Game of Thrones Recap Season 5, Episode 1: ‘The War to Come’

In the Game of Thrones recap for the season 5 debut, Tyrion has to find someone knew to fight for, Stannis is ready to make his march and the Lannisters prepare to pay the ultimate debt…

By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer

Scattered throughout four seasons of ‘Game of Thrones’ have been a myriad of history lessons taught to us thanks to the words of kings, queens, princes, princesses, noblemen, house maidens, soldiers and whores. Some of this history was meant as a warning so it was never repeated. Other times it was uttered as a way to commiserate the current conundrum one character or another was mired in at the time. And sometimes history was meant for its intended purpose — education.

But for the ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 premiere on Sunday night titled ‘The War to Come’, history was given to us in the form of a brief flashback as Cersei Lannister and her friend trampled their pretty dresses through the marsh and mud of Casterley Rock in search of a witch who was rumored to tell the future of people she encountered. Her name was Maggy (in case you didn’t catch it) and for a drop of blood she’ll tell your future although many people don’t like what will one day befall them when they hear it. Cersei has no such fear so she’s delighted to hear that she will one day marry a king and she will be queen. But her happiness turns to ash when the prophecy then tells the golden-haired teen that she will bear three children, none of them to the king and they will be adorned by golden crowns and then one day golden shrouds.

In other words, Cersei is meant to watch her three children live and die before the day she expires and maybe when she was a child she chalked all of this up to some supernatural foolery, but with her oldest child dead and her only daughter living in the land where their prince just had his head squashed like a grape for an entire court of onlookers to see, she might be thinking about that prophecy as she goes to bury her father Tywin.

Yes, Tywin is dead, murdered by his son Tyrion. The whole of King’s Landing is there to pay their respects, but Jamie Lannister believes they all just want one look at the body to verify the terrifying lion was finally put to rest so they could start picking at the bones. He tries to warn his sister that the buzzards and vultures are already circling overhead and they need to come together to ensure that their house is fortified in this time of need.

Instead, Cersei is only concerned with the same thing that’s consumed her for decades — vengeance.

“The man who murdered our father he tore us apart, he’s the enemy. I’ve been telling you for years, you’ve been defending him for years. Our father is dead and that little monster is out there somewhere drawing breath.”

~ Cersei Lannister

So blinded by her own rage and anger that Cersei refuses to see the bigger threat looming right overhead or possibly even beside her. She watches as Margaery Tyrell manages to get even closer to Tommen while teasing her brother Loras that Cersei may not be a problem for her much longer. In her sharpest days, Cersei would have anticipated Margaery Tyrell five moves ago, but in her wine soused state, her reactions are delayed and her fire flickers but no longer burns.

Cersei Lannister has always been built on looking towards the future even at such a young age that she demanded to know her destiny before she came close to reaching it. She willed her sons into a monarchy and betrothed her daughter to a prince. Gold crowns for all of them. The gold shrouds don’t seem very far behind.

With that, let’s recap the rest of ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5, episode 1 titled ‘The War to Come’

A Queen Worth Fighting For

Following a long and brutal trip across the Narrow Sea, Tyrion Lannister finally lands in Pentos where he’s greeted by his old friend Varys at the palace of Illyrio Mopatis — if that name sounds familiar he appeared in season one as the man who brokered the deal to marry Daenerys to Khal Drogo in exchange for the Dothraki army backing her brother Viserys and also gives Dany her three dragon eggs at the wedding.

Tyrion stinks of shit and wine after riding inside the crate for who knows how many weeks while they made it across the Narrow Sea. Things were uncomfortable inside that fucking crate just like it was for the man who had to tend to his needs from the outside as well.

Tyrion: “Do you know what it’s like to stuff your shit through one of those air holes?

Varys: “No, I only know what it’s like to pick up your shit and throw it overboard.”

Tyrion has dipped into madness over the course of this trip trying to reconcile with the murder of his father and of his former lover. He’s convinced that his best course of action is to drink himself into a stupor and either vomit and begin again or just pass out one day until he no longer wakes up. Seems like a rather dubious plan for a man who was just willing to do anything to keep his head on his shoulders for just one day longer when he was back in King’s Landing.

Varys realizes that Tyrion is valuable player when it comes to Westeros politics. Just like his father, Tyrion is shrewd and smart, but also compassionate and understanding. He’ll never sit on the Iron Throne, but he certainly could be a wise advisor to the person who will occupy that gnarled chair of swords and steel.

Varys: “The Seven Kingdoms needs someone stronger than Tommen but gentler than Stannis. A monarch who can intimidate the high lords and inspire the people. A ruler loved by millions with a powerful army and a right family name.”

Tyrion: “Good luck finding him.”

Varys: “Who said anything about him? You have a choice my friend. You can stay here at Illyrio’s palace and drink yourself to death or you can ride with me to Meereen, meet Daenerys Targaryen and decide if the world is worth fighting for.”

