'GoT' ep 5 review: Bad omens ring true, and not in a good way
Spoiler Alert: With one episode left, it is safe to say this season has been the most disappointing
PHOTO: HBO
KARACHI:
Spoiler Alert!
The signs were there all along in retrospect. The quality of Game of Thrones storytelling had dropped noticeably ever since the show ran out of books to adapt. But still, somehow, it managed to keep fans on tenterhooks. Still, fans came up with compelling theories and possibilities to keep alive hopes for a satisfying end to it all.
After viewing the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, it is considerably safe to say that those hopes will remain unfulfilled. With just one episode remaining, it has become quite apparent that this season as a whole will go down as the series’ most disappointing one.
Perhaps, one may think, we are being too unfair on the showrunners. Given the hype and the following Game of Thrones has acquired across the world, it has maybe become impossible to live up to fan expectations.
But even then, there is a sense as a viewer of being robbed of something great. It says something at least when a story’s fanbase comes up with more exciting theories and possibilities than the writers themselves.
With episode five and looking back at all previous episodes this season, there is the sense that the showrunners went “To hell with all prophecies and signs.”
In episode three, we had the prophesy of the ‘Prince that was Promised’ subverted when Arya, rather than Jon, Danaerys or any other Azor Ahai candidate, finished off the Night King and saved humanity from a frozen fate.
In episode five, it is the Valonqar prophesy that Cersei receives at a young age – that she would be killed by either Jaime or Tyrion – that goes on the subversion block.
Maybe, if we stretch our perspective, Tyrion is indirectly responsible for Cersei’s demise by choosing to side with Danaerys. But then again, when one thinks about it, Danaerys would have gone after Cersei with or without meeting Tyrion. If anything, Tyrion perhaps only delayed the inevitable rather than catalysing it.
Unfulfilled prophesies aside, it is Jaime’s story arc that showrunners have ended in the most disappointing fashion. Now and again, the possibility of his reformation and redemption, of his moving out of his sister’s shadow and influence has been teased.
Every now and then, he has appeared on the cusp of realising that at heart he is a decent man. Indeed, the very action that has tainted his reputation as a kingslayer has been revealed to be motivated by a sense of preventing wrong.
And yet, the writers of the show have forced Jaime into a complete 180 anytime he became too likeable. In the end Jaime dies still single-mindedly obsessed with his sister, who all his life manipulated him more than loved him.
It does feel that subversion has become the sole gimmick of Game of Thrones. But where viewer expectations were subverted in a rather motivated fashion – by presenting twists that were when you thought about them, natural consequences – in later seasons, especially this final one, the shocks appear more inorganic. They feel motivated only by the showrunners’ obsession with surprising the viewers every time they feel the show grows too predictable.
Gripes with character development aside, the centerpiece of episode five, the battle for King’s Landing, has been presented in a most underwhelming and nonsensical fashion as well. In the build up to the battle, viewers were convinced that Danaerys and Jon’s forces stood depleted in comparison to Cersei’s fresh, reinforced army.
Danaerys’ last remaining dragon, far from being a battle-winning weapon, appeared a liability instead. Not this time though. Before the battle even begins, she has razed Euron Greyjoy’s entire fleet along with the wall-mounted defences aimed specifically at her dragon. Which leads one to wonder, what happened the last time Euron ambushed her dragons and her fleet? It is just bad storytelling when writers cannot consistently follow rules they laid down themselves.
There is no back and forth momentum or drama to the battle between Danaerys and Cersei’s forces. All buildup from the previous episode is allowed to fizzle out as Danaerys one-shots everything that stands in her forces’ path.
When her troops breach King’s Landing, they find what is left of Cersei’s forces ready to surrender. And then we are treated to an hour of genocide, to really drive home the point that Danaerys is now officially the Mad Queen.
One would have hoped that the second last episode of a series as popular as Game of Thrones would have really sold viewers on hype for the finale. Rather than looking forward to it, as episode five ended, I could not help but ask myself, “Is there even anything left to see?”
