History Recap / GameOfThronesS5E1TheWarsToCome

** The trope is {{lampshaded}} by [[SonOfAWhore Daario who says his mother]] drank more as her looks faded. The foreshadowing for Cersei is obvious.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Maggy the Frog takes perhaps a little ''too'' much enjoyment in telling teenage Cersei what's in store - but, considering how rude/outright threatening Cersei was, you can't exactly blame her.

** The newly repentant Lancel, showing that he DoesNotLikeShoes.

-->'''Brienne:''' I don't want anyone following me. I'm not a leader. All I ever wanted was to fight for a lord I believed in. [[WorldHalfEmpty But the good lords are dead and the rest are monsters.]]

Back at '''King's Landing''' Cersei navigates her father's wake, ignoring Loras and Pycelle as she watches Margaery ply her charms with Tommen. When surprise, surprise; who should we see again but [[TheBusCameBack cousin Lancel Lannister.]] Who we last saw being shoved in the arrow wound by Cersei all the way back at the Battle of Blackwater during the penultimate episode of Season Two. The former knight and queenly bed-warmer is now a shorn, barefoot, shift-wearing ascetic monk known as a Sparrow, of an extremist denomination of the Faith. The pious zealot informs Cersei of certain elements we've been wondering about since Season One. That he was indeed a factor in Robert Baratheon's death. And that his religion can deliver the Lannister family name out of darkness. [[NayTheist This only amuses Cersei, who is openly derisive of the gods just as her father was.]]

Over in '''Pentos''', Tyrion has cleaned up a bit but is still drowning his sorrows while Varys admonishes him for the self-pity. Ever curious, Tyrion susses the Spider out; why did he free him from captivity? For the same reason Varys does anything. For the realm. He puts forth that any true ruler must ''earn'' their authority through hard work and sufferance and when combined with a sharp intellect and empathy; [[TheHighQueen a monarch who lives for their people]] [[TheGoodKing can be the greatest asset to continued peace.]] Tyrion understandably mocks Varys' hopes as idealistic dreams.

** Danys gets distracted by her HotConsort playing with his woman-shaped dagger. The next scene [[CutToSex has them naked in her bedchamber]].

* AbsenteeActor: Arya (Maisie Williams) doesn't appear, as she's presumably still on her way to Braavos.

* NobodyPoops: Notably averted by Tyrion, much to Varys' chagrin. And Tyrion's.

* RealityEnsues: Tyrion was in the crate for a good long while, and had to take matters into his own hands when nature called. In other words shoving his shit through the crate's air holes.

We return to '''Meereen''', the enormous golden statue of the Ghiscari Harpy is yanked off the top of the Great Pyramid by tonnes of rope lines and dragged down the side on wooden scaffolding ramps until it crashes down at the base. A Captain of the Unsullied, after leading his men in the demolition, hits the red light district. Apparently, he's in the habit of paying the ladies of the oldest profession to lay next to him, singing lullabies. The appointment seems to be all calm and tender when, suddenly, a knife-wielding hand jumps into shot and slits his throat. The last thing he sees as he drowns in his own blood is the prostitute, standing smugly next to the anonymous slave-holder who killed him, who is wearing a rather disturbing golden mask. Barristan Selmy informs Queen Daenerys of the murder soon afterwards. The mask was left on her man's corpse as a message, marking it as the work of a shadow organization known as The Sons of the Harpy, who are very unhappy with the changes Dany has brought to the Gulf of Grief. She orders Grey Worm and Mossador to give the first fallen of her 8000, (White Rat), a public burial with honours in a Temple of the Grace's, hoping that this further rankling of their customs will draw out the sect so that they can be caught.

Over in '''Pentos''', Tyrion has cleaned up a bit but is still drowning his sorrows while Varys admonishes him for the self-pity. Ever curious, Tyrion susses the Spider out, why did he free him from captivity? For the same reason Varys does anything. For the realm. He puts forth that any true ruler must ''earn'' their authority through hard work and sufferance and when combined with a sharp intellect and empathy; [[TheHighQueen a monarch who lives for their people]] [[TheGoodKing can be the greatest asset to continued peace.]] Tyrion understandably mocks Varys' hopes as idealistic dreams.

Onto the city in question, which is being actively patrolled by the Unsullied in a form of martial law. Daario and Hizdahr have returned from their successful campaign to retake Yunkai from the Wise Masters. Now operating as a form of quasi-republic with representatives from both classes forming a council that will defer to the Dragon Queen. However, they also want concessions. [[GladiatorGames The reopening of the famed fighting pits.]] Though Hizdahr assures her that any future fights will be performed voluntarily by free men and not slaves, Dany is sickened by the ''tradition'' and flat out refuses his compromise. But Daario has her ear in the bedroom and advises that she lift the ban to give her subjects some entertainment, as she can ill-afford an insurrection while her enemies in the other Free Cities, (angered at the economic disaster the death of the slave trade has caused them), surround her, testing for weakness. She ''must'' [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre utilise the living weapons that gives her her divine authority]]; as the Mother of Dragons. [[DareToBeBadass Or what else can she claim to be?]]

** '''Mance:''' his [[FamousLastWords dying words]] are "I wish you good fortune in the wars to come."

** Danys gets distracted by her HotConsort playing with his [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar woman-shaped dagger]]. The next scene [[CutToSex has them naked in her bedchamber]].

-->'''Varys:''' Perhaps... [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy And perhaps we've grown so used to horror... We assume there's no other way.]]

** Loras Tyrell quickly throws a blanket on top of his lower half when his sister interrupts his little tryst. Olyvar, on the other hand, has zero shame about his nudity and even walks out of the chamber bare ass-naked.

* DistractedByTheSexy[=/=]NotDistractedByTheSexy:

** Tyrion upon learning that since there is no [[NoManOfWomanBorn man]] fit for the Iron Throne Varys has in mind he aid Daenerys.

* OpenSecret: Loras argues that as everyone knows he's homosexual, there's little point in being discreet about it.

* PlatonicProstitution: Since the Unsullied Ones have been deprived of both their childhood and their balls, some of them hires prostitutes to cuddle with them while they sing them a lullaby to sleep.

* {{Understatement}}: Mance's reaction to finding out he is going to be burned alive is simply, "Not a nice way to go."

** Sam looks at Gilly's baby when it's mentioned that Alastair Thorne hates the wildlings, which will be bad news if he's made Lord Commander.

Not too far way in '''The Vale''', a scarred and weary Brienne is oiling Oathkeeper, clearly despondent after losing Arya, while Podrick tries to bolster her resolve and remind her of their mission. But the Beauty pushes her itinerant and inept ''squire'' away, she is in a dark place from all her failures, she lost Renly to black magic, she lost Catelyn to the Red Wedding and now she cannot even fulfill her oath to Jamie.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Besides Sansa now wearing a black cloak similar to Littlefinger's, even her hair colours has changed from red to dark.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Besides Sansa now wearing a black cloak similar to Littlefinger's, even her hair has changed from red to dark.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Besides Sansa now wearing a black cloak similar to Littlefingers', even her hair has turned from red to dark.