Better late than never I suppose...
Hey, it's been a while since I frequented this page, hasn't it? I mean, basically ALL of Phase III of the MCU has happened, Kingdom Hearts III has finally happened, the Star Wars sequel trilogy is wrapped up and the world is quite literally on fire. In between all of this, the most ambitious High Fantasy Television show ended it's run of dominance of HBO and basically all sorts of community forums and gatherings. Whether you have seen Game of Thrones, or you have not, you cannot deny the impact it has had on popular culture. How many kids were named for a character from this show, alone? (I would personally love having a daughter named Arya). And how many people know so many terms from this show without even seeing it? (Khaleesi, King in the North, Dracarys, "Winter is Coming", The Red Wedding, King Joffrey, Dragons, Ice Zombies).
Of course, this show has become more famous for something else than it's popular terms and catchphrases: it's fall from grace. Whether it was because of general fatigue, lack of source material to work from (as the infamous George RR Martin has not added to the primary book series this show was based off of since 2011), or that the heads were simply keen on doing something else with their lives, the only thing we know is that NO ONE was happy with how this once highly acclaimed and beloved series came to an end. It left an empty feeling from the millions who watched it from all over the world and unceremoniously stumbled from it's pedestal instead of gracefully landing. I suppose I should expect this at this point, though. The only thing that ended in a truly superior ending in recent memory is the MCU, and that is still going (I was going to say Avatar: The Last Airbender, but Deetzy told me that it ended 12 years ago and I almost died).
But does the horrific ending to Game of Thrones ruin the preceding seasons? Does knowing how it all ends poison what made the show's 7...uh...6...how bout 5? Yeah, 5! Does knowing how it all ends poison what made 5 of the show's 8 seasons so good? Does it take away the memorable performances of superior actors like Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Charles Dance, Michelle Fairley and many others? Well, don't you guys worry. I'll be recapping each and every Season of Game of Thrones in an entry on this blog (I know I still have more to work on for my Animation History essays, but I REALLY don't want to sit through things like "Despicable Me", "The Lorax", "The Secret Life of Pets" or Beavis and Butthead (or whatever that platypus show on Disney was). And in this one, we will be discussing each major plotline as it unfolds, while also talking about what made the particular season so interesting, both in terms of writing, acting and cinematography. So let's start with the very first Season. I hear that's a really good place to start...
Winter is Coming...(SPOILERS BECAUSE DUH!)
Our story takes place within the confines of two fictional continents: Westeros and Essos. Westeros is divided into Seven separate and geographically diverse kingdoms that were only united into one vast kingdom 300 years ago. In Westeros, the ruling family is that of King Robert Baratheon, who has been the King since defeating the previous dynasty of the Targaryens. But the once mighty King is on tenuous ground as politics and treason flows around him. His realm had previously been held together by his Hand of the King (Grand Vizier), Lord Jon Arryn, but the Hand mysteriously died of an unknown illness and left the realm in the hands of a beleaguered Robert and his less than loyal in-laws of the power hungry House Lannister and disloyal brothers Renly and Stannis. Seeking his last true friend left in the world, Robert takes his entire family to the far Kingdom of the North that is watched over by his close friend Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark. Ned and his wife Catelyn have five children (Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon), their ward/captive Theon Greyjoy and Ned's alleged bastard son called Jon Snow. Robert tries to convince Ned to take the role as Hand and help him rule the Seven Kingdoms between them (as they would have if Ned's sister lived, who was once Robert's betrothed), but Ned is reluctant to do so, until receiving a letter from Lord Arryn's widow claiming that her husband was murdered by the Queen and her family in court. Ned takes the position and is rewarded by Robert as the King betroths his son and heir, Prince Joffrey to Ned's daughter Sansa, who is enamored with her prince. While his father and the King were on a hunt, Bran Stark climbs up the walls of his favorite abandoned tower in their ancestral home of Winterfell, when he comes across Queen Cersei making love to her brother, Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard. To buy the boy's silence, Jaime pushes the boy out the window to his supposed demise, but the boy survives and is in a coma.
So the Starks separate, with Ned taking his daughters with him to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, King's Landing, Jon Snow heading to the Northern Border to serve in the famous Night's Watch, and Catelyn remaining behind in Winterfell with her sons and ward Theon Greyjoy. Some time after the group departed for King's Landing and the Wall, a catspaw assassin attempts to take the life of Bran, but is thwarted by the boy's pet wolf, named Summer. Catelyn decides to warn her husband and departs south in secret to meet with him.
Meanwhile, in Essos, the former King's last two children, Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, are living in exile and longing to reclaim their stolen kingdom. Viserys sells his sister to a warlord named Khal Drogo to marry her and gain his infamous Dothraki armies to help them reclaim his throne. Daenerys meets the exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont and the mysterious Illyrio Mopatis, who gifts the new bride with three fossilized dragon eggs. Dany at first struggles to adapt to being the wife of a foreign lord who doesn't understand her, but she soon discovers how to woo him and a love blossoms between them. Jealous of his sister's popularity and Drogo's disinterest in leaving for Westeros, Viserys threatens Dany (who has since become pregnant with her and Drogo's child), which prompts Drogo to melt gold on his head and kill Viserys.
