The North Remembers (1 Apr. 2012)

Tyrion arrives at Kings Landing to take his father's place as Hand of the King. Stannis Baratheon plans to take the Iron Throne for his own. Robb tries to decide his next move in the war. The Night's Watch arrive at the house of Craster.

Director:

Alan Taylor

Writers:

George R.R. Martin ("A Song of Ice and Fire" by), David Benioff (creator),

Stars:

Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Dinklage	...	Tyrion Lannister
Lena Headey	...	Cersei Lannister
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Jaime Lannister
Michelle Fairley	...	Catelyn Stark
Emilia Clarke	...	Daenerys Targaryen
Aidan Gillen	...	Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish
Iain Glen	...	Ser Jorah Mormont
Kit Harington	...	Jon Snow
Liam Cunningham	...	Ser Davos Seaworth
Isaac Hempstead Wright	...	Bran Stark
Richard Madden	...	Robb Stark
Sophie Turner	...	Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams	...	Arya Stark
Alfie Allen	...	Theon Greyjoy
John Bradley	...	Samwell Tarly

Storyline

Winter is coming as the Night Watch go to meet the threat north of the Wall, the standoff between the Stark and the Lannisters boils with new rumors of King Joffrey's birthright and the rise of the Baratheon brothers in the warfare. All the while Dany leads her band of broken things through the dead lands barely hanging on. Trust...Joffrey will do whatever it takes to keep his crown.

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | queen | violence | brutality | helmet | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Clandeboye Estate, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Home Box Office (HBO), Television 360, Grok! Studio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

53 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the novels, Daenerys' silver mare has not died in the Red Waste. It is still alive at the point where the novels reached.

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Goofs

Stannis says "when Eddard Stark learned the truth [about Cersei's children], he told only me". Eddard Stark wrote a letter about that and gave it to Tomard with specific instructions to deliver it personally to Stannis, but Tomard was killed before he could deliver it to Stannis, thus Stannis could not hear that from Eddard.

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Quotes

[at the Chamber of the Painted Table, Stannis dictates a letter of declaration to Matthos Seaworth. Matthos reads the draft aloud]
Matthos Seaworth: ...and I declare upon the honor of my House, that my beloved brother Robert left...
Stannis Baratheon: He wasn't "my beloved brother". I didn't love him. He didn't love me.
Ser Davos Seaworth: A harmless courtesy, your Grace.
Stannis Baratheon: A lie. Take it out.
[Matthos erases the word "beloved"]
Matthos Seaworth: ...that my brother Robert left no trueborn heirs, the boy Joffrey, the boy Tommen, and the girl Myrcella, being born of incest ...
[...]

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Soundtracks

"Main Title"
(uncredited)
Written and Performed by Ramin Djawadi

User Reviews

Alan Taylor takes it to the next level

After Timothy Van Patten from introduced us to this epic series with the two captivating initial episodes, episodes 3-8 were engaging but slightly less convincing. Timothy Van Patten is an HBO veteran since "Sex and the City" and from "Sopranos" and "The Pacific" fame and was the right choice fine-tuning the take on this seductive and succulent source material. Having tackled two episodes of the perfect pitch period piece "Rome" and giving directorial birth to "Game of Thrones" he is now largely involved in "Boardwalk Empire", the other current HBO blockbuster and critically-acclaimed show.

Alan Taylor, also involved in "Sex and the City", "Sopranos" and "Boardwalk Empire" too some lesser degree, worked on my all-time favourite series "Six Feet Under" and also on more relevant and remarkable "Rome". He arrives for Episodes 9 and 10 of season 1 of "Game of Thrones" and ups the game in almost all levels of storytelling. Now in season two he is in charge of the first two episodes including this one who is the best episode this series has seen thus far. Watching episode 3 of this second season, it became apparent that the show is not the same without Alan Taylor! Thankfully he directs two other episodes I have yet to see, later in this season. However, he is not slated to direct in season 3 as he is now involved with a Marvel feature film for Thor...

All that said, this "The North Remembers" episode is to be remembered. From the beginning with King Joffrey's birthday celebration and sadistic humour interrupted by submissive Sansa Stark and new appointed Hand uncle Tyrion Lannister with a crisp arrival to King's Landing to the final murderous scenes, including brutal infanticide, that end the episode, every shot, dialogue and the specific and overall tones are on point. This is a strong episode on its own and also perfect resolution of last season's remaining questions as well as setting up the story lines for a potential exciting season 2. The next episode "The Night Lands" is also top notch, so here hoping other directors will follow Alan Taylor's lead and elevate the series with better scenes, acting, tension and pace.