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* [[Mark Gatiss]] as [[Tycho Nestoris]] ("[[The Dance of Dragons]]")
 
* [[Mark Gatiss]] as [[Tycho Nestoris]] ("[[The Dance of Dragons]]")
 
* [[Rupert Vansittart]] as Lord [[Yohn Royce]] ("The Wars to Come")
 
* [[Rupert Vansittart]] as Lord [[Yohn Royce]] ("The Wars to Come")
Deaths
 
* [[White Rat]]
 
* King-Beyond-the-Wall [[Mance Rayder]]
 
* [[Mossador]]
 
* [[Dwarf 1]]
 
* [[Son of the Harpy]]
 
* Lord [[Medger Cerwyn]]
 
* [[Lady Cerwyn]]
 
* [[Unidentified Cerwyn]]
 
* [[Despondent man]]
 
* Lord [[Janos Slynt]]
 
* [[Merchant captain]]
 
* [[Lead Dornish Guard]]
 
* Ser [[Barristan Selmy]]
 
* [[Master Eaton]]
 
* [[Ghita]]
 
* [[Maester Aemon]]
 
*[[Old woman]]
 
*[[Lord of Bones]]
 
*[[Loboda]]
 
*[[White Walker (Hardhome)|White Walker]]
 
*[[Karsi]]
 
*Princess [[Shireen Baratheon]]
 
*[[Dothraki pit fighter]]
 
*[[Norvoshi pit fighter]]
 
*[[Pit fighter]]
 
*[[Water Dancer]]
 
*[[Meereenese Champion]]
 
*[[Hizdahr zo Loraq]]
 
*Queen [[Selyse Baratheon]]
 
*[[Baratheon General]]
 
*[[Gordy]]
 
*[[Simpson]]
 
*King [[Stannis Baratheon]]
 
*[[Myranda]]
 
*Princess [[Myrcella Baratheon]]
 
*Ser [[Meryn Trant]]
 
*Lord Commander [[Jon Snow]]
 
   
 
=== Crew ===
 
=== Crew ===

Revision as of 11:03, 29 December 2016

Season 5 of Game of Thrones was commissioned by HBO on 8 April 2014, following a substantial increase in audience figures between the third and fourth seasons.[3] The fifth and sixth seasons were commissioned simultaneously, the first time HBO has commissioned two seasons at once for a major drama series.

The season consists of ten episodes. It began filming in July 2014 and concluded on 12 December 2014.[4][5] David Benioff and D.B. Weiss return as executive producers and showrunners for both seasons five and six, having signed a new two-year contract with HBO in early 2014.

The season premiered on April 12, 2015.

Season 5 is based mostly on the fourth and fifth novels of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, respectively. The storylines of the two books run concurrently but follow different sets of characters.[6]

Plot

Template:Season 5 plot

Production

Location scouting for Season 5 took place in Croatia and Spain. Filming in Croatia would continue in and around Dubrovnik, Split, and Žrnovnica, and expand to new locations around Imotski and Šibenik.[7] The Spanish locations which were scouted are in Andalusia, namely the Alhambra of Granada, the Alcázar of Seville and the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos of Córdoba.[8][9][10]

On July 2, 2014, U.S. ambassador to Spain James Costos confirmed at an economic forum meeting that Game of Thrones would be filming in the country. HBO later confirmed the same day that Seville was selected as the primary filming location, as well as other sites in the surrounding province of Seville.[11] The Alcázar of Seville served as the Water Gardens, the seaside palace of House Martell located just outside of Sunspear, the capital of Dorne. The Alcázar is the oldest palace still in use in Europe, acting as a part-time residence for the present Spanish royal family. The site was first fortified in 712, and the Almohads expanded it in the twelfth century, making it a royal residence in 1248. Extensive additions were also made in subsequent centuries. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. The Alcázar was previously used in Ridley Scott's 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven as the filming location for the court of the king of Jerusalem.[12]

