Game of Thrones 2nd Episode: Dire Wolf

Episode 2 of Game of Thrones was just as great as the first episode, and this time, we had more Dire Wolf goodness. I love the dire wolves; beautiful animals. Of course, they're not really dire wolves, but dogs. I've read on-line that they were huskies, yet, while they look husky like, they don't seem to be true huskies. Then I thought they might be husky-wolf hybrids, or something like that, but according to this Yahoo's Answers at Yahoo.com  about the show's dire wolves, the animals are actually a breed called Northern Inuit, from the UK. An Associated Content article has more information. The breed has only been around since the 1980s. And here's more on the Game of Thrones Winter Is Coming.net.

SPOILER!

The wolves were more present in last night's episode. A definite supernatural vibe to these creatures: special magical/spiritual bond between human "owner" and wolf, telepathic bond or communication, protection, loyalty, connections between the "tribe" as a whole, human and wolf alike.

In a very moving and upsetting segment, one of the wolves is ordered killed,in a moment of spite to presumably avenge the mistreatment of the spoiled Prince. Very hard to watch, very sad. A supernatural moment at her death however; the other wolves, separated by distance, responded to the murder of their sister. And the child who had lain still in bed for a month due to a botched attempt on his life (by the very same evil Queen who had the wolf killed) awoke at that moment. Is the dire wolf spirit now within him? The wolf, sacrificed to appease the need for power, control, and blood lust, may return in human form.

Readers of the book series by know what happened, but as I said in my first post about the wolves, I hadn't even heard of the books before the HBO series. So I'm a newbie. I don't know how the television adaptation compares to the books, but, I am loving Game of Thrones!