Game of Thrones “Mother’s Mercy” Review

*Spoilers below*

Game of Thrones has always had a penchant for killing off characters that the viewer tends to care about and in ‘Mother’s Mercy,’ they did just that. After watching the episode twice over, I’ve had the chance to soak it all in and review the episode for the overall impact of its revelations and not be clouded by ‘that’ death—that awful, upsetting death. Some of series five’s story arcs felt a little rushed in the finale and others were given just the right amount of time to sink in. We saw Sam Tarly saying goodbye to the Knight’s Watch, Jaime saying goodbye to Dorne and Cersei saying goodbye to her dignity; all in all the episode was a good Game of Thrones episode, but not a great one and here’s why.

After the horrific burning of Shireen in last week’s episode, the tides were supposed to turn for Stannis Baratheon; he listened to Melisandre with the hopes that the battle of Winterfell would end with the King of the North taking solace there and the Bolton’s dying at his blade. Well, the snow had started to melt and Melisandre was happy because it seemed as though the prophecy was right. Regardless, Stannis didn’t want to have anything to do with her—the death of his daughter was clearly a sore point. As Stannis walks away, one of his guards informs him that half of his men have left and taken his horses with them. If that wasn’t enough, another guard comes along and shows Stannis that his wife has committed suicide in the woods by hanging herself. Melisandre looks completely defeated as these revelations are revealed and the Lord of Light has clearly not played a part in any of this. The death of his daughter was for nothing and now Stannis has lost everything, but he still decides to head on to Winterfell. I’ve got to be honest; it wasn’t comforting at all to see that Stannis had failed before he’d even got to Winterfell. His daughter was burnt alive and those screams are still ringing in my ears. At least if he’d been successful, her death wouldn’t have been for nothing—but it was. As Stannis reaches the precipice of war, Bolton’s army come out in full force and completely obliterates his men. Amongst the threat of battle, Sansa heads to the top of the tower to light the candle so that Brienne can save her, although Podrick has already spotted Stannis and his army. He goes to tell Brienne that Stannis is near and with revenge on her mind, Brienne goes to find Stannis. As soon as she turns away from watching for the candle, Sansa lights it, but there is nobody there to help her out. When Brienne finally sees Stannis, she reminds him who she is and why she has to kill him. ‘Do your duty,’ mutter Stannis. He has been beaten and is bleeding out without nobody there to save him. She raises her sword and brings it down towards him. The camera cuts to Ramsay Bolton and we never get to see Stannis die. For me, his story seemed to be rushed through and Brienne has been well and truly underused in this series. Also, for Stannis to die at the hands of Brienne doesn’t feel right; after everything that has happened over the last few weeks, surely he deserved a gruesome death and an acknowledgement that he has actually been slain. I understand Brienne has been waiting to kill him, but she also promised to wait for the candle to be lit and now that it has, she wasn’t there to help Sansa.

Speaking of Sansa, we finally got to see her escape the clutches of the evil Ramsay Bolton. As Sansa tries to find a way out, that annoying woman, Myranda (accompanied by Theon) holds a bow with an arrow aiming straight at her. After a smug speech about Ramsay using Sansa for children and killing her once he’s got what he wanted, Theon grabs Myranda and throws her off the castle, hitting the floor below in horrific fashion. Unsure of where to go, the two of them jump off the top of the castle into the snow below. It seems as though Theon is back and after all he and Sansa have been through, they may very well have escaped Ramsay’s clutches, albeit potentially causing some serious harm to their bodies in the process; those castle walls are pretty high!

Meryn Trant finally got what he deserved and it was done in the most brutal of ways. We’ve seen Joffrey kill Ros with a cross bow and the mountain squeeze Oberyn’s head like a watermelon, but the title of best kill ever goes to Arya Stark. As Meryn sits in a room with three young girls, whipping them for his own pleasure, the girl on the end isn’t responding to the pain he is inflicting on her. ‘Looks like I’ve got my work cut out with you.’ Meryn tells the other two to leave and continues beating the one girl that remains. As he punches her in the stomach, Arya stands up and removes her ‘face (which looks like the girl that she helped to drink the water by the pool in the Faceless Men’s home)’ and stabs him in both eyes before plunging it into his chest over and over again. ‘Do you know who you are? You’re nothing!’ proclaims Arya, as she stands behind him, cutting deep into his neck, slowly slicing his throat from right to left. The scene was very reminiscent of the Red Wedding and maybe this was the point. Arya has taken the life of another on her list, but this hasn’t gone down well with Jaqen—or is it Jaqen? Who is Jaqen anyway? As Arya returns to the Faceless Men, she is told by someone that ‘his life wasn’t yours to take.’ I’m not entirely sure if Arya understands the consequence of her actions, but she is now left blind and potentially abandoned by Jaqen and the faceless men. It sure was good to see Meryn die, but if that means Arya suffers as a result, I don’t know if it was all worth it.

