Game of Thrones Detailed Review: Prologue

Welcome to my chapter by chapter review of Game of Thrones. (Part of A Song of Ice & Fire by George R. R. Martin) If you haven’t read the novels or seen the HBO series this will be nothing but spoiler after spoiler for you.

If you have read the books then this will be a deeper look and I’ll be pointing out some things that may have been missed the first time through. I’ll also be pointing out some differences between the novels and the show. My goal is to get through all the books before George R. R. Martin releases the 6th book The Winds of Winter, by going over at least one chapter per week..

So without any further ado lets get started.

Game of Thrones Prologue

The Song of Ice and Fire starts out with three men of the nights watch out on patrol beyond the wall.

Left to Right: Gared, Ser Waymar Royce, and Will

Gared is an experienced ranger of 40 years. Will was a hunter and four years ago he got caught poaching by the men of Lord Mallister and opted to join the watch instead of losing a hand.

Ser Waymar Royce is 18 years old and the son of a noble family. Now in Westeros inheritance of titles and lands falls to the oldest male in the family. If no living male heir exists then it falls to the oldest female. Yes this does mean a womans younger brothers are in line before her when it comes to lands and titles. This is important to keep in mind as it’s a source of motivations for characters and is a reoccuring theme throughout the story.

But back to Ser Waymar, he has been given command of this patrol from Lord Commander Mormont. Waymar comes from money. His clothing, armor, the war horse he rides, not to mention the longsword made from castle forged steel with jewels in the hilt.

Essentially this is the most likely reason Lord Mormont gave command to Ser Royce. We know the Nights Watch has fallen on hard times. The wall isn't manned like it should be, there are literally castles and forts along it that are abandoned and crumbling. So knowing Ser Waymar comes from money, Mormont may have been hoping that after a few years Lord Royce might be swayed into making a donation to the Night's Watch. So Waymar gets command over the more experienced Will and Gared.

Now Waymar has two older brothers Andar who is the first in line to become Lord of Runstone and his 2nd older brother Robar. So it’s really unlikely he was gonna inherit the family lands and title. So going to the wall in a time of peace may have been a selfless act of service.

Just a little bit about House Royce; they are the sworn bannermen of House Arryn Lord of the Vale. They are a very old house and at one point ruled the vale until they were supplanted by House Arryn.

Coat of Arms of House Royce

The family words are “We Remember” which suggests they may have ambitions of returning the house to it’s former glory.

They are tracking a group of wildlings through the haunted forest. Will is reporting back after finding the camp of wildlings apparently dead from the cold. Gared who has been ranging beyond the wall for forty years agrees that it was the cold that killed them and even relates his own experiences with how dangerous it can be.

Ser Royce disagrees and wants to see for himself as he realizes it’s not cold enough to kill. They move closer and Gared and Will feel that something is amiss. Ser Waymar outwardly mocks the Gared calling him a fool for wanting a fire.

Long story short Will and Waymar get to the camp and the bodies of the wildlings are gone. Waymar orders will up a tree and we the readers have our first encounter with The Others, also known as the White Walkers.

Some things on The Others is that the temperature drops when they are around. So it gets really cold quickly. Also when they kill a foe they raise them up as a Wight which is what happens to Ser Waymar. In addition they are also incredibly stealthy. The armor seems to change color as it moves. In addition they make no noise as they move. Ser Waymar is taken completely unaware that he is surrounded by foes initially when he gets killed. On top of that they wear armor that changes color similar to the armor worn by the Predator in the movies. They also carry some sort of spectral blade that is stronger than steel. In addition the ringmail worn by Ser Waymar really doesn't offer a lot of protection as The Others spectral blades cut through it with relative ease. Ser Waymar’s blade shatters in the fight and he is killed.

Will who was up a tree looking for the wildings stays hidden out of fear and the others don’t seem to notice or care about him. When he gets down he snags up the broken sword. This is his sort of proof that Ser Waymar fell and he can bring this back to Lord Mormont.

Unfortunately Weymar rises up as a wight and strangles Will before he can make good his escape.

This just leaves Gared alive who wanted to build a fire but was forbidden to by Ser Waymar, and forced to stay behind and tend to the horses while Waymar and Will investigated the wildling camp. This might suggest that they can at least be kept at bay with fire. 

At the least Gared would have heard the piercing sounds of fighting between the White Walker and Ser Royce and that should have alerted him to the danger. Or perhaps the Others didn't care about Will and Gared and just wanted to kill Weymar as they didn't see to bother them.

TV vs. Book

This is the section where I will point out the differences between the book and the HBO series. I’m gonna leave out the minor differences like how in the book the three rangers are days travel from the wall and in the series they are shown leaving which suggests the walkers are a lot closer to the wall then they really are. I’m gonna let some of those things go as they most likely are done to make a smooth adaptation.

• In the TV series, Will discovers the wildlings massacred and their bodies brutalized. In the book, he says they appeared to be sleeping and likely froze to death.
• The White Walkers are of different appearance in the TV series. In the book, they have white skin and reflective light armor. In the TV series, they have frozen grey skin, dark hair, and a brutal face similar to a skull. They don't seem to wear any armor.
• In the TV series, Gared and Waymar Royce face the White Walkers' first attack, while Will is exploring the area. In the book, Gared is left a short distance away to protect the horses and Will is climbing a tree to get a visual on the wildlings while Waymar Royce was left beneath the tree to face the White walkers by himself.
• In the books, a group (at least five) of "the Others" (White Walkers) approach Ser Waymar Royce, who has a duel with one of them before finally being killed by the group. In the TV series not more than two White Walkers appear, and Waymar is killed in a surprise attack by one.
• The wight girl, who frightens Will in the series is never mentioned in the book.
• In the books, Ser Waymar Royce is transformed into a wight.
• In the TV series, Gared is the second one to be killed by the White Walkers and Will escapes. In the books, Will is strangled by the wight of Ser Waymar Royce and Gared escapes. There is a key difference in the fact that in the TV series the death is a beheading at the hands of a White Walker as opposed to being killed by a wight.