Game of Thrones: S05E10: "Mother's Mercy"

Rating: 8

In A Nutshell

Finally season five delivers! This episode was true Game of Thrones. An attribute missing all season, but probably saved up for the finale in spectacular fashion. The one thing that's gripped me about the show over the seasons is that nothing really goes to plan, but this season had been quite procedural and obvious far too often. At last, unpredictable returns, and I loved it!

Starting with the least exciting but certainly right up there with bloodiest, was Arya masquerading with a face that was not her own, as she tricked her way into Meryn Trant's brothel room, and then viciously stabbed him in the eyes, stomach and lastly, after reminding her who she was, the neck. It was horribly gruesome. When she returns the face, she finds out he who has been helping her all season in the house of black and white isn't anyone either. He's got no particular face and she ends up going blind for her betrayal of the rules by killing the wrong man she was asked to kill.

In Dorne it's all loved up once more as everyone says goodbye at the pier. All quite tame and peaceful. At the start of the voyage back home, Marcelleye and Jaime have a heart to heart and it's known then that she knows he's her father. They have a big loving hug, before she starts to bleed from the nose! Yup, she's been poisoned. Those snake sand sister people got their revenge! Going to be interesting position for the Prince next season!

Stannis's plan goes all south up in the North. More troops have deserted overnight. His wife hangs herself and then the priestess legs it on a horse. He continues to storm winterfell but his smaller army is destroyed in the fields. Staggering in the woods, he's eventually greeted by Brienne, who upon knowing he was in town, deserted waiting for Sansa. She gives him his last rights and then attacks him with a final blow with her sword.

Over that big ocean, everyone is playing a game of 'Where's Dany?'. Eventually Daario and Jorah leave to go find her after they know Drogon took her north. They leave Grey Worm in charge, with Missandei and Tyrion to advise. Great stuff as Vary's returns at the end and has a reunion with Tyrion. Dany though is someone up on a grass hill, with Drogon, who has had a feast but is tired from his injuries and wants to rest. Dany goes off for a walk for food and finds herself literally surrounded by hundreds of Dothraki.

Back at Winterfell and Sansa tries to escape. She lights that candle in the top tower but Brienne isn't looking anymore. Sansa is confronted by Ramsey's lover and Theon who order her back to her room. However, Sansa doesn't care and would rather die. Facing being cut up a little, Theon jumps Myranda and she ends up falling to her death. Squash! Hearing that Ramsey is back from his victory, they both hold hands and jump of the top of the castle into what I assume will be a lot of snow below.

At King's Landing, Cersei confesses to her crimes. Well, one of them. She missed out the Jaime one. So, High Sparrow grants she may return, prior to a court hearing, to her home. But first she must have atonement. So, she gets dirtied, hair cut off and made to parade naked through the streets of the city as the public watch and abuse her verbally and with any food they can find. Once back in the castle grounds, she's in a bad way with her feet and humiliation. Her maester Qyburn though looks after her and introduces the new look head of the king's guard, zombie Mountain in armour! He carries off Cersei to be looked after and has vowed to kill all the king's enemies.

At The Wall, Jon allows Sam, missus and baby to go to the citadel and become a maester. He then has Olly come to his office and tell him his cousin, Benjen Stark has been found! An excited Jon goes out to find himself surrounded by disgruntled crows who then murder him! Wowzers!

What I liked

Unpredictable is back! Stannis's defeat, Marcellye's death and Jon's death were just what the show needed!

Varys back! Varys and Tyrion!

What I Didn't Like

Arya's plot, although very bloody, I didn't feel that was like her. She hasn't really learned that kind of attacking skills, although the art of surprise and a quick stab to the eyes will gain you a quick advantage I guess! Still, it didn't seem at all like her. Her pittance though was just as gruesome as she finds out she is blind.

Cersei's scenes were longer than one would like but they were very useful in helping us feel her humiliation and pain.

No real Sansa outcome is a little cruel on us, but I'm betting they are both fine after leaping into what I assume was lots of snow and ice.

Brienne and Podrick only had small scenes but you'd say significant to how things went down with Sansa not being rescued and Stannis being chopped.

