The Real Tragedy Of 'Game of Thrones' Season 5: Not Enough Direwolves 

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The Real Tragedy Of \'Game of Thrones\' Season 5: Not Enough Direwolves

season 5 finale aired this past Sunday, and it, much like the rest of the season, was met with some pretty mixed reception. I enjoyed season 5, for the most part. It’s probably my fourth favorite season behind season 1, season 3, and season 4, but that’s not exactly a knock against it because those seasons were so damn good. There were things I loved about it (the battle of Hardhome being chief among them) and there were things that I did not.

But whereas most people were down on how incredibly depressing the finale seemed, particularly because Jon Snow was stabbed half a dozen times in the torso and left to die (I don’t care what Kit Harrington says, he’ll be back), my biggest gripe was with something few people have even touched upon:

I’ve never read the books. I know a lot about what happens in them because I’ve been spoiled so many times, but since I was introduced to this property via television, I’m going to watch it all on television before I delve into the literature. From what I understand, the direwolves play a much larger role in the books, and are far more important to the overall story. Jon Snow has been warging into Ghost since the second book. Aria has had dreams of Nymeria, her direwolf from book 1 and season 1 that she sent off to the wilderness to save from being put down. And in general, direwolves just have much more of a presence, particularly Ghost. As for the show, the last time the wolves played a big part was season 1, when they were portrayed by regular old dogs.

Every season since has seen a steady decline in direwolf appearances. Part of that has been due to the fact that some of the direwolves have left the story – e.g., Rickon and his direwolf Shaggydog went off to do their own thing in season 3, Robb’s direwolf, Grey Wind, was killed during the Red Wedding, and Bran and his direwolf Summer took a break from the show during season 5. But even accounting for all that, we’ve seen so little of the wolves while they’ve been around. In the book

, there’s a whole subplot where Grey Wind suspects the Freys’ betrayal, but stupid Robb has him chained up. When the Frey’s men come to kill Grey Wind, he takes down a number of their wolfhounds and rips off a guy’s arm before succumbing to crossbow bolt wounds. In the show, Grey Wind just gets killed, practically off screen (RIP, Grey Wind).

, Jon, who’s trying to live among the wildlings, sends Ghost back to Castle Black. When the two finally reunite near the end of the book – after Jon starts to worry that Ghost might be dead – they run at each other and roll around in the snow together. Ghost licks Jon’s face and Jon tells Ghost how much he’s missed him. Compare that to the TV show where Ghost and Jon are separated for nearly two seasons, and when they reunite, Jon barely touches him and merely whispers, “I missed you, boy.” He almost sounds like he’s on tranquilizers.

“Sorry, buddy, we can’t get too close or else the viewers will know you’re just an effect.”

Why are the direwolf TV appearances so few and far in between? And why are they so disappointing? We all know the answer – it costs a lot of money to make giant wolves look real. And while

has done an incredible job creating nonexistent creatures – Drogon, by himself, looked great this season – Daenerys riding around on a dragon was proof that they’re not nearly as good at digital compositing, and that’s basically all the direwolves are. They’re regular wolves (or wolfdogs) digitally composited into scenes and made to look like giant ones.