HBO
Over the last two weeks, far too many people have died on Game of Thrones. We lost Jorah, Melisandre, the Night King, Lyanna Mormont, Theon, Beric, Edd Tollett, Ice Viserion, and many Dothraki and Unsullied loyal to Dany. Then in Episode 4, the hits kept coming when we lost Rhaegal in a senseless attack and then Missandei. This hasn’t been an easy couple of weeks for fans. And now with Miguel Sapochnik directing tonight’s episode, it’s a safe bet that more deaths will happen. He typically directs battles and death-filled episodes. That’s why we’re providing a live death update of everyone who dies in tonight’s episode.
Warning: This post will have major spoilers for Season 8 Episode 5. This post will be updated live during the show, so simply refresh to see if anyone’s died yet. The deaths will be added as they happen, so scroll to the end of the article to see the deaths that happened closest to the end of the episode. We will bold the names of those who die. At the end of this article is a list of all the named deaths.
The episode begins with Varys writing a letter about Jon’s lineage and being the true heir to the Iron Throne. It feels like Varys is trying to be the next to go.
Dany is grieving. People need to realize that and act accordingly. She lost her child AND her best friends. But they keep thinking she’s the next Mad King. (When that’s really Cersei, in my opinion.)
Tyrion reveals to Dany that Varys has betrayed her and is advocating for Jon to be on the throne. Grey Worm arrives to arrest Varys. It has to be done. Varys is espousing treason at this point. Tyrion is there, watching, as they take him outside late at night. Dany is there with Jon by her side. She’s still painstakingly heartbroken, you can see it on her face. “It was me,” Tyrion tells Varys. “I hope I deserve this,” Varys says. “I hope I’m wrong.”
Dany lists her titles to Varys, with Drogon menacingly behind her, and sentences Varys to die. “Dracarys,” she says quietly. Drogon rises up, terrifyingly, and burns Varys. He’s dead. Varys has died. He didn’t even scream as he was burned alive.
HBO
Dany is ready to attack King’s Landing and says it will be merciful for future generations. Tyrion convinces Dany to relent if she hears bells, which indicate surrender. This is bothersome to me, considering the “Battle of the Bells” in King’s Landing history.
Later Tyrion finds Jaime, who’s been captured. He wants Jaime to convince Cersei to change her mind in a really foolhardy mission. UGH. I am betting Tyrion will be on the death list soon if none of this works.
We’re at the point where the gates of King’s Landing are closed and the Golden Company is facing off, with Jon and the Dothraki staring back across the now-desert-wasteland of King’s Landing. (Which is odd, but that’s another story.) The Hound and Arya are all in the gates of King’s Landing.
And many, many citizens are locked out of King’s Landing. Jaime is among them, as it turns out. At 36 minutes in, only Varys has died so far.
But then that all changes Euron is on the water, looking into the sky. The moment is here. Dany flies in on Drogon from directly above Euron. (I was hoping that scene would show Drogon with armor or a second dragon.) But still, it’s amazing to see Drogon setting fire to many of Euron’s fleet. Unfortunately, they have barristas, but it’s no match for a prepared Drogon and Dany. Many in Euron’s fleet are dying from Drogon’s flames.
AND THEN IT HAPPENS. A huge explosion rips through King’s Landing, exploding the gates in fury and killing a horse and many in the Golden Company. That explosion was Drogon.
HBO
And Harry Strickland, the head of the Golden Company, dies speared by a Dothraki.
Everything is on fire Just one dragon alone does immense damage, backed up by the Dothraki and Unsullied. So many soldiers are dying in the flames and the battle, along with likely some innocents too.
Dany lands with Drogon on King’s Landing and the Lannister army drops all their weapons, surrendering. All the citizens are screaming for Cersei to ring the bells and surrender officially. Drogon is terrifying and amazing all at once. The bells ring.
Dany takes off with Drogon. She’s devastated, and instead of accepting the surrender, she flies over King’s Landing, toward the red keep. But instead of stopping, she breathes fire again, killing more soldiers (and citizens I think.) (This decision makes no sense to me Why would she snap like that?)
