SPOILERS for last night’s episode of Game of Thrones, “First of His Name.”
Hello, I’m new to Game of Thrones recaps, so please be gentle with me as I murder some of these names. While last night’s episode, “First of His Name,” wasn’t chock full of action and game-changers, there were some big plot points revealed which shocked me.
First of all, my mouth fell open when Lysa Arryn was speaking to Littlefinger/Petyr Baelish about her late husband, Jon Arryn, the first Hand of the King that we ever met back in Season 1. As the handy-dandy “previously on” reminded us, Lysa Arryn sent a letter to her sister, Lady Caitlyn, telling her that Jon Arryn had been poisoned by the Lannisters. This set the whole “Game of Thrones” thing on its current course. Robert Baratheon asked Ned Stark to be the new Hand, the Starks went to King’s Landing, and on and on. As Lysa Arryn revealed, Littlefinger was the one who orchestrated the whole thing. SHE poisoned Jon Arryn, not the Lannisters and Littlefinger told her to send the letter to Kaitlyn. WTF?!!? This is a gamechanger. Littlefinger has been the wizard, the man behind the curtain this whole time.
I don’t even want to talk about the weirdness between Sansa and her aunt. Creepy. Ugh. I will say this: I think Sansa has been at her best (as a character) this season. She’s finally getting wiser.
Arya and The Hound: I would honestly watch the show if it was just Arya and The Hound. I love them together. I wasn’t even bothered by The Hound smacking her. Is that wrong?
As for the Cersei part of the story… you guys, I think she’s sick. I think Cersei believes she’s dying and that’s why she’s making peace with some people and starting to make some arrangements for her daughter and for the new King Tommen. I kind of loved the scene between Cersei and That Hot Bisexual Guy (I forget his name). I also loved the scene between Cersei and Natalie Dormer – that was played to perfection by both actresses as was Cersei’s scene with her father.
I kind of enjoy the new Khaleesi, no longer the fresh-faced political rock star, freeing slaves with a wave of her hand. Politics is hard. Being a leader is hard. It’s interesting that the Khaleesi might actually have to make some difficult political calls in the future. But I’m wary of the storyline becoming The West Wing version of Game of Thrones.
And finally, the story at Craster’s Keep… UGH WHY DO I EVEN HOPE?!!? I wanted there to be at least two Stark kids to find each other, and I had my fingers crossed for Jon Snow and Bran’s happy reunion. But stupid Love Actually-dude was all “Do you want to find the three-eyed raven?” And I was all “OMG I HATE YOU.” Bran warging into Hodor was cool though. Still, I really needed a Jon Snow-Bran reunion. Who gives a crap about the three-eyed raven?!
Photos courtesy of HBO.
What are they doing to my show?
I just can’t with Sophie Turner’s acting. And Sansa is among my favourite characters. Why isn’t her hair black?
I also might be the only person who doesn’t care about Dany or Arya. Not in the books, nor in the series.
I always imagined Slaver’s Bay to look like Tunis or Morocco, not the Mediterranean.
I want bad bitch Cersei. What is this shit?
And it’s Lady Catelyn.
I thought Cersei was perhaps contemplating suicide (or sick). She seemed to be telegraphing that she didn’t think she’d be around too long to help Tommen. I mean, reaching out to Margery (sp)? WOW.
I read the books, that’s why I’m so frustrated. Book Cersei would never ever think of suicide nor would she reach out to Margaery.
Having said that, both Lena and Natalie are great actresses. And Natalie is one of the prettiest GoT actresses, IMO.
The Jon Arryn story is major in the books, and they just flew over it.
Cersei is the only thing that got me through book four. I LIVE for her take on things. I just need evil Cersei in the show because she is so fun to watch.
Dany’s character is annoying, imo. She has lost her credibility with me.
And I agree, Tatjana, that Cerci has flipped…
Cersei, at first did seem out of character, in last night’s episode but the reason she was playing nice with Margaery, Tywin and Oberyn (“Hot Bisexual Dude”) is not out of redeeming herself, she’s playing the game. Remember that Tywin, Oberyn and Margaery’s father Mace are all judging Tyrion’s trial in the upcoming episode. Cersei wants revenge and she wants Tyrion dead and is so playing the role of defeated grieving mother (she complies with Tywin all the way although Tywin cottoned onto what she was doing, she portrays herself as a loving mother to Oberyn although this is where she’s probably most truthful and she gets in with the Tyrells by admitting Joffrey’s a monster and allowing Margaery to marry Tommen) to earn their sympathies. It was a really subtle performance by Lena Headey last night, go back and watch the scene between her and Margaery and you can see a barely visible look of revulsion on Cersei’s face when Margaery calls her “sister” and “mother”. Cersei’s not changed, y’all!
