Hardhome (episode)

"Hardhome" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-eighth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 31, 2015. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Miguel Sapochnik.

In Braavos
Arya meets the gambler.

At the Wall
Gilly continues to tend Sam's wounds. Olly expresses concern at joining forces with the Wildlings, particularly Tormund who led the raid in which his parents were killed. Sam reassures Olly that Jon knows what he is doing.

In King's Landing
Cersei is told to confess in return for her freedom. Qyburn visits her in her cell, and tells her that Grand Maester Pycelle has summoned Kevan Lannister to serve as Hand of the King. He also tells her that Tommen has become reclusive, refusing to see anyone and refusing to eat in his emotional state. Before leaving, he tells her "The work continues," presumably referring to his work on Ser Gregor Clegane.

In the North
Sansa confronts Reek about her brothers. After Theon tells Sansa that the two boys his men burned were not, in fact, her brothers, but rather 2 farm boys, as he couldn't find Bran and Rickon, he broke down and ran out of the room.

Ramsay suggests a tactic to win the fight against Stannis' army. Roose Bolton suggested that his army must wait inside Winterfell, thus starving out Stannis' forces, as Winterfell had enough supplies to last 6 months under siege. That would cause a mutiny in the ranks of the Baratheon force and break them down. Ramsay, on the other hand, suggest he can take action with "Just 20 good men".

In Meereen
Daenerys ponders what to do with Tyrion and Jorah. Tyrion persuades her to let Jorah go, commenting that he is clearly devoted to her and possibly in love with her. Daenerys ejects Jorah from the city and he decides to return to fight in the pits, intending to win back her favour once again. Later, Tyrion and Daenerys sit down at a table and have a talk about ambitions. Daenerys decides he will remain as her advisor.

At Hardhome
Jon Snow and Tormund Giantsbane, along with other members of the Night's Watch and the Free Folk, arrive at the Wildling town Hardhome to convince the rest of the Wildlings to join them in the upcoming war against the White Walkers and their armies of Wights.

Insisting on never being an ally with a Crow, The Lord of Bones insults Tormund for being at the side of Jon Snow, causing Tormund to beat his former ally to death with his own staff.

They gather in the Townshall to discuss an alliance between the Free Folk and the Night's Watch but many of the Wildlings do not trust Jon Snow. Having not seen Mance Rayder since he was taken prisoner at The Wall, the Wildlings question his whereabouts. Snow informs them that he is dead and that he shot him with an arrow. This angers the group and they move in to kill him. Tormund speaks for him, stating that Rayder was about to be burned at the stake as a vicious message from Stannis Baratheon and Snow defied Stannis by ending his life quickly instead of humiliating him by making him scream.

Some leaders are convinced, such as Karsi, but others like the Thenn warrior Loboda leaves. Just as many of the Free Folk gathers to set sail to the Wall, the sounds of a storm are heard. Recognizing this as the sign of approaching White Walkers, Loboda orders the gates of Hardhome to be shut, abandoning many of the Free Folk to their fate. Suddenly, the screams of the people shut outside the walls of Hardhome fall silent. A moment later, a large host of undead wights start breaking through the gates and climbing over the walls. Jon, Tormund, Loboda and Karsi fight alongside others to give as many people an opportunity to make it to their ships. Edd Tollet, a giant leader, and others are trapped inside the townhall, which is set upon by wights and catches fire - in the confusion, the bag of dragonglass weapons is lost. On top of a hill overlooking Hardhome, multiple White Walkers mounted on undead horses are looking at the battle, including The Night's King. Realizing the need for dragonglass, Jon and Loboda go to the townhall, which is on fire. A White Walker warrior confronts the two. While Loboda confronts the threat, Jon Snow goes for the dragonglass. Loboda is quickly killed as his axe shatters immediately upon contacting the White Walkers weapon before he is impaled. Jon just manages to grab a dragonglass dagger but is tossed aside by the White Walker's supreme strength. Jon retrieves Longclaw and attacks the White Walker, but both combatants are shocked to see the Valyrian steel sword remain intact after colliding with the White Walker's weapon. Seizing the opportunity, Jon slays the White Walker which immediately shatters to pieces after being touched by Longclaw, indicating Valyrian steel to be another weakness of the White Walkers, similar to Dragonglass. Karsi fights off multiple wights before she is confronted by a pack of undead children. Frozen by the horror, she is unable to resist as she is mauled to death. The Night's King screams as another large host of wights jumps from the hills. Momentarily thinking the wights did not survive the fall, Jon and Edd flee for their lives as the wights start rising up. Shielded by the giant Wun Wun who wields a burning log as a club before walking into the sea with them, they manage to get to the last remaining boat to escape. To their horror, The Night's King raises his arms as the slain wildlings rise up as undead wights, including Karsi.

