GAME OF THRONES (S8E05) : "The Bells"

Summary
The episode contains the final resolution of the fight between Daenerys and Cersei for control of the Iron Throne and the leadership of the Seven Kingdoms. "The Bells" is the penultimate episode of the series and so a number of important characters meet their ends. The ones that come to mind are: Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Euron Greyjoy, Sandor Clegane, Gregor Clegane, Maester Qyburn, and Lord Varys.

The most prominent deaths of the episode are of the Lannister twins, Cersei and Jaime. Many, many viewers were very disappointed that the most villainous character in the story (Cersei) was killed not by another character, but by falling rocks. It was an interesting detail that Cersei's death did follow the prophecy that "the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you." The valonqar is the younger sibling, which everyone (including Cersei) took to mean Tyrion, but in the end it was Jaime who had his hands around Cersei's throat as they were both crushed to death. Of course, ultimately it was Dany who killed them, by raking the Red Keep with so much fire that it collapsed, but it was a hollow death, since we didn't get to see any direct or indirect interaction between the two central characters.

The Lannisters' death came after Jaime had killed Euron Greyjoy, whose Iron Fleet had been completely destroyed by Drogon's fire. (Some people who watched the show were very annoyed that one episode after Rhaegal was killed by Qyburn's ballistas that suddenly the flying spears were completely unable to prevent Dany and her remaining dragon from dominating the airspace of King's Landing.) Regardless, the hand-to-hand combat between Euron and Jaime and the fact that they both were able to land fatal blows on each other was an important scene.

Meanwhile Dany was incredibly effective on Drogon, as she basically destroyed both the Iron Fleet and the Golden Company by herself, breaching the walls of King's Landing to allow her remaining troops (Dothraki and Unsullied led by Grey Worm and assembled forces of the North led by Jon Snow) to enter the city.

It's the scenes inside the city which make the episode so harrowing. Once they get inside and the defending Lannister forces realize that Dany can basically kill anyone from the sky they reluctantly surrender their weapons, but once the bells start to ring out and Dany continues her devastating fiery pillage of the city that animates Grey Worm who throws his spear directly at an unarmed Lannister killing him, that sets off the sack of King's Landing and the murder and rape of thousands of innocents. Jon slowly realizes that his attacking forces are committing horrible acts against the defensive forces and tries (unsuccessfully) to prevent the worst of the war crimes, going as far to kill a soldier from the North as he is attempting to rape a woman.

For much of the episode we (the audience) is following Arya, who tries to escape King's Landing while the two armies are battling each other and Dany is dropping dragon fire from the sky indiscriminately. Arya experiences the destruction of King's Landing from the perspective of the women and children of the city and it is terrifying, confusing and amazing. After all the important deaths (mentioned earlier) in the final scene of the episode we see Arya covered in grey ash with multiple injuries and improbably she finds a white horse nearby ready to be soothed and she uses it to ride out of the city to safety. How will she use the fact that she is alive and everyone on her kill list is dead? Only one episode left to find out!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode is Lord Varys' heartfelt "I hope I deserved it. Truly, I do. I hope I'm wrong. " This is what he says right before he is executed by Drogon on Daenerys' command after Tyrion confesses to her that Varys doubts that she is the best person to sit on the Iron Throne.
• Another important quote in the episode was also done by Varys: "They say that every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin and the world holds its breath." The implication is that 50% of Targaryen's may be insane, which is problematic when Targaryens have been in the ruling class of the Seven Kingdoms.
• The direction by Miguel Sapochnik (who also directed the more controversial "The Long Night") was absolutely stunning.
• The aerial shots of King's Landing as the town was being devastated by Dany and her dragon were incredible. It's even more amazing that instead of filing in Dubrovnik as usual, the producers created a brand new set in Dublin just so they could destroy it!
• Cleganebowl!

Lowlights
The only lowlight of the episode was that we didn't get to see the face of Daenerys as she decimated King's Landing, thus we were provided any insight into her thought processes for killing so many people and destroying so much property after the bells rang out and (presumably) the city had surrendered. This result shocked a lot of people (not me) so hopefully we do get some kind of explanation in the series finale.

