GoT Season 8, Episode 5: The Bells

Warning: thar be potential spoilers in these here waters; if you're not up to date with GoT, sail with caution.

GoT Season 8, Episode 5: The Bells

The penultimate episode. Theoretically the biggy of the season. The biggest biggy of them all. In what has been a mixed season, I was anxious about how this may or may not be. As a spectacle, it was phenomenal, one of the best. It certainly has some shortcomings (once again, the writing fumble and stumbles), but within Season 8, The Bells was wonderful.


We open with Varys, our master of whispers. Episode 4 left it clear that his allegiance was firmly away from Dany now, and once Varys goes off you, it’s not long before he starts scheming.

At face value, his conversation with the kitchen girl is merely some interesting fact-finding, Varys showing concern that Dany is no longer eating (who can blame her after her rough few days), and her concern of being watched, presumably down to her spying.

Closer inspection though leads to a more sinister scheme afoot – Varys is plotting to poison Dany. This is why he’s concerned she isn’t eating and why the kitchen girl is of such interest to him – his plot is failing. He knows he’s playing a dangerous game and the longer it goes on for, the worse his chance of winning are.

When Jon arrives at Dragonstone, it’s of little surprise that Varys truly plays his hand – all but letting Jon know he wants him on the Iron Throne. Unfortunately for Varys, Jon doesn’t want the throne, once more pledging himself to Dany.

With his plans to off Dany failing and the horse he’s backing not in the race, Varys changes his tack. He opts to write letters declaring Jon as the one true king. Before he can send the letter though he burns it, as the Unsullied interrupt him. But do we really believe that this is the only letter he had written? Varys was playing things incredibly fast and loose, especially for him (perhaps Melisandre’s prophecy was enough for him to hit “sod it”), but he was still a master plotter. I have a suspicion that we only got to see the tail end of his notes and that at least one will have managed to make its way to The Citadel.

While Varys is plotting her demise, Dany has been wallowing alone in her grief. Clearly (and understandably) beleaguered, she is struggling with recent losses and presumed betrayals. She literally stands, sassing Tyrion, listing off the different people she blames for Varys knowing of Jon’s heritage. Her detachment from the fate she will lay upon him shortly thereafter, unnerving.

She laments the loss of Missendei with the only person left who may lend her an ear; Grey Worm. Yet instead of mourning alongside her, he simply throws Missendei’s only possession into the fire – he doesn’t care for mourning, only revenge. Whereas before, Dany would have had someone to lend her wise council or a caring ear, all that remains is fire and anger.

Her conversation with Jon shows her desperation and fragility. She pleads with him, attempts to seduce him, and tries all she can to keep him on her side. The trouble is, he is already as on her side as he can be – Jon is equally as conflicted himself.

In her time in Westeros, Dany has lost all of her friends and advisors, two of her dragons and her armies. She has left behind to people who adored her and fought for her leadership. She has fallen in love and lost it. She has encountered those who not only question her rule, but openly challenge it and has even found that there is a truer heir than herself. She had always been told that she need only sail across the Narrow Sea and she would be welcomed onto the throne, but instead she has found everything she ever lived for taken from her. Her friends, family and reason to be, all gone.

As she says, ruling has always been about being loved or feared, and, without the love she choses fear.


When the Unsullied come for Varys, we know exactly what is about to happen. All of the characters do too. Tyrion, in a show of loyalty to Dany has sacrificed Varys (admittedly before Varys kills her himself [well, not himself, but gets someone else to do it for him]). Varys is dignified in the face of death, no cowering no pleading. He knows he has betrayed Dany and that, having been caught, that he must die, but he is steadfast that he was doing right by the realm. He may have been acting rashly (for him) earlier, but Varys remained true to himself to the very end.

With the inconvenience of treachery removed, Dany’s focus is turned towards taking Kings Landing. While Jon is sent south to join with the forces, Dany plans to sack the city. Once more, Tyrion pleads with her to show mercy. This time he knows bloodshed can’t be avoided, but he hopes it can be minimised. He begs her to stop the attack should the city surrender and chime its bells. Dany accepts, albeit reluctantly. Whereas in earlier seasons, Jorah has talked her out of similar thoughts, it would seem that Tyrion’s words do not strike as true.


So, to King’s Landing, where Jon and the Targaryen forces prepare for war at dawn.


Yet, all is not well – there are enemies in the camp. Upon hearing that the prisoner is none other than Jaime, Tyrion hatches an escape plan for his brother.

