First rule of Westeros:  No one gets out unscathed.  Second rule of Westeros: No one gets out unscathed.  I’m serious.  If there is ONE thing everyone watching and reading the series should know, it’s this fact.

If you read my reviews of the HBO smash hit  Game of Thrones based on the book series “A Song Of Ice And Fire” by George R. R. Martin, you know that I mostly talk about the differences from the books to the show, and how that impacts the characters and storylines.  I talk about the characters as if you know who I’m talking about, because I assume you do.  Spoilers if you continue.

This is your one spoiler warning moment.  Hey, this may be the LAST “book” spoiler warning I post, since after tonight’s “Mother’s Mercy”, we are pretty much neck and neck show-to-book.

No really, if you haven’t finished season 5 OR “A Dance With Dragons”, turn back now.

Ok….well….I think this was one of the better episodes from the last two seasons.  Not JUST because it was the most true to book since the first season, but because it was well written.  More often than not with GoT, they miss the mark on cohesive writing.  By that I mean they have these grand scenes with sex and death, but totally butcher the moments that get the characters to getting lucky and the bloodbaths.  That more than anything has been my complaint the last two seasons, I mean aside from THE GODDAMN SANDSNAKES BEING USELESS.  In tonight’s season finale, we had some deaths.  Big surprise, right?  Well, according to the majority of people currently swearing off the series forever and always, yeah.  I’m not faulting any of them for this, but if they didn’t realize it YET, I refer them back to rules one and two of Westeros.

Stannis and Brienne.  One of my favorite visuals from this season is the circling of the Bolton army around Stannis and his half forces. Absolutely beautiful.  Maybe I should mention I do historical reenacting, and I appreciate this type of scene a lot.  Stannis’s end was really wonderful.  I think the only person who gets as poetic an ending is Oberyn.  We’ve felt Brienne’s pain, watching the man she loved die.  We’ve heard her tell her story of seeing the Shadow with Stannis’s face plunge his sword into Renly’s chest, and getting to see the man accused admit his guilt was something special.  I say this because as a book reader, this is one of those changes (something not in the books, unique to the show) I really like.  The supernatural occurrences in their world are not usually spoken about so certainly, and having someone as practical and pragmatic as Stannis admit to ‘magic’ was fascinating.

Theon/Reek and Sana.  SO THERE, Theon/Reek did something to help Sansa.  The person she trusts probably the least in the world even though he’s never lied to her once, saves her life and helps get her away from Winterfell.  I have no idea what’s going to happen to either of them, as in the books, Theon’s sister is part of the siege.  Maybe they’ll end up running into Yara Greyjoy and somehow living peacefully…..for an episode next season.

Cersei’s walk.  This is something I’ve been waiting for since Lena Headey’s first scene in the show.  As a reader, it’s a moment where you finally feel a character gets their comeuppance in a way that might just make a dent in their lionheaded armor.  The scene almost didn’t happen, as the Czech city HBO was filming in didn’t want to approve a nude walk through their historical streets, especially with the added press of angry bodies tossing refuse.  My only complaint with the scene was the sheer amount of light on Cersei.  Seriously, I get that maybe it was an artistic thing, to have her start her trudging in bright golden light to end in shadows covered with filth, but it didn’t LOOK right.  Also, I’m ridiculously excited about Franken-Mountain.

Ellaria Sand Ruins Jamie and Myrcella’s Fathers Day.  Yeah, so….we all knew the Princess leaving Dorne wasn’t going to go smoothly, right?  I can’t have been the only person who knew Ellaria was up to something with that gauzy number.  As much as some people hate Jaime, the show has done a wonderful job of conveying his side of the story; why he broke his vows, why he killed the King, what his motivations have been.  Here is is, finally getting to embrace his daughter AS his child, and she dies.  I cannot begin to imagine what the repercussions will be.

One less name on Arya’s list.  Our favorite young assassin-in-training comes face to face with Meryn Trant, again.  In a stolen face from the House of Black and White, Arya confronts the man who she watched ‘dance’ with Syrrio, and stabs him multiple times.  She first takes his eyes, then shivs him in the gut.  She makes sure he knows who she is, proving that really, she’s not ready to be “No One” yet.  Arya returns to the Hall of Faces, and has to deal with the consequences of her taking the wrong life.  I almost wonder if somehow, the writers will tie in the stabbing of Meryn to what happens to Jon.  Hmmm, there’s a thought.  But to teach her the next lesson, Arya’s sight is taken.

A Lannister Rules Mereen.  While yes, the show REALLY hurried along Tyrion’s meeting Daenerys, I REALLY frakking love the “left behind” band shot.  The two most unlikely and at times untrustworthy men in Dany’s life are going to strike out to find her, leaving Tyrion, Grey Worm, and Missandei to rule.  The return of Varys signals perhaps the likelyhood of success on the side of our favorite dwarf, the best bromance in all the Seven Kingdoms gets to continue on the other side of the known world. Party on, Imp.

Dany and Drogon’s roadtrip. I personally still feel the flight of Khaleesi and dragon from the fighting pits in Mereen was anticlimactic.  Sure, it looked good, but the scene felt phoned in.  Maybe this is because I wanted more, I don’t know.  But Dany and her largest scaly firebreathing child are off in the wilderness, miles from the city.  She tries to reason with Drogon, who apparently has reached his teens; “Awe mom, I just want to sleep, not do chores.”  In the book, her absence lasts days, weeks, but in n the show, almost no time has gone by.  Dany climbs down from the mountains and gets surrounded by the Horse Klingons- I mean the Kalasar of one of Drogo’s successors.  Time to get her to Vaes Dothrak.

Jon Snow as Julius Caesar, one Night only.  Something I want you to keep in mind.  In the books, Melisandre never leaves the Wall with Stannis.  When Stannis goes off to take Winterfell, she doesn’t go with him.  She, Shireen, and Selyse all stay at the Wall with the Night’s Watch.  If you’ve been paying attention to the Red Clergy, you know part of their magic is the ability to bring people back from death.  Thoros of Myr did it for Beric Dondarrion three times before his head was split in half, so theoretically, Melisandre can do it this one time for Jon Snow.  The majority of the book readers agree and believe this is what will happen when we return to the characters in “The Winds Of Winter”, but of course, Grandpa George being Grandpa George, he could very well not survive.

We’ll call this the “IS JON SNOW DEAD?” section.  Entertainment Weekly has this interview with Jon Snow, Kit Herrington.  They ask if Jon is coming back, and Kit says:

I’m dead. I’m not coming back next season. So that’s all I can tell you, really.

Then they also have THIS piece, same site, talking about how Grandpa George has teased in the past that no one is ever truly dead.

In an interview on Deadline, “Mother’s Mercy” director David Nutter was asked if Jon was ‘truly dead’.  He responded “yes”.  BUT, further down in the interview, Nutter ALSO admits he has no idea what is going to happen in season 6:

NUTTER: Well, I have no idea what happens at all in Season 6, that’s a Dan and Dave question.

Needless to say, it’ll be several months until Game Of Thrones returns for their 6th season.