WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the “Game of Thrones” Season 5 finale, which aired Sunday night.
Forget the NBA Finals or “Sunday Night Baseball.” The good stuff was on HBO.
Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” came to a bloody conclusion, and while that shouldn’t shock fans, the fate that awaited so many key characters did. Twitter was abuzz during the show’s East Coast airing, leaving fans in other time zones to wonder what was in store for them.
Blood. Poison. Nudity. Shame. Snow. That about sums it up. This episode was “Mother’s Mercy” only in name.
Let’s review the six characters who received the biggest comeuppances in the Season 5 finale, ranked from the most shocking to the most deserved.
1. Jon Snow
Everyone’s favorite Lord Commander of The Night’s Watch tries to protect the wildlings — and pays for it with his life, as his men mutiny at Castle Black. Yes, this happens in the books, too, but the show’s writers had strayed from other storylines, so you almost hoped they’d do the same here. Olly’s coup de grace is fitting since he also killed Ygritte, whose love affair with Snow started this whole mess, but this death could cause some fans to ditch the show. That’s how popular Kit Harington’s character was. RIP Jon Snow.*
*Of course, there’s always the chance Snow actually isn’t dead and/or reincarnates in some form.
2. Jamie Lannister
When Lannister sails away from Dorne with daughter Myrcella in tow, some believe the Sand Snakes have taken it easy on them. Ellaria, whose hatred for the Lannisters is well-known, even sends Myrcella away with a kiss. Turns out it’s a poison kiss, leaving The Kingslayer to hold his dying daughter just as they’re having a tender moment on board their ship. Brutal.
3. Meryn Trant
Good to see Arya Stark taking care of business, albeit with a price. Trant is a bad, bad dude — he killed Arya’s sword teacher and is a pedophile — and he becomes the first person crossed off Arya’s list. The gruesome fashion in which he goes suits him, but it puts Arya in bad standing with the Faceless Men. We’ll see how that plays out in Season 6.
4. Myranda
Theon Greyjoy, who lacks stones, actually shows some by tossing Myranda to her death, saving Sansa Stark from an arrow to her heart in the process. Slightly reminiscent of Darth Vader throwing the Emperor to his doom in “Return of the Jedi,” maybe? Theon and Sansa then leap off the Winterfell walls and into Season 6.
5. Cersei Lannister
Five seasons of hatred toward Cersei are handled in one brutal walk of shame through the streets of Kings’ Landing. Stripped of her clothes and her pride, Cersei marches through the masses, who hurl insults, spit and feces at her. Normally cool under pressure, she breaks for the first time in the series. It’s as if she finally realizes who has the power — the Faith Militant — and that she, in part, helped them achieve that power. The Seven aren’t foolin’ around.
6. Stannis Baratheon
Stannis burned his young daughter alive in the previous episode, so you know he had to go. His men witness the princess’ cruel death and rightly decide they can’t fight for this man anymore. His grief-stricken wife hangs herself in the woods. Melisandre — the sorceress who pledged Stannis the Iron Throne if he sacrificed his daughter — unsurprisingly ditches him in his time of need. Bonus: Brienne of Tarth does the honors and finally upholds a commitment to a Stark. Took long enough.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter @XGameofThrones
