S08.E05: The Bells

[Meredith Quill]

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Episode Synopsis:

Varys betrays his queen, and Daenerys brings her forces to King's Landing.

[walnutqueen]

So, Dany is a Daddy's Girl after all.  Blood will out.

Does Arya have one more name on her list now?

Goodbye, my dear Varys - perhaps the only one whose intentions were pure.

You know nothing, Jon Snow.

[DirewolfPup]

Wow. Just wow. The breaker of chains becomes the murder of innocents after a few measly years. Good thing Jorah was dead so he didn't have to see this catastrophe. Also, how dare a show make me feel bad for Cersei dying. Shame!

[WhiteStumbler]

Whelp, I get to say that I was wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Again. 

It is inexplicable to me that the person who locked her dragons away over the death of one child could burn KL down. 

[janjan]

Methinks Jon is finally getting the idea. He was wrong about Dany. Tyrion, too, although you could see him start to lose faith (and try to talk himself into not losing faith) the last few eps. Only Varys saw clearly. Farewell, Old Friend. We shall not see your like again.

It was sad to see Grey Worm go full-on bad-ass. I guess he figures he has nothing left to live for except vengeance. No walks on the beach at the Isle of Naarth.

Arya's moment of "redemption" was amazing to watch. Maisie Williams's face spoke volumes as she silently changed from avenging Valkyrie back into little Arya Stark. "Thank you, Sandor."

But she had me worried at the end. Remember the sudden appearance of a white horse in "Twin Peaks"? It meant killer Bob was near. "Behold a pale horse. And his name who sat on him was Death." Say it isn't so. She has ridden white horses before and it didn't mean anything. Just a way to get around. I hope. Go marry Gendry, y'hear?

I'm exhausted. Finally, a blockbuster ep in this heretofore disappointing season.

Except Cersei got off too easy. Getting squished by a falling ceiling is too quick and somehow impersonal. She deserved worse.

Now Jon is the only one left who can try to stop the Mad Queen.

[gingerella]

Welp, things with A Show have gone from mediocre to bad and just when I thought it couldn’t get much worse, it did, soooo much worse. 

In no particular order, I know Mel said Varys would die in Westeros, but still, he was the only one who knew what was what and it saddens me that he did not live to see A Story resolve, and yet...he would have been revolted by what Dany just did, so perhaps it’s best.

I am flabbergasted that the death of Cersei and Jaime was uninteresting, just two rats scurrying away, trying to save themselves, dying in such an lame way. Sure some could argue that that was the whole point, but I rather think the ways we here spitballed about how she would die seemed far more in keeping with A Show. Unless...unless the entire point of tonight was to show that people in power are scared little shitheads when they’re being run out of town. Even so, it was a very UNsatisfying way to see Cersei die. She deserved so much worse, née, she deserved an ending like Walder Frey.

I have been over the whole Mountainstein thing from the get go, and this was not satisfyingly to me at all either, we could see this end coming from seasons away and still it wasn’t satisfying, just sad that Sandor was never going to get any resolution other than dying whilst bringing Brostein with him. Farewell Hound, you were an odd bird but you tried to protect Sansa and Arya and A Viewer  salutes you for that, and for your pithy comebacks. It was however, satisfying when Qyburn finally got squashed aside. That? I did not mind. 

The scene between Arya and the Hound in the map room was fabulous. It was brief yet you could almost hear Arya’s story change gears and CLICK when she said “Sandor, thank you.” Those two...the rest of her scenes were terrifying and the one where she looked dead and then you heard those deep beats and she gasped, I think I might have almost shit myself...A Show May owe me a new couch, just sayin’.

The whole battle was so odd in that suddenly Drogon is invincible and can dodge and weave arrows, whereas Rhaegal could not? WTF writers, what.the.fuck?!? And YES @WhiteStumbler, now you get what we were seeing? Dany is batshit crazy now, color me surprised. Not. The problem now is that all her troops saw her true self and who the hell is going to support that now? What people in KL will she rule over when nobody wants to even live there for fear she will turn her dragon on them? Now Jon, Tyrion and Davos need to figure out a way forward and fast. I bet they’re regretting allowing Varys to be BBQd. And who was that little girl Varys was talking to and what was he talking about? He was writing a letter to someone about Jon’s true parentage but then he had to burn it, so who was he writing and how can that piece be picked up in one episode? The writing is abysmal on so many levels right now. 

