"Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men... all will play the 'Game of Thrones'."
Game of Thrones is an HBO series based on George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.In the land of Westeros, the seasons last for years. The story opens with the threat of a long winter fast approaching. The Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, has unexpectedly died. King Robert ventures north to Winterfell to name his old friend, Eddard Stark, his new Hand and second in command. Despite the concerns of his wife, Catelyn, Eddard reluctantly accepts his new title out of duty. Whilst there, he uncovers evidence that Jon Arryn was murdered—and that the hand behind Arryn's death may now be poised to strike the king.The series was adapted for television by David Benioff and Dan Weiss. In describing the series to newcomers, Benioff jokingly called it "The SopranosmeetsMiddle-Earth."The first season was nominated for 13 Emmys, winning two - Best Opening Title and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama (Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister).HBO's official site, featuring behind-the-scenes teasers, can be found here, whilst the main fan nexus is Winter Is Coming.Also make sure to add any tropes relating to characters to the Character Sheet.Now has an episode recap guide.
Tropes featured in the series ("Featured in the series" doesn't mean "featured in the books").
Posthumous Character Visenya Targaryen, sister of Aegon the Conqueror, rode the dragon Vhagar and wielded the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. Arya looks up to her.
King Robert. He used to be a great warrior, but got fat while on the throne.
Magister Illyrio is overweight and has a high rank in Pentos.
The Spice King is fat and apparently leads the Thirteen of Qarth.
Aerith and Bob: People from Westeros tend to have European names, some familiar (Robert, Jon) and others more exotic (Eddard, Sandor). People whose families hail from outside Westeros, such as the Dothraki and the Targaryens, have fantastical names (Viserys, Drogo). The last two kings of Westeros were Aerys and Robert, which is quite close to the trope name.
Jorah Mormont in the book is hairy, balding and "not handsome," which is a stark contrast to how he looks in the series (played by Iain Glenn). Eloquently demonstrated here◊.
Tyrion Lannister is described as having not only dwarfism but also a deformed face. Peter Dinklange portrays him without facial deformity.
Ned Stark is described as "plain" in the book, but is played by Mr. Fanservice stalwart Sean Bean.
Lysa Arryn is described as being very fat, wearing a thick coat of painted makeup, and having a sour milk smell. In the series, she is extremely skinny and looks like a more gaunt version of her sister Catelyn Stark.
Robin Arryn is a normal looking child in the show, while in the books he's sickly and small for his age, constantly has a runny nose and watery eyes, and suffers bouts of shaking fits.
In the books, Dagmer Cleftjaw has a horrible scar that splits his lower face in half. In the show, he's just called Dagmer and has no facial scar.
Brienne is described as extremely ugly in the books, but she's fairly average, apart from her height, in the series.
Adaptation Dye Job: In the books, all the Stark kids except Jon and Arya are redheads like their mother. In the series, Sansa and Robb are the only redheads(Robb's is especially dark, but it is definitely red), Bran is Stark-colored and Rickon is blond.
Adaptation Induced Plot Hole: In the intro to the novel A Game of Thrones, the last surviving Night's Watchman is Gared, who stays with the horses during the Others attack. In the series, the only survivor is changed to Will, who still comes face-to-face with the White Walkers. How or why he survived the White Walker attack is never explained.
Age Lift: In the books, the Ned/Robert/Catelyn/Cersei/Jaime generation are in their early to mid 30s while the Dany/Jon/Robb generation are in their early teens. In the show, the older generation is implied to be somewhere in their early to mid 40s and the younger generation are 16-18. This is less jarring than having fifty-something Sean Bean convince us he's 35 or having someone who looks 13 play the lead in Daenerys's story, and especially since some of the scenes they'd have to film might in fact be illegal to film with an underage actor.
The Alliance: Robert's Rebellion, which gathered four of the eight Great Houses against the King.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Plenty, especially since many characters are proven liars, so it can be hard to pick who does and does not know the truth at any given time. There are also several in-universe examples, such as Littlefinger, Varys, and several of the Lannisters.
Peter Dinklage gets the "and" credit at the end in the first season. In the second, he receives first billing.
Jason Momoa is given "also starring" as his billing—rather unusually, this appears in the end credits, after the guest stars have been listed.
Animal Motifs: Used both for Houses and individual nicknames.
Many Great Houses have an animal on their coat of arms that represents them and frequently tells you something about the house, metaphorically. Four of them are represented on the series' title—the stag (Baratheon), the direwolf (Stark), the (three-headed) dragon (Targaryen), and the lion (Lannister). The astrolabe sun in the opening tells parts of the back story with these animals: the dragon takes over and rules Westeros, then proceeds to go nuts, so the stag, lion and direwolf slay it; the stag now wears a crown and the wolf and lion bow to it. This is a metaphor about what happened seventeen years ago.
The sigils next to the actors' names also correspond to their characters' Houses.
Varys is frequently referred to as The Spider, though the metaphor is mixed when he talks about his "little birds."
While Sandor Clegane is known as The Hound, and in a manner of speaking he acts as a hound for Joffrey.
Littlefinger made his own sigil, a mockingbird.
Anyone Can Die: With a spoiler box that will only grow longer as the series continues, the list has been moved down to Killed Off for Real below. Also, invoked/lampshaded in-world by Arya in the Season 2 trailer: "Anyone can be killed."
Arc Number: Used in-universe in the Seven Kingdoms with the Faith of the Seven, worshiped primarily in the south. There are seven gods, seven Kingsguard, seven hells, etc. Perhaps by coincidence, the soundtrack to the second season trailer is "Seven Devils" by Florence and the Machine.
Ser Hugh is killed in a joust when he's struck in the neck by a splinter of Gregor Clegane's lance. In the books, it's explained that he lacked a squire and so did not put on his gorget correctly; in the show it's subtly implied the armour was sabotaged.
Syrio defeats several armored guards with a wooden practice sword, knocking a few out by hitting them on the helmet before the Kingsguard breaks the stick. In the book, the guards are lightly armored and Syrio hits unprotected spots, but the Kingsguard is wearing full plate...
Jorah Mormont gets into a debate with Rakharo over the merits of armor. Jorah argues that armor will make an arakh useless, while Rakharo believes speed trumps protection. Jorah is right, as Qotho fatally discovers.
Played straight when Bronn champions Tyrion against Ser Vardis Egan. Bronn refuses a shield and wears almost no armor, using his speed and maneuverability to simply evade his opponent until Egan's heavy armor exhausts him and makes him a sitting duck. Bronn then puts down Egan by immobilizing him in a position in which he can insert his sword under the man's armor and into his body.
Balon: We do not sow.We are Ironborn! We are not subjects, we are not slaves. We do not plow the fields, nor toil in the mine. We take what is ours! Your time with the wolves has made you weak!
Theon: You act as if I volunteered! You gave me away, if you remember?! The day you bent the knee to Robert Baratheon! After he crushed you! Did you "take what was yours" then?
Theon is on the receiving end later: "Did you hate us the whole time?"
Ascended Extra: Loras Tyrell has a much bigger role in the first season than he did in the first book. He's The Man Behind the Man to Renly, subtly working to convince him that he should become king. And his sexual relationship with Renly (which was only subtly hinted at in the book) is explicitly shown.
Ascended Meme: In-universe example: "A Lannister always pays his debts" is not the House's official "words" (motto) but still a well-known saying.
Jaime begins his first conversation with Cersei by reminding her that he is her brother, for the benefit of the audience. This scene wasn't in the original pilot and was written and included at the suggestion of HBO, who feared that the viewers would not get the significance of one banging the other in the last scene of the episode - despite the fact that Jaime enters Winterfell while somebody in the crowd literally says "Look! It's Jaime Lannister, the Queen's brother!"
Tyrion spells out Jon's place in the Stark family to Jon himself, which is justified as firmly reminding him that no one else will ever forget he's a bastard, so he shouldn't try to deny it.
Jaime gives Jon a lot of exposition about the Wall and the Night's Watch, framed as a subtle warning about what he's getting himself into.
Lampshaded with the reveal about Varys: "Did you know Lord Varys is a eunuch?" "Everyone knows that!"
Tyrion describes the Greyjoy rebellion to Theon Greyjoy, along with pointing out that he's the Starks' ward. Maester Luwin is also fond of doing this. Of course in both cases they're just doing it to remind Theon he's not as awesome or as important or even as welcome as he thinks he is.
In the second season, Stannis describes the reason of why he made Davos a knight to Davos himself. He makes it during a speech explaining why he considers Davos better than any of his other knights (none of which have been named or had lines on screen).
