# Game of Thrones - I'm starting late and need help **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755 "2013-04-26T14:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/21 "2013-04-26T16:58:26Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Magical ceremony? It was a cremation! Well, suti, she was going to burn herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. Well, that’s what everyone else was expecting, anyway. So I summed up. Sue me. > [@](#): > > Also, the seven royal/noble families of Westeros have totemic animals, and at least the Starks have a mystical link with theirs, being able to control and keep the Direwolves, more or less. Whether the Lannisters once had the power to control lions, or the Baratheons stags, who knows. But it’s not just dragon-girl and her pets. Some sort of hereditary Waug-ism, maybe. I think they call them “Wargs” in this series. Speaking of Wargs, one character I forgot to mention is Bran Stark- another Stark child of Ned and Catelyn, who was crippled in Season 1 when thrown out of a window by Jaime Lannister after Bran caught Jaime and his sister Cersei “wrestling”. Bran has mystical dreams, a strong psychic connection with his wolf, Summer, and fled northwards from his home after his family’s home (Winterfell) was captured in treachery by Theon Greyjoy. No one knows where Bran and his little brother Rickon are, and many think they are dead. > [@](#): > > I think they said in earlier episodes the current summer was nine years long, rather than decades, and that such long summers often breed longer and fiercer winters, and their current food stocks are only for 5(?) years. Something like that. I might have been off on this one. > [@](#): > > I don’t think Robin Hood was a fanatical follower of a murderous fire god… I think the chief characteristic (geopolitically speaking) of the BwB is the fact that they really are trying to fight for the “little people”, rather than their religious beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/22 "2013-04-26T17:10:53Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’m happy to expand on any of this, or answer any other questions! There are a few other main characters who haven’t been mentioned: -Joffrey (sadistic evil incest king) is currently betrothed to **Margaery Tyrell** , ambitious daughter of another one of the powerful families of Westeros, although one we have seen less of. She definitely seems to want power, and is clearly playing him by pretending to be interested in crossbows and crypts and the other stuff he’s creepily obsessed with. Her brother is **Loras Tyrell** , the Knight of Flowers, a famously skilled knight who is also extremely gay. We have recently met their grandmother, **Olenna Tyrell** , who seems to be a crafty mover and shaker in her own right -In addition to Robb (king in the North), Sansa (captive in King’s Landing) and Arya (wandering around with the outlaws), there are two other Stark children: **Bran** (young boy, crippled) and **Rickon** (younger boy, so far fairly irrelevant). They were in Winterfell (the Stark home) when it was captured for a while by Theon Greyjoy (who is now being tortured a lot). They escaped, and Theon killed two other boys and displayed their burned corpses so that everyone would assume they were dead and that he was thus to be feared. They are currently heading north towards The Wall in the company of a Wildling lady, a mystical boy, the boy’s sister, and Hodor (Hodor!), a large simpleton. Bran has all sorts of weird and presumably mystical dreams, and may be a “seer” or a “warg” or goodness knows precisely what. -Robb (the king in the North)'s mother Catelyn is from the Tully family, yet another powerful family. The Tully patriarch just died, and he is survived primarily by his brother, **The Blackfish** , who seems pretty awesome, and his son **Edmure** , who seems like a whiney loser. So, that’s the main plotlines going on. Now all we have to do is fill you in on Jorah Mormont, Barristan Semly, Shae, the Freys, Bronn, Sir Ilyn Payne, Missandea, Davos Seaworth, Mellisandre, Hot Pie, Gendry, The Mountain, Jon Arryn, Grand Maester Pycelle, legendary lover Podric Payne, Roz the exposition whore, Balon Greyjoy, Yara Greyjoy, Tommen and Myrcella, the Kingsguard, the Dothraki, Qarth, the mountain clans, that pirate whose name I don’t remember, and Robin Arryn (whose name in the TV show might be different), and you’ll be totally caught up! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/23 "2013-04-26T17:15:33Z")
\*\*iiandyiiii \*\*, good job with the summation! Clear this up for me: Are there different kinds of White Walkers? The rangers who died in S1 and came back to life, are they White Walkers? They didn’t look anything like the icy things we saw at the end of S2. Why did the Wildlings want to burn Qorin Halfhand’s body? Were they worried he’d come back to life as a Walker? Do people who die north of the Wall come back? