Review of Game of thrones First Season

One of my colleagues had the first season of Game of Thrones on his desk just before Christmas. In the fashion of "who asks, receives" I politely inquired if the show was any good. The conversation ended with Game of Thrones series one being handed to me as a Christmas present. Maybe I should go into procurement rather than sales...

Game of thrones is based on the George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series"A Song of Ice and Fire" of which "Game of thrones" is the first installment. Until now three seasons based on the novels have been produced with a forth undergoing production at the time of writing this review. The series was created by David Benioff and starrs Sean Bean (Ned Stark), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Kit Harrington (Jon Snow). The first season was mainly shot in Northern Ireland and Malta. HBO produces the show with a big budget and it has won several Emmy Awards. Together with Breaking Bad and it also is one of the currently most pirated TV Shows.

Robert Baratheon is King of the Seven Kingdoms after he took the throne in a bloody revolt together with his friend Ned Stark. Baratheon resides in the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, King's Landing, situated at the "Narrow Sea" which separates the continents Westeros and Essos. Westeros is mainly inspired by England during the War of the Roses in the 15th century while Essos has a more oriental feeling to it. After the "Hand of the King", the most important advisor of the king, dies under nebulous circumstances, Robert asks his friend Ned to act as his Hand from there on. Stark reluctantly leaves his homeland of Winterfell north of King's Landing, but remains honorable to his way of a soldier and obeys to his king's request. While Robert is making arrangements with Ned, his wife and her family, the Lannisters, plot to retake the throne. Meanwhile the Targaryens, who used to sit on the thrones in Westeros have been living in Essos observing and plotting to retake the throne. To succeed a marriage between Daenerys Targaryen and the leader of the Dothraki (a mongolian like horde of warriors) is aaranged to secure their support in battle. An ancient years the Targaryens have been the riders of dragons which have long disappeared. While Ned Stark leaves for King's Landing his bastards son Jon Snow is send northwards to become a "Man of the Nights watch", who are guarding the "Wall", which builds the border to the north and is completely made of Ice. From there season one unfolds on several plotlines between the different kingdoms, places and characters throughout the episodes.

Game of Thrones is specially known for its many characters and the interdependencies between these which makes the drama unfold. The critical response has been very positive throughout the whole production. Some instances criticize the series for its use of violence, nakedness and explicitness to create the Medieval fantasy world. 

I personally became directly addicted to Game of Thrones. For me it is like a combination of Sopranos, Tudors, Lord of the Rings, a medieval history lesson, East enders (or Lindenstraße for the German among you) all wrapped into one. Watch it and discuss it with your friends. Who is plotting against whom? Who will die next? What will happen to the bastard sons of such and such? Great entertainment. Don't miss it and please don't pirate it, as this piece of entertainment truly deserves to be honored by actual paying the due tribute to enter this fantasyland. 

Review of the second season of Game of thrones (SPOILER ALERT)

I admit to it. I am a Game of Thrones addict. After devouring season one of Game of Thrones together with my girlfriend I found Season 2 under the Christmas tree (awesome present that's why I love her). And I am not alone with my addiction. First thing my girlfriend wanted to spent her Jervys voucher on was Season 3 of Game of Thrones. We went just to be informed that it won't be released until later this year. The fact that I am writing a review on the 4th of January about a season with ten episodes which was given to me on Christmas day just shows how desperate we are. 

Season 2 of Game of thrones was released by HBO in mid of 2012 and covers the content of the second book "A Clash of Kings" from the novel series "A song of Ice and Fire" written by George R.R. Martin. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are the main contributors behind the scenes of the second season while Bryan Cogman also wrote two episodes. Vanessa Taylor and George R.R. Martin also showed their allegiance to the cause by writing one episode each. It will be interesting how the dynamic between the show and the unfinished novel series will pan out in the long run.
Stannis Baratheon, brother of the former king Robert Baratheon is played by Stephen Dillane and is one of the most important new characters in season 2. Melisandre, a manipulative witch who advises Stannis, is also introduced and played by Carice van Houten. For the Irish community it is nice to see that Liam Cunningham (The Guard, The wind that shakes the barley) makes an appearance as Davos Seaworth, the trusted right hand man of Stannis. The second season replaces Malta by the town of Dubrovnik in Croatia for the scenes in King's Landing, the capital where the King of the seven Kingdoms resides. For the icy landscapes behind the wall HBO opted for the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland. In addition the production was also extended to further shooting locations in Northern Ireland.

After Ned Starks (the former advisor of the deceased King Robert Baratheon) decapitation by King Geoffrey, the illegitimate son of the Lannister siblings Jamie & Cersei who is thought to be Robert's heir, Ned's son Robert declares himself King of the North and wages war against King's landing. Robert's aim out of season one is at first to rescue his father and his sisters who are in King's Landing which after the violent death is reduced to the latter. Meanwhile Stannis Baratheon, who was informed that Ned Stark challenged Geoffrey as the rightful king due to his parent's conduct of incest, claims to be the rightful king and plans to attack King's Landing from the sea. Tyrion Lannister, brother of Jamie & Cersei, gets a more central role in the second season as hand of the king and major organizer of the defense of King's Landing.

While the events in King's Landing unfold Jon Snow, the bastard son of Ned Stark, makes his first experiences in the field north of the Wall as a man of the night's watch. Soon he will get separated from his group and a new set of characters will be introduced to the plot.

Meanwhile after the death of her husband Khal Drogo Daenerys Targaryen has to make it through the deserts of Essos with her remaining people. After hatching her dragons are too young to defend her or hunt for food and she has to search for shelter in the city of Quarth, which comes at a price.

HBO put great effort into promoting the second season which in combination with the established fan base from the first season translated into more views in compared to season 1 . Generally the response of the critics (for those who care about such things) was good with some remarks about the intense use of violence and sex scenes throughout the series (which is old coffee as same was said about the first season). 

The second season of Game of Thrones shows for me personally again how vital it is for television series & movies to have a great background story / writers working for it ( to name a few good examples : The Lord of the rings, The help, A beautiful mind or Breaking Bad). The twists and turns in the character development never cease to impress me and keep the story interesting. Peter Dinklage does a brilliant job at keeping the whole second season together due to his marvelous performance as Tyrion Lannister. I might be overreaching in my use of adjectives here, but as said before, I'm completely hooked. At the end of the second season (set you didn't read the book) you will get an idea why the novel series is called "A song of Ice and Fire". I am repeating my pledge, please don't pirate this series. Everybody involved deserves their due respect in form of revenue out of DVD's, book sales or advertisement (we can debate the Hollywood money machinery, but at least this is not a rip off like the last Indiana Jones movie...