Winter is Coming, or: Game of Thrones S1
Apr. 8th, 2012 02:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rheasilviaI finished watching Season 1 of Game of Thrones a while ago, and haven't started on Season 2 yet. Before I do, here are some of my impressions on S1 characters, just because. :-)
There are no spoilers for Season 2 or beyond behind the cut, because I haven't read the books. There is rampant – if uninformed – speculation on my part, however.
I read Song of Ice and Fire when it first came out, but remembered only two vague things – a guarded wall in an icy wasteland and a woman in a tent with dragon eggs. (I misremembered Tyrion, whom I confused with a character from another book entirely.) Usually I have a very good memory for fiction, so this is unusual. Whatever the reason, the book evidently failed to grab me. Maybe I'll try reading it again at some point.
The series, however, I did like; very much so. Solid fantasy with excellent characterization, very well-done.
Jon Snow
A character I don't like as much as the show wants me to. Snow is not very bright; he repeatedly has to be told self-evident things at a very high volume for them to get through to his brain. He's also a broody drama-queen of the "OMG nobody can understand my pain, I am the most put-upon special little snowflake in the world" kind. Neither of these traits endear him to me.
On the other hand, when people shout at him loudly enough and at sufficient length, Snow does listen and learn, which is a major point in his favor. And he is a nice guy, and tries very hard to do the right thing. So, I might yet come to like him, depending on his further development.
I wondered at one point whether Snow was the son of the king and Ned's sister. Then there was a lot of to-do about the king's other bastard (the blacksmith), so now I'm unsure. Maybe his mother is Tyrion's mysterious noble whore, instead. Maybe the noble whore is Ned's sister.
Bran Stark
Like Jon Snow, but far more so: It is very clear I am supposed to like this character and be interested in his fate, but so far, I'm not. While I don't actively dislike him, I find him very boring, and as such dislike the time and attention the show lavishes on him. I hope the show either makes Bran interesting, or stops harping on about him so much.
I doubt it will, though, given that Bran's prominence in the narrative indicates that his older brother is not long for this world. Which is too bad. The previously hardly present Robb was beginning to seem like a potentially interesting character near the end of S1, which is more than I can say for Bran.
Ned Stark
A very well-done straight-forward and realistically flawed character who was rightly introduced in the act of executing an innocent boy. I'm sure most viewers forgot this very quickly, given that Ned was mostly portrayed as a sympathetic character to identify with, but it was the perfect parallel to his own execution, and a very nice frame for the entire first season. Ned believes himself a just, uncompromisingly honest and upright man, and by his own definition, he is, which makes him someone viewers identify with. He is also a man whose brand of justice includes executing a man (and later a wolf) for a crime he did not technically commit, because It Is Law, It Must Be Done. Watch it, son, because this is what a ruler must do.
He is right, but he is not a kind or open-minded man, and not as just as he thinks he is. But I liked that about the character, because it made him real. Come to think of it – he is a lot like an older, more experienced and less drama-queenish version of Jon Snow. A simple, inflexible man caught in a complex world, trying doggedly to do the right thing.
Catelyn Stark
Oh, well-done, show. This one has the potential to be a very nasty customer indeed. She is righteous and justified, and she needs no facts or proof when she knows someone is guilty, or otherwise worthy of her wrath. Give her an army and a cause and let her loose on the world, and the world will burn. And lo and behold, the show has given her an army and a cause, and let her loose. I await her development with interest.
Arya Stark
She works for me exactly as she's intended to. I like her just the way I'm meant to. :-)
Sansa Stark
Surprisingly, Sansa has developed into the most interesting Stark character for me. I started out dismissing her as the air-headed fashion-and-society sister, but adversity has done wonders for her. Beginning with her testimony against/for the prince before the king and queen, where she instinctively chose the best path, in an extremely high-pressure situation; continuing with the death of her wolf (which could have made her hate her sister, but didn't, because she never blamed her); continuing with the gradual change of her attitude towards the prince, and her very respectable attempt to save her father's life… As she wakes up to the harsh reality of the world around her, she slowly changes into an intelligent, strong woman to be reckoned with.
That final scene on the wall with Joffrey made me love her, because I was sure she was going to try to escape her horrible situation by jumping to her death. But what does she do instead? She takes a step towards the prince, to kill him. Oh Sansa, so much yes. How far you have come, and how very far you are from being the pawn that others think you will be.
Also, Sansa seems to be the most politically-minded among the Starks. I am very very interested in seeing what she does next. I have a feeling she is going to become a major player, and I can't wait.
