Game of Thrones "The Wars to Come" (Season 5, Ep. 1) [TV Review]

Game of Thrones is back!

Game of Thrones is back! 

I'm obviously very happy that Game of Thrones is back for its fifth season!

It has been a very long ten months... but it is back!

Do you know what it is like to shove your shit through a hole?

HBO has been a great network. It has produced some of the best shows on TV. Of course I'm thinking of Game of Thrones and The Newsroom. I actually plan my Sundays around watching Game of Thrones.

4 out of 5 stars

It is a show you have to watch each week. It generates so much dialogue between people (at the water cooler, between friends hanging out, and probably with total strangers), if you miss an episode you are out of the conversation.

I see nothing that tells me this season will be any different. Don't mess up and miss an episode.

Meerreen. I hope our time here is far shorter than the books.

 
In fact in this season it may be even more important to follow the show closely. There is a simple reason; there is a good chance that a lot of what will occur in this season will be brand new. It will have not been found in a book.

The Great Sept of Baelor is where Tywin's body lay.

Of course there is a question of what will be omitted from the books as well. To date I have heard that Stoneheart will not be in this season, I hope to be wrong. I hope that they are hiding it. 

Things that were new / changed from the books.

Everything with Sansa and Pyter Baelish is new. Really new.

- Everything with Sansa and Littlefinger. They seem to have already left the Eyrie, handed Robin off to Lord Royce to 'train.' Sansa and Littlefinger are headed to a "land so far from here that even Cersei Lannister can't get her hands on you."
I have no idea what is going on.

- Varys travelled with Tyrion to Pentos. What? I mean something could happen here, but that certainly did not happen in the books. There must be something important going on. About everything that occurs around Tyrion is important. Actually, Varys alone is far too important for this to not mean something. Varys is one of the three most important players in this game... 

- Loras Tyrell is quite gay in the books, but I don't remember a scene where Margaery Tyrell walks in on him and a lover. I could have forgotten it... but this seemed added. Correct me if I am wrong.

- The burning of Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall, was different than the books. There was a lot more detail to it. He was hung in a cage far from onlookers and burned over a large pit. John Snow ordered archers to shoot him dead, instead of, as in the show, shooting Mance himself.

Overall this was a good episode. It is easy to see the divergence from the books begin, but that may not be a bad thing. There are a few things from the books (Meereen) that were just slow and laborious. This was not a great episode because this is the introductory episode of the season. It's just the beginning of everything to come this season.

At least we get to see Dragons.

This is why you need to spend time with your pets.

Read my previous Game of Thrones reviews. Links below.
Season 4:
- Two Swords (Ep1)
- The Lion and the Rose (Ep2)
- Breaker of Chains (Ep3)
- Oathkeeper (Ep4)
- The First of His Name (Ep5)
- The Laws of Gods and Men (Ep6) 
- Mockingbird (Ep7)
- The Mountain and the Viper (Ep8)
- The Watchers on the Wall (Ep9)
- The Children (Ep10)