Game of Thrones Recap Season 5 Episode 8: Hardhome
Meereen
Dany holds audience with Jorah and Tyrion to determine their fates. Jorah is exiled from the city. His greyscale is spreading.
In private, Tyrion and Daenerys feel one another out. Ultimately, she decides to employ him as an advisor. GOOD CALL DANY! Tyrion also asks a great question: why Westeros? She responds that it is her home and her birthright, and she will take it with the help of the common people.
Sidethought
This isn’t impossible. Bear in mind the people in King’s Landing have been starving, commonfolk in the surrounding area have been trampled under the machines of war, there is no King in the North, Dorne does not support the Lannisters, and the Tyrells have proved open to changing alliances as they see fit.
Jorah returns to the slaveowner and asks to compete in the Meereenese Fighting Pits.
King's Landing
Cersei spars with her captors and is informed by Qyburn that her uncle, Kevan, has returned to give King Tommen counsel.
Braavos
Instructed to observe what happens in the docks, Arya assumes the identity of a seafood peddler named Lanna. She reports on an unsavory insurance shark they call “the Thin Man”, and Jaqen gives her a vial containing “The Gift”.
Braavos
Sansa confronts Reek over his betrayal, and gets him to accidentally admit Bran and Rickon escaped and were never found.
Discussing battle strategy, Roose favors waiting Stannis out. Ramsay wants to act, and asks permission to lead a small group of men. If someone we liked had an idea this dumb, he’d die before accomplishing anything.
The Wall
Olly asks Sam why Jon is set on saving the Wildlings after all they’ve done. Sam explains that with winter and the White Walkers coming, they need every able body they can find.
Hardhome
Jon and Tormund arrive in Hardhome, where a massive Wildling host is gathered. They’re greeted coldly by Rattleshirt, and tension is building before Tormund steals his staff and beats him to death with it. Wildling efficiency, ladies and gentlemen!
Yep. That oughta do it.
Jon makes his case to the Wildling leaders, presenting them with dragonglass weapons to fight White Walkers. If they follow him, he will give them land in The Gift to settle themselves. When asked, Jon inconceivably acknowledges killing Mance Rayder without providing the context of him being burned alive at the time. Luckily, Tormund’s brain isn’t frozen and he explains the merciful nature of his arrow. You might want to lead with that next time, Jon.
Karsi (a Wildling) is helping load boats and tells her kids she’s right behind them, the Game of Thrones equivalent of a black cat crossing your path while you walk under a ladder to break a mirror. Shortly after, the dogs start barking; the White Walkers have arrived.
An ominous silence is broken by Wights breaking through the town’s barriers, leading to mass chaos on the docks while the Night’s King and other White Walkers watch from above.
Lore: The Night’s King
While we have not yet heard the name spoken in the show, it seems that the leader of the White Walkers and their army of wights (less powerful animated dead) is likely the Night’s King of myths. The Night’s King was a Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch who fell in love with a woman resembling a White Walker. Afterward, he declared himself King and ruled from the Nightfort, making sacrifices to the White Walkers. One item that might be pertinent is that it required the combined efforts of the King of Winter and the King Beyond-the-Wall to defeat him; rarely have these groups joined forces, but Jon Snow is attempting to accomplish something similar.
Jon cuts himself a path to the dragonglass, knowing they’ll need it. While searching, he watches a White Walker shatter the Magnar of Thenn’s weapon before dispatching him. He attacks Jon next, but the valyrian steel of Longclaw holds strong and Jon counters, shattering The White Walker in one stroke. Jon, Tormund, Edd, and Wun Wun are able to escape, but Karsi is not so lucky. She never should have told her kids she’d be right behind them. Rookie mistake. Jon and his party row away to the sights and sounds of a slaughter of the remaining Wildlings. The Night’s King looks on menacingly before raising the freshly dead as wights.
What changed?
Tyrion is advising Dany and Jorah is exiled; Kevan Lannister is back in King’s Landing advising Tommen; Arya has a mission; Sansa knows her youngest brothers are alive; Jon and the Wildlings are on their way back to The Wall
Who's Missing?
Varys, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark, Yara Greyjoy, Balon Greyjoy, Jamie Lannister, Bronn, Doran Martell, The Sand Snakes, Tommen Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Myrcella Baratheon, Littlefinger, Margaery Tyrell, Loras Tyrell, Brienne and Pod, The Dragons
House Power Rankings
- House Tyrell - no change
- House Lannister – no change
- House Bolton – no change, but Ramsay’s plan to conduct some sort of stealth attack against an encamped army with Stannis at the head seems like a bad idea
- House Greyjoy – no change
- House Targaryen – Dany gets a bump this week for accepting Tyrion as an advisor
- House Baratheon – no change, displaced by the Targaryens
- House Stark – one Stark knows some other Starks are alive...no change
Dragonflame Burn of the Week
"You vouch for this man, Tormund?"
"He's prettier than both my daughters. But he knows how to fight. He's young, but he knows how to lead. He didn't have to come to Hardhome; he came because he needs us. And we need him."
"My ancestors would spit on me if I broke bread with a crow."
"So would mine, but fuck 'em, they're dead."
