Hello all,
WINTER IS HERE! Game of Thrones premiers tonight on HBO (9pm). Tell me how excited you are… because I’m pretty much freaking out! And with the Walking Dead finale, its going to be an intense evening.
Can’t wait to start getting the feast for my TV party ready… going to try and outdrink Tyrion in mulled wine – which means I may find myself on the floor; that short man can hold his liquor.
So… where are we? Lets see…
Rob is fighting his way south against the Lannister Army (who is obviously fighting for the King). He just married Talisa, but by doing so, has broken his agreement to the Freys to marry one of his daughters (for letting him use the crossing in Season 1). He has been betrayed himself by his own mother Catelyn, who secretly released the Kingslayer, Jamie Lannister, in hopes to get her daughters back from the Lannisters. Jamie travels South under the protection Catelyns own personal knight, Brienne of Tarth.
King Joffrey just fought off King Stannis’ fleet – with the help of Tywin Lannister, who had joined his own forces with Highgarden and the Tyrell’s (lead by Sir Loras, the Knight of Flowers, who was angry that Stannis had killed his own king and lover, Renly Baratheon). He still holds Sansa Stark as his prisoner, though now has been betrothed to Loras’ sister, Margaery Tyrell.
Tyrion barely survives the battle against Stannis, but had been only struck down by one of the Kings Guard – which means someone is trying to have him assassinated from within his own side.
Arya, having escaped in season 1 only to be held captive in Tywin Lannisters base camp up north, finally gets to escape with the help of Jaqen H’Ghar – a mysterious character who seems to be a “face changer”; something only mentioned in passing in the show right now.
Stannis survives the battle, and his Red Priestess Melissandre shows his visions in the flames of a fire that he indeed is the Chosen One, and to not be discouraged by this one (despite huge) loss.
The Greyjoys have begun sacking the entire Northwest coast of Westoros, and Balon is claiming himself King again. His son, Theon, dealing with his own personal issues of acceptance, tries to claim Winterfell all on his own (with a small crew), fails, and then is betrayed by his own troops as they knock him out and and retreat from Winterfell (which they dislike, as they are too far from the sea, and are obviously outnumbered from Rob’s banner men armies). They sack and burn Winterfell to the ground upon their departure.
Bran and Rickon (the 2 youngest of the Starks) survived the sacking of Winterfell, and with the help or Hodor and Osha, head North towards the Wall – in hopes of finding safety with their bastard brother Jon Snow, now a man of the Nights Watch.
Jon Snow in the meantime, had travelled north beyone the wall, with an army of the entire Night Watch, to investigate what is going on with the White Walkers and address the rumors of the Wildlings gathering together into some massive army. The men of the wall make base at the Fist of The First Men (rumored to have been the battle grounds of some ancient battle between humans and the creatures of the deep North). Jon is included as part of a scouting team to check the areas around, and is captured by the Wildlings (amongst them a redhead named Ygritte, who has taken a small interest in Jon), along with his scout leader, the legendary Nights Watch soldier, Qhorin Halfhand. As they are being brought to the Wildlings camp, to meet the judgment of their King of the North, Mance Rayder, Qhorin hints to Jon that if he “defects” and joins the Wildlings, he will be an “inside” man, and more help to the men of the Nights Watch then anyone has ever been. To do so, he would need to gain their trust… as someone who betrays his own group. Qhorin starts a fight and Jon kills him. The Wildlings see this as an act of a “free man”, something they consider themselves proudly, and now become skeptical about Jon, and his relationship to the Wall. They finally reach the Wildling Army, which happens to be more vast then any army he has ever seen.
Daenarys just got her dragons back, imprisons Xaro for his betrayal, takes all his loot, and finally gets money for some ships to start sailing West again – she was as East as it gets mind you, so traveling West still has lots of ground to cover before she gets to the Narrow Sea, and then Westoros. And of course, she still needs an army.
Season 2 ends with the White Walkers, in an army of their own, heading toward the Fist of the First Men, to attack the Lord Mormont and his men of the Night’s Watch.
And that’s were we stand last. If you want a more visual representation of the show, check out this recap video by Game of Thrones that covers both season 1 and 2!
To get a better view of the map, and how everything has moved along, check out the Kings Roadmap, and excellent episodic/scene recapping map created by Direct TV. It’s a great visual reference how everything is spread out, what lands belong to whom, and where every scene is taking place.
http://www.direct.tv/thekingsroadmap/
Finally, to get yourself hyped, check out all the trailers HBO has released below… which one was your favorite? Personally, I love trailer #2, with the music from Daft Punk (Tron).
Game of Thrones 1st official trailer:
http://youtu.be/RzI9v_B4sxw
Trailer #2:
http://youtu.be/R4XSeW4B5Rg
Enemies Trailer:
http://youtu.be/2JUCQVQyQIw
The Beast trailer:
War trailer:
Thats it boys and girls. Winter is here… and no one is safe. Enjoy the show, and stay in touch, as we bring you any news we find, along with weekly recaps of the story.
~mozeus
http://youtu.be/bzxOv-KF9do
