Television Tuesday: Game of Thrones

As one of the most popular television shows of recent years, I’m sure this series has been hashed out, ripped apart, sewn back together and thrown into a trash compactor by many writers, reviewers and fans, but I’m going to go ahead and take a stab at it.

Major spoilers ahead - you have been warned. 

It is hard to quantify the cultural impact of this show, despite the enormous re-introduction of fantasy series into the mainstream. From a frantic fandom that spawned spin-offs and merchandise such as dragon plushes to Dothraki language learning (I personally would have preferred to learn High Valyrian - hey! It’s the best language for poetry). All the theories, quotes, cosplays and fan-art amounts to quite a visual impact, but what kind of intellectual or psychological effects has Game of Thrones left behind?

Buckle up kids, it’s time for blood, sex, and violence. 

The kind of fantasy series I grew up with upheld a certain standard of disguise in human gore, death, and sex. Deaths were magical, slow, or beautiful; possibly with a spatter of blood on the clothes. Sex was merely a suggestion, a confirmation of the building affection between two characters that led to marriage or a child, never an outright display. Game of Thrones was my first stark look at the realities of medieval times. From the opening of the show, gore and nudity was clear to be a feature. The show somewhat prepares you for its R rating, but the persistent inclusion of these factors becomes a disgusting sort of plot diversion at some points. Many moments depicted raw emotion from the characters and changed them indefinitely, however the inclusion of some moments, such as Sansa’s rape at the hands of Ramsay Bolton, was both unnecessary and tragic. The cruelty that Ramsay exhibited could have easily been directed in a different manner, and Sansa could have still grown stronger through surviving trauma, as she had been up to that point. The rape itself truly broke the last bit of hope for romance or love within Sansa. For many characters, those violent situations shaped who and what they became, but in some cases the violence really should have been toned down. People can change without having such drastic life events occur, and I think the show should have recognized that small moments can sometimes make a bigger impact on characters and the audience. 

Women Warriors in a Game of Strength, Wits and Power

While harsh and unforgiving to it’s female cast (see Sansa being raped, Shireen being burned alive, Catelyn betrayed, Margaery blown up, Missandei beheaded) the show managed to include a wide array of female types in its casting and characters. We have Arya, a tomboy turned fighter who is small but fierce. Sansa begins naive and shallow, but grows into a leader. Daenerys is introduced as meek, then unleashed a rage that inspired the masses. Brienne showed brute strength combined with a loving and loyal personality.

Cersei and Catelyn demonstrated the lengths mothers go to when protecting their children. Margaery and Melisandre used their beauty and wits to influence kings and leaders. Ygritte and Yara fought tooth and nail to be considered equals to men. All these women go through a journey, some to death, others to survive, and some to triumph. Even though some of these characters are viewed as evil by most, (Cersei, Melisandre, The Sand Snakes) their dynamic personalities and motivations were a new form of the female villains I had previously seen. With such a long run-time for the show, there was lots of time to make the audience aware of motivations for good and evil characters, whether because of their past or their position in life. Each woman in the show was faced with obstacles having to do with her gender, and they each fought back against this oppression in different ways. The most powerful women often crossed paths, maneuvering their way towards royalty. Arya Stark, Ygritte, Brienne and Yara Greyjoy found they could not be independent this way, so they struck out on their own. They learned to fight and defend themselves, seeking their own justice and following their own rules. My personal favorite of the characters was Brienne. She kept focus on her morals and convictions while exhibiting strength and bravery. Margaery was also a favorite of mine, not only because she was very attractive, but her cunning and people skills were how she almost made it to the top in the Game of Thrones. Any of these journeys could resonate with women, as the variety of personalities and struggles spans age and class to represent strong female characters. 

Can’t Hold Them Back: Game of Thrones Heroes

Finding characters that have handicaps that their personality or show isn't centered around can be difficult, and in fantasy even more so. Fantasy imagines that all physical ailments are restored to “normalcy” by the magic and spells within their worlds. Game of Thrones injects its series with characters that have handicaps that do not completely define them or their path. Tyrion is the best example of this. Though he struggled with his dwarfism, being made fun of and despised by his family, he grew to be a strong leader and a smart man. He survived so much more than his family did by following the right moral path. He even led men through battle, overcoming any assumed physical restrictions. Bran Stark himself is crushed by the lost use of his legs, but he overcomes his physical restriction through magic.