Huh?

Don't reckon Stannis is dead. But think it would be more GoT if he was. We never got to see for sure and that leaves doubt in my mind.

Benjen Stark was mentioned! Great. I'd been wondering since season one but alas it was just a lie to lead Jon to his death.

And Finally

Unpredictable and just as I like it. Never cared much for Stannis and Jon but enjoyed their story along the way. Very few I care for. Still would like Dany to be massacred but looks like I'll have to wait for that to happen!

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Lots of mystery for next season and some brutal ending to some characters).

Game of Thrones: S05E09: "Dance of Dragons"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

Continuing on from last weeks epic episode (the second half anyways), would the tension ramp up to a dramatic last few episodes? Well, not quite.

This week started with Ramsey's "twenty men is all I need" plan working a treat as he sneaked in, sets lots of tents ablaze and caused havoc in Stannis's camp. With food now short and horses better as dinner than to march with, Stannis sends the Onion "King" reluctantly back to Castle Black for reinforcements. Back at The Wall, there's a momentary pause as Jon Snow brings the wildlings to the gates, stares at his deputy up on the wall, who then does open the gates. You'd think there might have been problems there but the tension dried up in an instant. The wildings trounce through Castle Black freely.

Arya is still selling those cockles and mussels in what feels much like an Eastenders market if it was set in Westeros. She doesn't carry out her poisoning mission when she notices new master of coin Tyrell turn up with lannister guards. She follows him about, where she's very interested in his guard, Meryn Tren, and follows him all the way to the brothel. Meryn Tren's taste for young women makes for a very obvious scene in next week's episode you'd think.

At Dorne everyone is getting very loved up, and spreading peace and harmony, thus truly destroying any tension for the finale next week. Jaime gets pardoned and so does Bronn, of which Ellaria then becomes super sweet and lovely, making you wonder if she's just changing her mood to obey her prince, or because she wants to get even with the lannisters one day? You'd bet on the latter.

Back with Stannis, and a heart to heart with his daughter Shireen, leads to her happily wanting to help her father who was looking longer in the face than any of his horses. Thus she ends up getting led to being burned at the stake. The screams are not very comfortable to listen to and feel very genuine. Even her mum caves in but Stannis holds firm.

Back in Meereen, and the Games have started. Think Gladiator. Some rather dull conversation from where Daenerys is watching proceedings, become more interesting when Jorah takes the stage against four other fighters. As Daenerys virtually bites her nails, he overcomes them all, and then throws a spear at her ... but ... no, it's aimed and kills one of the son of Harpies who are attacking. Things kick off massive style then with the death of Daenerys future husband by the harpy, leading to Jorah and even Tyrion doing some defending with weapons. They are all surrounded in the middle of the pit by tens and tens of harpy, and things are meant to feel tense but alas they'd really would have been had they all got slaughtered. Instead, Drogon comes to the rescue (sigh). And ends with Daenerys taking to the sky on the back of him.

What I liked

Not a huge amount really. The fact that there were two significant scenes in this episode, with Stannis's daughter's sacrifice and the harpy's murdering everyone in sight in the stadium, helped raise things above "average" but as they all went exactly as one could have predicted, they lacked true tension, although the daughter's screams ...

We only got a few Bronn comedy quotes, but they were worth the wait, especially as Tyrion didn't have enough lines to say anything too amusing this week.

What I Didn't Like

Anything involving Arya's plot is dull for me. Interesting to follow master of coin Tyrell's arrival though at Dorne.

Lack of any real tension in the fighting pits really as you knew no serious harm would come to Dany.

Huh?

As per last week:

STILL No Brienne or Podrick. Sob Sob.

STILL No Varys.

And new this week:

NO Sansa. We want winterfall freed!

NO Cersei or King's Landing. Not that I'm that into that story either, but I'm looking forward to the outcome we all can see coming.

And Finally

Stannis' daughter scene aside, everything else lacked any real tension although the harpy certainly made for action and drama. Still predictable and although I myself might be in awe of a dragon if I was actually there, as far as a viewer on TV goes, it was all a little cheesy for me

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Please lets have that winterfell battle next week!)

