HBO It's been an up and down season for Game of Thrones. A dragon was killed in ways that frustrated and annoyed everyone, everyone got extremely angry when Jon Snow didn't pet Ghost and then the internet found a coffee cup on set and went buck wild. This episode was all about the insane carnage. OK, goes without saying but... It started early with the burning of Varys. And the burning just didn't stop. The question going in was simple: Was Dany about to become the Mad Queen, or was it all just a big swerve? Yeah, they answered that pretty definitively. Daenerys Targaryen basically set all of King's Landing on fire. The Bells rang out for surrender but Dany wasn't trying to hear that noise. #gameofthrones me: dany won’t murder all these innocent people they rang the bells we’re all good!! ! dany: (: dracarys me: pic.twitter.com/OVGjw8wT8S — madz🦋✨💫 (@maddyackerburg) May 13, 2019 Bran chilling in Winterfell while Daenerys kills everyone: #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/KQKBLoAGL1 — MWV Highlights (@MWV_Highlights) May 13, 2019 “I probably should’ve told someone the dragon lady was crazy.” #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/YK3d6j5N27 — Diane N. Sevenay (@Diane_7A) May 13, 2019 Yep, Dany basically burned everything down and killed thousands of people. Not sure if King's Landing as we knew it even exists any more. missandei, in heaven looking at kings landing. #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/mjBFEdbM0z — Justin Jay, Conclave Liasion 💚💙💛 (@_DubzyWubzy_) May 13, 2019 It's a nice little throwback to this: This was from a Season 4 promo. We all thought it was snow.. little did we know it was ash. #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/ieVUaaQPV8 — Chris Brown (@chriscbrown) May 13, 2019 The carnage was insane and dramatic and very Game of Thrones, but did it make sense? Hmmmmm..... I can't believe I had to watch that bullshit of an episode with my own two eyes #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/ue4hf0J18t — jedi in training (@totallyxtaylor) May 13, 2019 Me trynna figure out did I really watch all them seasons for this #gameofthrones pic.twitter.com/XpZCTA0TuS — tingz (@_Inez__) May 13, 2019 Even if Dany was pissed and wanted to destroy Cersei why wouldn’t she just go straight to the Red Keep instead of zig zagging destruction through the city IT MAKES NO SENSE #GameofThrones — Jenna Guillaume (@JennaGuillaume) May 13, 2019 I've been working very very hard not to do any spoilers but I will say this: I look forward to reading the book and seeing how #GameofThrones really ended. Because this isn't it. — Steve Spohn (@stevenspohn) May 13, 2019 Waiting all these years for main character deaths and we see stone crushing them. #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/Vh76HcdKBG — Shay (@shayycs) May 13, 2019 Jon, Sansa and Tyrion plotting to kill Danny next week: #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/lCBVvJ9EDF — Ebony Barzilay (@o_hon_ey) May 13, 2019 Us spending the last 10 years of our lives emotionally attached to a TV show only for the writers to just give us the worst ending possible. #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/CNcmVm4H0S — Caleb (@CalebKesler) May 13, 2019 The writers destroying the entire show in the final season #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/vXtJgAyDTs — Valentina ☕️ (@ValsCappuccino) May 13, 2019 Thoughts? Well, Mad Queen Dany is bad and everyone should feel bad. Very disappointed we spent a decade watching a really great female leader emerge, with a very cool and consistent "break the wheel" message only to have it completely turned around at the last, crucial minute. Not sure it entirely made sense, but I sure had a lot of fun watching it all unfold. I do get the sense that a backlash to the backlash is imminent. All the haters should just go to sleep. That episode was phenomenal. I’m sick of people’s negativity. Get outta here. #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/XBDqjDBJWi — Seth Nelson (@RealSethNelson) May 13, 2019 So you all just going to act like you didn’t see this coming? Danys been whack from the start and you’re all fools if you didn’t think this was going to happen #GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/GMQdOKXPWf — clara maxwell (@claramaxwell99) May 13, 2019 That game of thrones episode was wild — timthetatman (@timthetatman) May 13, 2019 everyone say THANK YOU LENA HEADEY for her phenomenal perfomance as cersei lannister, one of my favorites ever. power is power. you will be missed.#GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/ycwauGBjFh — lucca (@davnerys) May 13, 2019 HBO & the 3 fans that are actually enjoying this season of #GoT pic.twitter.com/VgxQbvNdcQ — VS (@valon_sej) May 13, 2019 Next week is going to be extremely interesting. Meanwhile...