I’m glad that Jon, Tyrion, Davos and Arya are alive - for now - but how will they get around the Unsullied and the Dothraki? It seems like Greyworm is also batshit crazy and I don’t see him supporting a Dany overthrow. Also, how were there so many Dothraki there when they all seemed to perish in the war against the AotD?!? Hello, continuity, anyone home???

The less said about Urine the better, other than, good riddance you piece of shit.

ETA:

Something that’s really bothering me about this episode and last, is how women who have risen to achieve great things are now being propelled backwards towards the more meek woman stereotype. I’m talking mainly about Brienne crying and begging Jaime to stay with her. And Cersei breaking down and crying and begging Jaime to save her and their child when she realized she ain’t all that after all. And Arya looking like a scared rabbit when she was running through the streets of KL trying to avoid Drogons fire. These are three women who have fought hard to rise to what THEY felt they were capable of, and now at the 11th hour the writers are trying to send them back to more traditional stereotypes? I call bullshit on that. Dany I’ve thought was going to go Mad Queen so she isn’t surprising me, nor is Sansa who so far has continued to grow into a stronger powerful woman, but one who has compassion. Which, now that I type that, I sure as hell hope that Dany doesn’t send troops or an assassin or even Drogon to kill Sansa in one final blow for ultimate power over the North as well. Uch, this show...

Edited May 13, 2019 by gingerella

[DirewolfPup]

While I'm sure the outcome would have remained the same regardless, I'd like to express some confusion over the initial tactics of this attack. So the scorpions (giant, dragon-killing cross-bows) were on the edges of the wall and on the boats. Instead of broaching the attack from the side, she decides to dive bomb them from the angle they're all set at. Wouldn't it be better to come in at a low angle, so that these ship shoot them and possibly hit their own ships? Also, since 200 or so existed, why didn't more try to shoot the dragon? Only Euron's ship did more than once. She didn't have to dodge much. Then poof. All destroyed.

Once again, Jon Snow is failing up. Consistently, making the wrong choices only to be rewarded for it. What a bumbling fool. I'm sure he'll be instantly forgiven for supporting a mass murderer during this siege. Because why not? A Show is determined for Jon Snow to be the perfect leader. He's awful. Sansa for Queen!

[gingerella]

@DirewolfPup, so much WORD to your comment about strategery! I was thinking, if they know Urine and his tongueless floatilla are just sitting and waiting for them in the bay, then why didn't Dany attack from behind? I mean shit, is it that difficult to fly in from the other inland side of KL and obliterate the forces from behind? She could have taken out Cersei and the Red Keep at the same time, swooping down over the forces and taking them out in one swoop. It's as if these show runners simply forgot what story they were telling, and just gave up. I'd like to slap them back to the beginning of A Show, and tell them to get their shit together. There are just so many gaping holes everywhere in the plot/story lines right now.

As for Jon failing up, sort of agree, but also, Jon just doesn't have it in him to fight Dany I think. What I can't figure out, and what I'm surprised at, is that he really doesn't seem to bothered that he schtupped his aunt! I mean, he IS part Stark and he's certainly more Stark than Targ from what we know of him, so to keep cupping Dany's face in his hands and kissing her, it's just gross. WTF?!? I get it doesn't phase her, but come on Jon, seriously?!? I also wouldn't say he's a loser per se, I think Jon, Tyrion and Davos are trying to do the right thing more or less, but it's difficult with Dany being on the edge of crazy. Jon was the one who's cool head prevailed and got the opposing army to lay down their swords and surrender (I couldn't tell if they were the Lannister troops or the Golden Company). It was Grey Worm who effed that whole thing up though. I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't lost his shit and started up the fighting again? Would they have all retreated back out the city gates? I think that was before Dany started decimating the city. In a nutshell, Dany has gone way beyond crossing a line, and it's going to take a helluva a miracle for Jon, Tyrion, Davos and Arya to contain this mess and take her out, which really is the only way forward at this point. And now that Jaime's gone, in the most useless waste of character killing ever in A Show, we're left assuming that either Jon or Arya take Dany out, and perhaps if she dies then Drogon dies too because he's her 'child'? I still feel like Arya has one good faceless man hit left in her...and I realized last night that I want Arya, Jon, Davos, Sansa and Bran to live. I think Tyrion's a goner, though I hope not because I actually think he'd be a good ruler or whatever they're going to call it IF they can get rid of Dany. What a waste of how many seasons of a cause, all gone up in senseless smoke, quite literally.

