Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 9 - "The Dance of Dragons"

HBO's Game of Thrones - Season 5, Episode 9 - "The Dance of Dragons"

Paul: As a fan of HBO's Game of Thrones and George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, I'm by now almost used to the unexpected, and to the moral compromise that's inherent with the nihilistic tone of the universe. I've excused or looked past the violent rapes and head-popping executions and baby murders of previous seasons, with the trust that the writing could either overcompensate, put it into context, or use the macabre to transform its characters or stories into a more complex and developed place. After Episode 9, "The Dance of Dragons", I no longer have that confidence in the direction of the narrative.

"The Dance of Dragons" could be the worst hour of television I've ever seen (and I've watched every episode of Lost and multiple seasons of Dexter). Every single storyline fell completely flat to me, before even getting to the disgust and dread I felt throughout the entire Stannis/Davos/Shireen subplot. The unease, anxiety, and nausea I experienced halfway through the episode has since turned into anger and disappointment, and easily transcends the guilt and self-loathing I usually feel after watching an NFL game.

I'll watch next week's season finale if only to see the audience reaction to the potential death of an important character, but I'm not sure as to my future with this series. The political and power struggles previously ranked among my favorite aspects of the plot but have been rendered pointless after last week's White Walkers encounter. There's even a possibility that the Night's King could be our most likable, competent, and child-friendly contender to the Iron Throne in all of the realms.

Without talking to you beforehand, I have no doubt that you enjoyed this week's episode more than I did. What worked, to you? How off-base am I in my ranking this as the worst hour in the show's history? Am I too emotional, based off of Princess Shireen's fate, or were the extended Arya scenes and the ending with Daenerys (and Drogon) also really, really lame? Is this the same show I enjoyed as recently as last week?

Chris: As a longstanding defender of Lost, even after an ending that left things to be desired, I have to disagree as you thought I might have, Mitchell. But first, I'll agree.

I agree, and had similar feelings of guilt/disappointment/anger during the Shireen scene even as I realized the inevitability of that scene in retrospect. As the showrunners put in their "Inside the Episode" short, Melisandre, Stannis, and this entire group of characters were introduced in a scene that saw them burning human sacrifices, and every other line in their dialogue talked about the importance of king's blood. This was an inevitability; in our subconscious we knew it was going to happen all along, and our anger and guilt probably stems from the fact that we chose to ignore it or have hope that it wouldn't happen in a world that has no place for hope.

It was a gruesome scene, and I'm curious how the impact will be displayed in the next episode. That could be another reason for the anger and frustration. We're shown the sacrifice that Stannis makes, but are robbed of the payoff for this week. We have no evidence that it had any impact at all. That's not to say that the ends could ever justify the means in this case, but it may have taken the sting off.

As for the the Daenerys/Drogon/Fighting Pits climax of this episode, it did work for me. There is a similar scene in the books, but the stakes seem higher in this version because it becomes very clear Daenerys has officially worn out her welcome in the city of Meereen. It's expedited by the proximity of the threat of the Sons of the Harpy to Daenerys, the fact that Tyrion is with the Queen to witness it all, and the return of Jorah Mormont, who, oh by the way, is about to infect everyone with Stone Man Disease. Aside from a couple short and cheesy-as-hell close-up shots of Daenerys, which I can forgive considering how much they've blown out the scale for a television show (as you said earlier this season, remember when they were yada yadaing the battle scenes in season 1?), I thought the Drogon fight scene was intriguing and well done.

I especially enjoyed Tyrion's amazement of that scene that was unfolding around him. He was fully realizing the power/potential (both in a good way and a bad way) that Daenerys and her dragons can have on the world and there's likely no other character on the show who is intelligent enough to realize all the ramifications of what could unfold (during next season).

While I understand your frustration with the scene in question, I was impressed that the show was able to maintain momentum after such an amazing 20 minutes last week.