Game of Thrones: S05E08: "Hardhome"

Rating: 8

In A Nutshell

Now this a lot more like it!

Lots of interesting things going on in this episode, although very few get the coverage that the North does, especially in the second half. If the first section had been as good as the second, this could have been an epic episode. As it happens, in 1st part we got a few scenes of nothing much new really; Cersei in jail refusing to confess and feeling very sorry for herself. Arya learning some more faceless man tricks and tools. And, Sansa confronting Reek/Theon who confesses a little about his past and what happened, but then legs it under pressure for more confessions. All this was mostly intriguing, except for Arya's plotline which I still find boring. Faceless man? More like pointless man to me. Anyhow, where things were much more interesting was elsewhere, especially with Tyrion's conversations with Daenerys. Absolutely top notice exchange of words, and amazing advice given out by the Tyrion and listened upon by the Queen. However, things are on a new level altogether in the North, where Jon Snow, his crow crew and Wildling ally Tormund  , now arrive somewhere (I dunno, it's all white and hilly up there) on boats and confront hundreds of other wildlings, led by man in bones. He's soon dispensed of by Tormund for refusing to listen to reason. A later meeting with the wildling elders goes half in Jon's favour as he makes the case for peace and relocation. Things go very pear-shaped when the White Walkers arrive though and rain down terror in the extreme on everyone. Epic confrontation, battles, blood, guts and awful ways to be mutilated follow. It's everyone for themselves as they try to hold off the walkers before retreating to the boats whilst the majority get slaughtered. As the row row row the boat merrily along, we see one of the White Walker "seniors" resurrect the dead, thus adding to their army. Eeek.

What I liked

Tat second half! The north has never been so interesting. The tension with Jon Snow arriving in the north of the wall land was immense. You'd expect things to kick off at any moment. As it happens, only man of bones did. The rest got quite heated but I half expected all out fighting amongst crows and wildlings. Everyone saw reason quite quickly ... well, almost all. Then the walkers attacking! That was over 10 minutes of epic battle.

Tyrion/Daenerys conversation; probably the only time I'm going to like her.

What I Didn't Like

The first half was slower and quieter. I find the whole faceless man stuff incredibly dull and see nothing that's going to draw me into that.

Seems IMMENSELY convenient that the White Walker army arrived at that moment. Far too convenient if you ask me. The longer the battle went though, the more I forgave this contrived timing issue.

Huh?

STILL No Brienne or Podrick. Sob Sob.

STILL No Varys. Although he gets mentioned.

So, Jon Snow's sword seem to repel White Walker's weapons too. Interesting.

I'm going to assume that the White Walker Army arrived purely to take advantage of the situation or because they wanted to claim the dragonglass? Were they really just passing through at the right moment?

And Finally

Second half was amazing. Tension up north and battling was fantastic. Very Lord of the Rings like but still great.

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Could have got my best score so far, had the rest of the episode lived up to the North's tension and fighting)

Game of Thrones: S05E07: "The Gift"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

Lots of things going on this episode, with the only one let off the hook being Arya. She was thankfully absent in that dull house of black and grey. Sansa is being beaten and imprisoned by Ramsey and foolishly tries to get Theon's help but he grasses on her. Stannis is held up by the mother of all snowstorms but intends to continue regardless. He's also very much taken aback by the priestess's suggestion of sacrificing his daughter. In king's landing, an angry young king huffs and puffs. Cersei visits the new queen in prison, before finally falling foul of the sparrows herself thanks to Littlefinger and Queen of Thrones hatching a plan. Cersei gets angrily bunged into jail. By far the bit we've all wanted to see this year, see's Jorah and Tyrion get sold off to a former slave master, and then hatch a plan whereby Jorah gets to tell Daenerys, who is watching the fight he's in, that he has a gift for her. Tyrion doesn't hang around, frees himself and announces his arrival to the queen. Lastly, Jon Snow heads off with the Wilding chief (I thought they left last week!) and Sam gets to sort of rescue his girl and gain a reward.

What I liked

Sansa try but fail to get rescued. One expected Theon to grass her up but it was still tantalizing to watch it play out.

