First, a disclaimer. I haven’t read the George R. R. Martin books that drive this series, but the show has me so smitten that I’m going to blog about it anyway. I am not as excited as this gentleman, who did video reviews of every episode, but I’m nearly there.
So without any further apologies, I aim to blog about GoT, simply because this series is the best thing since the Lord of the Rings movies. In some ways, this series is better, because the adult content makes it like the Sopranos for fantasy geeks.
Episode I: “Winter is Coming”
The motto of Ned Stark’s family is “Winter is Coming.” This saying begins our trek of language into an immense world-building effort by the author G.R.R. Martin. Since I’m from Minnesota, the northern climate of Winterfell instantly struck me as home, and in season 1 at least, this northern clime does act as the hub of the story, with Boromir as the leader of the Winterfell “state”. Did I say Boromir? I mean to say Ned Stark, played by Sean Bean. His face alone tells a story of a hard climate, of a life outdoors. In other words, casting picked the perfect guy for the role of Ned Stark.
The opening shot of the series shows three men, amply dressed in wintry attire, holding torches as a large iron gate opens in front of them. 
From this entrance, we are confronted with the unknown and strangeness that lies to the north of Winterfell. More specifically, what lies north of “The Wall,” where a ragtag group known as the Night’s Watch, who are lifelong enlistees like the French Foreign Legion, and are mostly ne’er do wells and exiles, guard the greater kingdom to the south from whatever is out there.
The Night’s Watch discover a ditch filled with snow-covered bodies and dismembered heads. The Night’s Watch fellows discuss the “wildlings,” who are the humans that reside north of the the wall. The wildlings are humans but rather dehumanized, as they clearly represent a low caste of the kingdom. They are barbarians who live in an infinite winter. A White Walker is a kind of Mike Myers of the North Pole. Clad in but a torn loincloth, and shirtless as a Buffalo Bills football fan in December, our only sighting of the White Walker occurs when he removes the head of one of the Night’s Watch members. Since I am a big fan of any show that dabbles in the unknown, the introduction of the mysterious White Walkers who terrorize the northerners’ sleep gives a good opening hook to the series.
So the body count in the opening scene increments further. One of the Night’s Watch members does escape, but more on his fate to come.
Ah, and then we get to the theme song of the show, and the mech
anized world emerging from the map. This opening song has an epic fell to it. I was surprised by the Lego-like construction of the world, since it seems less fantasy-like and more like science fiction. But then Game of Thrones plays in both arenas a bit. The song itself seems to have the drums of war amid a somber and serious cello. Like Lord of the Rings, the theme song provides a cool leitmotif that gives current to the show’s flow. Just watching the world grow in the map (the world is known as Westeros) is fascinating.
Winterfell, to the south of the wintry Wall, suffers harsh winters as well, but nothing like what lies beyond “The Wall.” Winterfell is portrayed as a place of morals, clearly marked by the satisfying and respectable marriage between Ned and his wife. The Stark family is the closest thing to Little House on the Prairie in GoT, as all other families to the south have wildly dysfunctional cultures.
So about that “Winter is Coming” motto of the Stark family. Each family or clan has a motto, but I find this one perhaps the most interesting. The Stark motto reminds me of the boy scouts, with “Be Prepared.” It has a subtext of humility, of, well, starkness. That what you have today is no cause for excess celebration, because dark days are ahead.
Ned Stark must deliver punishment to the member of the Night’s Watch who fled The Wall after seeing the White Walker. In an interesting twist on capital punishment, and unlike anything in European history, Ned must sentence the deserter to die for abandoning his post. And he who passes judgment on the deserter, must also perform the execution. Imagine if Henry VIII or Rick Perry had to “swing the sword” on those they sentenced to die. This beheading of the deserter again shows that Winterfell holds its values high, and that the leader must partake in the affairs of the kingdom, and cannot keep his hands clean from the ugliness of civilization.
Before the execution, the deserter mentions the White Walkers, and Ned Stark dismisses it as the drivel of a madman. However, Sean Bean’s delivery is apt in showing that he wonders if this madman spoke the truth. The unknown wriggles into the story further…
Then we are taken the other central city of the first season: King’s Landing. Here we meet a few members of House Lannister. Now, the Lannister motto is “A Lannister always pays his debts.” Thus the focus of this family differs significantly from House Stark. The Lannisters are moneyed, handsome, almost Apollonian in the way they look and act, filing their fingernails as they peer down upon the peasants. This sets up terrific contrast between the Starks and Lannisters, and the conflict is natural then. Starks are rural, Lannisters are urban.
Lady Stark must prepare Winterfell from a visit from the king, Robert Baratheon, who is Ned Stark’s old battle-buddy. He is married to Cersei Lannister. This marriage is something to behold, as king and queen are married only in name. Each spouse fulfills their sexual needs outside of the marriage. Robert is a likeable sot, usually drunk, dirty-minded, and rough around all edges. He admits that when he was sixteen, all he wanted to do was “crack skulls and fuck girls.” Robert’s visit to Winterfell is to invite Ned to become his right hand man, known as “The King’s Hand.”
I cannot go into the history of Ned and Robert here, because it’s extensive. To get the full story of Robert…start here.
Perhaps the best supporting character is the dwarf known as Tyrion Lannister. The actor steals scene after scene. He is a cerebral wastrel, mostly interested in books, wine, and women that he pays by the hour. He is witty, hilarious, and honest. Having no prospects for the throne himself, he can play as much as he wants, and speak openly.
The next major family in the series is the Targaryens, who are exiled and defeated, having been rousted from the iron throne in King’s Landing. They are hatching a plan to return to power, as a weaselish brother, Viserys, molests his beautiful sister, Daenarys Targaryen, before betrothing her to the savage leader of the Dothraki tribe. The Dothraki are the Harley-Davidson gang of the GoT world, and the leader, Khal Drogo, is like the UFC champion of the Dothraki – he has never lost a fight. I have to admit, my two favorite characters are these opposites: the innocent, beautiful Daenarys and the rough, angry Khal Drogo. She objects to marrying this man, but her sleaze brother mentions in colorful terms that he would let all of the Dothraki and their horses, too, have sex with Daenarys, so long as House Targaryen regains its power. So by this time, we like Daenarys and eagerly await the demise of her brother. In a key moment in episode one, we see Daenarys enter a steaming hot bath and she is unaffected by the heat. This is notable for the final episode in season one.
My favorite scene of this first episode is the Dothraki wedding feast, when Daenarys marries Khal Drogo. There is no best-man speech or toast to the bride at a Dothraki wedding feast. Rather, there is open sex, duels to the death, topless women, and wild drums. We are informed, “A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.” 
The wedding night of Daenarys and Khal Drogo is not an especially romantic moment, at least for Daenarys.
The conclusion of the first episode delivers a shocking bit of treachery and royal incest, pitting the Starks against the Lannisters. The conflicts and the states of Westeros are well-defined after the first sixty minutes of this series. A rich set of opposing characters and a plausible world had me hooked, to say the least.
Image Attributions: HBO
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