Lord Snow

"Lord Snow" is the third episode of the HBO medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones. It first aired on May 1, 2011. It was written by the show creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by series regular Brian Kirk, his directorial debut for the series.^[1]

The plot follows Jon Snow's training at The Wall; Eddard's arrival at King's Landing, followed by Catelyn, looking for Bran's would-be murderer; Arya reveals her desire to learn sword fighting to her father; Joffrey is given a lesson in ruling the Kingdom by Cersei, and Robert longs for the glory of his past. Meanwhile, Daenerys learns she is pregnant. The episode was the first to feature Old Nan, played by Margaret John, who died before the series was broadcast; the episode is dedicated to her memory in the final credit.

Critical reception was generally positive, with critics praising Maisie Williams for her portrayal of Arya Stark, and her sword lesson scenes, as well as the introduction of the Small Council, and further character development for the series. In the United States, the episode achieved a viewership of 2.4 million in its initial broadcast.

Plot

In the Dothraki Sea

Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) is beginning to gain confidence in her new role as Drogo's wife and gains the respect of the exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), but her relationship with her brother Viserys (Harry Lloyd) becomes strained when he angrily assaults her under the assumption that she is giving him commands. As punishment, Viserys is choked and nearly killed by Daenerys's bloodrider Rakharo (Elyes Gabel) and is forced to walk back to camp after Daenerys intervenes to spare his life.

Irri (Amrita Acharia) notices that Daenerys is pregnant and shares the news with Jorah and Rakharo. Rather than be pleased, Jorah mysteriously departs for the Free City of Qohor for supplies. In their tent, Daenerys reveals to Drogo (Jason Momoa) that their child is a boy.

In Winterfell

With Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) now awake, Old Nan (Margaret John) tells him a tale of a long-ago endless winter, when the White Walkers first appeared riding their dead horses and raising Wights from the men they slaughtered. Her story is interrupted by Robb (Richard Madden) who sadly confirms to Bran that his injuries are permanent, and he'll never walk again. Bran, saying he is unable to remember anything about his fall, wishes he were dead.

At the Wall

Jon has joined the other recruits under the firm hand of Ser Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) and easily beats every opponent sent against him. Ser Alliser berates them all for their poor performance, but has no kind words for Jon, dubbing him "Lord Snow" to mock his bastard heritage and telling him that he's "the least useless person here." Disheartened, Jon asks Benjen (Joseph Mawle) to take him in a several-month-long ranging north of the Wall, but his uncle blocks this, telling Jon that "here, a man gets what he earns when he earns it."

Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) tells Jon that he isn't "better" than any of his new "brothers," but only more fortunate, as he was trained by a master-at-arms, while the others are all orphan boys or criminals who have likely never held a sword before today. To make amends, Jon decides to give his fellow recruits proper sword training. Later, Tyrion is beseeched by Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo) and the elderly, blind Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) to ask his sister and brother-in-law for more men for the Night's Watch, as the wildlings are massing in numbers greater than the Watch is able to deal with, and rumours that the White Walkers have returned are becoming more widespread. Tyrion is skeptical, but agrees to do so. Before leaving the Wall, Tyrion fulfills his ambition to urinate off the top of the Wall and says goodbye to Jon, who finally accepts Tyrion as a friend.

In King's Landing

Eddard's party arrives at King's Landing. Eddard (Sean Bean) is immediately summoned to a meeting of the king's Small Council. On his way through the throne room, Eddard encounters Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and the audience is told that Jaime killed the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, the father of Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen. Jaime reminds Eddard that Aerys had murdered Eddard's father and brother; however, Eddard does not consider this grounds for Jaime to break his oath as a knight of the Kingsguard.

