Game of Thrones: Season 5 Episode 5 Thoughts

I’m still digesting the end part of tonight’s Game of Thrones. I felt that of all the episodes thus far, this episode was closer to A Dance With Dragons than others in this season with more content emphasizing histories and back stories. There’s still some stuff that diverges from the novel but the overall gist is there.

First part returns to Dany’s storyline and having to deal with the Unsullied and Barriston Selmy slaughter aftermath. Unfortunately, Selmy is now confirmed dead which makes the end hint of the book version in a state of limbo as we saw him leading the charge. Now, one thing that hit me was whether there was a point to his death since in the end he really didn’t feel as though he had fulfilled any meaningful role. Sure, he acted as one of Dany’s advisers but beyond that his character really didn’t grow nor redeem himself.

Unlike Selmy, we do see Grey Worm still alive yet injured. I will admit to have been touched by the romantic subplot between her and Missandei but you have to question whether it will lead to anything meaningful or if it’s just fluff and filler.

Either way, we see Dany becoming a slightly harsher ruler in this season. But without Selmy nor Jorah at her side, she has Missandei to act as her chief adviser. I suppose removing Selmy allows Missandei and Dany to embody stronger female power roles and that Dany, in turn, at the very least becomes a better listener (or so one should hope). As a result, she declares to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq while he kneels. In the books, I believe that Hizdahr proves to be more of a nuisance akin to a fly where Dany eventually and reluctantly agrees to marry him as a formality in reopening the fighting pits in Slaver’s Bay.

The more interesting story really is at the wall for me. I think the meeting between Jon Snow and Stannis has been one of the more interesting parts of the story this season in terms of character interaction. Now, we’ll see Jon attempt to earn the wildlings’ trust with Tormund Giantsbane. That storyline seems to be diverging from the book in that Jon will be forced to ride with the Wildlings. The only problem though is that Castle Black will end up being left unattended, unless Jon has Alliser Thorne be in charge (which has its own set of issues).

Now, the best part of the episode for me was the interaction between Stannis and Sam. Here, we hear of Sam’s notorious father, who might become a chief character in the future from the description that Stannis provides. However, the key here was how Sam revealed defeating the White Walker with Dragonglass with Stannis urging him to continue reading. It was a rare moment of approval. Also, we heard Sam discuss with Gilly the citadel and his dreams of becoming a maester. As that does occur in the book, we might very well see Sam travel in that direction in the near future.

In contrast to Stannis at the wall, we have the Boltons making their own preparations. First, we see Ramsay Snow dealing with Miranda, who is simply a jealous, obsessive and equally psychotic girlfriend. Now, that part doesn’t exist in the books at all but it’s quite clear that she will contend with Sansa at some point. Whether Sansa recognizes her own endangerment has yet to be seen at least in terms of the specific people she needs to fear beyond Roose Bolton.

Part of Miranda’s role tonight was unveiling Reek/Theon Greyjoy to Sansa. Reek still greatly fears Ramsay and it’s unclear what other horrible deeds Ramsay may impose upon the Greyjoy boy in the future should he disobey him. What also isn’t clear is how Sansa now feels about Theon, considering what Ramsay had done to him. Obviously, Theon has been utterly dehumanized to the point that Sansa must have a small amount of pity, despite what she perceives Theon had done to her home and family. At the same time, it doesn’t seem clear she understands the full extent of Ramsay as a monster and in reality he remains a somewhat neutral character for her since he never directly participated against her family (only Roose).

Of course, the other major revelation was Fat Walda’s pregnancy, most notably having a boy. Even Roose detected Ramsay’s evident envy and placates him through attempting to humanize their relationship with the backstory of how he gave mercy upon Ramsay as a baby. More importantly, he emphasizes the upcoming war that will be fought between Stannis and the Boltons, which seems to excite Ramsay.

Given this situation, I’m inclined to think that Sansa may attempt to manipulate Ramsay and Miranda against each other, which ends up killing Walda and her unborn child in a move that brings full circle the revenge for the Red Wedding. However, I do believe that Theon will not only play a valuable part but eventually reveal to Sansa about her brothers’ condition. That might allow her to show him some mercy if he’s able to recover them down the road. But this is all speculation on my part.

The next major part has Jorah and Tyrion sailing through Valyria. We’re missing Aegon and Connington but the scene with the people infected by Greyscale was kept. The big thing though was seeing Jorah become infected by Greyscale, which in some ways demonstrates how his role now has been merged with Connington’s.

Now, that it’s pretty much assured that we won’t be seeing Aegon and Connington in the TV series, one can only wonder what role Aegon really has overall in the story and whether we’ll see the Golden Company. From a few things that I’ve read, it seems that Aegon isn’t a Targaryen after all and his story might end up being nothing more than a giant red herring. Considering there’s a lot of “filler chapters,” useless characters and people whose names are thrown out at random in the story at times, I wouldn’t be surprised if Aegon finds his mouth jutting from a spear.

As for the Golden Company, there’s a high chance they become cannon fodder. My feeling is that the large number of deaths on the show and in the books will simply aid in adding to the numbers of the White Walker army. So as long as the main point is driven home eventually, the particular characters or groups really aren’t as keen to the core plot.

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