‘Game Of Thrones’ Finale Recap: The Night’s Watch Turns On Jon Snow; Brienne Avenges Renly’s Death; Arya Loses Her Sight

Game of Thrones‘ final scene in the penultimate episode of season five last week was a triumphant one, with Daenerys taking flight aboard Drogon, fleeing the fighting pits that had been overrun by the Sons of the Harpy. In Sunday night’s finale, “Mother’s Mercy,” triumphs were few and far between for the great houses of the Seven Kingdoms.

‘Game of Thrones’ Finale Recap

Mereen: Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), Daario (Michiel Huisman) and Jorah (Iain Glen) all survived the mutiny. Standing in Dany’s throne room, the group muses about what their next move should be. They have no idea where their queen was taken by her dragon or if it can safely return her to Mereen, so the first order of business has to be to locate her. Tyrion wants to join Daario and Jorah, whom he notes both love Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) but are both ill-suited to be wed to the Targaryen. Daario believes that Tyrion, in addition to talking to much, would be of greatest use to everyone if he were to stay in Mereen and help rule. Serving as the face of Tyrion’s governing will be the much-respected Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson) and the trusted Missandei. While Tyrion starts to fret over his new responsibility in a strange city, he’s greeted by Varys’ (Conleth Hill) friendly face. Unbeknownst to Tyrion, Daenerys is also now in a strange land, where she’s greeted by the unfriendly faces of the Dothraki.

Stannis’ Camp: As the icicles begin to melt at the camp, Melisandre (Carice van Houten) glows with confidence that Shireen’s death had been precisely what Stannis (Maxwell Laird) and his men needed to ensure their successful siege of Winterfell. She gleefully goes to Stannis, but, having just had his only daughter burned to death on her advice, he’s not particularly thrilled to see her. For someone so intuitive, Melisandre seems genuinely surprised by his chilliness. When she overhears one of Stannis’ army leaders telling him that nearly half of his men deserted overnight, for the first time, Melisandre looks vulnerable.

As for Stannis, he refuses to accept defeat, but is soon met with more terrible news. After being led out into the woods, he finds his wife Selyse dead in a suicide by hanging. Meanwhile, his lover and trusted advisor Melisandre took the opportunity while Stannis was preoccupied dealing with the sudden death of his spouse to ride out of camp. Though karma is rearing its ugly head at Stannis Baratheon, he remains resolute about marching onward to meet Roose Bolton’s army at Winterfell.

Winterfell: Sansa (Sophie Turner), her red hair covered, steals away from her quarters to light a candle in the tower as Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) had advised her. Right before Sansa could get the candle lit, Brienne left her post upon learning from Podrick (Daniel Portman) that Stannis and his army were arriving. Seeing the beginnings of the battle outside the walls of Winterfell herself, Sansa hurries back to the main castle. Before she can get back to her room, Myranda (Charlotte Hope) holds her up with a bow an arrow, with Theon (Alfie Allen) at her side. Myranda means to injure Sansa as punishment for disobeying her lover Ramsay, but Theon steps in and throws her off the balcony. Together, Theon and Sansa start their escape.

Outside the walls, walking alone through a field of his slain soldiers, Stannis meets a pair of Bolton’s soldiers. He cuts them both down, but not before suffering a deep cut to his leg. While slumped against a tree, Stannis is approached by none other than Brienne. Brienne tells him that she served on Renly’s Kingsguard, and that she knows that he murdered his brother with blood magic. He does not deny it. And so, in Renly’s name, Brienne sentences him to die. “Go on. Do your duty,” Stannis says, and with that, Brienne kills him.

Braavos: Ser Meryn Trant (Ian Beattie) sits, wooden stick in hand, as he leers at the three young girls brought to him by the madame. He whacks the girls one-by-one and becomes dismayed when one of the girls fails to cry out in pain. He excuses the other two girls, intent on inflicting the stubborn one with more corporeal punishment. But it’s then that Arya (Maisie Williams) removes the face of the young blonde girl and becomes herself. She stabs his eyes out, and then rams her dagger into his torso, asking him, “Do you know who I am?” After stabbing him in the gut and in the back, she says, “Do you know who you are? You’re no one. You’re nothing,” and then she slits his throat, making good on her promise to kill him.