Eddard joins the Small Council, consisting of the king's brother, Lord Renly (Gethin Anthony), the eunuch Lord Varys (Conleth Hill), Grand Maester Pycelle (Julian Glover) and the Master of Coin Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (Aidan Gillen). Littlefinger had once dueled Eddard's brother for Catelyn's hand in marriage and implies that he is still in love with her. Renly announces that Robert plans to hold a great tourney in honor of Eddard's appointment as the Hand of the King. Eddard learns that the crown is heavily indebted, primarily to the queen's father, Lord Tywin Lannister.

Catelyn arrives in King's Landing, supposedly in secret. However, she is taken by a pair of city watchmen to a brothel owned by Littlefinger. He meets her to tell her that he had her brought there to keep her safe and hidden. Varys, also present, reveals that he learned of Catelyn's arrival through his spies. The three of them and Ser Rodrik (Ron Donachie) discuss the attempted murder of Bran. Littlefinger shocks them all by admitting that the assassin's dagger was once his own. He claims that he lost it to Tyrion Lannister, betting on Jaime Lannister to win a previous tourney. Littlefinger arranges a meeting between Eddard and Catelyn, and Lord Stark reluctantly takes on Littlefinger as an ally who will help them find Bran's assailant.

Eddard returns to his keep, only to find his daughters arguing. Arya (Maisie Williams) is furious at Sansa (Sophie Turner) for lying to protect Joffrey Baratheon. Ned reminds her that Joffrey is a prince and will be king one day with Sansa as his wife. Learning that his younger daughter aspires to be a swordsman and has a sword of her own, he hires the Braavosi "water dancer" (fencer) Syrio Forel (Miltos Yerolemou) to teach her the art of swordsmanship.

Production

Writing

The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.

"Lord Snow" was written by the show creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, based on A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, including chapters 18-22, 24 and 36. (Catelyn IV, Jon III, Eddard IV, Tyrion III, Arya II, Bran IV and Daenerys IV).^[2]

Casting

The third episode introduces a number of new characters to the story, due to the expansion of the story to the new locales of King's Landing and the Wall.

In the capital city the members of the council are presented. Series regular Aidan Gillen, known for his roles in Queer as Folk and The Wire takes the role of Lord Petyr Baelish, the king's master of coin known as "Littlefinger." Gethin Anthony plays the king's youngest brother Renly Baratheon, and veteran actor Julian Glover, well known to science fiction and fantasy fans after appearing in films such as The Empire Strikes Back and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was cast as Grand Maester Pycelle after actor Roy Dotrice had to be replaced for medical reasons.^[3] Author George R. R. Martin wrote on the casting of Conleth Hill as spymaster Varys: "Hill, like Varys, is quite a chameleon, an actor who truly disappears inside the characters he portrays, more than capable not only of bringing the slimy, simpering eunuch to life."^[4] Ian McElhinney plays Ser Barristan Selmy, the commander of the Kingsguard, and Miltos Yorelemou appears as the fencing instructor Syrio Forel. McElhinney had previously played Gillen's father in Queer as Folk.

The hierarchy of the Wall is introduced with James Cosmo as commander Jeor Mormont, Peter Vaughan as the blind maester Aemon, Owen Teale as the trainer of the new recruits Ser Alliser Thorne, and Francis Magee as the recruiter Yoren.

This episode also marks the first appearance of the Welsh actress Margaret John as Old Nan. 84-year-old Margaret John died on 2 February 2011, a few months after having finished recording her scenes in Game of Thrones, which was her last role on television. With a 50-year acting career, she is remembered for her role of Doris on the BBC television show Gavin and Stacy. Executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss issued a statement grieving her death. The episode "Lord Snow" is dedicated to her, with the last credit being "In the memory of Margaret John."^[6]

The Mdina Gate doubles as the gate of the Red Keep.

