'Game of Thrones' Season 5, Episode 1, First-Look Review: Treason and Plot 

I write about TV shows and the media business, from London full bio →

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I’ve been covering media and TV for the last 10 years, largely for the Daily Telegraph newspaper in London. As well as writing about the media industry, I keep a close eye on what’s actually being broadcast – I write about each week’s TV for Britain’s free-to-air satellite distributor, Freesat. I spent seven years on staff at the Telegraph, during which I both edited the TV pages and, later, moved to the newsroom, where I reported on the industry as Assistant Editor (Media). Since going freelance in 2011, I still write frequently for the Telegraph, as well as being a regular media pundit on TV and radio. I did five years on the advisory committee for the Edinburgh TV Festival, and I sit on awards juries for the Royal Television Society and Bafta. Journalism is my second career: in the 1990s, I was a litigation lawyer for firms including Linklaters and Debevoise & Plimpton.

The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

\'Game of Thrones\' Season 5, Episode 1, First-Look Review: Treason and Plot

Well, HBO and Britain’s Sky certainly know how to put on a season launch.

I’m writing this review from the Tower of London – yes, the actual Tower, where kings were killed and the Crown Jewels still live – where an enormous tent is hosting a lavish after-party.

The chair on which I’m sitting to type looks like a prop from the actual show – it wouldn’t be out of place in Cersei Lannister’s chambers.

And there are more guests here than at Joffrey’s ill-fated wedding.

We’ve all just watched episode 1 of season 5 of ‘Game of Thrones’, and it was a spectacle that got applause at the beginning, laughter in the middle and huge applause at the end.

I don’t want to spoil the episode for fans, but this is a season opener that will have you gripped from the get-go.

Who is this mysterious maiden, trooping muddily through the woods, and visiting a cottage that’s straight out of ‘Hansel and Gretel’?

And when she gets inside to find the witchy old soothsayer, which of these predictions will come true?