Ten years after HBO’s fantasy epic premiered, its patience is a lost virtue.
TheGame of Thronesseries premiere was not some kind of revelation.
AndThe Walking Dead’s prosthetic zombies were more stunning than the White Walkers, in their earlywas-that-a-loincloth?incarnation.
Helen Sloan/HBO
Forget the gory specifics of that opening scene beyond the Wall.
Recall, instead, the magnificent fact thatGame of Thronesbegins with a seven minute scene about three doomed characters.
You only knew their names if you readGeorge R. R. Martin’s novels.
That opening shot of a door opening rising, rising, rising sets a patient tone.
There are so many people, and you meet all of them.
There are a lot of tweaks, and you get your bearings.
Game of Thronescould take its sweet time.
HBO believed so much in the material that showrunnersDavid BenioffandD.B.
Weissgot to make this first episode twice.
Wannabes likeAltered CarbonorLost in Spacecame on strong with explosive premieres, only to dead-end into 10-hour-movie delaying tactics.
Memories of those old fights haunt the Lord of Winterfell.
But his children are bright and hopeful, with destinies pointed in every direction.
The arrival of a gigantic direwolf is just more evidence of mystical degradation.
by Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen).
In 2011, premium cable maturity could still be a tantalizing come-on.
We meet Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) mid-orgasm and pre-fivesome.
Everything around Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa) is an M-for-Mature riot.
Your mileage may vary, andThronesgot more abashed with its sexual content as expanding popularity brought harsher critiques.
The leisurely pacing nails the darker tones, too.
He hears some bad news, and looks unhappy.
But look closely at his face beforehand, as he polishes his sword.
You imagine that he’s already anticipated every bit of bad news, even his own death.
He knows the sword can’t ever be sharp enough.
It’s essential, though, that this premiere is so Dany-heavy.
There’s no sense of a single important character, and no feeling that one tone has to dominate.
The worst instinct in fantasy is to sayThis Is Our Vibe.
Spread yourself far: One continent, no, two!
There is not yet a true inheritor of theGame of Thronestradition.
“Westworldlooked likeThrones' heir apparent when it killed off main characters, which is very Ned Stark.
But then they kept coming back to life, whichGame of Thronesonly did once (and not well).
By which I mean: Can you set your characters down at a table and make their conversation fascinating?
Plot machinations triumph over character now, every time.
One big frustration with this solid series premiere is the ending.
It’s intended as a double-shock twincestandkid-tossing!
It’s the kind ofcome-back-next-weektrick that premium cable avoided in the 2000s, beforeTrue Bloodstarted doing it every week.
Everything they know about their world is about to change.
CreditGame of Thronesfor taking the time to show us what these people were like before Winter started coming.
