Ten months of waiting and the season premiere of GAME OF THRONES Season Five has finally arrived. At the end of Season 4: a considerable number of major players were left dead, Daenerys had conquered another city, Arya had left Westeros, Tyrion and Varys fled as fugitives, and the Wall still stood after facing a Wildling attack.
GAME OF THRONES season premieres never fail to set the tone and stories for each season in motion, clearly foreshadowing the conflicts to come. They usually end big as well with Bran’s life hanging in the balance at the end of the series premiere, and season two kicking off with the mass murder of the majority of Robert Baratheon’s illegitimate children.
The episode opens with young Cersei accompanied by a friend, walking through the woods to a witch’s house. Upon finding it young Cersei exhibits the same lack of charm and social grace as her future self, threatening the witch to reveal her future. Not that the young Cersei fully understands what her future holds, most of the witch’s predictions have already come to pass but future tragedy is hinted at with: ‘gold will be their crowns, gold will be their shrouds.’
The entire scene fully embraces the mystical and superstitious elements of the series mythology, creating a creepy and atmospheric opening to the new season. Each shot is filled by daunting forestry and dark foreboding shadows. It is like the beginning of fairy tale, with Cersei and her companion in the role of a Hansel and Gretel actually in search of a witch.
From there we arrive in the present day King’s Landing, with Cersei mourning the loss of her father at the hands of brother Tyrion. The Lannister patriarch’s corpse is guarded by Jaime, who points out that with their father gone they are now surround by enemies even more so than before. Cersei angrily berates her brother about ‘accidentally’ causing their father’s death, perhaps foreshadowing a more antagonistic relationship between the former incestuous lovers.
As the celebration and mourning of the life of Tywin Lannister continues, Cersei drinks and listens to condolences as she watches young King Tommen and Magaery Tyrell (her young usurper) dance. At which she also confronted by a hardly recognisable Lancel Lannister (last seen in Season Two) who seems to have been spending time at the gym between, as well as joining a religious cult known as The Sparrows. The reunion is far from a happy one with Lancel detailing how he has found new purpose, and aiming thinly veiled threat after thinly veiled threat at his cousin.
The third Lannister sibling, Tyrion arrives in Pentos in the most un-Lannister-like fashion possible, released from a crate by travelling companion Varys. The two waste no time in bantering and bickering with one another to once again show why they are the wittiest comedy-duo to grace our television screens. A buddy comedy or chat show hosted by the two would surely surpass any other in the genre.
Tyrion is seemingly too happy to drink himself into oblivion, finding himself without purpose after murdering his father and lover, Shae. Varys calls Tyrion out of his stupor and encourages him to embrace his gifts to aid another rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Daenerys Targaryen.
The Mother of Dragons could certainly do with the aid of two of Westeros’ former political giants, as the statues and idols of Meereen are pulled down she faces dissent in the form of The Sons of the Harpy. The gold faced killers making their mark by slitting the throat of an Unsullied, whilst he visited a brothel.
Unfortunately for Daenerys, she also comes face to face with Viserion and Rhaegar (the dragons she locked away) and they are far from pleased to see their mother. As she approaches them, bursts of flame are projected in her direction, and the last of the Targaryen’s is shown to be truly afraid for the first time in a long while.
From misbehaving dragons to bratty human child, Robin Arryn attempts to learn to fight, flailing wildly with his sword and failing to hit anything with it. Littlefinger and Sansa must have been barely able to watch the embarrassing display, as they quickly leave for climes unknown. Their carriage almost passing Brienne and Pod, still searching for Catelyn Stark’s eldest daughter.
Robin is not the only one practising to fight, as the Night’s Watch prepare for more battles to come, and more blood to be spilled. In the wake of the Wildlings’ defeat at the hands of Stannis Baratheon’s army, Jon Snow tries to reason with Mance Rayder to ‘bend the knee’ in order to live. To which he refuses on the grounds of freedom, leaving the Wildling leader to face his fate at the hands of the Red Woman.
‘The Wars to Come’ features everything you would expect from a Game of Thrones season opener: drama, conflict, allies, enemies, plots, surprises, and death. The wheels have been put in motion for Westeros to look very different at the end of this season, with producers promising a number of diversion s from George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels. This season is promises to astonish, excite, and shock fans of the show and novels alike.
You can watch the rest of GAME OF THRONES season 5 on Sky Atlantic on Monday’s at 9pm.