Near the start of the first episode, a couple of spears make little metallic scraping noises simply from being pointed at someone.
Played with in Arya's first sword fighting lesson, as we hear the wooden sounds made by the wooden practice swords morph to make metallic clangs while Ned, smiling at first and then starting to look a bit disturbed, watches his daughter fall victim to one "killing stroke" after another. By the end of the scene the sounds have morphed into the audio of a full blown battle, complete with screaming.
Played straight with quite a few swords and spears in the second half of the season.
Authority Equals Asskicking: Ned Stark is a High Lord and one of the best fighters in the realm. Jaime Lannister is the eldest son of a High Lord and also one of the best fighters. Tyrion Lannister notes that the social elite are the only ones who get the equipment and lifelong training to become warriors.
Awesome, but Impractical: Aegon the Conqueror deliberately had the Iron Throne made so it would be uncomfortable to sit on.
Awesome McCoolname: In a world of fantasy that is Game of Thrones, it's pretty much standard.
In "Fire and Blood," we get two: first, the Stark bannermen proclaim Robb King in the North following Eddard's death, and then Daenerys proclaims herself the new leader of the khalasar after Drogo's death.
Also, appropriately enough, in "A Golden Crown". "Tremble to behold" indeed. Though that's really a Horrifying Moment of Crowning that's only Awesome by virtue of the Crownee being a magnificent Jerkass.
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: Khal Drogo really didn't care all that much about Westeros, until Robert tried to assassinate Daenerys. Then he becomes hell-bent on vengeance.
Badass Family: The Lannisters, Starks and Targaryens all aspire to embody this trope, in various flavors and with various levels of success.
The words of each Noble House is one—Bran mentions House Baratheon's "Ours is the Fury," House Greyjoy's "We Do Not Sow," House Tully's "Family, Duty, Honor," and House Martell's "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" in one episode. The lone exception is the Starks' "Winter is Coming," but in "The Pointy End" Robb Stark manages to use it as a Badass Boast anyway:
Robb: Tell Lord Tywin that winter is coming for him.
Earlier, the Stark motto came up in conversation between Ned and his daughter Arya:
Ned: You're a Stark. You know our words.
Arya: Winter is Coming.
The Season 2 trailer features one from Tyrion to Cersei: "I will hurt you for this. A day will come when your joy will turn to ashes, and you will know the debt is paid."
"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come."
Badass Longcoat: Jaime pulls this off with a duster practically whenever he's not wearing his armor.
Balancing Death's Books: Arya releases three prisoners in danger of dying in a fire. One of them later invokes the trope and offers to kill any three people that she nominates.
Barbarian Tribe: The Dothraki, the Wildlings, and the hill tribes.
Batman Gambit: Robb purposely tells the captured Lannister scout his plans and lets him go because it's a ploy to fool Tywin into responding to a diversionary attack while Robb attacks Jaime's forces.
The Beard: In season two Margaery is shown to be well aware of her role, much to Renly's surprise. She tries to persuade him that even if he'd rather sleep with her brother, he still needs to father an heir to strengthen his position (and to make her a more convincing Beard).
The Beautiful Elite: The Lannisters, except for Tyrion, as he is acutely aware.
Utterly averted. Jaime and Cersei are strikingly attractive, but deeply horrible people. Their brother Tyrion is sneered at for being a dwarf, but is a pretty decent guy.
Sansa learns this lesson when the only people to speak up for her while she's being stripped and beaten on Joffrey's orders are Sandor (whose face is half burnt) and Tyrion.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: In the book, Daenerys' hair is burned off in her Out of the Inferno moment. In the series, it's as fireproof as the rest of her - and not even a bit sooty.
Daenerys proves, in "Fire and Blood," that she's no longer someone you screw with, when she has Mirri tied to Drogo's funeral pyre to burn alive as punishment for deceiving Dany.
The Lannisters take a little too long to learn this lesson about Robb Stark.
Big Bad: Lord Tywin Lannister or King Joffrey Baratheon to the Stark family.
Bigger Bad: However, when the White Walkers come, everybody is screwed.
Big Badass Wolf: Direwolves in general, which grow to be the size of a pony. It may be implied the direwolves somehow take after the humans who own them.
The first time we really see Shaggydog is when he comes snarling out of the crypt to attack Osha.
Nymeria shows her colors when she jumps in to savage Joffrey for daring to threaten Arya.
Bran's direwolf, Summer, also has his moment when he tears out the throat of his would-be assassin.
Jon's albino direwolf, Ghost, who helps his master warn one of the Night's Watch would-be-bullies to lay off Samwell, and unlike other animals shows no fear of those touched by the white walkers.
Grey Wind, Robb's direwolf, takes off two fingers from a bannerman who draws steel on Robb. He's also said to have killed "a dozen men and as many horses" in battle with the Lannisters.
Averted by Lady, who is gentle and well-behaved as Sansa.
Bigger Is Better in Bed: Hodor's package is Osha-approved. Tyrion also claims that it's his one gift of size.
Big Little Man: Tyrion Lannister is introduced talking face-to-face with a prostitute, who is crouched down so she can...well, never mind. It's not until she stands up that we see Tyrion is a dwarf.
Bling of War: Jaime's golden armor, in striking contrast to the utilitarian armor worn by the Stark household guard. Lampshaded by Ned who comments dryly to Jaime, "Very handsome armor. Not a scratch on it."
Blood Magic: Mirri Maz Duur knows it, calling it by name, and warns Dany that it has a terrible price.
When the Gold Cloaks turn on Ned at the end of "You Win Or You Die."
Also, what The Kingslayer did to the Mad King. He deserved it though.
Bolivian Army Ending: Syrio Forel prepares to duel a member of the Kingsguard, with a broken wooden sword, while Arya makes her escape.
Book Ends: Related to Animal Motifs. Begins with the discovery of the wolf and stag carcasses as an omen of the fall of the Stark and Baratheon houses. Ends with the hatching of Dany's dragons symbolizing the resurgence of House Targaryen. Also, in the beginning and ending episodes of Season 1, Black Brothers ride under the Wall.
In one episode Tyrion asks Bronn what he wants. "Gold? Women? Golden women?"
On another episode, Tyrion says, "We've had vicious kings, and we've had idiot kings, but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with a vicious idiot."
In "The Kingsroad," Tyrion mentions he wants to visit the Wall so he can "piss off the edge of the world." He goes through with it, to Jon Snow's amusement, near the end of "Lord Snow."
Also, the possibility of a Dothraki invasion:
Daenerys: If my brother was given an army of Dothraki, could he conquer The Seven Kingdoms? Mormont: [...] King Robert is fool enough to meet them in open battle. But the men advising him are different. —- King Robert: Only a fool would meet the Dothraki in open battle. *
He does, however, go on to explain that it would be necessary to do so for political reasons, and to avoid scorched earth warfare.
British Accents: Appropriately, the Northerners speak (on the whole) with Yorkshire accents - Sean Bean's native Sheffield accent is perhaps the best example. The Southerners (on the whole) speak with more of a London/RP accent - Cersei and Joffrey are good examples. This follows the North/South accent distribution in England. There also seems to be a tendency for characters from the Vale to speak with Irish accents, most noteably with Littlefinger's slight lilt, and several of the background characters from the episodes set in this area have these accents as well.
Targaryens used to practice marrying brother to sister to preserve the purity of their bloodline (which could have led to the madness of their last king).
Also, Cersei and Jaime Lannister.
The Bully: There are quite few of them among the recruits at The Wall. Unsurprising given the circumstances that landed most of the recruits there.
Joffrey very quickly becomes this, revelling in his power over life and death and taking the cruel option at all times, whether or not it makes any political sense.
The Posthumous Character Aerys Targaryen, the Mad King, was a bad enough ruler that his sworn guard Jaime was driven to kill him.
Camp Gay: Ser Loras Tyrell, The Knight of Flowers. He dresses as fabulously as he fights. And funnily enough, Bratty Teenage Daughter Sansa swoons over him.
Canon Foreigner: A lot, which is expected, given how many characters the show has to condense from the novels. Leads also to many a Composite Character.
People keep warning about the White Walkers, but no one's doing anything about it. Even those who do seem concerned, like Tyrion and Ned, get distracted by other matters and seem to completely forget about them.
"Winter is Coming," the Stark motto, could be considered this. While everyone is busy playing power games and coups—and indeed, each house's words reflect this—the Starks' only concern is the long and brutal winter that's on the horizon, which could last years.
