Game of Thrones, Season Five Finale

So. Season Five of Game of Thrones wrapped up on Sunday. I'll be sharing my thoughts on the episode and season five here, so naturally ***SPOILERS***





- Finally, Theon/Reek pulled his dick out (metaphorically speaking) and actually did something useful, apparently helping Sansa to safety. Was it just anyone else, or did there seem to be a lot of 'we're strongly implying this but not actually showing it' in this episode? We never saw Theon and Sansa land, so what happened? Did they break their legs, are they dead, or was the snow deep enough for a soft landing? I can't wait nine more months to find out! The similar tease happened when Stannis got his comeuppance...

- Stannis has always been intensely unlikable, even before he burned his own daughter like a barbecued sausage. The thing is, people seemed to forget that he was a horrible bastard (not in the literal Game of Thrones sense) and started to actually root for him. I mean, come on. This is the same guy who made a ghost demon with Melisandre and sent it to kill his own younger brother?

Oh yeah. But that was ages ago! And at least he's not as bad as Ramsey Bolton.

Some people seemed to warm to him after his speech earlier in the season, but to me that was missing the point. It seemed to me that he wasn't so much saying "I really love and care for you", but more "Some other people told me what to do with you, but I told them to go to hell because I'M STANNIS BARATHEON". He's always been a stubborn, joyless old sod, and I was rather relieved to see him go.

Stannis fans right now.

- Arya?! Arya are you ok?! Please be ok!

- This series has received criticism- unfairly in my opinion- largely due to the levels of  cruelty and violence, particularly against women. Now, I consider myself a feminist usually attuned to such issues, but I feel the criticism is massively missing the point. Yes, the show depicts scenes of awful violence, but it doesn't at all endorse them. The rape of Sansa was shocking, but that was the intention- it makes you even more aware of the danger she is exposed to, and reinforces that Ramsey Bolton is just the worst.

I know he's fictional, but I still want to kick him in the balls.

Likewise with Cersei's treatment last night- it was a tortuously long scene, and uncomfortable to watch. But on seeing this, as viewers we can't help but understand the pain and humiliation she feels. Cersei is too evil a character to be 'liked', yet as you watched the scene you couldn't help but sympathise with her as she's left completely vulnerable and shamed by the Sparrows. Of course, it also sets the scene for what will probably be some spectacularly violent retribution in Season 6.

- Obviously the big twist at the end was the betrayal of Jon Snow, as he was stabbed to death by his brothers of the Night's Watch (HOW FUCKING DARE THEY).

Indeed they ain't. Olly can go suck a bag of dicks.

Though you could see it coming as soon as the scene started, it was still a shock. After all, he was battling White Walkers the week before and kicking all sorts of butt. However, he was also ruling justly and with compassion for his fellow man, which in Game of Thrones is an invitation to immediate death/incarceration. Jon Snow was one of the best characters on the show, so of course people have been scrambling for a way for him to come back to life. Melisandre (a.k.a. Lady Firecrotch) showed up at Castle Black earlier in the episode, having apparently realised that Stannis was awful even by her own standards, so there's some hope.

- The show is so dense. There are so many different story lines that near the end I was like "Oh yeah, the Frankenstein-Mountain-Undead-Hybrid guy, I'd completely forgotten about him". And Brann. Remember that guy? Met a magical wizard tree guy at the end of season four? Didn't even bother with him this entire season. It looked like storylines might be coming together this season- yay, Tyrion met up with Daenerys! But alas, just a few short episodes later she's pissing off on the back of a dragon and Tyrion's left to pick up the pieces.

Pictured: Density.

The show's always had a bleak outlook, and major/popular characters have frequently died. It sucks of course, but that's part of the beauty of the show- you legitimately don't know what's going to happen next. So when there was the plot in the fighting pits last week, I genuinely thought "oh shit, Tyrion and Daenerys are dying here". It's been an immensely engrossing season, and I personally can't wait for season six to roll around next year. Hell, I might even get round to reading more of the books.