Warning: Spoilers to follow
After the dizzying heights of Game of Thrones‘ fourth season, the fifth season has predictably been a letdown to some. Slate went so far as to call the season “boring.” After all, the fifth season did not feature the death of a long-despised character like Joffrey, nor did anyone die in a thrilling one-on-one duel, like Oberyn.
Season five, in contrast to the previous four, has been a slower burn, and in some ways this was necessary for the show’s longevity. In the season four finale, a huge shift in power took place. While Tommen is still holding the Iron Throne for the Lannisters, his position seems unstable at best, especially because of his mother’s scheming; Stannis Baratheon began to gain some momentum as he secured gold to hire more sellswords, therefore increasing his army; Arya leaves Westeros altogether; Sansa undergoes a dramatic change under Littlefinger’s wing; Tyrion kills his father and escapes with Varys’ help; Daenerys realizes her quick ascension to power is not without its issues.
What this led to is a bottom-heavy season, with seven episodes of setup leading to three episodes where the action ratchets up. Not to say the first seven episodes stagnate, of course — the brutal, heartwrenching battle between the Sons of the Harpy and the Grey Worm/Barristan team was an awful and intensely watchable scene to behold. However, there was a lot of ground to cover before the action could really get underway.
Littlefinger’s accepted “proposal” was a key setup for this season. After securing his hold on the Vale, he brings Sansa “home” to Winterfell and has her married off to Ramsay Bolton, who somehow managed to grow even more vile thanks to his highly controversial rape of his new bride.
Another setup was Stannis’ movements once he established himself at the Wall. After trying and failing to convince the wildlings to fight by his side, he finally moves on Winterfell, only to be caught in harsh winter conditions, a la Napoleon in Russia. Melisandre convinces him that sacrificing his optimistic daughter, Shireen, will help him escape the cruel winter. After much hand-wringing, he does just that.
Then are the three “main” storylines. In King’s Landing, Cersei grows more suspicious of the Tyrells and tries to bring them down with the help of the High Sparrow, the new High Septon. She revives the Faith Militant, a group of religious fanatics who have essentially free reign to arrest anyone accused of sinning against the Seven. While it does lead to the arrests of Loras and Margaery Tyrell, it backfires on Cersei when Lancel Lannister outs her as an adulterer.
In Meereen, Daenerys finally realizes she needs to listen to counsel once in a while, and decides to re-open the fighting pits after the aforementioned bloody confrontation with the Sons of the Harpy. At one such battle at the pits, the Sons re-emerge and begin slaughtering before the battle is ended abruptly by the return of Daenerys’ biggest dragon, Drogon.
At the Wall, Jon Snow is elected Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and his first act as leader proves too controversial among his men: he wants to let the wildlings live south of the wall in exchange for their help if and when the White Walkers attack. He travels with Tormund Giantsbane to Hardhome, but after convincing the Free Folk to come along, they suffer an attack from the White Walkers, in easily the best episode of the season (and possibly the series).
All of these scattered storylines eventually lead to “Mother’s Mercy,” the season five finale that sees several storylines wrap up. Stannis’ sacrifice turns out to be in vain — the snows melt, but half his army deserts him and his wife kills herself. Ramsay’s men charge on his, and Stannis may or may not have met his end at the hand of Brienne. In the chaos, Sansa and Theon seemingly escape Winterfell.
Arya spent the season learning to become a Faceless Man, the assassin order based in Braavos. But after acquiring several skills, she decides to kill not the target she was assigned, but Meryn Trant, a despicable member of the Kingsguard.
Daenerys finds she can’t control Drogon as well as she thought and is surrounded by a khalasar. Back in Meereen, Daario convinces the unlikely trio of Tyrion, Grey Worm and Missandei to rule the city until Daenerys can return.
In King’s Landing, Cersei finally “confesses” to her crime of adultery and is led through King’s Landing, naked as the day she was born. But she is still to face a trial, and she may get some help in it thanks to a certain new knight brought in by the shady Qyburn.
And finally, brutally, the discontent of the Night’s Watch boils over to lead to Jon Snow’s downfall. Olly, Jon’s assistant, tells him his uncle Benjen may still be alive. But it’s a trick — Jon is surrounded by his own men, who stab him in the chest several times, leading to a final blow by Olly himself.
It was a finale full of cliffhangers. Did Brienne really kill Stannis? Will Jon Snow potentially be revived by Melisandre, who arrives back at the Wall? Where will Theon and Sansa go? How will Arya’s life change with her sudden blindness? What is Dany’s fate?
The season as a whole
The finale wrapped up many storylines, but it was a better end to a very polarizing season, easily the most divisive so far. Fans spoke out against a seemingly unneeded rape scene involving Sansa, and the burning of Shireen brought up a similar outcry (and yet another defence by the showrunners and George R.R. Martin). Some fans are so fed up that they’ve begun cheering for the White Walkers.
It was a bleak season, but then, Game of Thrones has always been bleak, hasn’t it? Perhaps the difference here was a particularly wasted storyline and a draining of the few remaining rays of light in the show.
Fans had good reason to be excited about a new location for season five — Dorne, the home of the fan-favourite and gone-too-soon Oberyn Martell. However, the plotline turned stale quickly. Jaime teams up with the reliably fun Bronn to mount a rescue mission for Myrcella. They are discovered after barely setting foot in the country, and they stagnate in prison for an episode or two before finally leaving with Myrcella, who is poisoned by the treacherous Sand Snakes, the bastard daughters of Oberyn. The Sand Snakes get barely any characterization beyond “obsessed with revenge” and Dorne seems like a far less important player in continental politics than it should be.
But what Game of Thrones season five really missed was the sense of fun that provided a few laughs to counteract the creeping darkness. Brienne and Podrick are the buddy cop duo no one would have expected, but they spend several episodes essentially standing at the walls of Winterfell, offscreen, for several episodes. Bronn is always a fun man to watch, but his ill-fated rescue mission barely factors into the proceedings. Even the barb-tongued Olenna Tyrell meets her match against the High Sparrow, and she spends less time being sassy and more time being outraged.
The show also extinguished the brightest light of the show, Shireen. Her sunny presence was a relief among the bleakness of the Wall, and her scene with Stannis, in which he recounts his efforts to cure her greyscale, was perhaps the most touching of the entire series. Her death by burning was horrifying beyond belief and most definitely left a void in even the most hardened fans of the show. It also provided a complete 180 for Stannis, who had a loyal fan following up until episode nine.
Where the show will go from here
When season six begins, it needs to promptly resolve the “is he really dead?” cliffhangers. No episode has inspired more intense speculation on a possible revival of a dead character than “Mother’s Mercy.”
Next, it needs to once again reassess its power balance and figure out which storylines need more weight. It needs to set up a nearly-forgotten player in the wars to come — The Iron Islands, ruled by Balon Greyjoy. Some rumours are swirling about casting for an as-yet unseen member of the Greyjoy clan, so showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss need to make sure an Iron Islands story comes across as more effectual than Dorne’s. They may even be able to right the wrongs they committed with Dorne by drawing more from A Feast For Crows material.
Most of all, the show needs to find its balance of action and intrigue. With characters even more scattered than ever, Benioff and Weiss can find new ways to mash them together in unexpected ways. And as things get worse and winter approaches, we can only hope somewhere, even if only briefly, we can find some light.