Locations were scouted in Seville as well as the nearby town of Osuna.[13] Fresco Film Productions put out an open casting call via Facebook for extras in the area.[14] Rosario Andújar, the mayor of Osuna, stated in El Mundo that the scouted locations include the Plaza de Toros (a bull ring with sandstone walls, over a century old), the university (built in 1548, with four towers and influenced by the Italian Renaissance, La Colegiata (a church founded in 1535), and the Canteras de Osuna (the old quarries that supplied stone for the town).[15]

On July 3, 2014 it was reported that filming would briefly return to Iceland, but would not feature any major characters, instead focusing on landscape shots. Line producer Snorri Þórisson confirmed that the show intended to film a battle in Iceland in the month of November, but that with rewrites, the scene grew too large. It is difficult to film protracted battle scenes in Iceland during the fall due to the very limited daylight hours.[16] It is unclear if this was a reference to the Massacre at Hardhome or the Battle of Winterfell.

On July 13, 2014, it was confirmed that filming would begin in September in the town of Šibenik, Croatia, which largely represented Braavos. St. James Cathedral was used as the basis for the headquarters of the Iron Bank of Braavos.[17] The cathedral is the center of Croatia's Catholic Church and the see of the Šibenik diocese. The basilica, which is in the UNESO World Heritage list, is widely considered to be the most important example of Renaissance architecture in the country.

On July 27, 2014, in an interview with Sophie Turner, she confirmed that she would start filming in Belfast on Wednesday July 30.[18]

On August 9, 2014, it was confirmed that the production team in Spain would be filming in one of Osuna's active bull-fighting rings, the Plaza de Toros, but that actual filming in the ring might not take place until October.[19] Bull fights are held at the Plaza de Toros annually, events which end with bulls actually being killed in the arena.[20]

On August 11, 2014, WatchersOnTheWall.com reported that 86 year old actor actor J.J. Murphy died a matter of days after filming his first scenes as Denys Mallister, the commander of the Shadow Tower, the westernmost active castle on the Wall.[21] The same day, Benioff and Weiss made an official statement via HBO's twitter account that the role would not be recast: "We will not be recasting J.J. Murphy. He was a lovely man, and the best Denys Mallister we could have hoped for. And now his watch is ended."[22] In the end, Murhphy's role was brief and Mallister had no lines of dialogue. This will make Denys the second posthumous character appearing in the TV series (as well as the second cast member who has died): actress Margaret John, who played Old Nan, died only two months before Season 1 premiered, though all of her scenes had already been completed.

On August 24, 2014, WatchersOnTheWall.com reported that filming would again return to Diocletian's Palace in Croatia. This site was an ancient Roman palace built by emperor Diocletian in the fourth century. Despite the name, it resembles a fortress more than a palace (in fact, only half of it was Diocletian's residence, and the other half housed a large military garrison.) The cellars of the palace were previously used as the underground passageways in Meereen during Season 4, and they were used for this purpose again.[23]

On September 3, 2014, Kristian Nairn (Hodor) revealed that he would not be returning in Season 5: "We're not actually in Season Five, by the way. We have a season off. We have a year’s hiatus...Solely because, I imagine, our storyline is up to the end of the books. - So I get a year off now."[24] Although Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who plays Bran, seemed to imply he would be back[25], it was later confirmed Bran would indeed not be in the fifth season.[26] On October 6, 2014, Art Parkinson (Rickon) confirmed that he and Natalia Tena (Osha) would not be returning in Season 5.[27]

On October 14, 2014, Game of Thrones production units were observed filming in Córdoba, Spain, at the Roman Bridge of Córdoba[28], a famous landmark in the Historic Center of Córdoba built in the first century BC. The bridge has been restored and renovated several times across the ages, and now only two of the arches are from the original Roman construction. Benioff and Weiss confirmed the bridge would represent the Long Bridge of Volantis.[29]

That same week, Benioff and Weiss spoke in a special event at the Teatro Central de Sevilla. They confirmed that there would be flashbacks in Season 5, despite their previous assertions that there would never be flashbacks on the TV show.[30] They did experiment with using flashbacks in the unaired pilot episode, but afterwards felt that it broke up the dramatic pacing. The books themselves do not have straightforward "flashback scenes", but POV narrators will remember or recall past events at length (i.e. when Jaime explains why he actually killed the Mad King, in "Kissed by Fire"). In the end, season five featured a single scene of this sort: the first episode opened with a flashback to when Cersei was young and visited Maggy.