Natalie Dormer as Magaery. The role is quite similar to her turn as Anne Boleyn in The Tudors. Both are ambitious queens of dubious virginity.
The series' regular audiobook narrator Roy Dotrice was going to play Pycelle, but health concerns forced him into a cameo as Pyromancer Hallyne.
Natalia Tena plays Osha, a wildling woman who teaches Bran about skinchangers. In the Harry Potter franchise, she played Nymphadora Tonks, a skinchanger in her own right.
Jorah's talk with Rakharo about how a Dothraki blade won't pierce plate armor.
Also, the dragon eggs.
Chekhov's Gunman: Ser Illyn Payne, the King's Justice (aka the Royal Executioner), is introduced briefly in "The Kingsroad," and has a big role to play in "Baelor," though his appearance is just as brief.
Bran's habit of climbing the walls and buildings of Winterfell is established early on in the pilot.
Later on, Theon's archery skills, which he rightly boasts about.
Cherry Tapping: Khal Drogo does this when Mago challenges his authority. He casually dodges Mago's attacks and completely disarms himself, then kills him with his own weapon to show how many orders of magnitute more badass he is.
A Child Shall Lead Them: When Robb leaves Winterfell to fight against House Lannister, Bran is technically the new Lord of Winterfell.
Even though the Freys are bannermen for House Tully, they have a history of refusing to help unless they have something to gain. The Starks and their more trustworthy allies are Genre Savvy enough to assume that House Frey could sell them out at any moment if they don't know the Starks or Tullys could give a better price.
Littlefinger warns Ned Stark that the Gold Cloaks will only be loyal to whoever pays them the most.
The Greyjoys led a rebellion against Robert in the backstory, leading to Theon being forced to live with the Starks as hostage. The second Theon returns, to offer peace terms from Robb, Balon Greyjoy plots to rebel against the North again, and Theon joins him.
City of Spies: According to Littlefinger, just about everyone in King's Landing is a spy for someone.
The Clan: Each of the major houses could be considered one, what with their long and complex histories, tangled branches, sigils and mottoes, and similar looks, which become a plot point concerning Joffrey's parentage. House Frey is a notable example, with Lord Walder Frey's multitudes of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. People in the Seven Kingdoms joke Lord Frey is the only man in the Seven Kingdoms who could field an army out of his britches.
Season 1: Sansa is held captive in the court of King's Landing. Tyrion becomes Hand of the King. Arya, disguised as a boy, joins a caravan of "volunteers" for The Wall. Robb is declared King in the North. Jon Snow and others of the Night's Watch venture out beyond The Wall. Daenerys puts Khal Drogo out of his misery and hatches her dragon eggs.
Clock Punk: Not the show itself, but the opening animation invokes it. Watch as King's Landing, Winterfell, the Wall, and land across the Narrow Sea come out of the ground. Later locations, like the Eyrie and the Twins, are depicted here as the show focuses on them.
Cool Chair: The Iron Throne was forged in dragonfire by Aegon the Conqueror out of the swords of his defeated subjects. Many promotional shots for the show feature various characters sitting on it. As you might expect from a chair made from blades, it's bloody uncomfortable to actually sit on.
Cool Sword: As in the novels, most families have their own cool sword (or other weapon) passed down from one generation to the next. The only one we've seen thus far is the Starks' claymore Ice. Not to mention the other cool swords owned and named by individual characters, such as Arya's Needle and Jon's Longclaw (which was House Mormont's family cool sword).
Cold-Blooded Torture: Gregor Clegane and his underlings employ it indiscriminately, and Roose Bolton advocates that Robb use it to gain information from Lannister prisoners.
The Lannisters are evil blondes, probably because of incest. The Baratheons are all black-haired warriors. The Targaryens are all universally white haired and pale, because they're descended from Valyrians. Actually plays a rather large part in the plot, especially considering hair color isn't the only thing being passed down.
Soldiers' uniforms: Stark soldiers wear grey, Lannister soldiers wear red and gold, Baratheon soldiers wear light brown, soldiers of the Vale wear blue, the Kingsguard wear white, the Dothraki wear brown and the Night's Watch wear black.
Combat Pragmatist: Since this is a series where things don't go well for those who act honorably, there's multiple examples of characters winning fights by not fighting "fair":
Loras Tyrell wins his joust with Gregor Clegane (and avoids being "accidentally" killed by Gregor) by riding a mare in heat (knowing Gregor would be riding a stallion). Characters disagree over whether or not this is cheating.
Bronn wins his Duel to the Death because he didn't fight with honor and his opponent did. He ran away from his heavily armoured opponent until the knight was too tired to fight.
The Dothraki believe that armor is for the weak. Jorah fights one wearing armor, and the Dothraki's speed doesn't do much against plate and mail.
Robb refuses to fight a Combat by Champion against one of the deadliest warriors in the Seven Kingdoms, because he knows he would lose.
In a tournament between Brienne and Loras, Loras disarms Brienne but she tackles him and draws a dagger forcing him to yield.
Comet of Doom: Visible in the skies of Westeros in the Season 2 premiere.
Ned: When you're old enough I'll make you a match, someone that's worthy of you. Someone who's brave and gentle and strong. Sansa: I don't want someone brave and gentle and strong, I want him. [Ned and Arya exchange a smirk]
Sansa: I'll be a good wife to [Joffrey], you'll see. I'll be a queen just like you, I promise! I won't hatch anything!
Composite Character: Several. The most common theme behind such characters in this series is incorporating the roles of other characters into already existing ones in order to cut down on the list of side characters that would otherwise need to be introduced.
Continuity Lockout: If you haven't read the books, you really have to start watching at the beginning to have any hope of following the story.
Couch Gag: The credits highlight the major areas featured in each episode.
Joffrey's quick to use it, referring to Arya. Renly too, in reference to the Lannisters.
Tyrion in regards to his father.
Bronn spouts his own brand of unique, worldly wisdom with regards to Joffery.
After Theon Greyjoy executes and burns the bodies of two boys he claims to be Bran and Rickon Stark, his sister Yara calls him something akin to "the dumbest (of these) that ever lived."
Cruel and Unusual Death: Khal Drogo is an expert at this. Like ripping out someone's tongue for speaking ill of his wife. Or dumping molten gold over a guy's head.
The Faith of the Seven (aka the New Gods), which worships One God with Seven Aspects (or "faces"), complete with Septons (priests) and Septas (nuns). Being part of the Faith (or at least paying lip service) is also mandatory to become a knight (i.e., styled "ser"). The Old Gods, a kind of animistic folk religion, are worshiped by the wildlings and Northmen. The Old Gods don't have names, they're just referred to as "gods" (as in "Gods be good" or "Gods willing"). It's also the religion of the indigenous Children of the Forest. The Old Gods are worshiped through weirwoods, big trees with faces carved in them. There are no clear rites other than the name day, no holy books, no hymns, and no priests.
Melisandre's Lord of Light, who she constantly describes as the "one true God".
D-G
Dark Reprise : "You Win or You Die" (played at the climax of the eponymous episode) is this for "The King's Arrival" (which plays when… the King arrives in Winterfell). Also reprised in "The North Remembers" when the Gold Cloaks begin the purge of Robert's bastard children.
Deadpan Snarker: Tyrion Lannister truly is the Lord of House Snark. His sellsword traveling companion Bronn, as well as Tyrion's older brother Jaime, can bring the snark plenty themselves.
Deadly Decadent Court: King's Landing. Deadly for many characters, including King Robert and Ned Stark.
Cersei: Aren't you always so clever, with your schemes and your plots!
Tyrion: Schemes and plots are the same thing.
Description Cut: In 2x02, Cersei justifies not sending more men to the Wall on the basis that she's sure the members of the Night's Watch can ably defend the realm. Cut to Watch member Dolorous Edd amusing the others with fart jokes.
Did Mom Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: In 2x02, Tyrion returns to his quarters to find Varys chatting with his mistress Shae, who is supposed to be there secretly and her presence unknown to anyone else. Varys makes friendly conversation but obliquely references to Tyrion what a shame it would be if Tywin learned about her presence.
At first it seems that Viserys will be the Big Bad, but his plans are constantly ignored and delayed by Khal Drogo, and when Viserys makes his move, he goes too far and gets himself killed.
Drogo becomes this as well. Now the runner-ups for Big Bad are King Joffrey and Lord Tywin.
Ser Jaime Lannister and Ser Gregor Clegane to Lord Tywin.
Bronn to Tyrion.