Now Dany’s army is fighting and killing again. Grey Worm is killing people right and left. Dany is setting King’s Landing on fire. Many people are dying, thousands I would guess. They are dying from the fighting and the dragon’s flames. It’s a horrific scene. Many innocents are dying.
I’m not really sure if I’m buying what’s happening. I don’t know if I believe this character change in Dany. But here it is.
Euron somehow survived and runs into Jaime. He brags about sleeping with Cersei. Euron and Jaime fight and Jaime is winning, despite only having one hand. But then it happens… Euron stabs Jaime in the side. Jaime collapses.
Qyburn convinces Cersei that the safest place now is Maegar’s Holdfast.
We’re back at the fight between Jaime and Euron. Jaime stabs Euron and this one is much deeper than Jaime’s stab. It looks like Euron will die from Jaime’s stab. As Jaime walks away Euron says, “I’m the one who killed Jaime Lannister.”
The Hound and the Mountain come face-to-face. Cersei orders the Mountain (Gregor) to come with her, but Gregor doesn’t care. Gregor (aka The Mountain) kills Qyburn.
And now Cleganebowl is happening.
We finally see The Mountain’s face. All those theories about his face belonging to someone else aren’t true. It IS his face, he’s just undead. (And looking a lot like Varys, tbh.)
The Cleganebowl fight is epic. Two brute forces in hand-to-hand combat.
Next we see Arya walking through a destroyed King’s Landing, as people scream and cry around her. Is this worse than the Battle of Winterfell? Is Dany’s destruction worse than the Night King’s? Thousands are dead.
But so far, Arya, Dany, Grey Worm, and Jon Snow are still alive. People are trampling Arya in despair, but I don’t see this being her end.
The Mountain is destroying the Hound. Someone helps Arya to her feet, and Arya is pushed along with the crowd.
Gregor is strangling the Hound. But the Hound has a knife and stabs the Mountain over and over. “F****ing die,” he yells. And the Mountain uses the same move he used on Oberyn to try to gouge the Hound’s eyes out. The Hound runs a knife through the Mountain’s head, his eyes destroyed. He pushes the Mountain off a tower and they both tumble into the flames. The Mountain and the Hound are dead, it appears.
HBOThe Mountain and the Hound
The intense fire is setting off all the Wildfire in the city. If they don’t escape, everyone in the city will die. There are caches of wildfire beneath the city, put there by Mad King Aerys. Dany and Drogon are still setting the city on fire.
Next we see everything covered in ash. Arya is covered in ash too, but not dead at 1 hour and 11 minutes in. Arya almost dies again as a building collapses, but she’s still alive.
Arya goes to a group of terrified people and tells them that they have to keep moving. “If you stay here you’ll die,” she tells them. Drogon is still flying in the sky, destroying everything. We see Drogon nearing where Arya is trying to save a group of people. She has to abandon them to survive herself.
Jaime and Cersei are still trying to escape, but the walls have collapsed and their exit is blocked. I feel happy about Cersei but sad about Jaime.
“I wanted our baby to live,” Cersei says. “I want our baby to live…”
I guess she really is pregnant. :(
“I don’t want to die,” she says. “Not like this.” Her acting here is phenomenal. I never thought I could feel bad for Cersei and somehow, I do.
“Nothing else matters, only us,” Jaime says, trying to calm her down.
And the walls collapse on them. Jaime and Cersei appear to have died together as the walls collapse around them in King’s Landing.
HBO
In the end, Arya lived, riding away on a white horse that belonged to Harry Strickland of the Golden Company. Jon Snow survived. Grey Worm is unclear, but likely survived. Tyrion also survived, as did Dany.
Here’s who died:
- Euron
- Jaime
- Cersei
- Qyburn
- Varys
- The Mountain
- The Hound
- Harry Strickland of the Golden Company
- Thousands of innocents
- Thousands in the Golden Company, Lannister’s guard, and in Dany & Jon’s armies
- Cersei and Jaime’s unborn baby
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