The Dance of Dragons

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" The Dance of Dragons " is the ninth and second episode of the back of the fifth season of the HBO fantasy games series, Game of Thrones, and the 49th overall. This episode was written by the creators of the series David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by David Nutter.

Jon Snow returns to the Wall with the surviving wildlings; Stannis Baratheon lies on the road to Winterfell; Arya Stark meets old enemies; Jaime Lannister meets with Doran Martell; and Daenerys Targaryen confronted at the Daznak Pit stadium.

"The Dance of Dragons" is praised by critics citing conclusions in Pit Daznak as the culmination of the episode. However, Shireen's sacrifice attracted some criticisms.

Video The Dance of Dragons

Plot

Di Braavos

Arya, still disguised as an oyster seller, continues the mission given to him by Jaqen to poison and kill the Thin Man. However, as he was on his way to his target, he saw Mace Tyrell and Meryn Trant arrive at the port to negotiate terms of payment with Iron Bank. Arya, recognizing Trant, ignored her mission and followed Mace and Trant to town. She eventually tracks Trant to a brothel, where she finds out that she is sexually attracted to teenage girls. Upon returning to Jaqen, Arya lied to her by saying that the Thin Man was not hungry and did not buy his oyster, and asked to try again the next day. Jaqen allows this, although it is unclear whether he believes in Aryan or not.

On the Wall

Jon and Tormund return to Castle Black, accompanied by Night's Watch and surviving wildlings from Hardhome. Alliser, irrespective of his disagreement with Jon, orders the gates to open to let them pass. Jon believes that his mission is a failure, although Samwell points out that he still saves thousands of wildlings to be killed by White Walker. Jon was also aware that many of the Night's Watch siblings who were unhappy with the wildling were left past the Wall, and Alliser warned him that his compassion would get them all killed.

In Dorne

Jaime was brought before Doran Martell to explain his actions. Jaime reveals that she was sent to save Myrcella because of a threat message sent to them from Dorne. Doran quickly realizes that Ellaria is behind threats, and apologizes. To avoid escalating hostilities, Doran negotiates a deal with Jaime. In return for Jaime's freedom and Myrcella's return to King's Landing, the Lannister must allow Trystane to accompany them as a substitute for Oberyn in the Small Council. Trystane also allowed Bronn to go free on condition that he allow Areo Hotah to attack him in the face in retaliation for being beaten by Bronn earlier.

After the meeting, Doran personally confronts Ellaria and gives him an ultimatum: pledge his loyalty to him or be executed. Ellaria tearfully promised her loyalty in front of the Serpent, and Doran warned her that this was the last chance she would be given. Ellaria then meets with Jaime and redeems her mistake, admitting that it was not her fault or Myrcella that Oberyn was murdered.

In the North

Ramsay and his group of 20 people infiltrated Stannis camp and sabotaged supplies by burning them. With the inventory gone, Stannis realized that his troops would not survive in winter. Davos suggested that they retreat back to Castle Black, but Stannis refused to back down, and showed that they lacked supplies to get him back. He ordered Davos to return to Castle Black to ask for more supplies and reinforcements in exchange for Stannis who fully manned the Wall with troops when he took the Iron Stage. When Davos left, Stannis reluctantly allowed Melisandre to burn Shireen at the stake as a sacrifice, believing that the "blood of the king" in his veins would please the Lord of Light, which would then change their fate. When Shireen shouts for his parents, Selyse initially endorses Stannis's decision, has a change of heart and attempts to stop the ceremony, but is arrested when his son is burned alive in front of Stannis's horrified troops.

In Meereen

Daenerys, accompanied by Tyrion, Missandei, Daario, and Hizdahr, oversees the beginning of the battle season at Daznak's Pit. During the beginning of the second battle, one of the fighters reveals himself as Jorah. After successfully defeating the other combatants, Jorah suddenly grabs the spear and throws it onto the royal stage, killing an assassin who sneaks at Daenerys. Soon, the Harpy Kids emerged from the crowd and began killing many guards and audiences, including Hizdahr. Daenerys and his escort attempt to escape, but the Harpy boys seal the exit, leaving survivors around and trapped in the center of the battle ring. Daenerys seems to accept his fate, when he hears Drogon roaring nearby. Drogon suddenly appeared, burning and killing many Sons of the Harpy, causing some to escape. While a group of Sons attack Drogon by throwing a spear at him, Daenerys climbs onto Drogon's back, ordering the dragon to fly. The Unsullied drove the Sons of the Harpy away, while Drogon took to the skies with Daenerys, with his allies leaving in awe as they watched him fly away.

