Originally written August 20, 2014

I can’t really give an in-depth review of Game of Thrones without writing way too much, because typically for a TV series review I like to discuss all of the main characters and their storylines. However, Game of Thrones has a ton of characters to follow, so I’ll try to keep this simple and hit the basics.

Basically, Game of Thrones is set in the mythical world of Westeros. Here there are seven kingdoms led by different noble families. Then there is one king that rules all of the Seven Kingdoms. Putting it down to the simplest description possible, Game of Thrones is about different families fighting for control of the kingdoms. It can get very political, but basically there’s all these different people with all different motives fighting each other for one reason or another, usually something dealing with the throne. Like the tagline says, in this game of thrones, either you win or you die.

Keeping it to bare essentials for who’s who and what’s what, in season 1 King Robert Baratheon holds the throne. His wife is Cersei Lannister, who is also having an incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime. The Lannister family is the most feared/respected family in Westeros, thanks to being headed by the richest man in Westeros, Tywin Lannister (father of Cersei and Jaime). The Lannisters pretty much serve as the main antagonists in the series, except for Tyrion, the dwarf brother of Cersei and Jaime who is pretty much everyone’s favorite character thanks to actor Peter Dinklage’s awesome performance.

The other biggest main family to know about are the Starks, lords of the North. Ned Stark rules this kingdom with his wife Catelyn, and their kids: Robb, Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon, and Ned’s bastard son Jon Snow. After the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, dies, King Robert asks Ned, his old war friend, to be the new Hand of the King. Ned serves as Robert’s Hand, and investigates the death of Arryn, leading to a lot of the main conflict of season 1.

I should also mention the Targaryens (since their story is a big part of the show), a family that once ruled the land but were wiped out by the Lannisters. There are only two surviving Targaryens, brother/sister Viserys and Daenerys. Viserys believes the kingdom is rightfully his, so he sells Daenerys to be married to Khal Drogo, the leader of the Dothraki warriors, in return for an army to lead to invade the Robert’s kingdom.

There are definitely many different storylines to follow in Game of Thrones, as my brief description was really only scratching the surface. That’s why right off the start I will say I don’t recommend Game of Thrones to anyone that just wants easy viewing from a TV show. Game of Thrones requires investment into its world and characters, and needs to be closely followed to be understood. To be honest I usually read episode summaries after I finish watching an episode to read about things that went over my head while watching it. However, if you want to invest yourself in a world of rich characters and multiple storylines, Game of Thrones is a great show.

I’m only going to list a few complaints, because other than this everything else on the show works. The biggest problem with season 1 of Game of Thrones is it takes a long time to get going. I’d say out of the total 10 episodes, at least the first four or five are practically exposition. Don’t get me wrong, the storyline they give in all exposition scenes are interesting, but it takes a while for any “HOLY SHIT!” moments to happen. Luckily the latter half of the season delivers. So, it’s a lot of setup, but if you can get through it there is payoff. It’s just that I did get a little bored in the beginning of the season.

For the most part, I can praise the show on how well it balances everything. The series doesn’t just have one central location, it shows different storylines that aren’t always connected in multiple locations following different characters. It balances things very well, but when you have so many characters you do run into a problem. Namely, that you don’t get to spend much time with a lot of the different characters, so some of them don’t mean much to you at all. If you’ve heard one thing about the show, it’s probably that they kill a lot of characters off. While this is true, the thing is that only a few of those deaths are actually meaningful ones. You see a lot of no-name characters get killed off, but only a few big ones. Also, that isn’t to say that you don’t get attached to any characters. I can easily name my three favorite characters as Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, and Arya Stark. But it is hard to get attached to everyone.

I do think Game of Thrones is great, but probably not as much as a lot of other people. I’m hoping that after season 1 I can enjoy the show a lot more since hopefully this season gets a lot of the exposition out of the way. But I will say its praise is well deserved, as it’s an impressive show. I really enjoyed it.

4/5