He does not fully restore his legs, but he comes to command a position of great power because of his abilities to see through to the past. A historian of knowledge is not likely to repeat mistakes when leading a kingdom already ravaged by war. Even those with mental handicaps, such as Hodor, are demonstrated as heroes within the show (I can never hold a door again). The disease that permeated this fantasy world, greyscale, is shown to be a frightening and debilitating sickness. Jorah Mormont only managed to survive his greyscale by having Samwell Tarly, quite horrifically, scrape off the infected skin areas. Through the days while his infection spread and after he is cured, Jorah continually returns to Daenerys to protect her and be by her side, sacrificing his life for her even after he survived so much. Many of these characters with handicaps are shown to grow stronger in other areas, through magic, education, loyalty and sacrifice. These characters are upheld as heroes not because of their disabilities, but despite them. From a social perspective, this shows that even those with any kind of inability can do great things, and that really resonates with me. The perseverance of many Game of Thrones characters despite their terrible past and present is inspiring. 

A Season Finale in Flames: The Garbage Fire of GOT Season 8

I don’t think many Game of Thrones fans were very satisfied with the ending, much less the lead-up to it. The development of the last season took a turn for the worse after the Battle of Winterfell, in my personal opinion. That might have been when Daenerys or the directors truly lost their minds. To turn Daenerys into the kind of ruler that destroyed cities instead of saving as many as she could was a complete 180 from her moral standing. Instead of sticking with the idea that not every character in the show goes crazy from power, the writers decide that Daenerys is a little too unlike her crazy ancestors. How can she not see that this dictatorship of killing is exactly the kind of thing she was trying to save people from and avoid? Was the loss of so many people close to her just too much? Whatever happened, she fully demonstrated that her final role in the show was to burn away the past to clear a future for the Seven Kingdoms and completely “break the wheel.” One of the most disappointing aspects was the lack of magical explanation. What was the power behind Melisandre? Why was Jon’s heritage such an integral storyline for nothing? How did Bran influence the outcome of the Night King being destroyed? Where. Is. The. Dragon??? The ending I had imagined was better than what the show delivered. I had hoped Bran might take a more active role through his Warg abilities, such as fighting mind to mind with the Night King or wrestling control of the Wight Dragon. I thought Jon would be much more involved in destroying the commanders, such as close combat. Daenerys would have come in blazing with her dragons, and moved to King’s landing with a victory and offers of peace. But no, we got a reign of fire and blood instead.

The last few episodes brought on many deaths, to be expected of a show so famous for its disregard for central characters and their lifespan. The hardest of these deaths was Missandei, The Hound, Cersei and Jaime. Daenerys was already prepared to destroy Cersei, she did not need to incite her any further by killing Missandei, but Cersei and Daenerys were so drunk on power at that point that everyone else were pawns in their game. The Hound’s death I could have predicted, and I felt that his storyline had a good end, and a thing he had been fighting to do his whole life was accomplished: besting his brother in combat. Still, I was rooting for him the whole show. Then there’s Cersei and Jamie. Wow. I thought I hated the way Margaery died in the explosion of the Sept of Baelor, but this was one of the most unsatisfying deaths of the whole show. Cersei had a whole load of angry fandom karma, and Jaime had such a promising path to stay with Brienne.

Instead he chose a woman, his sister, who had gone pretty insane at that point, and they died under a pile of rocks. Rocks! I had hoped they would have done Cersei’s death like her walk of shame, or even how they did Littlefinger’s death. If not a revenge killing by the people she had wronged, I wish Cersei had gone out on her own terms, in a way. She is the archetype of a proud woman who would choose when she would die. I don’t know why, at the last moment, the directors injected her with any sort of hope when she demonstrated through countless actions that she had no more hope. Overall, the series ending left watchers with a lot of confusion and questions, as characters built through many seasons were slapped around in the writing room and tossed to the masses of fans like free t-shirts. Carelessly written and formed in order to rush an ending to what could have been a great television show. 

Book to Screen: How was it?

When I first got into the show and discovered the books, I jumped at the chance to complete this reading challenge. With a total of 4,244 pages, the task was daunting even for an avid reader. It took me months, but the switch of perspectives from chapter to chapter helped me get through the books. As I read, the show developed through it’s 6th season. I was excited to see the variety of characters and magic I had learned from this vast series. Unfortunately, like any book to film adaptation, characters and plot lines were left out. I did not expect everything to be included, and I was not sorely disappointed. The accomplishments of translating such a complicated series to television must not be overlooked. The graphics, costumes, acting and plot are a lot to keep up with, and they manage at most times to deliver a solid representation from the books. I am very eager to see how the books play out as compared to the series, if the book ever gets released.

Until The Winds of Winter is out, I will keep faith that George R.R. Martin was able to conclude the series or at least provide explanation for the end of the series we witnessed through the show. I would recommend this show to anyone interested in fantasy, action, or drama. The books are quite difficult to get through, but I encourage readers to try as I definitely benefited from reading them.