Cersei makes her confession to High Sparrow, Stannis marches on Winterfell, and Sansa finally takes a stand. Get a sneak peek of tonight’s Game of Thrones season finale “Mother’s Mercy”, airing at 9:00pm on HBO.
On last week’s Game of Thrones episode, “The Dance of Dragons“:
Camp Stannis: As promised, Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) and his band of 20 men raided Stannis’ (Stephen Dillane) camp and set several fires ablaze. In the end, all the food stores and siege weapons were destroyed and several horses were dead. While Stannis ordered the guards to be punished, Ser Davos (Liam Cunningham) tried again to convince his king to turn back to Castle Black. Yet again, Stannis disagreed. It seemed he was finally willing to acquiesce to the Red Witch’s (Carice van Houten) plans.
Stannis decided to send Davos back to Castle Black to collect food supplies and fresh water. But why should the Hand leave the King, especially for an errand anyone could execute? Even more suspicious, Stannis was adamant that Shireen (Kerry Ingram) remain with him. Before he left, Davos went to see Shireen. He gave her a gift—a carving of a stag—and promised to see her in a few days.
While Shireen was playing with the stag, Stannis came to see her. They talked about the book she was recently reading “The Dance of Dragons” (the story of the Targaryen civil conflict between Rhaenyra and his half-brother Aegon II). Stannis then spoke to Shireen about having to make tough choices to realize one’s fate, even by doing something one hated. Shireen felt bad for her father and promised to do anything to help him.
Later Shireen was led to a pyre by soldiers, bound, and then set on fire by Melisandre…a sacrifice to the lord of light. Shireen tried to escape and called for her parents. Surprisingly, Selyse (Sarah MacKeever) tried to free Shireen, but was held back by the soldiers. Stannis looked on as his daughter was burned to death.
Castle Black: Jon (Kit Harington) returned from Hardhome with the remaining Night’s Watch and Wildlings in tow. At first, it seemed like Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) wouldn’t let them inside, but the gates were eventually opened. Once inside, Jon confided in Samwell (John Bradley), saying that he failed the Wildlings and wishing he could have saved more people. But Sam believed Jon did his best…those who did make it owed their lived to him. Thorne then approached Jon and seemed to praise him for having a good heart; however it was likely a backhanded compliment: “You have a good heart, Jon Snow. It will get us all killed.”
Dorne: Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) was allowed to join Prince Doran (Alexander Siddig) for a meal. Ellaria (Indira Varma), Trystane (Toby Sebastian), and Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free) were also present. Interestingly, Jaime was not pleased with his niece/daughter’s dress (a bit too skimpy), but Myrcella didn’t care. After all, the Dornish weather agreed with her. When questioned about his secretive arrival in Dorne, Jamie told them about the threat Cersei (Lena Headey) received (Myrcella’s necklace in the jaws of a viper). Apparently the necklace had been stolen from Myrcella’s room and Ellaria looked very suspicious. Prince Doran would do what it took to prevent war—he toasted Tommen’s reign (Ellaria poured out her wine on the floor rather than participate) and agreed to send Myrcella and Trystane to King’s Landing. Their engagement would stand and Trystane would serve on the Small Council. Ellaria was livid, cursed Doran, and stormed out of the room.
Trystane showed mercy and agreed to set Bronn (Jerome Flynn) free, with a condition: Areo Hotah (Deobia Oparei) struck Bronn, just as he had struck Trystane.
Later, Ellaria tearfully swore her allegiance Prince Doran. Her quest for revenge was finished, right? Well afterwards she went to see Jaime and seemed to encourage him to embrace his love for Cersei “The only thing that stays the same is that we want who we want.” Ellaria even absolved Myrcella and Jamie of Oberyn’s death.
