Game of Thrones - “Fire and Blood”
“Fire and Blood” may be the most HBO episode HBO has ever had. When I first watched it Sunday evening, I thought it was a victim of following the novel very closely, giving us a traditional denouement over the usual craziness that surrounds a season finale. A few days later I realized that “Baelor” was really the season finale - it ended on two cliffhangers and a huge battle, and that “Fire and Blood” was a backdoor S2 premiere.
Now I think it’s both of those and a message to HBO viewers. My brother, after learning Ned was really, really dead, said, “But who’s going to watch now?” That’s probably the question HBO asked too, so they decided to give the audience exactly what the book does - a bunch of characters moving into different chapters in their lives. While it may seem like the episode followed the book’s structure or wanted to set up S2 well, the real way to hook some viewers would be to put a bunch of violence and nudity in. Instead, they made an episode that doesn’t look like a season finale - there are no real cliffhangers other than the entire plot. The only characters who get closure are the dead ones. These are the episodes HBO loves - ones that serve the grand storyline in the sky.
I decided originally to not write about last week’s episode and just frame Ned’s death (and the reaction) by this episode. (It’s also a nice way to get around my vacation the last 2 weeks.) I think many on Twitter and elsewhere had the right amount of surprise within the storyline and surprise outside the story, looking at it from a network’s angle. Sean Bean was the star, probably the only actor most knew. HBO didn’t have to get rid of him - if they wanted to keep him around longer, then they would have. It speaks to both their trust in Benioff and Weiss and their balls. I honestly think it’s one of the bigger twists in TV history, and the scene was beautifully shot.
Speaking strictly through ratings, the show has been impressive. Most shows follow a parabola shape, peaking at the pilot and the finale. But Game of Thrones has been going up slowly but consistently, and after Ned’s death, “Fire and Blood” gave a considerable boost, up over 3 million viewers. Yes, the show is already renewed for a second season, but these numbers will play in heavily about the show’s possible third season. Remember, they renewed for a second season right after the pilot aired. The numbers in season two should be solid, as I don’t think anyone could be disappointed with the season, and plenty of people took a wait-and-see approach and will catch up on DVD or HBO Go.
But will people stop watching because of the lack of Sean Bean, as my brother suggested? I don’t know how they could. Those type of viewers don’t really watch HBO shows, I’d imagine. Ned was the driving force behind this season, sure, but he really didn’t do much in the back half of the season anyway, befitting his character. The action was with Robb or Tyrion and a bunch of other characters, all with clear motivations. That’s the beauty of this episode, I think - it simultaneously closed most arcs, which coincided with Ned’s death, and started new ones.
There was a sense of closure in this episode, which is impressive because the episode didn’t work as a standalone episode very well. I think the best television shows should strive for each episode to tell a complete story, thematically or plotwise, about something, and the season should tell a complete story, which adds up to the series telling a complete story. This is obviously near-impossible, what with the practical implications and work that goes into producing a television series, but “Fire and Blood” fails mostly on the first front. Yeah, you can say there’s a thread that everyone is moving on or something, but that happens almost every episode, and since grief over Ned isn’t front and center, it’s difficult to connect everything. This is even more difficult for a show like Game of Thrones to accomplish because it has to deal with a dozen or more characters. If I have one complaint about this season, it goes straight back to my main concern with the pilot - each episode is good, but it isn’t great. Thus, the season is approaching greatness, but I can’t in good conscience put it with Breaking Bad at the top of the pantheon.
But like I said, there is a sense of closure. Ned started this season, and he ended it with a bang. There’s parallelism between his scene which effectively begins the series where he kills the deserter with his own sword and Joffrey’s court scene, where he leaves and doesn’t watch his justice being carried out. (He doesn’t even hit Sansa himself.) This ties in heavily with the show’s main theme so far - what a good king is. Also, Bran’s dream sequences came back in this episode, reminding us that there’s something supernatural going on and how little the show has utilized him. The action was clearly away from Winterfell, but he doesn’t have any arc to speak of. This isn’t much of a fault, because the show clearly has big plans for him later, but look for his role to become more pronounced in seasons to come (I’m assuming).
Jon thinks about running away at the Wall, and his storyline (in the novel as well) seems the most perfunctory. It’s a standard character arc that, frankly, seems boring compared with everything else. But he had some type of journey, and him riding out with Mormont to head off the trouble behind the Wall is an awesome way to close. That was a great, goosebump-inducing scene, and one of the first where I really noticed the music. I was expecting more out of the music this season - hopefully it’ll be more than atmospheric in S2.
Jaime’s another character who’s interesting but didn’t get a lot of analysis this season (and, from what I understand, won’t get much next season either). He was posited early as the villain, pushing Bran out the window, but starting with his conversation with his father, he definitely takes more of a misunderstood position, although he still is clearly a jerk. His conversation with Cat proved that conclusively - while there is some angst among all of the Lannisters, Cat knows better than to feel too sorry for him.
