Game of Thrones S8 Ep 5: the criticism of "The Bells"

By Laura Prudom

This review contains spoilers for Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 5, "The Bells". For more, Check out all the characters who have died on Game of Thrones until now. our theory of why Varys removed his rings in this episode; how "The Bells" echoes a vision of seasons ago and why this scene of Cersei realizes a prophecy in a surprising way.

If you want to go even further, watch our series of Dragons on the wall of the episode above, or download the podcast version here, and watch the preview of the Game of Thrones series finale. Oh, and did you catch Aaron Rodgers' episode 5 cameo? Of course, it's not quite as exciting as the guest appearance of the Starbucks coffee cup, but it's still cool. And if you're still looking for catch-up, here's how and where to stream Stream of Thrones Season 8.

There was a moment halfway to "The Bells" – when Daenerys heard the innocent people of King's Landing imploring his surrender and inexplicably choosing to Burn all Anyway – when I thought, "Do I hate Game of Thrones now?" (The short answer is no, but we'll come back to that.)

But the decision seemed so ignorant, so far out of the left field, that I perfectly understood why Emilia Clarke had said that the last scenes of the Daenerys series "had split … Know that it was going to be a lasting flavor for some mouth of what Daenerys is … "

We still do not know how the series will choose to end his story in the finale next week, but it seems unlikely that it is possible to redeem it now. she became exactly the kind of monster she saw Cersei. And although this trajectory on paper has something poetic, in the execution, it looks like a betrayal – do not because it is impossible to imagine that Daenerys would lose the spirit or sense of perspective after suffering the immense loss and betrayal that she suffered this season (the series has predicted the possibility that she will follow the footsteps of her father since the beginning, so this is certainly not the case, character for her), but because the writers have precipitated this progression so clumsily during the last four episodes. It's as if someone had just accidentally fallen and stumbled upon the big red "Mad Queen" button, making Dany an irrational psychopath in the last half of the penultimate episode, simply because the plot had made it necessary for the final showdown.

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This does not give the impression that the observed Daenerys are suffering, evolving and struggling over the past eight years – a person who has lived in fear of becoming the kind of leader that his father was; who has been treated as a pawn in a larger game and has seen his agency stripped down by people in a position of strength for most of his life. Back in Season 6's Battle of the Bastards, after Tyrion had told him exactly why Jaime had killed the "Crazy King" (for threatening to do exactly what Daenerys had done in this episode, oddly enough Daenerys made an enthusiastic statement: "Our fathers were evil men, all of us here, they left the world worse than they found it, we will not do it, we will leave the world better than we do. 'found. "

Apparently not.

Yes, she has always had the ability to be tough and cold when she is threatened, to act ruthlessly when her enemies oppose her, but she has never used his ambition to oppress the innocent, or those who are too powerless to fight back. She calls herself the chain breaker, not the kids burner. But, at once, she became a mad queen, killing civilians and burning the city, despite her earlier insistence on not having the intention of being "the queen of ashes". (I made as what some of us had predicted, the show allowed him to realize his vision of a decimated Red Keep, with ashes instead of snow, and the fact that his campfire set off some of the fire caches that his father had planted around King's Landing in the day, putting all the Targaryen in a loop. And thank God, she finally learned something from the death of the Battle of Winterfell and Rhaegal and started using Drogon tactically.)

In the interview Inside the Episode of David Benioff and Dan Weiss, explaining why Daenerys made the disconcerting choice to destroy King's Landing, Weiss gave the deeply fragile rationale that she "sees the dungeon red, which is for her the home of her family built upon their arrival in this country, 300 years ago.It is at that time, on the walls of Kings Landing, where she looks at this symbol of everything. what was taken away from her, when she made the decision to personalize it. "But the city has already made it. Nobody threatened his supremacy or contested his conquest. She already had won.

Of course, I can say that she wanted it to be personal and to take revenge on Cersei for breaking their alliance and killing Missandei – but she could have gone straight to the Red Keep, burned Cersei and the men who were her more loyal, and always go out looking like a hero (though slightly terrifying) for the citizens of King's Landing. Now, essentially are not all citizens of King's Landing, and why the rest of Westeros should he bend the knee to a person who is quite willing to treat his subjects as lighters every time that she spends a bad day ?

(It's worth noting that, in the segment Inside the Episode of "The Battle of the Bastards", Weiss stated that, even though Daenerys has a ruthless character of Targaryen, "This is not his father, she she's not crazy and she's not sadistic. "a two-year difference does.)

The difficulty of the last two seasons in particular (between overtaking the books of George RR Martin and the insistence of the spectators to shorten the two seasons in order to give us 13 episodes to end the story instead of 20) is that we have not yet had the opportunity to sit still. with the characters and learn how they feel or what motivates them. In the books, we know what all our main characters think because the chapters are explained from their point of view, which means – if the series actually follows Martin's plan for the end – we'll hear Dany's internal justification for explain why all this is happening, so it looks like a natural progression and not a tipping.

