Game of Thrones Episode 1.03: “Lord Snow”

[chavalah.livejournal.com]

A lot of this episode is about perception (though yes, you can say that about the series as a whole. :P) But this is the episode where some of the major, character-defining perceptions come into play. Jon Snow, who felt disadvantaged all his life for being bastard-born, comes into contact with his new “brothers”—a rag-tag bunch of ruffians, either criminals, poverty stricken or both, who have had nowhere near the privileged childhood that he did (the title, in fact, is a sarcastic nickname—as a “Snow” he can never be a lord, but he sure acts it. :P) Catelyn, arriving in King’s Landing, receives news about the dagger used on Bran’s attack from an old friend. Bran, recently having awoken to the news that he’ll never be able to walk again, faces the world with new eyes (those of you who know the books might understand my pun! :P) Arya and Sansa have moved past the events from last episode in different ways—Sansa blames her father for killing Lady and Arya blames the Hound, the Lannisters and even herself for the death of Mycah. (Joffrey and Cersei, too, find ways to spin that event to their advantage. :P) Robert actually does some deep thinking—in his drunken way—about the passage of time and how things change, and across the narrow sea, life with the Dothraki are changing Daenerys, Viserys and their relationship to each other.

And now that I’ve basically summarized the episode in one paragraph, let’s go under the cut for several pages of details! :P


So this is my first entry that is relatively unchanged from what I wrote when the series first aired! …mostly unchanged. :P Hope you enjoy.

Kings Landing

After the brutal murders of Mycah and Lady on the King’s Road, we next catch up with Ned and daughters as they enter the lavish-looking King’s Landing. Why do beautiful places have to be evil? :P

No sooner has Ned disembarked his horse than a servant comes along to request that he join the King’s small council to discuss business. Ned isn’t so pleased…long journey filled with hardship and all that, and on the way, he meets up with Jaime in the throne room. (Speaking of marvelous looking sets—so huge and airy and regal-looking!)

Here’s where I’ll hearken back to last eppy where Jaime mocked Jon for joining the Night’s Watch. Jaime himself is part of a similar order, tasked to protect the king for life, which also includes giving up ancestral land and leading a life of celibacy. In Jaime’s case, he has no scruples with breaking his vows. His hypocritical, backstabbing ways put him in opposition with the Starks. Jon brought it up with Tyrion last week. This week, the Ned/Jaime scene is more layered.

Jaime starts with his usual schtick of trying to discomfort people. “Must be hard for you to be in this room where your father burned to death screaming.” Ned turns it around on him by reminding him that he stood and watched (along with the other knights.) Jaime brings up that “yes, but when I stabbed the Mad King in the back, it felt like justice.” But Ned doesn’t believe in this kind of justice, even when his father and brother’s lives were on the line. In his world, he beheads people who break their vows, so it chaps his ass a little that Jaime can still strut around being a dick after playing the part of Brutus to the Mad King. It’s a bit hypocritical of Ned, really…he did his part, after all, in bringing down Aerys, but since he hadn’t sworn an oath to the guy, he didn’t see it as a betrayal. The difference between the Starks and the Lannisters, methinks, is that the latter feels justified in doing whatever it can to keep power and/or protect their own. The Starks also care deeply for their family…but their code of ethics is paramount. Too bad Ned has come to an unethical place. :-/

Let me deviate for a second as I get to Cersei’s philosophy as she tends to Joffrey. Joffrey is still upset that he was whiny and weak when Nymeria attacked him. Cersei counters that one of the best things about power is that you can exaggerate your life and come out looking better than you really are, among other things.

