Game of Thrones (s8 e5 - The Bells)

spoilers! watch before reading

This episode had a lot of action, but lacked depth. It was entertaining, but it was like watching characters I didn't even know. I'll make a separate post on why I'm mad at D&D for how they ended this show, but for the sake of this post I'll keep disappointment to a minimum and pretend I consider it canon.

It starts with Varys writing a letter about how Jon is heir to the throne, and even though he had time to send it, nothing ever comes from it. But it still served two other purposes, one is to show that Varys is now a threat to Dany, and the other is to show him interacting with one of his little birds. He held her hand and reassured her she was safe, and even though he is using her, we got to see his soft and caring side. Can't complain.

After that, we see Varys talking to Jon, who is only concerned about Dany. He says that she shouldn't be alone, and when Varys points out that he's worried about her, he says, "shouldn't you be worried about her?" No, Jon. Varys was given one piece of information about your father and tossed her aside in a heartbeat. Dany who?

Varys then proceeds to talk about the saying "every time a Targaryen is born, the god's flip a coin," and how he's not sure how Dany's coin has landed. Even though only 6 Targaryens in 300 years were mad, and Dany has just lost the two people closest to her and believes she is close to losing the third, and her throne with him. That's enough to make anyone break. If she is crazy, it's not because of her blood, it's because of what life has thrown her way. And the funny part is, if Varys thinks Targaryens are mad and uses that as a reason for Dany not the rule, should the same not apply to Jon?

So while Varys is turning against Dany in her time of need, Jon is annoyingly, and blindly, repeating "she is my queen." I guess I respect the boy for finding out he has a claim to the throne and not trying to pursue it. He might not be Ned Stark's son, but, he is totally Ned's Stark son. He didn't even seem angry with Sansa for telling people the secret he asked her to keep. My precious, family oriented boy.

Dany standing by the window broke my heart. She looks so alone, empty, and depressed. I can't take credit for this, I saw it online, but her hair in this scene is similar to how it was in season 1, the last time she felt alone and powerless. I'd say this time is even worse because she knew what it was like to be on top, with power, hope, and loyal supporters. Before she crossed that sea, everyone loved her and wanted to follow her. Westeros has only brought her pain.

I can't blame her for saying Jon betrayed her by telling his family. He is the last person she loves, while simultaneously being the one person who can take everything away from her.

I can't believe Tyrion sold out his friend. He must have known Dany would execute Varys, and she was pretty pissed with him too. But I did enjoy seeing Daenarys one up Tyrion in this scene. She already had it worked out when he came in. She knew was Sansa's motives were. Tyrion had always been the voice of reason, but like Sansa pointed out when he had trusted Cersei, he's not the cleverest man alive. His judgement isn't always right, especially when it comes to family or loved ones. Not that I think he's in love with Sansa, but he clearly respects her, and maybe wants to protect her to some extend. He saw her fear when she was looking at those dragons. So he played her game unknowingly, and Dany could see this.

And it led to Varys' execution. Even when faced with death after Tyrion turned him in, he called him friend, and said he hopes that he is wrong about her. In the first few seasons, it was hard to tell what side Varys was on. He was always so secretive, appeared to play on all sides, and the name 'spider' added to his creepiness. But now we know. He's not in it for certain people, he only cares about the people. His moral compass is stronger than most peoples' in this show, and I'll always love him for that.

Even though his death was sad, I understood why Dany did it, he was planning on betraying her after all. But when she said Sansa is just as responsible, I can't help but roll my eyes. All Sansa did was tell someone the truth. If the truth can prevent you from ruling, if it's worth killing someone over, well then maybe you need to rethink your position. Dany is so caught up in her idea of destiny that she is now killing people to fulfill her idea of it. The part that cares about people is not entirely lost, but it is shoved aside for the sake of power. She is fueled by entitlement, and her loneliness and grief only made that worse. Varys' betrayal came at a bad time.

Now the next scene is a little cringey, scary, and sad.

Dany - "I don't have love here, I only have fear."
Jon - "I love you, and you will always be my queen."
Dany - "Is that all I am to you? Your queen?" * kisses him *
Jon - *pulls away *
Dany - "All right then. Let it be fear."

This is it. She's hit her breaking point. The last person she loves has pulled away, physically and metaphorically, and she's just done. Still trying to stay somewhat reasonable, not 'mad' in my books, she chooses the violent path. She tossed away what made her a good leader. She was the Queen that was chosen, and now she'll be the Queen that is feared. I know it's not Jon's fault for her going off the rails, he didn't kill her friends and he can't made force himself to love her either. But I wish he did. He's the biggest threat to her right now, not Cersei. And even after choosing his family over her, she still wants to be with him. Maybe someone should have sent for Daario, he would have been more than willing to comfort her.

After Dany chooses fear, Tyrion has a hard time reasoning with her and preventing an attack on the city. "Mercy is out strength. Mercy towards future generations, who will never again be held hostage by tyrants." Okay Dany, I see where you're coming from. Ignoring the fact you are becoming a Tyrant, let's think about what you're saying. It sounds nice at face value, because it would be nice to free the people once and for all. To break the wheel and stop future injustices. But the way Dany is using this quote is in a 'greater good' sense. She will hurt whoever she wants now, and justify it by saying they will be better off because of it. That's a big change from, "I don't want to be Queen of the ashes."

