A Game of Thrones 1.09: "Baelor"

Well, it has finally happened, Ned Stark was executed in the most horrible and humiliating way. He did not deserve to die that way, and it made me sick when I read it.  In the book, which I wish they had done here, he was in full gear as Lord of Winterfell; ie. Direwolf on his chest, in his best velvets.  Ned was a strong leader and an honorable man, and his last words portrayed him as everything he was not, and he had to do it wearing his sigil on his chest. However, for the non reader, the lack of his sigil, did not make the circumstances of his death any less painful to watch. Plus, we had to watch poor, naive Sansa smiling, and urging him on to say those disgusting last words.

But, I was glad to see that he had the one mercy of seeing Arya on the statue and managing to tell Yoren to find her. When Ned locked eyes with Arya, it was beyond anything that I expected for that tragic moment. Sean Bean was amazing, and having him lock eyes with Arya was priceless. Arya knew it was over for her father, unlike her poor sister.

Arya knew it was the last time she would see her father.

When it went quiet at the end and Ned saw Arya had gotten down to his relief. Tragically, his last sight was of Sansa screaming and fainting, as she had been a foolish girl,who had trusted the mother of a monster. Not only that, Ned was killed with ICE, and by a craven, boy, king. It brought the viewer full circle, to the moment when he tells Bran in 1.01: "The man who passes the sentence wields the sword": you accuse, you pass the sentence, you kill him yourself.

The way Joffrey played to the crowd like it was some kind of carnival game, smiling after Ned confessed like "Yeah! hah, hah I won", and then cut off his head without blinking really makes him "King Sociopath Joffrey".  Seeing him in action is nauseating:

 Look Mom I won!

Everyone loves me! Let's cut off his head so they clap more

All the weasels and vipers ran over protesting what he had just done, not because they liked Ned, but because they knew now the Game was ON. Poor Sansa, the weaker of the two sisters has to witness it up close, and Cersei is all proud because she got what she wanted, and then sees her "precious boy" loose his leash. Joffrey is a monster, a narcissist, and thus insane. He is no better than the "Mad King" which you will see as time goes one. He killed a powerful Lord, an honorable man, because he thought it was fun. Well, with incest you always get some crazy right? The Targaryen's married their sisters, so was it any wonder Aerys liked burning people for fun? or Viserys was insane?

As I mentioned earlier, for me, Arya and Ned were the stars of this horrible moment in time. Sean Bean is an amazing actor, as when Ned sees her, you can see he feels relief, and fear all in brief second. Luckily Yoren, reached her as she got down off the statue as she knew that she had to run. But when he grabs her and you see her pressed against his chest, and he tells her not to look. It was a kindness, and a mercy, Sansa did not have the luxury of receiving. She closes her eyes, as she hears the execution and then opens them as the pigeons fly through the air. Brilliant. Maisie Williams is an amazing young actress, she barely spoke, and you could see grief, fear, and horror in her young face.  This is when she begins to pass herself off as a boy,which is why when she is dirty, the series had several people call her "boy".

Mercifully, it's over. 

To the war effort and the politics....
Well,  while Joffrey was playing "lt is fun to cut off good men's heads", they did not know that the Kingslayer had been captured, which PS is a big freakin' deal! He is the most acclaimed swordsman in the realm, and a Lannister! Brother to the QUEEN, and UNCLE to King Sociopath; his capture was a major event and victory for Robb in the war against the Lannisters.  It was not presented as such, and they should have used the wording in the book  as when asked where his sword was, he said "I appeared to have mislaid it"--yeah, in the heads of the Karstark boys, who he killed when he knew he was going down.  He responds in the same way when asked where the Stark girls were : "it appears I have mislaid them as well."  That's the Jaime we know and love; even if he is a bastard.

Aaaah, the Jaime smirk...