<doc-sep>The penultimate Game of Thrones episode, “The Bells,” was the exact opposite of The Lego Movie: everything is not awesome, and everyone is not okay. It wasn’t a war that descended on King’s Landing. It was pure devastation. This was a massacre, just wholesale violence for the sake of violence. If viewers thought that things could end peacefully between the Red Keep, the Mother of Dragons, and anyone unlucky enough to be caught between them, this episode proved that’s never going to happen. “The Bells” also reminded us that sometimes Game of Thrones doesn’t make sense. If you, like me, watch Game of Thrones with Twitter running in the background, there’s a good chance you noticed that almost everyone responding to the show was angry. Daenerys Targaryen’s decision to burn thousands of innocent people just to show Cersei Lannister she could didn’t exactly make sense. Neither did Jaime’s race to reconnect with Cersei after such a long slow-burn relationship with Brienne. “The Bells” fell into the category of “dumb entertainment,” and that’s not a bad thing — but it’s a lot to unpack. Let’s jump into it. There’s something poetic about this episode beginning with the death of its most prolific prophet. Courage is deciding to do the right thing, even if that means certain death. Varys doesn’t try to hide his concern about Daenerys taking the throne, and he goes to Jon (aka Aegon Targaryen) in the hopes that he may be able to convince Jon that he should reign. (+15 to Varys for betraying his queen) While this is happening, Tyrion goes to see his queen and turns into Randall from Disney’s Recess. He’s snitching all over the place about Varys’ betrayal, and the Maddest Queen will not stand for it. Hasn’t Tyrion ever heard the phrase “snitches get stitches”? Varys is dragged out of his room (where he was very peacefully writing some kind of fan fiction, I’m sure) by Daenerys’ guards, and he’s sentenced to death. There’s a quaint moment between once-good friends Tyrion and Varys when the former confesses “It was me [who ratted you out, which left you standing here in front of a dragon].” (+10 for a brutal one-liner, even if most of it’s just implied) Then Drogon unleashes a fierce, fiery attack (Drogon gets this +25 for killing a named character) burning Varys alive. (+25 for a memorable death) This is Daenerys embracing her Mad Queen side, which some, including Varys, worried was lurking in the wings. It’s troubling to watch her vengeful side play out against her former closest advisers — especially for Jon Snow, who’s realizing he shouldn’t be in a relationship with his aunt and is trying to handle that breakup as delicately as possible. Jon goes to check in on Dany, as a good ex does, but Daenerys doesn’t have time for him. She’s concerned about Jon taking her place, and she doesn’t let him forget that she warned him what would happen if he spilled the tea about his parentage. “Far more people here love you than me,” Dany declares. “I don’t have love here. I only have fear.” (+10) When Jon proclaims that he loves her — but only as a queen — Dany gives him one of her best disappointed looks and says, “Let it be fear.” (+10) Look, breakups are hard. It only gets more complicated when you’re breaking up with a family member you didn’t even know was a family member! Add in that you’re about to go to war together, and almost anyone would have trouble navigating these waters. It’s the first time I’ve felt bad for Jon all season. Dude is trying his best to move on, but he can only do so much without being turned into ashes on the spot if he says the wrong thing. Dany is now basically the queen, and that means she gets to spend half her day riding around on Drogon’s back, taking in the scenery, and the other half dealing with bureaucratic meetings. After finally ending things with Jon (praise be), she meets with Tyrion and Grey Worm. Daenerys and Grey Worm want blood; Tyrion wants peace. Only one person in this meeting has a dragon, and dragons rarely want to solve problems with words instead of fire. Tyrion argues with Daenerys for the thousandth time, but she’s not hearing it anymore, not after he recklessly passed on the Jon-tea to Varys, enabling his betrayal and getting him killed. “The next time you fail me will be the last time you fail me,” Daenerys threatens. (+10) Ruh-roh, Scooby. Time to skedaddle! With the exception of Jon and Tyrion, everyone in this episode is looking to kill. Bloodlust is in the air. Even Arya Stark, who arrives at King’s Landing on horseback with her good pal the Hound, is volunteering her violent dreams to anyone who asks. “I’m Arya Stark, and I’m going to kill Queen Cersei,” she nonchalantly informs a guard. (+10) The brevity! The strength! I’m going to use this tactic the next time my boss asks me where I’m going. “I’m Julia Alexander, and I’m going to take a nap.” Arya is open about her plans to slice Cersei’s throat, but other people are forced to act more deviously. Tyrion betrays his queen (+15) by helping his older brother Jaime escape from the tent where he’s being held after he was caught trying to get to Cersei. How is it possible that Jaime keeps getting captured? This is the Kingslayer, a man so skilled that he took down a murderous mad king. And yet, every other season, he winds up captured in some part of Westeros. It’s truly incredible just how imbecilic my beautiful Jaime can be some days! At least it enables a gut-wrenching Tyrion and Jaime heart-to-heart, a conversation between brothers who love each other and know they’ll never be in the same place again. Tyrion begs Jaime to find