Warning: Spoilers for Game of Thrones seasons one through four and the first episode of season five follow.

Overhearing conversations about the last episode of Game of Thrones on the first floor of Mudd library has become commonplace once again with the beginning of the fantasy series’ fifth season. Groups of students are crowding into classrooms and dorm rooms to watch the premiere on their friends’ HBO Go accounts, Game of Thrones cliques have formed on campus and anyone who watches episodes before their own group is inevitably labeled a traitor. Theorizing about what characters are going to die this season has become an Oberlin pastime. Discussions of the week’s episode can bring together students, professors and even strangers.

The fact that these episodes have been prematurely released means that spoilers will circulate on the internet and throughout conversations, putting a damper on the suspense of the show. Netflix has recently released entire seasons of shows at once, which is wonderful for perpetual binge watchers, but viewing the whole season over the weekend detracts from the potential water-cooler conversations that weekly anticipation can spark. Game of Thrones is not a series that I would ever want to have the option of viewing multiple episodes of in one sitting; single episodes are convoluted enough, let alone four episodes in succession. One needs time to decompress Littlefinger’s newest scheme, evaluate Daenerys’ latest decision or marvel at how awesome Arya Stark can be.

Judging from last week’s premiere, this season will be just as entertaining as its predecessors. While not much happened in terms of plot development, the first episode of the season served as a reminder of what had happened last to each of the show’s many characters. Tyrion, who just killed his father, decides that he can get revenge on Westeros by helping Daenerys reclaim the throne but, of course, not without drinking himself to death along the way. Varys, through helping Tyrion, may have finally revealed his secret underlying motivations to restore the Targaryens to the throne of Westeros. However, Littlefinger’s motivations are still completely unclear. Sansa seems to be playing along with his games for now and, as we have learned, she is quick to learn. Both Jaime and Cersei Lannister are mourning their father’s death at the hand of their brother, Tyrion, but neither of them has the luxury of dwelling for too long; as Jaime points out, they need to prepare themselves against their enemies, who constantly want to usurp power. Jon Snow is as noble as ever as he thwarts Stannis from burning alive his captor, Mance Rayder, by placing a well-aimed arrow in Rayder’s heart. After Snow’s heroic deed, he now seems poised to fill the leadership vacuum at the Wall.

This season has a lot of promise. Undoubtedly, many Oberlin students and millions of people around the world will have countless discussions of what’s to come on Game of Thrones.