Sunday, April 12, 2015

Game of Thrones Season 5 Review (Spoiler free)




Game of Thrones has been building itself for a while now. All the small arcs have converged in season 5. This season diverges from the books, and rendezvouses with it seamlessly. For once, the book readers cannot say 'My sweet summer's child', for they are as new to the dynamics as the TV watchers.

You can say that the new season is a declaration of war. As Tyrion said - "Everywhere has already got a ruler. Every pile of shit on the side of every road has someone's banner hanging on it". Stannis claims Westeros, the wildlings want Westeros, Lannisters are trying to keep Westeros. Everyone wants to serve, themselves.

This season has a more proportionate screen time for the characters. Yes, that means Arya as well. No longer does the entry of Daenerys signify the end of an episode. From Arya in Braavos to Dany in Meereen, stacking all the stories and plots in a neat little pile of Jenga tiles. All it takes is a careless hand to topple it all. Fortunately, Game of Thrones does not just keep up with its growing number of characters and stories, but does one better at each turn.

Decisions have been made by characters who wield power. Tough decisions. Sometimes, fair, mostly not. You'll find yourself clapping at the screen during one scene and recoiling in disgust at the other. Game of Thrones has always been about its characters, and this season does not change that.



Everything feels more spread out. There's more distance between the characters than ever. There's some semblance of order between the meetings held and the words exchanged., but don't be disillusioned, everything is escalating and soon more heads will roll. Some scenes feel shallow, there is no depth except the characters in the frame. Not that it can be helped, but it still feels somewhat cheap. And then the dragons come so you forget all of that.

The following months are gonna be a hell of a time. Deadlines will be ignored, weeks will pass by slowly till the next episode airs. But most of all, non-watchers will get annoyed by a constant barrage of 'valar morghulis' and 'valar dohaeris'.
There's a spoiler after this sentence, highlight the next few words to see it, if you dare.
Well I tell them no one’s special. And they think I’m special for telling them that.
DUMBLEDORE DIES.
"There's no justice in the world. Not unless we make it. -Petyr Baelish

3 comments:

CocaineAndMojitos said...

Thanks for that. I'm really torn between watching them or not and my main reasoning for watching them is because I'm scared someone who does watch them will spew spoilers everywhere.

brotherteresi said...

haha. Tbh, that's the reason I read the books over the summer—I was just tired of accidentally seeing spoilers.
Why not watch the leaked videos, then re-watch 'em when they air on HBO? First watch is for the story, second watch is to spot details while watching with friends (not to mention, showing viewership support).

SeegurkeK said...

Ahh, why is everyone joking with their spoiler warnings? It makes me have less respect for those warnings and at some point someone will properly mark a real spoiler and I'll look at it thinking I'll laugh at a joke again. But that time I won't laugh.

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