Ser Vardis Egen to Lady Lysa Tully.
Viserys considers Khal Drogo to be his Dragon (though he thinks he himself is "the Dragon" in a different sense). Drogo doesn't care what Viserys wants and kills him off when he threatens Daenerys and her and Drogo's unborn son.
Ser Jorah Mormont for Daenerys.
Dagmer to Theon.
Dragon Rider: The Targaryens used to do this, back when they had dragons to ride.
Dull Surprise: Bless their hearts, but Kit Harrington and Emilia Clarke have a very limited emotional acting range. It's more striking when compared to the children actors. Justified for Emilia as her character has suffered emotional and physical abuse from her brother and once he died, she begins to show a little more life. There is no excuse for Kit however.
DVD Bonus Content: The first season Blu-ray release contains "In-Episode Guide", a series of pictures narrated by the actors over the history of Westeros especially Robert's Rebellion where each character tells the viewer of that event from their point of view.
Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister)—went from natural brown to blonde.
Sophie Turner, naturally a blonde, became a redhead to play Sansa.
Most of the other actors wore wigs to change their hair color (dark-haired Emilia Clarke confirmed in an interview that her white hair is a wig).
Elephant in the Living Room: Over the eight thousand years since the Long Night, the conditions at The Wall have steadily been ignored, leaving the garrison there undermanned, undersupplied, and incapable of holding the wall against the Wildlings or the White Walkers. Outside The Wall, nobody seems to openly acknowledge the dangers the coming winter will bring. Even the Starks' own words, "Winter is coming," haven't prepared them.
Eloquent In My Native Tongue: Khal Drogo's Westerosi is very limited, but when his speech in Dothraki is subtitled he's revealed to be a highly intelligent war leader, a loving husband, and an eloquent and fiery speaker. It sometimes overlaps with Strange Syntax Speaker, as the Dothraki don't have words for things like plate armour or castles.
Petyr Baelish clearly does not like people calling him Littlefinger.
Tyrion has also said he dislikes being called "The Imp," but embarrassing or not, he owns it.
Jaime has a distaste for the nickname "Kingslayer."
John dislikes being called "Lord Snow", but Tyrion tips him on how to deal with it.
Enforced Method Acting: In the scene where Daenerys must devour an entire horse heart, the "heart" used was described by creators as a "three pound gummy bear" and was made to be muscly, bloody and incredibly difficult to keep down (especially for a girl as tiny as Emilia Clarke). The retching in that scene was apparently 100% genuine.
Gregor Clegane (AKA The Mountain) after being thrown from his horse in a jousting match, beheads his own steed in a fit of rage, and then attempts to do the same to the other jouster who beat him. This is all done in plain view of everyone, including the King.
When King Robert's brother Stannis Baratheon has a letter written declaring his claim to the throne, he makes them change "beloved brother" because he didn't love him and adds Jamie Lannister's nickname the "Kingslayer" but also the title "Ser" because "whatever he is he's still a knight".
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Several characters are only redeemed from being monsters by this trope. Cersei Lannister is possibly the most notable, as her scheming against Ned is mostly motivated by a desire to protect her children.
The wildings are depicted as being rather sadistic and ruthless, but even they are clearly scared so shitless by the White Walkers that they're running as "South as South can go."
As ruthless and vicious a fighter as The Hound is, he is shown to be a far nicer person in comparison to his brother Gregor and his master Joffrey.
Everybody Has Lots of Sex: Ned Stark has a bastard son, and Robert has countless. Many scenes take place in Littlefinger's bordello. The sexual relationships of a number of characters are major plot points. Dany's change in sexual position is even a major turning point in her character.
Everything's Deader with Zombies: When humans are touched by White Walkers, zombification apparently ensues. These zombies are somewhat tougher than the usual breed, however, as they can survive just about anything other than fire. There is also the implied possibility of a Zombie Apocalypse due to the number of human wildlings living beyond the Wall, who could potentially get touched by the Walkers, as well.
Evolving Credits: New map locations are seamlessly added to the opening sequence on occasion.
The "golden crown" that Drogo promises Viserys. One can argue if molten gold poured on head counts as a crown, but it will definitely make people tremble.
The "no bloodshed" rule of Vaes Dothrak, which also forbids the use of swords while there. Do not think this makes you immune from prosecution, as the Dothraki can get around this limitation very inventively should you annoy them.
Joffrey states that his mother told him he should never strike his lady. He then orders one of his Kingsguard to strike Sansa instead. With a gauntlet.
Eureka Moment: Ned has one in "A Golden Crown," concerning Joffrey's true parentage.
Dany, translating Khal Drogo's words for her brother's benefit in "A Golden Crown:" "You shall have a golden crown that men shall tremble to behold." An instance where the one being misled really kind of deserved it.
The Lannister's unoffical motto, "A Lannister Always Pays His Debts," is pretty much an example of this. At face value, it seems to indicate that Lannisters show gratitude to those who do well by them, and this is true. However, it also indicates the reverse, that they will take revenge on anyone they think has slighted them, and that meaning is seen much more frequently.
Anglo-Saxons: Westeros is quite clearly based on medieval England, and indeed the north/south geography and accompanying accents clearly approximate England's own geography and accent distribution. For example Ned, as a Northerner, has Sean Bean's native Sheffield accent, whereas Cersei, as a Southerner, has more of a London/RP accent. The family names Lannister and Stark are also thinly veiled references to the War of the Roses, a civil war in England fought between the houses of Lancaster and York. The great Wall itself has startling parallels with Hadrian's Wall, a huge, 80 mile long barrier stretching across the top of England which was began in AD 122 and built to protect Roman Britain from Scottish invasion. Sections of the wall still stand today. The Narrow Sea corresponds with the English Channel, and King's Landing, as seen on the opening-credits map, roughly corresponds with London.
The Dothraki are based on the Mongols and other horse nomad cultures, except oddly they don't seem to have bows. Maester Luwin tells Bran that Dothraki boys start learning archery at age 4. Perhaps we're to assume that they just never happened to use their bows when we were watching.
Mirri Maz Duur's people, the Lazhareen, resemble ancient Semites, a resemblance made even stronger with their worship of the "Great Shepherd."
Fate Worse than Death: Tyrion implies that the Night's Watch is this. He says that when a rapist is given the choice between taking the black and castration (which would be a dangerous, often deadly procedure in a time without sanitation), most choose "the knife."
Feuding Families: The Starks and the Lannisters are quickly sliding from general dislike toward this territory. As of "Baelor" there is a civil war between them, Ned Stark has been killed by Joffrey, and Jaime Lannister is held hostage by Robb.
Fish out of Water: The honorable, rigid Ned Stark once he goes to the Deadly Decadent Court in King's Landing, Daenerys among the Dothraki, and Jon once he gets to the Night's Watch.
Fluffy the Terrible: Rickon's vicious and borderline feral direwolf... Shaggydog.
Arya shoos her Cool Pet Nymeria away to save her from being killed by the Lannisters. By "The Pointy End," Arya must too run away to avoid capture and possible death from the Lannisters.
Cersei justifies her incestuous relationship with Jaime and having his children by invoking the precedent set by the Targaryens. Except that the Targaryen penchant for incest led to Aerys Targaryen, foreshadowing that Joffrey will be an uncontrollable lunatic of a king and do things like having Eddard Stark executed in defiance of all diplomatic sense.
When Ned asks Petyr if the Gold Cloaks of the King's Landing City Watch will side with him to overthrow Joffrey, Petyr replies that the Gold Cloaks are ultimately loyal to whoever hand them their paychecks. Much of the series stresses how the Lannisters are the richest noble house in Westeros.
Daenerys walks into an extremely hot bath despite the warnings of her handmaiden, and later takes a hot dragon egg out of a lit brazier without burning her hand. In the finale, she walks into her dead husband's burning funeral pyre and emerges from the ashes unharmed, naked, with three baby dragons. Not to mention when her brother dies from his 'Golden Crown': "He was not The Dragon. Fire cannot kill a dragon."
Tyrion threatens a group of Nightwatchmen-to-be with placing their heads on spikes to decorate the capital.
In "The Old Gods and the New", Xaro talks about how he's had to do some nasty things to become as wealthy as he is. Immediately after, he opens the doors to his estate and we see that someone has killed several members of Dany's khalasar and stolen her dragons. In "A Man Without Honor", we learn that Xaro helped the perpetrator.
Bran adjusting to life in an increasingly deserted Winterfell.
Arya Stark and Gendry, Robert's only known surviving bastard, on their way to The Wall.
