Fire and Blood (Game of Thrones) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Man—such an ill-fated creature.

His ill-fatedness is very much a theme in the HBO series, Game of Thrones, wherein one would expect quite a few of the major characters (not just Ned Stark and the primitive Big Boy married to Daenerys) to tragically die.  It’s a terrible world they live in, a very arduous environment, sinful and pagan, natural and magical.  There is a lot of surviving, though, and it must be said that the slender young queen, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), really knows how to triumph as a warrior, as at the recherche end of the show’s first season.

Probably Season 3 is one of the finest “movies” of 2013.  (Season 2, on the other hand, was often a lot of noise and meandering.)  The drama has engrossing and colorful incidents, such as the dwarf Tyrion’s marriage to young Sansa and the mad battle with the bear, and heart and momentum.  The acting is mostly solid: consider Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance (Daddy Lannister), Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark).  The very pretty Natalie Dormer is also on hand, flavorful and capable of coyness.

I hope it’s not an ill-fated series.

(The photo is of Emilia Clarke.)