Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 Highlights: The Last War was upon us as Daenerys Targaryen and her army went up against Cersei Lannister and her army. Read below to relive the highlights from GOT S8E5. Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 is here and so is the Last War, as Daenerys Targaryen claimed in the previous episode. Dany didn't just lose a close confidant in Missandei, as she was brutally beheaded, on the orders of Cersei Lannister, she also had to see her second dragon, Rhaegal getting murdered at the hands of Euron Greyjoy. We knew the Mad Queen would rise but never did we see it would amount to her becoming an even bigger villain than Cersei. We had to say goodbye to many big characters such as Cersei and Jaime Lannister, who died together. You almost wanted to root for them to escape but such was not the case. On the other hand, we also see Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow and Arya Stark looking at the wreckage caused by the Queen who we thought they deserved. It will be interesting to note what the last episode of Game of Thrones has in store for us. Will Jon bend the knee yet again or will the Stark seek the throne for themselves? Here are 5 highlights from Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5: Cersei and Jaime's Deaths Source: HBO We have been waiting to see Cersei Lannister's death scene for a long time. However, this was not how we thought it would end, for the cleverest Lannisters of them all. Jaime and Cersei had always said that they would leave the world the same way they came, and in a bittersweet end for them, their words turned out to be true. The Hound vs. The Mountain Source: HBO The actual fight sequence GOT fans have been waiting for! The Hound vs. The Mountain. After convincing Arya to escape, The Hound exacts his revenge on his elder brother. However, it came at the cost of his own life. But, what a way to go! And that Oberyn death throwback sent shivers down our spine. The Mad Queen and Drogon Rises Source: HBO When the bells are rung, you see a glimmer of hope in Tyrion's eyes. But, then you see Dany and you know vengeance is coming. We finally see the Mad Queen in all her glory as she uses Drogon to do what Missandei said as her last words - "Dracarys." It just so happens that the common folk had to be the victims of the Targaryen rage, yet again. Tyrion and Jaime's Emotional Goodbye Source:HBO Source: HBO A moment that made us weep as much as Tyrion is his emotional farewell to the only Lannister who never thought of him as a monster. Their hug felt final and the after-effects just make that sequence, all the more heartbreaking. Varys' Death Source: HBO Varys foreshadowed what would happen if Queen Daenerys let her inner Mad Queen out. He died at the hands of the same queen for being a traitor and believing that Jon Snow was the rightful king. His death was significant in the sense that he still had hope that he was to be proved wrong. Alas, he was right all along! ALSO READ: Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 Written Update: Queen Daenerys Rises Which was your favourite moment from Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5? Let us know your views in the comments section below. Read More<doc-sep>Enlarge Image HBO It's the second to last episode of Game of Thrones ever, and we still have so many questions. How many more of our favorites are going to die horrible deaths? And who will get to finally sit on the throne they've been gaming over for eight seasons? Let's not lie to ourselves. Last week's episode left a little to be desired. Daenerys has a flying dragon but somehow it didn't ship with "arrow detection" mode? Queen Cersei is unquestionably evil but she doesn't use her advantage to slay her enemies? And Jon revealing to Sansa and Arya his real family lineage -- one of the most integral plot points of the show -- in a conversation that happens off screen? Are you kidding me? Don't even start me on the fact that Jon didn't pat Ghost. But Game of Thrones has strong form on dropping serious drama in the second last episode of the season (think about the Red Wedding and the Battle of the Bastards). And it certainly delivered. Get ready for spoilers -- we've got your full recap ready to go. Drama, drama, drama The crew has decamped to Dragonstone and the mood is grim. Lord Varys has well and truly chosen sides and is writing a bunch of crow notes revealing that Jon Snow is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Turns out the Master of Whisperers is real good at whispering. Varys still wants Jon to take the throne because he's convinced Dany is starting