Game of Thrones Season Five Review

Jon and Ghost

It is probably fitting that on the fourth anniversary of starting this blog and the 150th post overall, we revisit the same topic as the very first post. I started the blog back in 2011 with a post about the first season of Game of Thrones on HBO. Having just finished watching season 5 on HBO Now, the timing was perfect.

For those who have lived away from media of any kind, Game of Thrones is the TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The story of the political intrigues and conflict for the throne of Westeros, a fictional fantasy kingdom, where magic and violence are all too real. For four seasons, Game of Thrones has followed the story from the books and in season five we finally see the TV show catch up with the source material.

Both Mr. Martin and the show runners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have stated that the show and the book series will tell the same story but will do so in different ways. In season five of Game of Thrones, we see this happening more than ever before. Without giving away spoilers, the TV show tightens up many of the various storylines from the novels by excluding characters from the story and having major events in book 5 happen to other characters. In the changing, the story doesn't lose any of its impact. In fact, some beats in the story are even more horrifying due to the characters involved in them than in the books.

What continues to shine in the story are the landscapes and cinematography, which is beautiful. We get all of the sweeping vistas, castles, ruins and, of course, dragons! Season 5 even brings more new characters to the story, interesting ones who bring new conflicts for fan favorites to overcome. Some of my favorites were the feisty Sand Snakes (daughters of Oberyn Martell). We also get to see epic moments for many of our favorites (both bad and good).

If you are looking for happy, happy, fun time, you should know to look elsewhere than Game of Thrones. If you want a complex story that is gritty and, at times epic and awesome, and in others crushing and horrible, then Game of Thrones will deliver it. Can't wait to see what happens in Season 6 or Book 6, whichever comes first. Both are great and will tell different stories, so I will end up reading/watching both. Game of Thrones Season 5 gets 5 Mick Happies.