The Small Fries

Jon Snow, Lord Commander and Brother of the Night's Watch

Last night was the mid-season episode of Game of Thrones. Yes, season five is halfway over. "Kill the Boy" was a very intense episode with tensions even higher than before and a death to start the episode off. Several things happened last night that are going to set the rest of the season down a bloody path. SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE, DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT. Unless you want spoilers...

For starters, Ser Barristan Selmy died at the end of the last week’s episode during an ambush by the Sons of the Harpies. Now, Daenerys is out for vengeance. She has decided to punish the heads of the major families in Meereen by arresting them and taking them to her dragons. After threatening them and feeding one to her two “children,” she has then escorted back to their cells. She doesn’t want to “overfeed” her dragons. I think she has made her point not to mess with the Mother of Dragons. Missandei councils the queen and convinces her to reopen the fighting pits. Dany agrees to this on top of marrying a head of one of the prestigious families in Meereen, Hizdahr zo Loraq (Joel Fry). This can’t go over well with her current bedwarmer, Daario Naharis.

Mother of Dragons doesn't mess around when threatening the wealthy families of Meereen

Meanwhile in Westeros, Jon Snow is struggling with the fact half of the Night’s Watch hate him and the rest will follow soon with his newest decision. Before we learn what that is, Maester Aemon advises Jon to “Kill the boy and let the man be born.” Basically he’s say Jon needs to man up and just make the hard decisions, despite how popular he will be in the long run. This tough decision is teaming up with the Wildlings in the fight against the White Walkers and their Army of the Dead. Jon has basically elected a new leader of the Wildlings, Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), and has asked him to recruit the rest of the Wildlings north of the wall. Tormund only agrees to do so if Jon accompanies him. When Jon shares his plan with the rest of his brothers, we see that it does not go over well, even among his supporters.

In the midst of all this at Castle Black, Stannis has decided that his time at the Wall has finally come to an end. He has packed up his family and they’re moving South. I guess it was too cold for the Lord of Light. He is bringing everyone with him to march on Winterfell to face the upcoming battle I suspect we will see soon. That probably won’t end well for someone in that party, or all of them. Who knows? It is Game of Thrones.

The Princess, Shireen Baratheon, portrayed by Kerry Ingram

Speaking of Winterfell, we see more of Sansa Stark and what her life will most likely be like after she marries Ramsay Bolton. For starters, the more I see of Ramsay the more I realize he is a whack-job. Brienne of Tarth has a message sent to Sansa in order to tell her she still has friends in the North, and that is the last we see of Brienne and Podrick. The rest of the time we are in Winterfell, we follow around the Boltons.

We first see Ramsay having a spat with his lover and he threatens her when she begins to bore him. However, Miranda is just as crazy as Ramsay. They truly belong together. Anyway, after they do whatever it is that crazy people do, we see Miranda follow Sansa to the broken tower (where Bran fell from in Season 1). She takes our new Lady Stark to the kennels where she is reunited with her family’s ward, Theon Greyjoy turned Reek. Of course, Ramsay’s brainwashed puppet tells his master that Sansa saw him. So naturally, Ramsay turns the tables for his benefit. Ramsay parades Theon in front of Sansa constantly reminding her that she has no family; they’re all dead. He makes Theon apologize for killing Bran and Rickon, but the look on Theon’s face tells me that he’s going to find a way to tell Sansa the truth; her brothers are still alive. I hope something goes right for Sansa, because Ramsay is about the worst thing that could have happened to her next to Joffrey.

Theon Greyjoy, or Reek, serving Lady Sansa

Tyrion is still the hostage of Ser Jorah Mormont, who plans on handing the Imp over to Daenerys in the hopes she will pardon him for his “crimes.” They are sailing through the fallen civilization of Valeriya, where we hear the tale of the Doom as they sail through the ruins. A dragon, what we assume to be Drogon, appears in the sky, distracting our duo. Suddenly, they are attacked by the Stone Men, men infected with the highly contagious disease Grayscale. Jorah warns Tyrion to not let them touch him, and we find out why once they have made it safely to a beach not far from the ruins. Jorah was touched by one of the Stone Men and has now been infected with the disfiguring and deadly disease.

Tyrion being attacked by a Stone Man of Valeriya

This is where the episode leaves us. Wondering and worrying about each character’s fate. Book readers probably have some idea what to expect, as for viewers like me who are behind on the books, I sit here each week at the edge of my seat waiting for the other shoe to drop. This season has done a fantastic job, so far, setting up the story arcs for each character and leaving the viewers hungry for more and fearing for our favorite characters. We are exactly halfway through the fifth season and with at least one wedding and battle most likely to occur soon, things are bound to turn very bloody very soon. I’ve already made a bet with myself that the Attack on Winterfell is going to happen in the ninth episode, following in the footsteps of all major battles before it. Now, to wait ever so impatiently for the next episode to air. Valar Morghulis.

Catch Game of Thrones every Sunday 9ET on HBO.

--Kasey