The Wars To Come

"The Wars to Come" is the first episode of the fifth season of Game of Thrones. It is the forty-first episode of the series overall. It will premiere on April 12, 2015. It was directed by Michael Slovis.

Prologue - 25 years ago
A young Cersei Lannister and her wary tag-along Melara Hetherspoon, are creeping in the woods of The Westerlands. Melara doesn't want to continue on, but young Cersei eggs her on. They reach a hut within the woods, which belongs to a witch named Maggy. Unafraid, Cersei walks in first. Upon meeting this "witch", Cersei orders to have her future read. Maggy is hesitate at first, but after Cersei threatens to have her eyes gauged out, the witch relents. After Cersei cuts her thumb on an athame, Maggy tastes her blood and offers the young girl three questions. Cersei's first question was if she would be marrying the prince. Maggy says she would not marry the prince, instead she would marry the king, and become queen. She also told young Cersei that she would have three children, and that "gold will be their crowns, and gold, their shrouds". Lastly, she told the youth that her reign would not last; that a more younger and beautiful woman would take her place.

At the Wall
Stannis realizes he needs an army, and desires the Free Folk to fight for him. He calls for Jon Snow, telling him that if he can get Mance Rayder to bend the knee, have the Wildlings fight for him, he would set them free and give them their own land within Westeros. Of course, Jon relays this message to Mance, but he refuses to bend the knee. Because he will not fight for Stannis, his punishment is death by being burned alive. On the night of his execution, Mance stands before Stannis, and although he cannot bend the knee, he offers him good luck. Mance is lead to the stake. The flames begin, and Mance slowly begins to feel the agonizing pain of the fire. Out of nowhere, an arrow pierces directly into Mance's chest. It is Jon, giving the man he respected an easier death. Mance dies before he had to anguish within the fire.

First

 * Melara Hetherspoon
 * Maggy
 * White Rat
 * Meereenese prostitute

Deaths

 * White Rat
 * Mance Rayder

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Aidan Gillen as Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
 * Natalie Dormer as Lady Margaery Tyrell
 * Stephen Dillane as King Stannis Baratheon
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Carice van Houten as Lady Melisandre
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund
 * Hannah Murray as Gilly
 * Conleth Hill as Lord Varys
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon

Guest Starring
 * Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder
 * Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne
 * Ian McElhinney as Barristan Selmy
 * Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister
 * Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
 * Tara Fitzgerald as Selyse Baratheon
 * Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lord Mace Tyrell
 * Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
 * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Jodhi May as Maggy
 * Dominic Carter as Janos Slynt
 * Joel Fry as Hizdahr zo Loraq
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Eugene Simon as Ser Lancel Lannister
 * Will Tudor as Olyvar
 * Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce
 * Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant
 * Ian Gelder as Ser Kevan Lannister
 * Brenock O'Connor as Olly
 * Kerry Ingram as Shireen Baratheon
 * Paul Bentley as the High Septon
 * Reece Noi as Mossador
 * Michael Condron as Bowen Marsh
 * Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn
 * Nell Williams as Young Cersei Lannister
 * Isabella Steinbarth as Jeyne Farman
 * Marcos James as White Rat
 * Allan Gildea as TBA
 * Meena Rayann as Meereenese noblewoman
 * Stephen Brown as TBA
 * Joe Hewetson as TBA

Cast notes

 * Starring cast members Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton), Jerome Flynn (Bronn) and Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
 * Michiel Huisman, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Dean-Charles Chapman are all added to the main cast with their names appearing in the opening credits. All three actors appeared in the fourth season in recurring roles.

In the books

 * This episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Storm of Swords:
 * Chapter 71, Daenerys VI: Daenerys orders the harpy statue at the top of the Great Pyramid of Meereen to be pulled down.
 * Chapter 75, Samwell IV: Ser Alliser Thorne and Ser Denys Mallister are candidates for the Choosing of the next Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
 * Chapter 76, Jon XI: Jon Snow is training a young black brother in the yard of Castle Black. Melisandre comes down and tells Jon to meet Stannis at the top of the Wall. On the way up, Jon asks her if she isn't cold, and she claims she never is. They find Stannis on the edge of the Wall, where he asks Jon for his help to reclaim the North from the new Warden of the North, Roose Bolton, who betrayed Jon's brother. However, Jon declares his loyalty is to the Night's Watch. Stannis says he needs the wildlings to pledge their fealty to him, and if their King Mance Rayder does not bend the knee, he will be burnt.
 * This episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Feast for Crows:
 * Chapter 3, Cersei I: Cersei learns that Tyrion escaped from his cell and is responsible for Tywin’s murder.
 * Chapter 7, Cersei II: Cersei arrives at the Great Sept of Baelor, escorted by Ser Meryn Trant, for Tywin's wake. Cersei feels surrounded by Tyrells. She talks to Kevan, Tywin's brother, and encounters Kevan's son Lancel, who looks unrecognizably plain. He has become a member of a new religious fanatic movement, the Sparrows. Cersei fears what Lancel may tell the High Septon about King Robert's death in an apparent hunting accident, which Lancel had helped stage.
 * Chapter 8, Jaime I: Jaime stands over Tywin's body and feels incredible guilt for releasing Tyrion.
 * Chapter 36, Cersei VIII: Cersei looks back on how, when she was young, she and her friend visited a fortuneteller called Maggy in the woods. Cersei begged Maggy for her fortune, and Maggy answered her questions: yes, she would be queen, until one younger and more beautiful replaced her; no, she would not have children with the king, but he would have many; and her own children would die before her. Cersei and her friend fled Maggy's hut.
 * Chapter 41, Alayne III: Littlefinger discusses Cersei's reign and his plans for the year with Sansa Stark, who is disguised as Alayne.
 * This episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Dance with Dragons:
 * Chapter 1, Tyrion I: Tyrion arrives drunk in Pentos, at the manse of Illyrio. Tyrion's new benefactor convinces him not to drown himself in wine and instead go on to to serve someone stronger than Tommen, gentler than Stannis; the only one who he claims can save the Seven Kingdoms.
 * Chapter 2, Daenerys I: An Unsullied soldier visits a brothel alone to cuddle with a prostitute, but is then killed by a Son of the Harpy. Daenerys is enraged by this. Hizdahr zo Loraq asks Daenerys to reopen the fighting pits.
 * Chapter 5, Tyrion II: Tyrion is now headed to Meereen, in order to serve Daenerys Targaryen and help her win the throne. Tyrion is told that Varys and Illyrio are old friends.
 * Chapter 10, Jon III: In the yard of Castle Black, Mance Rayder is sacrificed in a pyre by Melisandre. As Mance burns, Jon has him shot with arrows to end him mercifully.
 * Chapter 11, Daenerys II: Daenerys visits Viserion and Rhaegal in the catacombs of the Great Pyramid, but they are growing more savage every day and are out of control.
 * Chapter 23, Daenerys IV: Daario Naharis returns to Meereen from his mission. Daario urges Dany to loose the dragons on her enemies before they attack her.
 * Chapter 36, Daenerys VI: Hizdahr suggests terms of peace with Yunkai which the Wise Masters will accept, though it would mean reestablishing some of the practices the Queen has abolished, including the fighting pits.

Memorable Quotes
Maggy: "Oh yes, you'll be queen...for a time. Then comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear."

Brienne of Tarth: "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. The good lords are dead and the rest of them are monsters."

Tyrion: "Good luck finding him." Varys:  "Who said anything about him."

Daario Naharis "A Dragon Queen, no dragons, is not a Queen."