Joffrey is no longer interested in Sansa. In the book, we get little insight into his character beyond what Sansa sees in him. To me, it seemed like he liked her least when she wasn’t putting on the ladylike act for him, basically drooling at his feet and saying “pretty” things. But it also makes sense that his shame over her seeing him weak would make him want to push her away (plus blame her family for it. :P) Cersei and Joffrey agree—the Starks (and pretty much everyone else) are enemies, but queen mother schools psycho!brat son on the best way to handle the situation. His plan of invading the north and using a local army to crush resistance is mired with the difficulty that the land is huge and no one wants to kill their brothers. On the other hand, if he marries Sansa, he can keep Ned and Robb in line through her and their house alignment. The best part is if he really despises her he need “only see her on special occasions. And if you’d rather fuck painted whores, then fuck painted whores.” Ah, love. :P Perhaps the most disquieting thing about this episode is that she’s basically giving Joffrey permission to treat Sansa the way Robert treats her. :-/ But it’s ok because Joff is her “darling boy!” This is actually some great insight into Cersei’s character—the truths she denies and the pain she has no qualms unleashing onto others. True to the book, I think.

Back to Ned and the Small Council, we meet some important new characters (eh,I'll mention a couple later,) and get to the important plot points that a) Robert could care less about running the kingdom, and the debt he’s incurring for his frivolity, and b) there’s a lot of debt (largely owed to the Lannisters.) Ned, a bit cranky and o.O, insists that they not talk about any tournaments in his honor until he talks to Robert about the expense (yeah, good luck there.)

One of the things I loved best in the book was witnessing patriarchal Ned from a patriarchal society having to settle his daughter’s disputes. :P We got our first taste of that this episode. Arya is busy stabbing the table, pretending it’s Joffrey (let’s just say it’s his right eye. :P) Sansa is put off by this. Arya blames Joffrey for Mycah’s death, Sansa blames the Hound. Ned gets there in time to see Arya being excused for her unladylike behavior.

(I’m a father/daughter relationship lover, so yes, I was swooning when Ned called Sansa “love.”) He’s trying to smooth things over from the killing-her-wolf incident. He buys her a doll made by Myrcella’s dollmaker. Sansa is a bit bratty about it. “I haven’t played with dolls since I was 8,” she sniffs, before asking to be excused. …but on the other side of the coin, there’s this brilliant tension between her and her father. He’s very much a Male character and she’s very much a Female character, and they don’t really understand each other’s worlds. Moreover, I have to assume that she’s still a bit upset that he killed Lady. Maybe he could have set her free. Certainly none of us would think less of him for doing so. But once again, that ethics thing. (He didn’t agree with it, but he made a promise.)

Arya and Ned have a better relationship, but still very complicated. This is the episode where he finds her Needle. At first he’s not a fan of the idea; “a lady doesn’t play with swords.” He also takes the time to talk relationships with his girl. Sansa isn’t to be blamed for not betraying the dickhead whom her father is allowing her to marry. >.< Arya, too, is not to blame for her part in bringing about Mycah’s death. So great to see a father be protective of his daughters, and see them as actual people. Meanwhile, he feels compelled to tell his youngest that “we’ve come to a dangerous place.” Methinks that’s why he ultimately allows her to take up swordfighting. It’s not something he would have allowed at home in Winterfell (her training, in fact, is very eastern,) but he’s taken her to a place where you don’t always know who your enemies are, and he wants her to know how to protect herself. Or maybe he’s just trying to buy her off, like he did with Sansa and the doll. :P I love the look on Ned’s face as he’s watching Arya, which ends the episode. Surely he’s remembering his own experiences on the battlefield…but I wonder, too, if his daughter’s “dancing lessons” personifies the danger they’re in? (Teaching your daughter swordfighting—especially after she was in an altercation with the crown prince, no less—isn’t exactly the most cautious move, either. :P Wasn’t she brought to King’s Landing to learn more about becoming a lady? Her parents discuss this in the book, at least.)

But yay for the character of Syrio Forel, whom most fans think is absolutely awesome. :D

The Lannister Twins, some Stark pairings…a subplot

So much for this review being shorter. :”> Anyway!

