Sorry, folks, but the ship has nearly sailed — and not just the one en route to Braavos with our intrepid little hero Arya Stark. With 40 hours of Game of Thrones to binge-watch in the next two days before the premiere, it might be time to come up with a plan B.
With that in mind, Rotten Tomatoes has turned to the internet to catch you up, and we’ve found the best resources for every type of learner.
What it is: From Sky Atlantic, this photo gallery highlights key moments of all four seasons.
Why it’s cool: With so much that happens in a single season, this gallery boils down each one into a handful of key moments with images of the most important characters.
Perfect for: People who need a face to go with the name; those with short attention spans.
What it is: An interactive guide from lovereading.co.uk that sorts each character by House and provides a short blurb on where they left off at the end of season four.
Why it’s cool: The interface is easy to understand, giving fans a topline look at the characters and allowing them to dig deeper into each House.
Perfect for: The casual viewer; people who have forgotten everything since season four.
What it is: International Business Times‘ essential viewing list promises to catch you up in just 12 hours.
Why it’s cool: The curated list includes critical turning points within each season, giving you a broad sense of what has transpired over the years, but in a fraction of the time.
Perfect for: Newcomers; people who have time to watch some episodes, but can’t commit to the whole thing before Sunday.
Why it’s cool: The information is present in a matter-of-fact manner, giving you everything you need to know in order to understand the season five premiere.
Perfect for: Sporadic viewers; people who has never watched the show.
What it is: The Washington Post presents all 456 Game of Thrones deaths in various graphic forms.
Why it’s cool: Even though the focus of this richly detailed infographic is the many character deaths, the season-by-season breakdown is also highly informative about the major story arcs.
Perfect for: Super-fans; visuals learners.
What it is: Rolling Stone’s season five primer gives you a rundown of where the major characters left off in season four.
Why it’s cool: For some people, Game of Thrones is too complicated, resulting in storyline overload. This short primer is just enough to remind you of what matters for the premiere.
Perfect for: Occasional viewers; people who don’t have time to re-watch last season’s finale.
What it is: TIME Magazine presents “a graphic refresher of where Season 4 left off.”
Why it’s cool: Not only does this infographic provide a refresher on the main characters, but it also groups them together by different categories, such as new characters and those who have returned or disappeared.
Perfect for: Those who have forgotten what happened last year; sporadic viewers; visual learners; thematic thinkers.
Why it’s cool: In addition to covering pretty much everything that happens in season four, the latest Fine Brothers installment also has their super-fan commentary to help you identify which plots will matter in season five.
Perfect for: People who watched season four, but never totally understood what was going on; super-fans.
What it is: Commissioned by MTV, peanut artist Steve Casino recaps the season four finale.
Why it’s cool: It’s Game of Thrones characters made of out peanuts. Why else would it be cool?
Perfect for: Anyone who saw the season four finale and is interested in a more whimsical recap before Sunday.
What it is: Published last year by Vanity Fair, this article is an essay-style rundown of the main events in Game of Thrones‘ first three seasons.
Why it’s cool: Unlike many other written recaps of “First this happened, and then this happened,” TV critic Richard Lawson gives the summary a more literary bent, making it a pretty decent read.
Perfect for: People who only have time to watch season four in time for the premiere.
Why it’s cool: It’s nice to know Key & Peele are just as crazy about Game of Thrones as the rest of us — and they do manage to reacquaint you with some of the series’ critical turning points.
Perfect for: Fans of both shows; viewers who want to relive some of the more violent highlights of Game of Thrones with Key & Peele’s unwavering enthusiasm.
What it is: An interactive guide has the names, faces, and descriptions of the 40 most important characters in season five.
Why it’s cool: We’re not just saying this because we’re the ones who made it — the character guide is a simple way to remind yourself of the many GoT characters by clicking on their avatars.
Perfect for: People who can’t keep track of the many characters; people who know names, but not faces; people who know faces, but not names.
Season five of Game of Thrones premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO. Will you be ready?