Tyrion greets the Queen! Finally!

What I Didn't Like

No action. Ok, there was Jorah at the end making a point but that's about it.

Honestly thought Jon Snow had already left for the far North.

Scene with Bronn and Sand Snakes in jail; nice but brief and feeling somewhat hard to care about as we hardly know the sisters. The threat of the poison wound is over too quickly. Seemed a waste of a scene. Much like Jaime and his daughter.

Huh?

No Brienne or Podrick. Sob Sob.

Still no Varys. Odds on he turns up soon.

And Finally

Much like a lake simmering calmly during summer, winter is most certainly coming, not least because it suddenly started snowing in Winterfell this week! The closing few episodes of this season promise much. Can they deliver after all this scheming and manipulating?

Rating: 7 out of 10 (It's really threatening to ramp up to the a new level altogether, but will the final few episodes actually deliver after this long build-up?))

Game of Thrones: S05E05: "Kill The Boy"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

Grey Worm is recuperating and getting more loved up, whilst Daenerys gets revenge on the former leaders of the houses who kept slaves by arresting them all and feeding one to the dragons. Eventually though she realises she might have made mistakes with the situation in the city and thus reinstates the games and announces her marriage to one of the leaders (obviously to the prominent one in the show thus far). Tyrion and Jorah exchange some conversation on route before they get attacked by those stone people during passing through an old city, and not long after they see one of the dragons fly past. Jorah rescues Tyrion but secretly was touched by one of the stone men and thus now he has greyscale. Ugh. Podrick and Brienne have a small section where Brienne gets a message to Sansa on how to summon her help if ever needed. Sansa finds Reek/Theon in the kennels and then Ramsey parades him over lunch as his slave. Jon Snow announces he's going to bring the Wildlings south of the wall. Doesn't go down well, but he's off with the former ginger wildling to convince the wildlings to return with them. Meanwhile, Stannis takes his army off towards Winterfell, finally.

What I liked

Sansa/Theon reunion. Was never going to pleasant but it seemed quite heart warming considering his past errors.

Sansa's smile at Ramsey's bad news that a new Bolton boy baby is on it's way.

Tyrion; anything he says and does is usually noteworthy.

What I Didn't Like

Daenerys; she just annoys me. She seems to just do what she wants most of the time and at other times belittle others and just stands or sits looking smug.

There was absolutely no action at all really, unless you count Ramsey giving his lady some action, or the brief Stone men scuffle at the end.

Huh?

In recent episodes the opening titles have brought back the sun hovering over winterfell. Wonder if that's really highlighting the good times coming back.

For such a contentious issue, the order by Jon Snow with the Wildlings didn't really show as much heat as one would have thought. Certainly all bases were covered over the subject by exchanges but it didn't look like it was half of the watch against him as Jon Snow suggested.

And Finally

Little to chuckle about in this episode or even enjoy watching for action. More one of thought provoking and anticipating on what's coming next. Some mentions of historical happenings make one think they are going to be significant soon.

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Downer from last week, but some intriguing developments keep things simmering)

Game of Thrones S05E04 - "Sons of the Harpy"

Rating: 8

In A Nutshell

Jamie & Bronn head to Dorne as the new comedy sidekick duo, where they eat some snake and then take down some snakes of sorts in four Dorne guards who were tipped off by the boat's captain. Cersei creates danger for anyone flaunting religious values (umm, what about herself?) by giving the High Sparrow and his men powers in law. Jon Snow resists the Red Priestess's advances. Sansa and Littlefinger plot against the Boltons. The Sand Sisters are ready for war on the Lannisters. Tyrion has a merry merry boat ride with Ser Jorah. Lastly, it seriously all kicks of with the Sons of Harpy and Unsullied!

What I liked

Jaime and Bronn banter; brilliant insight humour and action by these two. With Podrick/Brienne and Tyrion/Varys double acts not in this episode, these two really raised their game.

Jaime's having a solid gold hand in his solo victory; nice!

A decent battle at the end that's full of sword wielding stuff and blood; Unsullied versus Sons of Harpy.

The newly formed Sparrow movement goes forth, beating up those in the brothels and so forth in some very bloody ways.

