Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • The final season of Game of Thrones is coming, bringing eight seasons of conflict, politics, and mystery to an end.

  • But how does Game of Thrones begin?

  • What does the first episode reveal about the story?

  • Episode 1 begins with men of the Night's Watch attacked by white walkersan ancient

  • threat thought to be long dead . We get a glimpse of a walker's faceand their

  • design changes a lot throughout the series.

  • But they still look very different to the walkers in the bookswho are more ghostly, andelegant."

  • The walkers leave wildling corpses in a strange shape.

  • And we see the same shape six seasons later, in carvings made by the children of the forest

  • Because the children created the white walkers , in a ritual with this spiral shape, which

  • the walkers also imitate.

  • The walkers copy the symbols of their creators . But why?

  • Maybe it's a warning.

  • Cause the walkers don't kill all these Watchmenthey seem to let Will go, showing him

  • a severed head, then letting him run south.

  • Maybe they want him to warn people that the walkers are coming.

  • The walkers are intelligentthey have a deal with Craster where he gives them babies,

  • to be turned into white walkers . And there are hints of ancient cooperation between walkers

  • and the Night's Watch.

  • Was there some agreement between humans and the walkers?

  • A connection between House Stark and the Night King?

  • How might this relate to the Wall, the world's irregular seasons, and the legendary hero Azor Ahai?

  • The show's creators said there are threeholy shit momentsin Game of Thrones

  • the sacrifice of Shireen, the origin of Hodor, and one more shock at the end.

  • Maybe we'll learn the true nature and motivations of the white walkers.

  • Also, if you wanna get tinfoil, this symbol of a line through a circle appears all through the series.

  • It kind of looks like this badge the walkers wearand if you zoom in some morewell

  • it's probably nothing.

  • In the next scene, we meet the Starks of Winterfellthe loving parents Catelyn and Ned, the

  • adventurous Bran, bastard Jon and firstborn Robb, ladylike Sansa, tomboy Arya, and young

  • Rickon.

  • They're a happy family before all the tragedies that comethe fall of Bran, death of Ned,

  • and burning of Winterfell, the Red Wedding, abuse of Sansa, indoctrination of Arya, death

  • of Jon, death of Rickonthis family suffers so much.

  • And while they can rebuild, they'll never get back what they'd once had.

  • Even now, things aren't perfect.

  • Catelyn resents Jon, because Jon is Ned's bastard – a living reminder of her husband's infidelity.

  • Except now we know that Jon actually isn't Ned's bastard.

  • Jon is the son of Ned's sister Lyanna with Rhaegar Targaryen . Ned says Jon is his to

  • protect Jon from King Robert, who would kill Jon if he knew he was Targaryen.

  • So for all these years, Ned lies to his beloved wife Cat, to keep his promise to Lyanna.

  • You can see the pain this causesto Ned and Cat and Jon.

  • There's also tension with Arya, who doesn't fit the gender role she's expected to play.

  • And Theon Greyjoy is an outsideras a ward from the Iron Islands.

  • He stands here with Rodrik, who Theon later kills when he attacks Winterfell.

  • Theon, Jon and Arya all feel like they don't fit in , and that drives them to find new

  • identitiesTheon with the Greyjoys, Jon with the Night's Watch, and Arya with the

  • Faceless Men.

  • The Starks capture Will, the Watchman who survived the start of the episode.

  • He says he saw white walkers , but no one believes him.

  • Maybe if someone listened, and investigated, this whole story would go differently.

  • But the penalty for leaving the Watch is death, so Will is executed.

  • Ned kills Will himself, because he believes thatThe man who passes the sentence should swing the sword

  • Robb and Jon later follow Ned's example . Even Theon does the same with Rodrik.

  • Cause Ned represents honour and justice and personal responsibility.

  • You can say that these values are what lead to Ned's deathbut Ned's legacy lives

  • on in House Stark.

  • Compare Ned to Tywin Lannister.

  • He's obsessed with family legacy , and his brutality and treachery make the Lannisters powerful.

  • But after he dies, his house collapseshis children turn on each other, and all his grandkids die.

  • Tywin's brutal legacy fails, but Ned's survivesbecause he's a leader who people

  • truly believe in.

  • After the execution, the Starks find a dead direwolf and a dead stagforeshadowing

  • the deaths of Ned and Robert, whose sigils are a direwolf and stag.

  • But the dead direwolf has six pupsone for each Stark kid.

