Ned’s severed head is raised before a bloodthirsty mob of King’s Landing residents.
Arya’s stake in the story rises after she witnesses the death of her father. Her hair is chopped so that she can pass as a boy, and slip away from the crowd. She’s instructed to use the pseudonym “Arry” and sell her story as an orphan lad. Soon she runs into more bullies in the street. Another fat bully threatens to kick her to pieces, and she pulls her sword “Needle” on him and says, “I like killing fat boys.” As luck would have it, Robert Baratheon’s bastard son connects with Arya, and an interesting alliance in the slum begins. Oh, and best of all, a truck of recruits is heading north to The Wall, giving Arya a chance to leave King’s Landing.
One of Ned’s younger sons, Rickon, reports seeing the ghost of Ned in the crypt, giving us a shred of hope that his spirit will live on or haunt certain Lannisters, like Banquo did to Macbeth.
Also – I have a gut feeling that Arya’s Dancing Master, Syrio, still lives and will appear in season two. I had a prophet-moment this morning, and I can feel that Syrio is still out there (alive in the season two scripts).
Lady Stark promises Robb Stark that “we will kill them all.” Somehow this struck me as madness, but also reminded me of so much of actual human history, where one act of violence leads to another, and another. When Jaime Lannister pushed Brandon Stark out the window the dominos of grief and loss started the tumbling violence.
Our first glimpse of Joffrey’s reign shows exactly what we expect: ruthless, cold, evil, wanton decisions. 
After having a musician’s tongue removed, he forces Sansa Stark to observe her father’s piked head. For some reason, he remains betrothed to her, which seems strange given that Joffrey had only yesterday beheaded her father for treason. Sansa’s desire for power and glamour earns her a good slap to the face. The Hound, a Lannister bodyguard, advises Sansa to “Save herself some pain – give him what he wants.” Do whatever Joffrey says, he suggests, not out of cruelty but out of pity.
This is the second time we’ve witnessed The Hound show a surprising side. With few words, he becomes an interesting character. In his fight with his brother, The Mountain, we saw him defending an unarmed man. Moreover, when Robert ordered the fight stopped, The Hound kneeled immediately, showing us a deep sense of duty to the crown, since he might have lost his head by giving up the fight so quickly. With Sansa, The Hound does not offer protection, but he offers sound advice to a girl in a dangerous situation. Her instincts to pout and be sassy must be put away, just to survive and, we hope, get revenge.
Robb Stark’s army decides that Winterfell does not need to pay any fealty to the Iron Throne. Robb is declared “King of the North.” This secession divides the kingdom – and I wanted to shout “The King of the North” with the actors. The Iron Throne, like the One Ring, draws those who seek it to their death.
A brief aside about The Iron Throne: in a writing class in college, I recall a teacher’s instruction, “You have to find the thing that the characters want. You need to explain why it’s wanted. And the conflict is the pursuit of the object.” Shared desire of something that cannot be shared is the core of conflict. The Iron Throne in Game of Thrones. The One Ring in Lord of the Rings. The ownership of Facebook in The Social Network. Control of the five families in The Godfather. Freedom in 1984. The White Whale in Moby Dick. Moreover, those that desire the something should be opposites, or binary types of people. Game of Thrones sets this up beautifully, since the Starks and Lannisters differ in culture, dress, speech, and sense of honor. When two opposites desire the same thing, the conflict develops naturally.
In the east, the Dothraki mood dwindles with the waning life of Khal Drogo. Khaleesi learns that the witch’s incantations offered only a “be careful what you wish for.” Her voodoo only allowed Drogo to live in a stupor, not as the testosterone fueled monster that we know and love. Without apology, the sorceress tells Khaleesi that she has no pity for Drogo, since his warriors had already raped her several times before Khaleesi “saved” her. Hard not to agree with the witch (or medicine woman), since the slaughter of her village by the Dothraki showed no mercy.
At The Wall in the north, Jon Snow deserts, which incurs the penalty of death. Duty to the Starks draws him to risk this punishment. But his mates give chase. Friendship causes him to turn back to assist a fallen rider. Samwell is thrown from his horse, and Snow’s soft spot for broken things gets the best of him. Then we have a “Captain, my Captain” moment like that in Dead Poets’ Society, as his mates recite the oath of the Night’s Watch. Here is the oath:
Hear my words and bear witness to my vow. Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
I’m right on board with the oath until they hit the celibacy part. Then I’m deserting, too. Snow is better man than I, and he returns to The Wall. Upon his return, Snow gets his orders for his first ride beyond The Wall. The Night’s Watch is declaring war on the icy unknown beyond, to take the fight to the mysterious Walkers, wildlings, and beasts of prey.
Khal Drogo dies, but not from infection. Since the witch made him a vegetable, Khaleesi puts out his lights with the old pillow-over-the-face mash. This is a mercy killing that breaks her heart. A funeral pyre for Drogo ascends in flame. Her bodyguard insists that she will not watch her burn – and this confused me a bit. Khaleesi is going to kill herself for love? Now that my heroes Drogo and Ned have died, I can’t take Khaleesi dying too! Who’s next Tyrion Lannister?
But then as she enters the funeral pyre, an ending emerges that whets the appetite for season two. Presumably dead after entering the fire, in the morning ashes, Khaleesi sits unscathed, unburned by the flame. Upon her shoulder, a baby dragon perches. In the fire, the dragon’s eggs activated because Khaleesi, Daenarys Targaryen, cannot be consumed by fire – she has the blood of the dragon. House Targaryen is back in the game.
Follow Me…