Game of Thrones: A cultural icon for a reason

 

Over the past few months, I’ve been watching a show called Game of Thrones.  For those of you who don’t know, Game of Thrones is a show based on the book series, “A Song of Ice and Fire”, written by George R.R. Martin. It’s a medieval fantasy epic that follows several powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, showing kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, and honest men, all fighting for their spot on the iron thrown. Game of Thrones was released in 2011 and ran for 8 seasons, and since then it’s been a cultural icon of television, becoming immensely popular. If you haven’t seen it you’ve at least heard of the name. I didn’t know much about the Game of Thornes series before watching it, however, after six seasons I completely understand the hype of the show, and can say that its one of my favorite shows I’ve seen, and I wanted to take some time to express my love for the show in hopes of getting some of yall to check it out.

The Worldbuilding

The Game of Thrones universe is packed with so much detail and history, it feels so lived in, it’s crazy to think it came from one man’s mind.  The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros is such a large place, and with each season you learn more and more about the culture and rules of the land. Characters will bring up small things about a region or house, almost seamlessly having you learn about the world until they use that information for something else later on, and since you already heard about it you understand what’s happening.

I know the map may seem overwhelming, but I assure you the show takes its time in developing its world, slowly immersing you into The Seven Kingdoms and the world of Game of Thrones, with amazing world-building.

The Characters

Not only is the world of Game of Thrones so interesting, but the characters that live in this world and the conflicts they endure are so captivating as well. Game of Thrones has such a large and diverse cast of characters, it’s hard to even say who the main character is since the show spends its time with so many different characters and their stories. As I said, the show follows kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, and honest men, all trying to either survive the harsh world of Westeros or try to become rulers with the game of thrones. A large part of the show is following the great houses of Westeros and their families, including the Targarians, the Starks, the Lannisters, and many others. With such a large and detailed world, I love how the show follows characters from every profession and lifestyle, all contributing to the greater story, even if in the beginning they don’t seem very important.

Characters from completely different storylines from season 1, come together to fight in season 6, and it makes to take a step back and realize how much has happened in order to get these characters to interact. Also, Game of Thrones doesn’t shy from killing off its main characters. Even in season 1, characters you think will play a huge part in the story die. This keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, knowing that none of their favorite characters are safe from being taken out of the show. These major deaths also take a toll on all the other characters, making for some amazing character d development as you see how each person deals with it.

The Season Finale

For me, a show is only as good as its finale, a great finale that wraps the whole season or shows together can make a good show amazing, while a bad finale that drops the ball on its conclusion can ruin an entire show’s reputation. I’m happy to say that every season finale of Game of Thrones is very satisfying. Game of Thrones in general is a slow burn of a show. Not every episode is going to be as action-packed and exciting as the others. However, it never fails to deliver an amazing payoff in its finale, finalizing and plot-twisting storylines that have been building up for the whole season, sometimes even stories that have been building up for two or three seasons. These make for some excellent episodes of television.

The Battle of Blackwater, The Red Wedding, and Tyrion Lannister’s trial are all events that take place in the finales of each season. The season 6 two-part finale, “The Battle of the Bastards” and “The Winds of Winter” are some of the best episodes of any show I’ve seen. The finales shock and captivate viewers that have been following the show for the whole season, and leave the show in a place where the viewer is dying to know what happens in the next season.

I’ve really enjoyed my time watching Game of Thrones, that being said there’s a reason I haven’t finished the entire series. The show follows the books they’re based on a pretty spot. However, after the sixth season, the rest of the books in the series weren’t finished written. So, for the seventh and eighth seasons, the showrunners decided to take the story into their own hands and write the ending of the show with the help of George R.R. Martin. Without the book to base the show on, seasons 7 and 8 are very poor in their quality, and the consensus among fans is that it feels very rushed, and is considered the worst two seasons of the show. As I said I believe that the finale of a show can make or break the show in its entirety, so to know that the last two seasons miss the mark and that I’ve seen the best the show has to offer is very sad to hear. However, I’m set on finishing the show and developing my own opinion of the finale. Perhaps if I have enough to say about then I can write my next blog post about them. Until then I appreciate you taking the time to let me rant about this amazing show.