Tyrion does convince her to give them a a chance to surrender, so good work there I guess. And then he frees Jaime, and tried to get him to save Cersei too. He mentions that he owes Jaime a lot, he freed him before and was the reason he survived his childhood. He also says getting Cersei to surrender would save tens of thousands of lives. (Going to ignore that Jaime said he never cared about innocents for my D&D hate post too. Jaime would never.) But I think Tyrion also liked being useful, and wanted to protect his family. I wonder if he still would have done this if Jaime was going to do something that would undermine Dany's rule, like he did Varys. Would he have betrayed his brother and get him executed, or does he draw the line at blood?

This Tyrion and Jaime scene also screamed 'goodbye' to me. Jaime told Tyrion he would have survived without him, and then Tyrion saying no because Jaime was all he had and the only one who didn't treat him like a monster. The tears, the hug. Tyrion freeing Jaime, like Jaime had done for him. There was no chance they'd see each other again.

Now finally get to the work of art that is setting the stage for the battle of the two Queens. Soldiers getting into position. Civilians running inside and closing their shutters. Arya and the Hound marching down the street, looking vengeful. Jaime hiding under his good, looking worried. The Golden Company standing out front, with Northmen and Unsullied standing opposite to them. Tyrion telling them if they hear the bells, stop fighting. Jon looking like he doesn't want to fight in the first place. And Cersei, looking over the city from the comfort of the Red Keep.

While it was a satisfying battle, it was all too easy. They made it out to be equal, Cersei making preparations for quite some time now, and Jaime saying they had a chance. But Dany took out all the scorpions in two seconds. I was anxious the entire time, wanting her to be successful, but then being disappointed when she was. She had charged Euron before and pulled back because all the arrows were pointing at her. This time, she locked on and headed straight for them, managing to dodge them all. I'm guessing it was done this was to show she's ruthless and no longer going to back down, but at least one of those arrows would have hit her.

Once she took out the Iron fleet, she destroyed the front gate and the Golden Company with it. Quite comedic. Both of those were supposed to be forced to reckon with, and Dany on a dragon demolished them both in two seconds. Hell the night king was more successful with one ice spear than these two armies were. Cersei was smirking earlier, really thought she had a chance. Nope. Not on Dany's watch.

Okay, that was too harsh. Cersei is one of my favourite characters, and way smarter than this battle made her look. I felt for her when Qyburn came to tell her they lost, and she's still in denial saying, "The Red Keep's never fallen, it won't fall today." And thinking the Lannister army will fight well because they are loyal, not just sell swords, when in the next scene they are laying down their weapons. Plus there was that scene earlier where one let Arya and The Hound pass because they said they would kill Cersei and he wouldn't have to fight. Good example of how you can't rule by fear. Take note, Dany.

The bells start to ring, and Dany is growing angrier and angrier, while Cersei is now the scared one.

Here is where everyone went, "oh shit."

Dany takes off on Drogon for no apparent reason. I've heard people saying it was the bells that made her go crazy, but I disagree. I think it's because she realized the people in the city still hate her, they're scared, and angry, and they're not going to follow the Queen that destroyed their city. Even though she won, she lost.

And if that's not bad enough, Grey Worm takes this as a cue to kill the rest of their enemies, aka get revenge for Missendei.

Jon is thinking "oh shit" along with the audience. Just watching the fighting begin again, the bells growing faint in the background. Trying to stop his men from slaughtering people who already laid down their swords. He also saves a girl from r*pe by killing one of his own men. He looked so disappointed. It reminded me of how the Hound saved Sansa in a similar fashion. Where there's chaos there's men violating girls in the back alleys. Sigh.

Tyrion and Cersei are also looking at Dany thinking "oh shit." I don't remember in Jaime did too or not, but I hope so, we could have seen them all agree on one thing, I'm sure that's never happened before.

Meanwhile, Arya and The Hound are still on a mission to get revenge. Or, they were, until The Hound talked her out of it, like a good dad would. It was such a soft moment between them, one that there's been so much build up for. It made me even happier than the Arya and Jon reunion. Sandor stepped up and gave her life saving advice.

I didn't like last episode where Arya joined him in going south for revenge, but it turned out perfect. Not just with this scene, where Arya finally decided to let go of her kill list, but she also made The Hound happy before he died. He was so proud, and when she said his name, he smiled. Something only Arya has the powder to make him do. And then we have Arya running around the city trying to not get killed, which was the perfect way to let the audience connect with the civilians. Feeling bad for Arya, plus the mom and daughter she tried to save, was so much more powerful than just seeing Drogon shoot fire and hearing screams. We actually got to live through her, a loved character, and experience the fear and destruction Dany instilled in the people. I could have done without the random horse though.

Last but not least, Jaime and Cersei. On one hand, I hate that they made Jaime go back to her, practically throwing his character development out the window. But I also love Cersei, and I'm glad she didn't die alone. She brokw down, she was worried about him, her hand covered in his blood, and crying because she didn't want her or her child to die. It's the only time we ever see Cersei lose control. It wasn't a death fit for a Queen, kind of pathetic they made her die by a brick, but the performance was so well done regardless. I couldn't help but cry.

feel free to discuss with me below!