There are so many standing sets built for the show in Season 5 that the production is starting to run out of space. Increasingly, new sets are built in smaller areas, making it more difficult for Directors of Photography to set up lighting and backings. The smaller interiors are filmed at Banbridge, while the larger spaces are housed at Titanic Studios.[31]

Adaptation

See main article on "Game of Thrones (TV series)#Future seasons, and catching up with the books"

While developing Season 4, Benioff admitted that "Season 5 gives him nightmares"[32]. However, once they actually had outlined the season, Benioff and Weiss revealed "the fear started to dissipate." They also claimed the season would be "drawing heavily" from A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, the fourth and fifth books of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga.[33]

The book series was originally planned as a trilogy (A Game of Thrones, A Dance with Dragons and The Winds of Winter), but Martin realized his plot of "book one" would have to be expanded into three novels (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords), which means the first three books are "Act One" of a three Act story. In fact, the climax of A Storm of Swords concludes many of the plot lines begun in A Game of Thrones. Furthermore, what Martin originally planned as the middle novel grew too vast to be published as a single tome, so he cut it into two books that take place concurrently: in very rough terms, the fourth one (A Feast for Crows) follows all of the characters in the Seven Kingdoms while the fifth one (A Dance with Dragons) covers the storylines that take place elsewhere (such as the Night's Watch at the Wall, Tyrion as he escapes to the Free Cities, and Daenerys in Slaver's Bay). Season 5 will present the events featured in these two books in chronological order, intercutting between the two clusters of storylines.

On the one hand, this combination of novels could easily span two seasons, since it would be longer than A Storm of Swords, which was adapted into the third season and most of the fourth one. On the other hand, whereas the Red Wedding happens around the middle of the third novel and provided a convenient climax for Season 3, there are no similarly game-changing or climactic events in the middle of A Feast for Crows or A Dance with Dragons —both of which are slower-paced than the previous novels anyway.

Some of those two novels had already been advanced to Season 4 (everything after Daenerys took Meereen, everything after Brienne left King's Landing to look for Sansa, Sansa's story after Lady Lysa's death, Bran's whole story and the Fall of Moat Cailin), while other storylines were delayed to Season 6 (the Ironborn and Riverlands subplots, Arya's blind period and Sam arriving at Oldtown.) Ultimately, however, the bulk of these books was still adapted into Season 5. Despite some condensations, Jon Snow at the Wall, Cersei and the Tyrells in King's Landing, Tyrion heading to Meereen, and Daenerys in Meereen cover most of the major plot points which happened to each of them. The Stannis and Bolton storylines in the North, however, was extremely condensed. Both were reasonably close to what happened in the novels until about the second half of Season 5. In the novels, Stannis leaves the Wall to begin his campaign in the North only about one third of the way into the fifth book, after which it and the Boltons at Winterfell become one of the primary focuses of the narrative. The Sansa and Brienne storylines (entirely separate in the novels, both from each other and from the Bolton storyline) were also condensed. The writers also adapted some of the Dorne subplot, but with such limited screentime dedicated to it that the main parts of it didn't appear, nor did several major characters, such as arguably the storyline's main character —Doran's daughter and heir, Arianne Martell, who is actually a POV narrator. Tyrion's storyline as he was heading east to Meereen introduced a major new subplot involving a major political shakeup in the Free Cities, but this was cut completely from Season 5, and it will probably be omitted in the future.

Cast

Main article: Season 5 cast

Starring cast

Selected guest starring cast

Crew

Regular directors Neil Marshall, Alex Graves, Alik Sakharov, and Michelle MacLaren are not returning for Season 5. Notably, this is also the first time since Season 2 that no episodes are directed by the executive producers, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. MacLaren's departure also makes Season 5 the first since Season 2 with no female director. MacLaren is the only female director who ever worked on the TV series, producing two episodes in Season 3 and another two in Season 4.

