NON SPOILER SECTION
Game of Thrones is a show that doesn't really need introduction. The iconic fantasy series from HBO, based on the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R Martin, is known throughout the world, and was the most popular show by far during its run from 2011-2019, with its vast array of characters and locations, political scheming from the noble houses and their subjects, and shocking deaths and betrayals that made for a fresh and unpredictable story. And, while late to the series, I've been enjoying my first viewing, and thought I would give some of my thoughts - splitting my reviews into several parts, with minor spoilers to begin with, and a more in-depth look at the events that play out afterwards.
The show focuses on House Stark, lords of Winterfell and Wardens of the North of the vast continent of Westeros. Seasons last for decades, and Summer is nearly ended. The North prepares for a treacherous winter ahead. But when the Hand of the King dies in suspicious circumstances, Lord Eddard Stark is called upon by his old friend King Robert Baratheon to take his place. Not long after, Eddard's son is pushed from a tower.
What follows is a mystery to uncover the culprits of these crimes, a plot to take the Iron Throne and a war waged by several kings and queens who lay claim to it. But while the realm descends into chaos, an ancient evil stirs beyond the great ice wall of the North, and in the far East, an outcast princess is gifted three dragon eggs. "Winter is Coming", and when the dead march against the living, who will be left to sit upon the Iron Throne?
What was refreshing at the time was both the visceral nature of the show, namely the depravity of a medieval setting through the violence and sex, matched with the shocking nature of the twists and betrayals, which made the show feel authentic to the time and setting in a way others can only imitate. If a character made a mistake, they would suffer those consequences, and they would often be bloody. To do this in fantasy, an otherwise family-friendly genre, was unheard of, and contributes hugely to the success of the show, and its ability to be taken seriously.
But this uncompromising commitment to harsh reality would be wasted if it wasn't in the context of a wonderfully realised world. The title credits for the show depicts the geography of the land, along with the key locations to appear in the episode, serving as a visual aid to the audience, who might otherwise be lost. However, the contrast of vivid locations, from the icy desolation of the Wall and beyond to the humid and desert plains of Essos, make sure you always know where the show is set from scene to scene. Other shows, namely the Witcher, fail in this aspect, with neither a map to guide you nor sufficient visual distinction between locations.
You can almost break the show up into different storylines that jump from one another - events from King's Landing have little impact on those beyond the wall or in Essos, and travelling from one location to the other is a long and arduous journey that takes many episodes. However, when characters cross paths, it is all the more satisfying considering how it is earned, even if this does make for a slow pace for certain characters. As long as the writing holds and scenes feature compelling characters, which I can safely say they do, a slower, more thoughtful way of storytelling is just as incredible.
SEASON BY SEASON
The first season has little budget for large-scale battles or fantasy monsters, but focuses instead on establishing this gargantuan world and the central players within it, cleverly tying it to a smaller-scale murder mystery so as to ease the audience in with a familiar convention. There are plenty of examples of fantastic writing and characterisation to choose from within this season - Robert and Ned on the King's Road reminiscing of their past glories, Jon and Tyrion reflecting on the hands they were dealt in life on their way to the wall, there are so many excellent moments between talented actors that have you forgive the severely restricted number of battles or fantasy elements. Sean Bean and Mark Addy stand out in particular as Eddard and King Robert, who play their roles to perfection, but the seeds are laid for others to shine in later seasons.
Season two has events escalate into full scale war from several factions, beginning an arc called "The War of the Five Kings", introducing Stannis Baratheon and the magical influences of the Lord of Light through Melisandre, as well as Margery and Highgarden. Here, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister shines, playing a complicated political battle with the figures of King's landing as armies close in around them, marking perhaps the height of the show's quality, at least from a writing standpoint. However, the Essos plot seems dragged out and almost filler, as does some of the events following the Night's Watch - both have incredible location shots, but the stories perhaps don't have enough to adapt to warrant their amount of screentime.
Season three continues the political struggles as those with power fight tooth and nail to maintain it, while the price of loss or capture becomes terrible indeed. Perhaps not as eventful as the second season, and with it largely disregarding a major cliff-hanger, it maintains stellar writing quality and some of the most shocking moments of the entire show. The Essos story is the most rich here as well, with some great payoffs explosive action and awe-inspiring cinematography.
Season four has the best of both writing, complicated political battles and the budget for high quality action. The highlights from this season are plentiful as events from King's Landing to the Wall are packed with iconic moments, triumphs and tragedies. Events in Essos get repetitive unfortunately, squandering some of the good will made from the prior season. In part, this is due to fewer and less compelling supporting characters, and little for the leads to do. Unpredictability was the draw for the show, and that made this subplot rather dull in comparison to the rest.
