Last week’s episode left us with the good news that Cersei’s
cunning plans backfire on her. Tonight, we see her misery in prison and the tragic
event at the homeland of the wildings. Here is what happened in “Hardhome,” the
eight episode of the fifth season of Game
of Thrones:
Servant of the
Many-faced Gods. After being absent from the previous episode, Arya Stark
resurfaces and is up for a job. Instead of being a Faceless Man, Arya is
trained by Jaqen H’ghar to be a servant of the many-faced gods. In her first assignment,
she assumes the identity of Lyanna, an orphan girl who sells a cart of oysters. Her
mission is to present a “gift” to the “thin man,” a gambler who preys on
desperate boat captains and their families. When the captain loses the bet, his
family is deprived by the thin man with their winnings. This family then turns
to the many-faced gods of whom Arya is now serving.
On defensive. In Winterfell,
Sansa confronts Reek of his betrayal. Their argument leads to Theon confessing
that Bran and Rickon are not actually dead and that the boys he had burned were
farm kids. Meanwhile, the Boltons take delight in knowing that Stannis and his
men are stranded in the snow. While Roose wants to strike after the enemies are
exhausted, Ramsay wants to attack immediately while they are stuck in a
difficult situation. Of that, he ask his father for twenty good men to come
along with him.
Never to confess.
In King’s Landing, Cersei tastes suffering in her dungeon cell. Unless she
confesses, she is deprived of food and water. In one scene, her guard pours the
water on the cell floor and when she departs, Cersei quickly licks it like a
dog. An adviser later visits her and suggests the same thing – to confess on
charges of fornication, incest and murder to Robert Barratheon. But she remains
stubborn as she will never bow to anyone she had made.
The new adviser. In
her presence, Tyrion Lannister advertises himself and offers his service to
Daenerys. Their conversation results to Ser Jorah Mormont being banished from
her sight again. However, Jorah approaches his previous slave master and offers
himself to fight in the fighting pits again as this is his only way to be of
service to Daenerys.
Slaughter at Hardhome.
Taking half of the episode tonight are the events in Hardhome. After a long sea
voyage, Jon Snow and his Watch brothers finally arrive at Hardhome, lair of the
wildlings. They are coldly received at first but after Tormund Giantsbane talk
with the elders, they decide to be allies with the Night Watch in order to
survive the incoming Long Night. The wildlings have just started evacuating Hardhome
when the White Walkers army launch a massive attack. Several people are
killed, including some of the elders. When Jon Snow and the survivors are about
to depart, they watch as the “commander” of the White Walkers resurrect the
dead to life as part of their ever-increasing army.
FINAL THOUGHTS. Tonight’s
show started quite lazily with scenes of Arya, Daenerys, Sansa and Cersei. As stated,
Arya is finally working on an assisgment, Daenerys has a new adviser in the
person of Tyrion, Sansa learns a secret truth and Cersei is miserable as hell. But
the most interesting part of the episode is the battle at Hardhome. Taking half
of the show, this moment is the most thrilling and breath-taking so far in the season. It is
very fierce, action-loaded and full of pathos, a wonderful trademark of the
show. We know it’s Game of Thrones when
there is a bloody war with deaths of new or previous characters we learned to
either love or hate. And it is Game of Thrones
when the battle ends with so much questions and anticipations that we wish
the following week will swiftly come.
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