“Game of Thrones” the TV show is based on a series of books called A Song of Ice and Fire, written by George R. R. Martin. As I am writing this, in 2012, there are presently 5 books published out of a (currently) planned 7. The first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series is titled “A Game of Thrones”, which was first published in 1996.
The story takes place in a fantasy world where seasons last
many years and are of inconsistent lengths. When we begin, it is toward the end
of a particularly long summer, which many people believe foretells an
especially long and harsh winter. Most of the action takes place on Westeros: a
very long and narrow continent that stretches north to south. Across the Narrow Sea ,
off the southeast coast of Westeros, is the large and sprawling continent of
Essos, which is very sparsely populated, aside from a handful of independent
city-states known as the Free Cities, all located on or near the Narrow Sea
At the north border of Westeros lies the Wall: a gigantic
man-made structure of ice and stone, towering 700 feet high and spanning a
massive 300 miles from west coast to east coast. Built several millennia ago,
the Wall stands as a defense barrier between Westeros and the harsh, frozen,
and largely unmapped region of the far north. The Wall
is manned and maintained by men of the Night’s Watch, an extra-political
military order known for their staunch sense of honor and lack of sartorial
creativity (they wear only black).
These guys, for example, would fit right in on the Wall.
The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros are presided over by the King
on the Iron Throne, who rules from the capital city of King’s Landing, a city
with a population of approximately half a million. For nearly 300 years, the
ruling family in Westeros was House Targaryen; the first Targaryen actually rode dragons to conquer and unite the majority
of Westeros. (Since then, the population of dragons in the world slowly dwindled - though no one is entirely sure why - until they became extinct some 150 years
ago.)
The last of these ruling Targaryens was King Aerys II, who
became known as the Mad King. To end his reign of tyranny – and the Targaryen dynasty – the combined armies of Robert Baratheon, Eddard
“Ned” Stark, and Jon Arryn rose up against him in a two-year war that is now known as Robert’s Rebellion. I’ll get into
details later, but the important bits I’ll leave to a young character who
explains it succinctly in one episode: the king’s heir Rhaegar abducted Lyanna Stark (Ned’s sister and Robert's betrothed), so Ned and Robert went to war to win her back; they won but she died anyway.
So Robert Baratheon defeated and slew Rhaegar Targaryen on
the banks of the River Trident. Mad King Aerys was slain by one of his closest guards: Jaime Lannister, who thenceforth earned the rather appropriate nickname “Kingslayer.” Robert, who had the best claim
to the throne, became king, married Jaime Lannister’s twin sister Cersei, and has
ruled the Seven Kingdoms for the last 17 years.
Since that time King Robert and Queen Cersei remained
together in King’s Landing, and the queen bore the king three beautiful blonde
children. Ned returned from the fighting to his family home in Winterfell and
brought with him a bastard son, much to the surprise and contempt of his young
wife Catelyn. (Though bastardy is somewhat common in Westeros, especially in
times of war, it is not common for
someone of noble birth like Eddard Stark to officially recognize a bastard
child, much less raise one in their household alongside trueborn
children.) Jon Arryn, who served as foster and guardian of Robert and Ned when
they were younger, married Catelyn’s younger sister Lysa, and also remained in
King’s Landing. Jon accepted a very powerful and honorable position on the King’s Council, called the Hand of the King, who is the king’s most trusted advisor
and chief administrator.
Not this kind of administrator.
Though the kingdom has been at peace since Robert took the
throne, there are still dissenters. The most prominent of these are King
Aerys’s youngest two remaining children, called Viserys and Daenerys, who were
mere babes at the time of Robert’s Rebellion, or, as they put it, War of the
Usurper. They are the last Targaryens. With help they escaped across the Narrow Sea
All right! So there’s your basic set-up. Still with me? It’s okay,
reread it if you have to. These names will instantly make more sense in your head
once you see the faces attached to them. In the first season, we will primarily
follow the Stark family and their household: Eddard, or Ned, Lord of Winterfell
and Warden of the North; his wife Cat and their five children; his bastard son; his brash and impulsive ward (more on him later); the Royal Family and their retainers; and
(eventually) the scheming members of the King’s Council. In Westeros there is
no post office as we’d typically imagine; instead, citizens send messages across
vast distances via ravens – think of modern day homing pigeons – and the story
is set in motion when the Starks receive a troubling raven from King’s
Landing.
A quick final word about the religions of Westeros, as you
will hear many references to the “old gods and the new.” The old gods of the
north are worshipped in places called godswoods, the prominent figure of which
is usually a giant white tree called a weirwood, or sometimes “heart tree”
after the shape and color of its leaves. There is a godswood in most castles
throughout the Seven Kingdoms, though primarily in the north. (See if you can spot
the weirwood in the early establishing shot of Winterfell.) The more dominant
religion throughout Westeros is the Faith of the Seven, symbolized by a
seven-pointed star and representing one god who has seven faces. They are
worshipped in seven-sided buildings called septs, and members of the clergy are
called septons (male) and septas (female). I wish they all had seven-sided hair
or something, but I guess that’s where the numbering stops. Anyway. There are also
a number of smaller faiths, and I’ll mention them as they come up.
Okay, off you go. Go start your journey into the world of
Game of Thrones. As I mentioned before, this will all start making a lot of
sense when you can match names with faces. That is the biggest hurdle, after
all, and I’ll be here to guide you. So go watch the first episode, titled “Winter
Is Coming” and then come back here. Afterwards you will no longer be able to
say you’ve never seen it! See you in an hour. Welcome to the club; you’ll have
a great time. :)
Don't have a way to watch it? You can buy the DVDs online; the cheapest you will find is probably via amazon.
