Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5: 5 things you need to know

After tonight’s episode of Game of Thrones season 8, all bets are off for the finale next week, but we’re breaking it down into five must-know points.

Warning: Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5 spoilers are below. Prepare yourself to read them if you haven’t seen the episode.

“It’s over,” Euron Greyjoy says at one point, and Game of Thrones might as well be over after the turns that have happened tonight. It’s a big episode, but we’re here to tell you the five most important bits that have happened.

Strap in. It’s a big one, and we still have another episode left next week.

(L to R) Kit Harington as Jon Snow and Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen seem pretty much over

Jon might start the episode declaring that he remains loyal to Daenerys, but he doesn’t end that way. It doesn’t seem like much of a surprise, when he gets to witness Daenerys burning Varys alive for treason, then seeing her burn King’s Landing (more on that shortly) despite an attempt at surrender.

In fact, a lot of things go wrong for Jon, and next week’s preview didn’t do much to show what’s going to happen to them.

Photo: Courtesy of HBO

King’s Landing has burned

For all that Daenerys tries to say that “mercy is our strength,” it’s hard to feel like she’s a merciful queen when she burns the city. Yours truly predicted this.

Of course, Daenerys actually starts with the Iron Fleet, taking out the scorpions in the process, then swinging around to burn the majority of the Golden Company and opening the gates to King’s Landing in the process. It’s enough to get a significant portion of the Lannister army to drop their swords. The bells of surrender ring, and yet Daenerys flies with Drogon straight at the Red Keep, burning part of the city and the keep both in the process. Those flames activate some leftover wildfire beneath the city.

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Arya doesn’t get to kill Cersei

The Hound has always had a soft spot for both of the Stark girls, and after essentially a goodbye to Sansa last week, he gets to do the same to Arya this week. Although Arya’s hellbent on killing Cersei, the Hound convinces her to leave lest she die in the Red Keep too.

For the first time, Arya uses the Hound’s first name of Sandor. She thanks him, then flees through the city, at one point looking dead before getting back up and proceeding to lead some peasants through the city. As for the Hound, we get…

Rory McCann as Sandor “The Hound” Clegane – Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO

Cleganebowl

We finally get the duel between the Clegane brothers that we’ve wanted from season 1, and it comes at the cost of Gregor killing Qyburn before the battle even begins. Drogon flies overhead, and the two fight in the crumbling stairwell. Off comes Gregor’s helmet, finally revealing what he looks like as an undead abomination.

Sandor pierces him through, but Gregor still sends him flying down the stairs, then pulls the sword out. It only gets harder to watch from there, and at one point, Sandor stabs his brother over and over while Gregor chokes him, nearly repeats what he did to Oberyn Martell, and gets a dagger through the eye.

The brothers finally go down together, falling into the flames.

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister – Photo: Courtesy of HBO

Tyrion tries to help his family one last time

“You were the only one who didn’t treat me like a monster,” Tyrion tells a captured Jaime, just after freeing him and giving him a plan to rescue Cersei and get out of King’s Landing to save the citizens. Even if it seems like the wrong move, he’s doing it for a good reason, and he doesn’t seem concerned that he’ll die.

Unfortunately, the key word is tries, because Jaime doesn’t quite get into the Red Keep before the burning begins. Instead, he gets to have a fight with Euron near the planned escape route, and Euron stabs him. Jaime manages to deal a killing blow to Euron in return. Still alive, he makes it back to Cersei in the crumbling castle.

However, because the city is crumbling, Jaime and Cersei appear to die together as the lower bits of the Keep drop down on them, holding onto each other.

Game of Thrones’ final episode airs next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels.