The fifth season of Game of Thrones is again at 10 episodes long with each being approximately 50 minutes to one hour long. This season is mainly based on A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons from the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. To make things more confusing, the season also contains elements from A Storm of Sword, the then upcoming (and currently still upcoming) The Winds of Winter as well as original content not found in the novels.
The season is a direct continuation of the end of the previous season, dealing with the aftermath of the deaths of various important characters, and the current war efforts. It starts off with the viewpoints of Baelish and Sansa, Tyrion, Jon Snow, King's Landing with the Lannisters, Bran and Daenerys. However, as with previous seasons, these viewpoints will merge and change, with new additions along the way.
The dynamic between Daenerys and her dragons are interesting. During the last season, it already showed that she cannot control them as they are growing at a rapid rate and becoming wild, while in this season, this problem is compounded. Her leadership over the conquered cities is also tested, partially as a result of conquering so many cities so quickly without the numbers to keep them under tight control. With the population questioning her unpopular choices, she is in a tough position having to make decisions that all have severe disadvantages. This leads to a certain subset revolting against her in an interesting battle of power.
Baelish and Sansa's viewpoint ties neatly with Jon Snow's and Stannis' as once again, each party is plotting to advance their own agenda. They each have their own plans and backup plans in case their original one fails. The constant layers and layers of plotting makes it engrossing as we get to see how each character thinks and what their goal is that they're striving towards. While Tommen proves to be a more accommodating king than Joffrey, he is shown to be too timid and soft. There are numerous occasions where he let his authority be challenged and failed to exert it. You can tell that other characters feel the frustration and that he could very well be on his way to losing this position.
While it doesn't seem like it at the time, once you process what happened later, you realize that htings are constantly evolving. Things such as how Cersei plans to retain control at King's Landing by engaging the help of religious fanatics who end up becoming quite dangerous (if not consistent). By the end of the season, the conflicts are completely flipped. It's interesting to see how far some allegiances have shifted since particular characters had first appeared. While at their core they have not changed, they now have alliances with other different characters. Ever sing Jaime lost his hand, it's tough watching him fight with such a handicap, especially when he was so strong before. He survives various battles through sheer luck but at the same time, you see him improve and start to hold his own.
Then way up north is Castle Black, where it is filled with criminals such as thieves and murderers. While the ones we follow are at least as honorable to a degree, we're reminded that this isn't the case for everyone there. Just when you think the pacing of the season is quite slow, it ups it with Jon Snow and the Wildlings. His viewpoint leads to an epic scene straight out of an action thriller that rivals last season's attack on Castle Black. The White Walkers make a heavier presence after being shrouded in mystery for so long, and with them comes a string of implications. It was a tense scene and you aren't sure of who makes it out alive. Jon has to make some really hard decisions which allows you to heavily sympathize with his plight.
The season continues with its frequent depictions of sexual content, gore and violent. There are some horrible scenes in the context that they depict something that is clearly meant to unnerve. It reinforces that this is not a perfect world, not even a good one. Justice does not prevail, and the ones in power are normally the worst humans around. Plenty of characters do despicable things, things that cannot be forgiven. They choose that way because it furthers their cause but you can't help but feel that the price is too high.
The final episode wraps up some of the last plot threads from the first season. It finishes off with a humiliation scene of a key character, as well as the surprising death of a mainstay, which is hard to get over with. This once again changes the dynamic of the situation as many characters are left in perilous situations where we'll find out their fates in the next season. Overall, the fifth season of Game of Thrones feels like it starts off slow and hard to get into. However, stick with it and it rapidly escalates its stakes with many game-changing events. The final few episodes are stellar and really reinforce the elements that make the series so engrossing.
------------------------------------------------
For other TV reviews, have a look at this page.