to get a bit iffy. "They say every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin and the world holds its breath … we both know what she's going to do," he says to Jon, referencing the increasingly mad Dany. "I still don't know how her coin has landed, but I'm quite certain about yours." But Jon's not having a bar of it. "She's my queen," he says, clearly not having been briefed on how this episode will end. HBO Meanwhile, Dany is having a rough time. Anyone who has seen The Bachelor could tell the producers have well and truly chosen a villain arc for her this episode -- she's not eating, she's refusing to join the party and her hair is looking like a before picture in a Garnier commercial. In the diary room, sorry WAR room, Tyrion is trying to talk some sense into her, but it's no use -- the writers have settled on their "mad woman" archetype so Dany won't see sense. She's convinced that Jon has betrayed her by revealing their family bond, and just like a contestant in the Bachelor house, she's seeing enemies everywhere. Someone is going to have to die for this. And who else but the Master of Whisperers, Lord Varys. Knowing a plot turn when he hears one (it sounds like Unsullied boots marching towards your door), Varys burns his final secret letter, takes off his rings and quietly congratulates himself on making it to the second last ep. As Dany sentences him to death, Tyrion quietly reveals that he was the one to betray Varys and we get our first goodbye of the episode. Dracarys becomes Drac-Varys. Conflagulations! You just burned your ally Cut to shortly after the burnination, and Dany is very much sticking to her guns. She blames Sansa for sharing Jon's secret ("she killed Varys as much as I did") and bemoans the fact that no one seems to be picking up what she's putting down ("I don't have love here, only fear.") The cynic in me would argue that burning people from your inner circle is a great way to inspire fear, but that's probably not helpful. Instead, Jon says he still loves her, but his puckered-mouth squint kiss says otherwise. "All right then," Dany replies. "Let it be fear." Let's cross now to the Dragonstone throne room to explore that theme! Tyrion is reminding Dany that the people of King's Landing are innocent and should be spared her impending attack. In a great piece of mental gymnastics, Daenerys reminds everyone that she IS being merciful, by killing a tyrant, and if on her way she swings her arms and knocks out thousands of civilians with dragonflame, then it's their own fault. Um, no, that's not quite what he meant. Tyrion begs Daenerys to call off her armies if the bells of King's Landing ring in surrender. We get the equivalent of a "mumble, mumble, we'll see" but frankly that's probably the best this rapidly disintegrating queen can give us right now. Now playing: Watch this: Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5: Everybody hurts Brothers in arms Outside King's Landing, the troops are preparing for another battle and mentally calculating the overtime they've been doing since the last time they took up arms against the dead in Winterfell. You'd better believe these guys are looking forward to their days in lieu. Amidst the preparation, Arya and The Hound ride through the camp -- apparently the password to get through the guards is "I'm Arya Stark. I'm here to kill Cersei." The guard, who was weighing up the benefits of skipping a battle with the overtime he could get for fighting on a Sunday, lets them through. Meanwhile Tyrion has wheedled his way into the tent where Jaime, who was captured en route to King's Landing, is being kept prisoner (C'mon guards, you're just phoning it in at this point). He just wants Cersei to see sense and to save the lives of the townsfolk of King's Landing -- effectively a "won't somebody please think of the children?" -- but Jaime says she won't give up. "The child is the reason she will never give an inch," he says. FINE. So Tyrion unshackles him and asks him to escape with Cersei so the kingdom can surrender, telling Jaime to use the secret passage Tyrion used back in season 7 episode 5 to sneak into the castle. Tyrion has either just saved countless innocent lives, or he's just given his evil tyrant sister an escape route. Potayto, Potahto. Jaime rightly points out he could be executed for this. "Tens of thousands of innocent lives. One not particularly innocent dwarf. Seems like a fair trade," Tyrion replies. And with that, Tyrion makes another tearful farewell. The two brothers have what can best be described as a "one of us is going to die" hug, so it's time to mentally add one of these two to your body count