review of Game of Thrones Season 5 finale 

Game of Thrones, in terms of killing off the best characters, and the season 5 finale last night certainly didn\'t disappoint.   Not only that, but there were two characters slain which were good to see go, and two other characters may well be dead but maybe alive.

And mixed into to all of that was a new kind of terrifying, horrifying scene we haven\'t seen before on Game of Thrones, Cersei\'s walk of shame, naked, through an angry, pelting crowd, and a priestess intoning "Shame, Shame" in perfect, blood-chilling sotto-voce syncopation.

On the two deserving deaths, despicable Stannis got just what he deserved - after what he did to his daughter last week - and a re-invigorated Theon did the right thing when he pushed that woman threatening Sansa to her death.  But then what happened to Sansa and Theon when they jumped? There clearly was no river below to save them, so I guess we have to hope that there was some other unseen thing, natural or constructed or supernatural, to cushion their fall.

Jon Snow was everyone\'s favorite character, including mine.   His execution was certainly well enough motivated, but also unnecessary -- the Night\'s Watch could\'ve understood Jon\'s logic in wanting the Wildlings on the good aka human side of the wall.  But, then again, Ned Stark\'s death was motivated but unnecessary, too, as was Robb\'s.   How many Starks are left, by the way? Bran we haven\'t seen at all this season.  Arya may be blind.  And Sansa\'s literally in mid-air.  And what about the remaining dire-wolves?  We are they when you need  them?  The North may remember but I don\'t.

Meanwhile, the Lannisters are on their way to decimation, too.  Against all odds, Tyrion is the only one now once again in a good position, and that was probably the most joyful aspect of this season finale.  Joy is hard to come by in Game of Thrones, but I\'ll be watching it again next season, because I guess I\'m something of a glutton for this kind of punishment.

See also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table ... Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death ... Game of Thrones 5.9: Dragon in Action; Sickening Scene with Stannis

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads

And see also  Game of Thrones Season 3 Premiere ... Game of Thrones 3.3: The Heart of Jaime Lannister ... Game of Thrones 3.6: Extraordinary Cinematography ...Game of Thrones 3.7: Heroic Jaime ...  Game of Thrones 3.9: A Critique 

And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here\'s a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I\'m quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "\'Game of Thrones\': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How \'Game of Thrones\' Is Like America," with quote from me

"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now." 

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Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.  His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003),  Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).  His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.  Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"  “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),  “Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

Chronicle of Higher Education puts Paul Levinson in Top 10 (#7) of Academic "High Flyers" on Twitter ... Online University Data puts PL in "Top 50 Online University Professors on Twitter Worth Following"...

Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren\'s fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom

President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 1998-2001

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Twice Upon a Rhyme reviewed in Jan-Feb 2011 Shindig Magazine

Paul Levinson appears on "The O\'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News," "Nightline" (ABC), the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" (PBS), "The Dylan Ratigan Show" (MSNBC) and frequently on NPR and all-news radio...