Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Depending on what kind of fan you are, the premiere episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones can either be viewed as a converging point, a diverging, or both. "The War is to Come" is convergent in the sense that several major story arcs are beginning to merge, finally fitting pieces of the puzzle together, and divergent in the sense that the season marks the first instance where the producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have taken truly creative liberties with the story that differ from Martin's novels. George R.R Martin himself has mentioned that the show's producers are likely to kill off characters in the HBO adaption that are still very much alive in his book series.
Episode one opens up with a shot of two young girls wandering through the swamp. Here, for the first time, we catch a glimpse of a younger Cersei Lannister. She visits a seer in the woods surrounding Casterly Rock, a seer who, through blood magic, can predict the future. So far all the predictions have come true except for one: a younger, more beautiful girl will take away everything Cersei holds dear. We now understand exactly why Cersei views Sansa and Margaery as such threat, and it could be assumed that Margaery, who stands to marry Tommin, is the "girl" to which the prophecy occurs. That said, there is more than one powerful woman in Esos who has her eye set on the iron throne.
With a cut to Cersei in present day king's landing, we find the body of Tywin Lannister. Cersei blames Jaime for Tyrion's actions, as she so often does, and it becomes clear that Jaime's feelings for his brother are no longer as warm as they once were. Tyrion, who in the following scene wakes up in Pentos in the home of Master Illyrio, is also having a rough go of things. After learning about Varys' plot to put Danaerys back on the Iron Throne, Tyrion remains "too drunk to care" and shrugs off the idea of ever feeling useful again. When Tyrion is finally convinced to accompany Varys on a journey to meet the Dragon Queen, it seems to be a union that has been in the works for quite a while; finally, two fan favorites will collide across the narrow sea.
But fan favorites for how long? We see in Mireen that Danaerys is having a difficult time keeping her "people" happy. There is an insurgency that is out to undermine her rule, and they want everything back to exactly the way it was: slavery, battle arena and all. Danaerys made a great mistake in Season Four by locking away her dragons in order to quell the rising fear and doubt in her newest followers. Her weakness is finally showing and she has, perhaps, proven too soft to maintain order. Who will be afraid of a Dragon Queen no dragons? Certainly not the Sons of Harpy, who begin to ambush and slaughter patrols of unsullied in the streets (and, in one particularly odd instance, in a brothel.) What's a eunuch doing in a brothel anyway? Might there be some hope for the often-shipped Missandei-Grey Worm coupling?
Finally, we are able to see the aftermath of the battle at The Wall. The final episode of Season Four found "King" Stannis' army decimating Mance Rayder's wildling army. Given the option to bend the knee to Stannis (and, of course, give up what's left of his army) or burn alive at the stakes, the King Beyond the Wall choses death by fire. He would rather die than betray what he believes in. After all, death by fire is the purest death. In the end, Jon Snow ends Mance's suffering with an arrow, which does not happen in the novels. In fact, a great many of the things that happen in this episode do not (or at least have yet to) happen in the novels. This is what makes Season Five so unnerving for long time fans, but also very exciting for everyone who enjoys the series. It's an even playing field. Everyone will know just about as much as Jon Snow. Nothing.
