Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale Review: 'Mother's Mercy' Kills Off Beloved Character

The Season 5 finale of HBO's Game of Thrones aired two days ago, and I'm still angry about what went down in "Mother's Mercy." The death of a beloved character still stings to the point that I'm on Team White Walkers. Let's just burn/freeze Westeros down and start over.

Let's hit these events in somewhat chronological order and save the exclamation point for last. We'll start with Stannis, who seemingly was on his way to victory thanks to that minor sacrifice of burning his daughter alive. The Lord of Light had melted the snow and removed the biggest roadblock to Winterfell. Except Stannis' men weren't down with the whole "roasting a preteen girl" thing and about half his army deserted in the middle of the night. Then he found out that his wife hung herself in the night, and then his sidepiece Melisandre booked it for Castle Black.

Stannis decided this was as good a time as any to head for Winterfell and, predictably, he got slaughtered by the Boltons' forces. And just to add to Stannis' Worst Day Ever, Brienne of Tarth arrived to deliver the speech she's been waiting to give for years and (seemingly) drive her sword through the man who killed Renly Baratheon.

Of course, Brienne's oathkeeping caused another problem. Sansa Stark finally made it to the top of the tower to light the candle for help just as Brienne left her post to go kill Stannis. To make matters worse, Myranda showed up ready to torture Sansa on behalf of Ramsay. Theon finally snapped out of his Reek state and tossed Myranda off the balcony to her death like a bag of flour.

Many people likely pumped their fists during this scene, but it really sucks that the writers have seemingly taken the horrendous rape scene from a few episodes earlier and used it as a way to "wake up" Theon at Sansa's expense. I'm still holding out hope that Sansa will emerge into that strong woman we saw her becoming, but the outlook is bleak right now.

After that, Theon decides to reenact the scene from The Other Guys and aim for the bushes. They jump from the top of Winterfell's wall and land on a pile of snow? Maybe? Or they're dead. Who knows?

Over in Braavos, Arya savagely murders Meryn Trant in the brothel by using the face of the girl she killed a few episodes early. This was a brutal scene in which she stabbed out his eyes, shoved a cloth in his mouth, and then slit his throat slowly. Of course, her victory was not without a price, as Jaqen informed her that those who take the faces before they are ready suffer the consequences. Arya was then stricken blind and screamed "What's happening?", a line I'm sure most of us said aloud at that point.

In Meereen, Tyrion wanted to go help look for Daenerys, but Daario and Jorah informed him that talking a lot and imbibing copious amounts of alcohol does not help when tracking someone in the wilderness. So they went off to find her, while Tyrion, Missandei, and Grey Worm rule in her absence. Varys somehow shows up in Meereen to help Tyrion despite the fact that everyone in the city should want to kill him. But the team is back together, so let's not worry.

Dany is off...somewhere...with Drogon acting like Ash's Charizard and telling the Queen that she doesn't have enough badges to tell him what to do. She makes yet another brilliant decision to go search for food on her own, only for the Dothraki to surround her in overwhelming numbers. Why is it that each season has to end with Dany surrounded by a mob of people?

Finally, we come to the Wall, where Jon Snow is talking to Davos about how he can't help Stannis, both of them unaware that the One True King is currently rotting by a tree outside Winterfell. Melisandre rides in, and now they know something is really wrong.

As Jon Snow contemplates the situation, Olly comes in and tells him one of the Wildlings has information about Jon's uncle Benjen, whom we thought deceased way back in Season 1. Jon sprints outside to find a sign that says "Traitor" and turns to face dozens of members of the Night's Watch, each of whom plunge a blade into him "for the Watch."

I could yell about this. I could scream. I could throw myself into a blind rage. But I'll let Reddit user Actual_Time_Traveler speak for all of us:

"HOW DO NONE OF YOU NIGHT'S WATCH F*CKERS GET THIS? THERE'S A G*DDAMN ICE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE BEARING DOWN ON YOU. BRINGING WILDLINGS OVER IS THE LEAST OF YOUR PROBLEMS. THIS ISN'T F*CKING HARD TO UNDERSTAND."

There's always the chance that Jon Snow isn't actually gone for good. Melisandre could use some magic to bring him back, and there are plenty of other fan theories about how he can return. Kit Harington has also said in interviews that he's not coming back next season, which could simply mean he pulls a Bran and Hodor and takes a year off.

Regardless, this was an action-packed finale that put your jaw on the floor multiple times. It's going to be a long wait until April.