The scene between Tyrion and Jaime is what GoT is really all about. It harks back to classic scenes, particularly those when Tyrion himself was facing trial for Joffrey’s death. The whole scene is lathered in emotion, with the Lannister brothers exchanging heartfelt words about their childhood and lives. Lacing the whole thing is a dramatic sense of threat, remember, at any point Tyrion could be caught in open treason (and we know how that ends). Even if his escape plan for Jaime is successful, he will likely face execution. The sequence is a final goodbye for the brothers and they both know it – each heading to their own fates. Jaime at the side of Cersei [although this leaves such a bitter taste in my mouth – I thought his arc had taken him to a better place] and Tyrion, once more saving King’s Landing, knowing he will receive no adulation for his actions.

It reminds you why GoT has won so many awards and has a place in our hearts. It reminds you that really, at the core of the show is not the petty squabbles over whose backside sits in a pointy chair, or even if some chilly git will kill everyone. It’s about relationships, strong characters and their adversities. It’s about our underdogs who fight the odds and about those who know true strength isn’t about how large a sword you can swing. It’s a time capsule, enclosed in a season which has largely cast strong characters aside, in favour of the over-arching plot, but one I could watch over and over.

When the sun begins to rise, we know the final war will begin (and likely end too). But I don’t think anyone would have predicted the way it all panned out. Instead of whole hearted sword fights, it was really all over in the blink of an eye; Dany laying waste to all defences in moments.

The only way to think of it is that she’s activated all the cheat codes and turned the difficulty right down. The Scorpions which were so deadly in Episode 4, destroyed in seconds by Drogon. The Iron Fleet, sunk in seconds. The lauded Golden Company, crushed by the city walls before they could even draw a sword. Cersei’s defences gone in the blink of an eye. The Dothraki are all back too, despite seemingly being mullered in Episode 3, hacking their way through anyone foolish enough to get near them. BY the time Jon, Grey Worm and the Unsullied meet the Lannister forces on the streets, there’s barely time for glances to be exchanged before the clanging of bells rings through the city and the war is won.

As a spectacle it is all very entertaining, but it flies in the face of all that has come before. Why were the Scorpions so readily able to take out dragons last episode, but not now, when they have fewer to concern them? How could the Golden Company be hailed as so powerful and not even get to step into a battle? Where on earth did the Dothraki come from? King’s Landing had never fallen before, but one dragon and five angry minutes later, it is taken.



In the maelstrom of the assault, civilians are thrust into the keep, filling it to the brim. Cersei is safe behind her innocent human shield. As the doors begin to shut, in slip Arya and The Hound, each on their own quest for vengeance. In the distance though, Jaime has been unable to pass through and is forced to take a different route – in through the secret pass Tyrion told him of.

With the bells in the air, the tension is palpable. All our characters know this is a surrender (if they weren’t sure the swords thrown on the floor is a pretty good hint too), but there’s a sense that this won’t be enough, you can feel it in your jellies. And your jellies are never wrong.

Before you can say “Don’t trust Dany’s promise”, Grey Worm hurls his spear through a Lannister soldier and the blood begins to flow. Simultaneously, Dany attacks the city, raining fire across all beneath her, friend or foe, innocent or guilty. This is not the battle we expected; this is a slaughter.


Cersei watches the horror unfold from her vantage point in the keep. As the flames rise, Qyburn advises her to flee. Cersei is relaxed, safe behind her war machines and warriors. Until Qyburn points out that they’re all knackered and she’s effectively stuffed.

For the first time in GoT Cersei is vulnerable – there is a threat that she can’t terrify, a situation she can’t scheme her way out of. That realisation pulls the veil away from her, behind the façade of cold, cruel queen, she is (understandably) terrified. Some argue that her fear is out of character. I say it befits the situation perfectly and humanises her for the first time since Joffrey’s death.

The sacking of the city is filmed wonderfully. Guerrilla style camerawork pulls you directly into the action, following our characters through the streets. Filming slowly and closely really brings out the sense of claustrophobia in this entangled and compressing environment. The use of silence amid the chaos, reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan’s moments of all-encompassing fear and panic in the heart of war. It allows you to see and feel what your characters are experiencing.

And what they are experiencing is not pleasant. Men, women and children are cast in the air and burned, or crushed under debris. Jon is forced to kill his own men to prevent them assaulting civilians, while Arya is herself strewn through the air on numerous occasions.

Wonderful shots from above, show the keep crumbling onto the map of Westeros, obliterating it entirely in a potential foreshadowing of future events.

There is nowhere safe, no escape. The Mad Queen has descended.

Away from the hubbub, there are a few moments of intimate, blissful brutality.

As Jaime approaches the keep from the beach, a bedraggled Euron attacks him. Their fight is cruel and rough, neither man fighting fairly. Euron fighting to kill, Jaime to reach the woman he loves. Though Jaime is stabbed through each side and (presumably) mortally wounded, it is Euron who is left bleeding out, a sword through his gut. His dying words a real measure of the character, proudly declaring that he is the one who killed Jaime Lannister.

