Kings Landing
The Starks arrive in Kings Landing in the third episode of season 1 of Game of Thrones, and Ned is immediately rushed off to official business.
Although I am aware that this story takes place in the fictional land of Westeros, I find the correlations between it’s lands and our own historical record fun. Whereas Winterfell, with it’s grey stone buildings, seemed very Scottish, (And the Northern wall is an obvious exaggeration of Hadrian’s wall built across Scotland to keep out the savages to the north), Kings Landing (with it’s sandstone buildings, and palms) seems much more Mediterranean in style.
There is a lot of exposition in this episode of Game of Thrones, and I am probably going to leave something out that will be important, but in brief, we learn:
- The former “Mad King” killed Neds Dad and Brother, while Jamie Lannister watched.
- Jamie Lannister Killed the “Mad King” by stabbing him in the back
- King Robert has bankrupt the kingdom, and owes massive debt to the Lannisters
- Queen Cersei is a conniving witch who is teaching her mommas boy son to be a brat.
Ned wife Catelyn arrives in Kings landing and is hidden away in a brothel by one of the Kings council (who apparently has history with her). They are quickly able to deduce that the dagger used in the assassination attempt on young Bran was owned by Tyrion Lannister.
They tell Ned of their suspicions, but knowing the seriousness of making such accusations, Ned decides to find more proof first. He sends Catelyn back to Winterfell.
What’s going on up North?
John Snow is having some difficulty adapting to life in the Nights Watch. His noble upbringing has allowed him to have had training in sword, and combat skill that he is able to use to easily best the other trainees.
There is a great scene here where Tyrion scolds John for feeling superior to his fellow Nights Watch Trainees. John had just bested his fellow trainees, and they all gang up on him in the medieval castle version of a locker room. Tyrion saves John from being brutalized. John then whines about how much it sucks to be him, and Tyrion tells him the backstories of two of the other trainees. Needless to say, they didn’t have the cushy life that the “bastard” of Lord Stark had.
John complains about their lack of skill to which Tyrion reminds him that they hadn’t the privilege of being trained in combat like John was.
I think this affects John for the better, as he is later seen helping the other trainees to become better.
Across the Narrow Sea
Daenerys Is beginning to fill her shoes as the Dothraki Queen . Her Brother Viserys is not happy that she is becoming more and more of a powerful woman, but the Dothraki follow her, and not him, so he is quickly put in his place.
Add to that the noticeable absence of Khal Drogo from most of this episode, and it is clear that Daenerys is the real story on this side of the water. We find out that she is pregnant. This causes her campanion Jorah to ride off someplace leading one to assume he is the spy that has been telling King Robert of the Targaryen siblings activities.
Final Thoughts: Game of Thrones 1-03
There was a lot more political drama, and talking heads in this episode of Game of Thrones then the previous two. However, they do seem to pull it off rather well. The unique characters in Kings Landing add color to the show. (with Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish and the eunuch Master of Whisperers, Lord Varys being my favorite so far.) Also Neds youngest daughter, Arya, is becoming a show favorite, as her tomboyish attitude is being encouraged by Ned. This is making for a lighter feel to the brevity of the rest of the show. And we close it out with a fun scene of a master swordsmen training Arya in the ways of the blade.