Grade: 10/10

GAME OF THRONES (S8E04) : "The Last of the Starks"

Summary
This episode begins with a funeral for all the dead who fell in the previous epic episode "The Long Night." We see all the survivors, looking sombre, about to set alight the pyres of their friends, lovers, brothers, sons, fathers, etc. However, afterwards, we see a huge feast occurring in the great hall of Winterfell, with everyone  (except Arya, who is called "the hero of Winterfell" in her absense) drinking and eating and making merry. Everyone in attendance is happy except for Dany, who notices how people seem to gravitate around her nephew/lover Jon Snow, even though an objective analysis would show that he did not acquit himself with much impact in last night's battle between the living and the dead. You can see the realization on her face that she could very well lose her claim to the Iron Throne to this guy. So she calls out Gendry Rivers, gets him to confirm in front of everyone that he is indeed Robert Barratheon's "bastard son" and declares that he is now Gendry Barratheon, Lord of Storm's End (the Barratheon homestead). It's a nice moment and everyone in the hall applauds the new Lord's good fortune. Lord Gendry, continues his search for Arya, who he finds alone, practicing her archery marksmanship. Being the silly dude he is, Gendry gets on one knee and asks Lady Arya Stark to marry him. She lets him down easy. "You will make a great Lord and you deserve to have the love of a great Lady. But I am not a lady. I never was, and I don't intend to be." Although we see the end of one couple in this episode we also see the consummation of the relationship between Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, two episodes after he knighted her in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

The title of this week's episode is "The Last of the Starks," presumably because of the scene with Jon, Sansa, Arya and Bran (the four surviving Stark children) meeting in the Weirwood, where Jon defies Dany (as everyone knew he would) and reveals the secret that only 4 people in the world know: his real name is Aegon Targaryen, so in fact he is not their adopted brother, he is their cousin (the son of their father's sister Lyanna Stark). Before he tells them he makes them swear not to reveal what he is about to say and then he tells Bran "tell them everything." Curiously, the reveal happens off-screen, as does the second reveal when Sansa tells Tyrion, who has come to try and convince the Lady of Winterfell to trust in his judgment that the Dragon Queen will be a just ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. "What if there were someone else?" Sansa asks him.

This cuts to the first of two pivotal scenes where Tyrion and Varys debate who should be the ruler of Seven Kingdoms that would benefit the most number of people. Tyrion, as one would expect from the Hand of the Queen, makes his case for Daenerys, while Varys, who having reached the inner corridors of power without ceding his connection to the common folk, wonders aloud if it wouldn't be better to have someone sit on the Iron Throne who has to be convinced to do it, instead of someone who believes it is their (her!) birthright. It's an interesting philosophical question which has echoes of modern day politics.

However this is a brief respite from the mayhem of the rapidly approaching battle for the Iron Throne. Many of our heroes set off by ship and Dany and her dragons are flying above them. Suddenly they are ambushed by Euron's fleet of ships and we see huge flying spears whizzing through the air, barely missing Dany on Drogon and connecting with Rhaegal in the wing. Two more spears come by and they catch the dragon in the throat, and he falls into the ocean, suddenly dead. Could Drogon and Dany be next? Happily they survive but it means that Dany is now down to one dragon. The new weapons by Qyburn not only can take dragons out of the sky, they can blast ships from several hundred feet away as well. Tyrion and Grey Worm barely survive and it turns out that Missandei is captured by Euron's company.

The inevitable showdown between Dany, Varys, Grey Worm, Tyrion outside of the walls of King's Landing as they watch Cersei, Qyburn, Euron, and a captured Missandei occurs at the very end of the episode. Even though it was very clear there was no way she would survive the situation, it was still shocking to see Mountain chop her head off as her lover watched. The look on Dany's face as she stormed away from the scene where one of her closest confidants was murdered as she mourns the death of one of her children was enough for us to know that the penultimate episode of the season (and show) next week will be the epic battle for the Iron Throne we have been waiting for since the show debuted in 2011.

