"We only make peace with our enemies, my lord. That's why it's called 'making peace'."
Although I enjoyed this episode, it's not one of my favorites so far. (Despite the suspense and backstabbing and amazing cliffhanger ending!) Mostly because (a) we didn't get a whole lot of new canon, and (b) no Arya or Tyrion. SADFACE. I think this was mainly a "setting up the chess pieces" episode in order for us to have the last 2 minutes, plus what comes after.
I love that the plot is getting so complex now that we need "previously-on"s. Heh.
I really adore this opening scene between Jaime and his father, Tywin Lannister. It's an added scene (not in the books) but it speaks to how strict, unemotional and unyielding Tywin is, and how that's affected his children - especially Jaime. (I also love the symbolism of him skinning a stag - the sigil of the Baratheons.) It's all about houses, isn't it. Protect the honor of your house, defend your house and your family, your house comes first. That attitude will be the downfall of ... well, probably everyone. ALSO, in the very first episode we saw Jaime push a 10-year-old boy out of a window with the intent to kill him, and yet we're already seeing reasons to sympathize with him; evidence of honor of some sort ("It wouldn't have been clean"), and a glimpse into the fucked-up family dynamics that have shaped him. That's part of what I love about Martin's universe; no one is ever completely good or evil. There are shades of gray everywhere and in everyone.
Except for Ned Stark. Poor honorable righteous idiot. I completely understand why he makes every decision that he does in this episode; he's trying to do the Right Thing. He confronts Cersei because he knows Robert will execute her and the children once he finds out, and Ned is trying to spare the children's lives. He refuses Renly's offer of soldiers because he genuinely believes the throne should pass to Stannis. Not because Stannis would make a good king, but because he's next in the line of succession and that's all that matters; Ned can't break the rules just because he disagrees with them. He keeps the truth from Robert on his deathbed, because how can you tell a dying man that his children are not his own? He puts his trust in a piece of paper because it should be enough, in a just and fair world; assuming everyone else believes in rules and order and truth and goodness the way he does. But that's the problem. It reminds me of the swordfight between Bronn and Ser Vardis in the Eyrie in ep 1x06; Bronn uses trickery and cunning to defeat the noble Vardis, and when Lady Arryn accuses Bronn of not fighting with honor, he says "No. But [Vardis] did." Your honor can't save you when you're going up against someone without it, and Ned is the only honorable person in King's Landing. He would have made a wonderful king. But good and moral and honorable men don't win the throne, nor do they keep it.
Cersei is evil, yes, but I still have mad respect for her. Especially after the story she told of Robert fucking her on their wedding night and whispering "Lyanna" in her ear. If I were in her shoes, I can't say I would have acted any differently, in any way. Then OR now. I think she sees herself as having two choices: lie back and think of England (literally AND metaphorically), and give up hope of ever being anything but a pawn in a larger game; or fight, seize power, do whatever it takes to protect herself and her children. She's been used by men her whole life - first her father, then her husband - and she's too strong to accept that. She may not be able to sit on the Iron Throne, due to having a uterus, but her son can. And if she controls him (the way she never could control Robert), then she's essentially free for the first time in her life.
The scene with Littlefinger, Roz and the other whore ... I'm not sure how I feel about it. I was sort of wincing the whole time. It's another "added" scene, and I understand why it's there; we get some backstory on the love triangle between Littlefinger and Cat and Ned's older brother, and also some insight into Littlefinger and his motivations ("I'm not going to fight them, I'm going to fuck them"). But it was very clumsily delivered, and ... okay, I love onscreen lesbian action as much as the next queer female fan, but only when it's real. Real for the characters, that is. This was two whores performing lesbianism for the male brothel owner, and it felt really squicky. Which was possibly the point, and if HBO wasn't trying to titillate, then fine ... but somehow I doubt that.
I was skeptical about Osha's (the wildling who's now at Winterfell) casting in the last ep, but I've decided I really like her. She's fierce. :) I adore her questioning of Theon's insistence that she call him a lord. Titles ARE rather stupid. (And god, Theon really is a DOUCHE, isn't he.)
Am shipping Sam/Jon liek WHOA. Despite (or perhaps, because of) Sam's loud proclamations that he misses girls. The lad doth protest too much? ;) And he follows Jon around 24/7, and even adopts Jon's gods temporarily to say the oath of the Night's Watch, and omg ADORABLE. I LURVES THEM. ♥
Why was Robert's goring *and* death offscreen? I wish we'd gotten to see at least one of those. I think this is a case of the show following the book too closely; both of these events were also "offscreen" in the book, such as it were, but that's because the chapters were told from Ned's POV and he found out about both events secondhand. There could easily have been an additional short scene or two for Robert.
