It’s back! Can you believe it’s been almost a whole year since we last left the Westeros realm? During that time the hype hasn’t died down any and we’ve all been clambering at the bit, excitedly waiting for Game of Thrones to return. Happily our not so patient waiting is finally over as season five has finally landed.
One of the best things about the show is of course the audience participation, we love to talk about Game of Thrones. THN will be here every week post evening UK transmission to chat about all the inevitable twists, turns and tragic deaths in our Blog of Thrones.
Be warned, only read on if you have seen the third episode of season five High Sparrow as this article contains spoilers.
Writers: David Benioff, D.B Weiss
Director: Mark Mylod
Cast: Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Natalie Dormer, Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner, Aiden Gillan, Maisie Williams, Gwendoline Christie, Tom Wlaschiha
Synopsis: Jon Snow deals with dissension amongst the ranks, Queen Margaery enjoys her new husband and Tyrion and Varys walk the Long Bridge of Volantis.
Stop the presses! Game of Thrones in Wedding Day shocker! Readers can you believe that we just witnessed a Westeros Wedding that didn’t end in a bloodbath, poisoning, or creepy pseudo-rape ‘bedding ceremony’? The new King Tommen has wed his dead brother’s wife Margaery, once more making her Queen. Let’s hope that this marriage sticks, this being her third trip down the aisle, Margaery is well on her way to becoming the Joan Collins of the realm.
How old is Tommen meant to be these days? I’ve lost track. Either way, was it just me who was creeped out by the pair doing the deed? Tommen is clearly elated at the events that have occurred, but then what teenage boy wouldn’t be ecstatic to have Natalie Dormer in their bedroom? If Margaery’s tales to her ladies are to be believed, he has quite the appetite, a fact that she proudly teased Cersei, the future Queen Grandmother, remarking ‘Well he is half-lion, half-stag’. Margaery clearly doesn’t like breathing as Cersei is not a creature to provoke. However, now the King has experienced her naked, she seems to have him wrapped around her little finger and has started to manipulate him against his mother.
Speaking of Weddings, tonight’s episode had us hear about another character’s forth-coming nuptials. At the end of the last series we discovered that Roose Bolton’s psychotic bastard son Ramsey had been cleared of his bastard status. Roose officially decreed him a Bolton. Ramsey has delighted in his new title, mainly because he can now practice the tradition of his fore-fathers, flaying people. Roose however is not so happy with his sons penchant for skinning, advising that the people of Winterfell will never kneel to them if they keep removing everyone’s flesh. Roose’s plan is to bring the Northern’s one of their own, revealing to Ramsey and a serving Reek, that a deal has been brokered for the hand of Sansa Stark.
Poor, poor Sansa Stark. She really has had a rotten time of things hasn’t she. Remember in series one when she was just an average teenage girl, excited to meet and potentially marry a Prince? Sadly that Prince turned out to be Joffrey who took great pleasure in tormenting her before giving her to his uncle Tyrion. With Tyrion it seemed that she was going to be okay, but then she found herself framed for Joffrey’s murder and on the run with the manipulative Littlefinger. A man who has sold her to what could be a fate worse than Joffrey; that proposal last week clearly wasn’t for him, like he let Sansa think. Help her Brienne!
With Sansa back at Winterfell it will be very interesting to see what she makes of Theon’s transformation into Reek. Could she be the one to pull him back to his former self?
Meanwhile in Braavos Arya has become the House of Black and White’s new cleaner. Jaquen H’ghar is channelling his inner Mr Miyagi as he trains the youngest Stark girl in the ways of becoming one of the faceless men. His interest in Arya is causing her fellow teen-girl candidate to become jealous, attempting to beat out the truth from Arya about who she is. Her attempts at whipping the feisty Stark resulted in her getting called the C word, looks like The Hound rubbed off on Arya in a few ways.
In order to become Faceless Arya must renounce Arya Stark’s identity and everything that comes with it. Determined to make it into the ranks of the Faceless Arya went down to the sea and threw away all aspects of her former life, with one exception. She couldn’t part with Needle and the memories that it invoked so rather than casting it into the ocean she instead buried it in a pile of stones. Once re-clothed and back in a dress her first task was to see what was behind the secret door; a dead man who needed a wash.
Lord Janos learned the price of disobeying his new Lord Commander of The Nights Watch; a swift beheading. Jon Snow it seems isn’t prepared to tolerate any dissension amongst his ranks and this brutal beheading was surely a power play to ensure the rest of his men do as they are asked? He should watch himself with Stannis though as the one true King didn’t seem overly pleased that Jon turned down the offer of becoming Jon Stark.
Game of Thrones has thus far focussed on war and politics, but now it would appear that religion will play an increasingly greater part in season five. The episode itself is named after the leader of the new religious faction, High Sparrow. This sect is fairly extremist with it’s actions, wanting to wipe out anyone who goes against their Gods and beliefs. In the High Sparrow Cersei may have found a new ally who can help her achieve her next devious plan, though surely as a religious man he’ll have some issues with the fact that Cersei is Biblically close to her brother Jaime?
Whilst we’re talking about Cersei what exactly is her new advisor Qyburn up to? He seemed very interested in that dismembered head last week and today Cersei asked how his work was doing. Just after she left we saw something under a blanket suddenly spasm – is he Game of Thrones’ very own Doctor Frankenstein? Let’s hope if he is, that he’s not working on bringing Tywin and Joffrey back, it took long enough to get rid of them the first time.
Varys finally gave in to Tyrion’s pleas to ‘get out of this wheelhouse’ and let the fugitive stretch his legs. His disguise was the equivalent of simply putting on shades as he made his shawl a cloak, but he got away with it for a while. We also spied another Red Priestess (so Melissandre isn’t the only one) before moving to familiar Tyrion territory, a brothel. The after effects of Shae are taking their toll though with Tyrion unable to carry out the deed. His disguise really wasn’t that great as Sir Friend-zone, sorry Jorah, who was also lurking around the brothel, staring longingly at the Mother of Dragons look-a-like (shudder), seized the opportunity to capture the smaller man. The end of the episode saw him proclaim he was taking Tyrion to the Queen – surely he can only mean Dany?
High Sparrow again seems to be another set-up episode. We can only hope that all this set-up yields some entertaining fruit. It did nonetheless give us some lovely little moments, who didn’t melt a little at Brienne’s tale of how she first met Renley? The dynamic between herself and Podrick is a much needed spot of light in what has otherwise been a fairly bleak series so far. The introduction of a more forceful religion regime than The Lord of Light is very interesting, and I look forwards to see just how religion plays it’s part in the Game of Thrones.
[usr=4] Game Of Thrones airs on HBO in north America, and Sky Atlantic in the UK and Ireland.
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