Welcome back to Westeros! It always feels good when Game of Thrones comes back for a new season.
I was fortunate enough to read the first three books before the HBO series was announced. I first heard about A Song of Ice and Fire while playing a game of Texas Hold ‘Em in the back room of a comic book shop. Not only did I win the poker game, I won at life because George R.R. Martin’s tale of kings, kingslayers, smallfolk, wolves, and dragons quickly became my favorite fantasy series of all time. When the television series was announced, my mind was blown. Four seasons later and I’m still mesmerized.
That said, Books Four and Five split the narrative up to feature only certain characters. I had to wait an entire book to find out what happened to Tyrion! Thankfully, HBO is combining A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons into a more cohesive story. Can you image an entire season with Peter Dinklage??
Well I can and it would suck.
Books Four and Five were “journey” books. Though lots of stuff happened, it felt like the author was moving his characters into place for a larger story in book 6. It was a little frustrating. Now that the story is combined, I expect a faster paced narrative. But that isn’t what happened in this first episode of Season Five. The episode was solid, but it featured a large amount of clean up from Season Four. There will be more “journeying” in this season, every character gets put through the paces and no one will be on the same path by the end.
Arya will finally be making it to the House of Black and White. Thank God. All last season, she walked from one place to the next with Sandor Clegane. Now, she’s on her own and able to forge her own identity. Big changes are in store for Arya, figuratively and literally.
Speaking of change, Sam and Gilly are in a very different place than they were last season. With Thorne giving Gilly the stinkeye, expect things to change radically and very soon. Sam went through the gauntlet during the battle at the wall and he’s got a new confidence. His journey will be fascinating.
Tyrion seems to content to drink himself to death but don’t let his current malaise fool you, he can get even lower. I’m anxious to see how they treat Tyrion this season, his journey takes him to places dark and desperate. What else is new?
Back at the Wall, Jon’s trying to train the grief over Ygritte’s death from his system. News for you, Jon, she ain’t coming back no matter how hard you beat that kid. It looks like Snow and Thorne are going to be at loggerheads for the foreseeable future. Stannis, too. Stannis firmly believes himself to be the King and it’s not a good idea to ruin the King’s execution party. Jon took it upon himself to put Mance out of his misery and the fallout from that action will be mighty.
That leaves the biggest sons-of-bitches in Westeros; Circe and Littlefinger. Petyr seems to be training Sansa in “The Game” and I can’t say whether it’s a good idea or not. Sansa’s been powerless for far too long. What she does with her newfound freedom will be interesting. As for Circe, this is her season to win or lose and her protectors area all either dead, missing or alienated. I could tell you, but that would be too “spoilery” even for me.
So here we are, the journey has ended for some while others find themselves on different paths. This first episode of Season Five was quiet but, believe me, that won’t last.