Stannis's war, first against his brother Renly, then against Joffrey Baratheon.
Theon, Yara and Balon Greyjoy on the Iron islands going to war.
Freudian Trio: The Baratheon brothers form one: Robert is a hot-blooded and impulsive warrior (id), Renly is a calm and easygoing politician (ego), and Stannis is described as a skilled strategist but not at all a people person (super-ego). In this case, rather than being three disparate personalities who are a team, it explains why the brothers don't like each other.
Funny Background Event: In "Fire and Blood," Joffrey orders Sansa to accompany him; he wants to show her something. What's going on in the background (and mercifully out of focus)? A man who insulted the late King Robert having his tongue ripped out.
The Good Chancellor: Ned, who tries to get King Robert to do the right thing, and mitigate the damage whenever his advice is ignored.
Gone Horribly Right: Dany tries to convince Drogo to help her retake the Seven Kingdoms for their son, and after she's nearly assassinated while pregnant, he agrees... and announces this with a long speech in which he explains his plans to basically ransack the entire continent. Dany's later reactions show that she has no taste for Dothraki brutality.
Good Is Not Dumb: Ned Stark's advice is often dismissed as just being Honor Before Reason, but there are often very good reasons for his choices.
He doesn't back Renly's bid for the throne, but Renly's a diplomat with no combat experience in a situation that WILL require winning a war. Sure enough, Renly does nothing but divide the forces against the Lannisters. He also does not have a right to be king at the time, and you can't kick Joffrey off the throne because he's not the rightful king and replace him with someone else who isn't the rightful king.
He tries to broker a compromise with Cersei Lannister: she needs to go into exile before he tells Robert that she's been cheating on him with her brother and none of the children are Robert's. But as the daughter of the richest, most powerful man in the realm and the sister/lover of an infamous warrior who already killed one king, letting Robert bludgeon her to death in a fit of rage really isn't a wise move either.
Grammar Nazi: Stannis Baratheon, who corrects Davos Seaworth on the usage of less vs fewer when Davos is answering about his knucklebones, hacked off by Stannis.
Grim Up North: The North is colder, harsher and less populated than the South. North of the Wall is even worse.
H-M
Happily Married: Ned and Catelyn Stark seem to be genuinely in love in a world where most marriages (including their own) are arranged for political reasons. Khal Drogo and Daenerys form a surprising bond.
Held Gaze: Doreah spells its importance out for Dany. Very clearly.
Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: This trope is probably why no one in the Nights Watch (except for Qorin, which may explain his reputation as most competent Ranger) wears a hat, despite the freezing conditions they live in. More literally, it's noticeable during "Blackwater" that for most of the battle, none of the main characters wear helmets, though Tyrion does don one early on when he leads the flanking force and only removes it when he thinks they've won.
Heroic BSOD: Robb suffers an epic one after hearing of his father's death.
Khal Drogo, allowing Mago to wound him, showing off how impervious to pain he is. Although he ignores the wound's pain, it gets infected and eventually causes his untimely demise.
Honor Before Reason: Ned Stark is a man bound by honor to do the "right" thing.
In "A Golden Crown," he all but declares war on the Lannisters for committing horrific atrocities against serfs, even though this could cause a civil war with the Lannisters pitted against his own house.
In "You Win or You Die," he refuses to make the first strike at the Lannisters within King's Landing, even though this could grant them time to plan a strike of their own. He also rejects Littlefinger and Renly's underhanded but eminently sensible plans.
I Am X, Son of Y: A fairly standard introduction, but particularly noteworthy are Drogo son of Bharbo, Shagga son of Dolf, Timett son of...Timett, Chella daughter of Cheyk and Bronn son of "...you wouldn't know him."
I'll Take That As A Compliment: Tyrion has turned this into a way of living, and encourages others to do so by... well, insulting them.
In "Winter is Coming"—
Tyrion: You're Ned Stark's bastard, aren't you?... Did I offend you? Sorry. You are the bastard, though. Jon: Lord Eddard Stark is my father... Tyrion: And Lady Stark is not your mother. Making you...the bastard. Let me give you some advice, bastard: never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you. Jon: What the hell do you know about being a bastard?! Tyrion: All dwarves are bastards in their fathers' eyes.
In "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things"—
Tyrion: With the right horse and saddle even a cripple can ride. Bran: I'm not a cripple! Tyrion: Then I'm not a dwarf! My father will rejoice to hear it.
He brings the hill tribes so under his sway that "The Halfman" and "Little Lion" become something of Affectionate Nicknames for him.
Inadequate Inheritor: Sam's father considered him this, which is how he ended up in the Night's Watch.
The last scene of the first episode. With horrific and long-reaching consequences.
Played for Laughs when Jamie Lannister walks in on his brother at a brothel in Winterfell and tells him to hurry up, then proceeds to send in more prostitutes in order to hurry him up.
In the Back: How Jaime Lannister offed the Mad King, making his Bodyguard Betrayal twice as dishonorable. Ned rubs it in Jaime's face despite having family members personally tortured to death by the King, showing how people in Westeros see this kind of thing.
With most families in the show, the similarities could be argued to be a result of nurture rather than nature, but Viserys' insanity is quite clearly inherited from the "Mad King" Aerys, most likely as a result of generations of inbreeding.
Robert Baratheon mentions that he favoured wielding a war hammer in battle. The first time we see his bastard son Gendry, who is an armourer's apprentice, guess what he's working with.
Ironic Echo: In "Winter Is Coming" Ned Stark establishes what sort of man he is by sentencing and beheading an outlaw himself, eschewing an executioner. In "Baelor" he is beheaded, by an executioner, with his own sword.
It Was Here, I Swear: A circular array of Wildling corpses killed by the White Walkers.
Instant Messenger Raven: Played straight at first, especially since the show often skips substantial periods of time for pacing's sake. Notably averted in "Baelor" when the Stark forces take to shooting down Walder Frey's ravens, lest he pass news of their presence to the Lannisters.
Jerkass Has a Point: Alliser Thorne treats the recruits of the Night's Watch with cruelty. He later tells Jon and Sam that his company was stuck in the land beyond the Wall for over six months during the last winter, even resorting to cannibalism of their fallen comrades at the end. Given how terrible the winters are, his comments on how strong someone has to be to serve the Watch may be valid.
The Jester: Subverted. We see a minstrel singing a jaw-droppingly insulting Bawdy Song about Robert and Cersei in front of Joffrey's entire court, at the end of which Joffrey laughs and applauds. If the minstrel's terrified expression and quavering voice didn't clue you in, Joffrey's offering him the choice between keeping his fingers or his tongue is the final hint that he's actually on trial.
Season 1: Lady (Sansa's direwolf), Jory Cassel, Viserys Targaryen, Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark, Septa Mordane, all of House Stark's men in King's Landing, Khal Drogo, and Mirri Maz Duur.
Season 2: Cressen, Rakharo, Yoren, Lommy Greenhands, Renly Baratheon, The Tickler, Ser Rodrik Cassel, Ser Amory Lorch, Irri, Alton Lannister, The Thirteen (except Xaro and Pyat Pree, who staged a coup against the others), Matthos Seaworth, Ser Mandon Moore
Seems to be the only way to get rid of those who were touched by the white walkers.
This was also apparently the Mad King's favored method of killing people, and his daughter Daenerys uses fire to kill Mirri for her treachery. He was "The Dragon", after all.
In "Blackwater" Tyrion uses wildfire to kill half of Stannis' entire fleet!
Kissing Cousins: After Jaime goes off to war Cersei starts getting her incest fix with her cousin Lancel. In Season 2 Tyrion uses this to blackmail Lancel into reporting to him about Cersei's activities.
Jaime Lannister looks exactly like this, but is actually an utter creep.
Loras Tyrell also looks the part and, apart from some Combat Pragmatism, comes closer to actually acting liking it. Unfortunately for his Fangirls, though, he's gay.
Kukris Are Kool: Bronn has one strapped to the small of his back. He pulls it out on rare occasions.
The Lancer: Jory for Lord Eddard Stark and Theon for Robb.
Large Ham: Syrio Forel, Greatjon Umber, Viserys. Drogo chews the scenery with much gusto during his Rousing Speech after the assassination attempt on Daenerys. Similarly, King Robert nearly scrapes the castle walls clean while ordering the assassination of Daenerys and her child. Roy Dotrice's One-Scene Wonder as Pyromancer Hallyne does credit to his equally hammy readings of the A Song of Ice and Fire audiobooks.
