It’s time for rejoicing and for war in the realm of Westeros. Game of Thrones begins its fifth season with “The Wars to Come.†After four seasons of blood and terror, we get to see everyone picking up the pieces left behind by both the Red and Purple weddings.
Cersei Lannister is a character that will forever be one we love to hate. We got a small glimpse in Cersei’s past as a young girl. This young Cersei is seen walking along in the woods with a “friend.†Did Cersei ever actually have friends? In any case, they come upon a small hut with a sleeping woman inside. Young Cersei asks the supposed witch what her future holds. The witch tells her that she will marry a king. Young Cersei asks if she will have children with him. The witch’s response is priceless. She says that the king will have 20 children, and Cersei will have three. I guess that witch did really have a gift. It was an enjoyable scene, and I really hope we get more treasures into some characters’ pasts.
In King’s Landing, Cersei and Jaime are mourning the death of their father, Tywin Lannister. In the season four finale, Jaime let Tyrion escape his death and in doing so, Tyrion made a detour to murder his father before escaping King’s Landing forever. Cersei blames both Tyrion and Jaime for the death of her father saying that while Tyrion killed Tywin on purpose, Jaime killed him by mistake when he let Tyrion free. Although, one can’t help but speculate that Cersei must be slightly relieved that Tywin is dead if only because she won’t have to marry Loras Tyrell. Loras doesn’t seem too broken up about it either when we see him in bed with a young man named Oliver. One person no one expected to see again in King’s Landing is Cersei’s cousin, Lancel Lannister. He has changed since the battle at Black Water. He feels deeply sorry for the inappropriate relations with Cersei and for his part in the death of King Robert Baratheon. Lancel’s father says that he has joined a group called the Sparrows, “bloody fanatics†if you ask him. Hopefully, we get to hear more about the Sparrows.
Now, for our favorite Lannister, Tyrion. Varys, the Spider, smuggled Tyrion into Pentos to get him far away from King’s Landing. Varys tells Tyrion that Westeros must be saved from itself, but Tyrion has no interest. He says that he’s done with Westeros, and Westeros is done with him. Varys believes that Westeros needs a leader that can truly be respected. When Tyrion doesn’t believe that there’s a man out there, Varys gives him a strange look. He suggests that they go to Meereen to meet with Daenerys Targaryen. Tyrion only asks if he can drink himself to death on the way to Meereen.
Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, is having quite an experience in Meereen. She’s trying to keep the streets clean by having the Unsullied monitor the streets. She even has Ser Barristan Selmy kill a man who is considered part of a group called the Sons of the Harpy. This episode didn’t get too into this group, so maybe we will hear more about them later. When Dany is on her throne, a man approaches to ask if she will reopen the fighting pits. These pits were originally where slaves battled one another to the death for sport. Dany dismisses him immediately with a resounding no to reopening the pits.
Later, after presumably making love, Dany is discussing the fighting pits with Daario Naharis. Surprisingly, Daario thinks that she should reopen the fighting pits. He tells a story about his childhood. His mother sold him into slavery, and he was forced to fight in fighting pits, which is where he learned to fight. He was so good and made so much money for his master that his master let him go free. Daario later joined the Second Sons, which led him to meet Daenerys. He believes that the fighting pits are what made him the man his has grown to be. She still doesn’t seem convinced.
One of the biggest open storylines so far is that of Dany’s dragons. We know that Drogon has been missing for a while. Dany also has no control over her other two dragons, Viserion and Rhaegal. When she goes to see them, they frighten her by approaching fast and furious constantly breathing fire. She leaves immediately, visually frightened by their monstrous size and their vicious behavior toward her. The amazing effects make me hope that we get to see a lot more of the dragons this year.
Remembering back, we last left Jon Snow and Castle Black in the hands of “King†Stannis Baratheon. Stannis and his Red Priestess, Melisandre, have taken over Castle Black and plan to take back the north, including Winterfell. Winterfell is currently in the hands of the traitorous Roose Bolton, who just about everyone wants revenge against for Robb and the entire Stark army. Stannis’s only problem is that he needs more men to fight Bolton’s army at Winterfell. He needs help from the wildlings, and to get that he needs for Mance Rayder to “bend the knee.â€
Instructed by Stannis, Jon Snow goes beyond the wall to try and reason with Mance. If Mance bends the knee, Stannis will grant him and his wildlings freedom in the north. If Mance refuses, Stannis will have him burned alive. When Jon doesn’t understand why Mance won’t serve Stannis in order to save his life, he replies, “The freedom to make my own mistakes is all I ever wanted.†It makes you look a little bit harder at Mance’s choices. At least, he realizes that they will never truly be free under Stannis. Mance is then the first casualty of the season. Luckily, we get to see Jon’s humanity come out when he leaves the execution to retrieve his bow and arrow to help put Mance out of his misery. It keeps up his rapport with the wildlings and helps Mance’s ideals to live on in Jon.
Sadly, we didn’t get to spend much time with Sansa or Brienne and Podrick. Sansa is with Petyr Baelish who seems to tote her around as his arm candy. Her wonderfully flaming red hair is no longer, as it seems to be a much darker brown or black. It’s unsure where they are going, but their journey thus far sure has been interesting. Brienne is getting more frustrated with her lack of a mission. She struggled with helping Arya and no longer has a sense of purpose. She takes it out on Podrick saying that he doesn’t have to stay with her. Podrick also has nowhere to go and hopes to stay with Brienne.
