Game of Thrones 510AC: Mother’s Mercy

In Season 5 the reign of the youthful King Tommen Baratheon was undermined by the (S4 E10) death of his grandfather, Tywin Lannister, and the manipulations of his mother, Cersei Lannister, allowing the fanatical “Sparrows” to gain influence in King’s Landing. The Boltons asserted Northern independence by marrying Ramsay Bolton to Sansa Stark (accused by Cersei of being involved in King Joffrey’s assassination). When Stannis Baratheon marched south from the Wall in an attempt to take Winterfell, the Boltons killed him in battle. Meanwhile the Night’s Watch gave the surviving Free Folk refuge south of the Wall in the face of the advancing White Walkers.

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Main Events

S5 E1–S6 E9 / 302–303AC Sons of the Harpy

After Daenerys Targaryen’s capture of Meereen, an underground insurgency group known as the Sons of the Harpy appeared in the city and began killing supporters of the new regime. To secure peace, Daenerys made a deal with the Great Masters to reopen the fighting pits and agreed to marry the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq, but was forced to flee city on her dragon Drogon when Meereen’s main fighting pit was swarmed by the Sons and Hizdahr killed. While she was gone, her hand Tyrion Lannister discovered that the Sons were being funded by the slaveholders of Yunkai and Astapor—which had both thrown off Daenerys’s rule—who were in turn backed by the Free City of Volantis. The insurgency was ended when Daenerys, returning with Drogon and a Dothraki horde, defeated the slave-holders’ fleet and routed the Sons in battle. see external link

S5 E3–S5 E7 / 302AC High Sparrow

In the wake of Tywin Lannister’s death, “the Sparrows”—an austere religious protest movement—began appearing in King’s Landing. Hoping to use the Sparrows to extend her power, Queen Mother Cersei Lannister made their leader, the so-called “High Sparrow”, High Septon and gave him a personal army by restoring the Faith Militant. However, after arresting Queen Margaery Tyrell and her brother Ser Loras for their sins, the Sparrows also imprisoned Cersei herself on multiple charges, placing the High Sparrow in a position of influence over young King Tommen. see external link

S5 E6 / 302AC Ramsay and Sansa

After Sansa Stark’s escape from King’s Landing with Petyr Baelish, she traveled first to live in hiding at the Eyrie, then to Winterfell, where she was openly married to Lord Roose Bolton’s illegitimate son and named heir Ramsay. This act was intended to secure the Bolton hold over the North but also effectively asserted Northern independence from the Lannister regime in King’s Landing, as Sansa’s was still wanted there over her alleged involvement in King Joffrey’s assassination. However, Ramsay soon proved a brutal man and Sansa quickly began plotting her escape. see external link

S5 E8 / 302AC Massacre at Hardhome

As the White Walkers and their army of the Dead advanced, many wildlings took refuge at the fishing village of Hardhome, at the tip of a peninsula pushing into the Shivering Sea. To rescue them and recruit them to defend the Wall, Jon Snow and Tormund Giantsbane sailed to Hardhome, but as the wildlings began boarding rowboats for safety, the Night King arrived with multiple White Walkers and wights. In the ensuing massacre, tens of thousands of wildlings were killed—and later revived as undead—with only some 5,000 ultimately being successfully evacuated by Jon Snow and Tormund. see external link

S5 E10 / 302AC Battle in the ice

Stannis defeated and killed outside Winterfell see external link