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Game of Thrones 1.07 You Win or You Die
This episode was a double rainbow! I didn't have a quarrel with most of it and it was full of scenes that were going to be intense even if I've already read them in the book. Wow. Things are really picking up.
- Okay, Jaime. Jaime, Jaime, Jaime. I love you. You are my favorite character, after all. But must you insist on attention-whoring this early in the series? At this rate I fear that (given the Tywin scene and the revealingness of Tywin's parenting and the Lannister family dynamic) audiences are going to resent how fast they're being made to sympathize with you rather than just sympathizing. It was all fairly in-character, don't get me wrong, particularly Tywin's line about "aren't you going to say something clever?" and excepting Jaime's excessive emoting (shouldn't we be getting more bitter stoicism out of the Kingslayer here?), but I don't think it serves the narrative. I think GRRM chose well in letting readers hate Jaime with impunity in Game and Clash. I dunno where they're going with this, though, so we'll see how it goes.
- That's not even touching on Tywin's symbolic deer slaughtering, which... which... which. Yes, HBO, we know.
- BUT THEN IT WAS FOLLOWED BY PETYR'S WHOREHOUSE SCENE, WHICH: A. AHAHAHAHA, B. WUT, C. AHAHAHAHAHA. I guess they wanted an excuse to tell Petyr's Cat story and convey that he's still in love with her, along with his somewhat anvilicious I'm-going-to-win-by-being-a-whore-not-a-fighter metaphor -- which he carried off, mind, because he's Petyr -- with... a... background... of... two... lesbians... doing... it...? We cracked up at his reaction to their horrible faking it, though, and it was generally kind of hilariously characterizing of Petyr (what are you doing? what, what, what are you doing?), who cares about neither expensive things, cashmere coats, nor diamond rings, but -- IDK. HBO, IDEK. Also I think the writers love Petyr a little too much too.
- The Wall stuff altogether was more interesting than it usually is, partly due to how starry-eyed-in-love-with-each-other Jon and Sam are in the TV series. Seriously, it actually adds a lot to Jon's character. I like him a lot more. And his emo faces are fucking hilarious, which makes it all the more charming when Sam consistently manages to be the only one to cheer him up. Also, Aemon Targaryen!! Also, the oath -- oh God, the oath,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
relia and I are not even big Night's Watch storyline fans but the oath is amazing, I mouthed it along with it. I think it's just kind of memetically meaningful to ASoIaF fans altogether. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls.
- Ned and Robert's relationship is never sadder than at the very beginning when it's introduced and at the very end. They're not even my favorite characters, but although I've already written fic about them they are likely the ones I could most easily write fic about again. They're really depressing and Robert's deathbed scene managed to be depressing even despite what a (more) massive a-hole they've made him in this. In the end Ned Stark is kind of the only thing Robert Baratheon ever really cared about -- and given how shittily he's done that, it says a lot about Robert's relationships with other people through his life. And poor Ned, poor poor Ned, suffering even more of the consequences of being Ned.
- I hope this episode will start to give viewers a clue that Cersei Lannister is evil, because the series has not really been doing well enough on that front so far. I appreciate the inclusion of her conversation with Ned where she mentions her bitterness over Robert calling Lyanna's name; however, since when was Cersei smitten with Robert? What happened to Rhaegar? There's not nearly enough Rhaegar in this altogether, honestly.
- "You mean Lord Renly and his entourage nanced out of King's Landing." "Pranced." "Minced."
- Not sure WTF they're doing with Theon and Osha there, to be honest, or with Osha in general: I remember a grizzled, taciturn, sarcastic woman, not something resembling a cross between Mme. Thenardier and Beggar Woman From Look Down. She is kind of irritatingly Helena Bonham Carter. Not everything needs to be Helena Bonham Carter. Helena Bonham Carter is already more than enough Helena Bonham Carter.
- No Tyrion in this episode, or the rest of the Eyrie storyline. Oh, well. As we imagine, audiences are not likely to forget about Tyrion of all people.
- Oh my god, Drogo has lines! Drogo has lots of lines! More lines than he's had in forever! And he is SO angry that someone tried to murder the moon of his life! I am so pleased they FINALLY decided to characterize Drogo and his relationship with Dany, because he's about to be axed along with a bunch of other Game characters so it was about time. Jorah was suitably Jorah, though about the world's most obvious spy. Dany... is acting-challenged when it comes to doing anything but smouldering like Valentino, I'm afraid, but at least she's starting to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
- They talked more about Stannis, which is good; I hope Renly's talking shit on him reflects as badly on Renly as it might on Stannis to viewers, though. Overall Renly is still very... uh, not Renly, Renmure Tully, but I guess we'll have to see how that goes too.
- Overall this story has way more hookers in it than I recall from the books, but that's kind of part and parcel to the HBO thing, I guess. Hooker Box Office.
- Is that some kind of Sandor/Sansa interaction I spy in the previews for next week? I am excite.
- What am I saying, I was already excite.
- frigida venit Hiems.
I think I actually never have been this passionate about a fandom before, including when I was a preteen and creating my own Digimon fan OCs and when I've been drunk. A Song of Ice and Fire is the heart of it, but there being a TV adaptation has gathered a regular storm of excitement and ambivalence and worry and opinions. I wonder if this is how hardcore Lord of the Rings fans felt in 2001.
