Review 174: Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is an amazing TV series and a TV series that along with George Martin's books takes fantasy to a whole new level.
So what I'm gonna do is review every season of Game of Thrones as though they were one film as oppose to review each episode individually would take to much time and it would seem as though I'm breaking it down too much.

Based on the novel A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: The action begins in the unified Seven Kingdoms of Westeros as the long summer ends and winter draws near. Lord Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) is asked by his old friend, King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), to serve as the King's Hand following the death of the previous incumbent, Eddard's mentor Jon Arryn. Eddard is reluctant, but receives intelligence suggesting that Jon was murdered. Eddard accepts Robert's offer, planning to use his position and authority to investigate the alleged murder.

Meanwhile, on the eastern continent of Essos, the exiled children of House Targaryen, which Robert destroyed to claim the throne, are plotting to return to Westeros and unseat the 'usurper'.
To this end, Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) arranges the marriage of his sister Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) to Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), the leader of 40,000 Dothraki warriors, in return for the use of his warriors in invading Westeros. For her part, Daenerys just wants to find a safe refuge far away from King Robert's assassins and her brother's scheming ambition.

Finally, on the northern-most border of the Seven Kingdoms the sworn brothers of the Night's Watch guard the Wall, a 300-mile-long colossal fortification of ice which has stood for thousands of years. The Watch defends the Wall against the depredations of the lawless wildlings who live beyond, but rumour speaks of a new threat arising in the lands of perpetual winter. 

The plot is just brilliant, it's rear that plot like this intervines multiple so beautifully and at the same time it's so though provoking: In Game of Thrones, there are no clear-cut characters, no heroes and no villains, just people who are pursuing their own interest and following their own code and their own motivation which provides a much richer and denser story than good vs evil and makes for a fasinating character study.
Because of all this, it takes you by surprise and it gets you thinking. It keeps you guessing and keeps you on your toes.
You never know which family you're going to be rooting for. But then again the tension is so high and then you can decide for yourself who is good who is evil and who should have the power.
At the same time all the characters are in increasingly dangerous situations and even the characters who you might see as villains in there minds their doing the right thing any character could die at any time.
Also all our characters are flawed, a lot of the situations in the series force them to make really complex and tough moral choices and throughout the series you see our characters pushed to very extreme levels and the choices they make come from very human things that their in love or care about their family and... maybe, like all of us, messed things up because we're young and nieve and not able to step back and "oh no, it's ok".  

At the heart of the story theirs a message that I don't think anyone could possibly describe, but it's mainly a story about power. It's about people trying to gain power it's about people who already have power trying to keep power, the misuse and abuse of power, what happens when people end up with power that they're not fit to wield and and what can go wrong as a result of that, what power costs people and those caught in the middle (The Lannister family are trying to keep control of the Iron Throne and The Stark family is caught in the middle). 

It's also a very human story. It's about family and loyalty and how the love for your family can translate into really difficult and complicated moral choices: Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is Ned Stark's bastard son who goes to serve in the Night's Watch and he has to choose between his loyalty to his family and duty to the Nights Watch.

It's also a story about Revenge: Vengeance is another driving motivation behind many of these characters. This is a ruthless world, it's a world were people are constantly killing each other and often they do so to avenge a prior crime. The cycle of vengeance is you kill somebody then that means your the target for the next person in the vengeance cycle. Some people hold a grudge, some people don't.

Another thing thats amazing about this TV show is it's theme of feminism: The strongest characters for me, and I don't I'm alone here, are female. We have character like Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) or Daenerys Targaryan (Emilia Clarke) who find their strength through being wrong and they are possibly some of the strongest and most compelling characters in the series and the most brutal in a lot of ways two. Also the characters of Cersei Lannister and Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley) have a lot in common: they both seem diametrically opossed in many other ways but they're both women who are driven to very extreme measure to protect their children.

