Game of Thrones Review: The Door (Season 6 Episode 5)

Oh, Hodor. Oh, Game of Thrones.

Throughout my six years of watching this show, I’ve said to myself many, many times: This is it. This is the death that broke me. There’s no more feeling after that.

And yet, each and every time, I’ve been proven wrong.

You care. I care. We care.

That’s not about to stop, not now. Not when Jon and Sansa might finally have a chance to go home.

Not when a happy ending is finally within our grasp.

Or is it? It’s hard to tell with Game of Thrones. Yes, we care about Jon, Sansa, Arya, Tyrion and Daenerys. We recognize their importance in the storytelling.

We know they’re the ones we should be focusing on.

But they’re not all we care about, no. We can’t compartmentalize that well. At times, we wish we could.

We also care about Osha, and Summer, the direwolf. We care about Oberyn Martell and Rob Stark. We care about Hodor.

And that’s why our hearts shattered into tiny pieces when we finally understood what “Hodor” meant.  “Hold the door” – Always, and forever, hold the door. Save Bran

Save the Starks.

The North remembers, Sansa says at some point in the episode, and that’s the idea in which we’re pinning all our hopes. May they remember. May they care.

Because Daenerys is coming.  And, worst of all, the White Walkers are coming.

Yes, war is brewing in the North. Jon and Sansa might well retake Winterfell, but there are other, dare we say bigger, battles to be fought.

This is not the end, not yet, but we’re nearing a possible end. You solve the smaller story-lines and then, at some point, you have to go for the big one. And it’s not the just the Iron Throne that’s at stake, not anymore.

Jon and Sansa, Arya and Tyrion, Daenerys – in the end they’ll all fight the same battle. The one for survival. And that’s the one we really, really want them to win.

I got a feeling they all won’t – but hey, at least Game of Thrones is delivering some uplifting moments along the way. That’s really all they can do.

Other things to note:

• So, Theon, I can think of some people who could use your ships/men …you know, in the North. Where you spent most of your life.
• I get the feeling this is not the last we’ve seen of Jorah. He still has a part to play in this tale. And it might just be to unite the North (namely Jon), with Daenerys. After all, House Mormont was mentioned today.
• On the one hand, I agree with Brienne, leaving is a BAD idea. On the other hand, I really want her to go to the Riverlands and meet Jamie. As fun as the Tormund thing was, Jaime/Brienne is my first love. And there really isn’t much to ship in this show.
• The White Walker history hour is going to be important at some point, I guess. I just don’t know why yet.
• Baelish, why didn’t you offer the armies of the Vale? Why? What are you planning? You rat bastard, you.
• I don’t think Arya can ever really become “No One”

What did you think of this episode of Game of Thrones? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.

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