Maps The Dance of Dragons

Production

Write

This episode was written for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the series maker. It contains content from George Martin's novel A Dance with Dragons, chapters "The Sacrifice", "The Watcher", and "Daenerys IX". It also contains material from the "Mercy" preview chapter of upcoming The Winds of Winter . As with other episodes this season, "The Dance of Dragons" contains original content not found in Martin's novel, but in this case is notorious for containing content that has not appeared in the novel: Executive Producer David Benioff and DB Weiss asserts that George RR Martin told them that Shireen would be burned to death as a victim in an unpublished future novel. Benioff said: "When George first told us about this, it was one of those moments where I remember seeing Dan, it was just, like, God is so, very horrible, and it is very good in the sense of the story, because it all comes together." Weiss said he was convinced of the decision to kill Shireen in this way, "fully justified," questioning why "we are all very selective about which character deserves our empathy Stannis has burned people alive for seemingly trivial reasons since season 2."

Filming

"The Dance of Dragons" directed by David Nutter, he also directed the next episode, "Mother's Mercy".

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Reception

Ratings

"The Dance of Dragons" was watched by about 7.14 million American viewers during its first airing. With 7 favorite Live DVRs, this episode has an overall rating of 9.92 million viewers, and 5.2 in demographic 18-49. In the UK, this episode was seen by 2,473 million viewers, making it the highest-rated broadcast of that week. It also received 0.141 million viewers of time shift.

Critical reception

"The Dance of Dragons" received a very positive review, with many critics praising the conclusion of the episode at Pit Daznak. The protesters' decision to have Stannis sacrifice Shireen, however, is polarized by critics, with some praise as the development of strong character and others feel it betrays the character of Stannis. This episode received an 88% rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews with an average rating of 8.9 out of 10 and read the consensus criticism "Underlined by a very heartbreaking moment and spectacular display of power, The Dance of Dragons managed to surprise and admirate the audience has come to expect from the series' second series from behind. "

Matt Fowler of IGN highly praised the episode, giving it 9.3/10, an "extraordinary" score. She especially praised the final act of the episode, stating "And only Dany's spectacle is climbing over Drogon, with caution, and then soaring up and down to the incredible sky.It's funny that a great moment for him as Targaryen and possibly future leader of Westeros comes right in one of her bloodiest and spectacular failures as a Queen. "She sums up her review by saying" GoT delivered another interesting (and annoying) episode when Stannis made a big decision & Daenerys attended the tournament "and labeled Stannis's decision as a point strong from the episode. Charlotte Runcie of The Daily Telegraph also reviewed this episode very well: "Disarming Hollywood-level budgets behind multi-season TV shows gives you rich pay this week, from the very Gladiator big - style sweeps the crowded arena of coliseum for a thrilling tense fight to death before a big and loud audience. "Runcie is also impressed with the scene of Shireen's sacrifice, calling it" one of the most annoying scenes "of season 5.

Writing for The A.V. Club , both authors respond positively to this episode. Writing for people who have not read the novel, Brandon Nowalk bestows the A-episode, praising Shireen's sacrifice from Stannis. He said "Stannis burning his daughter Shireen at stake is the most difficult Game of Thrones that has been hitting since Red Wedding, it's just that this violence is really drained by the excitement.This is not a moment of surprise, and nothing which is dirty.As it happened to the death of Oberyn.Instead it was a long and cold death.The most impressive was the pacing, which is not the strongest suit of the season. "He also praised the conclusion of the episode in Meereen by saying" Close-up Dany took Missandei's hand is so clear I'm practically foggy now ", and further states" CGI can use some polish, but nothing short of Shireen can turn my smile upside down. "Writing for people who have read the novel, Myles McNutt presents the episode B, praised Meereen's story by saying "This is a powerful image, given as effectively as the budget constraints of ser i. Watching Dany bounce about the stadium on Drogon is an iconic picture, but it's not one of the other characters that can be completely natural, meaning in itself. "

Erik Kain of Forbes is more critical of the sacrificial scene. Though he praised the entire episode as "thrilling, tragic, and intense," he called the sacrificial scene "a terrible, not good, very bad, and annoying way to destroy Stannis as a character" and "a monstrosity of writing decisions." He also said the scene was "one of the most disturbing, confusing, and unnecessary departures from books" that have so far been presented, although he noted that the scene of the sacrifice was actually the idea of ​​George RR Martin and it (with two installments of The Song of Ice and Fire is still unpublished) it is not clear exactly how much of Shireen's death on the show will deviate from his story arc in the books.

Looking for a middle ground, Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post agreed that the sacrificial scene was disturbing, but he found that David Nutter "did a wonderful job" directed it and believed that the scene was astonishingly developing Stannis as such a character fixated on his "own election" that he would do anything to fulfill his claim to the throne. He also noted that the scene has been out of books so far, but may be reconciled in one of the future installments.

Accolades

Because of its nomination, Emilia Clarke submitted this episode in consideration for the Emmy Primetime Award for Outstanding Acting Actress in the Drama Series for the 67th Emmy Awards Awards.

At the 67th Primetime Creative Emmet Awards, this episode won Special Camera Image Editing for Drama Series and Extraordinary Special Visual Effects.

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References

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External links

• "The Dance of Dragons" on HBO.com
• "The Dance of Dragons" in IMDb
• "The Dance of Dragons" on TV.com

Source of the article : Wikipedia