Game of Thrones A-Z (19 page)

Instead, a man named Bronn, who had tagged along with Catelyn during her capture of Tyrion, volunteers, and duly kills the man he is up against – freeing a grateful Tyrion.

With Robert away on hunting duties, Ned Stark, as part of his King’s Hand honours, takes on the temporary role of King, and his first task is to address the matters of Gregor Clegane, who is ravaging the Riverlands. He orders the arrest of the knight.

Eddard finally discovers the secret that killed Jon Arryn: the House Baratheon line shows that all the children have black hair, all that is apart from Cersei and Robert’s children. They are blond, and their father is Jaime.

Viserys turns up at a feast for his sister, drunk and angry. He causes a scene, drawing out his sword, an offence that is punishable by death in the sacred city. He demands his golden crown, and Khal Drogo agrees. It is forbidden to kill while drawing blood, so, instead, Drogo melts his golden coins and crowns Viserys with the melting material, watching him burn alive.

TRIVIA

Jane Espenson was a writer for 
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
.

The scene where Robert takes no for an answer and makes Ned become the Hand was Mark Addy’s final scene. Sean Bean was actually suffering from flu in that scene, so his bedridden state was accurate.

Emilia Clarke was told that the horse’s heart was made from a substance similar to Gummi Bears, one of her favourite snacks. However, it tasted disgusting to Clarke, and the retching scene didn’t require any acting. ‘It was kind of like congealed jam!’ Clarke said to 
heyyouguys.co.uk
.

‘Sort of solidified jam but tasted of bleach with raw pasta running through it! I think it was very helpful of HBO to give me something truly disgusting so there was not much acting required. I think I ate roughly 28 hearts in total throughout the day’s filming. Then the map that I was kneeling on had a lot of [remnants], and then there was the spit bucket that I was vomiting in quite a lot [laughs]!’

It’s also Peter Dinklage’s wife’s favourite scene of the movie.

Ser Gregor Clegane’s rampage through Riverlands was going to be screened, but was eventually cut because of budgeting and timing issues.

Some of the show’s stars, including Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke, only read the books after they finish each season.

POST-ANALYSIS

Despite glowing reviews of this episode, it was the first time in the series that there were decreased ratings. Critics praised the episode, while also blasting Bean’s character’s naivety. 
The Atlantic
 wrote, ‘Ned’s principles are, as always, admirable, and he’s clearly interested in justice. But the sad truth is that the lack of guile that makes him honourable also makes him a pretty poor king.’

You Win or You Die

Season one, episode seven

Written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss

Directed by Daniel Minahan

Poor old Ned Stark – he has to carry the burden of knowing not only that Joffrey isn’t his best friend’s son, but also that Joffrey’s father is the brother of Joffrey’s mother.

Ned is also distraught after learning that Robert is mortally wounded by a boar.

Knowledge is power, boasts Littlefinger, plainly amused that he is counselling Stark. That’s not Ned’s way, and he decides to remove Joffrey and his mother from the throne, but not before telling Cersei that he knows everything.

It gives her enough time to come up with her own plan – namely ripping up Robert’s decree that Ned is Protector of the Realm until Joffrey is an adult. Ned, thinking he has the upper hand after striking a deal with Littlefinger, orders his men to take Cersei without shedding blood.

He soon realises he has been betrayed by Littlefinger.

The episode also sees the Lannisters preparing their battle and Jorah Mormont stopping an assassination attempt on Daenerys, inspiring Khal Drogo to give his blessing to lead an army against the Seven Kingdoms.

Tywin is to unleash his army of 60,000 men to punish the Starks for the capture of his son Tyrion.

TRIVIA

Charles Dance makes his appearance in this episode. He said about his character Tywin, ‘I think he’s prepared to not necessarily forgive, but tolerate almost anything of his gorgeous, handsome son’s life, because he [Jaime] is the apple of his eye. He’s the epitome of perfection: tall, good-looking, great warrior, and all the rest of it. Unfortunately, his other son [Tyrion] he probably wishes he’d been smothered at birth. He’s only small in stature. He has a great intellect, he has guile, he’s well read – he’s the only one who ever reads a book – and he’s an extraordinary character. By this stage now, Tywin Lannister is having to accept that Tyrion is only small in stature. Reluctantly having to accept that he’s not the awful thing he thought he was.’

