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Azor ahai jorah5/28/2023 ![]() ![]() Those who didn’t die but maybe should have are Ser Brienne of Tarth and Grey Worm-both of whose character arcs have been duly satisfied and there is nowhere else for them to go, emotionally at least.Ĭharacters aside, this episode was an expertly crafted 80 minutes. A fitting way to go.Īmong the others who died are the horde of Dothraki, countless Unsullied, Beric Dondarrion, and Dolorous Edd. Picked up like a ragdoll by an undead giant and crushed to death, Lady Lyanna manages one last act of defiance, stabbing the giant in its eye. But even in death, Lyanna provides an example of courage in the face of overwhelming odds. But last episode, when she pledged to fight alongside her men, it was a foregone conclusion that she wouldn’t survive the Battle of Winterfell. The headstrong head of House Mormont won a legion of fans the moment she was introduced last season. Speaking of the Mormonts, Lyanna’s death wasn’t as emotional as it was valiant. Even Drogon swoops down to comfort his mother, signalling just how broken Dany is at Jorah’s death. Dany seems to finally realise this, as she weeps over Jorah’s body, the first real outpouring of emotion we’ve seen from her in a long time. He’s always been hurt by his Khaleesi, and yet, he stood by her. “I’m hurt” is the last thing Jorah says and it’s a fitting last line. He wanted desperately to be her Hand but in the end, he accepted even that, advising Dany not to treat Tyrion so harshly. He was jealous but he came to terms with it. All the while, he watched as she loved others-Khal Drogo, Daario, Jon Snow. And again, he came back, healed by Samwell Tarly. ![]() She sent him away again after he contracted greyscale. But he’d fallen in love with her and so, he came back. Initially, Jorah was spying on Dany, which led her to exile him. There was only one way Jorah could’ve died in the show and he did so predictably, falling only after he’d protected the love of his life, his queen and Khaleesi. Second, Ser Jorah Mormont, son of Jeor Mormont, uncle to Lyanna Mormont. When he dies, it is with the knowledge that he died in Winterfell, his home, protecting his family, the Starks. And in one of the more poignant moments of the episode, Theon, armed with a spear, charges the Night King, fully expecting to die. His rebirth happened slow, prodded multiple times by his sister Yara, but he needed to return to Winterfell to gain closure. Alfie Allen is easily one of the best actors on the show, going from the despicably arrogant Theon who took Winterfell while the Starks were away to the broken and pitiful Reek, tortured endlessly by the sadistic Ramsay Bolton. So it was fitting that Theon and Ser Jorah died in this episode, not so much that Brienne, Podrick and Grey Worm didn’t.įirst, Theon, and what an arc he’s had. With no more books to follow, showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff have turned Game of Thrones into a straightforward television show-full of good guys and bad guys, all with predictable character arcs. These last two seasons have shown how much Martin is missed. It feels like something that George RR Martin-he who relishes in turning high fantasy tropes on their head-would never have written. The Night King’s death feels like poor writing, doing away with all the complex characterisation that made Game of Thrones unique. The show had led us to believe that the White Walkers wanted something more, what with all the spiral symbolism, their creation at the hands of the Children of the Forest, their taking of dead babies, and the once-glimpsed Lands of Always Winter. ![]() All the Azor Ahai prophecy aside, it turns out that the Night King was just a run-of-the-mill villain, someone with no deeper motivations than to murder all humans. But what about everything else? The Prince who was Promised was supposed to be someone wielding a flaming sword that they had just pulled from the bosom of their lover.Īs much as I admire Arya’s arc -from naive tomboy to faceless assassin-there is something that doesn’t quite sit right with her killing the Night King. It was someone wholly unexpected.īut the question remains, is Arya Stark Azor Ahai ? Sure, she did leap out of nowhere to stab the Night King and put an end to the Long Night, killing all of the walkers and the wights in one blow. It wasn’t even Daenerys or Jorah Mormont or Jaime Lannister. Only it wasn’t Stannis Baratheon and it wasn’t Jon Snow. She fulfilled her purpose-she aided Azor Ahai, the Prince(ess) who was Promised. Melisandre, The Red Woman, walks out into the snow, strips off the magical charm that’s been keeping her young, and collapses-dead. It is a quiet, sombre death that does not come from murder but from acceptance. The final death in The Battle of Winterfell is unexpected. “What do we say to the god of death?” “Not today.”
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