Seven Burning Questions for 'Game of Thrones' Season Five

by:The Day Caller

Another year, another season and a lot of deaths. The “Game of Thrones” finale Sunday night didn’t disappoint, and even ended on an upbeat note (as much as the series can be upbeat).

But just because the season ended lightly, despite two confirmed major deaths and one probable major death, doesn’t mean “Game of Thrones” fans don’t still have a ton of questions. So while next season might still be a year (!) away, here are seven questions to think about until then.



1. How is Tyrion going to survive in the Free Cities?

Tyrion has made his way through Westeros because of his father’s wealth. He’s been able to pay his way out of any predicament by simply telling whichever threat he encounters, “A Lannister always pays his debts.”

That was when Tyrion had money to rely on. Now he’s on the run with Lord Varys to the free cities, and while I’m sure Varys took into account the funds, Tyrion doesn’t have the Casterly Rock vault to rely on anymore.

Plus, he’s obviously much more jaded and angry at the world at this point. It was one thing for his father to sentence him to death. In fact, it was almost expected, given how much Tywin hated his youngest son. Even Shae testifying against him was shocking and hurtful, but it didn’t faze Tyrion.

But seeing the two share a bed was too much for him. He got his sweet revenge on both of them in perhaps the most satisfying deaths of the series, save for Joffrey. Varys once said Tyrion is one of the only people in Westeros capable of ruling the country appropriately, but will this latest abuse cloud his usually pragmatic judgment or leave him seeing clearer than ever?

2. Who is the next Hand of the King?

With Tywin gone, there is a serious power vacuum in King’s Landing. As the Hand, the patriarch of the Lannister family controlled nearly every aspect of the government. Now that he’s dead, who becomes the puppet master?

There are a few candidates, each with some baggage. Most notably is Jaime Lannister. He’s been around three kings and Tywin now and knows the ropes. He’s smart and cunning as well. Plus with his hand gone, he’s of practically no use to the King’s Guard.

However, he’s still in the King’s Guard and takes his oath very seriously. Would he be willing to forgo that oath the become Hand next to his son?

There’s also Petyr Baelish, more commonly known as Little Finger. He was Master of Coin before marrying Lysa Arryn of The Veil. We’ve seen just how manipulative the man can be, so it makes sense he’d try to become the number two in the country. But he’s got baggage as well, namely Sansa Stark. The last we saw of Little Finger he was showing Robin Arryn how to be a man instead of a sickly boy and courting Sansa. We know he’s hungry for power, but would he risk Sansa — the daughter of his true love Catelyn Stark — for that power?

3. What’s going on with the dragons?

Daenerys Stormborn, the breaker of chains, showed that even she will break her rules. First, she allowed a man to sell himself back into slavery for a year, which even Barristan Selmy knew would lead to the exploitation of the older slaves.

Immediately following this meeting, a man came to Khaleesi weeping for his dead daughter. Drogon, Khaleesi’s black dragon, burned her alive. Khaleesi immediately chained up the other two dragons in the catacombs to stop them from injuring anybody else.

Will this lead to the dragons turning on her? She only has her power because the dragons burned the slavers of Astapor after she took over the Unsullied. Now that they’re trapped in a cave, will they still be the loyal beasts they have been or will they continue their independent streak and take it out on the young queen.

4. How are Stannis and the Night’s Watch going to handle the situation?

We saw the Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch defend The Wall against Mance Rayder and the wildlings. It looked a like they were about to broker a peace agreement before Stannis Baratheon showed up and took out much of Mance’s remaining army before capturing the King Beyond The Wall.

What’s going to happen to these wildlings? We know they’re on the run from some scary stuff, namely the White Walkers. But will the people of Westeros accept the wildlings into the fray against the monsters, or will they be shortsighted and simply enslave them?

Plus, what was up with Melisandre’s look toward Jon Snow? Her blue eyes were reminiscent of the White Walkers, which is a little eerie, and her gaze at Snow toward the end suggests she has a plan for him, probably something nefarious.

5. What’s Jorah going to do?

Jorah can’t catch a break. First, his unrequited love for Khaleesi is seriously depressing. Then he had to watch Daario Naharis leave her room after a night of intimacy. The final nail in the coffin came after someone presumably in the Lannister camp sent his pardon from to Mereen while they were in the thick of freeing the city.

Jorah is a man filled with transgressions. He was a slaver, something he’s at least shown a little remorse for. He also spied on Khaleesi almost to the point of her assassination before having a change of heart.

Now he’s on his own in Essos it seems. He’s a man without a country who is still loyal to Khaleesi, but it appears he will never be in her good graces again. So where is he going to roam, and how is he going to survive?

6. Is Arya about to go off in Bravos?

After nearly reuniting with her family multiple times, Arya is somewhat of an enigma. She didn’t return to Sansa for whatever reason and is obviously hell-bent on revenge at this point. She shared her list with The Hound before taking his money and fleeing to Bravos, leaving him for dead.

Why’s she going to Bravos? Well she does have a connection there: the mysterious Jaqen H’ghar. H’ghar is actually the identity of one of the Faceless Men of Bravos, a group of assassins. He killed three people at Arya’s request before giving her a steel token to find them if she ever were to get to Bravos.

Now that Arya has tasted her first murder, will she join the assassins, or simply learn from them to exact her revenge?

7. Where the hell are Benjen Stark, Gendry, Nymeria and Rickon?

It has been forever since we’ve seen Benjen Stark, and his whereabouts are one of the biggest of the series. He left early in season one to search out Mance Rayder, but never returned. The scouts he left with returned (and turned into wights), but Benjen was nowhere to be found. Surely George R. R. Martin wouldn’t be so cruel as to leave his location unanswered.

Speaking of missing, Gendry wasn’t seen this year at all. After being set adrift in a rowboat by Davos Seaworth for fear he would be sacrificed by Melisandre, the guy has simply been absent. It’s especially infuriating because, as Robert’s true son, he has the most legitimate claim to his throne

Rickon, along with Osha, split up with Bran after last season. I get that he doesn’t have many lines, but he is still a Stark and could potentially be Lord, or King, of the North.

Finally the saddest missing person isn’t even a person. Nymeria was last seen in season one after Arya sent her away for fear the Lannisters would murder her after defending Arya from Joffrey. All the deaths in the series don’t quite compare to the sadness in the eyes of the dog after Arya threw a rock to get her to leave.

So where the hell are all these characters?