George R.R. Martin stated he would not be writing an episode, as he has done in every previous season, because he wants to focus on finishing The Winds of Winter, the sixth novel in the book series.[34] Meanwhile, Dave Hill, the former assistant for Benioff and Weiss and the writer of the Histories & Lore short videos, was brought forward to write an episode after Benioff and Weiss were impressed with his story ideas involving Olly and Ygritte in the fourth season.

The entire production crew that worked on Season 5, spread across several countries, consisted of roughly 1,000 people. Of them, about 750 worked in Northern Ireland - that is, about 250 worked exclusively in other countries, but many of those who worked at the production's home base in Northern Ireland also visited filming locations in other countries.[35] Of these, the entire costuming department includes about 100 people (including major designers, embroiderers, hairstylists, cleaners, cloth-agers, sorters and fitters, and metal armor forgers).[36] As for the cast in Season 5, the show employed 166 actors who had speaking roles, and another 5,000 extras for crowd scenes.[37]

Producers

Writers

Directors

Episodes

# Image Title Airdate Viewers
41 Game of Throne Season 5 03 "The Wars to Come" April 12, 2015 8.00
Tyrion learns of a conspiracy; Jon is caught between two kings.
42 Arya at door of House of Black and White "The House of Black and White" April 19, 2015 6.81
Arya arrives in Braavos; Stannis tempts Jon.
43 Cersei and High Sparrow-5x03 "High Sparrow" April 26, 2015 6.71
Cersei does justice; Tyrion walks the Long Bridge of Volantis.
44 Sonsoftheharpy-s5e4 "Sons of the Harpy" May 3, 2015 6.82
The Faith Militant grow increasingly aggressive; Jaime and Bronn head south; Ellaria and the Sand Snakes vow vengeance.
45 Kill the Boy promo "Kill the Boy" May 10, 2015 6.56
Dany makes a difficult decision in Meereen; Jon recruits the help of an unexpected ally; Brienne searches for Sansa; Theon remains under Ramsay's control.
46 ObaraS5E6 "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" May 17, 2015 6.24
Arya trains; Jorah and Tyrion run into slavers; Trystane and Myrcella make plans; Jaime and Bronn reach their destination; The Sand Snakes attack.
47 The Gift promo "The Gift" May 24, 2015 5.40
Jon prepares for conflict; Sansa tries to talk to Theon; Brienne waits for a sign; Stannis remains stubborn; Jaime attempts to reconnect with family.
48 Hardhome (episode) "Hardhome" May 31, 2015 7.01
Arya makes progress in her training; Sansa confronts an old friend; Cersei struggles; Jon travels.
49 DaenerysDrogon-Daznakspit "The Dance of Dragons" June 7, 2015 7.14
Stannis confronts a troubling decision; Arya encounters someone from her past; Dany reluctantly observes a custom.
50 Mother's mercy high sparrow cersei "Mother's Mercy" June 14, 2015 8.11
Stannis marches; Dany is surrounded by strangers; Cersei seeks forgiveness; Jon is challenged.

Media release

Season 5 box set DVD

Season 5 DVD box set cover

Season 5 box set contents

Season 5 DVD box set contents on display.

Season 5 became available for direct digital download (via iTunes) starting on August 31, 2015. This included the free behind-the-scenes featurettes previously released on the HBO Viewer's Guide website. The full season download was priced at $38.99 for HD, and $28.99 for SD (in US dollars).

Season 5 Blu-ray and DVD box sets were released on March 15, 2016. They are available for pre-order from Amazon.com, which prices the Blu-ray set at $72.98 and the DVD set at $53.99.[38]

Features on the DVD release include:[39]

