CRM114

Did Ned get the revelation about the bastards by observing their hair color or reading about them in the giant book?

JasonF

He's Maester Cressen, though I don't think they gave his name in the show. He's the guy who stood before the crowd on the beach and exhorted them not to abandon the Old Gods as Melisandre was burning them.

I thought they could have been a little more explicit about his motives, but basically, Cressen was trying to poison Melisandre. He put poison in her wine then shared the cup with her, knowing the poison would kill them both, but that Stannis would be saved from her influence. Unfortunately for Cressen, the Lord of Light protects her.

sven

That and Sansa's comment about how Joff is absolutely nothing like his father.

JasonF

First Sansa's comment, as sven notes, then the book that Jon Arryn had been reading -- a book of noble genealogies, showing that for generations, whenever a Baratheon married a Lannister, the children of the marriage had dark Baratheon hair. Finally, observing the bastards to confirm.

sven

She is pushing Stannis into a war against multiple armies all of which dwarf his own. He only has like 5,000 men. His brother alone has 20x that amount.

Robert really fucked Stannis over by giving him Dragonstone as a seat instead of Storms End which went to Renly. By their customs it should have been the other way around. The younger brother should have gotten the poorer lands.

superdeluxe

Both, and there was a comment about how Baratheons seed is strong and they always have dark hair.

outcastja

Renly is the one that was being shaved down by the blonde boy from the tournament correct? Is he still part of the Small Council? I noticed he wasn't present in the meeting with Cersei in this episode.

Groucho

Renly fled right before the end of episode 8 of season 1, after Ned wouldn't go along with his plan of a more direct rebellion.

Burnt Thru

If he was part of the small council and raising an army of 100,000 against Joffrey he might find himself gently killed for his efforts. No, he's off out of harms way. He fled as soon as Ned refused to support his claim to the throne.

Dave99

No, he fled south after robert died (remember last season he wanted ned stark to join him in taking out the queen and joff when that happened. Ned refused, renly left, because he knew what would happen -to both ned and himself)

CRM114

Thanks for the background on Melisandre. I didn't get any of that Gods stuff from watching the show.

movie diva

Oh I love that gif, too bad its only Joffery, need some Sensa in there also

movie diva

He got it after he told Sensa and Arya to pack and go home, and Sensa said she wanted to give Jeffery blonde babies and then he read the description of Roberts family, they are all dark haired

fumanstan

Yeah, I had no idea really what they were talking about with the God stuff either.

superdeluxe

Ned could have prevented all of this crap in one fell swoop.

JasonF

We've seen at least three theologies on the show so far:

1. The Seven Gods worshipped by most of Westeros
2. The Old Gods worshipped in the North (both by the Starks in their Godswood and by the Wildlings)
3. As of last night's episode, a third religion -- the Lord of Light, a monotheistic religion previously not really present in Westeros.

Superman07

Is Storms End where Tyrion was on trial?

JasonF

No, that's the Eyrie, ancestral home of House Arryn. We've never seen Storm's End, but it's the ancestral home of House Baratheon.

Dragonstone, where Stannis is, is the ancestral home of House Targaryen. It was a desolate, sparsely inhabited rock when the Targaryens first arrived in Westeros 300 years prior to the show. Robert sent Stannis there because he needed someone to whip the Targaryen's remaining bannermen into shape and make sure they remained loyal, but Stannis just views it as getting stuck with a shitty domain while his younger brother Renly got the ancestral home.

superdeluxe

No he was in the Vale at the Eayrie

bdshort

No, he was on trial at the Eyrie, which is the seat of power of the Arryn family. Lysa Arryn is Catelyn Stark's sister and basically ran the place after Jon Arryn was murdered just before the beginning of season 1.

I thought the religion stuff was pretty easy to figure out, but I have read the books. I think it was spelled out enough when Maester Cressen was pleading with the people on the beach not to abandon their old gods for this new one, but obviously Melisandre wields a lot of power. I hope nobody sees this as a spoiler, but at least from reading the books, Stannis sees Melisandre as more of a means to and end... I've never really got the impression that he actually believes any of her mumbo jumbo, but it's enough that she's able to convince his people that she is dangerous.

Gunde

I'll say that those who haven't read the books (like me) are missing out by not studying the viewers guide on the blu-ray/dvd/hbo.com before rewatching season 1.
The rewatch in itself is a must IMO. It makes everything much more clear.

Awesome premiere. I loved every second.

Dr. DVD

I read the second book and cannot recall the killing of all the bastard children. I'm sure it happened, but so much does in the course of a book in this series that it's hard to remember every detail.

Dr. DVD

Oh, and in terms of Melissandre I saw a clip in a preview where it looked like she was "giving birth" to something.

Thrush

Here I was thinking Stannis was this badass who no-one wanted to fuck with.

superdeluxe

He is kind of a hardass.