‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 6: Recap of Episode 5, ‘The Door’

Here’s the recap for Episode 5, entitled “The Door,” of Season 6 of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information on Episode 5 (entitled “The Door”) of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Please proceed with caution if you wish to avoid spoilers.

For Game of Throes fans, depressing episodes are expected for a place as dismal as Westeros, but this one probably takes the cake. Everywhere you turn, there is misery.

For Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), she must rally the North but this is not as simple as “I’m a Stark, you must follow me.” Instead, she, Jon Snow (Kit Harington), and Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) go on a mission in Episode 5 to speak to Sansa’s uncle after Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) managed to get a word in edgewise to Sansa’s scathing condemnation of his knowledge of just how awful Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) really is. This also means for fans who are shipping Brienne and Tormund (Kristofer Hivju), they will have to wait to see if this relationship blooms any further in Game of Thrones.

Speaking of the Starks, Arya (Maisie Williams) is still getting beaten by the House of Black and White equivalent of a mean girl in Episode 5 of Game of Thrones. However, Jaqen (Tom Wlaschiha) gives Arya a second chance and she must hunt down “Lady Crane” (Essie Davis) and prove she can be the assassin Jaqen requires. Which means she gets to watch her father be killed all over again because Lady Crane is a member of a travelling troupe who likes to re-enact the history of Westeros. Remember how I said this episode of Game of Thrones would be depressing?

First Look: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’ Essie Davis as ‘Lady Crane’ in #GameOfThrones S06E05 #RumGirl #Tasmanian pic.twitter.com/rjqhXWME6G

— Lady Veronica ?? (@VeronicaDrake) May 23, 2016

In the Iron Islands, Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) is vying to be queen, except the ironborn are sexist and her brother, Theon (Alfie Allen) has to help by vouching for her. Just when it seems Yara has a chance, their uncle, Euron (Pilou Asbæk) steps in and takes the crown from underneath them. But that’s okay because Yara and Theon steal his fleet and sail off into the sunset, and Euron is left having to try and rally the ironborn into making more before he can try to join with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke).

And what of Daenerys in Episode 5 of Game of Thrones? She has just discovered Jorah (Iain Glen) has greyscale and rather than let him banish himself, she orders he go on a mission to find the cure. While we all know there probably isn’t one, at least Daenerys has given the poor man a purpose again. While Daenerys is doing this, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Varys (Conleth Hill) have enlisted the aid of a red woman, Kinvara (Ania Bukstein), to rally Meereen behind Daenerys once more.

And then we get to the saddest part of Episode 5 of Game of Thrones. The part where we lose our trust in Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and find out just why Hodor (Kristian Nairn) can only say “Hodor.” You know how Bran has been greensighting his way through the backstory of Winterfell in Season 6 of Game of Thrones? And you know how the three-eyed raven (Max von Sydow) has been warning Bran not to get stuck in the past? Well that all comes to a head in Episode 5 of Game of Thrones. Bran comes across the white walkers and their leader, the Night King (Vladimir Furdik), reaches out and grabs Bran, effectively creating a portal where the white walkers can enter through and attack the children of the forest. This leads to a battle where the children are trying to defend Bran as he lays stuck in his vision. The only way for Bran to escape is to warg into Hodor who is paralyzed with fear in the present day. This way, Hodor can wheel the unconscious Bran out to safety.

However, things go wrong as Bran is now greensighting back to when his father and Hodor were young. So when he wargs into Hodor, he also wargs into the young version of Hodor, who falls to the ground in a fit because Bran can only seem to be in one other body at a time. In the present, Hodor is possessed by Bran and he drags Bran to safety, but he must close the door between them and the white walkers. Meera (Ellie Kendrick), in her panic, is calling out, “Hold the door!” Or, as Vox so eloquently put it, “Hodor. Hold the door. Hold door. Hodor. RIP.” Yes, Hodor was always trying to say, “Hold the door.” It wasn’t because he was magic, or part of the white walkers (although, in the end, he probably was), it was just because Bran couldn’t stop greensighting and now Hodor is probably dead and Game of Thrones fans are hating on Bran Stark.

What did you think of Episode 5 of Game of Thrones? Let us know by commenting below!

Season 6 of Game of Thrones returns to HBO with Episode 6, entitled “Blood Of My Blood” on Sunday, May 29, at 9 p.m. ET.

The official synopsis according to the Independent for Episode 6 is as follows.

“An old foe comes back into the picture. Gilly (Hannah Murray) meets Sam’s (John Bradley) family. Arya (Maisie Williams) faces a difficult choice. Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) faces off against the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce).”

[Image via HBO]