Game of Thrones: The Pointy End First Watch
March 6, 2015 8:33 AM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe
All hell breaks loose in King's Landing as Robb Stark declares war on the Lannisters to avenge his father's imprisonment.
Shagga: "How would you like to die, Tyrion, son of Tywin?"
Tyrion: "In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my cock."
Longer Summary (Contains Spoilers)
In King's Landing, in the aftermath of Nedʼs capture, Syrio and Arya face off against Lannister guards, while Cersei manipulates Sansa. Joffrey dismisses Ser Barristan Selmy from the Kingsguard.
In the North, Robb Stark rallies his fatherʼs northern bannermen against Tywin Lannister and heads South to war. In the Riverlands, Tyrion promises the barbarian hill tribes gold and an army to seize the Vale of Arryn, if they can reunite him with his father.
Beyond the Wall, the frozen bodies of Benjen Stark's rangers are found and brought back to Castle Black. One of them comes to life and attacks Lord Commander Mormont, who is saved by Jon Snow. Snow confronts Ser Alliser Thorne.
In the Vale, Lysa refuses to send troops to help the Starks against the Lannisters because she only cares for the safety of her son Robin. A disgusted Catelyn leaves the Eyrie.
Across the Narrow Sea, Khal Drogo's horde sacks a village in order to gather funds for the ships they need to invade the Seven Kingdoms. Daenerys is dismayed by their brutality, and saves a woman (Mirri Maz Duur) from being raped. When Drogo is injured by one of his men, Daenerys asks Duur, a healer, to treat his wound.
Syrio: "What do we say to the god of death?"
Arya: "Not today."
Syrio: "Go."
Introduced In This Episode
Characters
* Ser Meryn Trant, Knight of the Kingsguard
* Mirri Maz Duur, Godswife (healer, wise woman) and practitioner of blood magic
* Lord Greatjon Umber, Lord of Last Hearth and the head of House Umber, bannerman to House Stark
* Shagga, son of Dolf, of the Stone Crows
* Timett, son of Timett, ruler of the Burned Men
* Chella, daughter of Cheyk, leader of the Black Ears
* Ser Kevan Lannister, younger brother of Tywin Lannister. Married to Dorna Lannister. Father of Lancel Lannister.
Robb: "Tell Lord Tywin, Winter is coming for him. Twenty thousand northerners marching south to find out if he really does shit gold."
Notes, from here.
* Jamie Lannister does not appear in this episode.
* This is the first episode written by George R.R. Martin. This was the first screenplay he had written in almost 15 years.
* From the DVD Commentary, according to George R.R. Martin, Peter Dinklage was the one and only choice for the role of Tyrion. There were no other actors auditioned.
* Ned's cell below the Red Keep is the same set as the crypts under Winterfell.
* Oops: In the scene where Ser Barristan Selmy is dismissed, he draws his sword, and the other members of the Kingsguard draw their swords as well. As the scene ends, when Ser Barristan is walking away through the Great Hall, and the Kingsguard are resheathing their swords, the one on the far right cannot get his sword back into the scabbard.
Tyrion: "In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my cock."
Longer Summary (Contains Spoilers)
In King's Landing, in the aftermath of Nedʼs capture, Syrio and Arya face off against Lannister guards, while Cersei manipulates Sansa. Joffrey dismisses Ser Barristan Selmy from the Kingsguard.
In the North, Robb Stark rallies his fatherʼs northern bannermen against Tywin Lannister and heads South to war. In the Riverlands, Tyrion promises the barbarian hill tribes gold and an army to seize the Vale of Arryn, if they can reunite him with his father.
Beyond the Wall, the frozen bodies of Benjen Stark's rangers are found and brought back to Castle Black. One of them comes to life and attacks Lord Commander Mormont, who is saved by Jon Snow. Snow confronts Ser Alliser Thorne.
In the Vale, Lysa refuses to send troops to help the Starks against the Lannisters because she only cares for the safety of her son Robin. A disgusted Catelyn leaves the Eyrie.
Across the Narrow Sea, Khal Drogo's horde sacks a village in order to gather funds for the ships they need to invade the Seven Kingdoms. Daenerys is dismayed by their brutality, and saves a woman (Mirri Maz Duur) from being raped. When Drogo is injured by one of his men, Daenerys asks Duur, a healer, to treat his wound.
Arya: "Not today."
Syrio: "Go."
