Well, well, well, Game of Thrones fans, prepare to be amazed and/or possibly incensed: the upcoming fifth season looks way less like the story book readers may have anticipated. In fact, some of the story might even be coming from the as-yet-unreleased sixth book of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter. In a series of new photos scattered across the far reaches of the known Internet, clues are slowly beginning to come out into the world. Naturally, there are a veritable smorgasbord of big-time SPOILERS coming up. So if that ain’t your thing, look away right MEOW.
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Because there are pictures and they’re right here and coming for your Realm-obsessed eyeballs, y’all.
OK, well, first thing’s first: Dorne. Jamie Lannister’s storyline has long been rumored — and was recently confirmed — to take him to Sunspear and roll with those saucy southerners, and with these latest images of him and the newly recast Myrcella Baratheon hanging out with Ellaria Sand, we’re fairly convinced that big changes are a-coming. In fact, with these new images and a lack of an Arianne Martell casting, we’re fairly certain that it shall be Ellaria that steps into that fan-favorite role, tackling the idea of succession and such.
Over in King’s Landing, the appearance of Ser Loras Tyrell also points to a potential shift in the story there, as Ser Loras Tyrell is still in town and not dying of his wounds from attempting to siege Dragonstone. A pretty major difference, to say the least. Since Ser Jaime is no longer going on his epic journey (that plot being taken care of by Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne it seems), perhaps it is Ser Loras who’s handling more of the darker doings at the Red Keep.
The appearance of Winterfell in the process of being rebuilt is also another interesting sight, because it means that we’re very likely to see the wedding of the bastard of Bolton — OK fine, he’s “naturalized” now, but he’s still a sonofa — to the fake Arya Stark. Will Jon Snow leave The Wall? And — does that mean he’ll survive what happened to him at the end of book five?
Perhaps the most exciting of all, though, is what’s happening in Meereen. Now this is where the major stuff is going on. And the good news comes courtesy of a very interesting tweet:
Season 5 photo! Omg!! Tyron and I together gives me chills! #GameOfThrones #season5GOT pic.twitter.com/UqjeZS18SV
— Dąɛŋɛŗყʂ DÅ—Ä…É Æ¡Å‹áƒªÆ¡Å—Å‹ (@TheUnburnt7th) October 21, 2014
Why yes, that is Tyrion Lannister hanging out with Dany and her Meereenese husband (yup), Hizdahr zo Loraq. Looks like there’s another wedding planned — and we all know what that means. (Maybe.)
Fans of the books know that Tyrion goes on a very long, winding journey throughout much of book five before ending up in the service of Dany in Meereen. It involves a lot of side characters and — we have to agree with Vanity Fair‘s Joanna Robinson over here — not all of them are great. With this image — plus several others showing Ser Jorah in the fighting pits — it seems all but certain that Daenerys’ oft-sluggish and plodding storyline will get a bit more interest and weight to it. Considering we usually get the least amount of story from Dany and her dragonkids, an earlier arrival of Tyrion could heartily change all of that for the better.
So — what do you think of the set photos? Let’s hear your thoughts, theories, speculation, and outrage in the comments.
Thank God. Changing the plot around is preferable to dealing with Tyrion and Dany’s separate plot lines as they were in the book (up till Dany in the pit, which was just barely enough of a payoff for all the crap we had to get through first). I suspect Tyrion’s plot, which in the book features no less than 3 different ships, a massive storm on the seas, and jousting on a pig (impossible) with an annoying female dwarf (very difficult to cast), was either too expensive or too elaborate to film in a year’s time. Probably both.
And honestly, to spite how awesome and satisfying Dany’s departure from the fighting pit was, that chapter was still the biggest cock tease of the series. Tyrion goes through this whole tedious travel plot to finally come face to face with Dany after 5 books, and just before it can happen at long last, Dany leaves. I believe the first words out of my mouth and the mouths of others was something like “OH COME ON ALREADY”.
Why do I have to click into pic individually to see it large and then click back to see the next?It’s ironic that a website called “nerdist” is lacking in the IT department.
Seriously. It annoys me every time. I’ve made several comments about it too.
I wonder if they’re going to include Young and Old Griff. Or Victarion. It seems to me that both of those plot lines are going to become fairly important in the coming books, but so far the only two Greyjoys that have gotten much screentime have been Asha (Yara) and Theon.
Fans of the book know Tyrion hasn’t actually linked up with Dany yet…
Your name rules.
You could really use a better image viewer, it’s a little irritating when you have to go to a new page or tab just to see the picture enlarged.
Sounds like you have first world problems