Cat, meanwhile, has had a background arc that works almost better than it did in the books. I didn’t think her madness over Bran was fully realized, but she’s recovered from it quite nicely, realizing her husband is dead but still understanding she needs to be strong for her son and all of his men. Her line to Robb - first we get Sansa and Arya and then we kill them all - was surprisingly sweet. Her son has had a small arc as well, one that’s arguably the most important - his ascension from son to King in the North. It’s been a fairly unassuming arc, but it works, especially with his tree-whacking early in the episode. You get the sense that Robb may not be totally kingly yet, but he has the right attitude that could make a great king. The big question is: will he be more head smart than his father?
On the other side, Tyrion has taken more of a background role these last few episodes, but Peter Dinklage has been the clear star thus far. There’s a line early in the book that I love - Tyrion’s walking out of the Great Hall in Winterfell, and Martin writes that the light throws his shadow across the courtyard, and in that moment, Tyrion was bigger than any king. There’s a lot of stuff in that (paraphrased) line, but his ascension to Hand of the King is a really awesome move for him. Tyrion would really make a good king, although if Jaime is ever released, there’s no way Tywin would keep Tyrion in any position of power. Tyrion has the right amount of sneakiness and smarts to keep power, although I doubt the people would feel right bowing to a “broken thing,” as he put it earlier this season. I haven’t read Clash of Kings yet, but I’m excited to see some Littlefinger-Tyrion-Varys action. That would be a good spinoff.
Speaking of, there were a lot of bizarre little scenes in this episode. The Littlefiner-Varys scene tried to put a bow on their relationship, but I thought it was pretty well spelled-out already. It felt a little too forced. The better part of that scene was the sense that Joffrey’s not safe from their wrath, even though they have to bow right now. But the Pycelle scene was much more bizarre. We see everyone’s favorite character, Theon’s whore, and then Pycelle reveals that his physical weariness is all an act - a game, if you will. He’s playing his role too, and one day maybe he can gain more power. I honestly tuned out his speech, because I was so confused at everything, but was he saying Joffrey would be a good king as an act too? I’m not so sure, but I like that Game of Thrones is trying to give some background to other characters. It reminds me of the Loras-Renly scene from earlier in the season, although that one was much more awesome.
Speaking of a weird scene, Cersei has had little to do on-camera recently. They reveal she’s been banging Lancel, another family member, but I feel like it was supposed to relate to Robert’s death in some way. As someone who’s read the book, and I still don’t know what exactly the scene was trying to hint at, that probably means the storytelling is muddled. I think Cersei could be a much better character with some more scenes of her speaking, like the one she had with Joffrey earlier in the season. In most, she just stands menacingly.
I think we can say that the least-developed POV character has been Sansa, but her scenes this week were excellent. Much like in the book, I began to see her as a character this week. The performance was excellent, and I like the tension in the scene over that weird bridge (I imagined it much differently in the book), over whether she might jump or push Joffrey. This is a Sansa I can get behind, not the consistently whiny “YOU’RE RUINING EVERYTHING!!!!” girl from earlier.
All the sly hints about Arya being a boy paid off this episode as we actually dove into the first chapter of Clash of KIngs. This is a subtle change from the books - there, she wanted to tell them about the boy she killed but didn’t, and instead hit them a bunch with the wooden sword she kept from Syrio, Here, she takes out Needle and threatens them, and then Robert’s bastard, back from the narrative depths, scares them off. I totally forgot about him, and I wonder what that says for casual viewers.
And let us sing the praises of Emilia Clarke for a minute. I was worried her storyline would be too much like the Katherine Rhumor plot from Rubicon - detached from the action for too long, by the time her story intersected with the main plot, no one cared anymore. Think about it - Clarke has been on a different continent than everyone else, speaking mostly in Dothraki or by body language, has been nude like 400 times, and has to transition from meek sold-into-marriage sister into kinda terrifying queen. It’s impressive, and although I didn’t buy her relationship with Drogo early on, there’s no doubt Dany has developed into quite the character. I’m a little leery of her staying away from the main plot for a long time again, but dragons. That’s basically all that needs to be said.
The second season is interesting because it promises to be different from the first. Sure, there will be people battling over the throne, but it’s a totally different set-up. The veritable straight man is gone, and positions are changed all over the place. Instead of dealing with what makes a good king, we’ll be seeing it in action, as the steely Stannis and flowery Renly and vindictive Cersei and DRAGONS Dany all try to play a part. Plus, I guess the White Walkers could have a claim as well.
But the second season is almost nine months away. The first was really good television, although I don’t know if it every quite hit greatness for a full episode. There were great moments, obviously, and I think their approach to creating the series (replicate the books extremely closely, good parts (character, shocking events) and bad (some weird pacing, the climax coming in episode 9)) is refreshing and should create a template for showrunners to come.
But the more I think about it, Game of Thrones isn’t trying to make each episode great. They’re trying to make the series great. In the future, “Fire and Blood” will just be another chapter in a great series. They’ll watch it, and then pop in their S2 Blu-ray and continue on the road. That’s an entirely different approach, but an equally valid one. With a sweeping epic, maybe it’s better to look at the whole instead of each cog. In that case, these 10 hours have been a great start, and I look forward to battles, monologues, and sexposition to come. And dragons.
