Season 5 x 09: The Dance of Dragons - HAVE READ the books

I'm obviously very late to the party. I had written out the most of this TL:DR on Monday but got side-tracked, may as well post it anyway if anyone's interested in reading...

I'm surprised by some of the criticisms at that climactic scene in the fighting pits. I didn't notice much wrong with the CGI, at least not enough to take me out of the scene. I felt a genuine threat against Dany and her entourage, and the moment when the crowd turned and put on the Harpy masks gave me some chills. The fact that literally anyone you walk past on the street in Meereen could be a cold-blooded killer effectively adds to the threat of the SOTH in my opinion, rather than being an easily identifiable enemy seen coming from afar.

I didn't expect Jorah to survive this episode, let alone get to live out his dream of defending Dany and being once again accepted by her, the scene was as much his as Drogon/Dany's IMO. Drogon landing in and tearing shít up had me on the edge of my seat, and I was actually impressed with the CGI until Dany took flight. By then, it really didn't affect my viewing experience too much.

One thing about Drogon though, he got worryingly close to being speared to death. He is supposed to be the strongest of the 3 dragons which will be vital to Dany's cause in Westeros? I can only assume that Drogon is still a work in progress, and by the time he grows to his full size the spears will look like acupuncture needles compared to his size or simply bounce off him.

Of course, I do see some noticeable flaws myself, and the Unsullied have been a major let down this season. There were 10,000 of them at one stage, right? It seems that since they entered Meereen, many of them have drifted off or are spending too much downtime in the bars and brothels and are a bit hungover and distracted when clocking in for Khaleesi protection duty. I really don't feel their heart is in the job anymore, it's only a means for them to earn cuddle money at this point. Whatever about the SOTH getting the upper edge on the Unsullied in a street ambush earlier this season, Dany's security detail should have been more prepared and educated for any future battles including one in an open combat arena. In short, they have been noticeably and inexplicably weakened to suit the story.

Moving elsewhere, I was content with the Bravos scenes. I won't be buying Mace Tyrell's 4-Track when it drops, but admire his enthusiasm for singing all the same. There's no denying it, the "too old" scene made me squirm, but I feel it was necessary to reinforce the fact with some forgetful viewers that Meryn Trant is a disgusting bastard after a few seasons of he playing a quiet background character. Had Arya merely followed him down a dark alley after seeing him get off the boat and killed him then, it would have been way too convenient and bear only a fraction of the impact it would have now that we have been reminded of the character's personality and tendencies. After pledging to Ja'aqan that the Thin Man would be dead 'tomorrow' and with her plans for Meryn Trant, Arya will have to go full Assassin's Creed in the next episode to achieve all of her goals. I don't see this happening, with the girl's Thin Man mission suffering in favour of Arya Stark's revenge quest. Her punishment? After losing sight of her main goals in her new life, the consequences will fit her crime.

Is that the end of Dorne now for this season? It all just amounted to 'meh' if so. Prince Doran is a decent character and played well, but most of the scenes there felt like they belonged to a different show. It felt like Jaime and Bronn were just as likely to bump into Aladdin and Jafar as anyone else while on their travels there.

Maybe they could have made the quest worth while with Jaime finding out that Cersei sent him there under false pretenses and the necklace death threat was a hoax, but chose not to go that route. And that stipulation of Trystane's to secure Bronn's freedom? It would have been interesting to see Bronn paired with one of the sand snakes in a marriage of good faith. Whatever about the dreadful street fight scene a few episodes, Bronn and Tyene had some decent scenes since and a bit of chemistry. Earlier in the season, Bronn was a bit unsatisfied with his new life as a man married to the lesser, not-so-bright or beautiful sister of a weakened house. For he to end up with Tyene, a kindred fighting soul from a powerful house in an exotic land, not to mention "the most beautiful woman in the world", would have suited the character. Instead it all just amounted to a punchline, quite literally. This season's Dorne produced a good showing from Alexander Siddig as Doran and that's about it. I don't think that the whole thing was worth it in place of the Ironborn storyline, or Jaime going to the Riverlands instead.

The scenes at Castle Black did the bare minimum in terms of keeping things ticking over until next week's 'For The Watch', but after last week's conclusion were a bit of a disappointment overall. While a few Brothers watched the Wildings pass through the gate, Jon should have summoned a council with Thorne and the rest given the recent events at Hardhomme. Jon: Ok guys, shít just got real. I lost a staredown with the Night's fúcking King, he looked like an evil son of a bitch. I gave him my best 'We'll meet again' look, he merely raised his arms and 1,000 of the recently slaughtered with them. I didn't know what to do so just turned around, slouched down and pretended that I didn't see him".

Instead we got another grimace from Olly the serial scowler and "You've got a good heart..." from Thorne. I can't help but feel that line could be some more of that foreshadowing that has been brooding. Maybe that is where the first knife will land next week and it will be Thorne to do it. If it's Olly to initiate the deed, Olly who doesn't give a shít about the Watch really and just wants to avenge his parents, that will be a major letdown and possibly the TV equivalent of a 'book throwing' moment for me. If it is indeed for the watch, it has to be Thorne to start it IMO.

Finally, the burning alive of an innocent child by her father. This episode had it all didn't it? Pedophilia, child homicide, just another week on GoT. First off, just how good were those 20 men of Ramsey's? Were they Level 100 Fire Mages also? Because I saw numerous fires start simultaneously, but no sign of any arsonists making their escape in the wide-shot of Stannis' camp igniting. I understand the producers wanted to get that scene over and done with to move onto the bigger picture events, but it all seemed a bit too easy and perfect for Ramsey.

As for the demise of Shireen; I don't believe that Davos knew what lay ahead for the young princess like other viewers do. I think his drawn out goodbye was because of the unpredictability of the days ahead which lie on the brink of a war. I only think this because I remember back in Season 2 when Davos went to great, treasonous lengths to free Gendry from his fiery fate. Gendry was a relative stranger, Davos loves Shireen like a daughter. It will be interesting to see Davos' reaction whenever that may happen.

I haven't much to say about the scene itself. It was hard to believe what was going down onscreen. Like another poster said in either this thread or the other; It was like watching Ned's execution. Even though you knew in your heart the outcome, you thought until the very last second that someone or something would intervene and save the day. Shireen's screams were haunting and I'm now torn between wanting Stannis to succeed or die a horrible death.

If he dies, like my hopes are swaying towards, then Shireen's death will have been all for nothing. If he succeeds, then he doesn't die the slow death that I currently want him to but maybe his daughter's death was worth something. I think his days are numbered though and in the grand scheme of things, Stannis will not get anywhere near the Iron Throne.

Apparently these are the last few days before the internet breaks. Hopefully it will break in a good way, and not in a way that leads to HBO not renewing the show beyond a 6th season because of negative reaction and viewers switching off. I'm interested to see how they handle 'For The Watch' but for some reason am not feeling too confident about it. F**k you for that Olly.