Dedicated fans will know there is nothing funny about Game of Thrones. The show is known for killing off the audience's favourite characters, and death and destruction is the order of the day in this fantasy world. Tyrion Lannister, played by Peter Dinklage, was probably the only character who could be witty in the face of death and make a joke or two even while being tried for murder.
In the first episode of Season 8, it seems the writers are trying to infuse more light-hearted moments into the narrative, even as we know the biggest war is looming upon them. Characters like Sansa Stark and Daenerys Targaryen seemed to have had a lesson in sarcasm and can now match the wits of Tyrion.
The episode opens with Tyrion joking about Lord Varys being a eunuch while riding into Winterfell. Referring to the extremely cold weather, Tyrion says, "You should consider yourself lucky, at least your ba**s won't freeze off." An irritated Varys asks him why he loves telling eunuch jokes when Tyrion himself hates jokes about dwarves. The next line is as predictable as a poor joke can be - "Because I have ba**s, and you don't," Tyrion says.
After season 7 ended with the image of the Ice Dragon burning down The Wall haunting viewers, one would have hardly expected Season 8 to open with a joke on male genitalia. But this is GoT, anything can happen. Even random attempts at being funny, too.
Sansa Stark seems to have grown up to not only become a mature Lady of Winterfell, she can match her ex-husband Tyrion's wit and also call him a fool in the same sentence. When Tyrion tells him that his sister, Cersei, has promised to send the Lannister army to help them fight the Night King, she scoffs at him.
Sansa: Cersei told you her army was coming North, to fight for you?
Tyrion: She did.
Sansa: And you believed her?
The smirk on Sansa's face is all of us thinking, 'What were you thinking, Tyrion?'
She is even able to look back at Joffrey's wedding and make light of that dreadful day when she had to flee King's Landing. Tyrion calls it a "miserable affair", but Sansa says, "It had its moments." Not something we would have expected of the old Sansa.
Daenerys has just lost a dragon, one of her children, but her mood seems to be light, more focussed on her newfound love - Jon Snow. When Jon attempts to sit on Rhaegal's back, and asks, "What if he doesn't want me to?", Dany says, with a smile, "Then I've enjoyed your company, Jon Snow."
I am still split between whether this was funnier than the dragon side-eye Jon and Dany got while kissing in front of Drogon and Rhaegal. Or the one in which Dany draws the conlusion that her sad children are barely eating, after the Dothraki inform her that the dragons have eaten only "eighten goats and eleven sheep."
The last but not the least funny exchange was between Dolorous Edd and Tormund. As a few men walk around one of the castles at what remains of The Wall, they hear footsteps and prepare to attack. Dolorous comes face-to-face with Tormund, and exclaims, "Stay back, he’s got blue eyes!" Tormund yells back, "I've always had blue eyes!"
That's where the comedy ends though, as they find the boy Lord Umber impaled on the wall by the Night King. That is the most gory this episode gets. The rest is all about funny repartees and warm reunions. We're so used to the grim world of Thrones, that an episode full of witty exchanges seem like an aberration. I'm guessing this was an attempt by the makers to start light, as more violence unfolds in the later episodes.
Follow @News18Movies for more
Comments
0 comment