HELLO
welcome to the official (but not technically) of my game of thrones episode posts. i say not technically because ive already done all of season 4 whilst it was airing, but basically i cannot live without game of thrones in my life for the next year so im watching them all again and continuing my little project from the very beginning yayyyy. so if you want to watch along with me then do so, if not then just read or look at the pretty pictures whenever you feel like it, i guess.
so i am a huge game of thrones fan. and i mean HUGE. well not like im a fatty but as in it is basically what keeps me going through this shit little farce we call life. i started watching game of thrones when it was roughly halfway through the second season, having never heard of it before seeing a post of tumblr with pretty medieval-y dresses and sean beans face and thinking mmm yes i want to watch this. watched the first episode and was HOOKED. ive read all the books but will try to keep book references to a minimum, as the show and the books are kinda 2 different entities now. however, i will mention book stuff when and where it is relevant ie, back story, character motivation, history, etc.
as much as i love game of thrones, i know that alot of people can get lost and sit there thinking what is going on, who is this joker, why are they doing that, etc. so i'll try and clear stuff like that up wherever possible. from what alot of people have told me, one of the main causes of confusion with game of thrones is the fact that alot of the catalysts for peoples behaviour, attitudes to others and their actions happened wayyy before the show starts, involving a lot of characters that are never seen as they are now dead but played a huuuuge part in the story. so i'll do a brief backstory to the main events.
backstoryyy
OK, so before the events of the show begin we're going to go back to about 12 years previously.
game of thrones is set in a fictional world, the main story happening upon a large continent called 'westeros' which is sort of european. westeros is split into seven kingdoms, each of which was once an actual kingdom ruled by its own monarchy until 300 years ago when this guy called aegon the conqueror (like william!) flew over on his dragon (yes! dragons!) and defeated them all. after that, the kings seceded their crowns and bent the knee, pledging allegiance to aegon because lets face it, its pretty difficult to beat a dragon.
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| seven kingdoms & the political boundaries |
each former king in each of the kingdoms still rules, sort of, but is now a 'lord'. so each kingdom is ruled by a powerful family, ie. the starks in the north, the lannisters, the arryns, etc. each lord has several 'bannermen' within his lands, lesser lords that he governs and that swear allegiance and loyalty to him. so pretty much like the traditional medieval feudal system.
anyway, after aegon's conquest, his dynasty (the targaryens) rule for around 300 years. eventually their dragons die out, boo hoo, but the targaryens remain in power. however, due to the unfortunate habit of interbreeding (to keep the bloodline pure) there is the occasional touch of madness in the family. this culminates in the final targaryen king, aerys (known as the 'mad king') who is very much off his rocker. his rule is unbearable.
aerys has a son, rhaegar, who is a bit of a golden boy. rhaegar falls in love with lyanna stark, who is the daughter of the current lord of the north (and sister to ned stark, our lovely sean bean). lyanna stark is also loved by another man named robert baratheon, neds best friend. rhaegar 'kidnaps' lyanna (the details are a bit sketchy in the books), which is the catalyst for an all-out war between robert and his allies and the targaryens, a war referred to as 'roberts rebellion'. ned stark wants rid of aerys too, as aerys was responsible for the death of his father and brother, brandon (whose fiancee, catelyn tully, ned has now married). the mad king is killed (by jaime lannister), rhaegar is killed (by robert baratheon), lyanna dies in suspicious circumstances, robert becomes king and marries cersei, daughter of the wealthiest man in westeros. ned returns to his home in the north, winterfell, with a baby called jon snow, whom he says is his bastard child fathered during his absence from his wife. the mad kings wife manages to escape with her two youngest children, viserys (heir to the iron throne after rhaegar) and daenerys (still in her mums belly at the time) to live in exile across the sea.
there we have it. a brief pre-history. now lets fast forward about 13 years (its different in the books & tv show). this is how things are now:
so, are you sitting comfortably? then we'll begin
Game of Thrones Season 1 Episode One:
Winter Is Coming
true to the books, the story begins in the north at The Wall. The Wall basically does what it says on the tin. its a massive bloody wall. 700ft high. so a very big wall. its a couple of thousand years old (i think) and was built to keep out the wildlings (northern 'savages') that live beyond it that have a habit of raiding and pillaging. though legend has it that the wall was built to keep out things much more ominous and much more deadly than wildlings... ooooooooooo........
anyway, so here we are at the wall for what i believe is the best opening scene in any tv show ever. it was this opening that got my well and truly hooked on GOT. because here we see the very things that the wall was built to keep at bay: WHITE WALKERS. aka. ice zombies. there are two different types of ice zombie; wights (which are the dead brought back to life, like the little girl) and white walkers (referred to sometimes as 'others') which is what sneaks up behind the guy and cuts his head off. the wights are literally ice zombies. the white walkers- with their ice white skin and blue eyes- are something much, much more sinister.
come on, ice zombies and beheadings in less than three minutes? pretty riveting stuff, oui? still not convinced? ok wait for the opening credits..
