
The 7th season of game of thrones is coming up and fans are going nuts, while the rest of the world is wondering, what’s the big deal. So for everyone who doesn’t get the significance of ‘Winter is here’ this is my little summary.
On the surface game of thrones is about rival factions competing for the ultimate prize, ‘the iron throne’ there are dragons, there is a mother of dragons, there are zombie like monsters called ‘white walkers’, and there are magic swords which can kill said white walkers. There’s also a sexy witch, a hunky hero (who knows nothing), and a hot heroine. The show is not lacking in sex appeal.
But beyond all the fantasy stuff the show echoes very realistic themes. Like how no matter how hard you root for them, heroes aren’t guaranteed victory; their friends will be murdered, they’ll get their head chopped off, and their family will be slaughtered at a wedding. Heroes will lose, but so will villains. Life craps on us all.
Amidst all the plotting and counter plotting, with contenders vying for the iron throne there is a threat brewing which will destroy all of humanity and only a ragtag few really care. This part drives me crazy, if all the major characters stopped chasing after the iron throne for a second and combined their efforts to fight the looming threat the white walkers pose they’d be hope for humanity’s survival, but as it is they can’t be bothered, it’s the iron throne or nothing. Reminds me of how world (American) leaders are ignoring climate change, like many characters in the show our leaders don’t seem to care about the threat. It’s like how a parent can get so focused on their career they fail to see that their child is becoming a drug addict, or how that unending headache is a sign of a brain tumor which will send you to an early grave unless you get medical attention early but instead you keep living life like everything is dandy. Ignorance it appears, can be fatally dangerous.
Game of thrones also has plenty of awesome characters, they demonstrate so truthfully how appearances and status don’t always reflect the identity of a person. You’ll see a king who’s a bastard (literally and figuratively), a bastard who’s really a king, a dwarf whose character stands tall and a whore who’s…, okay the whore was really a whore but you get the idea.
Then there’s the whole girl power thing going on, and it’s not in the shameless pandering sort of way we often see. They don’t do that “behold I have a vagina thing” just to get women to watch (if my choice of words makes you uncomfortable I recommend you read the vagina monologues). Women are central characters who actively move the plot, and the fans love it, guys and girls. Let that sink in, fantasy is the genre in which the author of Harry Potter excluded her full name from the covers so that male readers wouldn’t be biased against the book because she was a woman (a name doesn’t get girlier than Joanne). Then along came game of thrones (‘a song of ice and fire’ for us book fans) a make-believe story which is changing real beliefs. I’ve seen guys who’d had issue with women in authority go on to affectionately call such women ‘the mother of dragons’. Funny thing is, when the author of game of thrones George RR Martin was asked how he understands women so well he simply said he thinks of women as people. Which is what his story shows us, women and men aren’t fundamentally different they are subject to the same prejudices and can hold the same virtues.
Ultimately game of thrones isn’t compelling because of all the fantasy in it, its appeal is in how without us really noticing, it teaches us a little something about ourselves and others. Which is what every good story should do.
