Game of Thrones (#13)

Winter is coming, and so is an exploration of this excellent show

It’s time to discuss Game of Thrones, one of the biggest cultural entertainment events of this century. It’s a show almost everyone had an opinion on. Some opinions were from the folks who foolishly chose to not watch “that show about dragons.” Many opinions came from the people who had read and loved the books and felt the TV show was a pale imitation. And the vast majority came from folks like me, who dove into the show with zero prior context.

And MAN, did I love it. Like many viewers, the last season was, to quote a show we’ve already discussed:

That for sure is a reason it’s knocked out of my top-ten. Because aside from that, what DOESN’T this show have? Great action, drama, some comedy, some romance - and some things I’ve never, ever seen anywhere else.

Backing up a bit, Game of Thrones is an adaptation of author George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. It takes place in the mythical land of Westeros and resembles in many ways Medieval Times in terms of wardrobe, weaponry and technology. And yes, there are dragons.

As someone who isn’t particularly a fan of fantasy, one of the reasons this worked so well for me is that NOBODY thinks this is normal (except, maybe, for Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) the so-called Khaleesi and “Mother of Dragons.”) Dragons are supposed to have existed in the past but until Dany shows up, they are thought to be extinct. And, more importantly, this isn’t a world of wizards and magic - when it does show up, it’s shocking, suspicious and, well … magical.

Instead, what we have basically is a more typical story about the ‘seven kingdoms’ and their battle for power to sit on the Iron Throne and rule all of Westeros. It’s clear from the jump that our heroes are the Starks, who rule Winterfell in the North. Ned Stark (Sean Bean) and his wife Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) have five children - Robb (Richard Madden), Sansa (Sophie Turner), Arya (Maisie Williams), Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and Rickon (Art Parkinson) - as well as an illegitimate son of Ned’s named Jon Snow (Kit Harrington).

One interesting thing is all illegitimate children take on similar last names, depending on where they are born - Snow is used for those in the north, Sand in the desert regions, etc.

Ned is asked by King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) to come to Kings Landing and, without spoiling much, there is soon a vacancy on the Iron Throne and hey guess what? - EVERYBODY thinks they have a claim to that throne. Whether it’s Robert’s widow Cersei (Lena Headey) and her lover/brother Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), Robert’s brother Stannis (Stephen Dillane), his other brother Renly (Gethin Anthony) or … some mysterious folks currently in Essos (a separate land to the east) who appear to be descendants of the Targaryen’s who last held the throne. Indeed, Daenerys soon grows up and wants to sit on the Iron Throne which she believes is rightfully hers.

We have a basic battle of good and evil here - but what’s fun is that it’s constantly hard to keep track of who is who.

Meanwhile, stuff is happening way north - past Winterfell and The Wall, things are getting restless. We start moving way more into the mystical here, but there’s also some political elements - many people live “freely” above the wall, because they don’t want to live under the rule of a kingdom. They are considered outcasts and miscreants and soldiers from the kingdoms south of the wall are ordered to kill any of them who cross back through. (Those kingdoms include Winterfell, where our heroes the Starks live. See how confusing this can get, quickly?) But there are also mysterious beings called White Walkers (most folks south of the Wall think they are just myth) wreaking death and havoc on the humans who cross their path.

Some of the battles with the White Walkers (above) are about the best battle sequences I’ve ever seen on screen, regardless of context. Similarly, the battle at Kings’ Landing with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) showing bravery when Prince Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) is unable to - just great, horrifying stuff. And the story did some things viewers weren’t ready for - killing off characters way earlier than you’d even believe possible, introducing new critical characters late in the game, etc.

In writing this, it’s hard to keep track of so many characters - I’ve barely scratched the surface, and what’s impressive is how many plotlines are happening throughout. One way the show helped viewers keep track of that was showing the map of Westeros and Essos in the opening credits, and focusing on where the episode in question was going to take place. It’s probably the best opening credits in TV show history, so here’s just one example:

It’s worth acknowledging that when the show started and for most of the first season (and perhaps a bit farther) the show could have been described not as “that dragon show" (they show up late) but as “boobs and blood.” We’ve talked about the violence, but there was an admittedly gratuitous amount of nudity. I’m not against that, but it was a bit ridiculous at times. And then, in a way to illustrated the depravity and cruelty of a few characters, there was to me an unnecessary amount of violence against women shown in some key moments. To be fair, some of this comes from the books, but at times it seemed like the show could have easily shown a bit more restraint but chose to do just the opposite. This article sums up some feelings better than I can, but it’s a bad mark on the show and it seems to have been wholly avoidable.

Like many viewers, I started reading the books after starting the show - and quickly finished the books (which, admittedly, are uneven and exceptionally long - world building takes time!) The series caught up with the story and since Martin still has yet to publish the sixth OR seventh book in his series, went past where the books have gone thus far.

And … things didn’t go great. The final season seemed to be a full character turn for a critical character and people were very, very unhappy. I’ve rewatched it and think it’s maybe not quite as awful or unexpected as many thought, but it was still a bummer of a way to end it - and the answer of who will rule Westeros was similarly solved in a way that felt very silly. Writer Martin has tried to say that the TV show went in a different direction than he plans (easy to say when you have no book to show for it), but my suspicion is that it went exactly how he’d planned and he’s shifting based on the reaction to the final season.

World building is difficult and I will say that I’ve rarely been drawn into a world as easily as Game of Thrones. The magic and mysticism of it worked well for me, and episodes like “The Door” broke my heart. (Don’t get me started on “The Rains of Castamere” and the Red Wedding.) And GoT was truly a show you felt the need to watch on Sunday night, not just out of anticipation but in a bit of fear that if you didn’t, something would happen and you’d get spoiled on social media by someone posting about it.

HBO knows what it has here, and is releasing a new GoT related prequel in just a few weeks called House of the Dragon, which I’ll gladly watch - and assume from the jump that it’s going to be an inferior product. (There will be other related shows as well.) I will miss Tyrion, Jamie, Dany, Little Finger, Jon, Sansa, Arya and so many others. But in the meantime, I’m very happy ranking the show as my 13th favorite of all time.