The scene deserved more than a minute, as another 2 or 3 would have given it the impact it deserved. But I know time was being given to Ned's execution, as for the non reader and reader alike, it is so tragic. The scene needed more significance than it was given, as his imprisonment sets off a serious of events that start to turn Jaime into a major character in the next  3 books.

But the one thing this entire scene did capture was the now official hotness, of Robb Stark. And most importantly? He has the potential to become an even greater leader than his father. When he rides back after his first battle , Grey Wind in the lead,  you see a man and a leader. Ned taught him well, and Robb is using what he was taught with his own, I would have to say strategic brilliance. He is also gaining the respect of battle hardened men, who supported his father.

It is also what makes Joffrey's lovely family see, that he has no idea what he is doing, as they could have traded Ned for Jaime.

Tyrion @ Battle
Well, they have prepped and gone to battle against 2,000 men, not the 20,000 the scout had reported.  Lord Tywin decides that Tyrion should lead the vanguard with his straggly ferocious friends, and in fact Tyrion gives a rousing speech to his motley crew.  However, he does accuse his father of finding a better way to kill him, than screwing up the battle. How does Tywin react? He just has this evil smile behind his glass as he sips his wine.

So I am loving the Bronn/Tyrion show; these two are becoming an awesome pair.  I really loved their lgame that they play with Shae, the night before the battle. I really enjoy her; as she is not a fleshed out character in the book, and here she is a ballsy chick, who has a mysterious past. In fact, I think she was high born, captured and enslaved, and then became a prostitute to survive. Very nice addition to the story.....An unexpected one at that.  I love when Bronn fought for Tyrion in the Vale, to when he told Tywin he wouldn't know his father, to being the first face Tyrion sees as he's being drawn on the wagon.

Bronn at the Vale

So, Bronn informs Tyrion that he missed the battle! Then Lord Tywin marches by and remarks  blithely that in fact Tyrion is still alive! Tyrion asks if they won, which was a not really as there were only two thousand men.  Did they capture the boy at least? No says Lord Tywin, oh, but PS: he was with his other 18,000 men. Ooops, guess Robb isn't as green as they thought.

In other parts of the world....Vaes Dothrak
The Khal has fallen from his horse, which is a sin and the end of a leader for the Dothraki.

It looks like the witch has deliberately infected the wound of the Khal with her "bandage".  Poor Dany...but she was warned and in her naivete, and sadly, Khal's love for her, brought about his demise, but as we know in the end, it gave her great power. We see poor Dany, desperate to save her first love, and of course demanding that the witch be brought to her immediately.

 Anyway, one of the Khal's bloodriders, whose name I always forget, is angry with her again, and insults her.  Why? well Dany has decided that she wants the witch back, and he has had enough. She defends herself again, as having the blood of the dragon, to which he says, "all of the dragons are dead, khaleesi.".  Thus we see the witch appear, and she tells Dany she can save him, but there will be a price for life....and the answer to that is a no brainer. Plus she needs to use Dark Magic to do it; and poor naive Dany, is like just do what you need to do.  Ser Jorah says no, but Dany ignores him and tells him to suit up, and get ready for a fight.

Next up? the Khal's beautiful horse who is thus murdered by the witch, I will say it did not have the flair of  the Mountain's murder of his horse, but it was slower and of course way too bloody. So Dany leaves the tent like this:

Ser Jorah is mortified, and basically she has now been shunned from the tribe, and the bloodrider threatens Dany. But Dany has collapsed and passed out as she has gone into labor. Ser Jorah and the Bloodrider fight, and we see how their weapons are no use against armor; the scythe just wraps around his body, enabling Ser Jorah to finish him off.  He immediately asks Dany's bodyguards to get the midwives, but no one will touch her now, because they think that she is cursed. We begin to hear the sounds of the underworld in the tent; ie. dark, eerie cries that make the blood run cold. The next thing we see is Ser Jorah carrying Dany into a dark tent.

Next up: 1.10 "Fire and Blood", and it's a fantastic episode.

***Images and Quotes owned by HBO's "A Game of Thrones"