Back in the city, one of the most touching scenes, as Arya and The Hound approach their targets. With chaos around them, The Hound produces a final moment of fatherly advice for Arya, convincing her to let go of her hate, of her vengeance. All it does is scar your character after all. A moment to take it in and another to decide and Arya forfeits her quest, accepting that she can survive this and that Cersei is already dead. She turns her back and leaves The Hound to his fate. But one final, beautiful moment still remains – Arya’s parting words to him: “Sandor, thank you”. This is the first time he’s been called by his name in the show, the first time any character has treated him as a human. It may be fleeting, but it provides him with value as a person, that he himself is not merely the animal many have written him off as before.

And, of course, as Arya skulks away, The Hound heads to his fate at Cleganebowl. This is the slobber-knocker we have all been waiting for and it did not disappoint. The now humanised Hound against the thoroughly de-humanised Mountain [a personal highlight is The Mountain popping Qyburn's head against the wall like an excited child with a chocolate orange]. Neither brother gives an inch, and we finally get to see The Mountain stripped of his formidable armour. Yet, all the while we know The Hound cannot win, that The Mountain really can’t die. As The Hound is being Oberyned [technical term, watch The Mountain and the Viper from Season 4 if you don’t appreciate it], he plunges a blade through his brother’s head, stunning him, but somehow not killing him. Faced with an impossible foe, Sandor knows there’s only one option, tackling The Mountain through the crumbling wall and into the flames hundreds of feet below, to their (probable) demise [although I wouldn’t be shocked if The Mountain just shrugs that off too].


As King’s Landing begins to resemble Alderaan, our episode begins to draw to a close.

A bloodied Jaime is reunited with a terrified Cersei and they share a loving embrace. Although not the place I wanted Jaime to be, it is still a touching moment. As they make their escape, they find their only exit barred by rubble and the realisation grows that they will both die. Cersei’s impassioned plea to live to the ether are all in vein though – the two share a final embrace as the keep falls upon them. It’s almost poetic that after Cersei blew the city sky high to secure her seat on the throne, that it is the city itself which will now be her demise.

Outside, Jon cannot watch on any longer. He knows what is happening is wrong and wants no part of it. He pulls any of his men who will listen out of the city and away from this slaughter. As he does so, he and Grey Worm share a final glance. I expect this will be brought back in the finale as the two of them come to blows over their now divided loyalties.

Finally, an ashen Arya arises on the street, the air thick and the streets caked in bodies and iced in their blood. As she rises a beaten and ash stained horse hobbles toward her. Each is damaged in their own way, and will be scarred by Dany’s actions forever. We close with Arya riding out of the city on her new stead, the embodiment of Biblical Death. [I’m sad we didn’t get to see her get onto the horse though, it must have taken some serious parkour skills!]

As a standalone episode, The Bells is right up there with the best. It is comfortably my favourite of the season so far. But it struggles with character leaps. Arya sacrificing her driving quest so readily was odd. Dany’s descent into madness was rushed. They all made sense in the moment, yes, but they could have been built to far better. In previous seasons, these moments would have grown from seeds planted episodes, or even seasons before. Now, they are made in seconds.

As we hurtle toward the close, I can’t help but think that a few more episodes to tie things up cleanly would have helped considerably. Instead of a nice clean jog to the chequered flag, there have been one or two hurdles stumbled over on our way, which a bit more time to align things would have helped with.

In our forthcoming finale, I am expecting a lot of tense conversations and potentially a few scuffles. However, another all-out battle is unlikely. I think Jon will realign himself with the Starks again and things will come to a head between them and Dany. I wholly imaging Arya to kill Dany (although I’m not 100% Arya will survive too) and Jon will reside his perky posterior upon a throne before the final credits roll. Perhaps he’ll marry an elven princess and bow to four Hobbits too, we just don’t know.

I’m not sure how things will pan out really though and I expect to be surprised. I’m also anticipating some more big, big deaths (even away from our immediate rulers elect and their entourages [if Davos dies, I will be fuming now]). Who knows, maybe Tyrion will marry Sansa properly, Sam will head to the Citadel and we’ll all get a happily ever after. Hmm. You’re right, no chance!

Season 8 has largely flattered to deceive so far, but next episode is out grand finale. This is exactly what they have been building toward for the last two seasons. Despite some hesitation, I have high expectations. And if they stick this landing, I will be able to forgive most of the problems in the season thus far.
God, I hope they stick the landing [otherwise I’m going to have to think of different sporting metaphors]. 

Until the final time, valar mughulis.

You can find my review of Episode 4: The Long Last of the Starks here.

For a glance into your future, you can find my review of the series finale, Episode 6 here.