Mother's Mercy

"Mother's Mercy" is the tenth and final episode of the fifth season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 50th overall.

Minor plotlines include Jaime Lannister and Myrcella leaving Dorne, Daenerys Targaryen being captured by the Dothraki, and Jon Snow being betrayed and seemingly murdered at the Wall.

Particular praise was directed to Cersei Lannister's walk of atonement, which involved a body double and the use of CGI, as well as the ambiguous fate of Jon Snow, which was highly discussed by critics and viewers.

Arya kills Trant for the murder of Syrio Forel, using a face stolen from the House of Black and White to pose as a child prostitute.

Cersei confesses to committing adultery with Lancel to the High Sparrow, but denies mothering children to her brother Jaime.

In the wake of his sacrifice of his daughter, Shireen, Stannis is informed that half of his forces have deserted and his wife has hanged herself in grief.

Thorne, Marsh, Yarwyck, Olly, and the others take turns stabbing Jon, each uttering "For the Watch", before leaving him to die alone in the snow.

[2] For Cersei Lannister's nude "walk of atonement" through King's Landing, HBO employed actress Rebecca Van Cleave as a body double for Lena Headey.

While filming the scene on the Jesuit stairs in Dubrovnik, Croatia in October 2014, Van Cleave performed fully nude while Headey wore a simple beige shift.

Both performances were then merged by the show's editing team, combining close-ups of Headey's facial expressions and long shots of Van Cleave's nude walk through the city.

Headey also opted out of the casting process, but director David Nutter said finding the right double was one of the most important parts of making the finale.

I never in a million years would have thought I would be in Dubrovnik surrounded by hundreds of extras and crew members throwing food at me, but it was amazing" and "I hope the next thing I do will have my head in it.

Some of the confusion may be because, as reviewers have noted, Jon was killed in what can be seen as the middle of his story arc and his death does not have an obvious narrative purpose.

"[13] Both before and after these announcements, viewers have speculated that Jon Snow might have survived his stabbing and there are many fan theories on how he might have accomplished this, including spiritually possessing his direwolf's body or being brought back to life by Melisandre.

[11][13][14][15][16] When jokingly asked during a panel if Kit Harington would ever get to play a warg (human who has possessed the body of an animal), Weiss replied with, "Two words for you: Season 6.

[17][18] Another photo that showed Harington on set in Belfast in a costume that varied from the Night's Watch outfit was published on September 25, 2015.

[19] Various interviews with the producers, director and writers have indicated that it is a "safe bet" that Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy survive their fall, while Stannis and Myrcella were definitively killed after being beheaded and poisoned, respectively.

The site's consensus reads that the episode "wraps up a particularly dark Game of Thrones season with a finale that delivers strong character work and a handful of appropriately bleak cliffhangers.

[26] Sean T. Collins of Rolling Stone was positive too, writing, "Slaughter and shame made this the show's most upsetting season-ender yet.