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode (and maybe the season so far!) is Tyrion's response to Varys as they debate who they think really would be the best ruler of the Seven Kingdoms: "I don't think a cock is a true qualification." 
• The second best line is probably Jaime's "I've never slept with a Knight before." Of course Brienne's response is "I've never slept with anyone before."
• Most valuable player of the episode is Tyrion, who risks his life by trying to speak directly with his sister, Queen Cersei, to attempt to reach some human compassion at her core in order to try and avoid the bloodshed and horror he knows will result if the two Queens of the Realm battle for supremacy. He fails (of course), but the attempt was valiant. I was quite surprised he survived the effort. A close second would probably be Qyburn, who of course designed the new weapons which were used to devastating effect by Euron's navy to not only kill half of Dany's surviving dragons, but also obliterated a significant fraction of her existing naval power as well.
• The love scene between Jaime and Brienne was great, because it was a payoff for a relationship that has been in existence for several seasons. However the sight of Brienne in tears, dressed only in a nightgown, begging Jaime not to give in to his "bad" side and return to his evil sister/lover was heartbreaking. 

Lowlights
The primary lowlight was the fact that Rhaegal was taken out of the game so abruptly and brutally. There's no question that 6 episodes is simply not enough time to wrap up a story as complex and complicated  as George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Grade: 9/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S8E02): "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

Summary
The second episode of the final season of  Game of Thrones is "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." This is either a reference to Jaime Lannister or Brienne of Tarth. This is a "quiet before the storm" episode where the "storm" is the Army of the Dead led by the Night King and the White Walkers. The Seven Kingdoms are the North (home to Winterfell), the Vale (home to The Eyrie), Dorne (home to Highgarden), the Stormlands, the Reach, the Westerlands, and the Iron Islands.

In this episode we see how people will deal with the end of the world as they know it. They know the Night King is on his way to Winterfell kill everyone in the North and the writers use this episode to show us almost every imaginable pairing of characters. A brief list is: Sansa and Theon, Grey Worm and Missandei, Jaime and Brienne, Arya and Gendry, The Hound and Arya, Podrick and Brienne, Sansa and Daenerys, Sam and Gilly, Tyrion and Jaime, Tormund and Brienne, Bran and Jaime, etc.

The information that Jon received in the previous episode that he is Aegon Targaryen VI, the heir to the Iron Throne was relayed to Daenerys in this episode, but not at a moment where there's enough time for them to have  a meaningful conversation about it. The horn blows, indicating that the Army of the Dead is approaching Winterfell and we immediately cut to an exterior shot with White Walkers (although no appearance by the Night King himself) looking at Winterfell in the distance.

The most surprising (and controversial) scene . Only 4 episodes left!

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The best line of the episode is probably Bran's "The things we do for love" which he said when Jaime was being interrogated by Dany, Sansa and Jon for his crimes, to let the Kingslayer know that he was the kid who he had pushed out the window in S01E01 so many years before.
• The second best line of course belonged to Tormund Giantsbane when he said "Why the f*** not?" to the notion that a woman can't become a Knight.
• The best scene was almost certainly the meeting between Dany and Sansa, as Dany tries to convince Sansa to not be her enemy as she points out that they have a lot in common (primarily that they both love Jon Snow). Interestingly, there is some progress made, but still tension, as Sansa wants to know how the independence/autonomy of the North will be maintained in any new Targaryen administration.
• Second best scene was when Brienne became Ser Brienne, at the hands of Ser Jaime Lannister. The two have had a tumultuous relationship, but Brienne had stuck her neck out to save Jaime from Dany's wrath and revenge by convincing Sansa that Jaime is "honorable" and it was interesting to see how Jaime was able to "pay his debt" later in the same episode.
• Most valuable player of the episode is Podrick, who (again!) surprises us with his hidden talents. his time whipping out a surprisingly supple... voice as he sang the new song "Jenny of Oldstones." The look on his face when Brienne says "Oh I don't really want to be  a Knight."
• All the pairing (or couplings) were great but my two favorite were Grey Worm-Missandei and Arya-Gendry. However, as George R.R. Martin says, "If you think this story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."

An amazing highlight was the original song called "Jenny of Oldstone" which was sung by Podrick in the show a cappella but the version in the credit was done  by the amazing Florence and the Machine. Listen to it below:

Lowlights
The only lowlight of the episode was the languid pacing and the lack of action, but I have no doubt that episode 3 will make up for that, with epic battle between the living and the dead.

Grade: 8/10.

2018 EMMYS: The Winners

My predictions for the 70th annual Primetime Emmys didn't work out too well. The actual winners were very different from whom I wanted to win an whom I thought would win, in the Top 6 categories (Drama Series and Leading Actor and Actress and Comedy Series and Leading Actor and Actress). I only correctly picked Brosnahan as the winner and in my hoped-for-wins I got Game of Thrones and Claire Foy correct.

The nominees and the actual winner is in bold below.

Outstanding Comedy Series
Atlanta
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
black-ish
Silicon Valley
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glow
Barry
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish)

Rachel Brosnahan  (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Allison Janney (Mom)

Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)

Pamela Adlon (Better Things)

Issa Rae (Insecure)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Donald Glover (Atlanta)

Bill Hader (Barry)

Anthony Anderson (black-ish)

Ted Danson (The Good Place)

William H. Macy (Shameless)

Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown (This is Us)

Jason Bateman (Ozark)

Ed Harris (Westworld)

Matthew Rhys (The Americans)

Jeffrey Wright (Westworld)

Milo Ventimiglia (This is Us)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale)

Keri Russell (The Americans)

Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld)

Sandra Oh (Killing Eve)

Claire Foy (The Crown)

Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)

Outstanding Drama Series

Game of Thrones

The Handmaid’s Tale

This Is Us

Westworld

The Americans

The Crown

Stranger Things

In addition to these winners, other notable results were in the best supporting actor categories where Thandie Newton and Peter Dinklage won for HBO's Westworld and Game of Thrones, respectively in the drama category and Henry Winkler won for HBO's Barry while Alex Borstein (the voice of the Mom on Family Guy) won for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. Both This Is Us and The Handmaid's Tale would have been shut out except for the wins by Ron Cephas Jones (the dad) and Samira Wiley (the lesbian friend) as Guest Actors on those series. I belive Stranger things was shut out. Again.

GOT Season 7: Watch 2nd Trailer For Game of Thrones #WinterIsHere

The second trailer for Season 7 of HBO's Game of Thrones dropped this week. New episodes will be available for illegal downloading viewing starting July 16, 2017.

GAME OF THRONES: Official #GOTS7 Trailer Released, Immediately Goes Viral

The first official full trailer for the upcoming penultimate season of Game of Thrones has been released and immediately set records for viewership of a tailer for a television show, garnering well over 60 million views in 24 hours.. (Previously a teaser trailer had been released.)

Season 7 of the hit show will premiere on July 16th and there will only be 7 episodes, instead of the usual 10 and Season 8, the final season, will consist of only 6 episodes.

2016 EMMYS: MadProfessah's Predictions

The 68th Annual Primetime Emmy awards are being held this weekend. Here are the most prominent nominations and my predictions for who will win. Last year, Veep won Best Comedy Series and Game of Thrones won Best Drama Series. The HBO series leads this year's Emmy nominations with 23.

Outstanding Comedy Series

• Veep (HBO)
• Transparent (Amazon)
• Silicon Valley (HBO)
• Modern Family (ABC)
• Master of None (Netflix)
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)
• Black-ish (ABC)

SHOULD WIN: Modern Family

WILL WIN: Veep.

Outstanding Drama Series

• The Americans (FX)
• Game of Thrones (HBO)
• House of Cards (Netflix)
• Downton Abbey (PBS)
• Better Call Saul (AMC)
• Mr. Robot (USA)
• Homeland (Showtime)

SHOULD WIN: : Game of Thrones.
WILL WIN: Game of Thrones.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

• Kyle Chandler (Bloodline)
• Rami Malek (Mr. Robot)
• Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
• Matthew Rhys (The Americans)
• Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan)
• Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

SHOULD WIN: Rami Malek. 

