Winter is coming, well it came and went and now its spring time and you know what that means, Game of Thrones time!
[dropcap size=small]I[/dropcap]t has been about 10 months since we last viewed a new episode of the captivating HBO original series Game of Thrones. We can’t help to wonder, was it a great episode or was it only good because we haven’t seen any new content in so long?
Season 5 of Game of Thrones started Sunday night and the first episode was everything we could expect from the fantasy drama. Right out of the gates we got murder, dragons, a man being set un-fire, nudity (from both male and female characters), and a drunk dwarf. With so much happening in the premiere we can’t help but speculate what the double D’s (show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss) have in store for the next 9 episodes.
The season opens with something show watchers have never seen before, a flashback. In the forest a young Cersei Lannister and her friend are seeking out a witch fortune-teller on her father’s land. The young Cersei threatens to have the witch’s eyes gouged out if she doesn’t tell her about her future. She is told that she will someday become queen and have three golden-haired children, but all shall meet their demise. As the witch laughs at the fate of the soon to be queen, the scene flashes to Cersei in real-time about to enter the sept where her lord father, Twyin Lannister, lay dead for all the kingdoms to see.
.
With the mood needing a quick pick me up, what better than a drunken dwarf stumbling out of a box. After killing his father, Tywin, with a crossbow while he was using the bathroom at the end of season four, Tyrion Lannister finds himself on the run. A bearded and very smelly looking Peter Dinklage falls out of the crate that he has spent a beard-growing length of time in just hiding out and drinking as he crosses the narrow sea to Pentos. A few sips of wine later and he is barfing all over the rug, and that rug really brought the room together man. He agrees to ride to Mereen to meet up with Daenerys Targaryen or drink himself to death on the way.
.
.
Daenerys herself is still trying to rule the newly freed city of Mereen from her great pyramid, but the more slaves she frees, the more enemies she creates. A new group of trouble makers for the mother of dragons are the Son’s of the Harpy. We see one of Khaleesi’s unsullied being tricked into a false sense of security and murdered by these vigilantes. Daario Naharis is still an active member in Daeny’s court, and her bedroom. We can foreshadow with the fading of control she has over her dragons that Daeny is slowly losing her grip on power in Slavers Bay.
.
.
Now that Mance Rayder is captured, his people’s faith rest in the hands of Stannis Baratheon. The openly spoken rightful king of Westeros unveils his plans to create a Wildling army by offering land and freedom in the south to all the “free folk” who joins him. In addition to this Stannis asks Jon Snow to inform “The King Beyond the Wall”, Mance Rayder, to bend the knee and pledge his men to him or he will die. Mance Refuses and is burnt at the stake.
Something that really piqued our interests is the transformation of the once weak and almost frail looking Lancel Lannister, who is the cousin of Cersei and nephew of Tywin Lannister. The queen regent, Cersei Baratheon, who earlier had an incestuous relationship with Lancel, now looked upon him with disgust. He wears rags and no shoes, and the trade-mark golden curls of the Lannister family were cut away with only short yellow scruff left behind. Lancel is now what they refer to as a Sparrow, a religious movement that arose within the ranks of the Faith of the Seven. It is mostly composed of the lowest and humblest of the Holy Faith, and was formed in response to the suffering inflicted on the small folk of Westeros during the War of the Five Kings. They are convinced that the end of the world is at hand. Religion has yet to poke its head in King’s Landing yet, but if the past has taught us anything, it’s that a lot of blood can be spilled over religious views.
.
.
This first episode showed us a lot of what the characters have been up too, but didn’t have much body to each scene which leads us to believe that this is just setting us up for bigger things to come. With Game of Thrones back in full swing, we can’t wait for next Sunday to see what the second episode has in-store for us.
Game of Thrones can be seen Sunday nights on HBO. Seasons 1-5 of Game of Thrones can also be viewed via HBO GO or HBO NOW.
