Game of Thrones: Lord Snow

Despite Cat’s disdain for a bastard in their family, it’s hard to deny the awesomeness of Jon Snow. He’s one of my favorite characters in the book and now on the show as well. The setting of the Wall helps a lot – it’s such an interesting and eerie place situated at the end of a haunted forest. This forest seems deadly still but if it deems guarding by the Night’s Watch – people who (sometimes unwillingly) sacrifice their entire lives to protect this Wall – then you know shit can go down at any minute. Benjen tells Tyrion a lot about these unnameable horrors beyond the Wall, like big fucking bears. Oh my! And of course there’s the White Walkers who made an appearance in the beginning of the pilot. They’ll come into play shortly and they’re some scary pricks.

Lots of exposition in “Lord Snow” – especially backstory concerning Jaime Lannister and how he earned his epic nickname “Kingslayer.” In the sleazy manner of stabbing the king in the back, natch. Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays the smug asshole perfectly. I wanted Ned to bitch slap him with a glove during the scene in the throne room. Him and his unscathed armor. Pssshhht. During the small council, Ned learns how utterly fucked the kingdom’s financial situation is. “Counting copper,” they call it. Despite the issue, Robert demands a tournament be held in celebration of Ned’s appointment as Hand of the King. Ned’s new role, however, doesn’t give him the power to prevent royal spending on crap like tourneys. His frustration with King’s Landing continues to grow.

And if finance isn’t enough to give Ned a headache, his daughters will. Sansa continues to be her bitchy self while Arya wants to be a boy. But Ned shows how great he as at being a dad by scrubbing Arya’s dance lessons for swordplay with some kook obsessed with water. That dude was hilarious. This is the point in the book where Ayra begins her transformation from a tomboy into a serious student of martial arts. There’s a lot to look forward to in the Arya department.

What’s up, Carcetti. Irish actor Aidan Gillen returns to HBO after his stint as Tommy Carcetti on The Wire. Now he’s filling the shows as opportunistic Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, the treasurer of the Seven Kingdoms. He does more than keep a ledger though – he snuck Cat into King’s Landing and hid her in a brothel. She’s off to find the truth behind the assassination attempt on Bran and Petyr drops the bomb that the dagger used to be his – until he lost it in a bet with Tyrion. Our favorite long-dicked imp is in trouble, but it’s far-fetched he had anything to do with the attempt. He genuinely likes the Stark children far more than his own family.

Also, Daenerys is pregnant. This would be a time to celebrate but in the world of Thrones, good news is commonly followed up by serious devastation. See you next week.