It was way more subtle than Lysa clunkily blurting out all her plans to kill off Jon Arryn last night to Littlefinger…who y’know…already knows the deal. That could have been executed a bit better but then many show viewers may have forgotten the Jon Arryn plot as so much has happened since then.
As for Sansa having her hair dyed brown, I don’t know why they didn’t go in that direction? Maybe because the red hair is a part of Sansa’s signature look or something? It’s strange though because Sophie Turner is a natural blonde so they could have just allowed her to revert to her natural hair colour as Sansa’s disguise.
By the way, I love that you’re doing GoT recaps every week. Allows me to flood your site with nerdy comments about the show. 😀
That’s the thing. Book Cersei would never bee cold enough to play nice. She’s fiery and crazy. She’s not like Tywin. Tyrion is.
Well done, Seán. Every breath Cersei takes is calculated, the woman is a machine. It will be interesting to see how her increasing alcoholism plays out on the show.
ETA: Tatjana with all due respect, the book and the show have become such entirely different entities that comparisons at this point are almost ineffectual.
YES. You are right on all counts. The audience was played just like the characters were; Cersei went to each of the individuals who could influence the outcome of the upcoming trial in the next episode. So, yes, Cersei (for all the people who thought Cersei was out of character) was playing the game and Lena’s acting was on point.
I know. I’m trying to make myself watch them as separate entities. But it’s so darn hard.
THIS. Cersei is about playing the judges. All of her ‘weakness’ is just an act.
@Tatjana
MINOR BOOK SPOILERS
Even though Cersei is cooler and more calculated here than she is at this point in the book, she’s still using her abilities to manipulate for the entirely wrong reasons. Cersei knows in her heart of hearts that Tyrion would be too clever to poison Joffrey at something as public as his wedding. But for mostly irrational reasons, she’s wasting all her energy and power on trying to take out Tyrion when there are more pressing issues at hand – Dany and her dragons, the Iron Bank of Braavos, the threat in The North and more they don’t even know about (Littlefinger and Melisandre). I think the increasingly unstable Cersei we meet in Book 4 will be present in Season 5 of the show. I actually like that the show gives her a few nuances, this was something I felt she lacked in the books where she was all villainy all the time.
Edit: I do actually remember a time in Book 2 where Cersei played nice with Tyrion to get one-up on him. She even kissed him on the cheek which made Tyrion very suspicious. So she is capable of playing nice to get what she wants in the books too.
I cannot stand Dany. I am so tired of her, “LOOK AT ME LIBERATING ALL THESE SLAVES I’M SO AWESOME” without a thought about the reconstruction of the societies she’s left behind, any kind of system for the slaves to sustain themselves, and don’t even get me started on building an army with “liberated” slaves. WAY TO BE CLASSIST, DANY. Ugh. I’m so glad some of the chickens are coming home to roost. Hopefully she’ll be forced to open her damn eyes. Stop playing the ingenue, Dany. Time to be a grown-up.
Dany bores me to tears and her smugness is only because of her dragons. I think Cersei must really believe she is to marry the pillow biter? Can’t remember his name, so she doesn’t think she’ll be around for her son.
He was the “Love, Actually” kid; he’s not Nicholas Hoult.
This one is Thomas Sangster,
I loved him in Love Actually!
His expression as he exits the airport gate after seeing the girl – that scene between he and Liam Neeson his so damned cute.
But, I have to agree with Kaiser, I wanted him dead when he made Bran leave without seeing Jon. 🙁
And does anyone else think “three-eyed raven” sounds like a euphanism?
“That angry biker dude with the rings gave me a three-eyed raven when he punched me in the face!”
Or
“He asked the Susan if she might be into performing a three-eyed raven. She slapped him and walked away.”
No one cares about the three-eyed raven! And I started yelling to my husband about who John Arryn was and what littlefinger did setting everything in motion. Lysa is so creepy!
LittleFinger is devious…..and it is so creepy that he’s all over Sansa just because she looks like her mother. I can’t wait until someone gets him–I don’t know who’ll do it (maybe Sansa), but it’s gonna happen.
I also can’t wait to see what happens to Walder Frey–that dumbass. I know after the Red Wedding a ton of his family was killed all over, but he’s an idiot to believe that Tywin will keep him around for much longer–or even Roose Bolton. The only reason he’s even got people humoring him is because of what he’s got that river passage. Other than that? He’s a useless, lazy ‘ally’.
