Razor’s Rant: If I look back (at Season 5), I am lost

Warning: This is an article written from the perspective of a book reader. There will be spoilers from the end of A Dance With Dragons. Unsullied, considered yourself warned.

As I sit here pondering what to rant about, a question has arisen in my mind: Do we really know what the end-game of this season of Game of Thrones is? This Sunday, we start the final two episodes of Season 5, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more confused as to what the point of the season has been. Looking back at the past eight episodes, I feel like Daenerys wandering the Dothraki sea in A Dance with Dragons: “If I look back, I am lost.”

Perhaps this all started with sending Jaime and Bronn to Dorne. When information about this season’s storylines first came out, I was actually excited to see more of Jaime and Bronn together. In fact, I initially thought that it would be a great way to introduce the Sand Snakes while keeping a fan favorite (Bronn) on screen. It turns out I was wrong. Everything in Dorne has felt forced, rushed, and poorly executed. Oh it’s not all the Sand Snakes’ fault.

Jaime and Bronn (if he has to have screen time, which I’m okay with because…Jerome Flynn) belonged in the Riverlands this year, where the real story of A Feast for Crows takes place. Jaime needs to be lifting the siege at Riverrun, all the while bringing the King’s Peace to the land. Oh and if the show had taken that path, guess what, fan favorite the Blackfish would have been able to come back…but we forgot about him. Furthermore—and I can actually hear your eyes rolling here—if the show had stayed in the Riverlands, then a certain stone-hearted lady would have been given an opportunity to have an actual impact on the story. Know what else? The show could have showcased Brienne and Jaime’s weird relationship, instead of just showing Jaime’s face as he passed by the Sapphire Isle.

Despite one widespread opinion among book fans that both A Feat for Crows and A Dance with Dragons (the two books Season 5 is loosely based on) were too long and meandering, I really enjoyed them, and here’s why: both books gave readers insight into the plight of the common man. They let us know how the smallfolk had suffered during and after the War of the Five Kings. We don’t have that at all this season.

Instead of an understanding of why the Sparrows are tearing up King’s Landing, all we got was a poorly shot montage of a bunch of angry and homophobic religious fanatics who carve symbols on their foreheads and apparently are impervious to sword strikes despite the fact that they are only wearing tattered robes (That’s Tywin-level sarcasm right there, folks). Most of my Unsullied friends do not understand where the High Sparrow came from, or why his minions are so angry. In the books, we know why, because George R.R. Martin carefully crafted a story in which their motivations are explained to the point where we feel sorry for them. On the show, all I feel for the faithful is disgust and hate.

Maybe the reason I have no idea where this season is heading is because I don’t know why Stannis cares so much about Winterfell. Why does a man who aspires to sit the Iron Throne care at all what one noble House does far away from King’s Landing in the secluded North? In the books, we know why Stannis cares…he needs the support of all the great Houses of the North, and he’s marching to Winterfell because removing the Boltons and Freys (who are universally despised by everyone in the North) is the only way he can garner the support he so desperately needs to take the crown.

On the show, only the Boltons are in Winterfell, not the other lords and ladies of the other great Northern Houses, and it seems as if everyone has forgotten how Roose and the Freys betrayed Robb Stark and all but wiped House Stark from the map at the Red Wedding. In the books, we get the impression that many Northern lords—acting under the direction of Wyman Manderly, Lord of White Harbor—are conspiring to remove Roose as Warden and exact revenge on those who betrayed the Young Wolf. On the show, Wyman Manderly doesn’t even seem to exist, and no other Lords of the North are even in Winterfell with the Boltons…so again, why does Stannis even care?

The only two stories I care about this season are the ones involving Jon and Daenerys. Jon is concerned for the entire realm, as shown by his actions at Hardhome and his refusal to take the easy way out (see Stannis’ offer of legitimization). Jon is playing the long-game. Meanwhile, Dany’s story is being sped up, seemingly to get her to Westeros even faster than in the books…and I’m okay with that because Westeros needs some direction.

So as you can see, as an avid fan of both the books and the show, I have no idea how to feel about this season, and I don’t know in what direction it’s heading. I have looked back and I am indeed lost, and it’s not a great feeling. Maybe Drogon needs to sweep down from the sky and set this season back on track, because right now, there is no point.

Hi, my name is Razor, and I’m a lost book purist. 

• Published on 06/05/2015 at 4:00 PM CDT
• Last updated on 06/05/2015 at 4:00 PM CDT