Cersei, take her away from King’s Landing, and disappear forever. He wants them to raise their child in a city far away from Daenerys’ rule, and he hopes the urge to protect the baby might make Cersei see reason. “The worst things she’s ever done, she’s done for her children,” Jaime counters. (+10) Curses! Won’t anyone in this godforsaken place listen to Tyrion? Someone get him a soapbox and a megaphone already. Yeesh! Eventually, Tyrion gets Jaime to see his point of view (sans soapbox), and the two say their final goodbyes. Both are prepared to breathe their final breaths tomorrow — Jaime because he’s walking into a war zone, Tyrion because he expects Dany to execute him for setting Jaime free. But Tyrion thinks it’ll be worth it if Jaime can spirit Cersei away and end the war. “Tens of thousands of innocent lives, one not particularly innocent dwarf. Seems like a fair trade,” Tyrion points out. (+10) With all of the final goodbyes, breakups, and threats laid out, it’s time for the great battle to begin — except, as I said previously, it’s just wholesale slaughter. From about minute 35 until this episode ended, there was nothing but carnage. Daenerys sits atop Drogon (+20 for dragon-riding), and they lay waste to King’s Landing. While Dany’s first two dragons often seemed useless in battle, a pissed-off Drogon and Daenerys have more than made up for it. Both Drogon and Daenerys receive the episode maximum of 50 points for killing thousands of innocent people, which is almost hilariously sad, considering Daenerys defined her climb to rulership by freeing slaves and fighting for innocent people. But sure, let her just go against her entire character in the series’s penultimate episode. Who needs consistency in storytelling when you can just slaughter people for the sake of cool visuals? To make up for it, some less-innocent people are also thrown into the chaos. Harry Strickland gets incapacitated by Drogon and Daenerys during the battle (+10 each to dragon and rider) before being brutally killed by Grey Worm. (+25 for taking out a named character) If I’m being honest, I forgot who Harry Strickland was prior to this episode, but watching him get speared through the stomach and falling to the ground as bedlam breaks out around him is certainly a memorable way to go. (+25 to Harry) Congratulations on making me remember your name, Harry! Jon Snow and Grey Worm immediately enter warrior mode, taking out an absurd number of King’s Landing soldiers. (+50 episode max to both) Cersei isn’t particularly worried. Euron has taken down a dragon before, and she believes her army is the best. “The Red Keep has never fallen. It won’t fall today,” she declares. (+10) Except that’s not exactly true. Drogon easily takes down the Iron Fleet and the defenses at King’s Landing, and all of the destruction becomes too much for the city’s soldiers. The bells of King’s Landing are rung. Defeat is conceded. People are ready to bow down before Daenerys, the Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons. (+25 to Dany for taking the city) The people of King’s Landing might be ready to bend the knee, but she isn’t done wreaking havoc yet. This is her day to truly inspire fear in her new loyal subjects, and she’s going to do it, character consistency be damned! Happy Mother’s Day, Mother of One Remaining Dragon! Daenerys isn’t the only one who wants to continue fighting. Euron Greyjoy and Jaime Lannister run into each other down by the water. Aside from this basically being a dream come true for this thirsty writer, it also leads to a fun battle between two incredible soldiers. “If you kill another king before you die, they’ll sing about you forever,” Euron taunts. (+10) Jaime doesn’t waste any time deeming Euron unworthy of being a king, but he fights back regardless. Euron manages to get in a few good swipes, incapacitating Jaime (+10) and dealing him some presumably mortal wounds. But it’s Jaime who gets in the more devastating blow, killing Euron. (+25) Never one to be out-drama’d, Euron spends his last words making sure Jaime doesn’t get the last word. “I’m the man who killed Jaime Lannister,” he proclaims, smiling up at the sky. (+10 for that comment, and +25 for a glorious exit) (Note: This was a devastating moment for me. If someone wants to edit a montage of Euron Greyjoy — the Game of Thrones character most likely to make out with you on a lumpy bed under a pentagram poster while listening to The Cure — and send it to me, I would greatly appreciate it.) Back in the city, the Hound and Arya are making their way through the halls of the castle, trying to find Cersei. This is their moment; everything they’ve trained for has finally arrived. Unfortunately, the Hound won’t let Arya join him. He gets into protective big brother mode, pulling a line from Harry and the Hendersons, telling Arya to save herself. “You come with me, you die here,” the Hound warns. (+10) Arya thanks him, running in the other direction, and letting the Hound exact the revenge he’s dreamt of for so long. He does — kind of. After taking out four random guards (+40), he comes face-to-face with Qyburn, Cersei, and his big bad brother, the Mountain. Oh, goodie! Sound the alarms, call your closest friends, the