Charles Dance said about Peter Dinklage, ‘We’re very lucky to have Peter Dinklage playing him, because he’s extraordinarily gifted. He’s such a great guy to work with. I have this wonderful memory of him in this film 
The
 
Station Agent
. He’s a phenomenal actor, he really is […]

Now imagine if you’re that size, in a world that’s this size, and you have to fight even harder. And he has this wonderful talent he brings to the fore. Very bright guy, and a sweetheart, really a delightful guy. We’re really lucky in that regard.’

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime, said about the scene between himself and Charles Dance, ‘I was thrilled when I read the scene between Tywin and Jaime because Tywin is such an important figure in Jaime’s life. He is probably the only man Jaime fears but also a man that he has immense respect for and like most sons he wants his father’s approval and respect. As the readers of 
A Song of Ice
 
and Fire
 know, it’s a very layered relationship they have, and I thought it was great to just get the first hints of that in season one. Also because we see the relationship with Tywin’s other son, Tyrion.’

While Tyrion is mentioned, he doesn’t feature in the episode – the only time this happens.

Stannis is mentioned once again in this episode, but we do not meet his character until season two.

POST-ANALYSIS

Over 2.4 million viewers watched this episode in the States, stabilising the audience following the previous episode’s slight slump.

Time
 reviewer James Poniewozik called ‘You Win or You Die’ the ‘most thrilling and thematically rich hour to date’, while 
hitfix.com
 said, ‘What a terrific episode (probably my favourite so far), and especially in the way it turned the spotlight on the characters who are villains in Ned Stark’s version of the story.’

IGN
 noted rather succinctly, ‘S*** just got real.’

The Pointy End

Season one, episode eight

Written by George R. R. Martin

Directed by Daniel Minahan

This is where it all gets interesting.

Lannister guardsmen rush at those serving the Starks in the Red Keep, killing them savagely.

A lesson between Syrio Forel and Arya is disrupted by the behemoth Ser Meryn Trant and other guardsmen, who take down several men with ease. Forel orders Arya to leave as he faces Trant with his practice sword broken and the viewer is left to presume Syrio will be defeated. Arya runs, finds her sword ‘Needle’ and tries to escape, accidentally piercing a stable boy who tried to capture her with the blade.

Ned has been captured, locked in the dungeons with only a passing Varys as company. The Eunuch claims he means well, but Lord Eddard Stark is wary, unsure of trusting anyone after Littlefinger’s betrayal.

The manipulation continues up in the Keep, with Cersei twisting words like a feather in the wind to ensure Sansa writes to her mother and big brother, Robb, telling them about their father’s treason – a plan that is easily seen through by Robb and her mother.

Jon Snow attacks Alliser Thorne after he is taunted by him following the news that Ned Stark is a traitor, and he is confined to his quarters.

The men of Castle Black have further problems when it’s discovered several men from Benjen Stark’s patrol have been discovered dead. At night, one of the dead bodies comes alive and attacks the Lord Commander, played by James Cosmo. Robb tackles the mysterious being, but it doesn’t die until he burns it alive. Night’s Watchman Samwell Tarly tells his disbelieving friends that he read in a book that these things are brought to life by the White Walkers.

We finally see a reunion between Tywin and his son Tyrion, and as usual it is a terse one. The Imp has brought with him Bronn and members of the hill tribes. The savage warriors had tried to kill them, until Tyrion reacted with fast-talking, once again, to convince them to lead him to his father. In return, he says he will reward them with weapons so they can attack the Vale and its rulers and claim the land for themselves.

First, Tywin insists they must fight for him and, much to Tyrion’s shock, he agrees to their condition that his son must fight alongside them to ensure they don’t renege on the deal later. The shock to Tyrion is worsened when Tywin has them leading the attack, putting him in near certainty of death.

Elsewhere, a Dothraki raid on a village is stopped after Daenerys, outraged at their savage attacks, orders that they stop raping a woman. When Mago, one of the Dothrakis, speaks of his outrage to Khal, the warrior is tickled at Daenerys’ rising power and authority – noting that it is her unborn son already showing his strength.

