Too rushed, all too rushed. Season Collapse.
OMG, Jon Snow gone, and I didn't even feel it. After all the empathy built for his character over the previous seasons, he went out like - ploof! And I felt nothing. Why did they have to do ALL THE SET UPS for next season in the last episode? Arya's blindness might have happened earlier as in the books. Sam's departure could have happened earlier as in the books (yeah, sure - going to Old Town on cart!
). Cersei's walk would make a great last scene for any previous episode - leaving viewers on a silent appreciation of the whole scene. Stannis' battle with the Boltons could have been the same for another previous episode. Why, even Myrcella's death, no?
But no, the clowns had to club it all together for Episode 10
Effectively, we actually have 3 books, Feast for Crows (800 pages) + Dance with Dragons (part 1 & 2; 1600 pages) compressed like mp3 in season 5 itself (2400 pages). Compare that with all of the 800 pages of book 1 (A Game of Thrones) that alone made season 1. Which is why the deaths back then were "felt" and not just shock value, because the build ups were organic.
D&D have shown exactly what I feared - at the end of the day, they are TV people who write soap operas for a living, and not as brilliant aesthetes as they seemed after season 1, which was built directly from source material of GRRM. Now with the new-found liberty they have acquired from the author to go ahead of the books and "do their own thing", they will screw big time, everything that I loved about the show. Expect more shock value in Season 6 and GoT to turn into some crappy soap opera.
Highlight was Cersei's walk of atonement. Lena must be the first A-list actress in the world to pull of a scene like that - one naked woman in a crowd
(I know its probably not be the right scene to comment, but she is beautiful! And courageous as an established actor to agree to do that scene). I thought she was gonna walk all covered up in rags/ back shots on some body-double with Sinead O Connor hair-do, given the kind of backlash GoT received from American conservatives after the nudity of Season 1.
And build up to Arya's blindness was also great. Its not there in the books but for once, they veiled the show's concocted scenes with a mysticism true to the books. She seeing her own face was awesome!
Dany's arc: who's it this time - Khal Pono? :lol: Going by the landscape, it looks like she traveled from Morocco to Scotland? Can't figure out from looking at the map where she exactly is in Essos? While I am ranting, I wish they showed Asshai.
Also, where exactly did Theon and Sansa jump? On snow? :lol:
Melissandre's face
So in closing, lame end to an average season. Here's hoping GRRM gets to book 6 before D&D get to season 6.