Winter might be far away for Calcutta, but not so for the Seven Kingdoms. The Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, the Tyrells, the Martells and the Targaryens will once again take centre stage as they plot, plan and kill — some driven by revenge, some for power and control of the Iron Throne — when the fifth season of Game of Thrones hits HBO Defined at 6.30am on April 13. For all those who haven’t had the time for a rerun and also those who want to start with this season (it is a bad idea, don’t say you haven’t been warned!), here is a spoilerific look back at what transpired in Season Four in the different corners of Westeros and across the Narrow Sea.
IN MEEREEN
She used the dragons, the Dothrakis and the Unsullied to free Slaver’s Bay and since then the Mother of the Dragons, Daenerys Targaryen, has refused to leave it given the kind of turmoil the place is in. She sure is getting adequate training in being a ruler in Meereen before she moves on in her journey towards the Iron Throne.
Daenerys has as advisers a motley crew — Kingsguard commander Barristan Selmy, translator Missandei, the Unsullied Grey Worm, former master Hizdahr zo Loraq, and her lover Daario Naharis.
There has been a lot of heartbreak — Daenerys has exiled the loyal and lovelorn Jorah Mormont for having been a spy for her enemies. She also chained her dragons Viserion and Rhaegal after Drogon, the biggest of the three and the most headstrong, killed a local boy. Drogon flew away and hasn’t been seen since.
IN KING’S LANDING
Joffrey Baratheon (king on the Iron Throne) is dead (finally, thank god)! Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) helped Lady Olenna Tyrell plot the little monster’s death, used Sansa Stark (the oldest daughter of Ned Stark) and implicated Tyrion Lannister (youngest son of Tywin Lannister). Littlefinger helped Sansa escape to her aunt Lysa Arryn’s place in The Vale.
Tyrion goes through a trial (where we get a stunning and epic trial speech), loses and demands a trial by combat, in which his champion is Oberyn Martell from Dorne (who came to King’s Landing looking for revenge against the Lannisters). Oberyn looked like he would win the battle with the killing machine called The Mountain, till he became his cocky self and ended up with his head squashed like a watermelon. Oberyn’s paramour Ellaria Sand goes back to her native city Dorne, where Tyrion had sent his niece, Cersei’s daughter, Myrcella.
Tyrion is sentenced to be executed but is saved by his brother Jaime, who asks master spy Varys (The Spider) to help him escape Westeros. The Imp, as Tyrion is often referred to, does escape but he makes a pit stop in his father’s chambers where he kills his (and then his father’s) lover Shae, and then shoots his father with a cross-bow while he is seated on the privy!
With Tywin dead, Varys gone and Tommen Baratheon being very young, Cersei as Queen Regent will be holding all the power over King’s Landing and the Iron Throne... or will she? How will she, without guidance, handle the challenge posed by Margaery Tyrell who is being helped by Queen of Thorns, Lady Olenna?
IN TRANSIT
Arya Stark (the youngest daughter of Ned Stark) is out for revenge and has a kill list that she recites every night before going to sleep. She fells her foes across Westeros accompanied by The Hound who hopes to use her for ransom from her family. She starts striking names off her kill list with Polliver, who killed her friend Lommy.
Arya and The Hound strike up the most unlikely pairing as he takes her to Eyrie, hoping to sell her to her aunt. After they find out that Lysa Arryn is dead, they make their way back from Eyrie where they run into Brienne of Tarth, a knight sworn to protect the Stark sisters, and her squire Podrick.
Brienne and The Hound fight a duel over who gets to take Arya; Brienne defeats The Hound by hitting him with a stone and throwing him off a cliff.
Arya hides till Brienne leaves and then climbs down to the wounded Hound, who asks her to kill him. She doesn’t, only takes his money and leaves him to die. She boards a ship headed for Braavos using the coin given to her by one of the Faceless Men, Jaqen H’ghar, and the words “Valar Morghulis”, which means “all men must die”.
AT THE WALL
Jon Snow (Ned Stark’s bastard son) almost lost The Wall to the King-Beyond-The-Wall, Mance Rayder, whose wildling army outnumbered the Night’s Watch, but timely intervention from Stannis Baratheon (brother of Robert Baratheon) helped defeat the wildlings and secure The Wall. His wildling lover Ygritte died. Stannis, Queen Selyse, Princess Shireen, Melisandre (the red priestess) and Ser Davos Seaworth are helping Jon man The Wall, presumably because saving the realm from the White Walkers and their reanimated skeleton army would gain them support from the people of Westeros.
Beyond The Wall, Jon’s brother Bran Stark (the youngest child of Ned Stark) and his travelling companions Hodor and Meera Reed fought reanimated skeletons to enter the lair of the Children of the Forest. Meera’s brother Jojen was killed but Bran found his Three-Eyed Raven.
IN WINTERFELL
Roose Bolton has become the Warden of the North, a title granted to him by Tywin Lannister (The Hand of the King) after he helped the Lannisters by stabbing Robb Stark at the Red Wedding; he is now the boss of the Stark home Winterfell. Roose also legitimises his completely deranged bastard son Ramsay. Theon Greyjoy, who is now known as Reek, is still with them and even helps them take over the Iron Islands, which was ruled by House Greyjoy.
IN THE VALE
Littlefinger has taken Sansa to Eyrie, which is ruled by her aunt Lysa. Lysa tries to kill Sansa because she is jealous of Sansa’s relation with Littlefinger. But it is Lysa who gets thrown out of the Moon Door (it means she is dead) making Littlefinger practically the Lord of the Vale. He takes up the position of Sansa’s adviser (their interactions border on the creepy), who seems to be shedding her innocence and embracing her dark side — she is wearing black clothes and has dyed her red hair dark.
GET YOUR GEAR FOR THE SEASON OF GORE!
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