Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale

"So it turns out, I really do know nothing."

I wanted to wait a while to let the Game of Thrones finale settle before I wrote about it. It was a strange season and although I still like the show, it wasn't as great as it has been. Then again, it's a long narrative, so there's going to be peaks and valleys while it unfolds. Overall, it just felt a little rushed, particularly the last episode, which could have easily been half a season on it's own.

By now if you haven't seen it and haven't been spoiled, you probably aren't reading this stupid blog either. So, Jon Snow is dead. That's the big thing, so let's get it out of the way. Instantly everyone has been developing fan theories about how he might be resurrected, etc. I say relax. It's a story, let it unfold. But as far as I'm concerned, he's dead. Trying to predict the next chapter is fine to a point, but I think there's more enjoyment in allowing it to surprise you. I'm more concerned with what his death means to the characters that remain.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Arya's story took a turn. It felt rushed, though. That whole assassination may have been cool and in many ways satisfying, but it didn't feel earned. Which could be argued is the point since she then got her punishment for going against the will of the many faced god. But it could have still been developed a little better and the killing itself didn't need to seem like Arya had been training with Tarantino.  I'm curious where this goes next though since Arya has been my favorite character from the start. I had chills when she finally got on that boat last season, feeling like she was finally headed somewhere resembling what she wanted. This season she's wrapped up early and with the prospects not looking good. But something tells me there's more to it. The girl is a fighter. She's not gonna let a little blindness get in her way.

The whole Uncle Dad scene between Jaime and Myrcella was odd. I guess it was touching to see Jaime (a character that I think in light of his layers being uncovered, was never a true villain no matter what he did), have that moment with his daughter niece. But then, it's still disturbing that it's couched in a "love cannot be denied" conversation about his sister.  And then the twist of having that moment only to immediately have the daughter succumb to poison was a blow to this guy that I'm not sure he can take at this point. I bet Cersei will lose her shit. Speaking of which. . .

Justice? I don't know.

The parade of shame. That was a long, odd moment. I can see how people would say it was too long and unnecessary and it was just for the sake of some perverse titillation. I can see that, but I don't agree. I think the scene works because it does something this show does very well. It plays with how you feel about characters. This is usually because the characters and situations are so complex that you can find yourself hating them and agreeing with them at the same time. In this case, I think many of us have come to hate Cersei above all others on the show. Joffrey deserved his choking death and it was satisfying to see, but she was the one that not only enabled his sociopathy, but she encouraged it. She took real joy in watching him torture others. And there's everything she's done since. But still, by having this moment of her walking, humiliated, naked, vulnerable and in danger as the masses ridicule and spit and throw excrement at her, it starts to make you wonder if maybe it's too much. IS it justice? Or is it vengeance? Not so much that she doesn't deserve it, but that maybe taking satisfaction in it makes us too much like her. There's the added level that the people responsible for her comeuppance really symbolize some of the worst religious fanaticism that actually exists in our world. It's no secret how anti-religious I am, so I'm sure that plays into it for me, even if she's the one that brought them into power in the first place.

The movie Irreversible, by Gaspar Noe, opens with one of the most horrendous murders I've ever seen on film. It's presented in graphic detail as a man's face is literally bashed in for no apparent reason. It's senseless and shocking. And then you realize the movie is told backwards and as we slowly realize this was an act of vengeance. But then what could possibly deserve vengeance of this magnitude? Eventually we get to the horrendous rape scene, also presented in graphic and painful detail, that lead to the revenge murder. And now you're questioning whether that truly justifies the opening. Are you left with "well this is not as horrible" or are you left with "well, yeah, then that guy totally had that shit coming"? I don't know. There are no easy answers. And I kind of got that feeling from Cersei's parade. Yeah, she didn't change and if anything, she's now more determined to get her vengeance, but it's more about our reaction. And I would suggest that Arya's moment is tied to this.

And so is Stannis's story. He quickly realized, in the most rushed part of the whole episode, that everything he sacrificed, such as his daughter, was for nothing. Was it worth it for him?  Clearly not. And in his case it wasn't even about revenge, but about ambition, no matter how much he told himself it was something else. But more importantly, Brianne's need for vengeance makes her a complete failure as a knight.

Leap of faith desperation.

And that's that, for a year, I guess. Is Daenerys going to be made a slave by that Dothraki horde? There's no way they are going to just accept her. Did Sansa and Theon make that jump? And where the hell is Little Finger? I'm sure there will be more complexities next season and more controversy and more fan outcry about deaths. I'm looking forward to all of it.

Unforgiven and Unforgivable

It was good.

