The Wars to Come

"The Wars to Come" is the first episode of the fifth season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 41st overall.

[5] The episode received positive reviews, with many critics singling out Peter Dinklage's performance and his returning comic relief role.

It marks the final appearances of Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) and Ciarán Hinds (Mance Rayder).

Cersei arrives at the Sept of Baelor to pay her respects to Tywin and chastises Jaime for freeing Tyrion.

Varys tells Tyrion that he and Illyrio Mopatis worked in secret to make Daenerys the new ruler of Westeros and convinces him to travel to Meereen to meet her.

[6] With this episode, Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) and Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon) are promoted to series regulars.

[9] According to HBO, total viewership rose to 18 million over the next three weeks as more people watched the episode through other venues, such as streaming.

He concluded stating "it's a show as capable of portraying one character's specific longings as it is widening its gaze to take in a soul-stirring view.

"[12] Matt Fowler from IGN gave it a mostly positive review stating "[the series] is off to a good start with this solid, though not stunning, premiere".

Erik Adams wrote the review for people who have not read the novels, and gave the episode a "B" rating.

"[15] Charlotte Runcie of The Daily Telegraph gave it a four out of five star review and stated "the beginning of season five was a promise of more greatness to come" concluding that "this wasn't the most dramatic episode so far, but the acting and writing were sharper than ever.