Remember the good old days of seasons 1 and 2, when Benioff and Weiss invented scenes that were not in Martin's books – as the incredibly revealing conversation of Robert and Cersei on their doomed relationship, and the whole story of Arya in Harrenhal with Tywin Lannister? They did not advance the plot in an obvious way, but they served as a vital context for the decisions our characters made – their ambitions and insecurities, their hopes and their fears.

By compressing these last two seasons (something that corresponded entirely to the call of Benioff and Weiss and not to that of HBO, it's worth it), we lost that emotional support in the race to get to the next big one turning or plot, without the books "Internal Monologues for POV Characters, this idea is even more valuable – and more visible when it's missing. But Benioff and Weiss seem to have purposely kept the audience at arm's length for the past two seasons in favor of separating us, so that we would be as surprised as Littlefinger when Arya and Sansa revealed that their conflict was an elaborate ruse to trick him (us).

In theory, a few small mistakes in narrative orientation may be satisfactory, but when you have writers who insist, "What really annoys Jon is that he is a relative to the woman he is in love with," while Jon continues to kiss with her. never once expressed the fact that an incestuous relationship with his aunt bothers him out loud, it sounds less like an intelligent plot than a narrative breakdown. And so it is that Daenerys insists: "Mercy is our strength, our mercy to future generations who will never again be held hostage by a tyrant", then cremate anyone who could create a future generation because it is too much busy to be a bully. . (Walking Dead fans have already experienced this with Glenn's dumpster plunge, and we've all seen how that happened.)

But one thing I've struggled with this season in particular, as a person who has read George RR Martin's books and is forced to delve into fan theories and wild speculations as part of my job, is the expectation compared to reality. (My colleague Terri Schwartz spoke eloquently about the same problem after being disappointed with "The Long Night.") Although I think Daenerys' abrupt decision to give up all his morality is sloppy, hasty and potentially ruinous, according to the course of the final, have been in charge of this show for the last 72 episodes believe that it is completely valid and justifiable. (Although they have been willing to repeatedly avoid other hasty narrative choices.)

And given the split reactions of "The Long Night" and "The Last of the Starks", this season, more than any other, feels totally dependent on the fact that each of us has invested in this show, which aspects we appreciate the most (fights against. character moments in particular), and that we seek to finish on top. I'm sure there will be a multitude of viewers waiting for Daenerys to lose it and burn the world. This episode was probably interpreted as the best episode of the series for them.

But in the same way that Westworld's Season 2 looked like a predictable disappointment after months of frenzied speculation and obsessive dissection of all the fan theories, Easter eggs and possible clues, I have to accept that Game of Thrones materializes in a fashion much more predictable than I would have hoped. The writing has so much telegraphed at Daenerys's heel this season (but only leaving other characters worried behind his back, rather than giving us a glimpse of the current mental state of Dany. herI was certain that they were preparing a delightful, eleven-hour ride that would see Dany subvert everyone's expectations and perhaps even sacrifice himself for the greater good. But apparently, I gave too much credit to the series, and finally, it's up to me, not the writers.

I've tried not to mark the episodes of this season, whether or not I agree with the characters' decisions because it's so subjective; and for that reason, I class this episode quite high – even though I just spent 1000 words explaining why I vehemently disagree with a major aspect of it – with the immense Attention, any score that I could give this episode (or any episode after "A knight of the seven kingdoms", which I found honestly close to perfection) seems completely arbitrary to me at this stage. I would rather just draw a random number of a hat rather than trying to find one with which I will always agree with in a week or a month. So, if you do not agree with the fact that the episode is an 8, rest assured, I'm not completely happy either. Think of it as a 5 if it works best for you!

There are parts of "The Bells" that look like an easy 10, and parts that look like a 4 or 5, and I felt the same about "The Long Night" and "The Last" of the Starks ". Some of these characters make decisions that seem completely incomprehensible to me, but they work clearly for a large part of the audience and viewers (and presumably the actors and the team that have participated in the series since the beginning), as well as their opinions are just as valid as yours and mine. And despite all the narrative shortcuts that I feel and how frustrating it is to see that the series seems to run at the end of a marathon when it could just as well take its time, even at worst, Game of Thrones is even better than 90% of other television shows in terms of ambition, time and care invested in these characters. What is disappointing is that I was hoping to give each episode of this season a 10 out of 10, depending on the possibilities open to it, and it breaks my heart a little bit that I do not feel the level of fear or satisfaction that I expected to feel. But again, it's on me.

(In hindsight, I'll admit that the tension and the spectacle of "The Long Night" – and that insolent ending – had impressed me too much when I had initially scored 9.5, if I had classify it now, that would have 7, between plot plots and the fact that you could not see half of it – but it's inconvenient to react to a long narrative in the moment rather than having the time to treat each episode with a cover or two.)