The show runners behind ‘Game of Thrones’ promised that worlds would be colliding this season and while I don’t expect Tyrion to be holding court with Daenerys anytime before possibly episode 9 or 10 this season (at the earliest), it appears our favorite half-man is at least on his way to meet the ‘Mother of Dragons’.

The Land of Discontent

Speaking of our favorite Khaleesi, she’s still dealing with a number of problems in her new home of Meereen. While ancient statues are being ripped off the top of pyramids, the problems within the city continue to mount. A new group has sprung up called the Sons of the Harpy and they are quietly stalking those who would support Queen Daenerys Targaryen. It includes a lonely member of the Unsullied who pays for women at a brothel to cuddle and sing to him like he probably never had when he was a child.

Daenerys understands that the Sons of the Harpy have to be dealt with so she commands the Unsullied to begin patrolling the streets every day and night until these ‘Sons of the Harpy’ are dealt with properly.

There is some good news awaiting Daenerys after Hizdahr zo Loraq returns from his ambassador’s mission to Yunkai where he’s reached a peace agreement with the leaders there. They will agree to no more slavery as well as a council made up of former masters and former slaves who will make decisions for the city with every major issue being handed back over to the queen. They only ask for one major concession — the Yunkai want to re-open the fighting pits.

The fighting pits are a particularly brutal form of entertainment in Slaver’s Bay where participants — usually slaves — battle to the death against each other or sometimes against wild animals, all while the stands are teeming with thousands of onlookers all hoping to see someone get killed. Of course Daenerys shoots down this idea immediately, but Hizdahr zo Loraq reminds her that this is tradition and it would go a long way with the ruling class in Yunkai that they could still honor some of their beliefs. The pit fighters want to compete again and are willing to speak to the queen just to prove there’s no one being coerced in the matter.

“I do not respect the tradition of human cockfighting”

~ Daenerys

Later that night after a romp in the sack, Daario Naharis tells Daenerys that she should re-open the fighting pits. It seems before he was the leader of the Second Sons, Daario himself was sold into slavery and taught to trained by one of the great pit fighters of his day. Daario learned the savagery of fighting like a Dothraki and the skill to compete with the knights of Westeros. He eventually became so good that his master gave him his freedom before crashing on his death bed. Daario also believes that if Daenerys is going to answer back with an iron fist, it would help if she had some fire and blood to back up her words. In other words, where are the goddamn dragons?

“A dragon queen with no dragons? It’s not a queen”

~ Daario Naharis

Daenerys admits she hasn’t seen Drogon in weeks and he could be anywhere by now, but she decides to go visit the other two dragons currently chained and living in the dungeons beneath the great pyramid of Meereen. When Daenerys arrives, the dungeons are dark and lifeless but within moments as the chains start to clink, she is greeted by great roars and the sting of fire in the air. Both dragons are really pissed off their ‘mother’ locked them down here and left them to rot. Daenerys scampers away in fear and she will go back to her throne with no dragons at her side.

Mother of I-once-had-dragons’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Somewhere Across the Vale

Littlefinger and Sansa (in full goth apparel now) are at Lord Royce’s castle where they are leaving Robin Arryn so he can train and become a warrior and hopefully lead the Vale when he comes of age. Robin is seemingly the only person in Westeros less skilled with a sword and shield than Samwell Tarly and his whimpers are just this side of nails on a chalkboard, but Lord Baelish believes he can still learn a thing or two. Plus Robin has the best asset of all and that’s what Baelish needs most — his last name of Arryn. Baelish receives a messages while they watch Robin train so who knows what is being whispered in his ear currently.

After exiting Lord Royce’s land, Littlefinger and Sansa are supposed to be headed to the Fingers (where Baelish grew up) but instead they are headed West.

“To a land so far from here even Cersei Lannister can’t get her hands on you”

~ Petyr Baelish

Now looking at a map of Westeros where Littlefinger and Sansa were just at (Runestone, which is where House Royce resides), I’m not exactly sure what would be West that’s so far out of Cersei’s clutches outside of possibly going all the way to Riverrun, which is the ancestral home of her mother’s family, House Tully. Riverrun is currently being ruled by the Frey’s so again I’m not sure if that’s the best place for a Stark to go right now but apparently Baelish has his plans in place and that’s where he’s taking Sansa.

Also the convoy with Sansa and Littlefinger goes right past Podrick and a morose Brienne, who is busy cleaning her sword while complaining about how she never wanted a companion on this trip and now she’s wishing the one time squire would just bugger off. Brienne belly aches about how Arya Stark refused to take her help and the mere mention of Sansa Stark only angers her. Brienne is a warrior without a war to fight for and she’s stuck at a crossroads with no direction on which way to go.

“All I wanted was to fight for a Lord I believed in. The good ones are dead and the rest of them are monsters.”

~ Brienne

Awakenings

Back at King’s Landing, Cersei is finishing the fourth bottle of wine around the time she runs into her uncle Kevan (who should play at least a moderately important role this season) before she sees her cousin Lancel Lannister for the first time in years. Lancel was involved in the Battle of the Blackwater, where he sustained heavy injuries, but he’s back now — his gold locks chopped and he’s wearing rags with no shoes at all.

