The eighth episode in the fifth season of "Game of Thrones" proved that the TV show is quickly leaving the events in the books behind and going into unknown territory. With George R. R. Martin still working on the sixth book in the "A Song Of Ice and Fire" series this was bound to happen, but importantly the show demonstrated that it can deliver a great episode without relying on material from the books.

So far a lot of attention in the season has been focused on Sansa's (Sophie Turner) arrival in Winterfell, her marriage to the dangerous Ramsay Bolton, and her sexual assault at his hands all of which did not take place in the books written by Martin. With "Hardhome" all that changed as Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) met. This meeting which has not taken place in the books as yet was played out perfectly on screen with each sizing up the other and finally deciding to work together.

As for Sansa in Winterfell, she proved that she did not view herself as a victim and proceeded to verbally confront and threaten Reek until her admitted to not killing her brothers Bran and Rickon. Again this scene never happened in the books and was well acted and written.

The biggest deviation from the books happened in the last twenty minutes of the episode as the show finally revealed the threat from the White Walkers and the Night's King. The events started with Jon Snow (Kit Harington) arriving in Hardhome to convince the Wildlings to return to the Wall and settle The Gift. However, as soon as he convinced some of them to leave on the ships, the White Walkers and the Wights attacked. This led to one of the best executed battle scenes on screen and saw Jon struggle to fight a White Walker in the midst of hundreds of wildlings and Wights fighting. Then there was a big reveal that Valyrian steel is capable of killing White Walkers as Jon used his sword Longclaw to kill one and this caught the attention of the Night's King. The King then raised all the slaughtered wildlings into his army of the undead as Jon and other fled Hardhome.