[DirewolfPup]

Would just like to remind everyone. HBO would have given them 10 seasons with 10 episodes each. They CHOSE to end it exactly like this. With ham-fisted character developments and turns that feel forced and non-nonsensical at the same time.

[Llywela]

Okay, gang. New Plan. Davos becomes king, and he spends his reign wisely and justly collecting adorable orphans to adopt, while we all collectively pretend no other claimants to the throne ever existed, okay?

I will be back with proper commentary tomorrow.

[janjan]

By the end of the inferno, Jon, Tyrion, and Davos are all horrified. So for sure they will turn on the Mad Queen, although it won't be easy to depose her. She still has Drogon and some Unsullied and some Dothraki (and the Second Sons across the Narrow Sea). The last ep next week (sniffle) will be interesting. How do you get rid of an all-powerful ruler? They will have to rely, somehow, on her madness to lead her to dumb decisions, now that all her wise counselors are gone.

16 hours ago, gingerella said:

who was that little girl Varys was talking to and what was he talking about? He was writing a letter to someone about Jon’s true parentage but then he had to burn it,

I think that was just to show that the Spider was hard at work being the Spider, and trying to save the realm. He had recruited new little birds and was trying to enlist an ally somewhere. But he was alone in his foresight, and Tyrion, of all people, turned him in.

I now officially forgive Jon for ditching Ghost. That's because Jon's the most likely to strike the final blow to Dany -- and get himself killed in the process. (By Grey Worm maybe?) So at least Ghost has a forever home.

It probably won't be Arya, judging by the signs of the horses. On her way to Braavos not yet a killer, she rode a white horse. When she came back trained and having killed only in self-defense, she rode a dapple grey. After killing the Freys and NK, she rode to KL on a black. But when she gave up vengeance, she rode out of KL on a white horse.

Same with Dany: Drogo gave her a white horse, which she rode for most of the series. But she arrived at Winterfell on a black. But the opposite for Jaime. He always rode a white horse, but he rode up to Winterfell on a black. Dunno if that has any significance.

[WhiteStumbler]

The only way imo Dany’s idiotic heel turn into Westerosi war criminal makes narrative sense is if it is part of a larger plan. 

Break the wheel. 

Destroy Kings Landing. Destroy the Red Keep. Destroy the Iron Throne. 

I don’t know what she does about her dragon, army, and cavalry though. 

[gingerella]

Anybody have any ideas about why we saw sporadic explosions of flourecscent flaming wildfire during Dany’s rampage? I assumed that all that was used up for both the Battle at The bay, and for blowing up the Sept...?

ETA:

@WhiteStumbler, you're theory is interesting until one considers all the innocents she killed. She terrorized that city, whilst Cersei seemed to let folks go about their daily business in relative peace, so whose more the monster now in the eyes of the people of Westeros? I'd say Dany wins the biggest monster award because Cersei's horrible acts were usually carried out against her family and a close circle of people around her, Dany's acts of atrocity have been carried out over huge swaths of the very people she claims she wants to free. I'm not sure how the Unsullied can't see that in retrospect. The Dothraki that are left? They seem to kill as a sport so I don't think her actions on KL will sway them either way. But what's left of the Golden Company, the Lannister Army, and the Unsullied should turn on her...

Edited May 14, 2019 by gingerella

[janjan]

10 hours ago, gingerella said:

Anybody have any ideas about why we saw sporadic explosions of flourecscent flaming wildfire during Dany’s rampage? I assumed that all that was used up for both the Battle at The bay, and for blowing up the Sept...?

Apparently not. They did say earlier that the Mad King had stashed wildfire all over KL when he was planning to "burn them all," and I don't think anyone ever retrieved it.

So it turned out that Jaime's king-slaying didn't save the city after all, although it was many years later that it happened. He didn't seem too concerned about the citizens this time. Or maybe it was just that there was nothing he could do.

So now it's down to Jon/Tyrion/Davos versus Dany/Drogon/Grey Worm. Somehow I think Tyrion and Davos will survive, because that's what they do. The only one I'm sad to see go is Drogon. He's a sweet dragon, ordered to do bad things.

Will Arya be the one to kill Dany, despite her white-horse redemption? What color are Dany's eyes? If green, she's toast. Arya has already killed brown and blue. According to Mel's prediction, she still has green to go.

[gingerella]

1 hour ago, janjan said:

So now it's down to Jon/Tyrion/Davos versus Dany/Drogon/Grey Worm. Somehow I think Tyrion and Davos will survive, because that's what they do. The only one I'm sad to see go is Drogon. He's a sweet dragon, ordered to do bad things.

