10 'Game Of Thrones' In Season 1 Vs. Season 5: Arya, Jaime, & Dany Have Come A Ridiculously Long Way

Now: After watching her father get beheaded and losing her mother and eldest brother at the Red Wedding, her two younger brothers at Winterfell (or so she thinks), and her aunt at the Eyrie, she’s understandably over this whole Westeros thing. Accepting that she’ll never be reunited with her family and tired of being various men’s captive, she struck out on her own across the Narrow Sea. In Braavos, she recently began her training to become an assassin so she can get vengeance on those who wronged her family.

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Then: She was an aloof woman trapped in a loveless marriage to an inept king. Her only solace, aside from her bratty son, was in the arms of her own brother/lover. Determined to reclaim her independence, she helped usher her husband to an early grave with the help of copious amounts of wine and an angry boar.

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Now: She lost her eldest son and her imperious father in the span of a few months, tried to have her younger brother executed, and shipped her twin off to Dorne to rescue her daughter. Utterly alone but for her son, boy-king Tommen, she is doing everything she can to retain even a semblance of power, but appears to be fighting a losing battle against Tommen’s beautiful new bride, Margaery. (The lingering memory of a prophecy that promised the deaths of all her children isn’t helping matters, either.)

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Then: A naive, innocent young girl cowed by her psychotic older brother, Dany was sold to a Dothraki horselord as his bride in exchange for an army to retake Westeros. She grew to love her new husband and embraced the title of Khaleesi. After the deaths of her brother, Khal Drogo, and her unborn son, she hatched three fossilized eggs and became the Mother of Dragons.

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Now: Abandoned by most of her khalasar following Drogo’s death, Daenerys floundered in search of an army and ships to carry them to Westeros. After a brief detour in Qarth with their spice merchants and warlocks, she headed for Slavers Bay. There, she bought an army of Unsullied and proceeded to conquer the three ancient cities of Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen. Aware that she has to learn how to rule before claiming the Iron Throne, she settled down in Meereen. There, she faces unrest from her freed slaves and their former masters alike.

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Then: The Lancelot lookalike was known as “the guy who pushed a little boy out of a window in the first episode.” The vain Kingsguard cared only for himself, his honor (tainted when he stabbed Mad King Aerys in the back), and his beloved sister. Anything that got in the way of those three things (Bran, Ned Stark) were deemed disposable.

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Now: It wasn’t the time spend as Robb Stark’s captive or his journey through the Westerosi wilderness with Brienne that humbled Jaime, but the horrific loss of his sword hand. Robbed of the thing he was the most proud of, he became much more human. He dispatched Brienne on a quest to protect the Stark girls — from his own sister, no less — and is now headed to Dorne to retrieve his niece/daughter Myrcella from the clutches of the vengeful Dornishmen.

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Then: Ned Stark’s bastard had no true place at Winterfell — his stepmother hated him, he would never share a last name with his siblings, and he was a constant reminder of the honorable Eddard’s one slip-up — so he packed up his things and went to join his uncle Benjen at the Wall as a member of the Night’s Watch. (Too bad Benjen had disappeared before Jon even got there.)

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Now: After a brief stint as a spy among the wildlings, even falling in love with the red-haired Ygritte, Jon helped protect the Wall from a vicious attack by Mance Rayder, King in the North. As a result of his leadership during the battle, he was just elected Lord Commander, one of the youngest Night’s Watch leaders in history. Following in his father’s footsteps, he chose honor over glory and turned down Stannis Baratheon’s offer to become Lord Jon Stark of Winterfell, opting to stay true to his Night’s Watch vows instead.

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Then: Poor, poor Sansa. All she wanted was to live in the capital and wear pretty dresses and marry a prince. Too bad that prince turned out to be the sadistic Joffrey, who ordered her father’s head chopped off and then proceeded to torture Sansa out of spite.

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Now: The unfortunate girl fled to the Eyrie with Littlefinger after the conniving Master of Coin plotted to have Joffrey killed. There, she watched Littlefinger marry her aunt Lysa… and then push Lysa to her death shortly after. Now, the duo has arrived at Winterfell, where Littlefinger has arranged for Sansa to marry Ramsay, the son of Roose Bolton, the man who organized the Red Wedding with Tywin Lannister and personally killed her brother Robb. This terrible plan will presumably result in vengeance, although it seems pretty bleak for Sansa right now, considering how insane Ramsay is.

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Then: Although technically a hostage of the Starks to keep his rebellious father in line, Theon was a cocksure young man who enjoyed the comforts of growing up in Winterfell and even fought alongside Robb during his war against the Lannisters.

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Now: After returning home to the Iron Islands, his domineering father Balon shamed Theon into turning against his captors; Theon returned to Winterfell, claimed it for his own, and “executed” Bran and Rickon. (Really he killed two peasants after the Stark boys escape.) Theon didn’t hold the castle long; it fell to the Boltons and Ramsay took him captive, torturing him into a brainwashed shell of his former self named Reek.

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Then: The youngest Lannister sibling enjoyed nothing more than drinking wine and sleeping with whores. Being a dwarf meant he wasn’t expected to take on any real responsibilities, and he enjoyed his carefree lifestyle immensely. Unfortunately, he was caught in the middle of the conflict between his family and the Starks when Catelyn took him captive, believing Tyrion to have attempted to have Bran murdered.

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Now: After a brief rise to power as Hand of the King, including a victorious battle against Stannis’s army on the Blackwater, Tyrion fell just as quickly when his father returned to King’s Landing and dismissed him from the post. Accused of murdering Joffrey, Tyrion was freed by his brother and fled Westeros — but not before killing Tywin and his former lover Shae on his way out. Now he’s on his way to throw his support behind another claimant to the throne: Daenerys.

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OK, so these next two are a bit of a cheat since they weren’t introduced until Season 2, but I would be remiss if I didn’t include them since they’re so important and they’ve come so far.

Then: The beautiful daughter of the second-wealthiest family in Westeros had just wed Renly Baratheon, youngest brother of the deceased Robert Baratheon and self-proclaimed king, in opposition of both his older brother Stannis and Robert’s “son” Joffrey. But Margaery’s not content to be a queen — she wants to be the queen. So when Renly was slain, she wasted no time forging new alliances.

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Now: Her marriage to Joffrey was blessedly brief — remarkably brief, considering the young king choked to death at their own wedding feast. Again, Margaery wasted no time in staking a claim on Joffrey’s younger brother, Tommen. And now she’s married to king #3. Any chance this one will stick?

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Then: We didn’t meet the middle Baratheon until Season 2, but he was name-dropped frequently throughout the first season. When we met him, Stannis turned out to be everything Robert wasn’t: humorless, rigid, and lawful to a fault. But considering that none of Robert’s children were actually his, Stannis is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

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Now: After a humiliating defeat at the Blackwater, Stannis seems to have gotten farther and farther away from his goal. His fleet obliterated and his coffers running low, he abandoned the war and fled North, preferring to do his duty as King and protect the realm from the White Walkers rather than play the never-ending game of thrones.

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