On to Dorne and Jaime and the gang set sail for King’s Landing. On first watch, I didn’t think anything of Myrcella’s kiss with Ellaria just before they got on the boat. After a relatively uneventful season in Dorne, the final moments of the story arc for Jaime were poignant and devastating. After Jaime tries to tell Myrcella that he is her father, she tells him she always kind of knew and she is happy about it. Jaime seemed relieved and unburdened by her acceptance of this. Unfortunately, this sweet moment didn’t last for long at all. Child number two has now been poisoned and left dead. Next season could be Jaime’s season; he has a lot to be angry about and what with Cersei’s terrible ordeal, he is going to pull a Rambo on the whole of Westeros—beware!

With Daenerys gone, Jorah, Tyrion and Daario are left contemplating their options of what to do. From fugitive to ruler of Meeren, Tyrion has done pretty well for himself. Jorah and Daario go to find Dany and after Daario’s humorous conversation with Tyrion, it is decided that Grey Worm, Missandei and Tyrion will look after Meereen until they return with Daenerys. As Tyrion heads outside to think about his new role, none other than Varys appears behind him and the fantastic double act are finally back together. It was great to know that the two will help to maintain order in Meereen; they both work well together and each have a profound respect for one another.

With Daenerys’ story pretty much ending after last week’s final moments, we are shown her landing a long way away from home, deep in Dothraki territory. It seems as though she’s returned right back at square one. She drops her ring from Kal Drogo into the soil as the huge army encompass her. With Drogon weak and injured, what is going to happen to Daenerys? I certainly didn’t think that she would end up back in with the Dothraki. Will any of them remember her or are any of them familiar with her power? If not, Dany could be lost, alone and only the potential rescue at the hands of Daario and Jorah her only hope.

OK, so the final moments of the episode were the worst, but Cersei walking through the streets of King’s Landing has to be one of the show’s most awful scenes ever. Game of Thrones has a history of making you feel for characters that were once despised—Theon, Stannis and Jaime to name a few. I’m not going to say I like Cersei because I really don’t, but I felt a great empathy for her. It has been no secret that I despise the Sparrows and what they did tonight pushed the boundaries. Cersei finally confessed for her sins (or at least, one of them) and was allowed to live in the castle until her trial, but only after her atonement. Walking through the streets completely naked, being abused verbally and physically by the citizens that have grown to despise the Queen Mother absolutely breaks her. It was humiliating and awkward to watch. Lena Heady is nothing short of fantastic, but after this performance she has elevated beyond anything she has done before. Emmy’s will surely be knocking at her door. Those tears were real and the agony Cersei was going through was portrayed perfectly. As she finally reached the end of her walk, it was revealed that the Mountain is the newest member of the King’s Guard. Qyburn reveals that the Mountain has taken a vow of silence until all of Cersei’s enemies are dead. Wow! It looks like we are going to see the Sparrows get singlehandedly wiped out by the Mountain next season.

Jon Snow started the episode talking to Sam—his best friend and trusted advisor. After some talk about the White Walkers, Sam asks his good friend if he can leave Castle Black with Gilly and baby Sam so he can go and become a Maester. This is definitely the best thing for Sam and Jon knows it—he just doesn’t want his best friend to leave his side. “I’m glad the end of the world is working out for someone,” says a saddened Jon. With Sam now gone, Jon has nobody. His choice to sacrifice the men of the Knight’s Watch for the wildlings finally catches up with him. When Ollie tells Jon that his Uncle Benjen has been found alive and is at Castle Black, he heads outside with the hopes that they will finally be reunited. Jon doesn’t find his uncle; he approaches a crowd of the Knight’s Watch surround him and a cross that bares the word ‘Traitor.” From this moment, it is obvious that Jon is a dead man. With every man that stabs him in the chest, the shock gets worse and worse. How can this be happening? The finally blade that meets Jon’s flesh comes from Ollie and it is easily the worst moment of the episode. “For the watch!” Ollie stabs Jon in the heart and he falls to the ground, blood pouring from his body and his eyes lifeless and dead.

I can’t accept that Jon is dead and I won’t. Kit Harrington has said that he won’t be in season six, but why would he say otherwise? My reasoning for his return falls out the feet of Melisandre; after abandoning Stannis at the start of the episode, she appears at Castle Black right before his death. I don’t think this is coincidence. Another thing that I thought back to was when Maester Aemon said ‘Kill the boy so the man can be born.’ There are too many signs that point to Jon’s future in the Seven Kingdoms and I am sure we will see him next season—nine months is a long time.

Season five has been bloody, brutal and shocking—sometimes controversial, but always excellent. We still have a lot of questions that need answering and a whole year has to pass until we get those answers—patience is a virtue. I have loved this season and I liked this episode. We still didn’t get to see how Littlefinger or Margaery are getting on, but with so many story arcs going on, it would be impossible to give them the time they needed. The only thing left to say is thank you for the memories, Game of Thrones—until next year!