Game of Thrones FINALE!: Fire and Blood
If the final minutes of “Fire and Blood” didn’t make your jaw hit the floor, best go have your pulse checked. The dragon(s) have awoken and season 1 of Thrones ended on such a homerun for HBO, the audience, and that fat guy with two middle initials: George R.R.Martin. Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did a great job of adapting this immensely rich novel and streamlining it into a coherent show. Like the first book in the “Song of Ice and Fire” series, season 1 is essentially a prologue for the war to come and an even more grand season 2.
After leaving Daenerys in dismal position at the end of the last episode (damn that witch!), the season ends with a rebirth for the true, fire-proof dragon heir. In the book, she emerges with her hair singed off, but whatevs. She’s got her own (albeit small) army and slaves and now three, super cute baby dragons to command. She proves she’s got the stones to command (the burning of the with was pretty brutal), and with dragons on her shoulders and barbarians behind her, the feuding armies of Westeros better pray she doesn’t cross that sea.
Over at King’s Landing, Joffrey continues to be his usual smirking piece of shit self. His handling of the bard was frighteningly sarcastic and cool. His surprise for Sansa was even worse. Joffrey’s abuse and beating through proxy means that Sansa is going to have to put away her childish dreams of becoming a just queen and focus on survival. Meanwhile her sister Arya must also remain tight-lipped and brave as she travels north with a gang of misfits, criminals, and rejects. Pulling needle on the fat kid shows that she still has to learn some restraint if she wants to make it back to Winterfell.
I could watch a whole series just about the Wall and the Night’s Watch. I love everything about it and the whole idea of a group of men who’ve sacrificed relationships and family to guard a giant ice wall tickles me in places I cannot mention. Jon’s expedition north of the Wall is going to make for some thrilling television. We’ll also get introduced to one of my favorite characters from the second book: the ranger Quorin Halfhand. If HBO is as smart as I think they are, they’ll throw a lot more money into season 2 because there’s a lot of shit going on north of the Wall…
Robert, now an impressive looking King of the North, has an army of separatists (and one direwolf) at his command. He’s proven not to be as “green” as Tywin Lannister thought. As much as Catelyn would love to bash Jaime to death, he’s their only bargaining chip to get the girls back in one piece (and with their heads attached). While the Lannisters are obviously not to be trusted in the bargaining realm, Tywin seems attached to Jaime and he might offer up some kind of trade.
Tywin also begins to see his son Tyrion (the consensus’ favorite character) is pobably more useful in court than in the battlefield. A wise thought. While his bff Bronn was sadly absent from the finale, don’t think their adventures together are over. They’ll be plenty of this in season 2.
Another breakout series for HBO and another arduous year of waiting for the second season. Filming begins at the end of July.