Summary: White Walkers attack the Night's Watch. A deserter arrives in Winterfell and is executed by Ned Stark. New arrives that the Hand of the King Jon Arryn died naturally but another letter arrives suggesting that the Lannisters murdered him. The King goes to Ned to offer the role of Hand to him. Ned's son Bran is climbing and sees Queen Cersei having sex with her brother and is pushed out of a tower. Across the sea, Daenerys is sold to Khal Drogo by her brother Viserys to help get an army to invade Westeros.
The Good: The opening sequence was a highlight of the episode. It was tense, terrifying and excitingly paced, setting the tone for the show immediately while also building a lot of interest It's a great hook which encourages us to give the rest of the episode a shot, and it helps us get our way through the wall of exposition ahead of us (see: The Bad). The exposition was tedious, but it was also done impressively as a lot was introduced in this episode, and all of it in interesting fashion, ensuring that we weren't bored while watching. Our first characters introduced are the Starks and all of them are clearly defined so we can understand them. Ned is the strong, honourable leader, Robb is his son who is being prepared to take over, Catelyn is his wife who isn't a Stark but has essentially become one, Bran is the young son, Jon is the bastard, Arya is the young girl who enjoys boyish activities while Sansa is the girly-girl who wants to marry the prince. These characters lack depth of course, but that's to be expected in a pilot episode. What is most impressive is that all of these characters were introduced within 15 minutes without the episode feeling rushed. I expect that we will get more development for them later, but for now they are extremely effective in their roles. I really enjoyed the arrival of the king. Robert certainly defied expectations as he was just a fat man who appears to love partying, hardly any kind of formal king. He was interesting immediately because of this and I was clamouring to learn more about him, so thankfully the show provided practically immediately. We learned about his history with Ned, his love for Ned's sister and his hate for Targaryens. In one great scene of two old friends reminiscing, the show has given us a character who we understand, with personality traits, desires and friendships. Sure he does need some more work, but for the first episoe, he is a surprisingly interesting character who I want to learn more about. I like that the mentioning of a Targaryen immediately transitioned us to the Dany story. It would be easy for us to forget about who Targaryens are if they were introduced later, so this is a great decision. Even better, is the decision to stay with any for a good 10+ minutes so that we can be introduced to all the characters, conflicts and plotlines at once without feeling like we didn't get enough. And somehow while introducing all of this, the storyline doesn't feel like it's detracting from the Robert/Ned story across the sea as they are all equal in terms of quality. The Dany story works impressively well, which I was impressed with. It could have easily been a secondary story which I didn't care for, but it gripped me. Targaryens were introduced as evil since Robert hates them and we can see that much from Viserys who comes off as cruel and dislikeable. But Dany is put in a position for us to sympathize with as she is played like a young child who doesn't have any drives in the world and is just being bossed by her brother. It allows us to sympathize with her and realize that the Targaryens may not all be so bad. I'm overjoyed that this show is demonstrating so much moral flexibility in its first episode, giving me hope that we can explore some of the fascinating morally grey areas which make so many TV shows so compelling. The final scene was really good too. I was shocked to see Bran seemingly die so suddenly but it does give a huge hook to ensure that we tune in for the next episode to see more. Jaime came off so well early on and seemed a decent person while Cersei seemed to be the evil queen. But the shocking incest scene followed by cold-blooded murder completely changed that. Our opinions of Jaime have changed and the Lannister family can easily be seen as evil (and they are accused for the Jon Arryn murder to add on to that). But despite them being evil, I like Tyrion and I don't want to hate his character so I find myself conflicted about who to side with already. It's impressive that the show has delved so deeply into this morally grey area so early, and it serves as a fantastic hook to make us want to tune in again. Don't present us cheap cliff-hangers, instead present us with quality storytelling and that is what the show did here. The Bad: This episode was overwhelming though. Too many names, too many locations, too many titles, and just a little bit too much in general. While the story has been compelling, it's tough to follow with so much happening at once and that makes it feel a bit tedious. I'm sure this show would be much easier to follow with a character guide of some sort to help you sort out who is who and what their role in the story is. The murder of Jon Arryn is a bit too much information for my liking. The reveal would have been better suited for later on when we knew who the characters were so it could have more meaning. It would also help with the overwhelming nature of the episode by cutting out a bit. The Unknown: What are the White Walkers and what is their role in the story? They seem so detached from everything, so I don't expect them to come into play until a little later. Also, where is that snowy area? The title credits tells me that there is a place called The Wall. Is the snowy area past The Wall? Why did Jaime and Cersei kill Jon Arryn? How did they kill him? Surely they wouldn't have killed him themselves? Will Joffrey and Sansa get married? How would that place the Starks int erms of power? How does the overall world work? I'm very excited to learn more about Westeros? Best Moment: The opening sequence was terrifying and the most engaging part of this episode. A perfect opening scene. Character of the Episode: Ned. Conclusion: This was a really great pilot. While not on the level of all-time classic pilots (Lost, The Walking Dead), this episode proved that simple and effective storytelling is a great way to get a viewer invested in a show. While this episode was messy, the storytelling was great and it makes me excited for more, and because of that, this did its job. Score: 68
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Aaron DhillonJust a university student who loves to watch TV. And analyze it way too much. Archives
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