In addition to the
thousands of murders, this season of Game of Thrones entertained us in one
crucial way: It surprised us. From inspiring uncomfortable think pieces about
whether rape is entertaining to courting speculation about how a series can
adapt books that haven’t even been written yet, Season Five has been knee-deep
in strong opinions and absolutely swarmed by question marks. What do we expect
of this show? What do we deserve from this show? Are we even having fun?
“Mother’s Mercy” was as brutal and shocking a gut-punch as its preceding nine
episodes openly warned us it would be, yet the only conclusion we could come to
was this: Game of Thrones is a tremendous work of art, and even in the depths
of its depravity and heights of its insanity we must be grateful for the shock.
In an age of endless entertainment options, surprises are currency, and no show
is wealthier than this one.
If that sounds like
overly academic excuse-making, it’s probably because I’m beating around the
bush. Because on the other side of that bush is a pile of corpses, some of whom
used to be important and beloved characters! Jon Snow, Stannis Baratheon,
Myrcella, Selyse, Myranda, Ser Meryn. And standing near those corpses are
characters with ever worsening frown-lines: Cersei, Arya, Daenerys, Melisandre.
Things went badly for A LOT of people this episode, including and especially we
the viewers. We’ll have a year to mourn, but for now let’s talk about all that
carnage!
Last week’s episode
ended with the sight of a woman riding a dragon into the sky, but hopefully you
didn’t forget that the scene immediately before that one involved a child
getting burned at the stake by her own parents. Because that happened! And perhaps
the only way we comforted ourselves in the six days since has been the hope
that perhaps Shireen’s death wasn’t for naught. Perhaps the Lord of Light would
indeed give Stannis some kind of advantage to justify such a heinous act. And
guess what? He did. The Lord of Light melted some icicles! God is truly great.
Can't wait until next season !
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