At the Wall

Paul: In my attempts to devour as many recaps, reviews, and takes as I could on "The Dance of Dragons", in an effort to better understand my disconnect with the content, I figured the "Inside the Episode" feature would be important. I understand that our interpretation of Stannis over the past season may not have been what the writers intended, but why waste precious screen time humanizing Stannis and his daughter, if BURNING HIS ONLY CHILD ALIVE AT THE STAKE was always a part of the plan? I'm supposed to believe that Stannis Baratheon can survive months trapped on Storm's End by boiling leather and roasting rats, but a couple of weeks in the snow forces him to BURN HIS ONLY CHILD ALIVE AT THE STAKE? It's not as if Melissandre's prophecies have exactly been accurate before, and does nobody care that Balon Greyjoy is apparently alive and well, and immune to king's blood magic? And I'm sure his remaining Baratheon and Florent forces, combined with the mercenaries purchased with the Iron Bank's coin, are completely cool with following a wannabe king who BURNS HIS ONLY CHILD ALIVE AT THE STAKE. Not to mention Ramsay Bolton and his 20 compatriots' incredible success in midnight guerrilla warfare. Oh and the fact that one of my favorite characters in the show, Ser Davos Seaworth, completely condoned the effigizing of Shireen (Motherfucking) Baratheon. But at least he carved her a toy and talked about his son before he let the "just" King Stannis murder his only daughter and heir!

Again, after excusing all of the awfulness that we've witnessed over the past five seasons, there's a chance that I could rationalize another low point to this series, just like I have in the past ("Now play with her ass", anyone?), given some competent storytelling and build up. Instead, Shireen's execution was flanked by more awkward scenes with Arya/Lana, the world's worst spy, and the chaos and cheesy CGI of Dany's "Never Ending Story"-ride. The Fighting Pits were grander and more epic than in weeks past, but the combat was still clunky and scattered. The only positive vibe to the episode may have been Jorah Mormont reuniting with Dany and again rejoining her side as a protector, which was then dashed when the Khaleesi stranded all of her loved ones in the Pits with the remaining, non-singed Sons of the Harpy. The death of Hizdahr zo Loraq is a departure from the books and indicates that maybe he wasn't involved with the conspiracy in Meereen after all, but Barristan Selmy's absence is felt (as is Strong Belwas's and the honeyed locusts). Dany's apparent telepathic link with her dragons was unexpected and should alleviate Bran or Tyrion's involvement with her eventual takeover of Westeros.

I still have to watch this episode again, to hopefully better understand the writers' intentions and at least to grab screen caps for this post, but I really don't want to. I can't remember feeling this upset and disgusted before upon watching an episode of (what is supposed to be) entertainment, and just the day before I finally saw "Fruitvale Station". This wasn't quite the same feelings of sadness and despair, but the nihilistic themes are quite similar, and I have to finally wonder why I subject myself to the negativity without the payoff of even a positive or human moment. Maybe it's my fault for seeking interesting and evolving characters in my Game of Thrones experience, when I should probably just appreciate the spectacle of dragons and zombies and brutality. I can't wait to see Arya, the undercover teenage prostitute-assassin, next week! I guess I'm with Stannis at this point; just let it all burn.

Stannis's camp, just north of Winterfell

Chris: A big part of the problem has been the inconsistencies with who the characters are in the books and the television show. Minor changes in the characterization can make certain plot points work poorly. The tender scene between Stannis and Shireen earlier in the season was not in the books, and probably would never happen with book Stannis. In the "Inside the Episode", Benioff and Weiss mention that George R.R. Martin told them about this scene involving the brutal sacrifice of a young girl.

In the books, with the prevalence of prophecy overshadowing this entire storyline, you are led to believe that the terrible things that Stannis may do are necessary because, in the end, he is going to be instrumental in, even essential to, defeating the White Walkers. Of course there is still a question about whether what Melisandre says is true or not, but in the books she displays even more power and knowledge than in the show.

