‘Game of Thrones’ season 5, episode 4 review: Death and drama in Meereen
It is not often that we open a “Game of Thrones” episode review talking about Meereen, but there is a reason for that for the most part: More often than not, we tend to pretend that this part of the show does not often exist. It has not been that interesting for at least a season now, but that may be changing following the events of tonight’s installment.
Tonight, Daenerys may have lost two of her most trusted allies in Ser Barristan and then Grey Worm, who were both fighting the insurgency on the streets of the city. The way that the series ultimately filmed this was rather brilliant; we knew from the moment these two entered battle that death was coming, but were still compelled to watch. The death of these two leads Dany ultimately to rely solely on Daario and Missandei, which to us means that she may be even more in need of Ser Jorah than ever before.
Luckily for her, Jorah is on his way! He also has Tyrion in tow, and even though he learned that he was already heading to Meereen in the first place, he’s still not letting the Lannister into his inner circle just yet.
Beyond the Wall – Jon Snow is learning that there are tough decisions as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and that includes having to turn away Melisandre. Of course, she disrobed in an effort to persuade him to accept her power, which he refused. A bold move by Jon, and he continues to stand firm with the Night’s Watch. That even meant enlisting the help of Roose Bolton in Winterfell.
Winterfell – Speaking of the city, tonight Sansa Stark learned of what Baelish’s ultimate endgame here truly is (or at least what we believe it to be): He is siding with Stannis in the battle for King’s Landing, and he believes that his army will come in and destroy House Bolton. In turn, Sansa will ultimately have control of her home as the last surviving Stark. Granted, no one knows about Arya, Bran or Rickon (remember him?) at the moment.
King’s Landing – Cersei’s infatuation with the High Sparrow has grown, though really she seems to just be using him in order to destroy House Tyrell. She had Loras seized by the guards, knowing that her son Tommen would be too cowardly to know what to do. She was right, and tension is forming already with the young king and Margaery.
Dorne – Finally, we turn to the latest addition to the show! This was fun stuff, as we met the Sand Snakes, learned about their goal to get revenge on the Lannisters, and also saw that Jamie’s arrival in the city is going to be quite a bump ride.
This episode was not necessarily the best of the season, but it was definitely not the worst. It definitely set the stage for some good things to come, and we are also finally getting a sense now of where certain alliances stand moving into the future. Grade: B+.
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