Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5 Review: Massacre and Death!

Valar Moghulis!

All men must die; well, mostly certainly they did in Episode 5 of Season 8, Game of Thrones. The penultimate episode titled “The Bells” was telecasted on Sunday and for Indians viewers, monday morning. Audience were in shock at the massacre their Queen Daenerys has caused in King’s Landing – now the city of ashes.

The most incredibly titled episode about the Bells of King’s Landing which would mean the city has surrendered was not taken into account by the Mother of Dragons when she flew on her first born dragon, across the length and breadth of King’s Landing with Drogon spewing fire, mirroring the anger of his mother, enthralled us viewers. For those who complained that they couldn’t view the series due to poor lighting, Drogon took care of it and blew fire breath all over the place and King’s Landing is lit. We also see blasts of wildfire in some places in King’s Landing, proving the theory that it was stored at some places inside the city.

“Fear it is” said the Queen when she is rejected by her lover and nephew – Jon Snow; with red eyes and unbraided hair, Dany went off to be the Mad Queen that she avoided so badly. Targaryens are known for their greatness and madness. “When a Targaryen is born, the Gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land” says Lord Varys whom we see burn as he is sentenced to death for treason. He is seen trying to poison(with the help of a girl) the Queen and viewers must note that Dany is not eating anything. She trusts no one and especially when surrounded by those who want to kill her.

We loved Khaleesi when she broke chains in Essos; when she freed the slaves and killed the masters. We really thought that may be, there is a chance that she will be the true ruler as she talks about returning home, returning to her people, abolishing tyranny until she is left alone in a place in Westeros, where no one loves her, no one trusts her and she has no allies; this is when she turns in to her true self- a dragon after all and breathes fire to a city which she was bound to protect.

Queen Cersei is still in denial that the Red Keep is the safest place (just like they thought the crypts are the safest place in Winterfell! Come on imaginary people), protected by the Mountain, Gregor Clegane and Qyburn, the snake. Much to the viewer’s glee Clegane bowl finally happened and it was satisfying to see the two huge brothers fight brutally and die together. Sandor’s character arc has been consistent throughout and only makes sense that he takes his revenge and dies in peace.

Valar Doheris [All men must serve]

So many twists, so many plots, so much potential to have a whole season, we are near the ending of the entire series but it doesn’t feel like it. There are so many unanswered questions we want to know the answers to, but the creators don’t care. They just want to give a fitting end and tie up loose ends, just for the sake of it. It is lazy writing on their part and anybody could have done that easily. While the show creators have taken a two-year break for this season, it was no problem for them to take the plots seriously and give the viewers a satisfying ending. Although VFX was quite real.

Where is Ser Bronn, by the way!? No idea

[Rumor is that Lena Headey won’t share any screens with him]

Few unnecessary scenes in this episode involved Arya going in and out of King’s Landing without much to do; Ser Davos is remembered as a smuggler after quite a long time. Jamie and Euron fight for no reason while Euron could have killed him in one shot! Well, the show has to run for a while and these scenes were fillers anyways.

Cersei and Jamie are reunited only die in each other arms when the Red keep crumbles upon them and bringing the reign of Cersei Lannister’s rule in Westeros to an end. Comparing the majestic death Joffrey, Oberyn Martell and Walder Frey, Cersei’s ending was not impactful and simply tasteless.

Season 8 has been rated as the worst of all so far, with innumerable plot holes to even count and we just want a fitting end to the show that ran for over a decade, giving us some many amazing characters to love and hate at the same time, just like the episode – “The Bells”. The last episode of this epic series will be telecast on 19th May and it will be the end of an era of Ice and Fire.

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Anusha Shanbhag

Anusha Shanbhag is a freelance blogger, short-story writer, multilinguist and a public speaker as part of CGI Toastmasters Club(VP Education head). Presently living in the metropolitan Bengaluru, India working at CGI Groups as a Software Engineer. Coming from a humble background, my experiences involve conversations with people who are facing personal or emotional challenges. I aspire to publish my book and grow my career as a content writer. For more information visit my site shanbhagrocks.co

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