Cleganebowl is here. Get hype! Qyburn orders the Mountain to defend Cersei, but the Mountain chooses instead casually squishes and smashes him (+25 murder points to the Mountain, +25 to Qyburn for a memorable death), betraying Cersei in the process (+15). And then it’s time for the most metal fight of the season. The only thing missing is a series of random guitar solos, a live mosh pit, and Gene Simmons floating around in the background. It was cool, friends. It’s also incredibly violent, and the Mountain looks suspiciously like Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back when he’s on the bridge with Luke Skywalker. But without question, it’s the best part of the episode. There are even funny moments between the two brothers who loathe each other more than anyone else on this show. The Hound yelling “Fucking die already” is absolute perfection.<doc-sep>
You know that terrifying moment when you realize your mom is mad but she hasn’t started yelling yet? That’s basically how it feels right now on Game of Thrones. Season 8, episode 5 will be a battle between the mothers/mad queens—we’re pretty sure it’s about to rain fire. Featured Video Hide With the threat in the North presumably over (if you don’t count Sansa’s icy shoulder to Daenerys), the fight moves to King’s Landing. And with the Hound on his way, this week’s episode may just give us the moment we’ve finally been waiting for most of all. That’s right, it’s CLEGANEBOWL, bitches. (*airhorns*) Advertisement Hide This will be the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, which means it’s nearly time to say goodbye to Westeros. Hopefully, it will be a little easier than Jon’s farewell with Ghost. Director David Nutter returns for one last episode before showrunners D.B Weiss and David Benioff direct the series finale. Here’s everything you need to watch Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 for free. What channel is Game of Thrones on? Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 is available exclusively on HBO. Advertisement Hide When does Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 air? Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 will air on Sunday, May 12 at 9pm ET. Subsequent episodes will be on Sundays at the same time. There are six episodes scheduled for the final season, ranging in length from 54 minutes to a whopping 82 minutes. This week’s episode will be 78 minutes long. Game of Thrones will air its final episode on Sunday, May 19. How to watch Game of Thrones season 8, episode 5 for free Game of Thrones is only available on HBO. But there are plenty of options to access the premium cable channel for free. Each of these services offers a one-week trial so you can tune in live and avoid spoilers on social media. Advertisement Hide Amazon Cost: $14.99 per month (after a 7-day free trial) for HBO | $119 per year for Prime Devices: Amazon Fire Stick, Fire TV, Fire tablets, and Fire phone; Roku, Google TV, TiVo, Nvidia Shield, PlayStation 3 and 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii If you’re already a Prime member, Amazon Prime Video is one of the most convenient ways to access a free HBO trial without signing up for additional accounts. (And if you’re not, you can get a free 30-day trial of Prime in addition to the free week of HBO.) You can stream live and watch old episodes on-demand in case you want to rewatch last week’s episode before a new one airs. HBO is one of the best standalone Prime channels available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video. Advertisement Hide TRY PRIME VIDEO HBO Now Cost: $14.99 per month (after 7-day free trial) Devices: Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire TV Cube, Android TV, Apple TV, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Xbox One and Xbox 360. Advertisement Hide If you just want HBO and nothing more, look no further than its own on-demand app HBO Now. New episodes of Game of Thrones will be available the second they’re live, and you can pause without missing any of the action. You can also watch every old season on-demand. The standalone service also provides an extensive library of all HBO shows, movies, documentaries, and more. VISIT HBO NOW Hulu with Live TV Advertisement Hide You’ll need to sign up for Hulu before adding HBO to your account, but the process is easy. (Even easier if you already have an account!) Hulu with Live TV gives you the best of both worlds: access to on-demand content and live TV streaming, including local networks. That way you can tune in when a new episode airs and catch up on episodes you might have missed or need to watch again. There are 60 channels to choose from, including The CW, ABC, ESPN, and more. You’ll also get tons of great movies and original programs exclusively available on Hulu. It comes with up to 50 hours of storage for recording. (Here’s the complete list of Hulu Live TV channels.) Advertisement Hide TRY HULU WITH LIVE TV For a couple of seasons now, Game of Thrones has emphasized the power that many of its female characters hold. They’re in charge of the Seven Kingdoms and their own forces. They control castles and entire regions. They’re skilled warriors, assassins, advisors, and knights.