When Arya returns to the house of Black and White, she is met by the young woman and Jaqen (Tom Wlaschiha), who knows that Arya used a face to take the wrong life. He is not pleased with her, and is now in agreement with the young woman’s observation that Arya had not been ready. Jaqen tells Arya that only death can pay for life, pulls out a vile of poison and drinks it. Sobbing, Arya pulls off his face, then more faces before she sees her own. Behind her, the young woman pulls off her face to reveal herself as Jaqen. Arya, swirling in confusion, starts to go blind.

Dorne: Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), thanks to the kindness of Prince Doran (Alexander Siddig), prepares to board a boat back to King’s Landing with Myrcella (Nell Tiger Free) and Trystane (Toby Sebastian) in tow. Ellaria (Indira Varma), while saying goodbye, is sure to discomfit Jamie by giving Myrcella a lingering kiss on the lips. Once on the ship, Jamie tries to have a heart-to-heart with his daughter below decks. “We don’t chose whom we love, it’s beyond our control,” he tells her after expressing how happy he is for her that she happens to love the man she is set to marry. As he stumbles over his words, Myrcella saves him the trouble, explaining that she’s long known about him and her mother. “I’m glad that you are my father,” she tells him, taking the wind out of his breath as she hugs him. And then, blood starts running out of her nose. Ellaria’s kiss had been the kiss of death. On the docks, surrounded by her Sand Snakes, Ellaria takes her antidote and strides away successful in her vengeance.

King’s Landing: Cersei (Lena Headey) remains in prison, but has finally decided to confess in order to win her freedom. She confesses to the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) about her affair with Lancel, but steadfastly denies incest with Jamie. “There is not one shred of truth to it. I deny it,” she tells him. The High Sparrow accepts her apology, but tells her that there will still be a trial. Also, she’ll be permitted to return to the Red Keep, but only after a Walk of Atonement through the city streets.

Cersei, her golden locks chopped off raggedly by a razor, her head bleeding from the cuts, is escorted outside, naked from head to toe. As she walks, the citizens of King’s Landing hurl out insults along with food and waste. They spit on her and knock her down. Her feet torn and bleeding, Cersei starts to cry. By the time she reaches the red keep, she’s sobbing. Qyburn (Anton Lesser) comes to her aid, wrapping her in a cloak and presenting her with the latest member of the Kingsguard, his Frankenstein recreation of The Mountain, who carries her off. Cersei has fight in her yet.

Castle Black: Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), after seeing the army of White Walkers for the first time, doesn’t know how it would be possible to defeat them. “He raised his hands and they all stood up at once,” he tells Sam (John Bradley), speaking of the Night’s King. “Tens of thousands of them. Biggest army in the world.” Sam tries to help think up a way to defeat the White Walkers, but Jon thinks the only hope is if the White Walkers can’t climb the wall. Sam urges Jon to let him go to Oldtown with Gilly and the baby so that he can become a proper maester and be of greater use to him and the Night’s Watch. Though Jon doesn’t want to lose him, he understands that he’s right, not only about needing a maester, but that Sam and Gilly and the baby will die if they remain.

While Jon tries to figure out what he’s to do about the White Walkers and the Wall, he’s confronted by a desperate Davos (Liam Cunningham). Davos pleads with him to help Stannis and his army, but Jon refuses. Stannis’ fight is not the Night’s Watch’s fight, and it’s not the fight of the Wildlings either. When Davos sees Melisandre comes through the gates, he realizes that Shireen is dead, as well as any hope of Stannis winning at Winterfell.

Alone in his quarters later, Jon gets a visit from Olly (Brenock O’Connor). Olly tells the Lord of the Night’s Watch that a Wildling is claiming that his uncle Benjen is still alive. Jon hurriedly follows Olly outside to where a group of men of the Night’s Watch have congregated. He pushes past all of them, including Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale), to see a cross upon which has been scrawled “Traitor.” It was a trap. One by one the men approach Jon Snow to stab him in the gut, declaring, “For the watch.” Olly is the last to walk upon to the son of Ned Stark, stabbing him in the heart for the final blow.