La Résistance: Tywin's occupation of the Riverlands is hampered by a so far unseen group named the "Brotherhood without Banners."
Lecture As Exposition: Maester Luwin teaches Bran, and the audience, about the Houses of Westeros. Upon arrival in King's Landing, Sansa gets quizzed by her septa about the history of the Seven Kingdoms.
Leitmotif : The same melody plays in the pieces "Goodbye Brother," "Winter is Coming," "Jon's Honor," and "King of the North," making it sort of a Leitmotif for the Stark family. The White Walkers have one as well, that can be heard in the tracks "North of the Wall" and "The Night's Watch."
In Season Two, the Stark theme also appears at the beginning of "What Is Dead May Never Die", the music which plays during Theon's Face Heel Turn, gradually shifting into the Greyjoy theme as the music progresses.
The Lannisters have "The Rains of Castamere" and its variations. Tyrion even whistles a lighter, faster variation a few times in Season Two.
Loads and Loads of Characters: Nineteen names in the credits (and, as mentioned above, Jason Momoa isn't included there for strange reasons). You can find a guide to help keep them all straight here.
Jaime Lannister. He's willing to push a kid out of a window to hide his secret affair, even saying, "The things I do for love..."
Cersei Lannister. She was, like many women in the Seven Kingdoms at the close of his rebellion, quite in love with Robert when they married, but a life of humiliations and occasional domestic abuse ended with her plotting her husband's death.
Petyr: his unrequited love for Catelyn caused him to become obsessed with achieving power over his social betters.
Maester Aemon's lecture to Jon warns him about the dangers of love, as it is the one thing that can cause a man to ignore his duty.
Machiavelli Was Wrong: Invoked by Ser Loras in his convincing Renly to make a play for the throne. He argues that Renly's charisma would make him a far better king than those before him because he would rule through love and respect rather than fear.
Macho Masochism: The Greatjon laughing off a direwolf eating two of his fingers. Also, Drogo showed his badassery in a duel by deliberately allowing his opponent to cut him, in order to draw the guy closer. This came back to bite him, as the wound gets infected and nearly kills him.
In-universe, bastard children have last names determined by region, so anyone meeting Jon Snow already knows something about his parentage and place of origin.
The family names Lannister and Stark are thinly veiled references to the War of the Roses, a civil war in England fought between the houses of Lancaster and York.
"Stark" has several meanings, including "rigidly conforming," "desolate" and "strong." All of these meanings can apply to the Stark family or the North.
The Mentor: Several, for most of the younger main characters and some of the older ones. Jon Arryn was this to Robert and Ned, Rodrik Cassel to Robb, Jon and Theon, Lord Commander Mormont to Jon, Syrio Forel to Arya, and Septa Mordane to Sansa. In Season 2, Quorin Halfhand takes over for Jon, Dagmer Cleftjaw for Theon, Yoren , Jaqen H'qar and Tywin Lannister for Arya and in a way, Cersei Lannister for Sansa.
The Medic: Talisa of Volantis, who attends to the wounded after a battle between Robb Stark's army and the Lannisters'.
Meta Twist: HBO gleefully marketed the show as if Sean Bean were the main character, and thus the one star with Contractual Immortality. Nothing could be further from the truth, though those who had read the book would know this already - it would be impossible to even remotely follow the book's story with Ned alive.
Minor Insult Meltdown: Wildlings refer to everyone south of the Wall as "Southerners," which annoys several Northerners.
Mood Whiplash: Jory's Crowning Moment of Funny is immediately followed by his death. Although at least he got to see some tits. Also happens when the story switches between the various different plot-threads. Arya training with Syrio? Cool, and even a little funny. But then the next thing you see is Dany eating a horse's heart.
Mr. Exposition: Jorah Mormont; at least in the first season, he mainly exists to inform Daenerys/us about the customs of the Dothraki and other such things.
Mr. Fanservice: There's pretty much some male for just about every taste in this show.
Ros the gorgeous prostitute didn't have one scene in the first season where she kept all her clothes on all the way through. Actress Esme Bianco has a background as a burlesque performer, so she's quite comfortable performing nudity. In Season 2 she's the madam of Littlefinger's whorehouse, and thus earns the privilege to wear more clothes.
Daenerys, especially in her first appearances.
My God, What Have I Done?: In "Blackwater", Tyrion has this reaction when he sees just how powerful the wildfire actually is.
My Nayme Is...: Many of the character's names are very similar to modern names, such as Eddard for Edward.
N-S
Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, Ser Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister, and most infamously Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen.
Jaime Lannister is known and addressed as "Kingslayer" (and it's not complimentary) by everyone, even his allies. Even those who rebelled agains the king and knew that he was insane criticize him for it. Jaime insists that people should be grateful for it.
Catelyn never quite forgives or forgets the fact that Eddard Stark was unfaithful to her and sired bastard son Jon Snow.
Congratulations, Sansa! Lying to the king and queen about Joffrey got your own direwolf killed!
Congratulations, Ned! Ignoring Littlefinger and Renly's advice has led to Cersei and Joffrey ruling, your guards all being killed, and you being arrested and eventually executed!
Congratulations, Catelyn! Capturing Tyrion Lannister has compromised the safety of your husband and daughters in the capital, and resulted with Lord Tywin unleashing Gregor Clegane on the lands of your own family!
Congratulations, Robert! Sending assassins after Daenerys managed to piss off Drogo enough that he changed his mind about not invading Westeros!
Kudos, Daenerys! Saving a wise woman from rape and then asking her to save the life of your husband has led to said husband winding up as an Empty Shell and your son to be stillborn.
While there is no way in heaven or seven hells that Joffrey could be considered a hero, congratulations nonetheless, idiot! Just when it looks as if Robb and Catelyn Stark might call off their war after capturing your (true) father, you go and execute the Stark patriarch, killing any hopes of peace along with him!
Good job, Mirri! Destroying everything of value to the naive queen of your enemies you sought revenge on may have made her more dangerous than her deceased husband or stillborn son could ever have been. Extra points for teaching her a lesson in the process that mercy is for the weak and giving her a crash course in blood magic.
Congratulations, Robb! Sending Theon home to Daddy in an attempt to gain his support in combat resulted in the exact thing your father had been preventing by having Theon in the first place: The Iron Islands have taken up arms against Winterfell and now Robb has to fight wars on two fronts.
Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Congrats again Joffrey! By killing all of Robert's bastards you've confirmed in the eyes of many that you know they had a better claim to the throne than you and given your enemies the rallying cry "The queen kills babies!" If Tyrion wanted to slap you before, imagine how he thinks of you now.
The Night That Never Ends: Winter is coming. Pray it's a short one - they have been known to last a decade. There is an in-universe Fairy Tale about winter lasting a generation - kings froze to death in their castles, and women murdered their own babies to save them the agony of starving to death.
No Name Given: The Qartheen member of the Thirteen who first receives Dany outside the city walls. He does not give his name, saying that it is too long and hard for foreigners to pronounce. This is probably because he's a Canon Foreigner. When his actor was cast, he was called the Spice King, but that is a title and not a name.
The Dothraki Sea is not even remotely a large body of salt water. Rather, it is an area of rolling grassy plains, so named for its immense size and how easy it is to get lost in there.
The White Walkers are almost entirely black, with glowing blue eyes. Apparently few people live to actually describe their appearance correctly. The name might be a reference to their association with cold and snow.
Noodle Incident: In Tyrion's list of "confessions" in "A Golden Crown," he's cut off before he can describe what he did that involved bringing a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel.
Nostalgia Filter: King Robert likes to muse about the good old days, before he was king. You know, when the entire country was either ruled by an insane dictator or in a state of civil war. His younger brother Renly does not hesitate to call him out on this.
Tyrion muses that the difference between the people of the Seven Kingdoms and the Wildlings is that when the Wall was built, their ancestors just happened to be on the right side.
Ned comparing Robert to the Mad King Aerys in "The Wolf and the Lion."
Maester Luwin asks Theon if he should really be mocking Osha for her situation in Winterfell, because "a prisoner and a guest" describes his situation almost exactly.
Maester Aemon reveals to Jon Snow he more than anyone else in the Night's Watch knows his anger and being torn between his oath and wanting to do something to defend his family. He was already an old man, long since blind when the ravens delivered the news that most of his entire family had been slaughtered, even the children, during a time of war. He's Aemon Targaryen, the uncle of the Mad King.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Grand Maester Pycelle's hidden spryness and sharpness of mind, despite his age and apparent senility.
