Thoughts on Game of Thrones

      With a name like Game of Thrones I thought it was a video game series

       I started watching Game of Thrones in late January//early February...actually shortly after I did my first appreciation post on Harry Lloyd. I found out that he was in the show (playing Viserys Targaryen) and that was the primary reason I wanted to watch the series, even though I knew he was only in S1. So anyways, I had a friend jack all 4 seasons offline and put them on my computer. I was apprehensive at first because the show is famous for its outrageous amount of sexual content, but I really wanted to know what the hype about this show was all about.

       I was surprised at how very quickly I became engrossed in the story and the characters, as well as the underlying theme of family that is spread throughout the show. It wasn't long before I was addicted and I finished the first season in 3 days! I had loved the first season so much (while cringing my way through the copious amounts of sexually explicit scenes) that I started watching S2, but stopped after a certain scene concerning King Joffrey made me sick to my stomach and I couldn't watch anymore. 

      However, I may pick up on the series again since Jamie told me that the story gets even better and so do the characters. Until then, I'm contented with being a fan of S1 which introduced me to a menagerie of extraordinary characters that I love, loathe and constantly keep me guessing about their true loyalties.  

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Favorite Characters

 Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen

      This young girl, I noticed, seemed to be a consistent fan-favorite and so I really was quite curious about her. Although, from what I had viewed on Tumblr (not a good place to go to if you're curious about a television show), I had thought that she was just some pretty blonde tramp that slept with anything and everything that came across her path.

How wrong I was!!!! 

She is the sweetest, bravest, most beautiful princess-angel in the whole show!

       

   Daenerys or Dany is barely a woman when her sadistic and power-hungry older brother, Viserys, has arranged her marriage to the Dothraki king, Khal Drogo. as an arrangement for an army so he can take the throne of Westeros. Quiet and reserved, Dany obediently marries the violent warrior king who has no interest in her at all and only uses her for bedtime pleasure (you get my meaning?). Overtime, Dany gains more confidence and begins to endear herself to the nomadic Dothraki people by quickly learning their language, dressing like the woman and styling her hair in the same traditional styles. 

Dany and her beloved husband Drogo

      She also takes matters of her marriage into her own hands and basically lets her husband know that she is not a toy, but a human being who deserves to be treated with respect and love. Although, surprised at first by this sudden burst of confidence from his child-wife, Drogo slowly finds himself falling deeply in love with Dany due to her overwhelming kindness and generosity toward his people and to him. And Dany sees Drogo as her salvation from her unhappy childhood, protector from her abusive brother and the love that she has waited so long to have. Drogo is just a bad-ass all around; he definitely became a favorite and I loved their love story (proof from my new header). 

       Sadly, Dany's long awaited fairy-tale life is cut short by the death of her husband, the miscarriage of their baby (whom she unexpectedly sacrificed while trying to save her husband) and the falling apart of the Dothraki people. Hardly one to give up, Daenerys takes what few people are remaining into safety and becomes not only their new queen (or Khaleesi in Dothraki), but also the mother of three rare dragons which gives her an extraordinary amount of power. Through all of this, Dany becomes determined to take of the Iron Throne of Westeros for the future of her people and the honor of her husband. 

The Starks of Winterfell

       Watching the lively and loving Stark family is what really made this show work for me. Headed by Eddard (Ned) Stark and his wife Catelyn and their five children, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and Ned's bastard son, Jon Snow. Like I said in the beginning, the underlying theme of family is heavily emphasized in this show and no family knows the importance of honor and loyalty like the Starks of Winterfell. They know how to fight and how to survive. When the family is splintered in the beginning of S1, it is the beginning of the end for the Starks. One by one, family members are lost, killed, abandoned, used and abused, and none of them has anyone to depend on. All they have is hope that the family will be back together again. Hope, like summer in Winterfell, is rare and hard to find and it's the survival of the fittest, the strongest, and the smartest in the lives of the Stark family. 

Top: Arya Stark and Robb Stark
Bottom: Eddard (Ned) Stark and Jon Snow

       Of all of the Starks, Arya, the tomboyish middle child and Robb, the no-nonsense oldest son are definitely my favorites followed by the family patriarch, Ned and his illegitimate son, lonely Jon Snow. Arya like Daenerys was another favorite and I fell in love with her immediately for her spirit and no small degree of sass she was able to dish out. She is a perfect mix of both of her brave parents who have raised her well and have only ever wanted what is truly best for her. Arya may end up being the sole survivor of the family and although she doesn't desire power for the throne, she does desire to have the right to fight for what she wants, and that is to survive and see her family again.

       I didn't like Robb at first. In the beginning I though he was something of a rich spoiled brat who just preferred to be left alone. Then his family is threatened and Direwolf claws are released. Robb's lifetime training in warfare, defense and negotiations all come into full swing when he wages war on those that dare harm his family, his people and his country. Robb is a real prince in the story and it's hard for any girl not to fall in love with him (oddly enough, Richard Madden plays Prince Kit in the new Cinderella movie, so it's fitting). 

      Ned Stark and his son Jon Snow are two characters that you have immediate admiration for. Ned is a wonderful man, that while flawed has a great deal of honor and dignity to him and he has raised his children to achieve those same standards by which their survival will depend on. While Ned is ashamed for disloyalty to his wife, he doesn't regret his son, Jon Snow, even though Catelyn takes every opportunity to degrade Jon in every possible way. 

     Jon himself, is pretty much a glorified servant in his father's household, but his half-siblings all love him dearly, especially Arya who he has a special relationship with. He has his father's integrity and humanity and will not stand by while injustice is being dealt out. Jon will stand for what is right, even if it means he is standing alone, but then again, Jon Snow is use to being alone.

  

       This ending up being longer than I thought, but I just wanted to highlight the primary reasons I enjoyed S1 so much. The characters are by far the best part of the show, even when the story gets confusing all you need to do is just follow your favorite character and eventually you get back on track. GOT has no shortage of thoroughly unlikable characters, but I try not to dwell too much on my dislikes, it distracts from the importance as to why I spent three days watching this show on my computer. While I'm definitely not promoting Game of Thrones as a Saturday//Sunday night watch, I will say that the story is brilliant and all characters (good, bad and otherwise) are so very real that I think anyone can relate to any them.