Jon begins his training with the Night's Watch; Ned confronts his past and future at King's Landing; Daenerys finds herself at odds with Viserys.Jon begins his training with the Night's Watch; Ned confronts his past and future at King's Landing; Daenerys finds herself at odds with Viserys.Jon begins his training with the Night's Watch; Ned confronts his past and future at King's Landing; Daenerys finds herself at odds with Viserys.
Featured reviews
The scenes at the Wall give us plenty of Tyrion, (which in my opinion is a good thing) There are a lot of fine moments in this episode, in particular a couple of scenes with Arya. The high point is the final scene which features Arya as she studies swordsmanship.
Jaime's more fleshed out here. One of my favourite scenes was where Eddard enters the throne room (the first time we see both the throne room and the Iron Throne). It's another great tension filled scene between the two and I enjoyed it. Another great scene is the farewell between Jon and Tyrion. The scenes between the two of them have been some of my favourites so far, as I'm a bit sad that there may not be any more.
But a key scene for this episode is between Ned and Arya, and how they spend their time together. Maisie Williams is showcased, and is predictably fantastic, it's a well done scene and Maisie seems capable of great chemistry with Sean Bean and, indeed, everyone else she acts with so far.
Maisie Williams simply steals this episode for me. She had some good scenes including a rather hilarious line. Her scene with Ned (Sean Bean) was a touching one, and her scene with dancing master Syrio Forell is one of my favourites of the season so far.
As for the rest of the cast Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau proves to be a fine pantomime villain as Jaime Lannister and Harry Lloyd is terrific as Viserys.
8.5/10
Did you know
- TriviaThis is the first episode of the series without any deaths of any kind, and remains the only one until The Bear and the Maiden Fair (2013).
- GoofsWhen Daenerys and Drogo are lying in bed naked, imprints from a bra are clearly visible on her body.
- Quotes
Tyrion Lannister: So... you roam the Seven Kingdoms collaring pickpockets and horse thieves and bring them here as eager recruits.
Yoren: Aye. Well, it's not all of 'em's done bad things. Some of 'em's just poor lads looking for steady feed. Some of 'em's highborn lads looking for glory.
Tyrion Lannister: Better chance of finding feed than glory.
Benjen Stark: [walks in] The Night's Watch is a joke to you, is it? Is that what we are, Lannister? An army of jesters in black?
Tyrion Lannister: You don't have enough men to be an army, and aside from Yoren here, none of you are particularly funny.
Benjen Stark: I hope we provided you with some good stories to tell when you're back in King's Landing. That's something to think about when you're drinking your wine down there, enjoying your brothels. Half the boys you've seen training will die north of the Wall. Might be a wildling's axe that gets them. Might be sickness. Might just be the cold. They die in pain... and they do it so plump little lords like you can enjoy their summer afternoons in peace and comfort.
Tyrion Lannister: [to Yoren] Do you think I'm plump?
[Yoren smiles and looks away]
Tyrion Lannister: Listen, Benjen - may I call you Benjen?
Benjen Stark: Call me what you like.
Tyrion Lannister: I'm not sure what I've done to offend you. I have great admiration for the Night's Watch. I have great admiration for you as First Ranger...
Benjen Stark: You know, my brother once told me that nothing someone says before the word "but" really counts.
Tyrion Lannister: But... I don't believe that giants and ghouls and white walkers are lurking beyond the Wall. I believe that the only difference between us and the wildlings is that when that Wall went up, our ancestors happened to live on the right side of it.
Benjen Stark: You're right. The wildlings are no different from us. A little rougher, maybe. But they're made of meat and bone. I know how to track 'em and I know how to kill 'em. It's not the wildlings giving me sleepless nights. You've never been north of the Wall, so don't tell me what's out there.
[Benjen turns to leave]
Yoren: You going below?
[Yoren and Benjen shake hands]
Yoren: Keep well, keep warm.
Benjen Stark: Enjoy the capital, brother.
Yoren: Oh, I always do.
[Benjen walks out]
Tyrion Lannister: I think he's starting to like me.
- Crazy creditsThe sun tells an important part of the series back story, on its panels. It does so in three segments. First, as the credits start up, the sun depicts how the Targaryens and their dragons conquered Westeros. The second time the sun is shown, a dragon is depicted in a mortal struggle with 3 other animals: The Stag, the Lion and the Wolf. It is a very literal way to show how Robert Beratheon and Ned Stark rebelled, with Tywin Lannister reluctantly supporting them, in the end. Finally, the third time the sun is shown, before the series title enter the scene, a lion (among other animals) is shown "kneeling" to a triumphant Stag. Just as Robert was crowned King after winning the war.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Lost in Adaptation: Game of Thrones S1 E3 (2017)
Details
- Runtime
- 58m
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1