Hardhome

"Hardhome"
Game of Thrones episode
The Night King reanimating fallen Wildlings and men of the Night's Watch.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 8
Directed by	Miguel Sapochnik
Written by	David Benioff D. B. Weiss
Featured music	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography by	Fabian Wagner
Editing by	Tim Porter
Original air date	May 31, 2015 (2015-05-31)
Running time	60 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Anton Lesser as Qyburn Ben Crompton as Edd Tollett Faye Marsay as the Waif Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Karsi Enzo Cilenti as Yezzan zo Qaggaz Zachary Baharov as Loboda Hannah Waddingham as Septa Unella Brenock O'Connor as Olly Richard Brake as the Night King Ian Whyte as Wun Wun Ross O'Hennessy as the Lord of Bones Murray McArthur as Dim Dalba Will O'Connell as Night's Watchman Oengus MacNamara as Thin Man Sarine Sofair as Lhara Morgan C. Jones as Braavosi captain Tim Loane as White Walker warrior Ali Lyons as Karsi's daughter Karla Lyons as Karsi's daughter
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Gift" Next → "The Dance of Dragons"
Game of Thrones (season 5) List of Game of Thrones episodes

"Hardhome" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 48th overall. The episode was written by the series' creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Miguel Sapochnik.

The episode features a climactic battle sequence at the episode's eponymous Wildling village, a battle mentioned but not seen in the original source material. It has since been hailed by many reviewers and fans as one of the series' best episodes. Filming of the episode's eponymous battle required nearly a month shooting. In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 7.01 million in its initial broadcast. The episode earned Game of Thrones several nominations at the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards and was also Dinklage's pick to support his nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor.

Cersei (Lena Headey) is visited by Septa Unella (Hannah Waddingham), who offers her water in exchange for a confession of her sins. Cersei asks to speak with Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman) and is struck by the Septa. Later, Qyburn (Anton Lesser) visits Cersei and tells her about the crimes she is charged with, including incest and the murder of Robert Baratheon, which she rejects as lies. Qyburn also tells her that Grand Maester Pycelle has taken control of the Small Council and has sent for her uncle, Kevan, to return from Casterly Rock and serve as Tommen's Hand. Before leaving, Qyburn tells Cersei that "the work continues".

Arya (Maisie Williams) assumes the identity of Lanna, an oyster seller. While practicing acting with Jaqen, she describes her typical day to Jaqen (Tom Wlaschiha), who tells her to change her daily route, and to instead head to the harbour. There, she encounters, and sells oysters to a life insurance salesman. Jaqen explains that the family of one of the salesman's clients hired the Faceless Men to kill him after he refused to pay out when said client drowned at sea. He tells Arya to return to the harbour and learn everything she can about the insurer before poisoning him.