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Last night, Sky Atlantic’s fantasy epic Game of Thrones concluded its first season. Thankfully, there’s no need to worry about whether or not the show will be returning as it was given a second season pickup almost immediately after the premiere’s ratings were released. Whilst it began slow, the series began to move very quickly from the sixth episode onwards, and the ninth instalment concluded with one of the most shocking deaths on television. The finale (‘Fire and Blood’) wasn’t really concerned with wrapping things up, and it spent most of its time setting up exciting stories for Season 2 in a gripping and suspenseful fashion.
I’m not somebody who has read the books that the Game of Thrones TV series is based on and something that I’ve felt frequently throughout the first season is that I’ve merely been experiencing glimpses of a much larger, more fully-realised world. By saying that I intend to read the books now, though, I mean no criticism of the show and should emphasise that I think it’s been a pretty outstanding first season. I just feel that, at times, I would’ve liked things to be moving at a more controlled pace.
The pacing for the final few episodes, particularly last week’s ‘Baelor’ and the season finale, has been very well judged. Last night’s episode began exactly where the last one ended, with the bloody sword that just decapitated Ned Stark and the reactions of everyone gathered at the Sept of Baelor, showing Sansa fainting and Arya quickly hurried off to travel up north. As the episode continues, we see Robb vow to “kill them all” (unsurprisingly, his mother is on board with that plan too, but only after they rescue his sisters), Tyron and Tywin realise that they have lost the possibility of negotiation and Jon almost runs away from the Night’s Watch. Amongst all of this, Daenerys deals with the aftermath and consequences of last week’s “blood magic”.
Dany’s story is perhaps the most exciting going forward, as it unfortunately sees the death of Khal Drogo and the loss of the Dothraki army but provides her with renewed strength, confidence, and three rather awesome dragons (how the Game of Thrones budget will cope with their inclusion will be interesting to watch). There are also other interesting stories to be told next season, with Joffrey still the king and the Starks at war with the Lannisters, many proclaiming a desire for Robb to rule as a king in the North, Tyron and Shea are headed to King’s Landing and Jon marching beyond the wall into the unknown with the Night’s Watch.
The first season of Game of Thrones has told some really captivating (and really unpredictable) stories, and has positioned itself as a unique piece of fantasy television. I really like how magic has been steadily included into storylines that are first and foremost about characters and how drastically certain characters have been developed (Robb, Arya, Sansa, and Daenerys are the first few that spring to mind).
What Game of Thrones has shown is how to conduct a television adaptation that both retains a high level of complexity and is welcoming to those unfamiliar with the story. In fact, I’m so heavily invested in this story that I won’t be able to stop myself from picking up the books over the summer but I’ll still be intrigued to watch how this series continues when it returns for its second season next year.
A repeat of the Season 1 finale of Game of Thrones airs on Wednesday at 10:10pm on Sky Atlantic
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