Game of Thrones Season 5; Top 5 Characters

HBO’s Game of Thrones fifth season was an absolute killer. Despite some serious criticisms (I’m looking at you, Dorne) the season was actually pretty great. We got to see locations like Braavos in depth and even some monumentally important historical locations such as Valyria. Book readers tend to give the show hard time and a lot of the time they are well within reason to but I’m not going to be doing that. So that is why my first ever blog post will be something that focusses on a good aspect of the show and that is the characters. 5 of them to be exact and 5 of them that I (in my personal opinion) have deemed the top of the series. So let’s work our way down to the MVP of the season.

So starting from number 5 we have The Kingslayer himself Ser Jaime of House Lannister. 

Dorne was a terrible storyline for season 5, right? Right! However I will give the story some of its dues and say that as a character this season Jaime Lannister was one of the soundest and most goal-driven. The idea of an uncle -who is really the father-  travelling cross-country to try and spring his neice -who is really his daughter- from the clutches of an evil foreign Prince sounds very Disney (aside from the incest angle,) but I’m not focussing on the motive nor reason. Jaime himself was a very honourable man this season, compared to where he started off GoT at and what he did to our beloved characters earlier on it’s hard to imagine that we would be rooting for this man to save his daughter. Darnel and Cooper were a great tag-team this season and it’s great to see that Ser Jaime is using his golden hand to his advantage. Plus how awesome was that? All-in-all despite the sub-par storyline and side characters I will hold firm that Ser Jaime Lannister deserves a place in the top 5 characters of Game Thrones Season 5. Some top moments of Jaime’s;

• Jaime joins up with Bronn of The Blackwater.
• Give us our first glimpse of Dorne.
• Battle Dornish soldiers.
• Uses his golden hand to defend himself.
• Heart-To-Heart conversation with Myrcella.

Number 4; Theon of House Greyjoy A.K.A Reek

I will forever continue to sing the high graces for the character that is that Theon Greyjoy/Reek. George Martin struck gold with that character and he will forever be one of the most favourite fictional/fantasy characters. His POV chapters in the books are some of the best, psychologically speaking and Alfie Allen’s portrayal in the television show is one of the top casting choices. Going from a brash young wannabe Prince in the earlier seasons to now being a mentally broken slave is a hard job for any actor. This season saw the comeback of Theon Greyjoy (at least momentarily) when he saved Sansa Stark from becoming a play thing of Myranda, Ramsay’s not-quite-his-level-but-still-psycho girlfriend. Theon had to endure a lot this season. For the first time he had watch someone he knew and loved from his former life possibly go down the same route as him when his master marries and violates Sansa Stark. This is certainly what pushes the Theon out in Reek and what causes him to act against Myranda. I can say that I was on my feet at that moment. Plus who can forget Alfie Allen’s top notch acting during the wedding night. I will never forget that scene, it was haunting and Reek’s face was very much a major factor. Looking onto season 6 who knows what will befall Theon and Sansa but it is a story that I will pay close attention to. Theon Greyjoy will always be in my top list of Game of Thrones/ASOIAF characters. Some top moments of Theon this season;

• Great acting without needing to talk in the first few episodes.
• First interaction with Sansa in the kennels.
• Giving Sansa away at her wedding to Ramsay.
• Fantastic face acting on Sansa’s wedding night to close the episode.
• Finally snapping out of Reek, killing Myranda and seemingly escaping with Sansa.

Number 3; Sansa of House Stark, Now Bolton, Formerly Lannister

We didn’t quite get the Alayne Stone, the secret bastard daughter of Littlefinger in he TV show this season, however Sansa’s character was much in the same vain. We start season 5 with Sansa sitting at Littlefinger’s side in The Vale showing strong signs that she is learning how to play The Game of Thrones. It was nice to see the young, innocent, scared little girl that we had for three/four seasons come into her own. We then come to Winterfell and Sansa, despite being betrothed to the worst family in Westeros, continues to show her strong side. Sophie Turner has an excellent resting bitch face and she nails Ramsay with some excellent one-liners in these scenes. The later season spirals out for poor Sansa a bit with the massively controversial scene of her wedding night, but one thing that really stuck to me this year was the relationship between her and Theon. It was Sansa and the threat on her life from Myranda that finally made the Ironborn Prince snap out of his tortured self and we should all be thankful that Sansa was the one who was able to do that. As we progress into the final stages of the story I believe Sansa will be a major character to watch. I believe she will play a major part in the downfall of either House Bolton or Littlefinger. Perhaps both? Just once though, it’ll be nice if we could get a Stark reunion now wouldn’t it? Some great moments for Sansa;