King Tommen goes about huffing and puffing but ultimately doesn't realise he's been out maneuvered cleverly by his own mum. How sweet.

What I Didn't Like

Not a lot to dislike this episode. It was all nice and so down at Winterfell but it wasn't overly interesting, but it did confirm what we thought Littlefinger's plan was and provide a history lesson.

Hints of feeling a little too staged and contrived at times this season. Very un-Game of Thrones.

Unsullied; aren't they supposed to be the best fighting force in Westeros?

Huh?

The Red Priestess seems to like getting her body out on display. Jon Snow has nerves of steel. She is a sort of prostitute in ways.

And Finally

Great five minute action at end, along with some earlier sparrow action, combined with some great scenes between characters and Jaime/Bronn and Tyrion comedy.

Rating: 8 out of 10 (The long game starts to carefully play out nicely to us viewers)

Game of Thrones: S05E03: "High Sparrow"

Rating: 7

In A Nutshell

Jon Snow wields out commands for some of the night's watch at his first big meeting, whilst also wielding the sword on Janos Slynt who refuses an order. He's also got to consider King Stannis's request, even if he's already sort of refused him. Sansa Stark returns to Winterfell, with littlefinger's plan for her to wed Ramsey Bolton, with a bigger picture in both their eyes. Brienne and Podrick are still in pursuit. New King Lannister Tommen get's jiggy with Queen Margaery. Cersei gets to know more about those Sparrow folk in King's Landing. Tyrion's desire to see someone other than Varey's leads them both to a brothel and eventually his capture by a seriously sulking Jorah. Arya ditches all traces of her former self and starts to learn how to become a faceless man.

What I liked

Poldrick and Brienne are fast becoming on a par with Tyrion and Varys for comedy and bromance. Still following Sansa at a distance, we now know more than ever that Brienne is set on revenge for her former King and wants Stannis to pay; this is going to get awkward soon one would think because ...

Stannis gets Jon Snow's answer and turns him down to return to winterfell but Stannis is set to go anyway. Bet he'll be pleased to find Sansa there! But we all know Briene won't be. Oh, it's set to get very complicated soon!

Jon's doing very well as new lord commander. Get's his adversary Ser Alliser's respect by giving him a top role, whilst the coward that is Ser Janos Slynt finally pays for his weakness with his head for refusing his new role. And he begged for mercy just before the head fell :/ Couldn't help but feel for the guy.

"Sucking a Dwarf's C**k is supposed to bring good luck too", says Tyrion in a true LOL moment for me.

What I Didn't Like

Everything in the house of black and white is very grey ... but not in a good way. I'm quite frankly bored of all that story arc.

That's about it. I really enjoyed this episode. No Dany the dragon lady! Woohoo! Well, except the prostitute dressed up as her.

Huh?

No White Walkers this season thus far ...

How old is the new King Tommen supposed to be anyway? In bed with Margery? Well, who wouldn't want to!

And Finally

This is much more like it. The previous two episodes of setting scenes and people have paid off. This episode can crank up the tension and intrigue even more, setting off paths of collision you'd think. Briene and Stannis, Stannis Versus Boltons. Will these be the battles of the season or will the white walkers show a hand yet?

Rating: 7 out of 10 (Tension finally cranks up a notch)

Game of Thrones: S05E02: "The house of black and white"

Rating: 6

In A Nutshell

Jaime hires Bronn to go on a secret mission with him to Dorne to get his and Cersai's daughter back. Tyrian and Varey's have a chat on way to wherever it is they are going. Brienne tries but fails to convince Sansa to allow her protection. Dany sentences one of the former slaves to death for murdering one of the rebels they'd finally captured, thus leading to riots. Tension is also heating up in Dorne where there is no love for the Lannisters. Finally, Jon Snow gets appointmented Lord Commander.

What I liked

We all wanted Jon Snow to accept Stannis's offer to rule Winterfell as Lord Jon Stark, although we also all figured that was unlikely to happen. We very infrequently get what we want in this show. I still hold hope of Starks ruling Winterfell again before this show is over.

