A couple of things you should know right off the bat:
1) I bought - and watched - Season 3 first.
Hey...it was on sale at Best Buy!
2) I only got two-thirds of the way through the first book.
Yeah, well...it affects the same part of my brain that's kept me from getting through Lord of the Rings.
3) We own the books, which Mrs. Adorkification has read from start to finish in a little over three weeks.
In fact this is her second favorite book series, and she grew up reading about Middle-earth, Pern and Darkover (which remains her #1). Therefore -
4) Mrs. Adorkification is the expert here.
5) And now we finally own Season 1.
I've been meaning to do a more involved "Impressions"-style review for a while. I guess I was waiting for the right time and the right stuff, and (apologies to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) this is it.
Needless to say, Spoilers Ahead...just in case I'm not the last person on Earth over twelve who hasn't seen this yet.
I had a heck of a time figuring out how to organize this review because the show (like the books) is so dense. I chose to follow the show's lead, where the BEAUTIFULLY done opening sequence focuses on locations where things in the episode take place - which is f**king brilliant. So I'm reviewing each episode's 'happenings' based on location. In other words, each place will get its own review.
Season 1 Episode 1: "Winter is Coming" - Pentos
The Gist:
This is Daenerys Targaryen, the daughter of the previous King who lost the throne when he was killed.
This is her brother Viserys, who's been waiting seventeen years to get the throne back, and an a$$hole.
He's an a$$hole because he's marrying Daenerys off to this guy:
Khal Drogo...
...which makes me think of Farscape every damn time...
...who is the leader of the Dothraki people. They're kind of a cross between Klingons and Reavers.
Viserys is forcing her do this in order to gain Drogo's army and take the throne back.
So the wedding happens...
...what is it with this series and weddings?...
...and during the wedding, Daenerys meets this guy:
He's okay, and somehow understands the Dothraki language even though he's from someplace called Bear Island - where Dothraki must an elective course.
It's also at the wedding where Daenerys gets these:
three stone dragon eggs...or dragon stone eggs...or whatever.
They're given to her by Illyrio Mopatis.
He's hosted the Targaryens during their exile for the past year or so, and worked as a liaison between the Dothraki and Targaryens to arrange the marriage.
The stone egg stones came from the Shadow Lands beyond somewhere called Asshai. How Illyrio got them I have no idea.
The ceremony ends,
The ceremony ends,
Daenerys gets a beautiful white horse from Drogo as a wedding present, and they...consummate...their marriage.
The Good:
The location! This part of the show was shot in Malta...
...home of the Falcon...
...and it surprises me that this show has the scope, and the budget, to shoot in completely different parts of the world.
And that's just freaking gorgeous - except for the heat. I can't stand heat.
Her horse reminds me of Shadowfax...which just adds to the awesome.
Viserys is played by Harry Lloyd...who reminds me of Tom Hiddleston.
After looking it up online, I realized where I've seen him before.
He played Will Scarlett in Robin Hood, and also showed up in a couple of episodes of Doctor Who.
The significance of the eggs.
Forget the books. Even if you've never read a page, you can tell these eggs are important because of the look on Daenerys' face and the music you hear. Very well done.
Viserys' plan.
It's actually pretty smart: Do what he needs to do to get a badass army to get back what is rightfully his.
But it comes with a price.
Which also shows how heartless and cruel he can be...especially when he brings up the 40,000 men and the horses.
The bath scene..but not for that reason.
When Daenerys enters the bath water, the servant warns her that it's too hot. Yet in she walks without batting an eye. It could be said that this shows her accepting her fate. That she's becoming numb to her surroundings. Except for the fact that her body doesn't show any burns later on. That's as significant a point as the eggs, but was done with less pomp and circumstance.
I noticed their pins (or are they brooches?) and Viserys' ring. Awesome detail!
And it's clear that Daenerys wants to go home.
And it's clear that Daenerys wants to go home.
The Bad:
The relationship (on the show at least) between Illyrio's people and the Dothraki.
We know the Dothraki are badasses. We know Illyrio's people...aren't. So how do these two societies co-exist? What keeps the Dothraki from wiping them out?
"Waking the Dragon".
Anyone who's read the books knows what this means, but viewers are only given a hint of what it might mean. It's obviously bad, and Daenerys doesn't want to do it, but why she doesn't want to is left unclear.
The WTF?:
In light of recent events I just want to point out that in the first episode of the first season, according to the producers,
Daenerys is raped.
Granted - we don't see it on screen, but there's nothing to prove it doesn't happen. Not only that, but her first sexual encounter with Khal Drogo didn't happen that way in the book. So right away, we're shown that this show goes off-book, and major female characters are raped.
Moving on...
When Viserys disrobes Daenerys, he says "Let them see." Who are they? Does he mean us? The viewers? Or is he referring to both himself and the Dragon-that-need-not-be-awakened?
I could swear that when Jorah shows up, Drogo calls him by name. Could they know each other?
So during a Dothraki wedding, anything less than three deaths and some fornication would be considered a "dull affair". What I didn't know was that Dothraki men can fornicate with their pants on. That's some Dothraki skill right there.
Viserys' face at the disembowelment.
Really? Considering what he's putting his sister through, and the violent future he's planning to get the throne back, he's that surprised at a wedding disembowelment?
As a wedding present? Really?
Daenerys getting put on her horse.
When Drogo sets Daenerys on her horse, she's sitting sidesaddle. But in the next shot, she's sitting...normally.
Un-sidesaddled?
Regular-like?
You know what I mean...
How did Illyrio get those eggs?
Mrs. Adorkification Moments:
"F**KING HBO!"
This goes back to the extended "entering the bath" scene. Mrs. Adorkification knows the books, and was bothered by the nudity here. True to the book or not, it wasn't necessary. The point that Daenerys was immune to the heat of the bath could have been made without it being drawn out.
But the nudity during the wedding scene? Absolutely necessary.
She explained to me that the whole point of the wedding was to see the Dothraki people through Daenerys' eyes. They're having sex and killing each other right in front of her. She's appalled. She's horrified.
And these are the people she's marring into!
This is an example of how the show used nudity and sex (not just violence - because there's violence everywhere, even in Lord of the Rings) effectively to make a point and move the story forward.
"Their eyes should be violet."
See, that's what I thought when she said that too.
I looked it up, and she's right - the Targaryens do have violet eyes in the books. But I also checked the interwebs and learned that the actors were originally given purple contact lenses. They just didn't look right and bugged the performers, so they were nixed.
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