GAME OF THRONES: Quick Episode Recap (Season 05, Episode 09)

“Game of Thrones” somehow managed to up the pulp-fantasy ante this week. Fans praised the conclusion of “Hardhome,” the prior week’s episode, for its depiction of an insane and brutal massacre of Wildlings at the hands of the White Walkers and their Army of the Dead. The end of “The Dance of Dragons,” which fulfilled the promise of its title, will also go down as another great moment in the show’s history.

And yet, this week’s episode featured one of the most heartbreaking moments in the five seasons of “Game of Thrones.” We’ll get into the action below, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I should say that I had to choke back some tears during a specific scene.

It was yet another moment in which a young woman screamed offscreen, the victim of a twisted authority figure. And yet, unlike Sansa’s wedding night, the scene in question from “The Dance of Dragons,” felt poignant as well as horrific.

There were developments in Dorne and Braavos, too, and at the Wall, but the heaviest stuff happened with Stannis’s camp and in Meereen. Let’s get into the matchups.

Stannis Baratheon vs. the Boltons

Right away, we see what Ramsay Bolton and his 20 good men are up to as flames engulf Stannis’s camp, destroying food, tents, weapons and horses. At first, it all looks like a vision of Melisandre’s — the flaming horse was an especially surreal — but it turns out to be all too real for Stannis. Ser Davos urges him to turn back to Castle Black, but Stannis, ever stubborn, persists. “Have the dead horses butchered for meat,” the would-be ruler commands at one point, his mind troubled by a choice. Knowing that Davos isn’t going to bend, he orders him to Castle Black to demand troops and supplies. Davos, likewise, knows that there’s something else at stake: Stannis’s daughter Shireen, who has king’s blood — which is what Melisandre’s Red God demands. He tries to coax Stannis to allow Shireen to accompany him to Castle Black, but Stannis declines. Before he departs, Davos gives Shireen a wooden stag he made for her.

Liam Cunningham as Davos Seaworth, Kerry Ingram as Shireen Baratheon in ‘Game of Thrones.’

Later, Stannis visits Shireen. His eyes are haunted as he tells her that a man must make hard choices to fulfill his destiny — even if he hates it. Sweet Shireen simply wants to help her father, so she asks if there’s a way. Yes there is, he tells her before they embrace. “Forgive me,” he tells her just before she is marched to Melisandre’s pyre. There, Shireen resists, demanding her father be present. He shows up looking like a broken man while Shireen pleads for her life as Melisandre and her flunkies prepare the princess for sacrifice. Then, like any child in peril, Shireen starts pleading for her mother to help — and devout Selyse has a last-minute change of heart, finally realizing the horror that she has enabled. She runs to her daughter, but it’s too late. The guards stop her, and Shireen’s screams echo through the North.

EDGE: The Boltons have crippled Stannis’s forces, and they’ve put him in a position where he feels he must murder his own daughter. Whether Stannis gets to Winterfell or not, he is devastated.

Jon Snow vs. the Night’s Watch

A weary and desperate Jon and his Wildling horde show up at the Wall much to the chagrin of Ser Alliser, who commands the gate opened anyway. Jon, greeted by suspicious and angry Night’s Watchmen, feels like a failure. Sam tries to console him, and Jon looks to young Olly for some reassurance, but Olly turns away in disgust. “You have a good heart, Jon Snow, but it will get us all killed,” Ser Alliser remarks, rubbing salt in the wound.

EDGE: It looks like Jon may have more enemies than friends at this point.

Jaime Lannister vs. Dorne

The Kingslayer is given an audience with Prince Doran, Ellaria Sand, Myrcella and Trystane, her fiance. Myrcella has gone native, even wearing the lighter clothes of Dorne. “The Dornish climate agrees with me,” she says, with a little bit of nasty in her voice. Still, Myrcella must head back to Kings Landing, but she is allowed to be accompanied by Trystane, who will also get a spot on the Small Council to take the place of the departed Oberyn. Ellaria isn’t pleased with the deal, but Jaime is all too happy to agree to the terms, but he wants to know the fate of Bronn, who remains in a cell opposite the Sand Snakes. Trystane is given the power to make a call on Bronn’s fate, and he grants him mercy on one condition: Areo Hotah must clock Bronn to return the favor for when Bronn slugged Trystane.

Later, Doran offers Ellaria the chance to show him loyalty, which she takes. Now free to roam, she creeps up on Jaime in his room, where the two engage in a strangely friendly conversation. She tells him that she knows Myrcella — whom she calls Jaime’s daughter — didn’t have anything to do with Oberyn’s death. And, she adds, she thinks Jaime might not have had anything to do with it, either.
EDGE: Jaime got what he wanted, but is there still a price to pay?

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen Hghar in ‘Game of Thrones.’

Arya Stark vs. Meryn Trant

While heading to deliver her poisonous payload to the Thin Man, she sees someone who looks awfully familiar: Meryn Trant, whom she blames for the death of her original swordplay teacher, Syrio. The Kingsguardsman is accompanying Mace Tyrell on his mission to bargain with the Iron Bank over the Iron Throne’s debt. Arya follows Mace and Meryn while the Thin Man yells after her for his shellfish snack. Eventually, she tracks Meryn to a brothel. He keeps passing up the girls being offered him for being “too old.” Arya looks on, but one of the knights pushes her into the room with Meryn to sell clams and cockles. She catches Meryn’s eye. Is he intrigued by her, or does he recognize her?

EDGE: Still hard to tell at this point.

Daenerys Targaryen vs. the Sons of the Harpy

The queen, still reluctant, opens the Great Games with a hesitant clap of her hands. What follows is a one-on-one match between two warriors, but the real combat is between Hizdahr zo Loraq and Daario, who argue the merits of smaller, faster fighters against bigger, stronger ones. Hizdahr argues for violence and cruelty in the service of greatness, but neither Dany nor Tyrion agree. Hizdahr challenges her notions of noble deaths, and Tyrion needles him, too. Then, though, the wild card shows up. The disgraced, dying Jorah arrives in the center of the ring to do battle in a melee for his queen’s favor. Against her better judgment, she looks on with concern for Jorah’s life. As he squares up with another swordsman who is outclassing him with quick, wounding strikes, another warrior arrives to bail him out.

Still, Jorah has to fight the man who just saved his life. Just as it looks like the Westerosi knight is about to go down again, he rolls toward the man and stabs him in the gut. Then, Jorah spies something happening behind Dany and fires a spear that way, killing a Son of the Harpy who was about to kill her. Daario looks around, and there are masks everywhere. A slaughter begins, and Daario and Jorah get Dany out of there while Hizdahr is butchered. Elsewhere, Missandei is about to be stabbed when Tyrion shows up and cuts the attacker’s throat. The Sons of the Harpy are too many, though, and only a few guards surround Dany, Jorah, Tyrion, Daario and Missandei. The Sons of the Harpy make their move, and it looks like the end is coming for the last Targaryen. Then, a roar pierces the skies. Drogon soars into the arena spouting flame. He is terror incarnate, and he takes on the Sons that don’t flee. The dragon is taking plenty of hits himself, too, as the Sons fling spears at him. It is now time for Dany to save her child. She mounts the great red and black dragon, and they soar away, leaving behind the bloody chaos of Meereen.
EDGE: The Sons may have their city back, but Dany has now embraced her calling as the dragon queen.

Who is winning the Game of Thrones so far this season?

Now that Dany has embraced her birth right, and it’s clear that Meereen is no longer the right place for her, she has to have the edge.