Speaking of Robert: man, I'm sorry to lose Mark Addy. He was an AWESOME Robert Baratheon. I never paid much attention to Robert in the books, but Mark Addy's AMAZING acting in conjunction with all the extra canon we got for him - like the beautiful heartbreaking scene between Robert and Cersei in 1x05, or the "war stories" bit with Robert, Jaime and Barristan in 1x03, made me feel ALL THE FEELINGS. Oh, sure, he's a total jackass and a terrible king, and he hits his wife and sleeps with prostitutes and treats his servants like shit and sends assassins after pregnant teenage girls. But he knows he's a terrible king, and he's honest with Ned about that. (I wonder sometimes what he was like back when he first won King's Landing. Somehow I think he was a lot more like Ned; a much better, kinder man than the Robert we know. Which goes to show you what absolute power and being married to a Lannister can do.) And then he says stuff like "Bow, you shits!" and breaks into laughter, and I laugh with him because oh Robert, you are AWFUL and I love it. You will be missed.
Every time we see Ned leaning on his cane and limping, I want to cry. King's Landing has broken him, in more ways than one. I just want to patch him up and make it all better.
I was never a fan of Daenerys/Drogo in the books OR the show, simply because of how the marriage began; their first month or two together was too rapey for me to ever see anything that came afterwards in a positive light, no matter how much Dany proclaimed her love for him. However, the show is doing its absolute best to try to change my mind. The actors have amazing chemistry, and Drogo running to Dany and calling her "Moon of my life" nearly broke me, and the way she looks at him ... I dunno. I may be turning into a Dany/Drogo shipper despite myself. I'm also enjoying Dany's scenes in the show even more than I did in the books; I think I look forward to those most of all (with the exception of anything involving Arya or Tyrion). And it has nothing to do with Emilia Clarke being stunningly gorgeous. No sir. ;)
They left out Jon talking to Maester Aemon! (Explanation: in the books, Sam's being trained to be a fighter and is obviously terrible at it, and it's Jon who points out to Aemon that the Night's Watch should play to Sam's strength's and make him a steward instead. Jon does it to protect Sam.) I guess there wasn't enough time in just 10 episodes to include small stuff like that, but it's a bit of plot that really highlights Jon's empathy and emotional intelligence, so I'm sad to lose it in the TV series.
OMG, Pyp. Pyp and his story about singing for the sexual predator high lord. I don't remember this bit of backstory being in the books; this scene really got to me. You're right, Pyp, nothing is fucking fair.
"I always wanted to be a wizard." OH, PUMPKIN. *hugs Sam Tarly a million times*
I have the same problem with Ghost and the rest of the direwolves that I had with Diefenbaker in due South. Namely, are we really supposed to believe that's a wolf? It's clearly a dog! Oh, whatever, it's cuuuuuuute, handwavey handwavey PUPPY.
So. The Drogo scene. There was an amazing emotional build here, and Jason Momoa knocks this one out of the park, and I love Drogo's angry growling and the glow on Dany's face as she hears his words. And it's alllllmost perfect! Except for one bit! Here was my inner running commentary as he made his speech: "I will take my Khalasar west!" Wooo! Yeah dude! Rain down some righteous fury! "I will kill the men in iron suits!" Sucks to be them, but yeah, sure! Do it! Most of them are assholes anyway! Go Drogo! "I will rape their women and take their children as slaves!" Wooo-- ...wait. Aw, man. That's not cool. Mind you, I'm not actually complaining about the inclusion of this bit. It was in the books, and it deserves to be in the show too, and I think it's important as a reminder of the dominant social morality of this universe (and don't think for a second that rape and/or slavery as weapons of war are exclusive to the Dothraki). Khal Drogo is a product of his culture. Of course, so am I, and I can't quite love a character that sees rape & slavery as acceptable actions. Even if I admire him in lots of other ways. And even if Jason Momoa is hot like burning. :) I'm only mentioning it because it's the one thing keeping me from becoming a huge Drogo fan.
(I actually have a lot to say about the treatment of women in general in this series, and how various female characters deal with living in a world where women have little to no power. But that's an essay in and of itself and will have to wait for another time.)
Joffrey, you little shit.
And now for two small spoilery bits! Plot spoilers through book 2 below ...
.
.
.
WHY do we have so much Theon??? Yeah, I know he's gonna be really important later, but surely he doesn't need this much screen time in Season 1. I wouldn't mind so much if (a) so many of his scenes weren't awkward and pointless, and (b) I didn't hate him so damn much. Go away, Theon.
And a brief additional note about Khal Drogo's big speech: I think the rape-and-slavery line will work better in retrospect, because next episode (if I'm not mistaken) is when the Dothraki attack the Lhazareen village and rape the women, including Mirri Maz Duur, and Dany makes them stop. In the context of character growth, it makes sense for Drogo to start from a "whee, rape!" place so that Dany can properly educate him later.
