Game of Thrones

If you love Lord of the Rings (and you’re over 18) check out Game of Thrones on HBO.  It’s Lion in Winter meets Lord of the Rings meets True Blood. Medieval warfare and fantasy creatures and lots-- and lots-- of sex. HBO went all-out on this series, spending something like $50M. But you can see that in the details.  These are real castles. No green screens and peeks of palm trees in the background. They spent $50M and got their money's worth on location in Ireland. I thank them for that attention to detail, and thank them for renewing it for another season. There are a bunch of books in this series A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin, so hope I see a lot more of this on HBO.


Now, don’t get discouraged at the beginning because there are a lot of characters. Here’s a little cheat sheet for the main ones, grouped by the cities we’ve encountered so far. There are seven kingdoms, and we’ve only been exposed (literally) to three.

Kings Landing

• King Robert: chubby guy from The Full Monty
• Queen Cersei: beautiful and vindictive.  Must have read Flowers in the Attic one too many times as a youngster, ‘cos she’s ‘involved’ with her twin brother. I wonder which of her 3 kids aren’t Robert’s.
• Jaime Lannister:  hot twin brother
• Tyrion: from The Station Agent and Elf (angry elf!). Their dwarf brother. Very smart and very horny. Manipulates every situation to his benefit, but sees The Big Picture, and uses his manipulative skills to help where he sees fit. I see an Emmy in his future.

Winterfell:  stronghold of the north, closest city to The Wall

• Ned:  Boromir from Lord of the Rings. Honest & good. Asked by Robert to be his Chief of Staff in Kings Landing
• Catelyn:  Ned’s wife. Looks like Joan Allen’s sister.

Pentos:  city across the sea. The Targaryen family lost the rebellion, and are trying to get the crown back. Hair bleach must be one of their primary exports.

• Viserys:  albino-looking brother. Sells his sister to Drogo (warrior tribe leader) in exchange for using Drogo's warriors to take back the throne.
• Daenerys:  the sister. She didn’t think she was going to like Drogo too much but after a few *helpful tips* from her slave girl, she’s liking their under-the-sheets action (a lot) and realizes she has some power. (I think she was just happy to get him to turn her around. Doggie style must be popular in the kingdom.)

The Wall:  Apparently, this kingdom has some messed up seasons, because it’s been summer for about 8 years and all of the elders are predicting a winter like they’ve never seen. And when winter comes, all sorts of hell breaks loose.


HBO's website is really good, so check it out for maps & more detailed family trees. Get caught up on the episodes so you can watch on Sunday nights.  You'll wish it was two hours instead of one. And you'll have a fine replacement for The Sopranos. This is a lot better.
http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html