Will Arya be the one to kill Dany, despite her white-horse redemption? What color are Dany's eyes? If green, she's toast. Arya has already killed brown and blue. According to Mel's prediction, she still has green to go.

I feel like Sansa needs to be inserted into the Jon/Tyrion/Davos trio...I have a bad feeling about her...Dany is off her rocker now, and she already knows Sansa told Tyrion about Jon's parentage so she can use Ye Olde Treason motif for wanting Sansa's head. I'm hoping that doesn't happen but I can envision her sending troops to bring Sansa to KL, a la Robert demanding Ned come to KL, and we all know KL is a bitch to Starks...Any threat to Sansa would definitely get Jon to killing Dany immediamente!

As for bad dragons, apparently A Show is a bitch to them too, not just horses.

Green eyes...I'd forgotten about them! Actually, I DO think Dany has green eyes, but so does Sansa, doesn't she? Or does she? I know, Arya wouldn't intentionally kill her sister, I'm just thinking green eyes now, and yeah, Dany I'm pretty sure has them. I wonder if we'll see Bronn again in the last episode? I have to assume so because otherwise his presence last week would have been a waste of time and film, right? So let's assume he makes his way back to KL and finds Tyrion, nobody really knows the fate of Jaime right now, but let's say Bronn now has no Cersei and only Tyrion to pay his 'bill', he threatens Tyrion, Tyrion tells him to bugger off because, reasons? They get into a tussle and Arya kills him to use his face to...nevermind, nobody needs to get close to Cersei now because she's dead. So whose face could Arya be after that would get her close enough to Dany to kill her? There's only one person I can think of, and I do NOT want him to die so that Dany can be killed...Jesus, if that's where this goes, I will hate these show runners with the fire of a thousand suns, forever and ever...

ETA: I just thought of another person close to Dany, whose face Arya could take to get close enough to her to kill her...Grey Worm. I'd be fine with him dying now, because he really screwed the pooch on the whole Golden Company surrender situation.

Edited May 14, 2019 by gingerella

[Pallas]

That's not what madness looks like. That's what evil looks like. Well, unless we're counting TV-madness, which looks like rabies. A hideous twist of fate where complicated people become heinous by jettisoning their moral core like someone else's cargo on a foundering ship, and emerge twice as powerful.  

Not-on-TV, madness is mental illness and it renders people pathetic, not powerful. Even when violent. Flailing, with grossly disordered perceptions and confounded will. TV-madness is a plot device as hoary as its sickly cousin, "the fever," where the sufferers toss their beaded foreheads from side to side and spill their guts. 

Rabies. The Targaryens were anti-vaxxers, it seems, and Dany got a dose of it. Now, just like Old Yeller, she'll have to be put down: another test of manhood for Jon Snow, just as it was for poor Travis. Will he pass and execute the sentence, bringing the show full bloody circle? Or will Bran warg Drogon, turning him on the Unsullied and the Dothraki before bringing the last dragon and full Targaryen plummeting to the ground, or launched into a mountain? 

It could have been terrible and great. The concept of Dany as a tragic hero who becomes the final antagonist is rich with meaning and feeling. It may be foretold in the title of the saga; perhaps A Song of Ice and Fire refers not to two pre-destined protagonists, but to two supernatural foes. That's some story. Oh, but the botched, benighted, foreshortened execution, in A Show!

If only. If only he who passed the sentence -- surely, George R.R. Martin -- had been the one to execute it.  

[Meredith Quill]

Mod Note:

If you're not unsullied for an episode you cannot post your thoughts on it in here. As there's only one episode left we're only going to hide the post in question (and responses) vs. a ban from the habitat. 

There's only one ep left people, let's stay in formation please!

[gingerella]

3 hours ago, Pallas said:

Will he pass and execute the sentence, bringing the show full bloody circle? Or will Bran warg Drogon, turning him on the Unsullied and the Dothraki before bringing the last dragon and full Targaryen plummeting to the ground, or launched into a mountain? 

That was beautiful @Pallas! You of fewer words this season, but each one hits with the footfall of WunWun (or whatever his name was). I hadn't even thought about Bran warging into Drogon, that would be amazing and would pull me right back into A Show because the magic would be there again. I remember when we were all so excited to see the little dragonettes, and now I just feel like, poor Drogon, just put him out of his misery already. That world is no place for a dragon now.