  • Direwolves are mystical creatures, symbolising special destinies for the Starksespecially

  • Bran, who learns to warg his wolf, and for Jon, with his albino wolf.

  • So this is about the dying of an older generation, and the rise of a new generationlike

  • the passing of the seasons.

  • Down in King's Landing, we meet Cersei and Jaime Lannister.

  • Jaime is a careless , arrogant Prince Charmingso different to the responsible, humbled

  • Jaime of later seasons.

  • But early Cersei's not so differentshe has all the ambition and resentment that leads

  • to her tyranny later ongo watch our videos on Cersei and Jaime for more.

  • We're also introduced to Tyrion, the lecherous Imp . He's a more lighthearted character

  • before all his suffering later on.

  • There's also much more sex and nudity in the early seasons of Thrones

  • Season 7 barely has any , maybe cause of criticism from the media.

  • We meet the prostitute Ros, who has a long arc in the show.

  • She moves to King's Landing, works for Littlefinger , and Varys , and gives us the perspective

  • of a common person among the nobility . Ros moves up in the world, and climbs her way

  • out of sex work . But Littlefinger finds out that she's spying on him, and gives her

  • to Joffreyso Ros becomes another victim of the Game of Thrones.

  • Back at Winterfell, we're introduced to another important characterJon Snow's abs.

  • These abs go through some complex character development, too much to cover in this video.

  • King Robert Baratheon arrives, and he greets each of the Starks differently.

  • He touches Ned, Catelyn, Robb and Rickonand all these characters die, while the Starks

  • he doesn't touch are still alive.

  • Robert asks Arya what her name isjust like the Faceless Men ask Arya what her name is

  • when she's trained to beno one.” Robert tells Bran he'llbe a soldier

  • Bran's injury ends his dream of being a knight , but you can say he's now a “soldier

  • in the war against the white walkers.

  • We see Bran climbing, and it's tragic how happy he is running and jumping before he's

  • paralysedand before he loses his personality, as the emotionless three-eyed raven.

  • While climbing, Bran sees the world from above, just like he later uses ravens to magically

  • see the world from above.

  • His whole power as the three-eyed raven is toseethings.

  • And this episode, Bran sees a lothe sees Will get killed , sees Cersei and Jaime make babies .

  • Bran says he seesthe king” “coming” , just like he later sees the Night Kingcoming.”

  • So there's a lot of foreshadowing happening this episode.

  • Robert and Ned visit the Winterfell crypts, and talk about LyannaNed's sister who

  • Robert loved.

  • Robert still hates the Targaryens for taking Lyanna.

  • Ned saysThe Targaryens are gone”, but Robert saysNot all of them.”

  • He's talking about Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen.

  • But this can also refer to Jon, aka Aegon Targaryen.

  • So again, Ned is keeping secrets from his friend Robert.

  • Over in the east, we meet the TargaryensDaenerys and Viserys.

  • Dany is meek and afraid, worn down by the abuse of her brother.

  • Showrunner David Benioff said Dany islittle more than a slavethis episode . Maybe

  • this experience as a slave is what leads Dany to fight against slavery in later seasons.

  • Daenerys takes a bath, and her maid warns thatIt's too hot

  • but Dany isn't hurt.

  • This foreshadows the later reveal that Dany can't be burned by fire .

  • In the books, Dany can be burnedthe thing with Drogo's pyre is a one-offmiracle” .

  • But either way, being the Unburnt connects Dany to the magic of fire and dragons, and perhaps to

  • her destiny as Azor Ahaithe hero prophesied to defeat the white walkers .

  • The Targaryens are hosted by Illyrio Mopatis.

  • He soon disappears from the show, but in the books he's a much bigger character.

  • He and Varys have a complex conspiracy to put a different Targaryen on the Throne.

  • But the plan now is to use a Dothraki army to invade Westeros

  • so Daenerys is married to Khal Drogo.

  • Illyrio gives Dany dragon eggsand the new Targaryen history book reveals where these

  • eggs may have come from.

  • We'll cover this in a new video, so subscribe, and press the bell.

  • Daenerys looks longingly at the sunset, like Luke Skywalker – a hero dreaming of something

  • greater in life . But then Drogo rapes her.

  • In the books, the sex is more consentualDrogo asks permission, and Dany saysYes” .

  • She gets some agency and control of her life.

  • But in the show, her growth from a slave to a queen is yet to begin.

  • Back at Winterfell, there's an extra playing Jeyne Poole, who has one of the saddest stories in the books.