For an episode I liked less than most so far, I sure had a lot to say! Hee.
Also posted to Dreamwidth (
comments). Comment wherever you like.
I love that the plot is getting so complex now that we need "previously-on"s. Heh.
I really adore this opening scene between Jaime and his father, Tywin Lannister. It's an added scene (not in the books) but it speaks to how strict, unemotional and unyielding Tywin is, and how that's affected his children - especially Jaime. (I also love the symbolism of him skinning a stag - the sigil of the Baratheons.) It's all about houses, isn't it. Protect the honor of your house, defend your house and your family, your house comes first. That attitude will be the downfall of ... well, probably everyone. ALSO, in the very first episode we saw Jaime push a 10-year-old boy out of a window with the intent to kill him, and yet we're already seeing reasons to sympathize with him; evidence of honor of some sort ("It wouldn't have been clean"), and a glimpse into the fucked-up family dynamics that have shaped him. That's part of what I love about Martin's universe; no one is ever completely good or evil. There are shades of gray everywhere and in everyone.
Except for Ned Stark. Poor honorable righteous idiot. I completely understand why he makes every decision that he does in this episode; he's trying to do the Right Thing. He confronts Cersei because he knows Robert will execute her and the children once he finds out, and Ned is trying to spare the children's lives. He refuses Renly's offer of soldiers because he genuinely believes the throne should pass to Stannis. Not because Stannis would make a good king, but because he's next in the line of succession and that's all that matters; Ned can't break the rules just because he disagrees with them. He keeps the truth from Robert on his deathbed, because how can you tell a dying man that his children are not his own? He puts his trust in a piece of paper because it should be enough, in a just and fair world; assuming everyone else believes in rules and order and truth and goodness the way he does. But that's the problem. It reminds me of the swordfight between Bronn and Ser Vardis in the Eyrie in ep 1x06; Bronn uses trickery and cunning to defeat the noble Vardis, and when Lady Arryn accuses Bronn of not fighting with honor, he says "No. But [Vardis] did." Your honor can't save you when you're going up against someone without it, and Ned is the only honorable person in King's Landing. He would have made a wonderful king. But good and moral and honorable men don't win the throne, nor do they keep it.
Cersei is evil, yes, but I still have mad respect for her. Especially after the story she told of Robert fucking her on their wedding night and whispering "Lyanna" in her ear. If I were in her shoes, I can't say I would have acted any differently, in any way. Then OR now. I think she sees herself as having two choices: lie back and think of England (literally AND metaphorically), and give up hope of ever being anything but a pawn in a larger game; or fight, seize power, do whatever it takes to protect herself and her children. She's been used by men her whole life - first her father, then her husband - and she's too strong to accept that. She may not be able to sit on the Iron Throne, due to having a uterus, but her son can. And if she controls him (the way she never could control Robert), then she's essentially free for the first time in her life.
The scene with Littlefinger, Roz and the other whore ... I'm not sure how I feel about it. I was sort of wincing the whole time. It's another "added" scene, and I understand why it's there; we get some backstory on the love triangle between Littlefinger and Cat and Ned's older brother, and also some insight into Littlefinger and his motivations ("I'm not going to fight them, I'm going to fuck them"). But it was very clumsily delivered, and ... okay, I love onscreen lesbian action as much as the next queer female fan, but only when it's real. Real for the characters, that is. This was two whores performing lesbianism for the male brothel owner, and it felt really squicky. Which was possibly the point, and if HBO wasn't trying to titillate, then fine ... but somehow I doubt that.
I was skeptical about Osha's (the wildling who's now at Winterfell) casting in the last ep, but I've decided I really like her. She's fierce. :) I adore her questioning of Theon's insistence that she call him a lord. Titles ARE rather stupid. (And god, Theon really is a DOUCHE, isn't he.)
Am shipping Sam/Jon liek WHOA. Despite (or perhaps, because of) Sam's loud proclamations that he misses girls. The lad doth protest too much? ;) And he follows Jon around 24/7, and even adopts Jon's gods temporarily to say the oath of the Night's Watch, and omg ADORABLE. I LURVES THEM. ♥
Why was Robert's goring *and* death offscreen? I wish we'd gotten to see at least one of those. I think this is a case of the show following the book too closely; both of these events were also "offscreen" in the book, such as it were, but that's because the chapters were told from Ned's POV and he found out about both events secondhand. There could easily have been an additional short scene or two for Robert.
