'Game Of Thrones' Season 5 Episode 1 Full Recap: Daenerys Struggles To Control Her Dragon While The Battle For The Crown Continues In Westeros

The premiere episode of the much-anticipated season 5 of the HBO original drama series “Game of Thrones” has finally hit the screens worldwide. As expected, the season kicked off with blood and gore. A character dies while the episode tries to catch up with as many characters as possible. Here’s the full recap:

The episode opens with a flashback scene featuring Cersei Lannister when she was still the young daughter of the Lord in Lannisport. She visits the hut of rumoured witch Maggy the Frog out of curiosity and demands to have her future told. Maggy tells her that she won’t marry the Prince (Rhaegar) but she will instead marry the King (Robert). Maggy goes on to say that while she will become queen, a younger and more beautiful new queen will come to take her place. When Cersei asks about children, Maggy tells her that she will have three but the King will have 20. Cersei is confused by this but viewers are already aware how she and the King have different sets of kids since they don’t actually have any together.

The scene then returns to the present timeline where Cersei is mourning the death of her father, Tywin Lannister. The funeral is about to take place and Cersei confronts her brother Jaime about what happened. She accuses him of being indirectly responsible for their father’s death after he set their brother Tyrion free. It may be remembered from the previous season that Tyrion shot Tywin with a crossbow when he found his lover in Tywin’s bed.

Tyrion, meanwhile, has escaped to Pentos after being spirited away from Westeros in a wooden crate. He is accompanied by Lord Varys who was approached by Jaime to help save Tyrion’s life. Once in Pentos, Tyrion wallows in self-pity but Varys urges him to use his talents and intelligence to save Westeros. Varys tells Tyrion that while he may not become king, he is in a position to help the right person sit on the throne. Tyrion agrees to ride with Varys to go see Daenerys Targaryen.

Over at Meereen, Daenerys is dealing with problems of her own. She has freed slaves and taken over the city, but she is meeting resistance from the slavers. One member of her unsullied army has been found murdered by the Sons of the Harpy and she is distraught. Even the slaves are unhappy despite being freed and are asking her to re-open the fighting pits to be used as a means of livelihood.

Daenerys tries to make the right decisions but finds a mounting number of enemies and discontent. Her lover Daario Naharis advises her to use her dragons to show her strength. She laments that Drogon hasn’t been seen in weeks. When she visits Viserion and Rhaegal in her dragon pit, she is met with wild beasts that she can no longer control.

Over at Castle Black, the Night’s Watch is slowly recovering after the battle at The Wall against the Wildlings. Mance Rayder has been held captive and the brothers are getting ready to choose their next Lord Commander. Lord Stannis is strategising his next move in his bid to reclaim the North and eventually the Iron Throne.

Stannis asks Jon Snow to convince Mance to bend the knee and command the wildling army to fight under his rule. He threatens to burn Mance alive if he doesn’t comply, but the threat doesn’t make a difference. Mance decides to keep his freedom even if it means losing his life. Left with no choice, Stannis and Melisandre call Mance a traitor and proceed to burn him alive. Everyone looks on in horror as flames lick his body, but Jon shows him mercy by shooting an arrow into his heart to kill him instantly.

Elsewhere in Westeros, Sansa is still in hiding under the care of Lord Baelish. Now in control of the Vale after the death of Lysa Arryn, Baelish has left the young Lord Robin Arryn under the care of Lord Royce to learn the ways of a Lord and to learn how to fight with a sword. Meanwhile, he takes Sansa on a little road trip to a secret location.

Several other characters have not been featured in the first episode including Arya Stark, who also left Westeros on a boat bound for Braavos. The much-awaited scenes from Dorne have yet to be seen as well as several new characters. The saga continues when “Game of Thrones” returns next week on various days and timeslots all over the world on HBO. The series has also been made available on HBO On Demand and HBO Go.

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