Episode 50 (isn't it convenient that there are ten episodes a season?) of Game of Thrones is called "The Mother's Mercy," but there's not a whole lot of mercy we see in this episode. What we do see is a series of violent climaxes to many long-running stories with huge questions about what is to come.
And one of the reasons those questions are big ones for every member of the audience is that, with the conclusion of season five, most of the major plots of the series have now caught up with the books. A non-book-reader eager to know what the fate of, say, Jon Snow is will not be able to get spoilers from those of us who have read them, because dammit, we don't know either!
But let's save Lord Snow for last, just as the episode does.
First off: Stannis.
Stannis committed a horrific act of sacrifice in last week's episode, and this week we find that it was entirely in vain. The heartless display sent half of his troops packing, and they took the horses with them. On top of that, Queen Selyse, unable to deal with what was done to their daughter, hangs herself. And just before the final, desperate push to Winterfell, Melisandre takes off. In Stannis doesn't know how this will go, he's an idiot. But he probably does know.
We're treated to one sweeping shot of the massive Bolton cavalry charge over the tiny Baratheon force, and there's no illusions about how the battle will go.
Stannis survives the onslaught just barely, but he's wounded, and with nowhere to go. He kills two soldiers who wish to finish him off, but he's wounded more severely. He's clearly on his way out. And then Brienne of Tarth shows up. Finally, she is there to take revenge on the man who killed her King. And barring some really serious fake-out editing, she puts and end to Stannis, and with him the entire (legitimate) Baratheon house.
Sansa
The defeat of Stannis means a dire setback in hope for Sansa.
She once again tries to summon aid from the people of Winterfell, but as she leaves her tower, knowing that Ramsey is on his way back, she is confronted by Miranda and Reek. Miranda holds a bow to her, and Reek begs her to follow and comply, but Sansa knows what it means to comply with Ramsey's plan. She can see it in the man who was once Theon Greyjoy. Preferring a quick arrow to the heart over a life of torture, she awaits her fate. Yet this strength of will inspires that latent Theon that hasn't been entirely stamped out of him, and Theon shoves Miranda off the parapets to her death. Yeah, Miranda, not exactly going to miss you.
But that only makes the situation more dire. Ramsey's coming home, and now that they've killed his girlfriend, he's probably not going to be too friendly. So Theon (and I think he's Theon again) and Sansa hold hands and leap from the walls, this time to the outside.
Is it death that they leap to? This is actually one of the plots where we get a confirmation of what happens (though Sansa isn't even there,) so, um, spoilers for the books I guess: while Miranda very definitely died from her fall, she went over the sheer side onto cobblestones. Theon and Sansa are heading down a slanted exterior wall into snow. It's not, like, safe, but we definitely don't see them land, and it would be weird to wait until next season to say "yep. There they are, all dead and such." Plus, while this would be a satisfying ending to Theon's story (redeeming himself to save Sansa from what he experienced,) Sansa clearly has a lot of work to do. We have to see her become something other than a victim.
Arya:
No time is wasted with Arya. She found Meryn Trant last week, and we go immediately into her successful attack on the Kingsguard. After he auditions three teenaged prostitutes for him to beat, one of them manages not to whimper under his abuse. That one seems to be the one he wants, only for her to take off her face and reveal that she's Arya Stark. Arya stabs Meryn several times and gouges out his eyes, stabs him a bit more, tells her exactly why she's killing him, stabs him a bit more, and then slits his throat. FATALITY!
Yep, this is a very definite removal of the first name on her list.
Yet when she comes back to the House of Black and White to return the borrowed face, she is confronted by Jaqen and the Waif. They know what she did, and as only death can pay for life (something we first heard from Mirri Maz Dur not long before Daenerys burned her to death,) Jaqen takes a vial of poison and drinks it down, dying on the spot. Arya is devastated, but the horror show is only just beginning.
The waif asks why she is crying, and she says it's because Jaqen was her friend. Yet when she turns around, it is Jaqen she is speaking to. How? Because both "Jaqen" and "the Waif" really were "no one." Arya claws at the man she thought was Jaqen's face, only to find an endless series of face-masks, finally coming upon her own. And because she took someone else's face before achieving that status, she starts to go blind.
Arya's blindness and the big question on how far she really wants to take her quest to become no one will, I'm sure, provide us with plenty of plot fodder in the future. What I think is interesting here is that it suggests that, perhaps there is no Jaqen H'gar. He is simply one of the identities used by the Faceless Men, who, if properly trained, have no identity of their own. When the old black man at the entrance of the temple revealed his Jaqen H'gar face, it seemed as if Arya had found the man who had saved her from Harrenhall, but what guarantee was there of that? We knew he could change his face, so why should we assume that someone with that face was him in the first place. What's interesting is that in the books, there was never any suggestion that the "Kindly Man" was Jaqen H'gar at all - Arya just wants to be there because it is where Jaqen sent her. But what I wonder is if our normal sense of identity even apply to the Faceless Men. And if that's the case, I think Arya's going to have to think long and hard about whether she really wants to join them.