Still, nice to see Jon become the man in charge at the night's watch, probably leading to some peaceful solution with the wildings? The only other wilding we've seen in any prominence was Tormund, the ginger haired angry looking guy. Unless someone new arrives, he's odds on to lead the wildling army you'd think.

Nice to see Dany get some balls and hold true to principles of law. Was even happier to see a riot afterwards. But remember, I'm no fan of hers so anything that goes wrong for her I like.

Podrick provides the comedy relief this week, proving he's not particular good at anything, apart from recognising people.

What I Didn't Like

Off with her hand! No? Ok, how about her head? No? Darn ...

I was disappointed that Drogon's return didn't see him bite Dany's head off. Ok, maybe that was unlikely, but a little nibble of her finger perhaps? How long do I have to wait until that woman gets it?

So, there was no one in at the house of black & white, but then it turns out there was. Not sure what the point of that was. Guess we'll find out perhaps. All it did was make Arya's scenes rather boring.

Didn't get to see "Jaqen H'ghar" change face. It was the classic camera shift that did it. Do they rip off their faces Mission Impossible style?

Not enough Tyrion and Varey's. One scene in the "box" cart was far too brief.

Huh?

Still thinking about a Season One mystery; didn't Jon Snow's cousin/uncle go missing in the far North? Did we ever hear about him?

Speaking of which, where are those white walkers? They sure are taking their time to walk on the wall that we saw them doing seasons ago.

Alexander Siddig  (Doran 'Prince' Martell) is fast becoming the Alan Dale of fantasy TV. He's literally everywhere currently. Who's his agent?

And Finally

Lots of subplots going on in this episode and previous. Tinges of more action here but there's really little to talk about really.

Rating: 6 out of 10 (The intrigue builds slowly)

Game of Thrones: S05E01: "The Wars To Come"

In A Nutshell

Most people are licking their wounds from those affected by last season's finale. Cersei and Jaime are both feeling vulnerable now Tywin is gone, and also feeling somewhat upset by matters, despite both having their issues with their father. Tyrion and Varys are living it up in a posh get-up over the other side of the sea, where Tyrion is enjoying the wine and Varys reveals some of his political past and future. Stanis is keeping himself warm at The Wall, where the ever grumpy bitter looking Mance Rayder refuses to bend the knee and goes out in a blaze of glory. Daenerys feels a rebellion coming on, especially with her dragons feeling much like the slaves she just freed. Sansa and Littlefinger go on a journey. Podrick meanwhile is left to feel pretty useless.

What I liked

The opening credits don't have Winterfell smouldered in ashes anymore, but the Boltons have tidied it up and are ruling. Nice to see it looking like it did back in Season One. Almost everyone must have given a gentle cheer when Stannis said he wants to reclaim Winterfell from the Boltons, surely?

Any scene with Varys and Tyrion in is always a joy to watch.

What I Didn't Like

I'm probably one of the few not doing backflips over Daenerys' progress and scenes. I find her obnoxious and a little dull, although pretty to look at. I'm sort of hoping she doesn't get to power. Her mission to the throne is a long plot-arc, and feels like an obvious direction for the show to go, but this is a show that throws spanners in the works (Or crossbows/arrows) so I am hoping that things will go pear shaped for her one day.

Huh?

That was Lancel Lannister dressed up like a mini-Varys talking with Cersei, so I read elsewhere. I didn't have a clue who he was. Sometimes I think this show could do with a "Previously On ..." before the opening titles.

A new Game of Thrones book coming out, based on "Where's Wally?". It's called "Where's Drogon?" I barely knew those dragons had names until recently.

"My bit is missing, but honestly I do have a bit there."

Did the Daario actor pay the director to strategically place items in all his scenes to hide his manhood? It was so obvious that his "bits" were being put out of sight, that it was strange. They don't usually withhold all the human body bits. Not that I missed seeing them. I just noticed the oddity of it all.

And Finally

So, it was a tame episode, sort of like a stroll into the shopping centre on a Wednesday afternoon; everyone going about their business quietly. Not a lot to get one's teeth in or go "WTF!?" about but we all need a break from that every so often don't we?

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Solid, if somewhat unspectacular opener)