Ned struggles to adapt to being a diplomat while also investigating how and why Jon Arryn was murdered. After he makes contact with Catelyn, Ned is determined to figure out why the Lannisters were acting the way they were. While he comes across a few bizarre clues, including one of King Robert's bastard children (a young man named Gendry), he cannot put the clues he's gotten together. His daughters are also finding it difficult to adapt to life in the capital, with Sansa doing her hardest to woo Prince Joffrey and Arya learning how to wield a sword with the help of a master swordsman from Essos. While practicing a lesson she was taught, Arya overhears men plotting to kill her father and hurries to warn him. Ned doubts the legitimacy of this, but is quickly diverted when he learns that Catelyn has taken the Queen's youngest brother, Tyrion Lannister (The Imp), as her prisoner. In response to this, Jaime Lannister attacks Ned in the streets of King's Landing, with the skirmish ending in Ned being injured in his leg and his men being slaughtered. Jaime flees to his father's domain and threatens Ned with more violence. While recovering, Ned is ordered by Robert to cease his conflict with the Lannisters before war breaks out. The King then leaves on a hunting trip, while Ned finally uncovers the truth that Robert and Cersei's children (Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella) are not Robert's children at all, but bastards of her brother Jaime. Ned confronts the Queen about this and warns her that he would have to tell Robert, but the Queen acts fast and has the King's squire give Robert too much wine, which causes him to get gored by a wild boar. As Robert lays dying, he asks Ned to protect his children and serve as Protector of the Realm until Joffrey was old enough. Ned alters his will to say "My Rightful Heir" and prepares to send word to Robert's brother Stannis that he is the next in line to be King, spurning Robert's youngest brother Renly and the Master of Coin, Petyr Baelish (AKA Littlefinger) in the process. Ned does his best to prevent the Lannisters from taking over, but is betrayed by Littlefinger and the City Watch and is arrested for treason against the new king, Joffrey. Arya manages to escape the castle, but Sansa is put into protective custody by the Queen.
At the Wall, Jon Snow struggles to come to terms with his new life as a celibate guardian of the kingdom's northern border, while also learning to accept that The Night's Watch was not as noble as he had thought it to be, as it was now filled with the dregs of southern society and castaways from all over Westeros, including a plump, cowardly bookworm named Samwell Tarly. He and his wolf pet, Ghost, do discover that a mysterious group of beings known as White Walkers (pretty much Ice Zombies) are back and preparing to march south on the rest of the world. After saving the life of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, he is ingratiated into his service and is part of a Great Ranging beyond the Wall to find the White Walkers and find a way to defeat them.
After a failed assassination attempt on her life, Daenerys finally manages to convince her husband to prepare for an invasion of Westeros to give the Seven Kingdoms to their son. Despite her eagerness to return home and become Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, she is unable to accept the pillaging her husband's people do for her and does her best to protect them from pillaging. This does not go over well with her husband's warriors, who challenge Drogo for control. Drogo easily bests his challenger, but he is soon taken ill due to his wound becoming infected. Dany trusts a witch she saved to heal Drogo, but she is betrayed as the witch uses a blood spell to not only numb Drogo, but to essentially kill Daenerys's unborn child. Dany loses the control of her husband's people and is left behind with only a few slaves and stragglers, as well as Ser Jorah.
Sansa pleads for mercy for her father to Joffrey, who consents to be merciful if he takes back what he said about his "birthright" and bows before him. Sansa agrees, unaware that her brother Robb is marching south with an army of Northern Soldiers to free his father and save his sisters. After losing the youngest Lannister to a "Trial by Combat", Catelyn joins her son and aids in bringing on the powerful but often spurned House Frey by promising to marry Lord Frey's daughter to her son. Robb then rides for battle against the Lannisters and surprises them by winning two great victories, even capturing Ser Jaime Lannister. But there isn't much time to celebrate, as Joffrey betrays Sansa's trust (and the plans of every Lannister present) by demanding Ned's head. After Lord Stark is executed, Sansa is kept in the castle as a prisoner and Arya escapes into the countryside alongside a Night's Watch recruiter and Gendry. Robb is named King of the North by his people, who no longer wish to serve the Lannisters or Baratheons. With their plans thrown awry and most of the nation in open rebellion, Lord Tywin Lannister (Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion's father) sends Tyrion to King's Landing to rein in Cersei and Joffrey, blaming them for their terrible situation.
Daenerys builds a pyre for Drogo and her dead son, with her followers tying the witch to it as well. As she set it ablaze, Daenerys stuns everyone by walking into the fire with her fossilized eggs. When the fire goes out, Dany emerges from the fire unharmed with three newborn dragons circling her.
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