I'm not sure how it happened, but until last week, I had never seen The Unforgiven. I grew up watching westerns with my dad and anything with Clint Eastwood in it was practically on in the background at all times. From the Man with No Name Trilogy to Pale Rider and everything else. So this should have been something I would have run to. But somehow, I didn't. I know over the years I started to watch it a couple of times and would get interrupted and never get back to it. Just one of those things.

I like this better.

Anyway, I watched it and I get it now. It really is a deconstruction of the whole genre and that badass character he played all those years in all those unrelated movies. Westerns are about archetypes almost more so than any other genre. As much as we like to think superheroes are our modern mythology, they are just a replacement for the western. I liked the movie. It works because it's not so focused on the deconstruction that it ends up coming off pretentious. It's supposed to be mythology, not a lecture. Maybe too much time has passed, but I'm not sure I'd go with all the hype it received. I don't know, I liked it fine, I guess. But I've seen better modern westerns. Off the top of my head, I remember really liking Appaloosa, directed by Ed "The Man" Harris, starring Harris and Viggo Mortensen. I'm sure that's sacrilege to a lot of people, but I liked it better.

I also grew up watching cheesy 80s b movies we'd rent at the local video store. I can't remember most of them, but things like the Ninja movies with Sho Kasugi come to mind. The basic feel of these things is pretty well summed up in Kung Fury, which is now available in full on YouTube, for free . It's pitch perfect, for the most part, and at 30 minutes, it's just long enough so the joke doesn't completely wear out. Although, I found it lost a little steam near the end, it's still pretty fun and batshit crazy. Give it a look.

The new power couple.

Speaking of unforgiven, I recently posted about my choice of king for the seven kingdoms and after this week's episode of Game of Thrones, I have to retract that choice. Obviously. So, fuck Stannis. Daenerys was always my gut choice and now with Tyrion advising her, she'll be more than just an idealist. So, my choice is as it always should have been, Daenerys Storm Born, etc. Until she winds up stomping on puppies or some shit. This world is harsh. 

Game of Thrones: Choosing a King

That's about as close as she'll get, I think.

The easy choice for ruler of Westeros has always been Daenerys. The journey of the Mother of Dragons, from crawling out of her brother's abusive thumb to proving herself as leader of the lost Dothraki tribe after Drogo's death to freeing slaves along the way has been tailor made for cheering on. On the one hand she ceases empowerment from the clutches of male opression. On the it doesn't hurt that she's sexy. But the reality becomes clear this season, that she is way out of her element when it comes to actually ruling. She's come dangerously close to losing what she's attained because she doesn't have as much self assuredness as she would think. And this latest episode indirectly told us exactly what her biggest problem is.

Things to come. . .

In a scene where Jon Snow is about to make a decision as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch that he knows he must make, he seeks the advice of Maester Aemon who bluntly tells him half the men hate him anyway and that he already knows what he has to do, so he just do it. "Kill the boy, Jon Snow, and let the man live," he tells him. Interestingly, by episode's end, Missandei gives Daenerys similar advice, but in her case, I think it might be too late. At the end of the day, though, what the advice does, what these unpopular decisions highlight, is that the true best ruler has been there all along and his name is Stannis Baratheon.

Raise the banner high!

Stannis was never popular. He was always the sullen Baratheon. Too serious. Too stern. Too humorless. But was he too harsh? No. He's never been anything but fair and measured. Every scene he's been in this season has clearly demonstrated that he's a true leader, willing to listen and even when he doesn't necessarily like a decision, he knows when it is the right one. Hence his support of Jon Snow's journey to bring the wildlings south of the wall. He thinks long term. It's really him that Varys should be seeking to assist for the good of the realm.

Father and daughter.

On a personal note I think my turn to Stannis has come because of two things. One, the fact that he was always the outcast and misunderstood hits close to home. My social awkwardness is legendary and while I'm not a megalomaniac that thinks he should be king, I do recognize the righteous indignation Stannis must feel because of this. The other thing is that Stannis is at heart a good father. His talk with his daughter a couple of episodes back is one of the most human moments in the whole series, and when you contrast that with scenes between Tyrion and Tywin Lannister and Roose and Ramsey Bolton, it's a stark (pun not intended) difference, even if Stannis seems cold. Again, he's an awkward and reserved man, but he's a human being. 

Varys may be seeking Daenerys because he wants to bring back the old glory to the realm, but at the end of the day, that old glory got them where they are now. Those old stories don't end well, as Sansa has learned first hand. What the realm needs is an even hand. A just hand. A tempered hand, not obsessed with power and status. That is Stannis. Your King.