I’ll include Bran’s small scene here. I bet people were pissed when he woke up and didn’t remember the whole incest thing, but hey. Not that I have loads of experience, but methinks it’s quite plausible that a person, particularly a young person, would suffer memory loss after such a traumatic event. (Plus, Bran not remembering keeps the story going, hee. :P) Bran’s life, as he knows it, is over, and that’s pretty damn difficult for anyone to deal with, much less a 10-year-old. He lives in a world where his accomplishments are measured by physical skill. He was going to be Robb’s bannerman or a knight when he grew up. He loooved to climb. Now all that’s over. It’s really a heartbreaking story.

Being in a pissy mood, he’s all about hearing Nan’s stories of doom and gloom concerning the White Walkers, which also gives the audience insight into their scariness. (Yawn. The White Walkers are definitely the most fantasy-esque…and the most straight-forward “evil” characters, at least in the first season. But I’m all about complex characters and political intrigues. I live in the DC area, after all. :P)

Robb comes in, tries to cheer his brother up, tries to get him to remember what happened, but Bran is having none of it. He’s facing serious depression, and siding more with Jaime over Tyrion on the “I wish I were dead” scenario. (But if I were honest, part of me hoped that Robb would take him sternly in hand, and command him to “snap out of it,” and realize he's his heir and still valuable. Of course, all I really wanted was more Robb/Bran scenage. :P)

The Lannister twins also have news that Bran has awoken. Cersei is upset with Jaime—I think because he sent the assassin and the assassin failed, so lose/lose for them. Jaime is unconcerned and dickish, even when it comes to his sister’s “cunt” (earning him a bitchslap.) But then he takes her firmly in hand and proclaims that he’d kill the whole world to save what they have. Immoral as they are, I think they care deeply about each other, and it’s something that still squicks me out less than most others. Everyone deserves some love.

(Robert isn’t happy either. His one scene includes bitching and moaning, largely because he’s unhappy with his life where his wife makes him miserable, his son is an “ingrate,” and the most excitement he has is pissing three times a night. He decides to goad Jaime about the whole kingslaying thing, but Jaime, who lost “the last word” argument to Ned earlier, gets it with Robert when he says “the last words the Mad King said were what you’ve been saying for hours…’burn them all.’” In the words of Mel Brooks- 'FUSHTA!" :P)

Catelyn arrives at King’s Landing with the dagger used to attack Bran. Unlikely as she assumes it, people know immediately who she is upon her arrival, and guards escort her to a whorehouse, which belongs to her adopted brother/secret admirer/member of the Small Council, “Littlefinger.” (His name will be explained later.) Littlefinger goes to collect Ned who is a) not happy that the dude has a thing for his wife, and b) has stashed her in a whorehouse, so they have a brief altercation. :P But Littlefinger is playing the part of their friend. He takes a look at the dagger and claims it belongs to Tyrion. Dum dum DUUUUM! Unfortunately, they have no tangible proof (CSI: Winterfell couldn't lift prints last week), but Ned’s plan is to look for some and then present his case to Robert (who will likely once again be bored as no wenches are involved. :P) The Stark parents share a loving-glance moment, and then they part ways.

Castle Black

Jon Snow is not having a good first day at the Watch. His new swordsmaster is inciting people against him by calling him “Ned Stark’s bastard, Lord Snow,” who thinks he’s better than everyone else because he grew up in a castle. (Jon then proceeds to beat the crap out of everyone, because that’s one of the benefits of growing up in a castle—fencing!)

Inside the fortress the surly lads gang up on him until Tyrion shooes them away. Jon whines about the fact that only Tyrion let him know that the Night’s Watch was less noble than it was an unsavory prison, and he hates being around these people. Tyrion counters with the sob stories of his fellows, which makes Jon’s sob story seem rather tame. Later, instead of making enemies, Jon teaches his new brothers how to fight. In the books, one of his teachers humbled him, but I’m glad it was Tyrion on the show. Adds to the special relationship they have, and Jon’s disappointment when he leaves (of course we actually do get to see Tyrion “piss off the edge of the world,” as he said he would last week. :P Least the guy attacks his goals.)