  • Jeyne is Sansa's friend, and is excited to come to King's Landing.

  • But her father is killed by Lannisters, and Jeyne's given to Littlefingerwho uses

  • her in his brothel . Jeyne is then forced to pretend to be Arya and to marry Ramsay,

  • who abuses her horrifically . She escapes, loses part of her face to frostbite , and

  • heads for the Wall.

  • Some speculate she'll continue to Braavos and commit suicide at the House of Black and White.

  • Sansa's innocent young friend suffers as much as anyone in Game of Thrones.

  • While the Starks host a feast, Jon stays outsidebecauseit might insult the royal family

  • to seat a bastard in their midst” . Ironically, Jon isn't a bastardas a Targaryen,

  • he's royalty.

  • And Joffrey, in the feast, isn't actually royaltyhe's the bastard of Cersei and Jaime.

  • Jon speaks with uncle Benjen, and Jon says he wants to join the Night's Watch.

  • But Benjen warns him that'd mean not having a family, not fathering sons, and that Jon

  • might care about thatif [he] knew what it meant.”

  • Some fans speculate that Benjen knows that Jon is a Targaryen.

  • Because Jon joining the Watch would mean giving up his claim to the Throne.

  • Except Jon may've got out of his vows by dying then being reborn .

  • We get a moment with Catelyn and Sansa, and see Sansa's naïve dreams of marrying Joffrey

  • and being his queen.

  • Sansa's arc is all about her losing those illusions.

  • Catelyn is a woman defined by her love for her children.

  • And this episode, she starts to lose them.

  • Cersei says a beauty like Sansashouldn't stay hiddenin the northforever.”

  • And it scares Cat to see the scheming Cersei taking her daughter away.

  • And rightly socause after this episode, Cat never sees Sansa again.

  • Jon meets Tyrion, who saysNever forget what you are” – “Wear it like armor

  • so it can't “be used to hurt you” . This means to be yourself openly and proudly, to

  • embrace your identity as a dwarf or a bastard, so no one can use it against you.

  • Except, this doesn't really work for Tyrionin Season 4, he's sentenced to death

  • largely because people believe his reputation as a conniving lecherous Imp.

  • Maybe wearing your identity like armour doesn't actually work.

  • Cat gets a letter from her sister Lysa saying the Lannisters killed her husband, Jon Arryn.

  • But in Season 4 we find out it was actually Lysa who killed Jon, under the orders of Littlefinger.

  • Littlefinger caused conflict between the Starks and Lannisters for his own agenda,

  • bringing war, death and horror on the Starks.

  • It's only in Season 7 that Littlefinger's brought to justice for these crimes.

  • Bran sees Cersei and Jaime's twincest, so Jaime pushes him from a tower

  • Starting Bran's arc as a psychic tree boy, and Jaime's long road to redemption.

  • But what'll happen if Bran and Jaime meet again?

  • Will Jaime make amends for breaking an innocent boy?

  • Will Bran even care now that he's become the three-eyed raven?

  • Whatever happens, Bran's fall from this tower represents changethe passing of

  • the Starks and the return of the Targaryens, and the end of summerforWinter is coming.”

  • Season 1 Episode 1 introduces the Starks, Targaryens, Lannisters, and white walkers.

  • These are the same factions left by the final season.

  • The Baratheons, Tyrells, Martells, and Greyjoys are all cool, but they mostly just come then

  • gothey're not central to the story like these guys.

  • It looks like the final season of Game of Thrones will end the same way it beganwith

  • fire, and ice, and incestuous blonde people.

  • Season 8 is coming in April, so now's a good time to read the Game of Thrones books.

  • As well as the main series, there are the Dunk and Egg prequels, the world book, and

  • the new Fire and Blood history book.

  • Audible is offering 3 months of membership for $6.95 a month, at audible.com/asx.

  • Each month gets you a free audiobookso you could get the first three Thrones books,

  • or all of these spin-off books, for cheaper than they'd cost on paper.

  • You can listen in the car, or the gym, or in a really hot bath.

  • Sign up at audible.com/asx, or text asx to 500-500.

  • Thanks for watching.

  • Comment below if you want videos on other early episodes, please like and subscribe,

  • and thanks to Patrons Debbie Skou, Katherine Suarez, Elaine Woodling, Anthony Baudinette,

  • Tom Gebbie, Ash Stoker, and Fab R. Cheers.

The final season of Game of Thrones is coming, bringing eight seasons of conflict, politics, and mystery to an end.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it