Occult Blue Eyes: The eyes of those raised from dead by the white walkers are portrayed like this◊.
Offhand Backhand: When Jaime shoves Bran out the window, he does it with a sudden but casual shove while not bothering to look at him.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: During the events detailed in Episode 9, there are two battles going on, but only the aftermaths are shown. In the first instance, Tyrion gets knocked unconscious by the rush of his troops following a Rousing Speech, and only wakes up when the battle is over. Later in the episode, Robb returns triumphant from a battle not shown on screen. The second was never shown in the books either, but the first was, and is not shown in the TV series due to time/budget constraints. It would have been spectacular to see on-screen—especially Tyrion's participation in it, which made it clear he's far from an action hero but quite resourceful when the chips are down, his Ragtag Band of Misfits ultimately winning a battle that was meant to be lost in the first place.
Varys' reaction when Littlefinger reveals that he was aware that Varys had been meeting secretly with Illyrio.
Jaime's and Cersei's reactions to finding out that Bran is going to live, and Tyrion's reaction to Catelyn talking a whole tavern of people into arresting him.
Viserys once he realizes what is meant by giving him a "golden crown."
Bronn when Tyrion tells him that Lord Tywin is placing them in the vanguard in the next day's battle.
Arya in disguise as Tywin Lannister's cupbearer at Harrenhal when they announced that Littlefinger has arrived.
Robert Arryn's name was changed to Robin to avoid confusion with King Robert.
Averted with the "white walkers" and their zombie minions, the "wights." "White" and "wight" are pronounced the same, which can cause confusion.
Asha has been renamed Yara to not be confused with Osha.
Apparently Cleos Frey is now Alton Lannister to avoid having to explain why a Frey (family allied with Robb Stark) would be fighting with the Lannisters.
Only a Flesh Wound: Averted all over the place. When Ned gets speared in the leg, he's unconscious for a long period between episodes and weak for several episodes after, requiring a cane to get around. When Khal Drogo allows himself to be cut in a duel with an uppity tribesman, Daenerys and Mirri Maz Duur both agree that the wound must be washed and sewn, or it will fester. In the end it festers anyway—possibly due to Mirri's sabotage—and by the next episode he's very, very ill. Quite realistic for a setting with barely-above-medieval medicine.
Bronn makes it clear to Tyrion that he's expecting payment for his work. Tyrion points out that no one can beat a Lannister's price.
Petyr points out that the Gold Cloaks fight for whoever pays their salary.
Only Sane Employee: This seems to be the entire point of the role of The Hand Of The King.
Robert lampshades it when conferring the title on Eddard:
Robert: Lord Eddard Stark, I would name you The Hand Of The King.
Ned: I'm not worthy of the honour.
Robert: I'm not trying to honour you, I'm trying to get you to run my kingdom while I eat, drink, and whore my way to an early grave!
When Tywin Lannister was the Hand of the King, it was the most peaceful and prosperous period in recent history, which says something considering that the King he served was "The Mad King"
Renly feels he is this, and as of "You Win or You Die" he might be right.
Tyrion has hints of this on his trip to the Eyrie.
Varys has shades of this as well. When asked by Ned who he truly serves, he simply says "the Realm. Someone must."
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Some of the actors' natural accents do slip through, such as Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's native Danish, Richard Madden's Scottish accent and Michelle Fairley's Northern Irish accent. American Peter Dinklage's English accent is not totally correct, but is at least consistent.
Open Secret: Joffrey being born out of incest. As of "A Man Without Honour" in the second season, even Jaime and Cersei have given up denying it.
Oop North: Winterfell and the Starks are Northern, and the accents of the actors involved reflect this, especially textbook Yorkshireman Sean Bean as Ned. Bean's contract specified that he be allowed to use his native accent for the role. Conversely, those associated with the King, the Lannisters and/or the South tend to speak with RP (BBC English). The Northeners' general opinion of the South is broadly similar to cultural stereotypes between the South of England and the North.
Our Dragons Are Different: The Targaryen dragons had animal intelligence, breathed fire and were large enough to carry human riders in the air. Their fire was hot enough to burn castles. They had four limbs, including their wings. They laid scaled eggs, some of which are still preserved. They have been extinct for over a century. Some people seem to believe that magic died out with the dragons. Upon their return, we learn that dragons only eat cooked meat.
Parental Abandonment: Many of the characters have dead or missing parents. Examples include: Dany and Viserys, Jon, Bran, Tyrion, Cersei and Jaime, and a number of side characters.
By "Lord Snow," it looks like Daenerys and Khal Drogo are pretty damn happy together.
Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully as well, though it did not start that way.
Poke the Poodle: Tyrion's "confession" in the Eyrie, which also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny, describes a number of acts which, while not exactly innocent, are hardly the stuff villains are made of.
Where do I begin, my lords and ladies? I am a vile man, I confess it. My crimes and sins are beyond counting. I have lied and cheated, gambled and whored. I’m not particularly good at violence, but I’m good at convincing others to do violence for me. You want specifics, I suppose. When I was seven, I saw a servant girl bathing in the river. I stole her robe, and she was forced to return to the castle naked and in tears. If I close my eyes, I can still see her tits bouncing. When I was ten, I stuffed my uncle’s boots with goat shit. When confronted with my crime, I blamed a squire. The poor boy was flogged, and I escaped justice. When I was twelve, I milked my eel into a pot of turtle stew. I flogged the one-eyed snake. I skinned my sausage. I made the bald man cry into the turtle stew, which I do believe my sister ate—at least, I hope she did. I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel—
Posthumous Character: Lyanna Stark, Rhaegar Targaryen, "Mad" King Aerys Targaryen and Jon Arryn are among the characters mentioned frequently but already dead by the beginning of the series, though Arryn is seen briefly (lying in state) in the pilot episode.
The Power of Love: Averted horribly when Daenerys tries to use this to bring Khal Drogo out of a coma. Of course, it doesn't work, which is on par with the theme of the series.
Praetorian Guard: The Kingsguard, a group of knights who protect the king and serve for life. Like their namesake, one of their members was reponsible for the death of the previous king.
Pride: In case the lion on their coat of arms and the motto "Hear me Roar!" didn't give it away, this is a unifying theme for the Lannisters. All of them have a subtly different take on it.
Promotion to Opening Titles: Six recurring characters in Season 1, got promoted for Season 2: Jon Bradley (Samwell Tarly), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Conleth Hill (Varys), Sibel Kekilli (Shae) and Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister).
Bronn is pretty mellow when he's not fighting, but he makes it clear that he'll do anything for the right price.
Lannister soldiers are shown slaughtering the entire Stark household, even the septas, but when we see a few relaxing at camp, they're pretty normal people.
The Purge: In "The North Remembers", Joffrey has all of Robert's bastards hunted down and killed. It's rather disturbing to watch, considering many of the people involved are children.
Pyromaniac: Appears to be a genetic trait among the Targaryens, several of whom have an obsession with heat or fire and (sometimes correctly) believe themselves immune to it.
Race Lift: Pirate Salladhor Saan and merchant prince Xaro Xhoan Daxos have been cast with actors of African descent and Xaro has additionally been changed to an emigrant from the Summer Isles.
The Dothraki are seen to be indulging in this, which comes back to bite Khal Drogo later on when he needs medical help. Also offscreen by Ser Gregor Clegane at the behest of Tywin Lannister.
Gregor Clegane's band is reported to be doing this in the Riverlands. Ned is so appalled that he officially attaints him and sentences him to death, even though it would basically bring him to war with the Lannisters.
Being assigned to the Wall is seen as this, especially since the majority of the guards stationed there are criminals who choose service over their punishments. Others such as Ser Alliser Thorne are members of the former regime who chose the Wall over death.
Cersei plans to do this to Ned Stark in "Baelor." Joffrey, however has, other plans.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Ned Stark comes across as this, though the actual effectiveness of his rule is debatable.
Reason You Suck Speech: Renly Baratheon tells Robert exactly what he thinks of his "glory days".
Renly: Which days exactly? The ones when half of Westeros fought the other half and millions died, or before that when the Mad King slaughtered women and babies because the voices in his head told him they deserved it? Or way before that, when Dragons burnt whole cities to the ground?
Robert: Easy boy, you might be my brother but you're speaking to the king.
Renly: I suppose it was all rather heroic, if you were drunk enough and had some poor Riverland whore to stick your prick into to "make the eight."
Red Shirt: The Stark household guard, with the exception of Jory.
Lannister soldiers in a more literal sense.