TyrionLancaster Lannister
Snarky, irreverent and intelligent, which is always a plus; entertaining, but so far rather too much on the fringes of the action. Evidently gearing up for a larger role, though, perhaps along with Irritatingly Obviously Mysterious Whore of Noble Birth. I'm looking forward to having Tyrion play a more major part in events, and thus become both more relevant and more interesting.
JamieLancaster Lannister
He seemed uninteresting to me for most of the season, but unexpectedly gained potential to be more than a one-dimensional smirky villain at the very end. I think this happened as a consequence of several minor things – the impression that he's been the pawn of not only his father, but also his sister, and knows it; the hints of vulnerability beginning to show through; his apparently genuine affection for Tyrion, who he nevertheless does not hesitate to betray; that it bothers him to be called Kingslayer (which I find pretty interesting); that he is almost exactly the same in captivity as he is at court…
At this time, he isn't particularly interesting yet, but I think he might become so. Much like Tyrion, come to think of it.
Daenerys Targaryan
Very nice, show. I love how a variety of possible routes was shown for her – wife of the barbarian conqueror, mother of the stallion who mounts the world –, and then taken away again. Rightly so, because they would have cast her in the secondary roles of wife or mother, just as she had previously been cast in the secondary role of sister. Through the experience, she has grown, and developed into someone who will not be second to anyone, and will conquer and rule in her own right. Her dragon has woken. Yes, I love her; everything works here.
The Dragons
Not subtle, show. The undead threat from the ice that can only be fought with fire, and the deposed princess preparing for an invasion with baby dragons on her arm? Methinks a solution to surviving the long winter is coming, together with a new monarch. Not subtle, no, but I can deal. :-)
Interesting side-note:
I'd heard that many important characters die suddenly and unexpectedly in this series, and so was constantly waiting for people to die. *g* But I didn't think many people died at all, and those who did die were not a surprise! In fact, I thought that every major character's death was clearly signalled in advance. (Sometimes almost hilariously heavy-handedly, in fact. I mean – come on. "I'll tell you who your mother is when we meet again"? That's like calling someone and saying "I know who the murderer is, but I won't tell you over the phone. Meet me in the abandoned warehouse in an hour, so you can exclaim over my still-warm corpse.") Everyone who died had reached the end of their purpose in the narrative, and most had to die so their death could move the plot along.
Have you watched and/or read Game of Thrones? What do you think?
Please don't spoiler me for Season 2 or beyond! I am a spoilerphobe.
There are no spoilers for Season 2 or beyond behind the cut, because I haven't read the books. There is rampant – if uninformed – speculation on my part, however.
I read Song of Ice and Fire when it first came out, but remembered only two vague things – a guarded wall in an icy wasteland and a woman in a tent with dragon eggs. (I misremembered Tyrion, whom I confused with a character from another book entirely.) Usually I have a very good memory for fiction, so this is unusual. Whatever the reason, the book evidently failed to grab me. Maybe I'll try reading it again at some point.
The series, however, I did like; very much so. Solid fantasy with excellent characterization, very well-done.
Jon Snow
A character I don't like as much as the show wants me to. Snow is not very bright; he repeatedly has to be told self-evident things at a very high volume for them to get through to his brain. He's also a broody drama-queen of the "OMG nobody can understand my pain, I am the most put-upon special little snowflake in the world" kind. Neither of these traits endear him to me.
On the other hand, when people shout at him loudly enough and at sufficient length, Snow does listen and learn, which is a major point in his favor. And he is a nice guy, and tries very hard to do the right thing. So, I might yet come to like him, depending on his further development.
I wondered at one point whether Snow was the son of the king and Ned's sister. Then there was a lot of to-do about the king's other bastard (the blacksmith), so now I'm unsure. Maybe his mother is Tyrion's mysterious noble whore, instead. Maybe the noble whore is Ned's sister.
Bran Stark
Like Jon Snow, but far more so: It is very clear I am supposed to like this character and be interested in his fate, but so far, I'm not. While I don't actively dislike him, I find him very boring, and as such dislike the time and attention the show lavishes on him. I hope the show either makes Bran interesting, or stops harping on about him so much.
I doubt it will, though, given that Bran's prominence in the narrative indicates that his older brother is not long for this world. Which is too bad. The previously hardly present Robb was beginning to seem like a potentially interesting character near the end of S1, which is more than I can say for Bran.
