Game Of Thrones Season 8: 7 Ups And 3 Downs From 'The Bells'

4. Jon's Gradual Realisation

Game of Thrones Jon Snow
HBO

Jon Snow is many things. He's honourable, decent, a great fighter, and a leader people will follow. But he's also not the sharpest sword in the armoury. And because of that, combined with his honour, he has long been insisting upon being loyal to Daenerys, even as those close to him have questioned such decisions.

The Bells plays upon this really well, by first having him re-affirm his loyalty to Dany, even as Varys offers him support, but gradually realising over the course of the episode what she's becoming. We see the first flickers of it at Varys' execution, but it's not until King's Landing that the full weight lands.

As Jon looks up and sees the mass destruction, and looks ahead and sees the Dothraki and Unsullied killing people, he finally twigs. He holds his Northern army back as best he can, and as Grey Worm follows Daenerys' lead, there's a real sense of the surprise and sadness that Jon feels, which nicely feeds into the final showdown coming next week.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

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.