I really doubt he’s all over Sansa because she looks like Cat. Littlefinger has plans. Littlefinger always has plans. He’s such an awesome character.
Well, I don’t want to post book spoilers–but I know what he’s doing, and Sansa would be a big part of it–being that she’s (supposedly) one of the last Starks alive–Arya being the other one….heir to Winterfell.
True, he always has plans but he was dripping with lust for Sansa (or her resemblance to Cat) since they first met.
Lysa being creepy is an understatement. Didn’t she breastfeed the son in the first season?
Indeed. That scene was pure ick.
Yes she did and I was fully expecting her to do it last night even though he’s 3 years older.
She also isn’t as even remotely pretty in the book they changed her appearance completely in the show and she is even more paranoid in the books. Tons of creepy-ness. Her child Robert should fly away too IMHO
I do NOT care about the damn three-eyed raven and I didn’t care about it in the books either. The books are so damn long that there is room for all these tangents. However, we only get one hour of GOT TV per week and I wish we didn’t have to waste time with dopey Bran and dopey Dany. I always thought the Danaeris Targaryen thread should have been a separate book since it was so remote from what was going on in Westeros and the Lannister/Stark/Tyrell/Martell stuff is so engaging all by itself. I remember saying this to myself as I read the books too: “More Tyrion!!!!”
I wanted more Tyrion last night too! Everything is better with more Peter Dinklage.
On that note-
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DHlzIgSvnYc
I’m sorry, is it wrong that I get the giggles every time I hear about the 3-eyed raven? for some reason it just sounds like a kinkier version of the 1-eyed dragon or something
Nicholas Hoult is the one who stars in “About a boy”.
The best part of the show last night was when Jon Snow was reunited with Ghost. I was so happy.
And, I’m not trying to hate on you Kaiser (I can’t truly hate on anyone who loves Cumby just as much as I do)… but you’ve got to get on your game with the GoT recaps (and it’s Lady Catelyn, not Caitlyn).
I agree, that part was really sweet.
I loved that part! I got a lady boner for Jon then.
Was the detail about Lysa poisoning Jon Arryn in the books? It’s been a long time since I’ve read them, so I can’t remember if this is new information.
Yes it was. I think it was revealed at the very end of the third book.
I’ve lurked on this site for years, and the GoT recaps are what finally got me to finally post. I live for the books/show!
Yep, she reveals all at the end of the third book (final Sansa chapter if you want to go back and read).
I’m going to have to go back and re-read that for sure. I totally missed it!
Probably because I struggled through all Lady Catelyn and Sansa chapters. I wanted to skip them because I disliked both characters so much.
I loves Cersei’s chapters. I had trepidation about them at first because I hate Cersei and didn’t want to feel sympathetic toward her after reading her chapters. I needn’t have worried. 🙂
love actually dude ! lol i call him the nanny mcfee guy
yes, you should be bothered that the Hound smacked Arya.
It’s abuse.
I don’t know, I love Game of Thrones. It has some interesting actors in it, the style and production values are amazing, and I’m really curious about what will happen next. But, am I the only one who is getting more and more distressed with all the raping and the threatening of raping? It’s just getting really hard to watch, and I’ve never even been raped! I can’t imagine how triggering it must be for survivors of rape.
It’s a bummer, because I’m seriously thinking of ditching the show over this. I just don’t think I can take the stress of watching/hearing more rape or threatening of rape. Enough already. Sigh.
You are not the only one. Although to be fair, rape happens a lot in the books, just that GRRM seems to omit some of the gorier details that the show engages in. For example, Theon’s torture is not shown in the books, just reflected on by Theon and his castration was implied but no details were given in how it went down.
I figured Meera would be threatened and I just rolled my eyes at the show.
I thought last night’s episode was an improvement over the previous two. Sophie Turner’s doing a great job this season. I wish I could be more on board with Kit Harington’s performance but I can’t-he seems to excel at action scenes and not so well at speaking scenes. Though I did like the reunited with Ghost scene. Nice mention that the Lannisters are broker than broke. Emilia Clarke was not that good last night. Though we now know that Jorah is getting information somehow from Westeros. I wonder if the source will be revealed.
Oh and about Bran and Jon, as much as everyone was like, “Shut up Jojen!” It would have been totally out of character for Jon to let Bran go. Especially since Jon is well aware of the dangers that lurk further north and also all the tragedy (Ned, Robb and Catelyn’s deaths) that has befallen the family. So Bran had to make a choice, reveal himself to Jon and basically be sent to Castle Black or follow what he believes is to be his destiny. He chooses the latter.