Ned Stark
A very well-done straight-forward and realistically flawed character who was rightly introduced in the act of executing an innocent boy. I'm sure most viewers forgot this very quickly, given that Ned was mostly portrayed as a sympathetic character to identify with, but it was the perfect parallel to his own execution, and a very nice frame for the entire first season. Ned believes himself a just, uncompromisingly honest and upright man, and by his own definition, he is, which makes him someone viewers identify with. He is also a man whose brand of justice includes executing a man (and later a wolf) for a crime he did not technically commit, because It Is Law, It Must Be Done. Watch it, son, because this is what a ruler must do.
He is right, but he is not a kind or open-minded man, and not as just as he thinks he is. But I liked that about the character, because it made him real. Come to think of it – he is a lot like an older, more experienced and less drama-queenish version of Jon Snow. A simple, inflexible man caught in a complex world, trying doggedly to do the right thing.
Catelyn Stark
Oh, well-done, show. This one has the potential to be a very nasty customer indeed. She is righteous and justified, and she needs no facts or proof when she knows someone is guilty, or otherwise worthy of her wrath. Give her an army and a cause and let her loose on the world, and the world will burn. And lo and behold, the show has given her an army and a cause, and let her loose. I await her development with interest.
Arya Stark
She works for me exactly as she's intended to. I like her just the way I'm meant to. :-)
Sansa Stark
Surprisingly, Sansa has developed into the most interesting Stark character for me. I started out dismissing her as the air-headed fashion-and-society sister, but adversity has done wonders for her. Beginning with her testimony against/for the prince before the king and queen, where she instinctively chose the best path, in an extremely high-pressure situation; continuing with the death of her wolf (which could have made her hate her sister, but didn't, because she never blamed her); continuing with the gradual change of her attitude towards the prince, and her very respectable attempt to save her father's life… As she wakes up to the harsh reality of the world around her, she slowly changes into an intelligent, strong woman to be reckoned with.
That final scene on the wall with Joffrey made me love her, because I was sure she was going to try to escape her horrible situation by jumping to her death. But what does she do instead? She takes a step towards the prince, to kill him. Oh Sansa, so much yes. How far you have come, and how very far you are from being the pawn that others think you will be.
Also, Sansa seems to be the most politically-minded among the Starks. I am very very interested in seeing what she does next. I have a feeling she is going to become a major player, and I can't wait.
Tyrion
Snarky, irreverent and intelligent, which is always a plus; entertaining, but so far rather too much on the fringes of the action. Evidently gearing up for a larger role, though, perhaps along with Irritatingly Obviously Mysterious Whore of Noble Birth. I'm looking forward to having Tyrion play a more major part in events, and thus become both more relevant and more interesting.
Jamie
He seemed uninteresting to me for most of the season, but unexpectedly gained potential to be more than a one-dimensional smirky villain at the very end. I think this happened as a consequence of several minor things – the impression that he's been the pawn of not only his father, but also his sister, and knows it; the hints of vulnerability beginning to show through; his apparently genuine affection for Tyrion, who he nevertheless does not hesitate to betray; that it bothers him to be called Kingslayer (which I find pretty interesting); that he is almost exactly the same in captivity as he is at court…
At this time, he isn't particularly interesting yet, but I think he might become so. Much like Tyrion, come to think of it.
Daenerys Targaryan
Very nice, show. I love how a variety of possible routes was shown for her – wife of the barbarian conqueror, mother of the stallion who mounts the world –, and then taken away again. Rightly so, because they would have cast her in the secondary roles of wife or mother, just as she had previously been cast in the secondary role of sister. Through the experience, she has grown, and developed into someone who will not be second to anyone, and will conquer and rule in her own right. Her dragon has woken. Yes, I love her; everything works here.
The Dragons
Not subtle, show. The undead threat from the ice that can only be fought with fire, and the deposed princess preparing for an invasion with baby dragons on her arm? Methinks a solution to surviving the long winter is coming, together with a new monarch. Not subtle, no, but I can deal. :-)
Interesting side-note:
I'd heard that many important characters die suddenly and unexpectedly in this series, and so was constantly waiting for people to die. *g* But I didn't think many people died at all, and those who did die were not a surprise! In fact, I thought that every major character's death was clearly signalled in advance. (Sometimes almost hilariously heavy-handedly, in fact. I mean – come on. "I'll tell you who your mother is when we meet again"? That's like calling someone and saying "I know who the murderer is, but I won't tell you over the phone. Meet me in the abandoned warehouse in an hour, so you can exclaim over my still-warm corpse.") Everyone who died had reached the end of their purpose in the narrative, and most had to die so their death could move the plot along.
Have you watched and/or read Game of Thrones? What do you think?
Please don't spoiler me for Season 2 or beyond! I am a spoilerphobe.
