Well. Holy s**t! How else do you describe an episode like Hardhome, the eighth of this season of Game of Thrones?! The show has been gradually raising the stakes throughout Season 5, and here the writers raised them further and blew everyone right off the table. Episode 9 is known for being the episode where all of the big scale stuff happens. Delivering it in Episode 8 means that theres plenty of time to deal with the fallout, as well as the storylines that were left hanging in order to dedicate the back-half of the episode entirely to one location. It also meant that no one had an idea of quite what to expect, and it kept building and building and viewers had no idea how far it would go. And it went all the way. It was by far the best episode of Season 5, and one of the all-time best episodes of the show. It totally changed the game for pretty much everyone involved, even outside of the climactic show-stopping final third. For all the otherworldly goings-on, this was an episode concerned with humanity, and we got to see just how each of these characters deals with that. Its fair to say some faired better than others, so heres a look at the ups and downs in the world of Westeros (and across the Narrow Sea) this week
NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far.
A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.