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
Spoiler Alert!
The signs were there all along in retrospect. The quality of Game of Thrones storytelling had dropped noticeably ever since the show ran out of books to adapt. But still, somehow, it managed to keep fans on tenterhooks. Still, fans came up with compelling theories and possibilities to keep alive hopes for a satisfying end to it all.
After viewing the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, it is considerably safe to say that those hopes will remain unfulfilled. With just one episode remaining, it has become quite apparent that this season as a whole will go down as the series’ most disappointing one.
Perhaps, one may think, we are being too unfair on the showrunners. Given the hype and the following Game of Thrones has acquired across the world, it has maybe become impossible to live up to fan expectations.
But even then, there is a sense as a viewer of being robbed of something great. It says something at least when a story’s fanbase comes up with more exciting theories and possibilities than the writers themselves.
With episode five and looking back at all previous episodes this season, there is the sense that the showrunners went “To hell with all prophecies and signs.”
In episode three, we had the prophesy of the ‘Prince that was Promised’ subverted when Arya, rather than Jon, Danaerys or any other Azor Ahai candidate, finished off the Night King and saved humanity from a frozen fate.
In episode five, it is the Valonqar prophesy that Cersei receives at a young age – that she would be killed by either Jaime or Tyrion – that goes on the subversion block.
Maybe, if we stretch our perspective, Tyrion is indirectly responsible for Cersei’s demise by choosing to side with Danaerys. But then again, when one thinks about it, Danaerys would have gone after Cersei with or without meeting Tyrion. If anything, Tyrion perhaps only delayed the inevitable rather than catalysing it.
Unfulfilled prophesies aside, it is Jaime’s story arc that showrunners have ended in the most disappointing fashion. Now and again, the possibility of his reformation and redemption, of his moving out of his sister’s shadow and influence has been teased.
Every now and then, he has appeared on the cusp of realising that at heart he is a decent man. Indeed, the very action that has tainted his reputation as a kingslayer has been revealed to be motivated by a sense of preventing wrong.
And yet, the writers of the show have forced Jaime into a complete 180 anytime he became too likeable. In the end Jaime dies still single-mindedly obsessed with his sister, who all his life manipulated him more than loved him.
It does feel that subversion has become the sole gimmick of Game of Thrones. But where viewer expectations were subverted in a rather motivated fashion – by presenting twists that were when you thought about them, natural consequences – in later seasons, especially this final one, the shocks appear more inorganic. They feel motivated only by the showrunners’ obsession with surprising the viewers every time they feel the show grows too predictable.
Gripes with character development aside, the centerpiece of episode five, the battle for King’s Landing, has been presented in a most underwhelming and nonsensical fashion as well. In the build up to the battle, viewers were convinced that Danaerys and Jon’s forces stood depleted in comparison to Cersei’s fresh, reinforced army.
Danaerys’ last remaining dragon, far from being a battle-winning weapon, appeared a liability instead. Not this time though. Before the battle even begins, she has razed Euron Greyjoy’s entire fleet along with the wall-mounted defences aimed specifically at her dragon. Which leads one to wonder, what happened the last time Euron ambushed her dragons and her fleet? It is just bad storytelling when writers cannot consistently follow rules they laid down themselves.
There is no back and forth momentum or drama to the battle between Danaerys and Cersei’s forces. All buildup from the previous episode is allowed to fizzle out as Danaerys one-shots everything that stands in her forces’ path.
When her troops breach King’s Landing, they find what is left of Cersei’s forces ready to surrender. And then we are treated to an hour of genocide, to really drive home the point that Danaerys is now officially the Mad Queen.
One would have hoped that the second last episode of a series as popular as Game of Thrones would have really sold viewers on hype for the finale. Rather than looking forward to it, as episode five ended, I could not help but ask myself, “Is there even anything left to see?”
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.