It feels more and more like Jon is being pulled towards the ruler moniker, and as Varys said (I think it was him), something like "those who don't want to rule are often the best rulers" or something like that. Jon would be a good and just ruler, but he really, Really, REALLY doesn't want that job. But you know who'd be good at it? Sansa, that's who. Jon can go back to being the Warden/King of the North and let Sansa and Tyrion help pick up the pieces, with Davos by their side to head up the development projects. Honestly, there is a great team there, they just need to make it through this and put Dany out of hers and everyone else's misery. Old Yeller indeed.

3 hours ago, Pallas said:

perhaps A Song of Ice and Fire refers not to two pre-destined protagonists, but to two supernatural foes.

I've always felt it referred to the WWs vs. the LoL, which makes sense in terms of Ice and Fire, but yeah, it could be the North/Starks vs. South/Lannisters & Targs? I like the former better because that's the part of the story that's held my interest all these years, and that's the story that has made it worthwhile remaining here at the Spitball Wall...alas, if only the original author's story was what we were seeing now, you're right Pallas, if only...

Edited May 15, 2019 by gingerella

[DirewolfPup]

The only thing that could redeem Jon's "failing up" would be if he made Sansa the Hand of the King. She's certainly earned it. She's proven to be the smartest person still alive at this point.

[walnutqueen]

I am either Stark raving Mad, or day drinking.  Because I am starting to think that Tyrion & Sansa should share whatever throne, with Davos as Hand.

[gingerella]

1 hour ago, walnutqueen said:

I am either Stark raving Mad, or day drinking.  Because I am starting to think that Tyrion & Sansa should share whatever throne, with Davos as Hand.

I don't think your Stark raving Mad but I cannot comment on day drinking... I think in theory a Tyrion/Sansa pairing makes sense, I cannot see a scenario where Sansa would willingly take that on, let alone live in KL. I think she's had a lifetime's worth of KL and will never leave Winterfell again, as would I if I'd gone through what she's gone through.

I'm still wondering if we'll be left hanging assuming Robin the Idiot, hopefully first and last of his name, will be spoken of again...

[walnutqueen]

1 minute ago, gingerella said:

I don't think your Stark raving Mad but I cannot comment on day drinking... I think in theory a Tyrion/Sansa pairing makes sense, I cannot see a scenario where Sansa would willingly take that on, let alone live in KL. I think she's had a lifetime's worth of KL and will never leave Winterfell again, as would I if I'd gone through what she's gone through.

I'm still wondering if we'll be left hanging assuming Robin the Idiot, hopefully first and last of his name, will be spoken of again...

From what I could see, there is no KL; Sansa and Tyrion are resigned to a rather sexless life, unless they ignite each other, and rule from The True North, Strong and Free.  That said, the "seat of power" may need a cooling off period.

And a thousand curses upon you for reminding me of Robin...

[janjan]

3 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

the "seat of power" may need a cooling off period.

Hee!

There ain't no more KL. and probably no more Seven Kingdoms as a single entity. That union was created by Aegon the Conqueror and probably destroyed first by endless war and then coup de grace'd by Dany. There is no more Iron Throne to sit on either, unless someone wants to plant his or her butt on molten metal.

I wonder if Tyrion will ever know what became of Jaime. Will he go through life (and be it long, I pray to the Seven) thinking Jaime and Cersei are living in Pentos, comfortably retired and probably taking long RV trips around the Essos countryside. Seriously, how could he ever know what's buried in the tons of rubble under the Red Keep?

[Anothermi]

Penultimate episode: The Bells

There is a lot to digest with this episode. Much has been said about “Mad” Dany so I'll pass on that except to mention that the image of Drogon (& Dany) “mowing” the roofs of Kings Landing while “Mad” Cersei watches from her tower is stuck in my head – unfortunately more like Road Runner cartoons than like anything horrifying. I kept wondering why she went all OCD and had to follow the rows of roofs so hyper methodically? Instead of going after her opponent?

And of course Cersei wasn't much better doing her best Blanche Dubois routine... “The Red Keep has never fallen” as she watched the city crumble around her.

Those two stood out, but the real crazy pants was Urine. I guess that's not as important because he hadn't changed. He'd always been crazy. (but I keep feeling there is a double standard lurking in these portrayals.)

But, on to what I did like...

The Lannister sibs: (I, for one, felt A Show handled this ending well)

They have been the poster children of dysfunctional Westeros. They were deprived of their mother's love due to Tyrion's birth – so he missed out on love completely – but the other two missed a lot as well. Cersei allowed that death to make her bitter, but Jaime appears to be the one who inherited the loving spirit that (may) have lived in their mother.