Jon also says goodbye to Uncle Benjen, who is going north of the wall, and urges his nephew to stop demanding stuff and earn it like everyone else. He’s less patient with Tyrion, who continues to be lighthearted about the Watch’s mission (ensuing in an interesting military vs civilian/real threats vs imagined ones argument.) Later, some elders ask Tyrion to ask Cersei for more funding. In the book, we’re in Tyrion’s head, and he is genuine on his promise to do this. On tv, his intentions are less clear. In both cases, it’s pretty obvious that Cersei, Robert, and everyone else south couldn’t give less of a damn. Alas.

On the Road to Vaes Dothrak

Times are a-changin’…and Dany has changed into Dothraki attire. Ser Jorah is explaining to her how Dothraki acquire slaves. She witnesses one of the men whipping one of the slaves, and she doesn’t like it. Killing two birds with one stone, she commands her Dothraki army to stop. This makes her appear more as a khaleesi, not afraid to give orders, and it also gets her away from the slavery for awhile by veering off into some tall grasses nearby. It is a nice bit of character development, this anti-slavery thing, which will develop in this season and beyond. Unfortunately, her alone time is rudely interrupted by her brother, who comes crashing in, furious that she’s “given him a command.” This is the Viserys I remember more from the book…whiny, angry, ridiculous. But I like that we’re only seeing it now, now that the power is actually shifting.

As Viserys pulls his sword on Dany (note: in the book, they’re pretty obvious all the time that Viserys really has no idea how to use it,) her bodyguard, Rakharo, snaps a whip around V’s neck and brings him crashing to the ground. He asks Dany if she wants her brother killed (or at least an ear taken off,) but Dany is quick to come to Viserys’s defense. (Well, at least to say “no.”) Once free, an enraged Viserys turns to Jorah and demands he kills “these Dothraki dogs,” but Jorah, in assessing the situation, ignores the self-proclaimed king, and suggests to Dany that they join the rest of their party.

Dany, too, is quite obviously assessing the power shift between her and her brother. In the book, she’s the one who demands that he walk rather than ride the rest of the day (a shameful situation in Dothraki culture,) but on tv it’s Rakharo. Personally, I like this change. It’s still a bit early for Dany to be that defiant against her brother, whom she still views as her lord and king. It’ll come with time.

Meanwhile, she’s continuing to learn the Dothraki language. Her handmaiden, Irri, cups one of her breasts (a common way to interact with Dany, it seems,) and notes the changes in her body, proclaiming her pregnant. She then goes outside where Jorah and Rakharo are talking about eastern and western weaponry and armor. One thing I love about this scene is that slave Irri is allowed to be bold and sassy with these folks. But the important thing to note is how the camera zooms in on Jorah’s face as she relays the news of Dany’s pregnancy. It’s just so obvious to me at this point that Jorah isn’t exactly the trusted advisor to the Targaryens as he professes to be. Maybe he has a soft spot for Dany…but I bet a larger part of him wants to go home. (He admits to betraying his father, who happens to be one of the elders at the Night’s Watch.) If he were to go to Robert with the news of Dany’s pregnancy, perhaps he could claim a pardon. And wuddaya know, the next words out of his mouth are that he has to leave the Dothraki for awhile. Dum dum DUUUUM.

And nice, final note for me to leave you on…Dany and Drogo are in a loving, non-violent embrace as she relays the news that she’ll have a son. We’re officially past the abusive relationship part. Sure, in this day and age, the fact that it started abusive would define everything. But seeing as Dany has no choice, it’s nice to see that she’s actually carved out a loving relationship for herself. This is only the beginning of Dany’s self-actualization process. In some ways, she herself was a "slave" to Viserys and his desires all these years. Let's just see how much longer that lasts as she embraces a new destiny in the Dothraki sea.