Night gathers, and soon our watch begins… "Game of Thrones" came back last night. Here’s a recap of what we still don’t know after season five.
(This article contains spoilers through the latest episodes. If you still know nothing, Jon Snow, don’t read on.)
1. Arya is… blind?
In “Mother’s Mercy,” Arya finally made good on her seasons-long promise to kill Meryn Trant in a scene that was intensely badass and also mildly (majorly?) disturbing. After this revenge scene that harkened back to her days of killing off scumbags with the Hound, things were looking pretty good for Arya… until A Man (aka Jaqen H'ghar) revealed that A Girl was not ready to be No One after all. Jaqen explains that she was meant to kill someone, just not Meryn Trant, and since she still owes the Many-Faced God life, he drinks poison (which pretty much sums up how confusing this story arc has been). Arya was distraught until Jaqen appeared behind her in classic House of Black and White form — nothing is what it seems. This was followed by a disconcerting sequence in which Arya pulls face after face off of “Jaqen’s” dead body, revealing that the body is No One and Everyone, I guess. Then she cried out in fear and her eyes clouded over… will she be able to see in season six?
2. Sansa and Theon pull a voluntary Bran and leap off the walls of Winterfell.
In one of the more infuriating cliffhangers, we saw the tragic heroine of season five attempt to end her Bolton story arc by literally jumping off of a building. After her horrific wedding night, her failed attempt to call for aid via a candle in the broken tower, and the way her character has developed into a damaged but fully-fledged badass, this was frustrating to see. Some Thronies are even assuming she and Theon are dead. While I’m glad she may be escaping her sadistic (understatement) husband, I never wanted her dead! Here’s to hoping Sansa and Theon fell into a particularly soft snow pile…
3. Dany and the Dothraki.
After the disastrous fight against the Harpies in the fighting pit which ended only with the arrival of Drogon, Dany finally went dragon-rider and flew off into the distance. (Seriously, I’ve been waiting for her to ride one of her dragons since they were born.) “Mother’s Mercy” finds her in the middle of nowhere with an injured and crabby teenage dragon. Realizing Drogon won’t be able to fly her back to Mereen right away, she walks around the countryside, presumably in search of food… when suddenly she’s surrounded by Dothraki! Will they recognize her as a previous Khaleesi? Will she hold any power with them without her formidable husband Khal Drogo? Will her ridiculously long string of titles (Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons) mean anything to them?
4. Brienne kills Stannis when he's about to die anyway.
The only reason I’m classifying this as a cliffhanger is that we didn’t actually see it happen. While it’s almost impossible to imagine a scenario in which Brienne was stopped mid-sword-swing, it’s also hard to imagine "Game of Thrones" depriving us of the gory details during a main character’s death — particularly a main character who ordered his daughter to be brutally murdered just one episode ago. While Stannis started growing on me during season five, I went from mildly supporting his bid to take Winterfell from the Boltons to hating every part of his being after he burned Shireen. Since the Melisandre constantly reminded us how precious the King’s blood was, I was ready to see some actual Stannis blood hit the snow. Is there any way he’s alive? Will the show give us some Stannis-gore in flashback form during season six?
5. Frankenstein’s Mountain.
After Cersei’s horrific walk of shame, she returns to the Red Keep to find that her super-creepy Grand Maester succeeded in resurrecting Gregor Clegane, AKA the Mountain, AKA the monster who squashed Oberyn Martell’s face with his bare hands. Hopefully we get to see his grotesque and purpled face in season six. Also, Cersei doesn’t yet know that Myrcella was killed on the way back from Dorne. Will she set her new monster on Jaime when she realizes he failed to bring their daughter home?
6. Bran and the Children.
This is actually an old cliffhanger, from way back in season four. There was no sign of Bran in season five. He disappeared into a cave with the three-eyed raven ten whole episodes ago with Hodor and Meera Reed, and he has to make a reappearance soon. The storylines in Game of Thrones are so numerous and complex, it’s easy to understand why Bran’s secretive training didn’t make it into the spiderweb of plot lines this season. Still, I hope he comes back with a warg-y vengeance in season six.
7. Jon Snow… *wails*
I’m optimistically calling the death of my beloved a cliffhanger. The internet is overrun with rumors that he’ll be brought back to life in season six, and I’m clinging to that hope hardcore. Can Melisandre bring him back? Did he find his Stark-ish Warg capabilities at the opportune moment? Could Bran’s newfound magical powers save him? This is where we really need the Mother’s mercy. God, Jon, tell me we know nothing about your fate…
Tune into HBO again at 9PM this Sunday to (possibly) get some more answers. Remember, winter is still coming.
