Look, let’s be honest about Game of Thrones Season 5. It was a mess, but a fascinating one. For years, fans of George R.R. Martin’s "A Song of Ice and Fire" had been dreading the moment the HBO show would catch up to the source material, and 2015 was the year it finally happened. Sorta. It was the season that gave us "Hardhome"—arguably the best battle in television history—but also the season that gave us the Sand Snakes. You take the good with the bad, I guess.
By the time we hit the premiere, the show was a global juggernaut. Expectations weren't just high; they were impossible. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were staring down the barrel of A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, two massive, sprawling novels that many readers consider "unfilmable" because they introduce dozens of new characters while the main cast just... wanders around. The showrunners made a choice. They started cutting. They started merging. And in doing so, they fundamentally changed what the story was about.
Why Game of Thrones Season 5 Felt So Different
If you felt a shift in the vibe, you weren't imagining it. This was the first year where the "butterfly effect" of previous changes really started to wreck the timeline. In the books, Tyrion’s journey to Daenerys is a grueling, depressing slog through the Rhoyne featuring a character named Young Griff who claims to be a secret Targaryen heir. The show? It just put Tyrion in a box with Varys and sent them toward Meereen.
It was faster. It was cleaner. But it also felt a little less "Martin-esque."
The Dorne Disaster
We have to talk about Dorne. Most people agree it’s the low point of the entire series. In the books, the Dornish plot is a complex political thriller involving Arianne Martell trying to crown Myrcella Baratheon. In the show, we got Jaime Lannister and Bronn on a "buddy cop" mission that felt like it belonged in a different series entirely. The fight choreography in the Water Gardens was clunky, and the dialogue from the Sand Snakes—specifically the infamous "bad pussy" line—became an instant meme for all the wrong reasons. It showed that without Martin’s specific dialogue to lean on, the writing team struggled to maintain that Shakespearean-meets-medieval grit.
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The Rise of the High Sparrow
On the flip side, the King's Landing material was incredible. Casting Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow was a stroke of genius. He didn't look like a villain; he looked like your kindly grandfather who just happened to be a religious zealot. Watching him slowly dismantle Cersei Lannister’s power was deeply satisfying, even if you hated the High Sparrow’s methods. Cersei thought she was playing him. She thought she was using the Faith Militant to get rid of the Tyrells. Instead, she ended up naked, shorn, and walking through the streets while a bell-ringing nun yelled "Shame!" at her.
Hardhome and the Shift to Action
Before Game of Thrones Season 5, the White Walkers were a distant threat. They were a shadow in the woods. Then "Hardhome" happened. This episode wasn't really in the books—at least not from Jon Snow's perspective—but it’s where the show finally found its own voice.
The 20-minute massacre at the fishing village changed everything. It wasn't just about the spectacle; it was about the realization that none of the political squabbling in King's Landing mattered. When the Night King raised his arms and the dead rose as one, the "Game" felt small. This was the moment the show transitioned from a political drama into a high-fantasy epic. It was terrifying. It was visceral. It was the peak of what big-budget TV could do.
What Most People Get Wrong About Sansa’s Arc
There is a lot of revisionist history regarding Sansa Stark in Season 5. In the books, Sansa is still in the Vale, hiding out with Littlefinger. The show decided to bring her back to Winterfell to marry Ramsay Bolton, taking over a plotline that belonged to a minor character named Jeyne Poole in the novels.
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This remains the most controversial decision the show ever made.
Critics argued it was "trauma porn," while the writers defended it as a way to give Sansa a central role in the North's reclamation. Regardless of where you stand, it’s the moment the show became significantly darker than the books in terms of its treatment of the Stark children. It was a brutal watch. It forced us to confront the reality that being a "main character" offered no protection in this world.
Stannis Baratheon: The Fall of the Mannis
Then there's Stannis. Oh, Stannis.
Book fans are still convinced Stannis is going to win the Battle of Ice. In Season 5, we saw him burn his own daughter, Shireen, at the stake. It was one of the most harrowing scenes in television history. Liam Cunningham (Davos) and Stephen Dillane (Stannis) played it with such grounded, tragic weight that it felt inevitable, even if it was unbearable. When Stannis finally met his end at the hands of Brienne of Tarth, it felt like the last remnants of the "old" Westeros were dying out.
The Logistics of a Global Production
By Season 5, the production was a monster. They were filming in multiple countries simultaneously—Croatia, Spain, Northern Ireland. The "Walk of Atonement" in Dubrovnik required massive security to keep the crowds away and cost a fortune in local permits.
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- Spain (Seville and Osuna): This stood in for Dorne and the fighting pits of Meereen.
- Northern Ireland: Used for the grim landscapes of the North and the set of Hardhome.
- Croatia: The permanent home of King’s Landing.
The scale was unprecedented. You can see the money on the screen. The dragons were getting bigger, the sets were more intricate, and the cast was ballooning to a size that was almost impossible to manage. This is why the deaths started ramping up. You can't keep paying fifty A-list actors forever.
The Jon Snow "Death" That Shook the World
The finale, "Mother's Mercy," ended with the Mutiny at Castle Black. "For the Watch."
We watched Jon Snow get stabbed repeatedly by his own men, ending on a shot of his blood pooling in the snow. For a full year, the entire world debated whether he was actually dead. Kit Harington had to lie in every interview. He told people he wasn't coming back. He told his castmates he was done. It was the ultimate "water cooler" moment. It was also the point where the show officially outpaced the books. When the credits rolled on Season 5, everyone—book readers and show watchers alike—was in the dark.
How to Revisit Season 5 Today
If you’re planning a rewatch or diving in for the first time, keep these specific things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch the backgrounds in Meereen. The Sons of the Harpy are often visible in the crowds long before they actually strike. The foreshadowing is much tighter than it seems on a first pass.
- Compare the High Sparrow to modern populism. The writing for his character is surprisingly relevant to current political climates regarding "outsider" movements.
- Pay attention to the music. Ramin Djawadi’s score in Season 5 starts leaning heavily into the "Hardhome" motifs and the haunting "Light of the Seven" precursors.
- Ignore the logic of Dorne. Seriously. Just enjoy the scenery and Pedro Pascal's legacy (via his daughters), because the tactical logic of Jaime and Bronn sneaking into a palace with no plan is non-existent.
- Look for the "Pink Letter" influences. While the show skipped the literal letter from the books, the tension in the North is built on the same psychological warfare Ramsay uses in the text.
The best way to experience Season 5 is to stop comparing it to the books and start viewing it as the moment Game of Thrones became its own entity. It was the end of the beginning. After this, the "Game" changed forever, and the long winter finally arrived.