Warning! This article contains spoilers for Game Of Thrones season eight, episode five, The Bells. Well. In the end, the bells for peace tolled, but Daenerys Targaryen was having none of it. The deaths of Missandei and Rhaegal in last week's episode did indeed prove to be the straw that broke the dragon's back, finally transforming the once benevolent Khaleesi into the feared Mad Queen who had not-so-subtly been promising to unleash herself throughout this entire final series. Jon Snow may not want The Truth, but he sure got to find out what happens when The Truth comes out. If The Long Night was the most breathtaking episode of season eight visually (the long dark gripes aside), The Bells was the one that had your heart in its grip from the beginning and never let go. Advertisement Grittier, rawer and perhaps a little less Hollywood, this was bigger than the battle against The Night King and a far more emotionally charged war. Because that was clear-cut, good versus evil; this time, the good turned evil and set the world on fire. Image: Arya Stark amid the destruction. Pic: HBO/ Sky Atlantic With so much to tie up, so little time, there will undoubtedly be certain scenes, deaths and questions from this penultimate episode that will divide fans. But for sheer exhilaration, The Bells delivered. This is what Game Of Thrones is all about. King's Landing incinerated With two dragons down and just one left, there had been much speculation about how Daenerys would fare against Cersei Lannister's bigger and less battle-weary army. With Rhaegal taken out so quickly (and conveniently) by Euron Greyjoy, would this fight to be more evenly matched than on paper? The answer was a resounding no. :: Listen to the Backstage podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker Getting to grips with Drogon after infuriatingly retreating from Greyjoy and faffing about with Jon during the Great War before that, the Mother Of Dragons finally showed that swords and spears and massive crossbows are no match for great balls of fire, and not before time. It quickly became apparent that who would win the Last War was never in question, with Drogon obliterating anyone standing in Dany's path. Oh, if only she'd thought to do this last week! Maybe BFF Missandei would still be alive and there would be no need for all this. This had become about vengeance, and when Cersei's soldiers waved the white flag, Dany carried on, incandescent with rage; destroying King's Landing and killing the thousands of innocent people she had once vowed to rule over peacefully. Goodbye, Cersei and Jaime This was the episode where the mask dropped and we saw Cersei, the frightened mother-to-be, desperate to protect her unborn child as her city collapsed around her. Reunited briefly with Jaime, she was reduced to tears as King's Landing fell. Yes, she's a monster and deserved everything coming, but you couldn't help feeling sorry for her as that rarely seen vulnerable side came out. As the walls caved in around them, the star-crossed twins/lovers died in each other's arms in an ending that will no doubt enrage fans who wanted to see revenge served cold and torturously (to Cersei, obviously, but also to Jaime, who we can't forgive for breaking Brienne's heart). But actually, this was a fitting end. Cersei didn't die battling for the throne and proudly standing up to her enemies, she died helpless and weak - her biggest fear. Image: It's goodbye Cersei. Pic: HBO/ Sky Atlantic 'Someone has betrayed me' The episode started with Varys, foreseeing his death it seems and committing Jon's secret to paper. Sure enough, Dany quickly ordered his execution by dragon fire, setting the tone for what was to come. If that wasn't enough for lovestruck Jon to have a polite word with the woman he has bent the knee for, surely the destruction of King's Landing and its people will be? Come on, Jon! Varys did warn you, mate. With just one episode left, sadly the time for polite words has passed; now is the time to be the hero we have known and loved in seasons before. We know you've got it in you, even if you have been a bit rubbish this series. The Night King is gone. Cersei is gone. The question now is about the final battle for the Iron Throne: now he's witnessed the full scale of her penchant for burning people alive, will the last war be between Jon and Dany? Cleganebowl "Hello, big brother," said The Hound, in the biggest TV reunion since Sharon witnessed the resurrection of Dirty Den. This was the moment Game Of Thrones fans had been waiting for: The Hound versus The Mountain, and it didn't disappoint. Swords clanged as the brothers fought to the bitter end, with the superhuman and super-gruesome Mountain surviving everything his brother could throw at him, even a knife straight through the head. As it looked like the Hound was about to become another of his poor eye-crush victims, little brother locked his grip and pulled them both from a wall and down to a fiery death below. Arya: She's only human, after all Before his death, the Hound and Arya Stark shared their goodbyes. After arriving in King's Landing announcing her intention to kill Cersei, once the city started to fall the Hound was quick to point out to Arya that continuing with him meant certain death. After slaying the Night King and becoming the hero of Winterfell, and turning down Gendry's proposal to pursue her quest for killing, the young assassin had become almost robotic in her search for vengeance. But the Hound's words resonated. "You think you've wanted revenge a long time? I've been after it all my life, it's all I care about, and look at me. You want to be like me? You come with me, you die here." Suddenly, she was little Arya Stark again. "Thank you," she whispered as she turned to flee, the understanding that this was farewell as the Hound left to meet his fate. Image: Many are killed in the inferno. Pic: HBO/ Sky Atlantic Brotherly love Before his death, Jaime also had a poignant reunion with his other sibling, Tyrion. "If it weren't for you, I never would have survived my childhood," Tyrion told his brother. "You were the only one who didn't treat me like a monster. You were all I had." It was an emotional scene. Trying to do the right thing, Tyrion betrayed his queen and freed Jaime from capture, wanting to save him and also believing he was the one who could bring about peace. He knew his fate should Daenerys find out. "Tens of thousands of innocent lives, one