• Showing signs of playing The Game.
• Finally come home to Winterfell after a long time.
• Manipulates Ramsay at the dinner scene, showing more signs of her intelligence.
• The North Remembers.
• Escaping with Theon from Winterfell.

Number 2; Tyrion of House Lannister

Somehow I don’t think Tyrion will ever stop being a part of any top character list. Often seen as THE character of the show/book and the majorities favourite character, Tyrion will always be great. The Imp of House Lannister started this season with Varys in Ilyrio Mopatis’ manse where the course of Tyrion’s continuous journey was revealed. He would side with The Dragons. Tyrion and Varys was a great duo and provided several great scenes. Peter Dinklage provided us with a great drunkard Tyrion who moped after killing his beloved Shae, but following his kidnapping by Jorah Mormont my most favourite moment of the series happened. Tyrion and Jorah sailing though the ruins of Old Valyria was indescribably perfect. Although it’s not how that plays out in the books, the importance of that moment should resonate with everyone. Tyrion (a man who was utterly obsessed with dragons in his youth) and his kidnapper-soon-to-be-buddy Jorah were the first men to witness a dragon in Valyria in thousands upon of thousands of years. A beautiful moment. Later in the season we got to see Tyrion and Danaerys together, finally. Although there were complaints of that storyline being rushed the few scenes we got with them were great and the really showed us how great it could be in the future. Tyrion had a great season and could’ve easily been #1 in this list. Some top moments from Tyrion this season;

• Great scenes with Varys in Pentos & on the road.
• Giving us our first glimpse of Volantis.
• Tyrion and Jorah’s scenes.
• Giving us our first ever glimpse of Valyria.
• Seeing a Dragon for the first time.
• Kicking the crap out of a slaver.
• Finally arriving in Meereen.
• Meeting Dany and their few scenes together.
• Killing a Son of The Harpy and saving Missandei.
• Seemingly being left in charge of running Meereen.

Number 1; Jon Snow The 998th Lord Commander of The Nights Watch

What a season this man had. Everything came full circle for him. He became his own man when he was elected Lord Commander. He overcame internal struggles when offered the choice of doing his duty to The Nights Watch or becoming the Stark of Winterfell. He even managed to ignore Melisandre’s sexual advances. I believe, and I’m sure some of you do as well, that Jon had the best season out of everyone. He was head-strong, brave, stern and an all-round good man. He was even responsible for possibly the best episode of the entire series when Jon Snow himself led his men to Hardhome to try and treat with the wildlings. Not just any man would’ve done that and it was A true testament to Jon’s courage. Let’s list off some of his top moments;

• Giving Mance Rayder the gift of mercy.
• Becoming Lord Commander.
• Beheading Janos Slynt, the man who betrayed his father in season 1.
• Resisting Melisandre’s sexual advances.
• Choosing The Nights Watch over Winterfell.
• Allying with Tormund Giantsbane.
• Establishing an alliance with The Free Folk.
• Killing A White Walker with Longclaw.

Sadly for The Lord Commander he didn’t end the season in a good way. In fact he ends the season, laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood after being betrayed by his very own Black Brothers. We’ll see what Season 6 and the Winds of Winter bring for Jon Snow. I for one, hope he isn’t dead. The man has a lot to accomplish and a lot of damn Walkers to slaughter!   Well that concludes my very first blog post. A look at my personal top 5 characters of Season 5 of Game of Thrones. I don’t expect anyone to agree with the list completely, I’m sure there are some who agree with certain placements, however, even if there isn’t that is completely okay. Honourable Mentions of Characters Who Missed The Cut; Arya Stark, Danaerys Targaryen, Davos Seaworth, Brienne of Tarth., Cersei Lannister, High Sparrow.     Thank you for reading.