Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 5

Game of Thrones

Episode Title: “Kill the Boy”

Channel: HBO

Director: Jeremy Podeswa

Writer: Bryan Cogman

Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy

Runtime: 55 min

Rated: TV-MA

Original Air Date: May 10, 2015

We're halfway into this season of Game of Thrones, and it's still a little hard to see where this season itself is going. “Kill the Boy” did dredge up the true threat in Westeros, the coming winter and the south bound White Walkers, which was nice. With so much intrigue and conflict between factions it is easy to forget that there is something much more dangerous lurking in the North.

Jon is settling into his role as Lord Commander. His first big decision, to bring the wildlings remaining in the North behind the safety of the Wall, did not go over well with his men. It was received by Tormund Giantsbane much the same way. Jon discussed the mission with him, called Tormund a coward, and calmly unshackled the wildling in what was a very good scene for Jon. That act seemed to earn an amount of grudging respect from the man he's expecting to lead the wildlings following Mance's death. Also at the Wall; Sam and Stannis had a brief scene in which Stannis encouraged Sam's research into the Walkers. It was good to see that Stannis at least has an eye on the larger threat coming their way. Stannis left Castle Black shortly after his talk with Sam, leading his army southward towards Winterfell. Sam and Maester Aemon had a conversation regarding Daenerys, with Aemon lamenting that she had a remaining family member so far removed from helping her. Jon walked in during the end of the conversation, leading me to believe that one of the most popular theories surrounding the Targaryens may be revealed soon. Of course, I could be seeing foreshadowing where there is none.

Brienne and Pod have reached a town near Winterfell, and Brienne is still trying to figure out the best way to rescue Sansa. She managed to get a message through to her by way of peasants who are still loyal to the Starks. Miranda, Ramsay Bolton's lover, is not a fan of Ramsay marrying Sansa. After a brief confrontation with Ramsay, and sex she's not in to, she arranges for Sansa to be reunited with Theon. Later at dinner, after Theon confessed to seeing Sansa, Ramsay decided that it would be Theon that gave her away at the wedding. The shock of seeing Theon in the state he's in now seems to have undone some of the composure Sansa had gained during her time with Littlefinger. She appears to have forgotten her goal of manipulating the situation and has retreated into herself, much as she did while under the thumb of Joffrey.

In Meereen, Dany mourned Ser Barristan. She then had her men gather up the leaders of all of the ruling Houses in the city and brought them to her dragon cave. She fed one of them to her dragons and the rest were spared. Grey Worm survived the attack he was the victim of last week, waking to find Missandei at his bedside. He told her that when he thought he was going to die the only thing he was afraid of was not seeing her again. This bizarre relationship angle is one of the weakest story elements that have been brought to the screen; the less time spent on it the better. Dany, running out of advisors, asked Missandei what her opinion on the situation in Meereen was, and she responded by telling her that she ignored the advice given to her too often. Dany then went to the dungeons and freed the man that's been asking for the fighting pits to be reopened. She decreed that they would resume operations, but only with free men, and that she would marry him to help placate the citizens of the city.

Jorah and Tyrion are still trying to reach Dany by boat. Jorah decided to plot a course through the ruins of Valyria because pirates are too superstitious to traverse the destroyed city. At one point Valyria was the most advanced kingdom in the world, but some cataclysm destroyed it, referred to only as the Doom. It didn't sound like a good idea at the time, but I suppose we are to assume that Jorah is so overcome with his desire to regain his position in Dany's council that he'll do anything. After a moment of poetry, which seemed like a bit of a bonding moment for the two, they witnessed Drogon flying overhead. While they were distracted they were attacked by stone men, victims of greyscale that have been exiled to Valyria. Apparently all it takes is a touch to contract the disease and they fought valiantly to escape their attackers. Tyrion went overboard, and the next thing we know he and Jorah are on the coast. Jorah rescued Tyrion and got him to safety, but was most concerned with whether or not he'd been touched. It was very much a zombie movie moment as both men denied contact before Jorah turned away from Tyrion and revealed to the audience that he had in fact been infected.

Conclusion: Although the conflict around which this season will revolve is still rather nebulous, the bigger picture was the focus of a decent part of “Kill the Boy.” Jon Snow's arc remains the best thing about season five so far. Sansa's inability to keep a cool head after seeing Theon was disappointing, as I was looking forward to her being a better player of the game at this point. Dany's struggles in Meereen are dangerously close to resembling a certain Mad King to whom she's related. Her story this season still interrupts the rhythm of the rest of the show, causing me to hope that her scenes are short and sweet; allowing me to get back to the more interesting stuff.

Rating: 7.75/10