It's Utilitarianism at it's apex. If the sacrifice of a little girl is necessary to save millions of other lives, it must be done under the utilitarianism way. Of course, it remains to be seen if this sacrifice in particular is necessary to save any lives at all. And then there's the greater question that maybe there are very few lives in the world of Game of Thrones that would be worth saving and Shireen being one of them makes this seem extra cruel.

In the end, I can't get upset now when the hook of the series was Twincest pushing an eight-year old boy out of a window. Game of Thrones, as realistic as it may seem, is complete fantasy, and I can process the awful and terrible things that these terrible people do and move on when the episode ends. It's obviously not what drew me to this story, and I was absolutely uncomfortable/disgusted/offended/irate watching the scene, but I will continue to suffer through what Benioff and Weiss are serving under the assumption that there is some greater good at the end of the tunnel.

I'm probably a sucker for that.

Braavos

Paul: As am I ("a sucker"), but in a different sense. In the few days since our last correspondence my curiosity in not "getting" the episode has turned to resignation, in that maybe I'm wrong in how I viewed this show and in my expectations from it. Perhaps Game of Thrones has always been more Breaking Bad than The Wire, and the mistake is on my part for assuming the story had a direction or consistent characters. I've apparently spent too much time invested in this world and the various power brokers, when I should instead appreciate the overabundance of nudity and nihilism, apparently.

Benioff and Weiss have made their intentions clear in the last two episodes, in that military strategy and politics aren't as integral to their story as spectacle, and my ongoing conflict this season has been deciding whether or not the showrunners are decent writers. Even last week's "Hardhome" was amazing, but it was more a product of Wun Wun and the Night's King than their characterization of Karsi and her maternal limitations. It was also nice of Weiss and Benioff to spoil us book readers as to George R.R. Martin's intentions, as a way of passing the blame for their poor efforts when it comes to Princess Shireen's fate. I don't doubt that Martin originally intended to kill off Shireen as well, but I would expect his execution of her execution to make a lot more sense to the plot and to the character of Stannis Baratheon, along with treating the event with much more compassion and less brutality.

As Jason Concepcion wrote this week on Grantland, the decision by Stannis was completely against the character that has thus far been portrayed on HBO by Stephen Dillane. He's burned Florents before and even already committed the grievous sin of kinslaying with his brother Renly, but all for a reason: to quell opposition to his claim to the Iron Throne. His decision to murder his only heir reminds me of Petyr Baelish revealing his Sansa secret to Roose Bolton (that's it?). If these two women are the keys to getting their guardians into actual positions of power, aren't they wasted on Winterfell? I'm not sure how the risk could be worth the reward to either Littlefinger or Stannis, and talk about low expectations. Shireen's king's blood had better be powerful, because keeping her alive and marrying her off to another powerful family (Willas Tyrell? An Umber/Manderly?) might have proven a better use of resources. But that wouldn't have been nearly as offensive and shocking, and this is Benioff and Weiss's Game of Thrones that we're talking about. Shout out to Kerry Ingram for some incredible acting and even better voice work, and I guess to director David Nutter for getting it out of her.

What are you looking forward to in the Season 5 finale? Does seeing the "Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss" graphic before the episode starts usually fill you with confidence or dread? What will we be discussing on Monday morning, and will the audience be generally content or upset afterwards?

Chris: That is totally fair. As we get deeper and deeper into the series it's become more and more obvious how different the story is in each medium.

Martin often gets the criticism that the story is moving along too slowly in Books 4 and 5, but the positive side of that is the depth of story, of setting of character that he spends the time creating. The story spreads out more than it travels in a linear fashion.

That's something the television show could never have hopes to accomplish and even less so as the audience grew. It's an inevitability. There's just more terrain to traverse in literary form. The limitation is more pronounced now as opposed to season 1.

As for the season finale, I'm not 100% sure what to expect. There seems like a lot of plot to be covered to bring some closure to all the different storylines. I'm very curious to see how Winterfell ends up and to see if there's any attempt to justify that awful scene. And Andy Greenwald has been calling the Omar/Jon Snow similarities. I don't expect happy endings, that's for sure, but I assume people will keep watching.