The conceit of the sequence is that there is an immense globe of the world, with the continents of Westeros and Essos outlined on the inner surface of the globe rather than the outer, with a sun at the heart of the sphere ringed by a mechanical astrolabe. The whole thing is similar to a miniature Dyson Sphere. Under the surface there are gears, cogs and pulleys which, when activated when the camera gets near to particular locations, allows buildings and features to rise up out of the surface of the map. In the first episode, the cities of Kings Landing and Pentos, the castle of Winterfell and the Wall all rise up out of the map, with individual buildings and locations (such as the Red Keep and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, and the godswood in Winterfell) easily visible.

These locations will change as the series progresses: Pentos disappears from the sequence in Episode 2 to be replaced by Vaes Dothrak, whilst the Twins and the Eyrie will join the sequence in later episodes. With Season 2 confirmed, I'd expect to see Dragonstone, Pyke, Storm's End, Riverrun and Qarth appearing on the map.

A very nice touch is that the astrolabe surrounding the sun has scenes from the history of Westeros chiselled into the side of it. We see three such scenes during the title sequence: at the very beginning and end, and just after the camera visits Winterfell. In the first sequence we see a volcanic eruption destroying a city whilst a dragon looks on and people flee by boat, a clear depiction of the Doom of Valyria and the flight of the Targaryens to Westeros (technically the Targaryens didn't flee the Doom directly to Dragonstone, they were already there manning a trading outpost with the Seven Kingdoms, but that doesn't sound as cool). In the second the dragon is being brought down and killed by a direwolf, a lion and a stag, a reference to the alliance between the houses of Stark, Lannister and Baratheon that removed the Targaryens from power. The final scene has the other animals bowing down to the triumphant stag, noting that the Baratheons now hold the Iron Throne.

We then get the final logo for the series, backed by a great sigil showing the heads of the Targaryen, Baratheon, Stark and Lannister heraldic animals and setting out what the principle factions in the game of thrones will be.

Karazax wrote:Many of the reviewers who got preview copies of the first six episodes said 2 was the weakest, with 5 and 6 being the strongest of the ones they have seen. Good news since I thought 2 was really strong. Girlfriend threatened to stop watching after what happened to Lady though, dark story lines could be a problem for some viewers.

oracle86 wrote:Here's an amazing article about Game of Thrones' title sequence by Werthead -

http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2011/04 ... uence.html

The second episode of Game of Thrones delivered the same number of viewers as last week’s premiere. Sunday’s 9 p.m. airing was seen by 2.2 million viewers, matching last week. The 11 p.m. repeat drew another 732,000, also in line with premiere night. Meanwhile the first episode has since climbed to 6.8 million thanks to OnDemand and all of HBO’s extra airings.
So is this good news? Bad news? Mostly good…
HBO’s two biggest concerns about Thrones were that viewers either wouldn’t show up for the premiere because the series is (gasp!) fantasy, or they would take one look at the first episode and decide “this isn’t for me.” Neither of those things happened.
Would some growth have been nice? Yeah. But it was also Easter Sunday, so nobody expected the number to leap this week. Now as long as stabbing a certain furry character didn’t turn off too many people…

kanjisheik wrote:That soundtrack is so addictive!

P.S - If you look closely, you'll notice that there are differences in the opening credits of the 1st and 2nd episodes. Apparently, the locations keep changing, according to the movements of the characters. Can't wait for the 2nd season, when they add more and more locations!