First

 * Karsi
 * Loboda
 * Wun Wun
 * White Walker

Deaths

 * Lord of Bones
 * Karsi
 * Loboda
 * White Walker

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Lord Commander Jon Snow
 * Sophie Turner as Lady Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Hannah Murray as Gilly
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
 * Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton
 * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton
 * with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont

Guest Starring
 * Anton Lesser as Qyburn
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Faye Marsay as The Waif
 * Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Karsi
 * Enzo Cilenti as Yezzan zo Qaggaz
 * Zahary Baharov as Loboda
 * Hannah Waddingham as Septa Unella
 * Brenock O'Connor as Olly
 * Richard Brake as The Night's King
 * Ian Whyte as Wun Wun
 * Ross O'Hennessy as the Lord of Bones
 * Murray McArthur as Wildling elder
 * Will O'Connell as Night's Watchman
 * Oengus MacNamara as the thin man
 * Sarine Sofair as Lhara
 * Morgan C. Jones as a braavoshi captain
 * Tim Loane as a White Walker
 * Ali Lyons as Karsi's daugther
 * Karla Lyons as Karsi's daugther

Cast notes

 * 15 of 27 cast members for the fifth season appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand), Conleth Hill (Varys), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis) and Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.

In the books

 * See: Differences between books and TV series - Season 5


 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows:
 * Chapter 22, Arya II: The Faceless Man tells Arya she must leave the temple and adopt a new identity.
 * Chapter 34, Cat of the Canals: Arya gets used to making a living in Braavos under the identity of an orphan girl who sells oysters, clams and cockles from a cart. Every day, Arya comes back to the House of Black and White and informs of her daily routine to the Faceless Man.
 * Chapter 43, Cersei X: Cersei remains imprisoned at the Great Sept, where Septa Unella continuously asks her to confess her sins. She is offered a bowl of disgusting soup, which she throws away. Later, they bring water, which she is too thirsty to refuse. Qyburn visits her and tells her the Faith will try her for murder, treason, and fornication, and that Ser Kevan is coming back to take over.
 * The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
 * Chapter 7, Jon II: It is suggested that Valyrian steel may kill White Walkers.
 * Chapter 49, Jon X: Lord Commander Jon Snow’s plan to bring Tormund back to the Wall with thousands of wildlings is successful.
 * Chapter 51, Theon I: Roose Bolton decides to let out a host to fight Stannis in the snow.
 * Chapter 58, Jon XII: Jon’s Night’s Watch men arrive in Hardhome in order to bring the Free Folk south of the Wall and save them from the White Walkers, but the settlement is surrounded by wights.
 * Chapter 64, The Ugly Little Girl: Arya is charged with her first assassination target: an old man selling insurance to ship captains. Arya is to follow the conman in her disguise of the clam-selling orphan and learn as much about him before killing him. When the captains die at sea, he is supposed to make good on his promise and pay the family, but he often doesn't. The man is always protected by two guards, and counts his coins jealously. Arya is given a poison to accomplish the task silently.
 * Chapter 66, Tyrion XII: Tyrion Lannister talks his way out of his bondage to Yezzan zo Qaggaz and comes to an agreement with Queen Daenerys’ side.
 * Chapter 69, Jon XIII: Jon is to lead a rescue mission to Hardhome with Tormund.
 * The sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, remains unpublished, so there are some events brought forward from it that may occur in the story, yet the specific chapters are unknown. This may include Sansa’s wedding and her return to Winterfell, both of which are also part of Littlefinger's plan in the books but have not happened yet, and the specifics and aftermath of the Battle of Hardhome. The meeting of Tyrion and Daenerys has been confirmed to take place in the sixth book.