Braavos: Arya/Lana (Maisie Williams) made her trip to the docks, prepared to give the gambler/thin man the gift (poison) from Jaqen. However, she was distracted when Mace Tyrell (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) arrived to visit the Iron Back and Ser Meryn Trant (Ian Beattie) was with him. Was this finally the chance Arya needed to take out one of the people on her list? She forgot about the thin man and followed Mace and Meryn to the Iron Bank. After finishing there, Arya followed Meryn to a brothel. She watched as he perused the “merchandise”, eventually settling on a very young girl (ICK!). Meryn seemed to recognize Arya before she was shooed away from the establishment.
When Arya returned to the House of Black and White, Jaqen (Tom Wlaschiha) asked about her progress with the gambler. She lied, saying that he hadn’t been hungry and didn’t buy oysters that day…perhaps tomorrow. Jaqen agreed. (*SIDENOTE* I find it very hard to believe that someone as intuitive as Jaqen would just believe Arya’s lie, especially since he’s always been able to see through her! Does this mean Arya is getting better at playing the game? Or does Jaqen have another plan?)
Meereen: The day of the Great Games arrived and Dany (Emilia Clarke), Hizdahr zo Loraq (Joel Fry), Daario (Michiel Huisman), Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), and Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) sat on the dais and watched the contests. Daario used this as an opportunity to show off for Dany and talk about his own fighting prowess. However, Dany was clearly uncomfortable, even though Hizdahr was adamant that the fighting pits were an important part of Meereenese tradition.
And then Jorah (Iain Glen) entered the pit, prepared to fight for Dany’s glory (and maybe earn her trust). He fought well, but took several hits, and even had one *really* close call. Would Dany intervene to save Jorah if necessary? Jorah was eventually triumphant, and in celebration, took a spear and threw it toward the dais………….killing a member of the Sons of the Harpy who was about to attack Dany. An even more gruesome slaughter ensued with the Sons of the Harpy murdering at will; even Hizdahr was killed. Daario and Jorah joined forces to protect Dany and Tyrion joined the fight to protect Missandei. But they ended up in the middle of the arena completely surrounded. This was the end………or not!
Drogon arrived out of nowhere and protected his mother. He decimated the Sons of the Harpy, chewing them up and lighting them on fire. They threw spears at Drogon and Dany went to help him. Mother and dragon stood face to face; then she climbed on his back and rode him as they flew straight into the sky. Everyone was stunned.
In tonight’s finale episode “Mother’s Mercy” written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and directed by David Nutter:
Stannis marches. Dany is surrounded by strangers. Cersei (Lena Headey) seeks forgiveness. Jon is challenged. (via HBO)
This week’s official synopsis is pretty sparse, but thankfully, we can rely on the Entertainment Weekly Spoiler Room to give us a few more tidbits about what to expect in the upcoming show:
“The high-intensity action of the last two episodes does not slow down as we head into the finale. You can expect at least one more death before season’s end (‘natch). Lena Headey will also have her biggest scene of the season, one that everybody will be talking about the next day, while Brienne will finally have something to do other than wait in the snow.”
In the video preview and images from “Mother’s Mercy” (below), we see Cersei seemingly making some sort of confession to High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) and potentially begging for his mercy. Is this her big scene? It looks like Sansa (Sophie Turner) will take a stand against Ramsay and perhaps strike out on her own. Will Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) be there to help her escape? Now that Stannis has allowed the Red Witch to kill his daughter, I guess this means everything is in place for him to march on Winterfell. (I can’t stay I’m cheering for Stannis though…) Finally, WHERE IS DANY?!
What are you most looking forward to seeing tonight? Any speculations about who might meet their death?
Make sure to tune into HBO at 9:00pm ET|PT for “Mother’s Mercy,”and come live tweet with me as we watch Season 5 come to an end!
In case you miss this airing (or just want to re-watch), the episode will re-air on HBO at the following times:
June 14 = 11:30pm, 2:00am
June 15 = 10:30pm (9:00pm on HBO2)
June 16 = 9:00pm, 1:50am
June 17 = 2:25am
June 18 = 10:00pm
June 19 = 9:00pm (2:30am on HBO2)
June 20 = 10:30pm (2:45pm on HBO2)