  • Anatomy of an Episode: "Mother's Mercy"
  • The Real History Behind Game of Thrones – In a two-part series, historians and George R.R. Martin discuss the era known as “The Wars of the Roses” and other historical events that served as inspiration for his novels
  • Audio Commentaries – Twelve audio commentaries with cast and crew:
    • Episode 1: Michael Slovis, David Franco, Ciarán Hinds
    • Episode 2: Daniel Portman, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gwendoline Christie
    • Episode 3: Deborah Riley, Anette Haellmigk, Michele Clapton
    • Episode 4: Natalie Dormer, Dean-Charles Chapman, Dave Hill, Mark Mylod
    • Episode 5: Michael McElhatton, Iwan Rheon, Gregory Middleton, Jeremy Podeswa
    • Episode 6: Maisie Williams, Tom Wlaschiha, Bryan Cogman
    • Episode 7: -
    • Episode 8:
      • Rowley Irlam, Kristofer Hivju, Kit Harington, Miguel Sapochnik
      • Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Christopher Newman
      • Fabian Wagner, Sean Savage, David Morgan
    • Episode 9:
      • David Nutter, Iain Glen, Peter Dinklage
      • Robert McLachlan, David Worley, Ben Wilson, Bernadette Caulfield
    • Episode 10: Lena Heady, David Nutter, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff
  • Four deleted scenes
  • The behind-the-scenes featurettes for Season 5 already released for free online, including new character and location profiles, and the "A Day in the Life" production documentary.

The Blu-ray release with Digital Copy includes all of the features on the DVD set, plus:

  • A digital copy of the entire season
  • An "in-Episode Guide" will also be included (possibly a copy of the online version).
  • Histories & Lore Season 5 - the next installment in the series of animated featurettes exploring the mythology a
  • The Dance of Dragons - an "in-depth featurette" on the civil war that tore Westeros in half 170 years before the TV series, in which Targaryen fought Targaryen and dragon fought dragon (as Shireen explained in episode 5.9).nd backstory of Westeros and Essos. Consists of 14 separate videos.

The "Dance of Dragons" featurette is actually a super-sized animated featurette, like the regular "Histories & Lore" series, but 20 minutes long to summarize the entire narrative of the civil war. Moreover, numerous cast members whose characters died before Season 5 and didn't appear in it are returning to reprise their roles, providing in-universe voiceover narration:[40]

Deleted scenes

Four separate deleted scenes from Season 5 are included in the DVD box set release.[41] None of them contain significantly new information, and have little to no impact on longer story arcs - with the exception of the longest of the four, a scene from the Season 5 premiere between Missandei and Grey Worm which provides substantially more setup for their ongoing romantic relationship subplot.

  • Missandei tells Grey Worm she fears for his safety (1 minute 30 seconds long) - an extended version of the scene from episode 5.1 "The Wars to Come" in which Missandei talks to Grey Worm while he's suiting up in his armor with the other Unsullied, it fits in between when Missandei says "I wanted to speak to you" (then the other Unsullied leave) and she says that White Rat's body was found in a brothel. Missandei cautions Grey Worm that the Unsullied are trained not to feel fear, but the Sons of the Harpy are insurgents who wear masks, ambushing from the shadows then retreating to the shadows so they don't even have to face the Unsullied's combat prowess. She urges that she is afraid for his life, that he will be killed in a random attack. They exchange many knowing looks throughout, their mutual attraction unspoken through the awkward words they exchange. Missandei tells Grey Worm he must be careful and fight to protect himself: he looks concerned but he says he fights for Queen Daenerys. Then the scene continues as in the aired version, she asks why many Unsullied like White Rat have been visiting brothels (as they are eunuchs), but he says he doesn't know and leaves.
  • Daario mocks Grey Worm (1 minute long) - from episode 5.2 "The House of Black and White": Daario Naharis had just returned to Meereen and is joining Grey Worm and some of his Unsullied in the narrow alleys of the city. Daario asks if he's happy to see him and Grey Worm admits yes, he can help them patrol the streets. Daario then begins lightly mocking Grey Worm by asking how Missandei is doing, and given Grey Worm's status as a eunuch, implies that he'd have problems satisfying her sexually - but as a friend, Daario would always be willing to step in to fulfill her needs which Grey Worm cannot satisfy. Grey Worm pauses and glares at him as the other Unsullied stop, but Daario finally gets the hint that his joking isn't funny, so he sheepishly changes the subject and says yes, it is good that the queen has him and his men back helping the Unsullied. The scene then proceeds to the portion that actually aired, with Daario saying that the Unsullied to too conspicuous for rooting out an insurgency in a city, they're meant for pitched battles, and their lack of fear means they aren't good at guessing where frightened rebels would try to hide.
  • Jaime and Bronn en route to Dorne (1 minute long) - A longer version of the scene from episode 5.4 "Sons of the Harpy" in which Jaime Lannister and Bronn are discussing their mission. Instead of starting with Bronn asking "Why are we on a merchant ship?", it starts with Bronn cleaning his sword when Jaime comes below. Jaime criticizes that Bronn isn't being thorough enough and the blade needs more oil, but Bronn says a lowly sellsword like him isn't usually in a position to be sentimental about weapons; he says he once saw a man in the Stormlands go back onto the battlefield to retrieve his lucky sword and he got an arrow through the eye for his troubles. Jaime counters that Bronn would care more if he had a proper high quality sword. Bronn sardonically agrees that yes, if he were wealthy enough to afford an expensive sword, he's probably focus more time on caring for it - which he finally was on the verge of being rich, living at Castle Stokeworth, before Jaime dragged him along on this voyage. Jaime insists that a man like Bronn would get bored with a life of leisure and no fighting: Bronn says that's easy for Jaime to say, but he was rather looking forward to having a life of leisure. The scene then proceeds as it did in the aired version, with Bronn changing the subject to ask why they're on a merchant ship, and Jaime explaining they will leave the ship by rowboat in the night to sneak in to Dorne as it passes.
  • Tormund and Alliser Thorne meet again (1 minute long) - apparently from episode 5.5 "Kill the Boy", a stillshot of the scene was actually released as a promo image for that episode when it aired. The scene follows up on how Tormund nearly killed Ser Alliser Thorne during the Battle of Castle Black. Now, Tormund is being lead in chains through the courtyard of Castle Black. As Ser Alliser Thorne walks past he coldly confronts him. Alliser scornfully notes that they're keeping him alive, giving him food and a roof over his head, and asks Tormund if he knows what they'd be doing to Tormund if it were his decision. Tormund dryly guesses it would be something unpleasant - but because that isn't happening, Thorne must not be in charge anymore. Alliser silently looks annoyed then leaves.[42]

