Day 239: Game of Thrones Season 7 just ended. What now?

Lee Ngo
Lee Ngo
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read
Sharon wasn’t able to watch it live, so I drew this to make her feel better.

[SPOILER FREE] I wrote this post before the airing of last night’s season finale, so it won’t contain anything … I think.

Over the last eight weeks, I’d say a decent slice of the global population categorized their time into two categories:

  • Watching or obsessing about Game of Thrones
  • Doing the minimum upkeep to stay alive and presentable

Even if it’s just me, my point is that this is an exciting time where there’s so much to talk about yet we’re only able to discuss it when people are caught up. By the time they are, we’ve moved on to the next thing.

This is an insane existence we live.

I’ve written before about my concerns of our society’s general obsession with discourses on consumption, to the point that we’re not really defining ourselves by what we do but what we buy, eat, wear, own, indulge, etc.

I think Game of Thrones is yet another example of that, and I’m completely complicit, too. I’m sure we’ve done the Buzzfeed articles to see whether we’re actually House Stark or House Targaryen, if our personalities match Littlefinger or Stannis Baratheon. None of this matters.

My personal guilty pleasure: watching historical lore films on YouTube that provide a deeper context on what’s happening and why. A tiny mention of a plot detail will potentially have hours of videos explaining why it’s a game-changer. (Seriously, try looking up Rhaegar — a man who is never seen but shaped everything that happened in the last 20 years.)

What should we do instead?

I get pretty disgusted with how entitled fans are with George R.R. Martin, someone who spent the last 25 years to create an entire fantasy world rich enough to adapt well for television and cinema. GRRM owes us nothing, and all the love and attention he receives from attending conventions and engaging in the media is well-deserved.

If you want more Game of Throneswhy not create your own tale? In fact, after 7 seasons and endless sources of written and online visual content, you have more than enough to build an entire world of your own. Presuming you’re not going to commercialize it in any way, I’m sure you’re only limited by your imagination and effort.

Lately I’ve been re-watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra as well as great analyses on the character development and story structure in both. I love the world they created and, even though it’s actually full of suffering and chaos, there’s enough about it that’s believable enough for me to imagine.

I can’t help but wonder… why not leap into this world as well ashow,” however, see what happens when you create your own.

— Lee

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Lee Ngo

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Lee Ngo

Write with intention. Think with compassion.

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