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/24 "2013-04-26T17:51:16Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > \*\*iiandyiiii \*\*, good job with the summation! > > Clear this up for me: Are there different kinds of White Walkers? The rangers who died in S1 and came back to life, are they White Walkers? They didn’t look anything like the icy things we saw at the end of S2. > > Why did the Wildlings want to burn Qorin Halfhand’s body? Were they worried he’d come back to life as a Walker? Do people who die north of the Wall come back? We don’t really know too much, but it’s pretty clearly implied that there are White Walkers, and then there are reanimated zombie corpses (human and horse), and the White Walkers are in charge of the zombies. But White Walkers are not the same thing as the zombies. Lots of things are unclear, such as whether the zombification just happens naturally beyond the Wall, or whether there have to be White Walkers nearby, etc. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/25 "2013-04-26T18:06:30Z")
The White Walkers are something like ice-demons (or evil ice-fairies, perhaps)- they’re not dead, just different. The zombies are definitely dead, and serve the White Walkers. It’s not yet clear why some dead bodies become zombies, but so far it’s only happened at or north of the Wall. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/26 "2013-04-26T18:15:28Z")
As I understand it, white-walkers are the ice-creatures with piercing blue eyes that look definitively supernatural. They have the ability to call the ones they slay to be resurrected as zombies, unless the corpse is burned - a wildling tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Labor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Labor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/27 "2013-04-27T13:22:55Z")
Wow, this is great. THANKS! I do have lots of free time so I probably should read the books. I’ll also check out the recommended wikis. I do appreciate your careful explanations, a lot of this is starting to make more sense. I started watching at the beginning of season 3, and you know HBO, I got to see the previews for a week. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/28 "2013-04-27T22:51:38Z")
Check out HBO’s site for the show. The [Viewer’s Guide](http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/season3/) has background information & summaries of previous episodes. It’s designed for folks who haven’t read the books, so you won’t find any spoilers. Even for those who’ve read the books, there are many, many details… ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/29 "2013-04-28T00:17:58Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > …-Joffrey (sadistic evil incest king) is currently betrothed to **Margaery Tyrell** , ambitious daughter of another one of the powerful families of Westeros, although one we have seen less of. She definitely seems to want power, and is clearly playing him by pretending to be interested in crossbows and crypts and the other stuff he’s creepily obsessed with. Her brother is **Loras Tyrell** , the Knight of Flowers, a famously skilled knight who is also extremely gay. We have recently met their grandmother, **Olenna Tyrell** , who seems to be a crafty mover and shaker in her own right… Margaery is shaping up to be even better at court intrigue and manipulation that Queen Cersei. Unlike the Lannisters the Tyrells cultivate this in their women. She certainly isn’t the passive little naive girl Joffrey’s previous fiancee, Sansa Stark, was. Best demonstrated by her casually offering to have Loras come in and “warm up” her 1st husband Renly Baratheon when the latter was sqeamish about consumating their marriage. He declined and Margaery is still officially a virgin. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755/30 "2013-04-28T18:03:26Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Margaery is shaping up to be even better at court intrigue and manipulation that Queen Cersei. Unlike the Lannisters the Tyrells cultivate this in their women. She certainly isn’t the passive little naive girl Joffrey’s previous fiancee, Sansa Stark, was. Sansa should be taking lessons from Margaery, honest to God, or she is going to end up dead. Not that I’m expecting ANYONE to make it through to the end alive, but still, she ought to at least TRY. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-im-starting-late-and-need-help/656755.md?page=1)