WILL WIN: Kevin Spacey.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

• Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder)
• Claire Danes (Homeland)
• Taraji P. Henson (Empire)
• Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)
• Keri Russell (The Americans)
• Robin Wright (House of Cards)

SHOULD WIN: Tatiana Maslany or Viola Davis. 
WILL WIN: Keri Russell.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

• Anthony Anderson (Black-ish)
• Aziz Ansari (Master of None)
• Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth)
• William H. Macy (Shameless)
• Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley)
• Jeffrey Tambor (Transparent)

SHOULD WIN: Thomas Middleditch.
WILL WIN: Jeffrey Tambor.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

• Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)
• Laurie Metcalf (Getting On)
• Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish)
• Amy Schumer (Inside Amy Schumer)
• Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie)

SHOULD WIN: Tracee Ellis Ross.
WILL WIN: Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

And Now His Watch Is Rewarded! Game of Thrones Gets 23 Emmy Noms!

Woo hoo! It seems like just yesterday that Game of Thrones finished what was probably it's best season yet on Sunday June 26th with the blockbuster (most watched episode of the show) Season 6 finale "The Winds of Winter." Today comes word that last year's winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Drama series (and the most nominated show of 2015) is again the most nominated show this year, with 23 nominations.

Interestingly, the actors playing Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), and Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) were all nominated. So was Max von Sydow (for playing the Three Eye Raven).

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series

• “The Door” (Jack Bender)
• “Battle of the Bastards” (Miguel Sapochnik)

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series

• Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister)
• Kit Harington (Jon Snow)

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series

• Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen)
• Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister)
• Maisie Williams (Arya Stark)

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series

• “Battle of the Bastards” (D.B. Weiss and David Benioff)

Outstanding Drama Series

• Game of Thrones

These nine just represent the Emmy nominations presented at the Primetime Emmy Award ceremony on September 18th on ABC. The show also got another 14 Creative Arts Emmy Nominations. See the full list at Winter Is Coming.

GAME OF THRONES: (S6E10) "The Winds of Winter"

Episode 10 of Season 6 (S6E10) of HBO's Game Of Thrones is titled "The Winds of Winter." This is also the title of the sixth (still unreleased) book in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy opus A Song Of Ice and Fire on which the entire television series is based.  However, based upon what we know about how the producers have adapted the story that has appeared in the first five books, not everything we see on screen is necessarily what happens in the books. The season 6 finale

Summary
How to summarize what happens in this episode? Mass murder! Basically, Cersei demonstrates that she will do anything to win the game of thrones, and as you see from the picture at the top of this post, she ends up sitting on the Iron Throne, crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, Cersei of House Lannister, First of Her Name. One can't help notice the contrast between Cersei's storyline in the Season 6 finale from what it was in the Season 5 finale (S5E10: "Mother's Mercy"), where she was publicly humiliated by being forced to walk naked from the Sept of Baelor to the Red Keep as part of her atonement for her "sins" in order to regain her release from captivity under the High Septon's control and torture by Septa Unella. Cersei's revenge and rage is blazingly hot, incredibly destructive and very, very deadly.

Here is the list of important characters Cersei kills by using wildfire to blow up the Great Sept of Baelor:

• Ser Kevan Lannister (her uncle, the Hand of the King)
• Lord Mace Tyrell (Master of Coin)
• Ser Loras Tyrell (her fiance)
• Queen Margaery Barratheon (Loras Tyrell's sister)
• The High Sparrow (leader of the Faith of the Seven, a.k.a. The High Septon)
• Lancel Lannister (her cousin and former lover)
• countless other nameless nobles and prominent citizens of King's Landing, who thought they would be attending the trial of the former Regent, Queen Mother and wife of King Robert Barratheon

And just for good measure, she also has Grand Maester Pycelle killed (by the "little spiders" i.e. orphan children who run amok in King's Landing). However, the implications of these murderous actions cause her sole remaining child, King Tommen Barratheon, to commit suicide by diving off a ledge high up in the Red Keep!

