by Michele Pearson:
I first learned of The Game Of Thrones at Wondercon 2011. I saw the posters and the giant replica of the Iron Throne in the exhibit hall and immediately ordered the books. I read the first book in three days and then waited for the opening night of the show on HBO. I was thrilled with how true to the book the series tried to be. With the second season starting on April 1st, if you are also a latecomer to the series, as I was, here is a semi-quick recap of the first season.
Let’s start with the House Stark, House Lannister and House Barantheon. Ned Stark and his wife Catelyn have five children, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Ned has a bastard son named Jon Snow (Snow being the surname for all bastard children in the North.) Then live in the northern city of Winterfell. Jon Snow is planning on going to the Wall and taking the Black as a member of the Brotherhood of the Night Watch. The Wall seperates the entire land of Westeros from…well…no one is quite sure anymore. But after several years of summer, they know that “winter is coming” and that it will be a long, hard one. By taking the Black, Snow will renounce love, family and swear himself to be a lifelong guardian of the Wall. Once you take the oath, to desert is treason and punishable by death, as a Ranger learned when he fled his duties on the wall upon discovering what he believes are the believed extinct White Walkers who are rumored to live beyond the Wall. On the road home following the execution, Ned, Bran and Jon find a dead direwolf and her six pups. As the direwolf is the sigil of the Stark clan, Ned agrees to allow each child to have their own direwolf pup, with Jon keeping the mute albino outcast pup as his own.
The entire city of Winterfell prepares to greet King Robert Barantheon, King of the Seven Kingdoms and ruler of the Iron Throne at King’s Landing. He has travelled north with Queen Cersei Lannister and their children, Prince Joffrey, Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen. Cersei’s twin brother Jamie the Kingslayer also accompanies the family. Right off, we learn three things: King Robert is a drunk, is still in love with Ned Stark’s dead sister and the Cersei and Jamie are engaged in an twincestuous relationship. In order to protect the secret, Jamie attempts to kill Bran by throwing him out the window after the ten year old spots Jamie and Cersei having sex in the tower. While Bran lies in a coma, Robert asks Ned to come to King’s Landing with him to become the new Hand to the King since his last one died mysteriously. The former hand was the brother in law of Catelyn Stark and she believes that Cersei and Jamie’s dwarf brother, Tyrion (nicknamed The Imp) is to blame. Ned agrees to accept the position and also promises his daughter, Sansa, in marriage to Joffrey. Ned, Sansa and Arya travel to King’s Landing while Catelyn remains behind in Winterfell to watch over Bran.
Along the King’s Road, we learn what a complete little asshole Joffrey is when he becomes responsible both for Arya having to drive her precious direwolf away and the killing of Sansa’s direwolf, Lady. Once at King’s Landing, Ned begins to investigate the death of the former hand Jon Arryn. He learns that not only does King Robert have a bastard son (and another heir to the Iron Throne) but that his three children with Cersei are not actually Robert’s but Jamie’s. Being an idiot, Ned confronts Cersei with this knowledge. She admits that she is proud her children belong to Jaime and that she knows Robert will never believe Stark. Nevertheless, Ned tells Cersei to take her children and flee King’s Landing because he’s going to tell Robert the whole story. Ned, Ned, Ned…in the Game of Thrones, you never show your hand to your enemy. Because your enemy will ensure that her husband is involved in a tragic boar hunting accident and dies before you can say anything. Prince Joffrey, now King, declares Ned Stark a traitor and arranges for his execution. Arya, who hated Joffrey almost on sight, uses her newly learned sword fighting skills to escape Joffrey’s guards and goes into hiding. Sansa, standing by her man, turns her back on her father and is witness to his beheading, along with Arya, who is saved by her father’s aide and made to take on the identity of a boy in order to escape King’s Landing with her life.