“Though we now know that Jorah is getting information somehow from Westeros. I wonder if the source will be revealed.”
^^^ Jorah’s been getting info from Westeros since season 1: from Varys.
OMG I was coming in here to post the exact same thing!
The assaults of women and the gratuitous nudity (of only the women) is really starting to bother me. We have seen every inch of Dany, but where’s the video of the smooth ken-doll like privates of the unsullied?
Also, if every man in power is compelled to rape, then why aren’t there any male/male rapes? If the idea is to show how violent and dangerous the times are, then spread it around. But of course not. When men think about rape, the victim is always a woman. Can you imagine the outrage if one of the male characters, say King Slayer was raped? Would we be having all these tortured discussions about whether or not it was rape?
I gave up on the series a few episodes ago.
It’s like Lady Gaga: overkill.
yes totally! I’m just a causal watcher with my husband but I commented too about all the raping. Like does it really need that much?
My husband and I had the same conversation last night. Still watching but I’m really tired of it too.
Rape and attempted rape plays a large role in both the books and show. I know it’s difficult to watch/read about but I would say for the most part, there’s a justifiable reason for it being there (Jaime and Cersei scene aside which was either a very badly edited “consensual sex scene” or something used to stir up controversy). George R.R. Martin wanted to depict a world that was close to what life was like in the Middle Ages and what life is like in wartime conditions. And unfortunately, women were and are often victims of rape during wartime. Also Westeros is a place where they don’t have enlightened modern attitudes to sexual violence or a suitable source of power to control society, the realm is made up of predominantly corrupt lords who are only interested in moving up the class ladder than helping out the common folk.
From a story point of view, it makes sense that these mutineers at Craster’s Keep would be cruel vicious sociopaths. Remember that The Night’s Watch is primarily made up of thieves, rapists and murderers. Jon is one of the few people to join the Watch voluntarily, Sam was forced into joining by his cruel father. Almost everyone else joined because it was a choice between being maimed, executed or going to The Wall. Karl, the chief rapist of the group, gave a whole monologue about class last week so it wouldn’t make sense that he would continue raping Craster’s daughter-wives and leave Meera, a pretty noblewoman who he could inflict his anger on. And I do believe Theon was nearly raped in Season 3 until Ramsay killed his would-be-rapist…and then brutally tortured and castrated Theon. The show inhabits a very cruel world. But THIS world is a cruel place, maybe less so these days, but things were brutal in that time period. Heck, even 50 years ago, there was a whole load of crap that was tolerated from openly public racism to striking children in schools to turning a blind eye to abuse of power. I think all of the rapists, barring Jaime (who isn’t supposed to be a rapist), get their comeuppance though. The guys who tried to rape Sansa in Season 2, these mutineers, the rapists who tried to get Theon etc all received brutal deaths.
Equal opportunity nudity is one of the show’s big problems though which is a shame considering how high the female audience is. Neil Marshall, the director of the “Blackwater” episode, says there’s a HBO executive who is around on set to tell them to try and get more nudity in a scene if they can. So this is a HBO executive decision rather than a creative one. I don’t necessarily mind the gratuitous sex and nude scenes, HBO’s unofficial mantra is essentially “Come for the T&A; stay for the production values and quality storytelling”. It’s just a shame it’s approached from the stereotypical Hollywood heteronormative way when HBO breaks barriers in so many other ways. But as far as main cast goes, I don’t think their nude scenes are gratuitous. Emilia Clarke and Alfie Allen are obviously cool with nudity while some of the other cast may not be. Dany was nude in about 5 episodes whereas Theon’s wang (RIP) was a guest starring role in both Season 1 and 2. I can definitely see how annoying it is to not have more equal nudity in the abundance of whore scenes though.
Thank you! I agree with everything you said. And “Theon’s wang (RIP)” made me laugh out loud.
Actually, Emilia Clarke is not okay with the nudity and has demanded that her Dany keep her clothes on this season.
Lilacflowers: that’s an old rumour and was never confirmed to be Emilia.
Yeah – I loved the books, but the whole show is getting me down. Maybe it’s because I’m in a weird place in my life, but the weekly negativity is getting to be a bit much. The books were very depressing as well…but I’m quickly losing my passion for the show. I really don’t need to see another rape, murder, or gratuitous nudity scene for “entertainment.”
meh. I stopped watching the show a few episodes ago. I read the books and I just can’t stand the growing dichotomy between them and the show. yeah i know that the books are super long and the show can’t possibly portray every aspect accurately, but come on, its like D&D arent even trying anymore. Like others have commented, all the rape and gratuitous nudity is getting out of hand ugh. The only reason i might watch later is because the sansa/baelish storyline is one of my favorites
I totally agree, I wanted Jon and Bran to find each other so bad!!
