Game of Thrones is back, bigger than ever. Sunday night felt like an important moment. Game of Thrones has moved beyond the fringes of nerd/TV culture, beyond cult-hit status, all the way into cultural phenomenon. It was on the front page of CNN; it coincided with the release of the long-anticipated HBO Now (aka HBO Netflix).
In fact, the only bigger cultural moments I can think of from the past year and a half -- excluding sports events, awards shows, and leaked nudes -- are the release of Taylor Swift’s latest album and the Breaking Bad finale.
Fortunately, Game of Thrones has proven itself worthy of the scrutiny. Its craft has only gotten better as the show has aged. While this wasn’t a perfect episode -- a bit turgid and patient -- it has me pumped for the season to come.
Dany B
Remember when Dany’s story had actual momentum? It was basically two seasons (or half of the show’s run) ago. The meantime has been slipping and sliding, treading water, and the Season 5 opener is no different: Wow, the slavers are still annoyed you freed their slaves? Who would have guessed?
And yet, I appreciate this thread as a political allegory. I’m more struck than ever by the parallels between Dany’s reign in Meereen and the influx of democracy into the Middle East. Like with that real life scenario, there are a lot of questions with no easy answers and challenges with no easy solutions. It’s clear that things are bad with her around… and clear that things would likely go worse if she wasn’t.
The fall of the harpy is a powerful image, and is in line with the episode’s motif of crumbling stability. But Dany’s real challenge is figuring out how to replace the harpy with a more powerful image. Her dragons are chained up and (understandably) not thrilled to see her after being exiled to the crypts. Daario suggesting mastery of her dragons means mastery of Meereen; the truth is probably more complicated, but that’s a good place to start.
Jon A-
Most of “The Wars to Come” deals with simple table setting, making this an unexciting episode to talk about. But the one thread where something actually happened was Jon’s, as Mance Rayder declined to bow to Stannis and was burned at the stake. Rather, he would have been burned, if not for Jon’s prompt arrow.
Mance Rayder was a hero for the people, and Jon Snow seems to recognize Rayder’s importance as an icon for the wildling huddled masses. Though he’s a Crow -- and ostensibly in Stannis’s debt -- he has a history with wildlings. His allegiance seems to lie somewhere in between Stannis and Mance: he’s a Night’s Watchman who has slept with the Free Folk.
Jon has quickly emerged as a leader and a heroic figure. If this episode is any indication, he will continue to bridge the gap between Stannis’s royal aspirations and the wildlings’ survivalism. With no commander to the Night’s Watch, and Mance dead, there are multiple voids of power at The Wall… Jon Snow is certainly poised to be amidst a power struggle this season.
ManceA
Pour out a cold one for Mance. At least he got to die with a shred of dignity, neither bending his knee to Stannis nor burning alive in front of your people (thanks to Jon).
Ciaran Hinds (aka Aberforth Dumbledore, aka one of the trolls in Frozen) only made five appearances on the show by Wikipedia’s count. But he made them count, casting a large shadow as a fair, democratic leader who was 50% wise elder, 50% fierce bad-ass.
His trouble playing nice with Stannis and Westeros’s class-divided culture foreshadows that the wildlings might continue having trouble integrating with south of the wall,
Tyrion B
After his brilliant performances during the second half of Season 4, all we get from Tyrion in the debut is a few scenes. It’s enough; Peter Dinklage has more comedy, humanity, and tragedy in his four minutes of screen time than just about any other character.
Not much happens here; Tyrion lands in Essos, laments his (literally) shitty journey, and sets his sights on a new target -- Daenerys Targaryen, symbol of hope. I can't gave Tyrion particularly high marks for a quiet episode. But excited for things to come.
Varys A-
Though manipulative, Varys has usually been fairly likable. He seems clever, sympathetic to the right characters, and strong despite a semi-tragic background. He also uttered perhaps the key line of the entire series back in the second season:
“Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick. A shadow on the wall. And a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”
But this first episode of the fifth season is perhaps the most heroic that Varys has ever seen. Unlike Littlefinger, he sees political maneuverings not as a way to climb his own ladder, but as a way to serve “the nation.”
Sure, the idea of a "nation" is somewhat vague. Does he want to preserve the hierarchy of Westeros? Develop its culture? Protect the commonfolk? Regardless, he seems to be acting (at least somewhat) selflessly.
And if nothing else, Varys makes a great banter partner for Tyrion.
Cersei B+
From the start of this show, Cersei has been a tough pill to swallow. While some of her traits are admirable in a vacuum -- her struggle against a male-centric society, her fierce maternal instincts -- the complete Cersei package has always been a bit off-putting.
That continues in “The Wars to Come”: On the one hand, we have reason to sympathize with her: her brother murdered her father; we also learn of a prophecy that has been mostly been fulfilled and points to her tragic downfall, hinting that her paranoia may be justified. On the other, she’s icier and more judgmental than ever, cruel and sharp-tongued.
Cersei suspects that Tywin’s downfall is just the beginning of an immense tussle for control of Kings Landing (which might center around these fundamentalist Sparrows). And she seems ready to fight.
