Note: The post discusses at length seasons one and two of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Please do not read this if you are not caught up. And if you’ve read George R. R. Martin’s novels, please do not spoil any future plot points in the comments.
(HELEN SLOAN/HBO)
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The second season of “Game of Thrones” will conclude this Sunday, leaving a direwolf shaped hole in the hearts of its fans. While this season has shown viewers gruesome violence and dazzling battles, to me it’s the characters who have made the HBO show the most compelling series on television. In that spirit, I decided to evaluate where some of the most interesting residents of Westeros began in season one and what they’ve become.
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To do this, I re-watched both seasons (yes, my eyes hurt after watching nearly 20 hours of TV in two days) and I’ve selected pertinent quotes that demonstrate these characters’s transformations.
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(Read recaps for the first nine episodes of season two here.)
You’ll notice that many of our players are not included on this list. This could be because they joined the show during the second season, like Stannis Baratheon, or perhaps they didn’t see a lot of action, like Jaime Lannister, who spent most of this season as a prisoner.
But enough explanation already. Check out the character studies, as well as a preview of the season finale, below.
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Cersei (Lannister) Baratheon
(HELEN SLOAN - HBO)
Season one
“When you play the game of thrones you win, or you die. There is no middle ground.” (“You Win or You Die,” episode seven)
Season two
“This is what ruling is: Lying on a bed of weeds, ripping them out by the root one-by-one before they strangle you in your sleep.” (“The Night Lands,” episode two)
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“The gods have no mercy. That’s why they’re gods.” (“Blackwater,” episode nine)
Change?
Cersei spoke the season one quote to Ned Stark shortly before he learned the lesson the hard way when Ser Ilyn chopped his head off. But while the Queen Regent may have won the game temporarily, her grip on the seven kingdoms slipped during season two.
Indeed, at the end of season two’s penultimate episode, Cersei was a drunk mess who had nearly poisoned her youngest kid because her spoiled, horrid King child did such a poor job protecting King’s Landing from Stannis Baratheon.
It almost seems that with her brother/lover Jaime a prisoner, Cersei sort of gave up this season.Or maybe Joffrey was so beyond her control, she was resigned to almost certain doom. Either way, it was unnerving to watch Cersei’s decline.
But will she crumble now that Lord Tywin has saved her? Will Cersei lay down and die? I sincerely doubt it.
Robb Stark
(Helen Sloan - HBO)
Season one
After the death of his father, crying to his mother, “I’ll kill them all. Every one of them. I’m gonna kill them all.” (“Fire and Blood,” episode 10)
Season two
“I have no desire to sit on the Iron Throne.” (Garden of Bones,” episode four)
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“How can I call myself king when I cannot hold my own castle? How can I ask men to follow me?” (“The Old Gods and the New,” episode six)
Change?
Robb went from Lord of Winterfell in waiting to King of the North after the death of Ned Stark, an event that forced transformations for many of our characters.
After learning of his father’s death, Robb chopped away at a tree with a sword and wept to his mother, like a child. Now, he’s become a man, a pragmatic and honorable one who is a proven warrior.
Indeed, even when it comes to his own family, he doesn’t seem to have a fatal weakness. He didn’t trade Jaime Lannister for his sisters and didn’t rush home to Winterfell after Theon captured it. He also wasn’t afraid to imprison his mother after she released the King Slayer.
His only weakness thus far has been Talisa, the pretty nurse of noble birth whom he slept with. If anyone will be Robb’s
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