Game of Thrones: Season 3 Premiere

The long awaited third season of HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones based on the George R.R. Martin books of the same name finally made its debut this week. While the fan in me was totally geeking out, the screenwriter in me was forced to look at the season premiere objectively. Therefore, the fanboy version of me gives the premiere an uber three thumbs up, but the screenwriter in me had a less enthusiastic response to the necessity of a nearly plotless opening episode.

The first episode back was jam-packed with plot introductions, leaving no time for actual plot. Most of the major characters graced a scene or two to re-introduce us to their story arc, and after an hour of uneventfulness we were left with hope for an edgier season ahead. The story picked up shortly after season two’s conclusion. The “White Walkers” are advancing toward The Wall and “Winter is Coming.” Jon Snow (Kit Harington) has successfully (or has he?) infiltrated the King Beyond The Wall Mance Rayder’s (newcomer to the series Ciaran Hinds) camp. Robb Stark (Richard Madden) is dealing with his mother Catelyn’s (Michelle Fairley) insubordination after she released their most important prisoner Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Back in King’s Landing, the Lannister clan is preparing to cement their claim to the Iron Throne with teenage King Joffrey’s (Jack Gleeson) pending nuptials to Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) is recovering from a nasty wound suffered defending King’s Landing, and his father Tywin (Charles Dance) has assumed the role of King’s Hand. Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aiden Gillen) quietly informs Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) of a pending plot to help her escape the Lannisters’ clutches (What’s he got up his sleeve?). Meanwhile, on Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) is licking his wounds after the crushing defeat at Blackwater. Thankfully his faithful (or is he?) right hand Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham) returns from being lost at sea to advise him. Meanwhile, across the pond Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is negotiating the sale of a slave army for her planned assault on Westeros with the help of her faithful knight (or is he?) Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen). Because of the nature of the series and its nearly infinite amount of integral characters, this episode left out Jaime Lannister, Arya (Maisie Williams) and Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), the detestable Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), Lord Varys (Conleth Hill), Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), and Sandor “The Hound” Clegane (Rory McCann). The third book had a lot of plot twists that I wont give away here lest some viewers are still faithfully plucking away at the denseness that is Martin’s masterpiece of pseudo-European lore. Bluntly speaking, the first episode was pretty dull in the grand scheme of things.

Objectively, the episode fizzled because of its lack of dramatic rising action. Apart from a semi-intense scene between the series’ favorite dwarf Tyrion Lannister and his father Tywin, most of the scenes did little to raise the heart rate. This is probably not due to a lack of screenwriting or acting ability, it’s just that so much ground has to be covered in an hour that it leaves little opportunity for tension. That being said, in my mind the chapters (scenes) were much more dramatic in the books. Jon Snow’s introduction to Mance Rayder was painfully drama-less. In the books you fear for Jon’s life as he is surrounded by Crow Killers that want to rip his guts out. Jon has to tread so carefully with Mance that the sweat seems to seep from the novel’s pages. The lackluster scene presented in season three displayed a nervous Jon Snow quickly answering a question or two and then being welcomed into the free people of the North’s clan. We didn’t get much time to bask in Hinds’ acting glory as he interrogated Jon, as we had to be rushed off to cover one of the other 26,000 characters.

As an individual episode the season premiere may just as well have been called a “recap” episode, as nothing of real consequence occurs yet. If I dig deep I could make an argument for a re-establishment of tension between the families, but frankly that’s not enough drama for a premiere episode of an HBO series set in a fantasy medieval kingdom full of warring families, incestuous affairs, competing religions, warrior eunuchs, zombies, direwolves, and frickin’ dragons.

The task of effectively covering so many characters’ storylines in one hour is insurmountable. Fans of the series won’t mind, as they are watching anyway. However, a casual fan looking to ride the coattails of the hit show couldn’t possibly grasp the intricacies of the ever-changing plotline, with season three’s premiere as an example. At this point in the story there are so many plots, sub-plots, and sub-plots for sub-plots that a casual observer would have a better chance of surviving a sitting on the Iron Throne than trying to dive into the series now.

I can’t blame the writers for sticking to the source material so steadfastly. Pardon the pun, but it’s a double-edged sword. By sticking to the source material, the first two episodes have to lack in drama because of the amount of chapters needed to set up the storylines of the third book. This honoring of Martin’s masterpiece will delight hardcore fans and alienate casual viewers. However, were the writers to stray from the source and take latter bits of the book and layer them into earlier episodes for dramatic effect, the same could be said in reverse. In the end I believe the writers made the right choice, but it still makes for a monotonous individual episode after months and months of heightened anticipation.

For the season premiere the writers chose to admirably stick to the source material (mostly) and follow the story arc as laid out by Martin. Up until this point the series has paced itself well, so I don’t believe this episode’s lack of story was any indication of all the juicy, meaty, sticky, good stuff right around the corner. Mercifully, the series creators decided to split the third book into two seasons or the next few episodes would be so overdramatic that our heads would be sent spinning like poor old Ned Stark’s.