TV Review: Game of Thrones - Series 5 Episode Five "Kill the Boy" SPOILER ALERT

A Game of Stones

Now that we are officially at the half-way stage of the latest Game of Thrones season, it is blindingly obvious that these first few episodes are essentially buildup to the chaos and carnage that is likely to occur during the next five weeks or so, something of which that although was the blueprint for most of the earlier seasons, seems rather unsubstantial in comparison to Season Four which had constant edge-of-your-seat storytelling throughout its' ten episode run. I may be being slightly harsh on GOT as Season Five was never going to live up its' predecessor, but once again I am left with the overall impression of, "solid, but not spectacular," when it comes to "Kill the Boy", and unless the series propels itself into another level ASAP, I fear that will be the feeling of the season overall. Enough of all the negativity anyhow as Game of Thrones is still miles better than anything on TV at this very moment in time, with this week's offering including all the standard tropes of what's expected in a GOT episode such as dragons, nudity, and death. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT!

It would be expected of an episode that primarily focuses its' time on proceedings in the North to be rather bland, particularly with the strangeness of Arya's storyline and the soap-esque drama of King's Landing being totally excluded when it was beginning to get rather tasty, but "Kill the Boy" manages to still effectively grasp the viewers' attention, particularly when it came to the tense atmosphere at dinner when Reek was forced to apologise to Sansa regarding the "death" of her two brothers by Ramsey who was swiftly knocked down a peg by the welcoming of a potential new, fully-blooded Bolton into the family, something of which was not taken lightly. Aside from the Bolton's, Stannis finally set sail into Winterfell, where. depending on how long it takes to get there in the episodic time-scale, the much spoke about retaking of the North is likely to occur within the next few weeks or so, something of which is a juicy prospect to say the least. 

At the Wall, Jon Snow was told to become a man and stick by his decisions, regardless of what his comrades in the Night's Watch thought of him, even when that decision was to try and save the Wildlings, something of which I think everyone disagreed with, including myself. You are going a bit soft in the head there Snow, watch yourself laddy. Aside from the North, Daenerys unleashed her anger from the death of Ser Barristan on the heads of the great families of Meereen, including zo Loraq, who must have been shell-shocked from being in front of dragons one day and then being asked to a hand in marriage to their mother the next. Oh yeah, and the fighting pits are back open. Finally. Spooky scene of the week went to Tryion and Jorah, who after deciding to sail through the desolate lands of Valryia, were attacked from the greyscale ridden stone-men, ending in Jorah being touched and thus ridden with the disease himself. Poor Jorah, nothing ever goes right for him. 

So like I said at the start, "Kill the Boy", is yet another solid, if unspectacular episode of Game of Thrones, featuring plenty of buildup for the episodes that lie ahead, whilst focusing on events occurring primarily in the North which is proving to be the most interesting place to be right now, unless you are Reek. Poor Reek. Now that we are half way through Season Five, it is fair to say things can only get better. Bring it. 

Overall Score: 7/10