Warning: This review contains spoilers.
Winter has passed, and “Game of Thrones” is back. The hit HBO fantasy-drama has the fictitious Westeros getting colder and colder as we check back into the characters who play the game.
Season five began like every other season — with slow buildup. The tranquil pace is a welcome respite from the emotional roller coaster that was the end of season four, and the characters get to catch their breath before everything falls into chaos yet again. Daenerys is sitting on a bench in Meereen, King’s Landing is hushed in the gloomy wake of Tywin’s death, and Brienne is sulking in the countryside. This season begins with aftermath.
The denizens of Westeros are the most fun to watch when they’re at their most cynical, and this season has gifted audiences with an extra-angsty Tyrion. Tyrion has always been a bitter man, but with no reason to keep his good humor any longer, angs-Tyrion is taking his world-weariness to new heights by literally shipping off and leaving the world behind. Taking two of the most sarcastic characters, Tyrion and Varys, and putting them in a box together is a stroke of genius by the producers, and frankly if the rest of season five was simply 8 hours of Varys and Tyrion jabbing at each other, I wouldn’t complain.
Perpetually grim Sansa is still being whisked away to new locales by dangerous people trying to protect her from even more dangerous people. Her plotline does produce the best scene of this season so far: Robin Arryn sword fighting, which is comedic gold.
Daenerys has decided to spend some time ruling instead of conquering, which unfortunately for her isn’t something she’s very good at. The season’s second episode does a fantastic job demonstrating the problems that arise when you force your own sets of values onto a different cultural system. She thinks she’s right, but she ends up traumatizing her subjects and creating even more problems. That’s what you get when you listen to Barristan, an idiot who watched innocents burn alive but claims everything’s totally okay because he was loyal to his king throughout it all. Except that he then served the king’s usurper, and that he only left because his pride was hurt by the usurper’s son, but at least Barristan is still good at killing people right?
Arya is in fine form as she makes her way to Braavos. Taking her fate into her own hands, she’s ready to spend that coin she’s been carrying around for ages and we will finally figure out what Jaqen H’ghar was talking about all those episodes ago. If the second episode is any indication, we won’t have to wait long.
Jon lays claim to the spotlight rather early in this season, and he has some great scenes to show for it. Melisandre, perhaps the most infuriating character in Westeros, continues to terrorize its good people by demanding yet another person burn alive. Jon finally stands up to this lunatic by cleverly allowing Mance to die by other means. No agonizing suffering makes an unhappy red priestess. The fact that Jon is willing to say no when Melisandre asks for something makes him both an infinitely more likeable character, as well as a deeper one.
Jon continues to live large in the second episode, becoming Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch by popular election. It is a shame the show sped through the election so quickly, because it’s a very dramatic process in the books. The show makes it seem like half the Night’s Watch was going to vote for Jon anyway and it ought to take much more than a few words from Samwell to carry him to victory. Having Maester Aemon place the final vote is a nice touch, though, since popular theory places him and Jon as relatives.
Season five continues the visual spectacle of previous seasons, with the general feeling of gloom throughout its opening sequences complemented by dark lighting, as well as the shadows dancing inside the pyramids of Meereen. Camera angles in “Game of Thrones” are often unique and the view from Angstyrion’s barrel is one of the best ones yet.
The show’s CGI has come a long way from its first season. With the expansive locales of Meereen and Braavos becoming regular settings, it’s a joy to see them in their entirety. The Titan of Braavos looks fantastic, and the House of Black and White is by far the coolest building we’ve seen in a while.
Two episodes into “Game of Thrones’” fifth season, one can see more than ever the show’s desire to make a name for itself apart from the books. The story has diverged further, with some interesting results.
Varys is not supposed to be anywhere near Tyrion for one, and Brienne has not found the Stark girls in the books. The changes are bold, but actually somewhat welcome. In the books, Brienne and Tyrion’s respective travels on different continents do not seem to have accomplished anything as not very much happens for a staggering number of pages. The show’s pace seems to necessitate the skimming of certain passages, and even outright changes.
An element that has been preserved from the books is the beginning of a plotline in Dorne. Doran Martell is a welcome addition to the screen, and the allusion to the Sand Snakes, Oberyn’s daughters, signifies that the rest of the season has much to look forward to. The words of House Targaryen, instead of those of House Stark, might better describe what to expect in season five of “Game of Thrones”: blood and fire.
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