episode. There’s a lot on visual introspection made by major characters, and through their eyes you already have a hint on what they will do next. Prepare yourselves.For the end of GAME OF THRONES is now an inevitability.