Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 1 Review (ialmopia english version)

Sunday night the long wait finally ended and Game of Thrones returned for it’s 5th and much anticipated season. For the most part the first episode used the evening to catch us up on what
our characters will be getting themselves into during the upcoming season. The executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did double duty as writers for the first episode. Michael Slovis was the director.

WARNING: SPOILERS for Episode 5.01

King’s Landing

To begin the season we are taken back in time to a scene involving a young Cersei Lannister. The young highborn lady and a female friend trek into the woods near Casterly Rock to a primitive hut where a strange woods witch, named Maggy the Frog, lives. There Cersei shows that she developed her dominating and unyielding character from an early age as she demands that her future be told to her by the mysterious woman. Cersei learns she will indeed marry and become the queen “for a time” but that a younger and more beautiful rival will take her title. Next she is told that her children also face a perilous future. Moving forward again we find Queen Cersei stuck in the middle of this very prophecy with one son dead, a daughter being held hostage and her youngest being charmed by the lovely Margaery Tyrell. As if this was not enough she is also troubled by the escape of her younger brother, Tyrion, who is wanted for the murder of her father, Tywin. She surmises that her twin Jamie had something to do with freeing Tyrion and chastises him for his participation. It must be said that Maggy the Frog looks like she knew what she was talking about.

Old and forgotten yet a much transformed Lancel Lannister also makes an appearance in King’s Landing as a member of the fanatic “Sparrows”. An extremely devout group that praises the “Seven” introduces a another religious aspect to the Game of Thrones. Religion and politics almost never mix well in our world and I imagine that they won’t in King’s Landing either.

Pentos

Across the Narrow Sea in Pentos is where we meet everyone’s favorite Tyrion Lannister. He is unloaded from the box we last saw him in and finds himself in the company of the master of whispers, Varys. Varys wants to convince Tyrion that even though he is wanted for murder that he still has a part to play in the Game of Thrones. Varys reveals himself to be a Targaryen supporter and that Tyrion can be useful in restoring that once great family’s power to rule again. FIrst he must travel to Meereen to meet Queen Daenerys.

Meereen

Daenerys finds herself in the middle of tough situation as Meereen is proving to be a difficult city to rule. One of her Unsullied fighters is murdered by the elusive “Sons of the Harpy”. A group that does not accept Dany as their queen nor her laws that have prohibited slavery. Dany must be careful about who she trusts as it seems that each of her advisers offer her solutions that don’t match the way she wants things. A visit to her imprisoned and upset Dragons further illustrates that the power she once had is dissolving. Will these troubles finally be the motivation that Dany needs to end her attempt to conquer Essos and put herself on a ship to Westeros to try to take back the Iron Throne?

The Vale

Sansa finds herself in the middle of another Littlefinger plot as she and Lord Baelish leave Robyn Arryn with Lord Royce and head west of the Vale to a destination unknown. Sansa has always found herself as a piece of the game to be used and bargained with and season 5 seems to be setting up for more of the same. Will she ever make a move of her own? Is Littlefinger really interested in helping Sansa or is he using her for his own gain? Brienne of Tarth and Poderick Payne are shown in the same region as this might indicate us a future cross-over of the two storylines. 

The Wall

At “The Wall” we find the brothers of the “Night’s Watch” recovering from the massive wildling attack that ended season 4. King Stannis is still at Castle Black and announces to Jon Snow that he is looking to ride south and meet the forces of Roose Bolton at Winterfell. But, before he can go he needs Jon to ask Mance Rayder to convince the surviving wildlings to fight for him. Something Mance is unwilling to do. Mance is set to be burned at the stake if he continues to refuse Stannis’ request of fealty. Mance is deaf to Jon’s words and defiant to the last as Stannis allows his sorceress, Melisandre, to burn the “King Beyond the Wall”. In an act of respect and mercy, Jon Snow ends Mance’s suffering with an arrow to the chest, ultimately killing the wildling monarch. How Stannis will react to Jon’s action is something we will have to wait to find out. 

Overall the episode might not dazzle the audience but season premiers seldom do. While entertaining and informative, this first part accomplished its goal of letting us get familiar with the story again. Let us know what you thought of episode 1 in the comment section. Also, take a look at Episode 2 preview below.

By Theofilos Papadopoulos

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