He’s found religion according to his father and he’s a member of ‘the sparrows’ now, a pious group that’s returned to the city ever since Tywin Lannister died.

Lancel takes time to see his cousin and apologize for all his wrong doing in the past. While Cersei was probably the one that owed him the apology for basically commanding his pants off, he insists on saying ‘I’m sorry’.

“I led you into the darkness. I tempted you into our unnatural relations. And of course, there was the king. His boar hunt. His wine.”

~ Lancel Lannister

Lancel just confirmed what was believed all along — back when he was squire to King Robert, he gave him a dose of strongwine that dulled his senses and allowed the boar to gore him, which eventually lead to his death. Cersei gave the command. So she didn’t exactly poison her husband, but she came up with a very cunning way that he would never return from his hunt.

Cersei denies any involvement of course, but she’s got the look of worry in her eye because Lancel being newly devout might lead to another confession that could be overhead by the wrong person and land her in the next funeral procession behind her father.

Bend the Knee

At the Wall, Jon Snow is training his brothers including Ollie, the orphaned boy who killed Ygritte last season. While he’s busy actually doing something, Ser Alliser and Janos Slynt are concerned about the upcoming elections where a new Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch will be chosen. Sam and Gilly are also concerned because if Alliser gets elected it means she will be sent out on her own, but he promises no matter what happens, where she goes, he goes with her. There is another candidate from a castle 20 miles away with a wealth of experience in the Night’s Watch and that’s the man who Sam and Jon will support in hopes that he will do away with Alliser’s cruel type of leadership.

Meanwhile, Stannis summons Jon to the top of the wall to have a conversation. On the ride up, Jon spends some alone time with Melisandre and clearly she’s got eyes for the bastard of Winterfell. When they arrive at the top, Stannis explains his next course of action to Lord Snow. It involves a march South to the castles and kingdoms ruled by the Stark family and now being trampled over by Roose Bolton and his flay-loving son Ramsay.

“I shall take back the North from the thieves who stole it. Tywin Lannister’s dead, he can’t protect them now. I shall mount Roose Bolton’s head on a spike. But if I’m to take Winterfell, I’m going to need more men.”

~ Stannis

Stannis wants to add the Wildling army to his own and with those kinds of numbers, House Bolton will have no choice but to surrender or die. He needs Jon to convince Mance Rayder to bend the knee and pledge his loyalty to the one true king and in exchange, Stannis will pardon him and all of his people so long as they fight for him. Once the war is over and he’s sitting on the Iron Throne, Stannis will give every person in the Wildling army a piece of land and their freedom in the North. All in all, a very good deal if you ask me.

But there’s just one problem.

Mance Rayder — the king beyond the wall — isn’t about to bend down for anybody. Jon tries his best to convince Mance that this is the best course of action not only to save his own life, but the lives of his people. The White Walkers are coming and anyone that’s north of The Wall will either be turned or dead when they march south. This plan gives Mance exactly what he wanted in the beginning — all of the free folk will be inside the Wall’s protection and living in Westeros where they can be safe.

But Mance believes the moment he bends the knee and calls another man king is the second all of the free folk he united will turn and abandon him. The only way to keep them loyal is to go down as their king. Jon believes he’s just going down with the ship and this is a mistake to end all mistakes.

“The freedom to make my own mistakes was all I ever wanted.”

~ Mance Rayder

When Mance refuses to bow, Stannis condemns him to death and it’s not by hanging and it’s not by beheading. He will be burned alive, sacrificed to the Lord of Light. Mance admits that being set on fire while his people watch him scream bloody murder in his last moments isn’t ideal, but if that’s what it costs to maintain his standing, so be it.

“Free folk — there is only one true king and his name is Stannis. Here stands your king of lies. Behold the fate of those who choose the darkness.”

~ Melisandre

The pit is set on fire and as the flames draw nearer and nearer to Mance, the crowd looks on and waits for him to burn. Sam can’t quite look away, but Gilly just can’t look. Tormund stares at his leader and he’s either sad to watch Mance die or proud that his king refused to give up even if it meant his own death. Jon is the one person who can’t stand to see another minute so he walks away, but doesn’t go far.

Just as the fire starts to reach Mance’s feet, an arrow comes screaming through the night and plunges directly into his chest. The crowd all turns and looks up to the stairs where Jon Snow stands with a bow in his hands. Jon believed that Mance should have taken the deal and bent his knee to the one true king of Westeros. Still, Jon knew when he didn’t that Mance was a man of principle and somebody he respected deeply.

Jon knew he had to die for defying the king, but Mance didn’t need to suffer. Jon put Mance out of his misery but may have ended up in some of his own because now he managed to go against the rule of King Stannis and there aren’t many people who have done that and lived to talk about it.

At least not many with all their fingers left.

‘Game of Thrones’ returns next Sunday night at 9pm ET for a brand new episode where we travel to Dorne for the first time and find Arya after she lands in Braavos.