Game of Thrones Season 5 (2015)

Game of Thrones Season 5 is the season in this series where opinions are most divided. Following the high completion of Season 4, it drew criticism for a comparatively slow pace and some controversial scenes, but Episode 8 “Hardhome” alone substantially recovers the value of the entire season. My rating is ★4.0. This is a season where extreme highs and lows coexist rather than an even quality throughout.

What it’s about — every character pushed to the limit

Season 5 began airing on 12 April 2015 and consists of 10 episodes. Jon Snow’s process of uniting the Night’s Watch and the Free Folk, Daenerys’s governance crisis in Meereen, Cersei’s power struggle in King’s Landing, and Sansa and Arya Stark’s respective survival stories all unfold simultaneously.

Direction — Hardhome that seared in the Army of the Dead

The directorial peak of Season 5 is Episode 8 “Hardhome.” In this episode, the Night’s Watch and Free Folk fight together against the White Walker army — and it is the first episode in the series to make the Army of the Dead feel like a genuinely real threat. The tension building throughout the defensive battle, and the final scene in which the Night King raises the fallen as wights, is one of the most chilling moments in the drama’s history. The scene of Cersei’s public humiliation Walk of Shame has high directorial quality but its content generated considerable controversy at broadcast.

Performance & characters — the fanatical High Sparrow

The most notable performance in Season 5 is Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow. He plays a fanatical religious leader with consummate skill, making the character a genuine threat to the established power structure. Lena Headey’s Cersei reveals human vulnerability for the first time as her power crumbles. Iwan Rheon’s Ramsay Bolton continues the intense presence established in previous seasons.

What the work says — power that devours itself

Season 5 shows, most directly through Cersei’s narrative, the core series theme of power’s self-destructive nature. The process of the religious forces she herself created bringing about her own downfall dramatises the historical lesson that autocratic power ultimately consumes itself. The lesson Hardhome delivers is no different: powerlessness in the face of an overwhelming threat before which all individual political scheming is meaningless.

Ratings & reception

IMDb series score: 9. Season 5 recorded slightly lower episode ratings than previous seasons. Some source fans were also critical at the time of broadcast. Nonetheless, Episode 8 “Hardhome” is evaluated independently as one of the season’s finest episodes. Multiple major Emmy categories had nominees from this season.

Weaknesses

Arya’s Braavos arc is considered the slowest narrative of the season. Some of Sansa’s storyline development drew strong viewer pushback when it aired. Daenerys’s Meereen governance arc is also considered slow compared to previous seasons. Season 5 as a whole can feel like a preparatory stretch for what follows.

Verdict

Game of Thrones Season 5 is a season that simultaneously contains this series’ high point and its low point. At ★4.0 — justified by the shock of Hardhome and the quality of the King’s Landing narrative — it does not match Season 4’s overall consistency. For those working through the series there is no reason to skip it, and indeed it is a season that must be watched precisely for Hardhome.

Hardhome Is the Whole Season

The way people remember Season 5 varies, but after Hardhome everyone uses that episode as their reference point. Before this episode, many viewers had treated the Army of the Dead as little more than a background setting. Hardhome completely changed that perception. The Night King’s final shot — holding Jon’s gaze as he raises his arms to resurrect the fallen — is one of the most chilling moments in the entire series. That single episode props up the whole season’s rating. The High Sparrow character introduced in Season 5 also has a major impact on the Season 6 narrative, playing an important role in exploring the relationship between religion and power in the distinctive way of this series.

Recommended for

• Those watching the Game of Thrones series in order
• Those who want to see the finest defensive battle direction in drama history
• Those who enjoy following power’s self-destructive process through narrative