Game of Thrones "The Dance of Dragons" (Season 5, Ep. 9) [TV Review]

I find myself not exactly sure where to begin.
This was a huge episode, better than Hardhome I think, but not by much. This season is certainly ending well. It is making up for the slow and banal middle I think.

Crows bringing Giants to the wall. How quaint.

This season is also going to kill the fans. Everything that is occurring now - with the characters so well known, some loved, some hated, some in between - is far more personal. Sure when Rob died at the Red Wedding, people were shocked (if they had not read the books).

4.5 out of 5 stars

That was nothing, nothing, compared to what people have seen this season. And it is not over yet. The last episode is going to be... interesting. Heck I even know the title and it gives me the shivers. Mother's Mercy. Yeah.

Now see, that is what I imagined the pits to be like.
The Roman Colosseum.

So lets do the usual rundown, and of course...

Spoilers!

The episode opens with Stannis's army being attacked by Ramsay's twenty men. Supplies and horses are lost. This is very important.

Why do the Unsullied suck so bad?

Staying in the north, we travel beyond the wall... which is confusing. Hardhome should have resulted in the ships landing at Eastwatch by the Sea. Instead we see Jon Snow and the Wildlings north of the wall waiting to be let through the game. They are, but all is not well in Castle Black. I have this feeling that Olly is going to do something very very stupid next episode.

It can't just be me, but still of action shots simply look silly.

Back to Stannis. He sends Ser Davos to requisition horses and supplies from the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Davos visits with Shireen before leaving and gives her the gift of a carved stag figure (he's quite the craftsman). Shireen is reading the title of the episode, "The Dance of Dragons." It sounds like an Aesop's Fable, only more deadly.

Then to Dorne.
Here Doran Martell invites Jaime Lannister to break bread with him and talk. Much is revealed during this little scene. I personally love the way Alexander Siddig portrays Doran Martell. There is also a strange little scene where the sand snakes are playing 'slap' in the jail cell. I find myself wandering more about the strange sexual banter between the youngest(?) sand snake and Bron.

Now over to Braavos.
Arya is on her mission to kill the thin man. However she sees something that stops her in her tracks. Ser Meryn Trant is escorting Mace Tyrell to meet with the Iron Bankers of Braavos, the awesome one portrayed by Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock). Arya follows Ser Meryn Trant all over, even to a brothel. His favorite line is "too old." I have this feeling I know what is going to happen to him (deservedly so), and how Arya is going to kill him... we'll see. And Arya ends the scene by lying to to the Faceless Man... either she is getting good, or...

Ser Davos is quite the craftsman.

Back in Dorne, we see Doran forcing Ellaria to his will. His line, "I believe in second chances, I don't believe in third chances." Ellaria screws up one more time, and we can expect her to die, perhaps at Area Hotah's axe. Ellaria then goes to see Jamie, and reveals that she, and perhaps all of those in power in Dorne, know that Myrcella is his daughter not niece. I'm not really sure what that scene was actually about. I need to watch it again.

Then we return to Stannis.

You can see the betrayal dawn on her.

He has a conversation with his daughter Shireen. She tells him that she wants to help, no matter what it is. Those are some fateful words kid. And here suddenly, the TV audience finally understands why the book audience does not like Stannis (well, I never did). What he does may have made him the most hated man on Game of Thrones... yes even supplanting Joffrey Baratheon and Ramsay Bolton. I've always viewed him as a very cruel man, a compassion-less man.

He may be called stoic, I prefer to think of him as callus
and cruel. Not emotionless, but almost. He is dangerous.

This may actually be the single most horrific scene in all of GoT, and we do not even see it. We hear it. We hear the screams of a girl being burnt to death, pleading with her father, until there is only the crackling of flames. Nothing; not even the rape of Sansa, Joffrey shooting prostitutes for his own sexual gratification, or even Theon's torture, was quite this horrific. This was a child who trusted her father, being burned alive on his orders. That was horrific.    

Here's something else about this shocking and horrifying scene. We are going to be reading it again in the books. This scene came from GRRM himself. He did not write the episode, but he gave them then scene. Read it here. That is going to be one difficult to read chapter. 

Then we transition from fire in snow, to blood on the sand, Meereen.
I still hate this city. Nothing good comes from it.
This time we actually see the real fighting pits, the grand colosseu-esq arena. Daenerys, Tyrion, Hizdahr zo loraq, Daario Naharis, and Missandei are all watching the fights. There is banter back and forth between them. Tyrion has a damning line about Hizdahr that is just perfect, "My father would have liked you." In the sand below, to fight, appears Ser Jorah Mormont again. He is determined. He wins the melee, after some lucky help, and after taking a few blows (mostly from what looks like a Braavosi Water-dancer)... he is booed from the crowd. Upon his victory, Ser Jorah grabs a spear and flings it right past Daenerys into the chest of a Son of the Harpy. They are back, and they begin murdering everyone. Once again we see the Unsullied just suck at fighting. Hizdahr zo Loraq takes multiple stab wounds to the chest and dies. Tyrion is once again a bad-ass, cutting throats and all. This pitched battle, where the Sons of the Harpy are winning, turns south for them when Drogon, smelling the blood, arrives and begins riping them apart in his jaws and burning them.

Daenerys calms Drogon, climbs upon his back, and flies off.  

Holy shit! What a ride.
This episode ran the gamut from horrifying to captivating. It was a great episode, powerful and emotional, pulling at you in all directions.

There is only one more episode the season. One. More.
What all is going to happen? I cannot wait.

This is one of the most haunting images from all of Game of Thrones.

This week's death count is impressively long:
- Unknown Person in the House of Black and White.
- Princess Shireen Baratheon, burned alive by her father, Stannis Baratheon, and Melisandre.
- 6 Pit Fighters including a Water Dancer from Braavos and a Meereenese Champion.
- Hizdahr zo Loraq, stabbed to death by a Son of the Harpy.
- Loads of people in the stands.
- Unsullied at the hands of the Sons of the Harpy.
- Sons of the Harpy are killed in many ways: killed by Daario, Jorah, Tyrion, some Unsullied, and Drogon.  

After all of that, I feel like I need to watch something more uplifting. Maybe I'll re-watch one of the movies from my Disney collection. That was a powerful episode, but also draining.

Previous Game of Thrones reviews:

Season 5:
- The Wars to Come (Ep1)
- The House of Black and White (Ep2)
- High Sparrow (Ep3)
- Sons of the Harpy (Ep4)
- Kill the Boy (Ep5)
- Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken (Ep6)
- The Gift (Ep7)
- Hardhome (Ep8)

Season 4:
- Two Swords (Ep1)
- The Lion and the Rose (Ep2)
- Breaker of Chains (Ep3)
- Oathkeeper (Ep4)
- The First of His Name (Ep5)
- The Laws of Gods and Men (Ep6) 
- Mockingbird (Ep7)
- The Mountain and the Viper (Ep8)
- The Watchers on the Wall (Ep9)
- The Children (Ep10)