Warning: Contains Spoilers
HBOThis is your five second warning: if you haven’t seen the latest Game of Thrones episode, go and watch it before you carry on reading. I’m not being responsible for ruining the series for you.
Those of you who have seen the penultimate episode – also known as The Bells, also known as the Battle of King’s Landing – will know that shit went down.
In fact, so much shit went down that barely anyone survived to see the end of the battle’s conclusion – with Daenerys Targaryen doing an abrupt turn and murdering a whole bunch of innocent people in a move that nobody (okay, some people) saw coming.
Basically, Dany was pissed off at losing her best friend and, Essos’ most skillful translator, Missandei (and not forgetting her dragon, RIP Rhaegal) at the hands of Cersei Lannister and Euron Greyjoy, so she decided to get revenge.
Yep, the Dragon Queen climbed on her last remaining dragon, Drogon, and just torched the place to the ground – with all the innocent people inside. Yikes.
With everything going on, fans were left wondering whether the previous seven seasons of hype and build up truly paid off: Dany turned pretty easily, Arya ran away, the immortal Hound became mortal, the undead Mountain died for real, Cersei crumbled etc…
Some viewers are adamant it did deliver, with one Redditor saying ‘everything clicked’ for them after watching season 8, episode 5.
Why, you might be wondering? Because the episode showed us how humans are the real threat – forget about the Night King and the army of the dead, they were never the true villains.
Reddit user mavalos88 wrote:
I loved that today they showed me that all my preconceptions were wrong. This story is about how us humans are the real threat. To our world and to ourselves, it’s purpose was never to be a pure fantasy story. Sure the NK’s arc needed better closure, but in the end he wasn’t the real threat.
Arya isn’t a super killer girl. Today they showed us a powerless and scared Arya. all her training has no match to an insane tyrant.
They showed us Cersei at her most vulnerable, we all thought this was going to be a showdown between Cersei and Dany. Cersei never stood a chance.
Jon is supposed to be someone who knows what is right and always wants what’s best for everyone. It was heartbreaking watching him realize he was wrong and what following his heart led to.[sic]
HBOAnother person agreed, saying the episode left them feeling poetic as Jon Snow had to watch humanity rip itself apart, despite him fighting to save it his entire life.
Reddit user jaboyles wrote:
This was really nailed home by the scenes of John watching his own men rip apart the city, and as their king, there was nothing he could do to stop it. At that point all sense of duty he had ever known was being ripped apart around him in a chaotic frenzy.
It wasn’t white walkers at Hardhome, it was his fellow man, his army of ‘heroes’, in the capitol of the country. At that moment, him, as the sheild that gaurds [sic] the realms of men, was nothing but a spec of dust in an ocean of chaos. After fighting to save humanity his entire adult life, he watched humanity rip itself apart in a frenzy of fire and blood (the opposite of ice)
Man, that episode has me feeling poetic as fuck. I loved every single thing about it and I’ve despised this season (not openly) as much as anyone.
Deep.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).