My maiden voyage through Westeros – Game of Thrones – Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things

This week’s Game of Thrones, “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things” provided great insight into the people that live in Westeros. There are the nobles with duties and expectations, and those that are seen as less.

Bran has yet to accept his paralysis, but Tyrion gave him a great gift — the ability to ride a horse. We found out that Bran strove to be a Knight of the Kingsguard, but that was taken away from him with the loss of his legs. He is a strong-willed boy and I look forward to seeing him work to achieve his goal despite his physical condition.

Ned isn’t the only one with a bastard son; we found out tonight that King Robert has a bastard son, Gendry, as well. How will this play out? Unlike Jon, who was lucky to have the love and affection of his father and siblings, I don’t see Joffry accepting Gendry with open-arms. I’m not even sure I can see King Robert acknowledging him. If there wasn’t such a huge age difference, for some reason, I could see Gendry and Arya getting together. Though, in this world, that probably wouldn’t be an issue.

Jon is an honorable man. His choice to abstain from sex is very telling of his character. It didn’t surprise me that he made that decision. By taking Sam under his wing and sharing his past, he showed courage and fellowship. I see both as being key to Jon’s survival and the survival of the men at the wall. He is going to be a great leader, perhaps the best of all Westeros. Yes, I still adore Jon. You can’t tell, can you? While he can’t be there any more for his brothers and sisters, Arya at least, he can be there for the men of the Night’s Watch.

Arya could use Jon’s guidance, but all she has is her father. At least when she said she didn’t want to be a Lady, he didn’t crush her dreams. This girl has more pride and determination than anyone else, I think. She’ll be a force to be reckoned with and I can’t wait to see her shine once she is trained.

On a totally different issue, I was as bewildered at Lady Stark’s reaction to Tyrion as he was initially. When I first watched this episode, I hadn’t seen the recap at the beginning.  Since we know the Lannister twins were responsible for Bran’s accident, I didn’t really think about how the dagger was tied to Tyrion. It wasn’t until Cat had the men seize him that I realized the full ramification of what happened. She thinks he is responsible for the attempt on Bran, rather than blaming the twins.

The pain and dismay on Tyrion’s face just hit me. I was surprised at how I felt his pain, since the first two episodes I didn’t really care much for him. His assistance to Jon Snow last week and his gift of a saddle design for Bran shows his true character. He’s been able to overcome his physical challenges and uses that to help others. Hopefully, this will be cleared up fairly quickly.

I’m glad to see that my prediction from last week that Viserys’ quest for the throne is unlikely to happen appears to be true. Daeryns rebelled against her brother this week in a way that will have consequences. He’s not going to let her out of his grip that easily, though I’m not sure what he can do. The Dothraki will back her up as Khaleesi and Viserys doesn’t have an army to fight for him. Will he try to find the pirates to help him back across the sea to reclaim the throne?

This was my favorite episode so far. I think that is primarily because we got to see into the souls of so many characters. I watch too many television shows, but none of the others draws me in like Game of Thrones. The characters are so well-developed; I can only imagine how much better in the books.

Other thoughts:

• Mormont was back with the Dothraki, but where did he go? That is still unanswered.
• Baelish steered Ned in the right direction regard John Aryyn, but why? I don’t trust him and neither should Ned.
• I was glad to see that Jon had Ghost with him up at the wall.
• The outcome of the joust was distressing to watch and even more because no one seemed to care. I’m afraid this is just the first of many horrible deaths the Stark girls are going to have to endure.
• I’m not sure why, but I don’t think King Robert is going to survive through the first season. Though, I’m not sure who has the ability to take him out other than the Lannisters at this point.

Clacked by Carla Day
on May 09, 2011 @ 02:40 EST5EDT