Favorite quotes from Game of Thrones: First of His Name

Last night's Game of Thrones, "First of His Name," was packed with feelings. And yeah, there was definitely action - particularly in the last ten minutes - but the meat of this episode was in rewarding character interactions and set up. I adored it.

Look out for spoilers after the picture.

Favorite quotes

"I will do what queens do. I will rule." - Daenerys Targaryen

“We may be faced with an alarming number of weddings soon. I won’t even know what to call you, sister or mother?” - Margaery Tyrell

“We all live in its shadow, and nearly none of us know it.” - Tywin Lannister on the Iron Bank

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“What good is power when you cannot protect the ones you love?” - Cersei Lannister

“Know your strengths, use them wisely and one man can be worth ten thousand.” - Littlefinger

“Hate’s as good a thing as any to keep a person going. Better than most.” - The Hound

Random thoughts
- The scene between Cersei and Margaery went down much differently than I thought it was going to. I appreciated Cersei admitting Joffrey's uh, flaws. But because it's Cersei, it's hard to believe she was being genuine about everything (or anything) she said, but it also didn't ring false. Maybe Margaery has successfully played her? Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

That smile! source

- Podrick and Brienne are almost funny enough together to make up for it not being Jaime and Brienne.

- No one messes with Ghost... once he's not caged anyway.

- Watching Bran decide to leave Jon broke my heart. I barely blinked while Bran decided on his next move, and I wanted to cry out to Jon for him. I think the Reeds were correct in their assumption that Jon would want to take Bran to Castle Black but man, I want the Stark siblings to meet again - even if it's only two of them.

- Can we all take a moment to appreciate the incredible range of emotion Kristian Nairn conveys with the word "Hodor?" It's impressive.

- I am so weary of rape, attempted rape, and/or implied rape. Maybe we could take a break next week, HBO?

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- I'm pretty sure Arya is the Batman of Westeros.

- What was the reasoning for the Hound backhanding Arya? He's rough, sure, but that didn't feel in character.

- I am not thrilled to be in the presence of crazy Lysa and Robin again. The scenes with Sansa in the Eyrie made me uncomfortable when I read the book, and it's even harder to watch. You've got to feel pity for Sansa. She was once a silly girl, true, but that doesn't mean she deserves the life she is now leading. She's gone from one dangerous place to another.

- My admiration of Daenerys grew when I saw her react to the news about how the slaves she'd freed were being conquered again. She's going to be quite the queen when she is finally ready to invade Westeros.

- How about Oberyn Martell not being sexualized in a whole episode? Finally.