CATCHIEST THEME MUSIC IN THE WORLD
im sorry but it is.
its so damn catchy that they even play it
at the bloody place where the bloody queen lives. it's taking over the world. sometimes i listen to it when im getting ready for work and close my eyes and just hum along and it takes me to a special place, its like my version of meditation, its my own personal 'om'. it's addictive.
i must be calm.
ok so we're away from the wall now. we're in the north, watching as the guy who managed to escape in the opening sequence gets captured. grimmm. and then we come to the first of the seven kingdoms that we are going to encounter: the north, and its capital WINTERFELL.
northy north time
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| winterfellllll |
with the continent of westeros being modelled on europe (sort of) the north is therefore similarly cold and bleak, corresponding roughly to england. it's all rolling hills and castles and mud and forests. in terms of culture, medieval england seems about right. the north is the largest of the seven kingdoms, being roughly the size of the other six put together. its huge. the north has been ruled by the same family for thousands of years; the starks. and here we are about to meet the current starks; daddy ned, mummy cat, robb, sansa, arya, bran and rickon.
i wish ned stark was my dad but we can't all get what we wish for so hey ho. basically he's all super-noble and honourable and true. lovely. his wife, catelyn, isn't from the north. she's from riverrun, a kingdom further south. she was originally meant to marry ned's brother, but he died so she married ned instead. they have an honest, loving marriage. their eldest son robb is heir to winterfell, very similar to his father. sansa, their eldest daughter, is a proper little lady. she likes singing and dancing and stories about princesses, fairytales and songs. arya is a tomboy and hates everything sansa loves. bran in just bran. he messes everything up later and becomes really annoying. and rickon is just rickon.
there are two others in the picture that aren't starks. one is theon greyjoy (played by alfie allen, lily allen's sister). he is basically a 'ward', but is in reality a captive. he was taken by ned to grow up in winterfell after theon's father, balon greyjoy, rebelled against robert in the big war. basically he tried to crown himself king and mesed up, so ned took his son and heir hostage as a means of keeping balon in line. but theon has been well looked after, and is basically a stark now (or so we would think), having lived in winterfell from most of his life. the other non-stark is jon snow. in westeros, the name 'snow' means you're illegitimate. and jon snow is ned's starks illegitimate son, born during the great war.
ok so ned stark says 'winter is coming', and this is a phrase you will hear alot. it's the stark family motto. seasons in westeros don't quite work like our seasons do, with three months of each. instead, they are irregular. some summers last for years, as do winters. in the past there were winters that lasted for generations. the longer and hotter the summer, the longer and harsher the winter. in the north, the winters are bitterly cold. at this point in time in westeros, it hasnt been winter for a while, therefore the winter is expected to be particularly arduous. so yeah, thats why they seem to make such a big deal out of the seasons. no-one knows how long or how bleak a winter will be.
ok back to the story. so this guy has fled from the nights watch after seeing the ice zombies. nobody believes him, because the white walkers are the stuff of myth and legend. no-one is said to have seen them for thousands of years. believing in them in westeros is as fanciful as us believing in fairies and vampires. so they don't believe this guy. the penalty for deserting the nights watch is death, and so ned has to do his duty. he believes, however, that the one giving the sentence should also deal the death blow, and so he takes his big family sword, Ice, and performs the execution as a true lord should.
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| squeeeeeeeeeeeee |
on the way back to winterfell, the party discover a dead stag that they assume has been killed by a mountain lion. further on, they discover the body of a direwolf (basically just a massive wolf) that has been killed by a stag (obviously, as it has an antler in its belly). the symbolism is being laid on pretty thick here. each of the great families has a sigil, a sort of medieval logo for their house. the kings family, the baratheons, are stags. his wifes family, the lannisters, are lions. the starks are direwolves. so its all very ominous. ooo.
BUT WAIT LOOK ITS JON SNOW HOLDING A FLUFFY BABY WOLF.