Image gallery

Posters

Promos

Video gallery

Awards

Game of Thrones Season 5 won a record-breaking 12 times in the 2015 Emmy Awards, including Best Drama.[43]

Season 5 won awards in four major categories:

Season 5 also won in eight technical categories, awarded at the Creative Arts Emmys:

  • Outstanding Special Visual Effects – "The Dance of Dragons"
  • Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) – "Mother’s Mercy"
  • Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Contemporary Or Fantasy Program (One Hour Or More) – "High Sparrow" – Deborah Riley, Production Designer
  • Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series – "The Dance of Dragons"
  • Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series – Casting Directors Nina Gold, Robert Sterne, and Carla Stronge
  • Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series – "Hardhome"
  • Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour) – "Hardhome"
  • Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama Series, Limited Series Or Movie – Rowley Irlam, Stunt Coordinator

Many major critics and review sources, however, reacted to the wins by expressing that Season 5 was probably the weakest season of Game of Thrones to date - compared to its own prior seasons. This led to discussion about whether the Emmy voting system was skewed or out of touch. Two general positions developed:

  • The first group of critics felt that Season 5 did not deserve these Emmy wins (particularly Best Drama) in and of itself, but it has become common practice for the awards to be given to series that are "due" - series that should have won in prior awards years but were overshadowed by competition from other series. Game of Thrones never won Best Drama in its first four seasons - even after the climactic and critically very well received events of the third and fourth seasons, when it was competing against other shows such as Breaking Bad or Mad Men which were also considered to be in their prime. While Season 4 of Game of Thrones gained widespread praise, it competed at the Emmys against the universally praised final season of Breaking Bad (even Benioff and Weiss have said they are massive fans of what Breaking Bad achieved). These critics argued, in short, that Season 5 was not Emmy-worthy material but the win was meant to make up for past seasons when they should have won. This led to further criticisms of the broader pattern of voting for series that are considered to be "due" for a win even if their current material doesn't deserve it.
  • The second camp of critics, while feeling that Season 5 was the weakest season of Game of Thrones to date, expressed that this was only in comparison to the very high standard set by its own prior seasons - and moreover, because many other critically praised shows such as Breaking Bad were no longer airing, Season 5 of Game of Thrones simply faced weaker competition - in which case, these critics felt that Season 5 indeed deserved to win on its own merits, given that the awards are relative to other shows that are airing in a given year.