It's quite possible that when we watch this season as a whole, it feels winning and consistent, but by losing the quieter moments of character interaction, we lose the beating heart of Game of Thrones, which has always been centered on the relationship between these imperfect and fallible heroes, more than spectacular action scenes. Of course, if we had seen Jon and Bran tell Arya and Sansa the truth about Jon's lineage, we would have heard repeated information, but we could have also seen exactly how this upsetting news affected Jon's sisters. Did they reassure him that they still loved him despite his targaryen blood? Did they express their sympathy for the fact that he felt betrayed by Ned all these years? Did Sansa immediately begin to imagine how to undermine Daenerys or forced her to look at Jon in a new light? We will never know because the authors have decided that it would be more satisfying to let Sansa drop the bomb on Tyrion and rob us of Arya's reaction.

Cersei Lannister has probably had the most frustrating trajectory of all. One has the impression that she has had a total of 20 lines this season, and while Lena Headey has always been able to transmit multitudes with a mere sneer or narrowing of the eyes, Cersei was a character that we knew intimately – how desperate she was to protect her family, how much she underestimated and underestimated all the men in her life except for Jaime, from her husband to her father to her sons ; how much she was more strategic than most people in power around her. We may not have agreed with his decisions, but his motives were always clear. This season, we did not really know why keeping the throne was so important to her, beyond the implication that she was pregnant (which many people thought was a lie). Headey has beautifully demonstrated the disgust of Cersei whenever Euron Greyjoy touched her, but for a character who was once so outspoken, she was rendered virtually dumb in her last three episodes, which seems to be a very bad one service for such a complex character.

However, Cersei's death in Jaime's arms was a fitting end for her (and although I disagree with Jaime's self-destructive choice, that makes a little more sense than Daenerys's) and, in some ways, is the only logical death for the Lannister twins, considering where they started. Cersei had been the ruin, a situation that could easily have been avoided if she had focused on what was really important to her – her family – rather than trying to keep power at all costs. And Jaime was able to realize his own wish, to die "in the arms of the woman I love" (even if it overturned Valonqar's prophecy of the books, which, to be fair, was clearly left out of account on purpose ).

And we finally got Cleganebowl! The choice to interpose the dog's fight with Arya's theft was powerful and effective, and to see the Mountain trying to break his brother's head, in the manner of Oberyn Martell, was causing a panic unexpected. Unlike Dany's turn, the end result seemed inevitable and won here. It was heartbreaking to see Sandor plunge voluntarily into a flame to extinguish his bad brother, but as the old saying goes: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

But the moment that stopped me from throwing my remote at the television when Daenerys started to burn everything was to see Jon's horror as his men and the Dothraki began to turn their blades against the residents of King's. Landing after their surrender, Arya followed through the city in ripping, trying to save as many people as she could, while she collapsed around her.

Some might say that Arya's decision to quit her quest for revenge seemed just as brutal as the literal collapse of Daenerys, but to me that meant an awareness that the Revenge was ultimately futile, which she probably realized after eliminating the King of the night, when she admitted killing him did not make me happy, but it was better than dying. As The Hound pointed out, Cersei would likely die in one way or another in Dany's attack, but Arya had no reason to throw his life away. the pursuit of vengeance – it had not brought him joy, peace or closure since Ned's death. , after all. But by saving lives and helping those who could not help themselves, she was able to use her skills for something good instead of something destructive for the first time in years. years, and that's exactly what the world will need when all those keen monarchs will have stopped fighting each other. (If only The Hound could have given Dany the same encouragement speech.)

And as disappointed as I am to see that the show really seems to make Jon the last man standing, despite the fact that he checks all the boxes of the "hero's journey" clichés that it seemed initially that Martin was about to subvert, it was poignant to see him realize that the men with whom he fought and who bled in "The Long Night" are no better (in fact they are actually worst) than the Lannisters on the other side. One would think that he would have already learned that people are all too eager to follow their worst impulses when no one is watching them, after what happened in Night Watch, but it's still a chilling moment that looks like a purge. A constant truth in Game of Thrones: Jon Snow still does not know anything.

Miguel Sapochnik has always been one of the most talented directors on big or small screen to capture the immediacy and claustrophobia of the battle, and much more than the chaos and carnage of the Battle of Winterfell, the Battle of King & # Landing proved to be just as spectacular and powerful as the cast had promised (partly because we could actually see it this time around).

While "The Long Night" showed us an army that was overworked and outnumbered, but which nevertheless had selected to fight, the real horror of "The Bells" was that these wounded were innocent civilians – people who have no role to play in the game of thrones and who do not care about those who wear the crown as long as They can still feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. This is the most realistic representation of the war that the series has ever given us, seemingly evoking deliberately some of the horrific images we've seen in the Middle East and even closer to home in recent years – with civilians bloody covered with ashes, desperately searching for loved ones.

Whether you agree with some character choices or not, the destruction of King's Landing is at the heart of what George RR Martin seemed to explore when he began writing A Song of Ice and Fire – that even if you win a war, you always lose and those who suffer the most are usually the ones with the least power. If Game of Thrones leaves us with this nihilistic (but ultimately honest) message in the finale, it will not be for nothing, even if the events of this penultimate episode seem to guarantee that the last installment will divide.