TV Review: Game of Thrones Season 5

House Targaryen

Despite the allegations of incest and insanity that tarnish the mighty Targaryen name, this is widely believed to be the house that ought to rule Westeros – partly due to its rightful claim to the throne, but mostly due to the character of the last remaining Targaryen. Daenerys ‘Stormborn’ has indeed taken Game of Thrones with ‘Fire and Blood’ since her introduction in the first season – initially as little more than a timid girl with an old family name. Since then, she has acquired dragons, freed slaves and generally been a badass fan favourite. However, Season Five has shown Daenerys grappling to hold onto her throne in Meereen as the insurgent ‘Sons of the Harpy’ undermine her power by slaughtering within the city walls.

In Season Four, Daenerys chose to remain in Meereen to “rule”, rather than taking her newly acquired unsullied army across the narrow sea to retake Westeros. However, come Season Five, Daenerys is experiencing as much difficulty in holding onto her power as Cersei Lannister. Her problems largely stem from moral dilemmas, which are familiar to us from earlier seasons – viewers have seen ostensibly good characters such as Ned Stark attempt to ‘do the right thing’, with disastrous consequences. For example, in Episode Two Daenerys decides to have a former slave executed for murdering a captured ‘Son of the Harpy’ before he could be tried. Her attempt to exact justice is pelted with stones, which illustrates one of the core teachings featured in Game of Thrones: a certain level of cunning (and thus morally ambiguous behaviour) is required in order to hold onto power. As Daenerys is a character with a strong moral compass and no prior experience of ruling on this scale, Season Five has plunged her into unfamiliar territory.

While it was left unclear whether Daenerys will return to her eastern throne in Season Six, there is hope for her yet – in the form of Tyrion Lannister. Having acted as Hand of the King in Westeros, his insight into the Game of Thrones elite may allow Daenerys to navigate the complicated politics of Meereen more effectively next season. Moreover, the union of two much loved characters was undoubtedly a highlight of Season Five.

But will Daenerys return to Meereen? Her incredible flight with the now fully grown Drogon (which was sadly somewhat overshadowed by Shireen’s incineration in episode nine), coupled with the reintroduction of the Dothraki in the season finale indicate a sense of regression in Dany’s storyline – which may not be a bad thing. Throughout the corresponding novel (A Dance with Dragons), Dany’s mantra was: “If I look back I’m lost”. However, by the end of Season Five it becomes apparent than returning to her roots – dragon fire and Targaryen blood – is in fact crucial to her progression. After all, Daenerys’ path ultimately lies in Westeros. While this has not been a particularly empowering season for Daenerys, it has certainly been an important one – and another step closer to rebuilding house Targaryen in all its glory.

Words by Rose Wolfe-Emery

Next