Game of Thrones (Season 5)

Zach Goodier

We recently finished up another season of our favorite form of self-abuse: Game of Thrones. Some things happened, some character stories advanced forward, and lots of the bittersweet twists/death that we’ve come to expect. We also saw the show deviate even further from the source material, and by the end, many stories have gotten ahead. So did this season deliver, or is it a rare miss for the series? Some SPOILERS to follow, so skip to the last paragraph if you just want the summary.

The season opens with a neat flashback to Cersei's meeting with the Woods Witch.

Well, let’s start off with the new material. This season introduced us to Dorne, a region where violence and blood are as common as the sandy wastes it sits on. We meet the Sand Snakes, the illegitimate children of one of last year’s unfortunate losses, Prince Oberyn. Along with their mother, who was another of last year’s new additions, they want revenge for his death. Towards this end, they send a threat to the Lannisters, who are still reeling from the loss of Tywin. Jaime decides to go on a rescue mission to save princess Myrcella, who was sent to Dorne by Tyrion in the second season to improve relations with Dorne. With the threat of the Sand Snakes, and the hatred of Lannisters growing more and more, Jaime recruits Bronn in order to discretely sail south to save her. Jaime and Bronn make a great combo, and while some might not think of the Sand Snakes as a worthy addition, they have some good moments this season.

The Sand Snakes might not deliver too much this season, but events make me believe they'll be important down the road.

Cersei is struggling in King’s Landing as, with perceived rivals all around her, her paranoia kicks into high gear as she fears a prophecy made that predicts her family’s demise and her downfall at the hand of a woman younger and more beautiful than her. She sees Margery as this person, and tries to change her destiny by instating a new High Septon, Sparrow, who will not be bribed or corrupted, and Cersei tries to use him to get rid of the new Queen. Cersei’s plan succeeds, but all the while Sparrow has known of Cersei’s sins, and soon arrests her as well, leading to a satisfying fall for Cersei. 

These two work well together, too bad they don't stay together.

Meanwhile, Arya arrives in Bravos, and seeks out the House of Black and White to be trained to be a faceless man for the Many-Faced God. Her story takes a lot of twists and turns that follow the books in many places, and deviate in some others. Arya’s story feels very challenging and personal, and you finally feel like she’s developing on her own as a character.

As soon as I saw this I stopped breathing for the next 15 minutes.

Sansa’s story picks up as she is taken to the North, where she is married off to Ramsay Bolton in order to secure Bolton rule over the North, while Littlefinger wants to use Sansa as a means of garnering supporters. However, Sansa is soon in for far more than she bargained for, as Ramsay’s sadism soon reveals itself on their wedding night, and she sees a familiar face in “Reek,” who she remembers betrayed her brother, Robb. This is a great change from the books, as it kept things feeling fresh, and allowed both Sansa and Theon’s storylines to pick up quite a bit.

A meeting that might really change the world.

Dany is still struggling to rule Mareen, where things become more and more difficult as the city sits on the verge of rebellion. She is forced to bear the brunt of a world that is not so easily changed as she had once thought, and watching her idealism clash with reality is a conflict that carries over from last season, but still feels very relevant and interesting to watch. She eventually runs into Tyrion, who meets up with Jorah, who bring Tyrion back to try to win back Dany’s favor. The meeting between these two isn’t until later in the season, but it really allows these two characters to have a conversation that really brings to light the core of Dany’s real conflict throughout the series, which I just mentioned.

None of this kid in season 5, but there's enough other stuff going on to keep everyone busy.

On the wall, Jon Snow is struggling to be the new Lord Commander, and finds that, like Dany, his idealism meets with harsh reality, as he struggles to find a way to save the Wildlings so that they don’t become more meat for the armies of the White Walkers. Like last season, Jon’s story gets probably the best action sequence in the series, when he runs into trouble up at Hardhome in the late season. There, as he struggles to negotiate with the Wildlings, the White Walkers attack. The entire sequence came out amazing, and reminded us that winter is truly coming, and with it will likely come a threat that may very well be the end of all civilization in Westeros. Unfortunately, not all of the Night’s Watch sees the true threat, and the closing scene of the season shows Jon being betrayed by his “brothers” as they take turns stabbing him (F#$# Olly, by the way).

Looks like winter is coming in force now.

Overall, this season seemed to start out fairly slow, and verged on disappointing for the first few episodes; however, it really started to pick up around halfway through, with some of the best action sequences and character drama we’ve seen the entire series. The plot deviations might upset the book purists, but I liked that, having read the books, I really didn’t know anymore than those who hadn’t, since a lot of details in these storylines have been altered to keep things fresh. However, the lack of storylines like White Harbor or the Iron Islands are a major loss to the Stark and Greyjoy fans. This season really delivered in the twist department, with a brutal finale that still has people talking up a storm with speculation. This season also gave us a powerful reminder of who the real enemy is, and that winter is almost upon us.

Good:

- Storylines all feel like they moved ahead to new milestones and chapters.

- Hardhome gave us the best action sequence of the series, in my opinion.

- Deviations from the source material keep things fresh for everyone.

Bad:

- Bit of a sluggish start to the season.

- No White Harbor or Iron Islands stuff from the books for Stark and/or Greyjoy lovers.

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10