Filming locations

To film the scenes at the Wall the production built a set on the abandoned quarry of Magheramorne, a few minutes north of Belfast. The composite set (with both exteriors and interiors) consisted of a large section of Castle Black including the courtyard, the ravenry, the mess hall and the barracks, and used the stone wall of the quarry as the basis for the ice wall that protects Westeros from the dangers that dwell beyond. They also made a real elevator to lift the rangers to the top of the Wall.^[7]

For the streets of King's Landing, the production flew to Malta. The gate of Fort Ricasoli doubled as the King's Gate, shown at the beginning of the episode when the royal entourage enters the city. The entrance of the Red Keep used when Catelyn and Rodrik enter the fortification corresponds to Mdina Gate,^[8] and also in Mdina the Pjazza Mesquita is the location for the entrance to the brothel owned by Lord Baelish.

Ron Donachie, the actor playing Ser Rodrik Cassel, said that the scene where he entered King's Landing was his favourite moment. Visiting a museum in the Maltese capital of Valletta, Donachie had seen a painting of armed knights riding through that Gate of Mdina itself and found exciting that to be able to do the same thing, "especially in Rodrik’s full-scale Stark battle regalia".^[9]

Other

On the scene where Old Nan offers to tell Bran stories, she claims that his favorites are the ones about Ser Duncan the Tall. The tales of Duncan and his squire Egg are a series of novellas written by author George R. R. Martin, taking place about a hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones.^[10]

Reception

Ratings

"Lord Snow"'s first airing was seen by 2.4 million viewers, which represented a 10% increase in the ratings from the two previous episodes. Combined with the second airing it reached 3.1 million viewers, which were considered good results especially considering that the news of Osama Bin Laden's death broke during the West Coast airing of the episode.^[11]

In the UK, the viewership figures were in line with those obtained on the previous week, with around 510,000 viewers. Those figures are in the top end for the network, Sky Atlantic.^[12]

Critical response

While the majority of the critics gave "Lord Snow" a positive review, many suggested that it suffered from having to introduce many new characters and locations. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 10 reviews of the episode and judged 80% of them to be positive. The website's critical consensus reads, "'Lord Snow' is an intriguing and heavy transitional episode with standout performances from Bean and Gillen, though it would be better served with more focus on character change and development."^[13] Myles McNutt wrote at Cultural Learnings that it was "perhaps the most narratively uninteresting episode of the first six," although he highlighted that it was "hardly a bad episode of television, filled as it is with satisfying sequences that capture many themes key to the series," and added that many issues introduced in this episode had a payoff in future installments.^[14] Entertainment Weekly's James Hibberd also thought that it was his least favorite episode of the first six, due to too much character development.^[15] However, Alan Sepinwall from HitFix, liked the "more rambling quality of 'Lord Snow,'" and while admitting it is heavy on exposition he felt it worked "because the stories are being told with such passion."^[16] IGN's Matt Fowler wrote that "Lord Snow" was "dense and filled with tons of exposition and backstory, which may or may not have interested those new to this story - but I found myself hanging on every precious word."^[17] Alan Sepinwall wrote a positive review of the episode for HitFix, saying "Arya's fencing lesson is a wonderful scene, carried by the joy of Maisie Williams' performance and the playful, Inigo Montoya-ish quality of her new teacher Syrio, but it's also such a small, simple thing that you wouldn't ordinarily expect it to be the note that an episode of dramatic television goes out on" and continued "I liked the looser, more rambling quality of "Lord Snow," an episode largely about transitions, fish out of water, and old ghosts.^[18]

Some of the scenes were highly praised by reviewers. The closing scene with Arya taking her first lesson from the Braavosi Syrio Forel was highlighted.^[16] Maureen Ryan from AOL TV stated that it was her favorite scene of the series so far,^[19] and James Hibberd remarked upon the quality of all the child actors of the show and stated that Maisie Williams owned her role in this episode.^[15] Other scenes that were noted by the critics were the father-daughter dialogue with Eddard Stark and Arya,^[20] King Robert remembering with the members of his Kingsguard their first killings,^[14] and Eddard attending his first session of the Small Council.^[19]

References

External links

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