CREDIT: HBO
What the hell is going on? Sansa is getting a little too close to Little Finger. April 12, please come faster.

The longest wait in television is finally coming to an end. After what seems like an eternity for fans, HBO’s Game of Thrones is finally coming back to screens for another season of boobs, blood and feudal deception. With the promise of major events and new settings, there is a lot to look forward to, and an added layer of intrigue is added by the fact that the show has finally caught up with the source material. The lengthy writing schedule of author George R.R. Martin has left the showrunners with no more published books to adapt, and with longtime readers unsure for the first time which direction the characters will take. Before we look forward to season five, and with so many characters constantly on the move, it would be wise to look back at just where each of the piece in the game of thrones presently lie.

[SPOILERS]

Starting with the most beaten down family in the Seven Kingdoms – or what’s left of them at least – things are not looking so rosy for the Starks. A father, his wife and his heir have all been systematically eliminated over the years, leaving only the youngest members left in play. Hanging out north of The Wall, Bran Stark and co. have finally reached the end of their long, snowy journey to find out that the three-eyed raven is a man stuck in a tree.

His little sister Arya has officially flipped off Westeros and all the misery it has brought her and set off on a ship to the city of Braavos. After two seasons of adventuring with The Hound, and being oh so close to being reunited with her mother, she has decided that there is nothing left for her and is following the iron coin left to her by face- changing assassin Jaqen H’ghar in season two.

Older sister Sansa is being kept high in the Eyrie by the even creepier Littlefinger, but was last seen in a better position than she’s ever been in. No longer the wide-eyed teenager of season one, she seems far more aware of her surroundings, and is much more willing to be more than a pawn in the plots of others. As for Rickon, he left with his wolf and his wildling keeper and hasn’t been seen since.

Moving across the board to the Lannisters, the currently ruling family is in a bit of a mess as well. The family patriarch is dead, killed by his son while on the toilet, leaving the rule of the kingdom in the hands of Cersei, who seems to get crazier by the week. Conversely, her twin brother Jaime is continuing his quest to not be as despicable as he was when chucking 10-year-old boys out of windows. As for the only half decent member of the family, Tyrion was last seen in a box, on a ship, smuggled out after killing his father with Varys and heading off.

As for the rest, Jon Snow is back on The Wall with The Night’s Watch, having successfully defended it from the wildlings and finally saved by the armies of Stannis Baratheon. Stannis himself is still desperately trying to continue his war for the crown, and despite having the true claim, is fighting with a rented army. Brienne of Tarth beat Sandor Clegane in a brutal fight but lost Arya Stark, and is still wandering the Riverlands with Podrick, while The Hound himself was left for dead.

There you have it, the major pieces are all in place and the game is beginning for another round, one that will certainly see us lose some major characters, gain a few more, and love every minute of it. Oh I almost forgot Gendry – he’s still rowing. It’s been two years, we want him back.