Iâm still mad about the infamous âred wedding,â but nevertheless, my first-time viewing of Game of Thrones continues with seasons 4 and 5.
Iâm really starting to pick up speed now â I watched the first season in about a month, but I finished season 4 in a week. Itâs interesting because even though I heard what I thought were a lot of spoilers about this show, thereâs still a lot of details I donât know, and Iâm dying to find out what happens to certain characters. (Also, they had better not let any harm come to poor Samwell Tarly â he has such a lovely, kind soul and at least ONE PERSON on this show deserves to find happiness, darn it!)

Revenge and forgiveness
***Warning: Spoilers ahead!***
The Stark family keeps running into worse and worse luck, but at least now itâs time for the Lannisters to have a little taste of their own medicine. Karma finally catches up with King Joffrey and heâs poisoned at his own wedding. Also, Tywinâs days of manipulating his family are over, as the patriarch also meets his end, at the hands of his son Tyrion.
While Joffreyâs death comes as a relief to viewers (and just about everyone in Westeros), his absence doesnât really settle the political tensions in the realm. In fact, it kicks off a murder âtrialâ (Iâm putting âtrialâ in quotation marks here because thereâs nothing particularly just or impartial about it), which eventually leads to Tyrion first killing his father, as referenced earlier, and then officially joining #TeamTargaryen.
As viewers weâve been waiting a long time to see Joffrey get his comeuppance. Heâs both a terrible ruler and a terrible person, and he was bad news for the future of Westeros. And yet, itâs interesting how revenge is never really as satisfying as you think itâs going to be. Joffreyâs death doesnât erase all the evil things heâs done; Ned Stark is still dead, and thereâs still a war going on. The legacy he left continues to poison those around him.
Speaking of revenge, Iâm curious to see how Arya Starkâs character continues to develop, and how her feelings regarding her quest for vengeance may or may not change. (Side note: Her time training with the shape-shifters is super interesting, and Iâm excited to see more magic making its way into the show.)
Arya has experienced far too much trauma and tragedy for someone whoâs still so very young, and I donât blame her for wanting to avenge her family. Still, thereâs a very fine line between justice and revenge, and a good person whoâs consumed by a desire for vengeance can easily cross over to the dark side themselves.
The opposite of revenge is, of course, forgiveness, and Iâm curious to see what Game of Thrones has to say in regards to this theme. We havenât seen much forgiveness at work, which is a shame because redemption and forgiveness are two of my favorite themes in stories (itâs why I love Star Wars so much, and itâs also why âReturn of the Jediâ is one of my top favorite Star Wars movies). I believe that forgiveness and healing are an important part of the human experience.
Game of Thrones is challenging, though, because there are some characters that I really, really hate, and who seem beyond redemption. Some of the villains on Game of Thrones display a level of evil and cruelty that force me to look away from the screen. How does a character like Arya reach a place of forgiveness and peace within herself, while also ensuring that justice is done and that corrupt leaders are prevented from harming others in the future?
Daenerys is also wrestling with these same questions, as she tries to cement her status as queen and end corruption in the realms she encounters. What kind of punishment should she dole out in the lands she conquers, to the people who have done genuinely bad things? How do you mix mercy with justice?
I donât think the show has really revealed what it thinks the answers to these questions are yet, but Iâm sure this will continue to be explored in coming seasons.

