Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 reactions and surprises
Season 8, episode 5 (debut 5/12/19): Marc Rissmann.
photo: Courtesy of HBO
Things you missed
1. Daenerys’ vision
Way back in season 2, Daenerys is staying in Qarth when a warlock steals her dragons. She goes to the House of the Undying to get them back and sees multiple visions, including Drago holding their baby. But the one vision that applies to “The Bells” is when Daenerys finds herself in the Great Hall of the Red Keep. The Great Hall is destroyed and covered in snow. Back then, we assumed winter had arrived in Kings Landing. But, snow looks an awful lot like ash. If it is actually snow in the vision, it could represent Jon Snow and that he will be the one taking the throne, not Daenerys.
2. Bran’s vision
A few weeks ago, I mentioned Bran’s vision when he touched a weirwood back in season 4. All of those visions seen have now come true with the shadow of Drogon over Kings Landing and the demolished throne room.
3. Cersei and Jaime’s deaths
Back during a conversation with Bronn, Jaime said he wanted to die in the arms of the woman he loves. And Cersei once told Ned Stark that they were more than siblings; they shared a womb, they came into the world together, they belong together. So, it’s fitting that they are reunited in the map room, right where their last conversation was before Jaime left for the North. Yes, Cersei deserved a worse death. But, remember, the figurative walls were tumbling around her before the actual walls were.
4. Harry Strickland vs. Jon Snow
When Jon Snow’s army rushed the Golden Army, led by Harry Strickland, after Drogon had decimated the army from behind, the captain-general turned and ran away like a coward. When Jon was shown, in the same fashion, during the Battle of the Bastards (about a minute and a half in), Jon took a heroic stance and was ready to die fighting.
5. “Look at me.”
We heard the Hound say it to Sansa back in season 2 when he urged her to leave King’s Landing with him. And now, in “The Bells,” he says “look at me” to Arya to break her trance of revenge. All Arya knew for this entire series was seeking revenge. But he saves her life once again and convinces her she has more of a life to live instead of dying for nothing. She thanks him by calling him by his real name “Sandor.” This allows him to die with dignity.