The way the narrative flows is fantastic and I have to give my praise to head writer David Benioff and D. B Weiss for beautifully crafting the narrative and translating it to the small screen and directors Tim Van Patten, Brian Kirk, Daniel Minahan and Alan Taylor for directing this season with expert panache and generally just bringing it together. Also, the production design is incredible (even though I haven't actually read any of the books, they created Westeros and Essos in the most impossible ways possible). The locations are stunning, the cinematography is majestic, the score by Ramin Djawadi is epic (check out the title theme) the costumes are beautiful, the make up is rich, the special effects are outstanding, the scenery is breathtaking, the violence is brutal, the fight/battle scenes are exciting, well choreographed and expertly staged, the props are immaculate, the violence is brutal (this truly is a fantasy for adults) and the ending was superb.

We've also got some fantastic character moments e.g. a scene in Episode Seven were Ned confronts Cersei Lannister about the truth of her son Jeffrey (Jack Gleeson) for me that kind of shows the world of show announces itself on the brink of dispute.

The acting is sensational, like The Lord of the Rings there really is no main actor and there was and this series had an incredible cast. Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Harry Lloyd, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Richard Madden, Alfie Allen, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Jack Gleeson, Peter Dinklage, Aidan Gillan, Charles Dance. 
The list is endless and everyone delivered a memorable performance.
Now I don't have the time to go over every single cast members performance so I'll pick out the best of the best. Out of all the actors my particular praise has to go to Sean Bean, Lena Headey, whos just wicked in this. Emilia Clarke who's a total badass in this and Peter Dinklage who almost steals the show in every scene he's in.

Sean Bean really leads the cast in this series as Ned Stark, Ned is very much the cornerstone of the season. He's the centre of gravity around whom events move for the most part. 
He's very much a man of honour and the moral heart of the story he's a man who's always trying to do the right thing and Bean plays that with expert sensitivity and nobility.
Ned and Rober Baratheon grew up together, they were raised from a relatively early age as brothers and learned how to drink and chase girls together and eventually went to war together.

The Starks are the true moral eyes with which we as an audience view the story. They're the first family that we're introduced to and we're quick to sympatheise with them, moreso than any other house in Westeros. They're a family defined by strong moral bonds and a simple but satisfyingly peaceful lifestyle. 

Robert trusts Ned like he trusts no one else and the only reason why he would journey North is to ask Ned to become the new Hand of the King. 

Lena Heady is wonderful as Cersei Lannister. She is very politically minded and paranoid. She's trying to keep it together and she seems to in control but underneath everything is falling apart. Her quest is to stay in control no matter what that means to her or anyone else and that for her makes me a great example of a person who is corrupted by power and trying to keep it and gain it.

Emilia Clarke is just captivating as Daenerys Targaryan. She has been on the run since she was baby and as a result has never known a true home, she doesn't even remember it. She's never known her family, she's never known her homeland, the only thing she's ever known has been her brother whom she has been raised by her whole life. She's had no stability in her life, the only constant in her life has been her brother. Even though, for all intense and purposes, he's cruel and sadistic, he's all she's got and she's been forced to, if not, trust him, at least to follow his wishes and her refusing would just lead to more abuse.
Like many of the characters in this season, she's looking for identity and a larger purpose. There are hints early in the season, that there's something, maybe a dragon, deep inside her that's asleep. That's there. That she acknowledges and starts to acknowledge. 
When we first meet her, she's merely a meek and shy princess with only her ambitious, arrogant and power-hungry brother to look up to but as the series we really see her mature and develop and see how courageous a leader she can be, though in the last half of the series she really starts to come alive.
Thats how cool she is.

Now I know that loads of people have said this before but, Peter Dinklage steals the show as Tyrion Lannister. He's the Good/Bad guy, he knows exactly who he is and he like to play with people ideas and expectations of him and he has such charisma and charm. If you met him you'd fall instantly under his spell. I also think he brings a great comedic element to this otherwise really bloody, nasty and scary world.

Three very noticeable guest stars who deserve special mention are Illyrio Mopatis (Roger Allam), Walder Frey (David Bradley) and Kevan Lannister (Ian Gelder) 

Winter is defiantly coming, 5/5.

The Aonymous Critic.