So, while Cersei gets her revenge on all her enemies (by incinerating them) and gaining her greatest prize (the Iron Throne), she also suffers her greatest loss (the death of Tommen).

But, wait there's more!

We get important forward movement in multiple story lines in this season finale:

• Sam and Gilly (finally) make it to the Citadel, and we get to see Westeros' largest library (which is awesome!)
• Arya reveals her presence in Westeros and her ability to use the magic of the Nameless Assassins to get close to and murder the odious Walder Frey, finally consummating the revenge of the Stark clan for the Red Wedding of (S3E09) "The Rains of Castermere."
• The Red Witch, Lady Melissandre, is banished from the North for her role in the horrific murder of Shireen Barratheon (by burning her alive) in S5E09 "The Dance of Dragons."
• Tyrion Lannister is named the Hand of the Queen right before Danerys Stormborn sets off for Westeros with her armies consisting of the Unsullied and Dothraki hordes, supplemented by ships from the Tyrells and the Martells
• We see Lord Varys cement an alliance in Dorne between House Martell (represented by Ellaria Sand) and House Tyrell (as represented by the Queen of Thorns, Olenna Tyrell) to combine forces to battle the Lannisters for "vengenace and justice"
• Jon Snow is declared King of the North after Lady Lyanna Mormont gives a brilliant speech in his favor
• We see Brandon Stark learn that Lyanna Stark is Jon Snow's mother (so Jon is definitely a Stark, but the question of who his father is, is not answered, and whether, Jon is in fact a bastard or not)
• Last but not least, we see Jon and Sansa hanging out, and she tells him that it is official, "Winter has come."

Highlights
The highlights of this episode were:

• The entire opening 25-minute sequence (which has limited dialogue, and a very effective score by Ramin Djiwadi, including a new piece called "The Light of the Seven") set in King's Landing is one of the most impressive moments in the entire television series.
• The best line of the episode (and perhaps the season) goes to Cersei "I do things because they feel good... I drink because it feels good. I killed my husband because  it felt good to be rid of him. I f*** my brother because it feels good to feel him inside me. I lie about f****ing my brother, because it feels good to keep our son safe from hateful hypocrites. I killed your High Sparrow, and all his little sparrows,....because it felt good to watch them burn. It felt good to watch them burn. It felt good to imagine their shock and their pain, No thought has even given me greater joy." 
• Another great line is Lyanna Mormont's "I don't care if he's a bastard. Ned Stark's blood runs through his veins. He's my king from this day, until his last day!"
• The two last shots, showing Cersei on the Iron Throne and then the huge armada of ships on their way to Westeros, including three fully grown dragons, is thrilling, and Djiwadi's music is astonishing.

Lowlights
No lowlights. A near-perfect episode. Probably the best of the first 60 of the show.

Grade: 10/10.

GAME OF THRONES (S6E05): "The Door"

We are now halfway through the 10-episode sixth season of HBO's Game Of Thrones with the airing of  (S6E05) "The Door." This is often a pivotal and important point in every season, because the fifth episode often sets up action that will be resolved or poses questions that will be hopefully answered during the season finale. In "The Door" we had a heartbreaking death, (or two!) an important confrontation, an intriguing introduction, an unfunny comedy and a surprising escape. Overall, this was one of the best episodes of the show's entire 55-episode series run so far.

Summary
Any discussion of "The Door" needs to begin with talking about the heartbreaking death of Hodor. In (S6E02) "Home", in addition to the big reveal that Jon Snow's death is not permanent, we are also shown Hodor as a (very large) youth named Willis (who could say something else besides "Hodor" at that time). In "The Door" we see that Brandon Stark actually caused Willis' seizure because he was greenseeing that point in time when back in the future, Meera Reed is desperately trying to save Brandon's life by pulling him to an escape from the Night's King and his army of reanimated corpses (known as wights). "Hold the door!" she screams at Hodor and the words get transmitted via Brandon's mental link with Willis in the past and the emotional intensity compressed the words into the now famous "Hodor" and scrambles the teenaged Willis' brain in the process. This results in a sickening irony. Brandon, who was cared for and carried by Hodor so lovingly actually caused the mental defect that resulted in his companion not being able to communicate meaningfully with those around him. Hodor heartbreakingly sacrifices his life to hold the door against the Night's King's undead army, allowing Meera and Brandon to "escape" into the frigid night, carrying only the clothes on their back, with Brandon paralyzed and his direwolf Summer, the Three-Eye Raven and Leaf (the Child of the Forest) and Hodor all dead behind them. Is it worth it? Is Brandon really that important to the fate of mankind?