I loved seeing the bonds that bound Tyrion to Jaime (which made him unreliable to Dany as his love of Jaime came before his adulation of her). I appreciated that they accepted each other for who they were and could rely – as much as the circumstances allowed – on each other's word.

And then Cersei and Jaime. While I wouldn't describe it as a great love story, it was a human love story – warts and all. I knew when Jaime heard of the situation Cersei was in, that he had to return to her. I may have spitballed that he would end up killing her, but as his way of saving her, not for any other “noble” reason but just for his love of her. As he told Brienne in the bath at Harrenhal? “You can't choose who you love.” At the time, IIRC, he was referencing both his love for his sister and hers for Renly.

As @Pallas posted back in the S06E01 thread: Jaime's often been the one to rally her (Cersei) with his recklessness.

And his coming back for her when all her dreams were crumbling was what she needed to bring her out of her state of denial.  She could face the end with him. The irony of Tyrion revealing the safe route out to Blackwater Bay – the route Dany, Viserys and their mother would have taken to escape death-by-the-Mountain – and then having it be blocked because of Dany destroying King's Landing – was not lost on me. Also the writing of Jaime and Cersei's end coming full circle to S01 where he tells her (once again) that there is nothing else, nobody else... Just them.

Now I can't say I had a lot of sympathy for Cersei, but over the entire series I have felt for her from time to time and this ending for the ill-fated twins is one I can accept and appreciate. I think the writers quite liked these characters to give them such an end.

I just have to note that it's been hard, but I've had to let go of A Show's rule that if a death is not literally shown – it's not a death. Given that this is the penultimate episode, I believe they both died under the rubble. (And I believe Brienne of Tarth would find a nobleness in Jaime's decision. One she always knew he had.)

The Hound/ Sandor Clegane:

Another good ending – for the Hound, anyway.  Sandor, like Arya, had experience trauma as a young person and found purpose to carry on in his resolve to get his vengeance from his Brother. It made sense to me that this would be his final act.

What I wasn't expecting was that the character arc he had taken would make him the only person who could teach Arya that there is more to life than Vengeance! That was his best bit.

On the other hand... I was sorely disappointed that the Mountain pretty much remain “the Mountain” from S01 to S08. I kinda hoped we might see that Qyburn's interference with his body would have resulted in some level of degradation of him as a person. I even hoped that Sandor may have wavered in his purpose to kill his brother upon seeing him such a shell of his former self. But this was not to be. Apparently the Clegane sibling hatred was cast in stone to the point that Mountainstein regained his free will when challenged by his brother. (eyeroll)

This part was a fail for me – even though I did not expect Sandor to survive the process of taking his brother out. Weak, in my humble opinion.

It also made the death of Qyburn unsatisfying for me. Sure he was destroyed by his own creation. Cliche!  I thought he deserved a bit more than that.

Varys:

At least Varys remaining Varys – somewhat inscrutable – from the start of the series to the end made sense to me. He was both always the same, and always changing to suit the circumstances.

I keep thinking there was a scene between Melisandre and Varys where she implied that he knew what the voice he heard said (when his “parts” were thrown into the flames). I'm wondering if what he heard was the last thing Dany said to him “Dracarys”. It kind of fits with other things people have heard in flames. He heard how his “destiny” would end. Too bad that wasn't make clear, but perhaps the show runners forgot about that, or felt it was too obvious?

Grey Worm:

Here is another character who went off the rails due to his personal emotional journey. His story is not yet over, but I felt that his mental state mirrored Dany's. The irony of his situation, however, was not lost on me. He was “bred” to be Unsullied. His castration – unlike Varys – was supposedly to keep him from forming attachments that would affect his decisions as a soldier. But (and I like the point they were making here) human emotions are greater than just those conjured up by the hormones of procreation. Varys accepted the power that being a eunuch afforded him, while Grey Worm learned to accept his humanity – and all it's pain and fear.

Did anyone else notice that Dany called him by a different name before Jon came to see her in the Dragonstone strategy room? It was subtitled because she spoke to him in Valyrian. It looked like a birth name. Perhaps signifying that he had become a "real boy", like Pinocchio?

Arya's epiphany was also an important part of this episode, but I am waiting to see how A Show chooses to end her story. And Urine Greyjoy's end was more like a Monty Python sketch than anything else, so he's finally gone. OK.

That's all the (high profile) characters that I can remember at this point. So my remarks are over.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Anothermi