list. (Sorry, Ser Bron, you snooze you lose.) Enter Drogon, stage left Remember when the night before battle could last an entire episode? We don't have time for that! It's morning and we've got soldiers to kill! The Lannister armies are loading up their dragon-killing Scorpion crossbows, the Iron Fleet is out singing shanties on the water and the townsfolk, who have just been informed about operation Human Shield, are trying to escape before the impending carnage. Cersei is watching over all this in a snappy new red velvet number she's whipped up for the occasion. Below, Jaime is sneaking into the city like it's Assassin's Creed cosplay day at Comic-Con. That's the cue to get things rolling, and here's the starting gun: Dany flying in atop Drogon, no doubt pumping some sweet Led Zeppelin tunes through her dragon-mounted Bluetooth speaker to help her psych up. After Rhaegal failed so spectacularly last week, his brother dragon is out to settle the score and that means burning everything in sight. Goodbye, Iron Fleet! Goodbye, Scorpion crossbows! Goodbye, massive wall keeping out Dany's armies! The Unsullied and Dothraki armies charge through, and just like that, it's on like Drogon Kong. HBO I'd love to take a pause here to mourn the death of Gavin S. Charming -- the head of the Golden Company and the guy I definitely thought was good looking enough to get a little backstory before he died. But with the flick of Grey Worm's spear, the poor man's Jaime Lannister is dispatched with very little to-do. In the moment he was running away, you could see his entire Hollywood career flash before his eyes. In the Red Keep, Cersei is convinced this isn't how it ends, but in the streets below everyone is doing a great job of proving her wrong. With Cersei's forces dwindling, Jon, Ser Davos and Grey Worm have come face to face with the Lannister Army. There's a stand off (I briefly hope they will click and sashay their way out of it, Jets versus Sharks style) and the Lannister Army drops their swords. Excellent! It's over, right? The bells are ringing in surrender and everyone can go to bed! Oh, my sweet summer child... Daenerys Targaryen, bringer of flames HBO Until this point I'd been secretly been hoping for a Dany redemption -- I've just finished my second cup of tea and everyone I'm watching this episode with would really like a pee break. But atop the walls of King's Landing, Daenerys Targaryen looks upon our toilet breaks and she laughs. This is the turning point. Dany has shaken her magic eight ball, and the outlook is war crimes. After a stare down with Cersei that somehow covers about three miles of distance, Dany kickstarts Drogon and flies over King's Landing, dracarys-ing everything in sight. Innocent civilians, screaming women and children, regular people who work in the tanning shops and blacksmith forges of this city. Dany doesn't care about the macroeconomic implications of destroying an entire agrarian society that relies on small business owners. She came here to slay. Grey Worm, who very clearly hasn't even begun to process his grief over Missandei's death, takes that as a cue to turn bad. He spears a surrendered soldier and we begin the full-blown waste of King's Landing. Realizing that Dany is trying to beat her in the evil stakes, Cersei has admitted defeat and she's getting the hell out of dodge. Meanwhile, at the secret entrance down by the sea, Euron surprises Jaime (both in the "walking up behind you" way, and the "I was doinking your sister" way). After a good old-fashioned wrassle, Euron stabs Jaime (surely it doesn't end like this?!) before Jaime swords him in the gut. Just like everyone you've ever had a flame war with on Twitter, Euron tries to get credit for hurting his enemy while completely missing the point. "I got you! I'm the man who killed Jaime Lannister!" he cries as he bleeds out. I know he lives on the ocean, but damn this guy is salty. O Brother, where art thou? Enlarge Image Helen Sloan/HBO The Hound and Arya have made their way to the Red Keep. The Hound has always had a soft spot for Arya, in a mean, battle-hardened kind of way, and he has one last act of chivalry up his sleeve. Arya was on a mission to kill Cersei and The Hound to commence Cleganebowl, but as the Red Keep crumbles he tells her to return to safety. Revenge isn't worth it. "You want to be like me?" the Hound barks at her. "You come with me, you die here." "Sandor," she replies (like that helpful friend at your work mixer, reminding you of your colleague's name). "Thank you." With Arya bowing out, we're going up into The Keep because The Hound has a score to settle with his undead brother -- it's time