- Okay, Jaime. Jaime, Jaime, Jaime. I love you. You are my favorite character, after all. But must you insist on attention-whoring this early in the series? At this rate I fear that (given the Tywin scene and the revealingness of Tywin's parenting and the Lannister family dynamic) audiences are going to resent how fast they're being made to sympathize with you rather than just sympathizing. It was all fairly in-character, don't get me wrong, particularly Tywin's line about "aren't you going to say something clever?" and excepting Jaime's excessive emoting (shouldn't we be getting more bitter stoicism out of the Kingslayer here?), but I don't think it serves the narrative. I think GRRM chose well in letting readers hate Jaime with impunity in Game and Clash. I dunno where they're going with this, though, so we'll see how it goes.
- That's not even touching on Tywin's symbolic deer slaughtering, which... which... which. Yes, HBO, we know.
- BUT THEN IT WAS FOLLOWED BY PETYR'S WHOREHOUSE SCENE, WHICH: A. AHAHAHAHA, B. WUT, C. AHAHAHAHAHA. I guess they wanted an excuse to tell Petyr's Cat story and convey that he's still in love with her, along with his somewhat anvilicious I'm-going-to-win-by-being-a-whore-not-a-fighter metaphor -- which he carried off, mind, because he's Petyr -- with... a... background... of... two... lesbians... doing... it...? We cracked up at his reaction to their horrible faking it, though, and it was generally kind of hilariously characterizing of Petyr (what are you doing? what, what, what are you doing?), who cares about neither expensive things, cashmere coats, nor diamond rings, but -- IDK. HBO, IDEK. Also I think the writers love Petyr a little too much too.
- The Wall stuff altogether was more interesting than it usually is, partly due to how starry-eyed-in-love-with-each-other Jon and Sam are in the TV series. Seriously, it actually adds a lot to Jon's character. I like him a lot more. And his emo faces are fucking hilarious, which makes it all the more charming when Sam consistently manages to be the only one to cheer him up. Also, Aemon Targaryen!! Also, the oath -- oh God, the oath,
relia and I are not even big Night's Watch storyline fans but the oath is amazing, I mouthed it along with it. I think it's just kind of memetically meaningful to ASoIaF fans altogether. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls.- Ned and Robert's relationship is never sadder than at the very beginning when it's introduced and at the very end. They're not even my favorite characters, but although I've already written fic about them they are likely the ones I could most easily write fic about again. They're really depressing and Robert's deathbed scene managed to be depressing even despite what a (more) massive a-hole they've made him in this. In the end Ned Stark is kind of the only thing Robert Baratheon ever really cared about -- and given how shittily he's done that, it says a lot about Robert's relationships with other people through his life. And poor Ned, poor poor Ned, suffering even more of the consequences of being Ned.
- I hope this episode will start to give viewers a clue that Cersei Lannister is evil, because the series has not really been doing well enough on that front so far. I appreciate the inclusion of her conversation with Ned where she mentions her bitterness over Robert calling Lyanna's name; however, since when was Cersei smitten with Robert? What happened to Rhaegar? There's not nearly enough Rhaegar in this altogether, honestly.
- "You mean Lord Renly and his entourage nanced out of King's Landing." "Pranced." "Minced."
- Not sure WTF they're doing with Theon and Osha there, to be honest, or with Osha in general: I remember a grizzled, taciturn, sarcastic woman, not something resembling a cross between Mme. Thenardier and Beggar Woman From Look Down. She is kind of irritatingly Helena Bonham Carter. Not everything needs to be Helena Bonham Carter. Helena Bonham Carter is already more than enough Helena Bonham Carter.
- No Tyrion in this episode, or the rest of the Eyrie storyline. Oh, well. As we imagine, audiences are not likely to forget about Tyrion of all people.
- Oh my god, Drogo has lines! Drogo has lots of lines! More lines than he's had in forever! And he is SO angry that someone tried to murder the moon of his life! I am so pleased they FINALLY decided to characterize Drogo and his relationship with Dany, because he's about to be axed along with a bunch of other Game characters so it was about time. Jorah was suitably Jorah, though about the world's most obvious spy. Dany... is acting-challenged when it comes to doing anything but smouldering like Valentino, I'm afraid, but at least she's starting to trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.
- They talked more about Stannis, which is good; I hope Renly's talking shit on him reflects as badly on Renly as it might on Stannis to viewers, though. Overall Renly is still very... uh, not Renly, Renmure Tully, but I guess we'll have to see how that goes too.
- Overall this story has way more hookers in it than I recall from the books, but that's kind of part and parcel to the HBO thing, I guess. Hooker Box Office.
- Is that some kind of Sandor/Sansa interaction I spy in the previews for next week? I am excite.
- What am I saying, I was already excite.
- frigida venit Hiems.
I think I actually never have been this passionate about a fandom before, including when I was a preteen and creating my own Digimon fan OCs and when I've been drunk. A Song of Ice and Fire is the heart of it, but there being a TV adaptation has gathered a regular storm of excitement and ambivalence and worry and opinions. I wonder if this is how hardcore Lord of the Rings fans felt in 2001.