Traitor | Game of Thrones “Mother’s Mercy” Review

Well, it has been a week since the jaw dropping season finale of Game of Thrones, Mother’s Mercy.” Rumors are flying about what we can expect in season six, but we will have to wait another 11 months until we know. In the meantime, here’s a reminder of where we left everyone in the wonderful world of Game of Thrones.

North of Winterfell, Stannis is ready to lead his army to Winterfell and the Boltons. The sacrifice of Shireen led to the snow’s fall, if you believe Lady Melisandre and all her mumbo jumbo of the Lord of Light. After Stannis’s brutal burning of his own daughter at the stake, at least half of his army fled during the night. Then, Stannis’s wife, Selyse, is found hanged in a tree; she committed suicide. As if everything wasn’t already crumbling around Stannis, Lady Melisandre takes a horse and rides off, but Stannis presses on anyway. The Bolton army, vastly outnumbering Stannis’s army, surrounds the Baratheon allies just north of Winterfell. In an underwhelming battle scene, Stannis’s men are all killed. And the only time we saw Ramsay Bolton, he was finishing off the wounded with a disturbing smile on his face; it’s hard to tell if he did any actual fighting during the battle.

In Winterfell, Sansa is finally trying to help herself. Previously, she took a corkscrew. She uses it to pick a lock where she steals a candle. Being careful that she is not seen, she takes the candle to the highest window of the broken tower. Before Ramsay killed Sansa’s northern friend, the woman told her to put the lit candle in the window to signal her remaining friends in the North.

Brienne and Podrick are keeping an eye on Winterfell and Sansa. Only moments before Sansa places the candle in the window, Podrick spots Stannis’s army heading toward Winterfell. Brienne and Podrick head toward Winterfell until Brienne happens upon a wounded Stannis. Brienne explains that she fought for Renly Baratheon, and she was there when a shadow with Stannis’s face killed Renly. She sentences Stannis to death and asks if he has any last words. Stannis only says, “Go on and do your duty.”

On her way back to her room, Sansa runs into Reek and Ramsay’s girl on the side, Myranda. Myranda has an arrow aimed at Sansa ready to let it fly. Myranda is the perfect girl for Ramsay since she is just as cruel as he is. Sansa believes that she is going to die and is ready to let it happen. Myranda explains that Ramsay needs her alive to give him an heir. She does say that all she needs to preserve of Sansa are the body parts needed to produce children with Ramsay. Just as she is about to shoot Sansa with an arrow, Reek or Theon finally steps up to the plate. Theon pushes Myranda out of the way and ends up pushing her off of a ledge, killing her. Theon puts his hand out for Sansa; they must leave together. She takes his hand, and the two jump from the walls of Winterfell; hopefully, there’s some snow to break their fall.

In Dorne, it seems that Jaime, Myrcella, Trystane and Bronn are headed back to King’s Landing. Bronn has a hard time saying goodbye to his Sand Snake, telling her he hopes to see her again. Elaria Sand seemingly puts everything behind her and is kind during their depature, even giving Myrcella a big kiss… on the lips. Maybe she isn’t over it after all. On the boat, Jaime tries to tell Myrcella that he is more than her uncle, but she already knows. She tells him everything he’s always wanted to hear, saying that she’s glad he’s her father. It’s almost a nice moment. But then, Myrcella’s nose starts bleeding, and she appears faint. It seems that Elaria Sand has poisoned her. If there’s no way to get an antidote, it’s safe to say Myrcella will not survive.

Jaime’s better half, Cersei had a painful episode once again. It seems that the High Sparrow has finally broken her. She goes to him and says that she has sinned and wants absolution. She admits to lying with a man outside of marriage; she even admits that the man is her cousin, Lancel Lannister. When asked about her rumored sins with her brother Jaime and their bastard children, Cersei denies it all. The High Sparrow tells her that she can await trial back at the Red Keep. She will still have a trial for the sins to which she did not confess.

Finally, Cersei can return home to her son, King Tommen. The women guards brutally wash Cersei and chop off her beautiful long locks. They present her in front of a crowd, and the High Sparrow explains that she is a sinner. She must now take a walk of atonement, naked in the eyes of gods and men. She walks naked all the way back to the Red Keep while one of the women rings a bell behind her constantly saying, “Shame, shame, shame.” Eventually, she makes it back to the Red Keep bloodied and broken. She enters through the doors right into the arms of a towering man who vows to protect her. Did Cersei get what she deserved? Who is this man?

In Braavos, Arya catches up with her old “friend” Meryn Trant. Meryn Trant now has three young girls who he whips with a stick. When the one girl doesn’t flinch or make a sound, Trant gets angry and says he has his work cut out for him with this one. When the girl looks up, we see one of the faces of a dead girl from the House of Black and White. Arya then reveals herself and attacks Meryn Trant, stabbing both of his eyes and eventually slicing his throat, after revealing that she is Arya Stark. It seems that she just can’t be a faceless girl. When she returns to the House of Black and White, Jaqen is very angry. He lets her know that there are consequences for her actions; then, her eyes glaze over as if she has cataracts. She screams that she can’t see.

Daenerys and Drogon seem to be nowhere near Meereen anymore, but it’s unclear how far away they flew. Tyrion, Jorah, and Daario discuss what to do while their queen is gone. Jorah and Daario head north in the direction of Drogon and Dany, while Tyrion stays behind to rule Meereen with Missandei and Greyworm. Meanwhile, Drogon is wounded and tired; he needs to rest and heal. But, Dany wants to get home as soon as possible. She decides to venture off, presumably in search of food; although, I still vote that she should have just rested with Drogon. On her journey, she becomes surrounded with what look like hundreds or more Dothraki riders. The big question is whether they are enemies or not. Before the approached, Dany dropped her ring in the grass. What does this mean?

Lastly, we get to Jon Snow at the Wall. Jon has a pleasant conversation with Sam. Sam wants to take Gilly and the baby away from the Wall. He wants to go to Oldtown to learn to become a Maester. Jon argues with him, saying he wants Sam at the Wall, but he eventually gives in and let’s Sam go. After they left, Ollie went to Jon saying that a wildling knows where Benjen Stark is and that he is still alive. Poor blinded Jon Snow follows Ollie to the supposed wildling but only sees a sign with the word Traitor scrawled on it. When he turns around, Alliser Thorne is the first to stab him saying, “For the Watch.” Member after member of the Night’s Watch take turns stabbing Jon Snow before Ollie presumably delivers the kill shot.

The only hope we have now is that Melisandre will bring Jon Snow back to life. He does have king’s blood, which is all she seems to care about. I really hope this isn’t the end for Jon Snow, since I really want to know if any of the fan theories about his parents are true (R + L = J anyone?). The running theory is that Jon Snow is not actually Ned Stark’s son, but he is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Tarygaryen. This would also support the theory that given Jon Snow is a Targaryen, he could become a dragon rider with Daenerys. Please don’t take away Jon Snow just yet!