One key takeaway of the events of this episode and the revelation of how Hodor got his name is that there is no question that when Bran is greenseeing, he can affect the past. However, it also appears to be true that even if Brandon affects the past, it doesn't change his timeline. To Brandon, he had only ever known Willis as Hodor, even if he had not yet been responsible for the events that turned Willis into Hodor. The question is, can Bran change other past events?

In addition to the two heartbreaking deaths (Hodor and Summer), the important confrontation occurred between Sansa Stark and Lord Petyr Baelish. Remember, back in Season 4 Sansa was under Baelish's protection when he married her off to the odious Ramsay Snow. Sansa starts their conversation with "Did you know abut Ramsay? If you didn't, you're an idiot. If you did, then you're my enemy." She meets Littlefinger with Brienne present as a more than implicit  threat that she no longer needs Littlefinger's protection, and that she could have him killed right there if she wants. She excoriates him with the line "You freed me from the monsters who murdered my family and you gave me to other monsters that murdered my family."

The intriguing introduction occurs back at Essos where a mysterious new Red Priestess named Vintana is brought in by Tyrion to try and spread the word about Daenerys' achievement and although Varys (and the audience) have doubts about the existence and powers of the Red God, she skeeves him out by revealing details of the worst night of his life that Varys has never revealed to anyone. I suspect we will be seeing more of her as we barrel towards the end of the season and events in Essos quicken to a climax.

The unfunny comedy happened in Braavos, where we watch Arya reacting to seeing a mummers play that re-enacts the events of the first two seasons which are almost unrecognizable to someone like herself who was a first-hand witness. She sees her father Lord Eddard portrayed as a fool, the sadistic Joffrey as a hero and Cersei as a loving mother. She is able to sneak backstage and eyes the person that she is being tasked with murdering. The one notable aspect of this scene was that there was gratuitous male nudity (of course there was also female nudity later in the scene as well, but atleast it wasn't gratuitous!)

The surprising escape (Brandon's escape from the Weirwood cave was not really surprising) involves Yara and Theon, the Greyjoy siblings of the recently murdered King of the Iron Islands who combine
forces at the Kingsmoot (a gathering where the Ironborn decide who will be the next candidate for the Sand Throne) but are defeated by their Crazy Uncle Euron (who admits killing his brother and sovereign). Yara and Theon see the writing on the wall and escape with all of the Iron Born's best ships. Newly crowned King Euron vows to hunt down his niece and nephew and then to sail to Essos to convince Daenerys Stormborn to marry him and  combine forces to invade and rule the Seven Kingdoms.

Highlights
The highlights of this week's episode were:

• The best line of the episode was Sansa's, to Littlefinger: "You freed me from the monsters who murdered my family and you gave me to other monsters that murdered my family." (ouch!)
• Of course, Meera's "Hold the door!" and Willis' "Hold the door, holdthedoor,...,holddoor,...,hodor" will also be remembered forever.
• The scene between Sansa and Littlefinger was a clear highlight of this week's episode as it shows Sansa's increasing control over her own destiny.
• The assault of the Night's King's forces on the Weirwood tree cave was quite thrilling, and heartbreaking as the losses mounted up (first the Three-Eyed Raven, then Summer, then Leaf and ending with Hodor). It was one of the most exciting sequences of the entire series.

Lowlights
This was a near flawless episode. The only possible lowlight was the scene with Dany and Jorah, which seemed out of place with the rest of the episode, since it primarily involved the departure of Jorah which is a character not much of the audience cares about (including me).

Rating: 10/10.