If history’s taught us anything in Game of Thrones, it’s that the penultimate episode of any series is always the deadliest so season 8 episode 5 will be the moment key players we either love – or love to hate – will perish in an unimaginably gruesome fashion.
After Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) lost her dragon Rhaegal to a spear fired by Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbaek), the odds are substantially stacked against her in the battle for the Iron Throne from Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey).
The North lost most of their army to The Night King (Vladimir Furdik), Dany lost her best pal Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel) and while episode four left us thirsty for a coffee, it didn’t leave us with much hope going forward.
All in all, it appears our leader is doomed.
‘Daenerys defeating Cersei will be more difficult than it would have been at the beginning of season seven, that’s for sure,’ Watchers On The Wall’s deputy editor Luka Nieto warned Metro.co.uk.
‘Her fight for the living has left her with half an army, and a third of her dragons, against a now ballista-filled capital.
I can’t see Drogon surviving the upcoming fight, but that doesn’t mean Cersei will win. It will be a phyrric victory, in which much of King’s Landing will have to burn for Cersei to be defeated, and Daenerys will lose much, perhaps including her life, or at least her queenship. We shall see.’
Another dragon death, potentially Dany’s death and the end of King’s Landing. Grim.
The trailer for the upcoming fifth episode of season eight showed the Mother of Dragons struggling to cope with the loss of one of her children as well as her right hand woman.
In turn, fans harshly predicted they’ve spotted signs she’s clearly on her way to becoming The Mad Queen, following in the footsteps of her father Aerys II Targaryen – aka The Mad King.
‘She’s only “mad” in that she’s “angry”,’ explained Luka. ‘Of course, she isn’t emotionally stable right now. No one would be, after what she’s been through. That isn’t madness. I believe her rage, however rightful, will wreak havoc on the city, but by the end we’ll see a subversion of that.
‘Daenerys may end up as a tragic figure, but she’s not evil or psychotic. Cersei is more of a “Mad Queen” than Dany ever was or will be, and she’ll prove it.’
The latest rumblings coming from Reddit have suggested that Daenerys has more dragons than she’s letting on and we should have all seen it coming because the credits we’ve been watching for the best part of a decade told us so from the very beginning.
Game of Thrones continues Sunday at 9pm on HBO and will be simulcast on Sky Atlantic here in the UK. Season one to eight are currently available to stream on NOW TV.
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