And I agree too that Cersei is soon to go! (I’m not reading the books). I kinda think maybe Jaimie is about to go too and I don’t even know why I say that. My head is spinning trying to think of him as a nice guy when he’s really a rapist!
So glad wolfie is back!! Hated what they were doing to him! So glad the animal abuser got his!
Cersei is not going anywhere. She’s playing the game like everybody else in Westeros.
While I read the books, I can’t remember if Lysa Arryn was the one to poison her husband Jon at Littlefinger’s suggestion? Was that ever implied? I remember not understanding who poisoned Joffrey in the books only to be told later it was implied it was the Tyrells. Same thing with Renly being gay and in love with Loras Tyrell. That went way over my head in the books and I was so confused when I saw him sleeping with Loras.
I LOL-ED at the “stupid Love Actually Dude” hahaha. I was hoping they’d go in a different direction with Bran’s storyline since in the last episode they got captured at Craster’s Keep which did not happen in the books. Unfortunately it seems they are keeping in line with the books… Bran and Jon’s paths never completely cross beyond the Wall though they do narrowly miss each other and Bran does spot him at some point when he is warging as his wolf Summer. But I will admit without revealing what happens I find Bran’s storyline to be SUPER lame in the books. It is SO dumb and all of you who are complaining that you don’t care about the Three Eyed Crow–I hear you, I hated it in the books too!
I was relieved the Kahleesi finally got a wardrobe change. While I loved the blue dress-pants look, it was getting a little worn looking. And Dany is a lot younger in the books (around 14 years old) than she is on the show so the mistakes she makes while freeing slaves and navigating politics as a new Queen are very realistic. However, I am getting a little weary of Emilia Clarke’s acting–she comes across as a little wooden.
As for hoping that the Starks reunite soon… well you are going to have to keep on wishing because their storylines keep them scattered for awhile. But I’ve been loving Sansa and Arya’s storylines/acting this season. Also is it just me or does it seem the Littlefinger actor is always just a hair away from bursting into laughter? I always find him to be on the verge of of losing it, but he seems to love playing his role. In fact if you’ve ever seen the Bad Lip Reading of Game of Thrones, he is pretty much the best part of that video!
Yup, in the books, Littlefinger is the orchestrator of everything. He convinces Lysa to poison Jon Arryn and send Catelyn a letter, blaming the Lannister. He plants the seeds so that Stark, Lannister and Baratheon will go at each others throats so he can cause instability in the realm. He and Olenna worked together to kill Joffrey, Olenna so she could ensure Margaery’s safety and Petyr so he could get rid of the unpredictable timebomb that was Joffrey and throw the thus far triumphant Lannisters into disrepute.
I believe the Renly/Loras relationship is very subtly implied in the books. Loras would go and “pray” with Renly before fighting Stannis and Jaime makes some comment in Book 3 about shoving a sword so far up Loras that not even Renly would be able to find it or something along those lines.
As for the Bran storyline, I think it’s coming across cheesy and “fantasy-ambiguous” on the show right now. That said, I think Bran’s storyline picks up in Book 5 but I see why many fans don’t like it because it really delves into the fantasy aspect of the novels and I enjoy fantasy. I think a large majority of readers/viewers watch the show for the politics and the soapy drama.
That Bad Lip Reading video is hilarious!
It’s a great book series and a great tv show. Sure, it’s not exactly like the book and that’s okay. If you expect it to be line by line, you’re going to be disappointed so just go in with an open mind. One of the reasons the book/show is so great is because anyone can die at any time – no happy ever after here.
A few things I’ve read to comment on:
– Yes, Jorah is getting info and vice versa from Varys.
– The book doesn’t say LittleFinger did it, but it’s implied it’s him and Oleanna Tyrell
– Don’t EVER trust Cersei.
– Lysa poisoned her husband at LF’s urging and then wrote the letter to Cat blaming the Lanister’s, which started this whole mess.
– And for a spoiler theory, Jon Snow is really the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Ned wasn’t his father.
The three eyed crow story line is just awesome in the books and introduces a bunch of characters that are long gone, explains a lot of things and is pretty magical to boot. Definitely Bran made the right decision and if it follows the book it also ties up some things as well. It was really one of my favorite parts of the books.