Introduced In This Episode
Characters
* Ser Meryn Trant, Knight of the Kingsguard
* Mirri Maz Duur, Godswife (healer, wise woman) and practitioner of blood magic
* Lord Greatjon Umber, Lord of Last Hearth and the head of House Umber, bannerman to House Stark
* Shagga, son of Dolf, of the Stone Crows
* Timett, son of Timett, ruler of the Burned Men
* Chella, daughter of Cheyk, leader of the Black Ears
* Ser Kevan Lannister, younger brother of Tywin Lannister. Married to Dorna Lannister. Father of Lancel Lannister.
Notes, from here.
* Jamie Lannister does not appear in this episode.
* This is the first episode written by George R.R. Martin. This was the first screenplay he had written in almost 15 years.
* From the DVD Commentary, according to George R.R. Martin, Peter Dinklage was the one and only choice for the role of Tyrion. There were no other actors auditioned.
* Ned's cell below the Red Keep is the same set as the crypts under Winterfell.
* Oops: In the scene where Ser Barristan Selmy is dismissed, he draws his sword, and the other members of the Kingsguard draw their swords as well. As the scene ends, when Ser Barristan is walking away through the Great Hall, and the Kingsguard are resheathing their swords, the one on the far right cannot get his sword back into the scabbard.
Syrio and Septa Mordane each confront and hold off Lannister soldiers so the Stark girls can escape, in overlapping scenes. The Septa is unarmed, yet defiantly blocks a hallway to give Sansa time to get to her quarters. Syrio is armed only with a wooden practice sword, yet fights off / disarms guardsmen wearing armor. He then faces off with Ser Meryn Trant. When Arya tells him to run, he calmly replies, "The First Sword of Braavos does not run."
We do not see what happens to either character, but it appears likely they were killed.
posted by zarq at 8:42 AM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
We do not see what happens to either character, but it appears likely they were killed.
posted by zarq at 8:42 AM on March 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
! (for Syrio, a slash and final stab). For all the violence and gore in the show, it's interesting to note who doesn't die on screen. How many people assumed dead have come back so far? Any? GRRM's brutality to major characters is legendary, so I'm always skeptical that implied, off-screen deaths are not final.
Did Tyrion promise the hilltribes an army? I thought he just offered them good castle steel so they themselves could take the Vale?
At this point, I think Daenerys has had the most character growth. In some ways, she was a parallel to Sansa, both young ladies of noble birth, fed heroic tales and big stories of what their places and rights are, as if out of a fairytale. Sansa clings to these stories and songs as if they might yet be real, despite seeing the violence and cruelty first-hand, while Daenerys is thrown into a harsher reality from early on, and accepts some aspects as givens while grabbing her "right" to change certain parts.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:19 AM on March 6, 2015
Did Tyrion promise the hilltribes an army? I thought he just offered them good castle steel so they themselves could take the Vale?
At this point, I think Daenerys has had the most character growth. In some ways, she was a parallel to Sansa, both young ladies of noble birth, fed heroic tales and big stories of what their places and rights are, as if out of a fairytale. Sansa clings to these stories and songs as if they might yet be real, despite seeing the violence and cruelty first-hand, while Daenerys is thrown into a harsher reality from early on, and accepts some aspects as givens while grabbing her "right" to change certain parts.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:19 AM on March 6, 2015
Did Tyrion promise the hilltribes an army? I thought he just offered them good castle steel so they themselves could take the Vale?
I may be misremembering. That could also be a books-only plot point?
posted by zarq at 11:34 AM on March 6, 2015
I may be misremembering. That could also be a books-only plot point?
posted by zarq at 11:34 AM on March 6, 2015
I thought that Tyrion "bought" the hill with the promise of gold and steel, to be his army?
posted by porpoise at 4:29 PM on March 6, 2015
posted by porpoise at 4:29 PM on March 6, 2015
Yeah, armies are what you promise to aspiring rulers, not large groups of people. I guess in a way Tyrion was promising an army his services as leader, which of course would involve nice equipment.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:49 PM on March 7, 2015
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:49 PM on March 7, 2015
I always thought the "we didn't see Syrio die so HE'S STILL ALIVE" thing was total wishful thinking.
We didn't see him die on-screen because Arya didn't see him die; she's the protagonist, and effectively the point-of-view character, in that sequence.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:26 PM on March 13, 2015
We didn't see him die on-screen because Arya didn't see him die; she's the protagonist, and effectively the point-of-view character, in that sequence.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:26 PM on March 13, 2015
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Please do not reveal spoilers for subsequent episodes from any source.
Thank you.
posted by zarq at 8:35 AM on March 6, 2015