for CLEGANEBOWL! Knocking Qyburn out of his way with the old "crush your skull on a rock" move, The Mountain is ready. Cersei takes this as her cue and, with a polite "Excuse me, I've just realized I need to pop behind you there, don't mind me," she is outie 5,000. It's The Hound vs The Mountain. Brother versus brother. Grudging hero against ... wait, what's this? The Mountain has taken his helmet off and it's like he just pulled off an old Band-Aid -- except in this case, the Band-Aid is covering three seasons of undead Darth Vader face and he's going to need more than an over-the-counter antiseptic to fix things. The Hound realizes things are a bit off too, because his brother won't die. The Hound quickly thinks, "Hey, I've read the Odyssey!"<doc-sep>
The penultimate episode of any season of Game of Thrones is often the most explosive, but did the final second-last outing live up to expectation? Spoiler alert for anyone who has not seen Season 8 Episode 5 Yes and no. In terms of season eight, which has suffered greatly with pacing issues and inconsistencies, it is probably the best technically executed episode, but when you take into account the show as a whole it only has glimmers of the greatness we've come to expect. This week's episode, aptly entitled The Bells, is kind of a win in a similar way that The Long Night's Battle of Winterfell was a win; things happened and we got some great character moments. Both episodes centred on a big battle and showed two key moments in defining the future of the Seven Kingdoms; the fight against the Night King and the fight against Cersei, both of whom have now been defeated. Daenerys has gone full Mad Queen Killing the Night King and defeating the army of the dead was necessary to keep the living alive, but the way Cersei was defeated just shows the horrors of war, the corruption of power and how the innocent are the ones to suffer. Those who want to rule don't care about their people and those who care, don't want to rule, and history will just keep on repeating itself. It was more of a massacre than anything. The episode opened strong on Dragonstone as it took its first victim with Varys' execution. His parting words, "I hope I'm wrong" particularly poignant. Daenerys has gone full Mad Queen now and one by one her inner circle comes to realise the extent of this. When she tells Jon, "Now she knows what happens when people find out about you" it's a real worry. She will literally kill whoever she needs to just to keep his parentage a secret and protect her claim to the Iron Throne. Will Jon realise that Varys has a point? I have a problem with this. Over the course of the first seven seasons, Daenerys has wanted to liberate slaves, protect the vulnerable and rule with love. She showed a few moments of potential madness but listened to her counsel and in the end did the right thing, or at least realised where she went wrong and you got the impression she was learning. Now that the people of Westeros have not shown her love, she is happy to rule with fear, and by the end of the episode she essentially burns them all, indiscriminately zigzagging dragon fire through the streets burning everyone and everything in her wake. My problem isn't with her eventual descent into madness; it's the way in which it's been developed. Like everything as the end draws near, it's been rushed, and it seems a bit obvious to have the Targaryen Queen go off the rails like this. I think the obviousness generally of the episode was a problem; there was no big shock. Every great episode of Game of Thrones has a big shock, something you really didn't see coming. Perhaps this week's was supposed to be the moment Daenerys rides Drogon towards the Red Keep as the bells of surrender ring out, but it just didn't hit the mark because she's said so many times that she wants to do it, and she doesn't have Tyrion by her side to talk her down. It would've been more surprising at this stage if she had shown mercy. As the city burned, I did enjoy the puffs of green wildfire popping up across the capital, it was a nice nod to Daenerys' father the Mad King's plan to burn it to the ground, before being stopped by Jaime. Daenerys tells Tyrion "If you fail me again, it will be the last time you fail me" Poor Jaime. The scene with him and Tyrion was a personal favourite of the episode. It was a fitting and emotional goodbye between the brothers. His final scene, too, also very apt, dying together with Cersei – "Nothing else matters, only us". While it was nice that they died together, it was a disappointing exit for two original characters who have provided us with so much drama and intrigue for so long.