A GAME OF THRONES, SEASON 2: THE HEAVY METAL REVIEW — EPISODE 2.1, “THE NORTH REMEMBERS”

Game of Thrones Season 2 kicked off on HBO last night. Set in a medieval world, the epic series is a rich meditation on power, class, religion, family and politics. It’s also metal as fuck.

The buzz show’s aesthetic, worldview and demographics will all feel familiar to metalheads. In a Game of Thrones, long-haired dudes decked out in leather wield steel and kick ass while hot girls gyrate in the background. The sweaty dudes far outnumber the women characters, but the girls you encounter – especially in Season 2 – are some of the strongest women you’ll ever (not) meet. One particularly smokin’ gal pals around with dragons. Power is all. Week in, week out, the show delivers plenty to look at and think about.

SPOILER ALERT:

In season one, a series of decapitations included a horse and one of the guys from Lord of the Rings (damned if we can keep them straight). This season, you can expect more bloodshed, black magic, walking undead, vikings and – of course – axe-slinging dudes dressed in  black and splattered in gore. And MetalSucks will be here, covering the show as only we can.

Yeah, the acting’s good, the dialogue is swell, and every frame looks like an oil painting. Every other site in the world has some egghead who’ll rave about the exquisite set design and sublime imagery. But we’ll skip the arty shit and evaluate every episode in terms of how Metal it is. How badass was Game of Thrones this week? We’ll tell you true.

Each episode will be reviewed by D.X. Ferris, a MetalSucks pal who has read all five of George R.R. Martin’s current Song of Ice and Fire novels on which the show is based, watched each episode of Season One at least three times, and is neglecting the second Hunger Games book so he can get you reviews in a timely manner.

Tune in every Monday morning for the only Game of Thrones review that matters.

Episode 2.1, “The North Remembers.”

Cattle skulls on a creepy keep with a bloody secret. A young lord walks in a gray wolf’s skin as a crimson comet cuts across the sky. Hungry dragons howl on dusty plains. Bastards are cut down without mercy, be they boys or babies. A rebel king confronts a warrior in chains. Totems of old gods are burnt by a red witch who’s stronger than poison. “The night is dark and full of terrors.” It’s a little slow, but so is doom.

Rating: Only sorta metal, but stay tuned.

-Ferris

D.X. Ferris wrote the 33 1/3 series book about Slayer’s Reign in Blood, writes & draws the webcomic Suburban Metal Dad, and runs Pentagrammarian,  the world’s only heavy metal grammar & usage website (that we’re aware of). You can follow his bullshit on Twitter here , here, and here.