All in all, these four seasons make for masterful television, being fresh, vibrant and incredibly well written, making a mature and complex fantasy series to set a very high bar for any series to try and match. I don't think I could give a clean ten out of ten due to uneven pacing for certain characters, but it comes perhaps as close to perfect television as I could think of. Each of these four seasons gets a solid 9.5 out of 10.
9.5 OUT OF 10
SPOILER SECTION
SEASON 1
As I said above, Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon and Sean Bean as Eddard Stark were the standout characters of the first season, making the King's Landing story so compelling as the conspiracies unravel. Both have an element of tragedy, Robert a broken man who never wanted to be king, and Ned who lost a friend through the years and harbouring secrets of his own in relation to his bastard son Jon Snow. What was only pointed out to me in a video long afterwards, I realised that mysteries like who killed Jon Arryn weren't solved this season, nor who hired the assassin to kill Bran. You might never even notice, as the plots and schemes of King's Landing were compelling enough to draw your attention. There is such a breadth of fascinating characters from Cersei to Varys and Littlefinger, the Hound, even Pycelle in his own way captivate you.
The other plots tie in brilliantly - Catelyn seeks justice in the North, the Riverlands and the Vale by capturing Tyrion and putting him on trial, Daenerys facing the effects of Robert's wrath from afar as we learn about the Targaryen House and the Dothraki, and Robb waging war when his father is imprisoned. The least relevant is Jon's story on the wall, and it doesn't go too far in this season, but is entertaining nonetheless, especially the interactions with Tyrion early in the season.
The deaths of Robert and Ned are excellently done, with tragic payoff to both - Robert putting aside his wrath to Daenerys too late as the assassin had already been sent, and Ned, putting aside his honour to save his daughters, only to be killed anyway when Sansa, and the audience were led to believe he would be spared. This starts the main conflict of the story, as the Lannisters claim the throne and the others who would seek it wage war. Daenerys sets the Dothraki to as well, but setbacks and tragedies due to her hypocrisy and kind-hearted nature delay her, ultimately leading to the birth of the dragons, a fantastic final note to the season as it introduces greater magical elements into the story (White Walkers and Maegi's excluding).
SEASON 2
Season 2 adds several more plotlines, from Tyrion's perspective at King's Landing replacing Ned's, Stannis' claim to battle through the eyes of Davos, Arya in the Riverlands and Harrenhal and Jon splitting from the main group of rangers to aid Halfhand hunting wildlings. Unfortunately, the more plots and subplots that are introduced, the more fall to filler. Daenerys' time in Qarth is stretched out painfully long and lacks the greater connections to the main story that season one had. while Robb's war in the Riverlands is spoken of far more than shown. The most you get is battlefields after the battle. I appreciate the focus on the conflict as a whole rather than action and spectacle, but it does seem to remove the character from the prowess and reputation he is earning.
Still, the budget of the show had grown enough to have a large-scale battle in the Battle of the Blackwater, pitting two of the major sides against each other. What makes it so compelling is that you empathise with both sides - you don't want all of Tyrion's efforts to be for naught, nor do you want to see the innocents of King's Landing suffer, but at the same time you want Cersei to be overthrown. In essence, you don't want either side to lose. However, Tyrion wins, at the cost of a betrayal on the field of battle and losing his position as Hand of the King.
While the first season was masterful, I think this season was what captured the imagination of millions, and the final image of the Army of the Dead a haunting and awe-inspiring cliff-hanger.
SEASON 3
The King's Landing story is less eventful in season three as the immediate threat of invasion is over, and Tyrion has less political power as Tywin takes the office of Hand of the King. However, his presence, along with the unsteady Tyrell alliance, offers many great scenes. Tywin's pragmatism and leadership over his family make each scene he is in mesmerising, and Margery's navigation of King's Landing politics was fresh - a character who uses charisma and manipulation as a means of gaining political power and status, rather than power, violence and threat. She plays the "game" perhaps the most tactfully and subtly of all the players, which infuriates Cersei and creates a stark rivalry between them.
Robb and Catelyn's plot takes a turn as they lose power through betrayals and poor decisions, and, having broken the marriage pact with Walder Frey to pursue his love Talissa, must return to him to regain support to keep them in the war. This sets up perhaps the most shocking event of the series, the Red Wedding, wherein all the central characters are murdered during the celebration. The first season established that main characters can die abruptly for their mistakes, but this takes the logic further by having a whole faction fall in an episode of horror and tragedy that is revered by fans as much as it haunts them.