A dangerous dynasty
Even though Iâm very much #TeamStark (a fact Iâve probably mentioned too many times already in this series of blogs), a character who has really grown on me throughout this series is Tyrion, and it was hard to watch almost all his friends and family abandon him during the trial where he is falsely accused of murder.
Peter Dinklage puts so much emotion and depth into his performance, and you canât help but empathize with him. And what an epic speech when he tells off the entire courtroom full of people from Kingâs Landing; it didnât exactly go over well with his audience, but I was definitely cheering!
Itâs interesting to watch how the Lannisters regularly serve as the architects of their own doom. Jaime Lannister started this whole mess all the way back in season 1 by pushing Bran out the window. Joffreyâs selfish cruelty paints a giant target on his back. Then, Tywinâs repeated mistreatment of his son Tyrion leads to his own death and the loss of one of Kingâs Landingâs best strategists.
Well, the capitalâs loss is Danyâs gain, as Tyrion takes his clever wits and political prowess to the Mother of Dragons, lending his support to the Targaryen dynasty. I canât wait to see how their partnership plays out.
Tyrion will also be extra glad that he got out of Kingâs Landing when he finds out about the dumpster fire that place has turned into. Cersei gambles on an alliance with the High Sparrow, only to have him turn on her and throw her into prison. Cersei really can be a nasty person, but in the end I do pity her, because her life, on the whole, has probably been a very unhappy experience.
Cersei is smart and capable, but in the male-dominated world of Westeros, sheâs treated dismissively. She has to fight for whatever power she does wield. If both she and Tyrion had been treated with more respect, and were placed in a more welcoming environment that allowed them to truly flourish, itâs interesting to ponder what they may have accomplished.
There are way too many other character arcs to cover in one blog, but itâs also cool to see Jon Snow emerging as a leader and trying to combat the growing threat of the White Walkers. Brienne of Tarth continues to be one of my favorite characters, and I love that we get to learn more about her backstory. Plus, Podrick is a great sidekick for her, and I love seeing their adventures together.
Also, in the beginning I really hated Theon Greyjoy, and Iâm surprised to admit that I now genuinely feel sorry for him. Heâs done some bad things, but seeing the way Ramsay Bolton has broken him physically, mentally, and emotionally is just gut-wrenching.
Speaking of Ramsay Bolton, he now joins King Joffrey on my list of most hated fictional characters of all time. I flinch every time heâs onscreen, and Iâm getting mad just writing about him. Ugh â â itâs time for him to go!

Responsibility in storytelling
This leads me to the final point Iâd like to discuss, and itâs one Iâve heard other viewers talking about throughout the series. Does Game of Thrones sometimes go too far in its depiction of violence, particularly its focus on sexual violence against women?
Thereâs a scene in season 5 involving Ramsay Bolton and his new wife, Sansa Stark, that so deeply troubled me that I donât even really want to write about it. I donât cry a lot while watching movies/TV, but his horrible treatment of Sansa really got to me. Weâve seen many female characters who have been sexually mistreated throughout the series, including Cersei, Dany, and nearly Brienne.
Is this something that should be shown onscreen? Iâm sure that events like this happened in the real-life medieval era; however, any time you portray a sensitive topic in fiction, you have to do it responsibly. Hopefully Ramsay will be called to account for all the awful things heâs done, but that wonât erase the trauma Sansa has experienced.
I love Game of Thrones, but I believe it is perfectly fair to call out the writers, and to wish that theyâd handled these sensitive scenes with greater care. Also, the scene of Jaime forcing himself on his sister Cersei felt out of character and has made it tough for me to root for a redemption arc for him anymore. According to an article I read, that scene wasnât even in the books, which makes its inclusion in the show all the more frustrating.
This issue is more complex than can be covered in one article, but I think itâs good to talk about it. Fiction can raise awareness about the realities of sexual violence throughout history, and motivate people to take action against it. But this topic should never be sensationalized or used for mere shock value, which is sometimes the case in Game of Thrones.

Closing thoughts
I am now over halfway through this series, and pieces of the narrative continue to fall into place. Also, thank goodness I have heard some spoilers about season 6, because the ending of season 5 is definitely a shocker. The Nightâs Watch turns on Jon Snow and leaves him bleeding out on the ground, presumably dead.
I definitely would have been raging at âred weddingâ levels of angry, but thankfully I already know he comes back, so the scene wasnât as traumatic as it otherwise would have been. Still, Iâm definitely going to be in a hurry to get to the library after work today to pick up a copy of season 6!