The first season of Game of Thrones is quickly coming to an end. With only two episodes remaining, last night’s “The Pointy End” put all the pieces in place for a dramatic conclusion. Unfortunately, I was correct in predicting that King’s Landing was no longer safe for Sansa and Arya last week. While the Stark Household was decimated, so far the Stark family has been spared from death. I foresee many more deaths including within the Stark family before this battle is over.
One complaint I have about this show is the overwhelming number of characters and the lack of their development. While there are a dozen or so characters we have gotten to know well, there are many more that we haven’t. And, in this episode, the undeveloped characters have reappeared. Yes, we finally saw Rickon again (the youngest Stark son, in case you didn’t know — why would you?) and the eldest Stark son, Robb, is now leading an army of men against the Lannisters. To be perfectly honest, if Robb dies, I won’t care. Why? I don’t have any reason to be invested in him. He is the eldest son; that’s about it. Even in the first episodes, it was Jon who was the caring brother, not Robb.
As far as the story goes: Ned, Robb, and Cat can all die, while I hope that Arya, Sanya, Jon, Bran and even little Rickon make it. The Starks are facing a tough battle against the Lannisters and I’m not sure they can win. The only hope may be if Tyrion decides to break away from his family and support the Starks. Tyrion is an honest man, but I don’t think he will turn his back on this siblings. Not yet, anyway.
While this “game” is taking place, perhaps even more threatening to the realm is Winter. The whitewalkers are closing in on the Wall and that puts the whole realm at risk. The Night’s Watch now realize the threat, but will they be able to warn and get the support they need from King’s Landing? It doesn’t seem likely.
Jon and his direwolf, Ghost, proved them themselves and their loyalty to the Night’s Watch and the Commander. I hope that Jon’s thwarted attack on Allister Thorne will be forgotten due to his bravery and sacrifice, but primarily due to the coming threat from outside the Wall.
A third threat for the realm is the forthcoming attack from the Dothraki. They were introduced as savages with Drogo as their leader, who cheered on a fight to the death of two of his men and took Dany’s virginity. But, then we saw Drogo and Dany fall in love. He protected her against her brother and then vowed to get the Iron Throne for her. While he vowed revenge for the assassination attempt on his Khaleesi, he showed his savagery by calling for the rape of all their women. With the attack on the village, we saw the cruelty of the Dothraki and what the future holds for Westeros. Or, did we? We also saw the sense of right and wrong that Dany holds dear. Will Dany be able to tame the wild horses, the Dothraki?
The Dothraki attack and then the internal fight was difficult to watch. While Drogo supported Dany’s decisions, it was not because she was Khaleesi, as much as, because she was carrying his son. While their relationship appears to be loving, how far will Drogo go to change for Dany? I’m not looking forward to the day that one of them crosses the line and they fight.
This episode was jam-packed with the different storylines, I’m looking forward to their conclusion over the the next two episodes. And, then I get to read the book!
Notes and Quotes:
Clacked by Carla Day 
on Jun 06, 2011 @ 11:36 EST5EDT
I’m really curious to see what you have to say after reading the book. They certainly could have filled out a couple more episodes with character development, but Rickon is barely in novel, either (where he is only 3 years old), and I always thougt Robb was a bland character.
For the most part, the characters that shine on the screen are the ones that shine in the books. It will be interesting to see if you agree.
Count me among those who is NOT disappointed with the amount of dire wolf activity in the show. I always thought they were a bit of a silly gimmick in the books, but I’m in the minority, there, I know.
Of course you’re in the minority there. That being said, too much of a good thing can end up turning it bad (See: Sylvester, Sue).
I’d almost wish you’d read the book simultaneous with the series (as I tried, and failed, to do). It fills in everything quite nicely, and the way the story is crafted, I never really got ahead of the narrative of the story (Until that darn plane flight where I got antsy and kept going).
Robb to me, starting here, is finally brought into focus, and we see him just trying to do what his father would do. I like him (though don’t love him like I do his brother and sister (You know, the two that count)).
I could care less about the story across the Narrow Seas, and that is knowing how the story develops (probably because of it). The most interesting relationship over there is Dany and Jorah. (Though you are right … Dany and Drogo make “odd couple” work :) )
In this book series, people fade into irrelevance, while others grow in importance in unpredictable ways.
Others have their lives abruptly cut, and others manage to survive the unsurvivable..
I don’t want any of the Starks to die. They are really the only sympathetic major characters in all of Westeros. Everyone else is about as likeable as Scott Peterson. By far my favorite character on the show is Ned Stark. I like the idea of him as the last noble man in an ignoble world. His devotion to honor serves as a perfect contrast to all the incest, backstabbing, scheming, murder, rape, and prostitution that fills this show. But probably what really makes his character for me is Sean Bean. He’s a great actor and is perfect for roles like this.
In any other show I would be sure that Ned would somehow get out of the dungeon and rescue his daughters while the Starks triumphed over the Lannisters. But in this show I really don’t see that happening. As David Benioff says in the following video (if it works) “traditionally in a typical genre book characters are punished for their evil actions and rewarded for their good actions, but in this grim world you are punished for your good actions and often rewarded for your evil ones – which seems much more a reflection of the real world.”
Wow, I expected to link to the video not have it in my post.
Most Impressive, Dean! I mean it.