Jaime B
Cersei, in a surprising moment of insight, points out that Jaime’s problem is that he doesn’t always think through the consequences and long-term magnitude of his actions. When he solves one problem, he causes two more.
We’ve seen his actions backfire in numerous ways through the series. Perhaps the most notable of these self-defeating incidents is from the first episode when he shoves Bran out a window to protect the secret love between him and Cersei... and inadvertently caused a continental war. You can basically trace the show’s entire plot -- thousands of deaths and an entirely changed political landscape -- to that moment.
I hope Jaime gets a lot to do this season. His character has been up and down, but always compelling to watch and discuss.
Margaery B+
Cersei has long loathed Margaery. It always made SOME sense -- Margaery is definitely stealing Cersei’s thunder -- but it makes a lot more sense given the prophecy that Cersei heard. She will be cast down by a younger, more beautiful queen. (Vibes of Snow White, anyone?)
There are enough strong females in this show that you can’t say for sure this prophecy means Margaery will cruelly take down Cersei. But you can see why that’s the assumption that Cersei makes. And that’s what Margaery begins to plan this episode; she hints at conniving in an awkward coitus interruptus scene. It will be fun to see if Margaery can develop into a player in the show's titular game.
Great job by Natalie Dormer, who has been one of the show’s breakout stars. She has a magnetic presence in every scene this episode: Dormer’s distinct, expressive face conveys so much thought and personality.
StannisA-
The Mannis!
I brought up Varys’s quote about power earlier because I kept thinking about it during the scenes at The Wall this episode. It’s an interesting case study of how power works in Weseteros.
You start with Stannis, who declares himself the king (because he’s the brother of a dead man who also declared himself a king). Because of this self-declared authority, he was able to assemble an army. This army bested an army of wildling. But his army isn’t enough to take the Iron Throne: he needs that wildling army to take Kings Landing.
But the wildlings -- exemplified by Mance -- may very well decline to join his army. At that point, they’ll either be killed or left for dead beyond The Wall… leaving Stannis back to where he was before he came north. When you really start digging down into the concept, Varys is right… power is something of an illusion.
(My head started spinning when I started thinking about how The Iron Throne, a metal chair, was itself a symbol of power only because people BELIEVE it’s a symbol of power, and followed that train of thought. Let’s move on.)
BrienneC
Every now and then, you start to wonder why a character is still on the show. I had that moment with Brienne this past episode. I’m not particularly interested in watcher her self-pity. The odds of her grabbing Sansa or Arya seem pretty low. (The show seemed to flaunt this fact with the shot of Sansa riding past Brienne and Pod just as they were talking about her.)
There are really two reasons I’m okay we’re still following her: 1) I’m hopeful we won’t get a season of Brienne wallowing or struggling to be relevant (though the show has diddled around in tangents before). If we’re lucky, Brienne will be back in the action somewhere with familiar faces within an episode or two. 2) Podrick Ladykiller Payne. What a bro. No judgment, no hesitation. He’s happy to serve. Selfless, lovable, adorable. I hope he ends up on the Iron Throne.
“The Wars to Come” B+
As with most Game of Thrones openers, this one was filled with set up and reintroduction. If not for the Mance Rayder death, there would practically nothing of note that actually happened.
But season openers in prestige serial dramas are never about “things happening” -- they’re about whetting our appetite for the rest of the season and beginning to move the pieces into place for an epic climax.
This episode also worked because it ties together thematically. Nearly every plot deals with the crumbling of a powerful figure or a symbol of power. If there's one thing we know for sure about this show, it's that the subsequent scramble to claim that power -- to win the wars to come -- will be an entertaining ride.
Extra credit and other thoughts:
- As you probably have heard, the first four episodes of this season of Game of Thrones leaked on Sunday. I have not seen any episode except the first episode, and I will make sure that my reviews remain “untainted” from leak spoilers. If you’re thinking about leaving a comment, I ask you be considerate and avoid spoiling me (and others) of what’s to come.
- In the past, I’ve tiptoed around the fact that I am a reader of the books. Well, that will become less and less of an issue as the season rolls along. First of all, the series continues to diverge more and more from the books. Second, even the stuff that is staying true to the books is catching up with the source at a rapid rate. Sansa’s story is already caught up with the books, and Tyrion’s story seems to be excising major arcs from the book.
- The flashback sequence was really cool (and the first in the show’s history, I believe). I would love to see more flashbacks.
- I would be totally okay with the show pretending that Theon and Ramsay no longer exist. I didn’t miss them in the slightest. And after my complaints about the Bran thread in the last finale, I also didn’t mind his absence.
- I thought the episode was really well-directed. There were lots of cool shots and framing devices (the most striking being Tyrion’s point-of-view shot from a crate).
Demerits:
- Almost nothing happened in the Sansa/Littlefinger story, hence her neither having a blurb here.
- Personally, I did not dig the shot of Sansa riding past Brienne and Pod. It seemed little bit out of character for the show, a bit of an easy laugh.
- Tyrion gets to puke on screen and make poop jokes in the same episode. All in the same scene. A bit much.
- I must not be the only tired of the way Loras's gayness is brought up every time the character is on screen. I also must not be the only one tired of the show's use of "sexposition."