Jaime
The whole Dorne plot here is much more truncated than the events of the book, and the plot of the Sand Snakes is quite different in that. Also, Jaime never goes anywhere near Dorne, nor Bronn. Still, there is a plot to kidnap Myrcella that ends with her alive, but her face terribly wounded (like niece, like double-uncle?) This is a plot that the show hasn't really known what to do with, but we get something of an emotional moment when Jaime finally reveals to Myrcella that he is her father. It's a touching moment immediately undercut by what is presumably her death by poison, administered with a kiss by Ellaria Sand. I don't really know what to make of this whole thing - there's no way they won't trace it back to Ellaria - so either there's going to be a full-fledged war between the dwindling Lannisters and Dorne, or this plot's going to continue to go nowhere. Sucks for Jaime, sucks even more for Myrcella, who, like Tommen, seems to have somehow wound up perfectly nice. Did Cersei just pour all of her insanity into Joffrey? As bad as Cersei is, she isn't quite Joffrey-level psycho, so I'd say that Joffrey must have had some kind of tweaked genes or something - either that or growing up with the knowledge you're going to be an emperor combined with Cersei's insanity led to it. Neither Myrcella nor Tommen expected to rule. Is that really the only difference?
Daenerys:
Actually not much happens with her this week. We know that she's separated from Mereen and that Drogon needs to regain his strength and heal after the spears he took in the Great Pit. But the main thing of note here is that the Dothraki have finally returned. No idea whatsoever on where things go from here. After Drogo's death, Dany wasn't exactly in good with the Dothraki, but perhaps she can find a way to recruit them. With a Dothraki cavalry and an Unsullied infantry, she would have an awesome army.
Tyrion:
With Jorah and Daario setting out to find Dany, the governance of the city falls to Grey Worm and Missandei, and one Tyrion Lannister, who has experience running a city in the midst of chaos, war, and unrest. And to top it all off, Varys has come out of the woodwork. We have the wonderful promise of these two teaming up again - if anyone can bring order to Mereen, it'll be these two. Tyrion for Hand of the Queen 2016! (If only it were an elected position.)
Cersei:
Well well well, Georgie. You've finally made us feel bad for Cersei. What can you say? Cersei confesses to her crimes (with one notable exception) and is forced to do a nude walk of shame through the entire city. Even proud Cersei, who, for all of her flaws, always managed to keep her chin held high, cannot take the shame of this event. She breaks down crying by the end, like I think anyone would. But her good friend Qyburn is there, and he has with him a new member of the Kingsguard that is A: enormous and B: wears a mask that obscures his face, but the little skin of his we do see is almost purple. Yeah, if that's not a Frankenstein's The Mountain, I don't know what it is.
Jon:
Now the big one. Notably, Sam gets sent off to Old Town (which is at the opposite end of the continent, between the Reach (home of the Tyrells) and Dorne.) Jon knows that he's made a lot of enemies by bringing the Wildlings past the Wall, but he knows that it's the White Walkers who are the real threat, and the Wall can't stand without the Wildlings' cooperation.
Olly lures Jon out of his office with a story of his uncle Benjen, but when he arrives, there is simply a sign that says "Traitor." Jon turns around, only to be stabbed in the gut about seven times, first by Alliser Thorne, and last by Olly himself, all "For the Watch."
Our last image of the season (and indeed, one of the last of the fifth book) is of Jon bleeding out, his eyes lifeless.
This is the massive controversy that again, has not yet been resolved in the books. Speculation ABOUNDS.
We've seen important protagonists killed before - Ned first, and then the one-two-punch of Robb and Catelyn. Yet somehow, Jon's death doesn't really work the same way, and that has given a lot of people hope that Jon might somehow survive, or, more likely, be brought back to life.
There are several theories of how this might happen, but the one that seems most likely involves Melisandre.
While she's never done it before, we know that another Red Priest of R'hollor is capable of raising the dead - not as a zombie, but as the person they once were (though there seems to be a price for this.)
Thoros of Myr first resurrected Beric Dondarrion in a moment of grief and despair. Thoros didn't even really believe anymore, but he begged for his friend's life again - and the Lord of Light granted it.
Melisandre is currently almost catatonic. She knows that Stannis has failed - she fled before the battle because she saw - not needing prophecy - how it would end. The sacrifice of Shireen might have improved the weather, but it wasn't enough to win the battle. And now, the man who Melisandre had put all of her hope into has failed. Sure, it was pretty awful of her to abandon him, given that all of the worst things he did were at her behest. But Melisandre must be having a crisis of faith.
Jon Snow is the only person who seemed to be taking the White Walker threat seriously, and now he's dead. And given that the White Walkers fit so perfectly into the Red Priest conception of the Lord of Light's opponent, the Great Other, Melisandre could think that Jon Snow is the only chance for victory of good over evil.
Melisandre is poised to resurrect Jon Snow. She has nothing to lose, and she has the potential to have the power to do so.
Is it guaranteed? Hell no - this is George R. R. Martin we're talking about. But the pieces are all in place.
Still, that said, there's plenty of bad shit that could easily go down in the aftermath of this mutiny. The Night's Watch has been forcibly taken over by people who don't want the Wildlings on their side of the Wall, and the Wildlings just lost the one Night's Watch person they were willing to give a modicum of trust to. Add in the fact that before Jon's diplomacy, the Wildlings were fighting a battle with the goal of wiping out the Night's Watch. Oh, and the trump card that allowed Jon to beat them, namely Stannis' army? Totally annihilated.
If Melisandre wants to resurrect Jon, she better do it soon, because I expect that mere minutes from after Jon's death, the Wall is going to explode into chaos and bloodshed between the Night's Watch and the Wildlings. (And the Night's Watch ain't going to win that fight.)
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