[pullquote3 quotes=”true” align=”center”]Series Review[/pullquote3]

BY ELIZABETH MCMAHON ’13
Staff Writer

With the premiere of season two of Game of Thrones airing April 1 on HBO, it is worth returning to season one to take a look at the show. I started watching the show after every single person I talked to about it told me I would love it. I was hesitant at first, but I quickly realized just how amazing the show truly is.

After watching the first episode, I was overwhelmed. There are so many characters and so much happening that I couldn’t really keep it straight in my head. But then I watched another episode, then another, and then another. With each episode, the characters became clearer in my mind. I was able to keep all the plot lines straight and figure out who was related to whom and who hated whom.

The show is definitely unique; it’s not just another fantastical series that completely disregards reality. It is less escapism and more realism. I find the characters are believable and the situations are not completely incredulous.

It’s shot on location and not on a sound stage, so the actors can truly experience the environment in which the characters are living. The various locations are relatable to our own perceptions; for example, the North all too closely resembles Alaska. The realistic setting and characters make for a very believable show even though the plot is magical.

There are more characters in Game of Thrones than I have ever encountered before, and the majority of them are main characters. This is what makes the show appealing to so many different people. There is a different character for everyone to be excited about, and they all get equal screen time. They all have different stories that are followed throughout the course of the program (once you get used to the switching back and forth between characters). The storylines of the different characters all mix with one another, similar to the way real people act.

In the first season, there are four main families. First, there is the Stark family, led by Ned Stark, who appears to be the most prominent character in the first few episodes. Ned has five official children and one bastard child. Each of his six children has a unique personality and role in the show.

The next family is the Baratheon family. Robert Baratheon is the head of the family who stole the throne from Aerys Targaryen 17 years prior. In the first few episodes, Robert calls on his friend Ned Stark for help in running his kingdom. However, Robert soon dies, and his eldest son, Joffrey Baratheon, is placed on the throne by his mother, Cersei Baratheon, who is also a member of the Lannister family. The Lannister family mostly focuses on the three siblings Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion. Cersei and Jaime are twins and are
very close. Both are very power hungry and work together to try and get what they want. Tyrion is a dwarf and does not get along well with his other siblings. Because of his size he is an outcast almost everywhere. If not for his social status, he probably would have been abandoned at birth. Such struggles make Tyrion a very realistic and down-to-earth character.

The last family that is focused on in the first season is the Targaryen family. Robert Baratheon overthrew King Aerys Targaryen and forced his two children into exile.

The first season focuses on the exile of his two children, Viserys and Daenerys. Viserys wants to return to power, and so he uses his sister to try and obtain that power. For contrast, at the beginning of the season, Daenerys is a very passive character who does what her brother tells her to. Soon, however, she becomes a very compelling and powerful character.

The first season ended with the death of Ned Stark. Daenerys rejects her brother and ends up hatching the dragon eggs she was given as a wedding present, something which was thought to be impossible. Joffrey Baratheon begins to realize his mother is manipulating him and starts to make decisions on his own. Tensions increase between the families and war is about to break out.

Season two is set to showcase this war. With the foreshadowed death of so many characters, new ones are bound to spring into place.
Such developments will most definitely thrill Game of Thrones fans.

Questions? Email Lizzy at elizabeth.mcmahon@fandm.edu.

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