This post contains massive spoilers through season 4 of Game of Thrones. So don't read if you don't want to know.
It's been on my watch list for quite a while now because I'd heard a lot about it (including many, many spoilers... ugh) and the cast is gorgeous:
Emilia Clarke
Kit Harington
Sophie Turner
Natalie Dormer
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
So there's five reasons to watch it right there. (If you're not convinced, look up: Maisie Williams, Rose Leslie, Richard Madden, Oona Chaplin -- why is everyone so attractive?)
I've started reading the books now, figuring that would fulfill my need to immediately rewatch the whole shebang without actually doing that, because that would be ridiculous. And the books are actually great, so far, and the show follows it closer than I would have expected.
When I started the show I knew that I was in store for a lot of violence and sex, and yes, there's a lot of that. I'm pretty wimpy about medieval forms of violence (the sound of swords... *shudder*) so there have definitely been parts where I am content to turn the volume down to the bare minimum and let my eyes wander elsewhere until it's over. (The torture scenes of Theon Greyjoy were literally the worst.)
As for the sex and nudity -- perhaps a little gratuitous. There are definitely times when you think -- does this woman really have to be fully nude for this scene to make sense? It's nice to see a show that doesn't shy away from that stuff (especially when it's so graphically violent -- I hate that violence is more acceptable on television that nudity) but it's almost too much. I've noticed that several female characters are defrocked in their introductory scenes (namely, Daenerys and Margaery) which is kind of shady. Like here's a new character, how shall we grab your attention... Boobs? Boobs.
And while there are a couple instances of full male nudity there is way more female nudity than male. Kit Harington is apparently in favor of closing the gap though. Maybe he should go first, since he's yet to bare it all -- the one time we saw his character's bum it was actually a stunt double. How disappointing.
Now for the actual plot. It's great -- really complex, perhaps too many characters (I have no idea who half of them are) but it's enjoyable. There will be a couple storylines you enjoy and you'll watch those and kind of tune out the rest and that's not ideal, but whatever. I do love some of these characters.
Daenerys Targaryen
Hers is the storyline I've been most interested in from the start and it's not hard to guess why. (It's something to do with dragons... and Emilia Clarke.) I find myself cheering her on -- and now I really want a dragon. Or three. I've enjoyed watching her grow, and the Dothraki are really cool. Not to mention, she has the most amazing hair and the best outfits. She's a little power hungry, but she's got a good heart and I like her a lot. (Though I do put some stock in the theory that she's going to follow in the footsteps of her father, the mad king, and go completely off the wall crazy.)
Jon Snow
His storyline wasn't always fascinating, but I love the character. He's the long-suffering bastard son of Ned Stark, hated by Catelyn Stark, and sent away to the Wall. He's so innocent and honorable, especially in his dealings with his Wildling lover, Ygritte. Now say it with me: You know nothing, Jon Snow. He's actually a puppy.
Arya Stark
Arya is awesome. I love everything about this character, from the beginning watching her learn to wield a sword and later, learn to kill. She's been put through so much: witnessing her father's execution and the aftermath of the murder of her mother and brother, and basically the entire Stark family. Now she's got a little hit-list of people she wants to kill to avenge her family.
Sansa Stark
I'm very wary of whatever she thinks she's doing with Petyr Baelish, but I also sorta love it. Sansa has been through way too much, most of that at the hands of Joffrey, and she doesn't get enough credit for navigating that pretty well. Joffrey had her father's head chopped off right in front of her, okay. This girl needs a break. And she's not gonna get that with the man who only sees her mother, the unrequited and now dead love of his life, in her; but she trusts him for some reason that both fascinates me and makes me want to rip my hair out. She ended season 4 with a very clear visual transition into womanhood so we'll see where that takes us.
Tyrion Lannister
This is the favorite character of the author, George R.R. Martin, and he's one of my favorites as well. He's got all the best dialogue, was one of the few to put Joffrey in his place, and is an all around decent person. But he's been dealt a pretty awful hand in life, as a dwarf, hated by his father and sister. I'm glad he survived the season, but I have to wonder what's next for him.
Jaime Lannister
Oh, I didn't want to love you, Jaime Lannister. But, alas. It's too easy to overlook the fact that he's sleeping with his twin sister because, apart from that, he's a surprisingly decent guy. He's the only Lannister who's ever been nice to Tyrion. And, yeah, he shoved a kid from a tower after the seven year old witnessed some royal incest, but losing his hand in season 3 really took him down a notch. I totally broke inside when he told Brienne the story of how he killed the mad king, and when, after she called him Kingslayer, whispered, "My name's Jaime." I never thought I'd love you so, Jaime Lannister.
Margaery Tyrell
I don't totally trust her, but I like her. (I ship her with Sansa, totally. Not even gonna lie.) I'm loving watching her manipulate young kings with her beauty and cleavage. Of course, Joffrey was a little harder to affect, but Tommen is playing right into her hand. You go girl. I would like to see her achieve her ultimate goal of becoming queen.
Brienne of Tarth
I totally ship her with Jaime and I have no shame. Their friendship was so surprising. Brienne is a great person, and one of the few I would genuinely trust. I completely fangirled when she ran into Arya. I want to see those two badass women take on the world together.
And then some of the characters are the absolute worst. Let's go straight to the top of this list and discuss probably the most hated character ever on television: Joffrey Baratheon.
This inbred little creep makes my blood boil. Watching him die in season 4 was gratifying beyond belief. He's basically the poster child for why humans evolved to have a tendency for incest avoidance. (That being said, his brother Tommen is fine so far.) And it's kinda funny because everyone in the seven kingdoms seems to know he's the son of Cersei and Jaime, the royal twins, but king Robert, Cersei's husband, apparently had no idea. And when Cersei decided to tell her father the truth (for some reason? so she could stay with Jaime, I guess?) he was basically like, yeah, I know, everyone knows, shut up, y'all are nasty.
But Joffrey who started out as a spoiled brat became truly terrifying and sadistic, while still a complete wimp. It's insane to think that they would let this kid have his way with everything and everyone just because of who he was born to -- even though he doesn't actually have a claim to the throne and everyone pretty much knows it.
I love how all these characters are so complexly tied together. There's a detailed backstory of previous kings and wars. There's enough development that even though you may start out hating a lot of these characters, you kinda sorta love them after a while. (Jaime... sigh.) Over all, it's a really great show and I didn't think I would get drawn in so quickly. Seasons 5 and 6 are confirmed -- but we need more books first!
Type faster, George!
No comments:
Post a Comment