Back in Winterfell, Catelyn Stark wards off an assassination attempt on her son Bran’s life. She consults with her advisors and decides to travel to King’s Landing to warn her husband that the Lannisters are not to be trusted. Arriving at King’s Landing, she is quickly ushered back out of the city by her old friend and former beau, Petyr Littlefinger. Based on information passed to her by Littlefinger, Catelyn determines that Tyrion Lannister is responsible for the murder of Jon Arryn and the attempted murder of Bran. On the road north, she finds Tyrion as he travels south. She is able to take him prisoner and presents him to her sister in their family home high in the mountains known as the Eyrie. There, her sister Lady Lysa still nurses her eight year old son Robin and is highly unstable. (As is her son, but can you blame him when he is still nursing at that age?) Lady Lysa is pleased to have Tyrion Lannister in her custody and her son wants to “see the bad man fly” from the tower. Tyrion, being extremely clever, is granted a trial by combat, wins and is able to leave the Eyrie. Catelyn receives a letter from King’s Landing and learns of Ned’s imprisonment and asks her sister to send troops to confront the Lannisters. Lysa refuses and Catelyn leaves, determined to raise an army herself. To make a very long story short (too late), Catelyn and Robb ride against the Lannister’s eventually learn of Ned’s death and Robb is proclaimed King of the North, separating the North from the Iron Throne and King Joffrey’s rule.
Leaving the Houses of the North and King’s Lannister, we travel across the Narrow Sea where the children of the former king live in exile. Viserys Targaryen has sold his sister Daenerys in marriage to the horselord Khal Drogo, the leader of the nomadic Dothraki. Dany is terrified of her new husband but her brother is insistent, saying that Khal Drogo has promised his army to help him conquer King Robert and reclaim the Iron Throne for himself. The Targaryen’s had ruled Westeros for generations until Robert and Jamie Lannister killed the “Mad King” and father to Dany and Viserys. Viserys warns Dany to obey him and not “awaken the dragon”. Daenerys agrees and her wedding to Khal Drogo takes place, complete with an orgy and multiple murders at the reception, as is custom with the Dothraki. After the wedding, Dany is presented with three dragon eggs, the last ones known in existence, and is proclaimed Khaleesi. As the Khalasar makes their way to Vaes Dothrak, sacred city to the Dothraki, Dany falls in love with her husband and he with her. She soon learns that she is pregnant and while in Vaes Dothrak, her child is proclaimed to be The Stallion That Mounts The World and destined to be a powerful Khal. Viserys is inpatient with the slow pace Khal Drogo is taking in assembling his army. He seems himself as the ruler and insults both his sister and Drogo, demanding his crown or he will take Dany away. Khal Drogo has members of his Khalasar hold Viserys down, melts down jewelry and crowns Viserys by pouring the molten gold over his head. Dany is pleased, proclaiming that he was not a dragon as a dragon could not have been killed by fire.
Drogo decides that he will help his love retake the Iron Throne and the Khalasar proceed to gather supplies (ie: rape, plunder and pillage) in order to make their way to the Seven Kingdoms. Unfortunately, Drogo is mortally wounded in battle. Dany, unable to bear the death of her Sun and Stars, commands a captured witch to save Khal Drogo with blood magic. During the ritual, Dany’s unborn child is sacrificed and Khal Drogo survives as a vegetable. Unable to bear seeing her once powerful husband in that state, Dany kills him. She orders the witch to be burned with him on his funeral pyre and places the three dragon eggs on top. With the fire burning, Dany walks directly into the flames. The following morning, she is found unharmed in the ashes along with three newly hatched dragons.
Of course, there is so much more to this series and I strongly suggest you make an effort to catch season one before April first. I also recommend that you read the book series. Yes, each book is long and intimidating but the story is mesmerizing and I was hooked.
The Game of Thrones season one is now available on DVD, Amazon Instant, and iTunes. Spend your week immersed in the land of Westeros, with the band of Dothraki and keep your eye north of the Wall. Remember…Winter is Coming….will you be prepared?
DarkMedia contributor Michele Pearson can be found on her blog, AllHorror.net, and on Twitter @GirlInRowB.
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