Winter is Coming ... So is Episode 2: Read this Game of Thrones Recap first!

This recap of Game of Thrones comes via a very special guest and new Chapter1-Take1 voice; a young, literate, opinionated fan of both the HBO Game of Thrones series and George RR Martin's source material; A Song of Ice and Fire. She also happens to be my supersmart niece, Krysten Savoy. Krysten will be joining me once a week to recap and opine on this season of the epic show. Check it out before you check out Episode 2 this week. Take it away Kryssie ....




Can you feel the chill in the air? It’s April, so that can only mean Winter has come and Game Of Thrones is finally back on the airwaves (or the internets, as I watch it on my new iPad Air and borrowed HBOGO account. Woot Woot).  GoT (which is how I will refer to the HBO show and only me – I came up with it) fans are so lucky that they only have to wait a year to get their next fix… I’ve been waiting years (since 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!) for the next installment in the book series A Song of Ice and Fire, upon which the show is based.

Btw, George (I’m on a first name basis with author) released a few chapters, which I have yet to read because it will just make me mad that I can’t have the whole thing. Why ya gotta be a book tease, George? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Here’s the link in case you are interested: George RR Martin's website

Back to the business at hand…

 As a fan of A Song of Ice and Fire, I was very curious (and anxious!) to see how HBO was going to adapt Book 4 and Book 5 (these books have names, but I’ll just refer to them by number for ease of use and because, let’s face it, I’m lazy)... George, in his infinite wisdom, decided to focus only on certain characters in Book 4. If it were a true adaptation, the GoT fans would riot! They couldn’t handle veing separated from their precious characters for a whole season. Try 6 years wimps! That is how long it was between Book 4 and Book 5. GoT fans would never survive winter – they aren’t ready. Song of Ice and Fire fans, though, are a patient, resilient lot. We can take the cold, desolate loneliness of not knowing what our favorite characters are up to.
 
Well, lucky for the children of summer that are the GoT fans, HBO isn’t not going to follow A Song of Ice and Fire (abbreviated from now on as ASOIAF, because lazy, remember?). They have decided to take the stories from both books and weave them together. This doesn’t bother me as a fan of the ASOIAF. The stories from Book 4 and Book 5 were happening during the same time frame – consolidate away.

This season starts with two little girls traversing the dark forest in search of a witch to tell their futures.  This is Cersei Lannister’s burden - to live life dreading a future foretold. This scene frames Cersei’s storyline for GoT Season 4, which will feature her heavily. I hope everyone is a fan! I personally love Lena Headey's portrayal and can't wait to see her in action this season.

To keep with the Lannister clan, we only see fair Jaime once this episode at the funeral of his father, whose death he set in motion when he freed his brother. No good deed, right? And Cersei doesn’t shy from calling him out. It is sad to see love sour, even a disgusting, incestuous love between brother and sister. His character, from what I remember, doesn’t really have anything interesting going on this season. There is some stuff, but meh. It’s too bad because Jaime Lannister, as played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (say that five times fast) has been one of my favorite characters. Yes, he is good looking, but there’s more to it than that. And no, I don’t care to elaborate.

Everyone’s favorite little Lion was kept in a cage on the long voyage to Pentos... Poor Tyrion! He is a drunken, self-pitying shell of his former self. Get it together already! Sure, you killed the love of your life with your bare hands and your father while he was on the toilet (or whatever the indoor plumbing system they had in King's Landing is called – I’m not a plumber), but that was like a month ago. He has to figure how to buck up and help Varys save the realm!  

I am glad we have Tyrion this season since Book 4 was Tyrion deficient. This is the beauty of adaptation: you can see the mistakes/missteps and correct them. Tyrion is the heart of the GoT and ASOIAF. #teamtyrion

And we are off to The Wall... I don't know about you all, but as much as I LOVED Jon Snow and the Wall in ASOIAF, this storyline in GoT is no bueno. Just boring. No life. No urgency. Who cares. Jon Snow, as played by Kit Harington, is a real snorefest. A very pretty snorefest, but a snorefest nonetheless. At least he's in on the joke, as evidenced in this clip:

However, this made me have the terrifying realization that Kit Harrington plays Jon Snow this way on purpose and not just because he is a bad actor, as previously assumed. Why!? One of my favorite characters in ASOIAF has become my least favorite on GoT. So I'll skip past the Wall (there is some Stanis and Melisandre stuff and the King beyond the wall is executed - whatevs)

I must admit something here that will severely diminish me in the estimation of my reader(s): My favorite character is Petyr Baelish AKA Littlefinger AKA my future husband. Loved him in the books and love him even more in GoT. In a series that can be tedious (let's face it ASOIAF fans, parts can drag, to put it mildly) and Littlefinger always spices it up. You know something interesting is going to happen when he's on the page and the screen. So I was beyond thrilled to see Littlefinger this episode! I wasn't expecting it since his storyline hasn't advanced past this point in the books. If we get more of Littlefinger this season, the television show is moving beyond the series in terms of the plot for major characters. I wonder if this storyline will be completely different from what George writes in Book 6?

On a side note, where the hell is my Book 6, George?

Moving along, Daenerys is stuck in a quagmire... She believes in the Pottery Barn rule: if you break it, you gots to fix it. But, much like our own problems in the Middle East, this is much easier said than done. So let's see if she gets out of Meereen faster than we got out of Afghanistan... Wait, aren’t we still in Afghanistan? See what I did there – Analogy. Nation Building is never easy, even if you are the mother of dragons.

And in male nudity news, this:

AFTERTHOUGHTS

No Arya this episode!!!

No Lady Stone heart! Considering where Brienne of Tarth is this episode, I’m not hopeful that we will see her this season. Boo!

No Ironborn! (I also really like the Ironborn... I know, I'm the worst)

Read me next week!  Thanks, Krysten! We will.