Most of you guys watch Game of Thrones right? I’m vaguely ashamed to admit that I was cruelly uneducated in the ways of Westeros until recently, when I binge-watched the entire first four seasons before Season 5 got underway. Now I’m up on what’s happening, and we can talk about these things as equals.
Season 5 has marked a serious departure for the series, as everyone has noted just how far off-book it’s been going, and I think that’s fine. HBO’s actualization of George R.R. Martin’s original story has become its own entity and allowed the books – well, what’s been written of them yet, anyway – to exist on their own. I don’t think either has to negate the others, though I know some people have their preferences.
Anyhow, this season has been absolutely ridiculous in ways I’m not sure I like. We’ve had Tyrion being dragged all over Essos on his journey to get to Daenerys, Dany’s inability to rule her kingdom all that well, Cersei’s grappling for power back in King’s Landing, Arya trying to learn how to become a skilled assassin, Sansa’s rape… I mean, it’s all over the place. And yet, I keep watching.
Here’s the preview for next week’s episode, if you’re curious about what’s to come.
What do you make of it all? Frankly, I really need Sansa to use the horror she’s been through to bite back, and from that small bit we see between her and Reek, it’s pointing towards that happening. Also, seeing Cersei (who I love to hate) getting her comeuppance is hilarious and totally delicious.