(Major Spoilers for Game Of Thrones season 1)
Oh the season that started it all. I had a good friend a few years back (About halfway through Season 4) tell me that Season 1 was his favorite. I asked him why? With so many great scenes from seasons 2 and 3 and in the midst of what is my favorite season, why would 1 be his favorite? And he stopped and he just said “Cause it’s perfect. It’s just done so well as an adaptation for the series.” In all honesty, it’s hard to disagree with him. It’s hard to pick a favorite anyway when each season is filled with epic scenes between some phenomenal characters and just some of the best acting on television. So Let’s get right to it.
We start off with a prologue that won’t have any major closure for literally 18 more episodes. Which is insane but perfectly acceptable for us watching because there’s so many other things to get into. Including, but not limited to : Will one of the Lannisters be my favorite character? Will Daenerys ever have any sort of good luck for longer than two episodes? Will Jaime Lannister eventually become likeable? Can we focus more on Arya? Why is Jon the best? and of course : When will Joffrey Die?!? We have all of these facets of the show answered for us eventually but after having watched Six Seasons it’s still really weird to think of Season 1’s plot because it’s core storyline is : Eddard Stark tries to figure out how Jon Arryn died, Daenerys Targaryen tries to come to terms with her new life as Khaleesi, Tyrion Lannister is trying to find his way back to King’s Landing, Jon Snow is the new guy at the Wall, Arya is learning how to use a sword and We all hate Sansa. Hmm, now think of where all of those characters are now. It’s so different to think of who’s been gone and who we actually love to watch now versus some characters that we couldn’t stand in earlier seasons.
This show became a powerhouse of a success pretty quickly. It was renewed for a second season almost instantly and has since then garnered millions of followers and multiple awards and it’s not hard to see why. From the engrossing political intrigue to the wild fantasy elements this show revealed that it was going to be something different from the very first episode and the theme of staying alive by being smart is one that’s still relevant in the latest episodes.
Favorite Episode : “A Golden Crown”
This episode was really when the show took off. By this time we know all of the core characters very well and between Tyrion’s Trial By Combat and That finale of Drogo killing Viserys was our first example of if you’re stupid, you’re going to die. Viserys is an arrogant fool who dies solely because of his offensive and agressive nature. But agression without intelligence leads to death…which continues the theme.
Favorite Scene : Cersei and Robert
This was one of my favorite scenes cause it allowed to see the power of the show. This was a scene that was never even mentioned in the book and yet it just does a perfect job of explaining Robert and Cersei’s relationship and their purpose to the rest of the show.
Favorite Quote : Bran : “Can a Man be brave if he’s afraid?”
Eddard : “That’s the only time a man can be brave.”
I know it’s a fairly cheesy line but I’ve always loved this advice from Father to Son. It truly showed Eddard’s characterization very quickly and was a great example of his love for his family.
Most Shocking Moment : The Steps Of Baelor
This was when we knew that no one was safe. Ned’s death was the ultimate shocking moment for us because we all thought he was going to get out of it somehow. How could they kill off the main character? How would the show continue?
Well we’ll get more to that later…