Mago challenges him to a fight, and it’s one that Drogo dismissively agrees to, taunting him, until he finally deals the killer blow, ripping out Mago’s tongue with his hands.

Drogo is wounded slightly, but dismisses it as a scratch.

Daenerys insists, however, that the healer she rescued help him.

After Sansa begs for her father’s life at King’s Landing, Joffrey agrees to spare him, as long as he acknowledges him as King.

TRIVIA

Despite Martin having written for TV for many years, this was his first screenplay in nearly 15 years. He found the job easy because he knew the characters so well.

However, the struggles came from trying to adapt to new screenplay software.

There is a slight change in Syrio Forel and the guardsmen.

In the books, he is believed to have killed several of them by striking at their eyes and bones. However, the show changed the armour described in the books, making such attacks impossible. So, in the series, he just wounds them.

Martin kept the scene from the book where Arya is asked by the stable boy to take out the sword from him in his screenplay, and is unsure why it wasn’t used in the episode.

Martin was often criticised by his TV bosses for making scripts that were impossible to film because of expense, and that was something that was retained for his own show. He had wanted a montage of the Northern bannermen receiving the raven from Robb who told them that a war was coming. One of those scenes was to feature Roose Bolton in the middle of flaying a man. The lengthy montage scene was dropped, with Martin noting that it would probably have cost most of the season’s budget.

Martin talks of the differences between books and TV shows, giving the example of Mago, who is alive in the books but dead in the TV series.

Jason Momoa, who plays Khal Drogo, said to 
Den of Geek
 about his action scene, ‘I shot the pilot for this, went away and did 
Conan
 [ 
the Barbarian
] and came back and shot the whole series. There was like one major scene we put into it that isn’t in the book. I went up to David Benioff, and said, “I’m Conan. I’ve just done 17 goddamn battles. You should probably have something that shows he’s this amazing warlord. He should have a little bit of a fight.” I watch action movies, and you don’t remember when Jason Statham does a kick or punch. It’s character trait stuff you remember. Say, for instance, Indiana Jones, the guy with the sword. Indiana Jones shoots him; you remember that in the movie. The Joker in 
The Dark Knight
, where he says, “Do you want to see a magic trick?” You remember that.

‘It’s certain punches you remember. I wanted to do something like that with Drogo. He never uses a weapon, he really gets in close. He’s such a badass. It’s like coming up against a silver-back bear. You don’t look him in the eye. I wanted him to be that intimidating. I want to have that sense of, like, “Oh man, I’m fucked.”’

Momoa continued to explain his thoughts behind playing Drogo: ‘I had this dream where I wanted to rip this guy’s tongue through his throat, and I thought that would be awesome. So, I had my dream come true. We did it. I said, “We don’t have to make a tongue. I can just hold a chicken breast covered in blood or something like that.”’

And the actor was delighted that they took his advice on board. ‘They made a full throat with a tongue. So, I’m fighting this guy and he’s bobbing and weaving, and I’m talking in my Dothraki tongue, and he’s like, “You gotta kill me first,” and I’m like, “I already have.” They made that come true for me. It was great to be part of all those great artists and writers. You could be free to create the character you wanted.’

The scene where Tywin, played by Charles Dance, moves the wine cup away from Tyrion was seemingly an improvisation by the actor.

This episode was dedicated to Ralph Vicinanza – the literary agent who handled Martin’s foreign language rights, and who recommended the books to Benioff and Weiss and led the negotiations with HBO. He died in his sleep from a cerebral aneurysm days after HBO green-lighted the series.

POST-ANALYSIS

The episode premiered and was seen by nearly three million viewers – a season high.

Michele Clapton, costume designer, and costume supervisor Rachael Webb-Crozier were nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Costumes for a Series 2011 for ‘The Pointy End’ but lost out to 
The Borgias
.

Baelor

Season one, episode nine

Written by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss

Directed by Alan Taylor

Aired on 12 June 2011, ‘Baelor’ was the episode that shocked viewers new to the series – thanks to the death of Lord Eddard Stark.