Season 1 itself seems to be comprised of Stark bannermen and guards getting speared or destroyed. The only aversion to this is the Battle of the Whispering Wood, which in the series only shows the capture of Jaime. Of course, they were massively outnumbered before.
The Night's Watch, which is composed mostly of thieves and murderers who join to avoid their punishments. The rest of the kingdom forgets about them as they freeze and fight.
Robb's diversionary army is seen as completely expendable in-universe.
Remember the New Guy: Dolorous Edd is suddenly part of Lord Commander Mormont's group, although the scene from the book where he meets up with them is cut.
Revealing Coverup: The attempted assassination of Bran was the only thing that gave Catelyn reason to believe that he hadn't fallen, but was rather thrown, causing her to dig deeper into the affair and discover various clues pointing to the Lannisters.
Right Through His Pants: A few examples, unusually for an HBO series. Both Jaime and Tyrion are conspicuous offenders; Khal Drogo, on the other hand, averts it magnificently, as does Theon later, giving the first example of male frontal nudity in the series. Cersei gives a female example in the pilot as well, probably due (in-universe) to the discretion that tryst requires.
Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Robert Baratheon's entire rebellion was fueled by his desire to rescue Lyanna Stark.
Rule Of Cool: Why would anyone build a clockwork map of the world? Because it looks really really cool, that's why. The little-cogs-in-a-larger-machine effect satisfies the Rule of Symbolism as well.
Rule of Seven: Seven Kingdoms, Seven Gods, Seven Hells...
In "Winter Is Coming," the Starks find two dead animals who died fighting each other - a stag and a direwolf. The latter has six pups which map directly onto the Stark children (including Jon Snow, who gets an albino who ran or was driven away from the others). Everyone is disturbed by this in-universe, as the symbolism of the house sigils is very important in Westeros.
At the beginning of "You Win or You Die," Tywin Lannister is shown very calmly butchering a stag as he instructs Jaime on how to carry on the family legacy. (Apparently, Charles Dance was dressing a real dead deer.)
Sacrificial Lamb: The three members of the Night's Watch (Will, Gared, and Ser Waymar Royce) who appear in the pilot. And Lady. And Jory, squeaking in just under the 5-episode limit.
You're free to leave your cell in the Eyrie at any time; the cells actually have only three walls. Of course, the cells are cut into a cliff face, with the missing fourth wall being the one that would keep you safe from falling out into space. Lysa Arryn implies that the cells have sloped floors, which would subliminally pull the prisoner closer to the edge, as Tyrion shows when he nearly rolls over the side in his sleep.
Joffrey gives a minstrel who offends him the choice between having his tongue cut out or losing his hands.
Sarcastic Clapping: Joffrey does this after hearing a minstrel's song mocking his family. The confused members of court aren't sure whether they should be joining him or not.
Sarcastic Confession: Tyrion says he's ready to confess his crimes to Lysa and Catelyn. He then begins confessing to pranks he pulled and indiscretions he committed in his youth. Including something involving bringing a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel...
Scenery Porn: The series really love to show beautiful establishing shot of places in Westeros and Essos, such as The Wall, The Dothraki Sea, The Vale of Arryn, etc.
After Robert's death, Renly flees the city with his retainers when Ned refuses to join him in taking decisive action against Cersei and Joffrey.
Ser Barristan, when Joffrey and Cersei try to force retirement on him.
Perhaps most blatantly, Sandor Clegane deserts during the Battle of Blackwater with the epic line "Fuck the Kingsguard. Fuck the city. Fuck the king." Delivered to said king's face no less!
Sex Equals Love: Daenerys and Drogo form a romantic bond once Dany gets tutored on how to take control of her sex life.
Sissy Villain: The eunuch Lord Varys subverts this trope brilliantly. Raised by actors, he knows how to play the role properly to keep the Queen and her council guessing. Even Magnificent Bastard Petyr Baelish doesn't quite know what he's up to. Oh, and he delivers quite a hardass What the Hell, Hero? to Ned Stark.
Shout Out: Jon and Sam, two characters in a fantasy world, telling each other what they wanted to be when they grew up: a ranger and a wizard, respectively.
A faint but audible Wilhelm can be heard as soldiers of the Lannister army are patrolling the battlefield finishing off downed enemies in the final episode of Season 1.
One of the poor sods who falls victim to the Mountain Clansmen in "Baelor."
Trauma Conga Line: In "Fire and Blood," Joffrey shows Sansa the castle wall adorned with heads on pikes, of all the members of her household. This most importantly of all includes her septa and her father and forces her to look.
Trial by Combat: Bronn championing Tyrion against Ser Vardis.
Training Montage: A minor one for Arya for her first "dancing" lesson with Syrio Forel.
Triumphant Reprise: The main theme gets this treatment on a couple occasions, the first being when Robb rides back from battle safe and sound, with Jaime Lannister as his prisoner, and the second over the final scene and closing credits of the season. The latter is so effective it's difficult not to leap from your couch, fist pumping and cheering when it cuts to black. Dragons have that effect.
Ultimate Job Security: Varys, Pycelle and Barristan are all survivors from the previous regime. Each of them is too good at what they do to have been removed from their posts.
Undead Child: In the very start of episode 1, we see a young wildling girl, murdered by the White Walkers and nailed to a tree. A few minutes later, she's no longer stuck to the tree, and is giving us a good look at her unnatural blue eyes. Creepy...
Unproblematic Prostitution: Averted. Littlefinger lets Ros know that he has and will let his clients mutilate or kill his prostitutes if they don't make him a profit.
Unreliable Narrator: The Blu-ray extras of the history of Westeros narrated by the characters in the show. However, each character has a bias or one-sided view over certain events. For example: House Lannister POV, they viewed their sacking of King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion a just action to bring order back to the kingdoms but in the House Baratheon and House Stark POV, they viewed the sacking an atrocious act since the Lannisters were killing or raping the people which Robert felt was a Necessary Evil while Ned viewed it as a horrible crime. Meanwhile House Targaryen from Viserys POV, he calls the sacking by the Lannisters an unjust betrayal despite the fact the other three Houses pointed out that the Mad King firing Tywin was the cause of him siding with the rebels.
Villainous Breakdown: Viserys begins showing greater and greater signs of this as he spends more time among the Dothraki. His breakdown reaches its climax when Khal Drogo presents him his "golden crown."
Cersei Lannister, with both her brother Jaime and her cousin Lancel.
The Targaryens practiced marrying brother to sister to preserve purity of the blood. Viserys certainly comes off as villainous while undressing and fondling his sister.
The Wall Around The World: Characters refer to the Wall as "the edge of the world." The Wall itself has startling parallels with Hadrian's Wall, a huge, 80 mile long barrier stretching across the top of England which was began in AD 122 and built to protect Roman Britain from Scottish invasion. Unsurprisingly George R.R. Martin has stated a visit to Hadrian's Wall was his inspiration.
"Winter Is Coming:" The things I do for love. [throws Bran out a window]
"Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things:" This man came into my house as a guest and there conspired to murder my son, a boy of ten. In the name of King Robert and the good lords you serve, I call upon you to seize him and help me return him to Winterfell to await the king's justice.
While You Were in Diapers: In "The Ghost of Harrenhal" one of Theon's crewmen, less than impressed by Captain Theon, goes even further back, saying that "I have been reaving and raping since before you left Balon's balls."
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Sandor flees combat in "Blackwater" when the battlefield becomes saturated with fire. He was horribly burned as a child by his brother.
Littlefinger and Varys seem to enjoy verbally sparring with each other and clearly see each other as the only other person on their mental level.
Jaime sees Eddard as one in regards to swordfighting. He admits that he's heard of Eddard's reputation and wants to test his mettle. When he finally gets the chance to square off with Eddard, a guard screws it up by interfering.
Wrong Genre Savvy: In-universe, Harren the Black, the builder of the great fortress of Harrenhal. He boasted that a million men could assault the walls and a million men would be repelled, that no army could take the fortress by land. So the Targaryens took the fortress instead with dragons from the sky.
The Wrongful Heir to the Throne: Renly invokes this trope when trying to convince Ned Stark to support his coup for the throne, pointing out that he's the most qualified heir for the job.
Syrio Forel holds up four Lannister soldiers and a member of the Kingsguard while Arya escapes. He does this armed only with a wooden sword.
Jorah Mormont does it twice, first against Viserys when he tries to steal dragon eggs and later against a battle-hardend Dothraki fighter. Fittingly, his family motto is "Here we stand."
, whilst the main fan nexus is Winter Is Coming
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