Tyrion is forced to marry Sansa to secure her claim to the north, and his and Shae's relationship begins to deteriorate as the danger in the city for her grows. Here, we get to see Tyrion with much less political power than the prior season, but as a result you get to see the quality of his character come through more, namely in his treatment of Sansa through the ordeal they are both put through, marking him from the other Lannisters.
Jaime also begins a redemption of sorts - freed the prior season by Catelyn, he and Brienne travel to King's Landing on foot, but are captured by Bolton's men and has his sword hand cut off. His arrogance and pride are stripped from him, and his confesses to Brienne about the day he killed the mad king and his difficult choice of choosing to break his oath in place of defending the innocent. This single season turns the character around in many people's eyes and adds another sympathetic character to the King's Landing stories, despite his deeply unhealthy relationship he has with his sister.
Unfortunately characters like Stannis and Davos have little to do this season, still reeling from the loss at the Blackwater. Jon travels with the Wildlings and makes the harsh climb over the wall, while Sam miraculously escapes the army of the dead, then rescues Gilly from the mutiny at Craster's Keep, and again by killing a White Walker, demonstrating the weakness to the supernatural forces beyond the wall. Arya and Sansa are both caught in a holding pattern though, both held as prisoners like the prior season while making tiny steps toward further development.
SEASON 4
The events as the wall are perhaps best this season - a wildling attack is imminent, and they must prepare, Jon leading a group to take down the mutineers at Craster's Keep, then in an explosive battle, holding off attacks from both sides of Castle Black one of the best episodes of the entire show, with Wildlings scaling the wall, giants and mammoths breaching the gate, and a smaller party attacking from the rear leading to a chaotic battle in the courtyard, capped off by Ygritte's death. Ultimately, this is the payoff for the Night's Watch story since season two, and it is excellently done. The battle they fight is harsh and hopeless, losing half their men in the first night, knowing they wouldn't live the second. Stannis and his forces arrive and defeats the wildlings before Jon has to sacrifice himself and kill Mance Raydar.
In terms of production value, this is when the show really begins to look film quality, with shots of giants, huge spears thrown at the top of the wall and a courtyard fight with dozens of extras in the backdrop, making the battle feel, despite the fantasy elements in it, oddly real.
In King's Landing, Oberyn Martell seeks vengeance for his sister's death decades prior, putting House Lannister in an awkward position. Tyrion is put on trial when Joffrey is poisoned at his wedding and dies, with all his prior mistakes brought up as he is abandoned and betrayed. Pedro Pascal as Oberyn is a fantastic addition, even if his inclusion in the show is cut abruptly short when his character dies in a trial by combat against the Mountain, taking the behemoth with him. Tyrion and Tywin are I think best acted this season, with Tyrion's court scenes in particular being incredibly memorable, all his resentment for his treatment coming out in a furious defence of his honour. Tywin, the imposing and noble leader of the Lannisters, being killed by his son while on the toilet is fantastic irony, and the quality writing ensures that it isn't played for laughs, instead in a dead serious sequence.
Arya and the Hound have many great moments, but unfortunately it dragged on for quite a while, showing again some pacing issues. The writing and acting is great, but it does little to move the plot, even their own subplot, forward, up until the fight between him and Brienne at the end, and Arya sailing to Bravos to meet with the faceless men.
Having read some of the books, what I understand is that the third and fourth seasons of the show adapt one book as there is a lot of ground to cover. Sometimes this works, like events at King's Landing or with the Night's Watch, but not with subplots like with Arya, Sansa, Bran Daenerys and Theon - a few good payoffs, but just as many scenes that contribute too little. The better moments drown them out somewhat, but it is certainly noticeable. When characters were less scattered like in season one (and with less events and characters and locations to juggle), there was more that clearly tied together - Arya would overhear plots against Ned, and Theon would support Robb when it came to calling the banners. Now, each location has its own small offshoots that only seem to fragment even more. Incredible for worldbuilding and character moments, but not so much for moving forward a clear narrative.
Despite all this, these first four seasons make for some of the best television put out there, a staple of the 2010's, and well worth its praise.
But those are my thoughts. How did you like seasons one to four? Let me know in the comments, and I'll make sure to follow up with a two more Game of Thrones reviews for seasons five and six, then seven and eight. That's all for now.
Comments