THERES A BABY WOLF FOR EVERYONE, YAYY. jon snow gets the albino runt of the litter coz he's a bastard, but he still gets one too yayyy.
KINGS LANDING
so now we're in the south, nearer to the equator so therefore warmer, a little more mediterranean in terms of climate and custom. we're in the capital city and the seat of political power, kings landing yayyy. ok yes its a weird name, but it literally is a kings landing. it's the place where aegon targaryen, called 'the conqueror' (nudge to william the conqueror and english history there) landed on his dragon when he came to, you know, conquer. the city was built where he landed and flourished under the targaryen dynasty that he founded. the targaryens were the ruling family for around 300 years before robert took the throne. the targaryens are therefore not native to westeros. they originated across the sea in a place called valyria, an empire which was destroyed. like the romans. george r.r martin tends to nick a bit from history but who doesn't. we love him from it.
anyway, we're in kings landing and oh no jon arryn is dead. jon arryn was the hand of the king, a position kinda like a prime minister, i guess. basically the hand of the king is the second most powerful man in the seven kingdoms after the king. he does all of the kings dirty work, plays a part in ruling, passing laws, administering justice, offering advice, etc. he plays a pretty big part in the government of the realm, and this one has just unexpectedly popped his clogs.
here we meet cersei lannister, roberts wife and therefore the queen, and her brother jaime. they are twins, though cersei is a bit older by a few minutes, making her the eldest of the lannister clan. jaime is the spitting image of prince charming in shrek, i think. not that its relevant at all but interesting.
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| prince charming |
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| jaime lannister |
anyway, back to winterfell. a raven has arrived with a message for cat. in westeros, letters and messages are sent using ravens, i don't know why. i suppose its quicker than the british postal system. ravens in this world are like super-ravens, they are highly intelligent and can be trained to fly to different places delivering notes. though thats not so unusual, i guess. coz pigeons do that in real life and pigeons are idiots.
cat stark isn't a northerner. she was born in riverrun, another of the seven kingdoms much further south. she was originally betrothed to ned's elder brother, but married ned after he died. their marriage was a political match, but they none the less grew to love each other. her sister was married to jon arryn, who was kinda like a stepfather to both ned and robert, as they grew up together under his protection (hence the brotherly affinity between them). so it's all a bit of a family affair really.
the king is coming to winterfell dun dun dunnnn
TIME PASSES
OK yes a few months will have passed by now, as the road from kings landing to winterfell (called the kings road) is looooooooooong so the wolves are older and everyones had a bit of time to prepare for a royal visit.
bran stark is climbing the walls of winterfell keeping an eye out for the procession, but gets caught by his mum and told not to climb. now the first thing i learnt as a child was ALWAYS LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER. NO MORE CLIMBING. BECAUSE DISOBEYING HER MIGHT JUST BE THE CATALYST FOR AN AWFUL, AWFUL TURN OF EVENTS THAT WILL JUST RIP THE ENTIRE PEACEFUL WORLD TO SHREDS, OK.
joffrey.
where do we even begin with joffrey.
he is cerseis eldest son, and therefore heir to the throne when robert dies.
and he is such a little shit i cant even
he is the justin beiber of westeros
you'll see.
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| HAVE A FEATHER, MY DEAD LOVE. |
aaaand here we have robert baratheon, the king! yayy! one of the very first things he wants to do is visit the tomb of the woman he loved (and still loves), neds sister lyanna, who died during the rebellion. his determination to visit her tomb straight away is a very public snub of his wife, cersei, and pretty much sums up their entire relationship. cersei loved robert, for a time, until she realised she would never be able to compete with a ghost. anyway, there are some very suspicious circumstances surrounding lyanna's death, but i'll get to that in another post.
with jon arryn dead, robert now wants ned to be his hand, which means leaving winterfell for kings landing. it's a bit of an offer that ned cannot refuse, especially as robert is offering to make ned's eldest daughter sansa queen. but that's all pretty much self-explanatory.
here we meet another lannister, tyrion, the brother of cersei and jaime. tyrion is obviously a dwarf, a 'deformity' which means he is reviled by most of his family (well, cersei, joffrey and their father, not so much jaime who is actually quite nice to his brother). tyrion is one of the best characters, hands down. he likes to drink and sleep around and be a little bit rebellious but he is extremely clever and witty, a trait him which gets him both into trouble and out of it.
so that's it, we've met pretty much everyone important so far.
wait did someonne just say 'the targaryens are gone'?
erm no they're not
TO BE CONTINUED.....
