How do I begin to write about a show that, by the time this is published, has already aired its last episode? By starting from the beginning.

I have never read the books by George R. R. Martin and I am on the fence about starting them. My original plan was to start watching the series upon the end of season eight. I simply moved up my timeline is all. Unfortunately, I am on social media quite a bit, so I’ve had quite a bit of spoilers so I won’t be completely surprised at the end. However, I will be enjoying the journey from season one to season eight nonetheless.

My introduction to Game of Thrones, started on the night of the season eight premiere. A friend invited me to a party which included food and specifically, spam musubis (which I love and if you don’t know, look it up). I had to be in attendance. Luckily for me, my friend sent me a 12 minute macro summary of the series so I wouldn’t be lost.

As a newbie seeing the production design and characters for the first time, I was able to discern history, tension, and drama in the short hour of my Game of Thrones timeline. I felt I had to start from the beginning.

Well, from the beginning, did I start! One thing I came to understand was the creators’ love of the episode cliffhanger. I mean, a character is thrown out of a window at the end of season one? How could anyone not continue to watch? Epic. The episode cliffhangers are epic across the board.

Production design? Stellar. As someone who worked in film production for three years and had taken the beginner film class, I appreciated the cinematography, set design, costumes, and their locations. I know they filmed the show in Croatia, Ireland, Edinburgh, Iceland, and numerous other countries and their excellent location scouting shows. Gorgeous views, even though at times, there were many scenes taking place at night with fire illuminating the actors’ faces.

But I digress. People love this show because it was aesthetically pleasing but more so the story- to fight to the death. As Cersei Lannister, the most ruthless woman part of the richest family of Westeros, says: “When you play the game of thrones, you win or die. There is no middle ground.”

How to review this season? It’s foundational for non-readers of the book series and as a TV show in general. We, as viewers, get the literal lay of the land. Watch the opening credits as it scans over each section we travel to in the stories: King’s Landing (the capital), Winterfell (where we meet the Starks), The Wall (where we meet the famous Night Watch), and Pentos (where we meet Daenerys and her brother).

We meet a certain character who is beheaded for treason. We meet Arya Stark whose arc is as transformative to watch like Peggy Olson’s arc on Mad Men. Arya Stark is a wee little girl in this season, but she grows up to be this badass sword holding fighter. It’s inherent when she keeps rejecting this notion of being a “lady” like her sister, Sansa Stark. She wants to fight and is gifted with a sword by her brother, Jon Snow. Snow, we learn early on and always reminded of, is the bastard of Ned Stark and brought up with his family. Theon Greyjoy is another character that undergoes extreme circumstances and a backstory that humanizes him, even though he is a fool at times.

The evilest family of them all, the Lannisters, arrive in Winterfell because King Robert Baratheon needs a new Hand of the King, and because he and Ned Stark grew up together, asks him to fill that open role. Cersei Lannister is married to Robert, and while she’s quiet for now, we see her flourish and her true character with each episode in each season. I can only write so much because I wouldn’t want to spoil any important detail to a new viewer of this series.

Beheadings. Treason. People are throwing others out the window — tragic deaths. A princess betrothed to a ruthless prince. A dwarf who swears and has sex with whores. An army that fights Night Walkers, these zombies like creatures who live beyond the wall. Wildings, people that live beyond the wall and are compared to savages because they didn’t grow up with “Lord” blood. A mother to dragons. Delicious antagonistic relationships. Incest.

This is a fantastic first season that provides the reader with all the necessary information to keep up and even forget this was a book series first. It’s wonderfully acted, and the political allegory is omnipresent, you can’t ignore it. This show is well crafted and written and sometimes sad how the government in this fictional world isn’t that much different from our current administration.

As a person that stays away from hype (it took me forever to get into the Harry Potter series as a teenager), I kept choosing other television shows to take up my time. I’m glad I waited this long because I, unlike every Game of Thrones fan, will never experience waiting a week or a year after those unreal episode cliffhangers. Ah, the beauty of the binge watch. How sweet it is.

These will be published after Season Eight concludes so stick around for my reviews with each season way after the fact.