Speaking of Robert: man, I'm sorry to lose Mark Addy. He was an AWESOME Robert Baratheon. I never paid much attention to Robert in the books, but Mark Addy's AMAZING acting in conjunction with all the extra canon we got for him - like the beautiful heartbreaking scene between Robert and Cersei in 1x05, or the "war stories" bit with Robert, Jaime and Barristan in 1x03, made me feel ALL THE FEELINGS. Oh, sure, he's a total jackass and a terrible king, and he hits his wife and sleeps with prostitutes and treats his servants like shit and sends assassins after pregnant teenage girls. But he knows he's a terrible king, and he's honest with Ned about that. (I wonder sometimes what he was like back when he first won King's Landing. Somehow I think he was a lot more like Ned; a much better, kinder man than the Robert we know. Which goes to show you what absolute power and being married to a Lannister can do.) And then he says stuff like "Bow, you shits!" and breaks into laughter, and I laugh with him because oh Robert, you are AWFUL and I love it. You will be missed.
Every time we see Ned leaning on his cane and limping, I want to cry. King's Landing has broken him, in more ways than one. I just want to patch him up and make it all better.
I was never a fan of Daenerys/Drogo in the books OR the show, simply because of how the marriage began; their first month or two together was too rapey for me to ever see anything that came afterwards in a positive light, no matter how much Dany proclaimed her love for him. However, the show is doing its absolute best to try to change my mind. The actors have amazing chemistry, and Drogo running to Dany and calling her "Moon of my life" nearly broke me, and the way she looks at him ... I dunno. I may be turning into a Dany/Drogo shipper despite myself. I'm also enjoying Dany's scenes in the show even more than I did in the books; I think I look forward to those most of all (with the exception of anything involving Arya or Tyrion). And it has nothing to do with Emilia Clarke being stunningly gorgeous. No sir. ;)
They left out Jon talking to Maester Aemon! (Explanation: in the books, Sam's being trained to be a fighter and is obviously terrible at it, and it's Jon who points out to Aemon that the Night's Watch should play to Sam's strength's and make him a steward instead. Jon does it to protect Sam.) I guess there wasn't enough time in just 10 episodes to include small stuff like that, but it's a bit of plot that really highlights Jon's empathy and emotional intelligence, so I'm sad to lose it in the TV series.
OMG, Pyp. Pyp and his story about singing for the sexual predator high lord. I don't remember this bit of backstory being in the books; this scene really got to me. You're right, Pyp, nothing is fucking fair.
"I always wanted to be a wizard." OH, PUMPKIN. *hugs Sam Tarly a million times*
I have the same problem with Ghost and the rest of the direwolves that I had with Diefenbaker in due South. Namely, are we really supposed to believe that's a wolf? It's clearly a dog! Oh, whatever, it's cuuuuuuute, handwavey handwavey PUPPY.
So. The Drogo scene. There was an amazing emotional build here, and Jason Momoa knocks this one out of the park, and I love Drogo's angry growling and the glow on Dany's face as she hears his words. And it's alllllmost perfect! Except for one bit! Here was my inner running commentary as he made his speech: "I will take my Khalasar west!" Wooo! Yeah dude! Rain down some righteous fury! "I will kill the men in iron suits!" Sucks to be them, but yeah, sure! Do it! Most of them are assholes anyway! Go Drogo! "I will rape their women and take their children as slaves!" Wooo-- ...wait. Aw, man. That's not cool. Mind you, I'm not actually complaining about the inclusion of this bit. It was in the books, and it deserves to be in the show too, and I think it's important as a reminder of the dominant social morality of this universe (and don't think for a second that rape and/or slavery as weapons of war are exclusive to the Dothraki). Khal Drogo is a product of his culture. Of course, so am I, and I can't quite love a character that sees rape & slavery as acceptable actions. Even if I admire him in lots of other ways. And even if Jason Momoa is hot like burning. :) I'm only mentioning it because it's the one thing keeping me from becoming a huge Drogo fan.
(I actually have a lot to say about the treatment of women in general in this series, and how various female characters deal with living in a world where women have little to no power. But that's an essay in and of itself and will have to wait for another time.)
Joffrey, you little shit.
And now for two small spoilery bits! Plot spoilers through book 2 below ...
.
.
.
WHY do we have so much Theon??? Yeah, I know he's gonna be really important later, but surely he doesn't need this much screen time in Season 1. I wouldn't mind so much if (a) so many of his scenes weren't awkward and pointless, and (b) I didn't hate him so damn much. Go away, Theon.
And a brief additional note about Khal Drogo's big speech: I think the rape-and-slavery line will work better in retrospect, because next episode (if I'm not mistaken) is when the Dothraki attack the Lhazareen village and rape the women, including Mirri Maz Duur, and Dany makes them stop. In the context of character growth, it makes sense for Drogo to start from a "whee, rape!" place so that Dany can properly educate him later.
For an episode I liked less than most so far, I sure had a lot to say! Hee.
Also posted to Dreamwidth (
comments). Comment wherever you like.