The wait is over ...
... and, unlike the inhabitants of Westeros and Essos, we have endured an entire winter whilst we waited. But at last, Game of Thrones (HBO/SkyAtlantic) is back, and the fifth season was even more keenly anticipated as the series's popularity continues to explode. Dermot O'Leary (an unexpected guest on the debatably improved post-show Thronecast) said he's reached the stage where he doesn't trust or much like people who don't like the series, and I know what he means. It's gone beyond 'I don't like fantasy, so it's not for me' or the rather lofty sneering about sex and violence: the characters are so carefully drawn, and their arcs so thrillingly unpredictable, that it's hard to see how even the most selective of viewers wouldn't be drawn in after a couple of episodes. Combine that with a hugely talented cast, and a budget for some stunning production design and enthralling special effects, and you have all the elements for a spell that will cast its magic over eager and enthralled fans for the next ten weeks. And at the centre of the show is the writing, which consistently weaves the characters' stories in refreshing and surprising ways, dealing cleverly with alterations in character journeys so that they're not just believable but draw the audience even further in. Both 'good' and 'bad' characters are so much more than their basic labels, with depths, twists, flaws and, occasionally, unexpected mercies that can play with your loyalties and raise intriguing doubts - for one thing is certain with Game of Thrones, and that is that just when you think you know where it's going, the rug will be pulled and an entire storyline will head in a new direction. There is very little else on television at the moment that does this quite so effectively.
Season Five kicked off strongly, with a lot of the main players having undergone a substantial shift, either physically or emotionally. Both Tyrion and Arya have left Westeros and crossed the Narrow Sea, and although we have yet to see Arya (pictured above for those who, like me, just miss her), Tyrion has lost none of his form and his scene with Varys once he'd been released from his crate was an absolute delight. Not just for the raw humour - Tyrion swears more pithily and effectively than anyone I know, real or imagined - but because of the way these two characters play off each other. The political sands are shifting, too, and Varys paved the way for an interesting new direction for the Imp - join Team Daenerys. He's already done her favour by getting rid of her most dangerous enemy - his father. Will Tyrion listen to the wisest, most cynical and pragmatic adviser in the Seven Kingdoms? Or go his own way, as he inevitably does?
There was a wonderful flashback to teenage Cersei, particularly satisfying for book readers as it fills in some intriguing backstory that, again, adds real texture to the character in the way that the POV chapters do in the books. Margaery and Loras Tyrell are up to their usual tricks - she flirting with the most powerful male in the room (poor Tommen, in so many ways), he in bed with the handsomest, always prioritising a shag over political game-playing. Although he did make an attempt to say the right thing to Cersei, and failed gloriously. In Meereen, Dany was troubled by the Sons of the Harpy and distinctly out of control dragons, and pretended not to struggle without Sir Jorah, while my affection for Missandei and Grey Worm was rewarded by another one of those short, seemingly less relevant but incredibly touching scenes that are scattered lightly throughout Game of Thrones and add almost invisibly to its texture.
Finally, the heat was on at the Wall, with a frighteningly powerful and painful death scene for Mance Rayder, whose stubborn refusal to bend the knee to Stannis led to the inevitable consequences. So many of the series's key characters are now at the Wall, and gathered to witness Mance's death - Stannis, Davos, Melisandre - that surely we can expect a lot more action from the North this series. And Jon's moment of defiance towards Stannis (shooting Mance with an arrow to save him the torture of the flames) must have set up a complex bout of mental sparring and - there it is again - political positioning between these two men. Stannis is still only a self-styled king, as yet unacknowledged except by his own followers, and Jon is - lest we forget, for he reminds us often enough - the bastard son of the show's First Hero, Ned Stark. There's still everything to play for.