Either way, many post-Emmy critical reviews felt the need to express their view that Season 5 was the weakest season of the TV series so far (by its own standards), and ponder if it deserved such accolades in and of itself. These included: The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Vulture, Vanity Fair, Variety, Entertainment Weekly, Deadline, TheGuardian.com, Collider, BusinessInsider, io9, BuddyTV.com, Bustle, and HitFix, among others.

TechInsider was bewildered that Benioff and Weiss won the Best Writing for a Drama Series award for the Season 5 finale "Mother's Mercy", given that it contained the strange and non sequitur line from Tyene Sand, "You want a good girl, but you need the bad pussy!" - which while not from the novels, is now officially part of a script that won an Emmy award for Best Writing.[44]

No major critical reviews of record expressed a view that Season 5 was actually better than the prior four seasons that did not win such awards.

Season 5 was nominated for two Writer's Guild of America Awards: the first for Drama Series, and the second for Episodic Drama (specifically Benioff and Weiss for the Season 5 finale, "Mother's Mercy").[45]

Season 5 was nominated in the 2016 Producer Guild Awards, for the Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television (Drama). The specific nominees are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Bernadette Caulfield, Frank Doelger, Carolyn Strauss, Bryan Cogman, Lisa McAtackney, Chris Newman, and Greg Spence.[46]

Season 5 was nominated in two categories at the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards. The first nomination is for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. The second nomination is Peter Dinklage (Tyrion) for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.[47]

Season 5 was nominated at the 2016 American Society of Cinematographers Awards. Cinematographer Fabian Wagner (BSC) was nominated in the "Episode of a Regular Series" category for the episode "Hardhome".[48]

Season 5 was nominated at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards for Best Drama Series.[49]

Season 5 won the 2015 Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series.[50]

Season 5 won the 2016 Art Directors Guild Award for Art Direction in a One-Hour Period or Fantasy Single-Camera Series - specifically nominated for art direction in the episodes "High Sparrow", "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", and "Hardhome". The entire art direction team was nominated, and the award was accepted by lead Production Designer Deborah Riley.[51]

Season 5 won four Video Effects Society Awards, for different effects in "The Dance of Dragons", "Hardhome", and the wide shots of Volantis in "High Sparrow".[52]

References

  1. [1]
  2. Game of Thrones wraps filming for Season 5
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
  4. [2]
  5. [3]
  6. [4]
  7. [5]
  8. [6]
  9. [7]
  10. [8]
  11. HBO confirms Seville as filming location for Game of Thrones season five
  12. Spain confirmed as a location for Game of Thrones Season 5
  13. [9]
  14. [10]
  15. [11]
  16. [12]
  17. [13]
  18. [14]
  19. Game of Thrones season five filming in Spain rumored to have already begun ; Portstewart filming completed
  20. Westeros.org Twitter account (Warning: graphic video of bulls being stabbed to death)
  21. Actor J. J. Murphy dies after beginning filming for Game of Thrones season 5
  22. Official statement from the creators of GameofThrones
  23. [15]
  24. Kristian Nairn not to appear in Game of Thrones Season 5
  25. [16]
  26. [17]
  27. Art Parkinson Confirms Rickon, Osha Still AWOL
  28. [18]
  29. [19]
  30. [20]
  31. Season 5 Blu-ray commentary
  32. [21]
  33. [22]
  34. [23]
  35. TV & Satellite magazine, April 2015
  36. Season 4 Blu-ray commentary.
  37. TV & Satellite magazine, April 2015
  38. [24]
  39. [25]
  40. First Look at Game of Thrones: The Dance of Dragons Animated Feature
  41. [26]
  42. Alliser and Tormund deleted scene
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  45. Game of Thrones nominated for two WGA Awards!
  46. Game of Thrones nominated for two WGA Awards! Game of Thrones nominated for PGA award and Jon Snow among the most influential characters of 2015
  47. Game of Thrones nominated for 3 SAG Awards!
  48. Game of Thrones nominated at the ASC Awards
  49. Game of Thrones nominated at the Golden Globes!
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