The Wars to Come 

Cersei and Jaime adjust to a world without Tywin. Tyrion and Varys arrive at Pentos. In Meereen, a new enemy emerges. Jon is caught between two kings.

Director:

Michael Slovis

Writers:

George R.R. Martin (based on "A Song of Ice and Fire" by), David Benioff (created by)

Stars:

Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Dinklage	...	Tyrion Lannister
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Jaime Lannister
Lena Headey	...	Cersei Lannister
Emilia Clarke	...	Daenerys Targaryen
Kit Harington	...	Jon Snow
Aidan Gillen	...	Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
Charles Dance	...	Tywin Lannister
Natalie Dormer	...	Margaery Tyrell
Stephen Dillane	...	Stannis Baratheon
Liam Cunningham	...	Davos Seaworth
Carice van Houten	...	Melisandre (as Carice Van Houten)
John Bradley	...	Samwell Tarly
Sophie Turner	...	Sansa Stark
Kristofer Hivju	...	Tormund Giantsbane
Hannah Murray	...	Gilly

Storyline

Cersei comes to the funeral of her father Tywin Lannister and blames her brother Jaime for his death. Tyrion arrives at his destination transported in a wooden box and Lord Varys discloses that Jaime had asked him to save his brother. White Rat is murdered in a brothel and Daenerys asks Grey Worm to find the killer. She visits her dragons in the dungeons but they do not respect her. Jon Snow is training a teenager, but Melisandre brings him to talk to Stannis Baratheon. He assigns Snow to convince Mance Rayder to bend his knees for him and make his people fight with his army. Will Mance accept the deal?

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Plot Keywords:

bare butt | boy | brother brother relationship | father son relationship | in laws | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the second season which does not have an opening sequence before the opening credits, following season 2.

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Goofs

Maggy tells Cersei she will have three children. While in the books that number is correct, in the show Cersei had a fourth child (in addition to Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen) who died in infancy, as mentioned in Game of Thrones: Lord Snow and Game of Thrones: The Wolf and the Lion.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Melara Hetherspoon: [as her friend leads her through the woods] We shouldn't be out here alone.
Young Cersei Lannister: Why not?
Melara Hetherspoon: If your father...
Young Cersei Lannister: He'll never know we're gone.
Melara Hetherspoon: But if he finds out...
Young Cersei Lannister: [turns around and smiles] You don't need to be afraid of my father.

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Crazy Credits

Starting with the first episode of season 5, the opening sequence with the map shows Winterfell in smoke. The castle tower now shows the rotating heraldic of House Bolton, the flayed man (it was the Stark's shadow wolf before). The heraldic of House Stark, the shadow wolf, however, can be seen lying next to the tower on the ground (right side of the tower). After Sansa and Jon recapture Winterfell, the Stark Wolf returns onto the tower.

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Connections

Featured in The Critical Drinker: Ghostbusters 2016 - It's as Bad as I Remember (2020)

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Soundtracks

Main Title
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

A great start to the fifth season

Now that I've reviewed four seasons, this episode and some of the later episodes of season 5 is where I watched Game of Thrones on television. Because, like I said before when I reviewed Season 1, I had to catch up with the entire show online. So, with that out of the way, time to review Season 5 starting with this one.

The Wars to Come continues where Season 4 left off with the two Stark girls heading off in different directions Arya and Sansa while Tyrion with the help of Varys arrive at Pentos after escaping from the Lannister family after being sentenced to death. Also, Jon Snow is continuing his duties at the Wall before two kings arrive, which finds himself caught.

The first episode of Season 5 is a great episode. The performances are still good, the storyline's nicely written, the new characters are well-introduced, and the pacing never drags. My only quibble is that it doesn't quite live up to the high standards set by Season 4.

Don't get me wrong. The writing's fine for the most part, but the reason I think Season 4 was the best because it raised the stakes to the events that would happen to some of the Lannister family members, the action sequences were engaging, the writing had gotten progressively stronger, and the character development was even more fleshed out.

But while this episode isn't excellent, it's a great start to season 5 and looking forward to see how things will turn out.

Details

Release Date:

12 April 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Wars to Come

Filming Locations:

Northern Ireland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

GBP6,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Television 360, Startling, Bighead Littlehead

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos (Blu-ray release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1