not particularly innocent dwarf," he said. "Seems like a fair trade." In the end, Tyrion was the last Lannister standing. And finally… Viewers who kept up with other fan favourite Line Of Duty will have spotted a familiar face in King's Landing this week. Detective Inspector Michelle Brandyce, who popped up in the final episodes of the police drama, had inexplicably hot-footed it from AC-12 to Westeros. What's worse, you wonder: bent coppers and an OCG, or angry dragons? Sadly for the DI, it turned out to be the dragons, and she met a fiery end along with her young daughter. Oh, Ma'am. When DI Kate Fleming told you to "stop making a t*t out of yourself and p*ss off", I'm not sure this was quite the punishment she had in mind. So this is it. The end is nigh. Take a look at what's in store next week in the very last trailer. :: The final series of Game Of Thrones airs on Sky Atlantic at 2am and 9pm on Mondays. :: Want to recap on the story so far? All episodes of Game Of Thrones from series 1-7 are now available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.<doc-sep>Game of Thrones season eight, episode six will be the show’s series finale. The trailer for it doesn’t reveal a lot — but it does suggest that there will be a reckoning for the events of episode five, “The Bells.” First things first: Spoilers follow below. The episode six teaser confirms that at least three major characters — Arya, Daenerys, and Tyrion — survived the destruction of King’s Landing, as it focuses on them walking around in the ashes (Jon, Davos, and Grey Worm aren’t shown, but they likely survived as well). The trailer is washed over with a dark blue tone and ash falling like snow; it has an almost wintry feel to it, as if a terrible kind of winter has come to King’s Landing. Tyrion appears horrified at what he sees in the city. Arya looks ready to turn on Dany — the trailer shows her standing by some Unsullied with murder in her eyes. And Daenerys seems unwaveringly regal, walking between lines of her soldiers as if she’s proud of the massacre she just committed. There’s also a shot of Dothraki cheering, as if they too are happy with what’s just happened. Everything we see suggests that Game of Thrones’ series finale will focus on the divide created by Daenerys’s actions in the penultimate episode, with most of the main characters seemingly turning against her in horror, and the warriors who crossed the Narrow Sea with her standing by her side. The conflict is no longer Starks versus Lannisters or humans versus undead, but rather our surviving heroes versus Daenerys Targaryen, the Mad Queen.<doc-sep>
SPOILER ALERT: Do not keep reading if you have not seen Season 8, Episode 5 of “Game of Thrones,” titled “The Bells.” This is your final warning. The penultimate episode of “Game of Thrones” was a fiery affair. King’s Landing lies in ruins with much of its population decimated, and multiple major characters are among the dead. “The Bells” had a definite feeling of finality about it. However, the are still plenty of burning (too soon?) questions going into the series finale, with the Iron Throne still very much up for grabs. Is there anybody left to rule? Episode 3: Death shall rain down upon Westeros. Episode 5: Hold my beer. In this week’s episode, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) decided to forget all of that “I’m here to save my people” nonsense, and instead rained fire and death down on the innocent civilians of King’s Landing. However, as several of her trusted aids and lovers/nephew previously pointed out, that course of action would appear to have left her with very few subjects left to rule over. It’s all very well being Queen Daenerys, but it’s quite difficult to bend the knee and kiss the ring when your potentially loyal followers are dead. Are Jaime and Cersei really dead? Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) were crushed to death by the falling rubble from the Red Keep in one of the episode’s dramatic final scenes. Or were they… It would seem an odd end after eight seasons of character development and excellent acting from Headey and Coster-Waldau to have them perish under a hail of massive stones, as opposed to dying at the hand of Arya Stark’s (Maisie Williams) knife or Daenerys’ dragon. Are they really dead? Is Tyrion now the only Lannister with a pulse? Will Cersei and Jaime never get a fourth try at being good parents? Guess we’ll have to wait until next weekend to find out. Will Jon end up killing his mad auntie? Daenerys took a leaf out of her father’s book and brutally scorched her own people to death in episode 5. In the few shots we saw of Jon, he didn’t look too pleased with his lover’s decision-making. Surely in the final episode he will have to either give her a stern talking to, or a devastating knife through the heart? We’d bet on the latter. Unless Arya gets there first… Will Daenerys show any remorse? At some point, Daenrys will be done burning her capital city to the ground and butchering its population. When she’s perched atop the rubble of King’s Landing, looking over the destruction and the bodies, will she feel bad about it? Will she see that maybe heading straight for Cersei in the Red Keep should have Plan A? Probably not. When will Sansa march South to claim her rightful throne? This question speaks for itself. It’s fair to say that Daenerys’ actions in the last episode mean that she’s no longer the people’s queen. That title now (and arguably for the last few seasons) belongs to Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner). She tried to warn Jon of what Daenerys was capable of. He ignored her, and look what happened. Jon has some serious humble pie to eat, and if he really doesn’t want the Iron Throne, as he’s oft repeated, Sansa seems to be the only sensible and qualified candidate to rule the Seven Kingdoms. Where’s Brienne when you need her? There was more than one badass lady missing from the massacre of King’s Landing: Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie). Of course, it’s terribly sad that Jaime left her for his evil, conniving sister, but surely Brienne should have ridden after him and arrived just in time to save him from his entombed fate? It’s hard to blame Brienne given what Jaime did to her, and one could argue he’s simply not worth saving, but surely from a plot and character stand point it would have been fitting for Brienne to rescue him one last time from his stupid mistakes.