Game of Thrones (No spoilers besides ramblings on general trends in the show)

Sidenote: This picture gives a very poor impression of what the current season is like

Well the chaos is back on television for the people of Westeros and the people of that other continent whatever its name is. I won’t be revealing any spoilers within this post besides general trends in the show, my own pondering over the show’s draw as well as what the past of the show implies about the show’s future.

The show depicts a fantasy world akin to the world created by JRR Tolkien in Lord of the Rings. So there clearly is a draw to fantasy in large, immersive worlds such as these. George RR Martin created something that sort of blends Tolkien’s fantasy with much more sinister, Machiavellian characters. Hundreds of characters, and each character carries a unique backstory. And the show has created such a vast world where it seems primarily the most ruthless end up winning, that you wonder how the show can ever end in a satisfying way.

Which brings me to my main point, will this show have a satisfying ending? I understand that not everybody can be pleased by a show’s end. And in no way shape or form am I arguing whether or not George RR Martin is a great writer. I think he’s brilliant. To keep straight all these inter-tangled plot lines and to write out results which make sense while factoring in each person’s individual interests, you wonder how his head doesn’t explode. I’m in the minority of people who actually feels sympathy for George RR Martin’s glacial writing pace, because I understand how difficult that must be crafting something so solid and with so many logical twists and turns, all the while trying to have it culminate in something meaningful.

The show reflects certain realities of existence. One of which is the fact that the good don’t always thrive, and the bad don’t always thrive either. It appears to be those who position themselves without exclusive regards to morality but rather primarily with regards to the realities of cause and effect in politics and interpersonal relationships who appear to consistently be the victors, a somewhat depressing message.

At this rate, with the show structured at present, they could make it so it never ends. But I know that won’t happen since they’ve already said it will end. So the only way to end the show must be to introduce other beings within the plot line of supernatural power that can act as a sort of etch-a-sketch shake, erasing much of what the show’s built up. Burning things down to allow a new world to rise up from the ashes, like a phoenix from the flame.

Anything of that nature is a delicate task to make believable without betraying the basic concepts which have made the show so popular in the first place. Among them the subtle interplay between the characters, the building up of plot lines before ripping you in new directions (you’ll get whiplash with this show if you’re not ready) and the sparse use of magic. Killing people in mass just feels like too heavy a hand for a show that has taken such surgical care to make every death feel meaningful. And I worry that the show will go in the direction of much more magic=much more death (spoiler alert, people die in this show). Much of the show is spent wondering where people’s loyalties and intentions lie, and then all of the sudden oh shit there’s magic. Magic gets used as a tactic for surprising the viewers, but the future of the show looks like magic will have a much more consistent role, which may harm its shock value.

I’m hitting that point where I’m part rambling part tempted to spoil certain things, though the books and the show haven’t quite hit this point I’m alluding to just yet. I digress.

George RR Martin himself said the end would be bittersweet, so I’m bracing myself for it. All in all it’s a great show with plenty of political intrigue and it seems like nobody can watch it without feeling one character who you want to root for, just be careful caring too much.

I’ll end the post with a nice cover of the theme song from Boyce Avenue. Enjoy the music!

53 thoughts on “Game of Thrones (No spoilers besides ramblings on general trends in the show)”

    • True haha there’s a lot of people I’d like to see get offed in the show, I have no idea how it will end either I find solace in reasoning that it’s more about the thrilling ride than the destination though

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    • I agree Tyrion’s the man haha and the books are fantastic too I really wish he’d finish winds of winter for the sake of better clarity as to who the white walkers are exactly. I’m confident it’ll be out early next year looking forward to it!

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  6. I agree with your point about good and evil not necessarily be rewarded and punished. Neutral characters who are strategic (and sometimes lucky) seem most likely to succeed in the GoT universe. Do you think vices are punished though? I’m thinking of Oberyn’s vanity, Tywin’s greed, etc.

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    • True I completely agree that people’s vices can be their undoing, but when it comes to Tywin I think he just severely underestimated Tyrion and I would say it was his hatred of Tyrion for currently unclear reasons (I say it can’t just be that Tyrion was a dwarf and his mother died during childbirth but I could be wrong) that was Tywin’s ultimate undoing. He also shouldn’t have messed around with Shay that was just strange and clearly Tywin found pleasure in it knowing she was somebody Tyrion deeply cared about, that whole dynamic was always strange to me. But Oberyn definitely didn’t need to die like that, he was too showy and vain I agree. He could’ve just killed the mountain he should’ve it was ridiculous, but it was his vanity like you said and his need to get revenge in his own ostentatious way. I’d say Littlefinger is very calculated and makes his moves without regard for anything besides positioning, but I think his undoing will probably be Sansa because she reminds him of Cat and those emotions leave him vulnerable, even though that hasn’t happened in the books. Sansa has to learn he was a big part of the reason Ned Stark died, just a guess I think a lot of people all ready have haha I love this show

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  7. It would be interesting to learn more about the roots of Tywin’s animosity toward Tyrion. I think I see Tywin’s need for power, money, and authority as arising out of a deep insecurity…a man who imagines everyone is laughing at him behind his back. Then Tyrion comes along and feeds right into that. Everyone is laughing at him now for having a son with dwarfism. That might be way off base though, lol.
    I agree that Sansa will probably be Little Finger’s undoing. She’s his only weak spot, it seems.
    Half the fun of the show and the books is in the trying to work out all that’s going on off the screen/page!

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    • It really is the best part of the show trying to work out what’s coming haha that’s one bright spot with the show passing the books, it makes everything completely unpredictable and I love that it leaves room for even more shock value. I think you might be right about Tywin being driven by insecurity to succeed and Tyrion feeding into that insecurity since everybody makes fun of his son, and he displaces all his insecurities on Tyrion for manifesting his fears of being made fun of that’s a logical explanation, I’m sure you’ve heard the mad king rumors but who knows it’s fun to think about! I hope Sansa will kill littlefinger at some point tbh haha this show should remain fascinating for the indefinite future!

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  8. I love the show, Oscar, but haven’t yet read the books. (I’ll get round to them, so there’s hope for me yet!) Really enjoyed reading what you said about the show and characters and liked the way you managed to do it without dropping any spoilers. I can’t wait to see this ‘bittersweet’ end.

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    • The show’s tremendous I don’t think George RR Martin could have asked for a better adaptation. I’m happy you enjoyed the post! I did my best not to spoil things since I understand how much more shocking it is to see the show without any idea of what direction it’s headed, I feel like I’ve spoiled things for some of my friends and I know that kind of sucks, so I’m happy that nothing was spoiled! I can’t wait to see this bittersweet ending either!

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  9. This point struck me: “The show reflects certain realities of existence. One of which is the fact that the good don’t always thrive, and the bad don’t always thrive either.”

    Very true in terms of attaining your goals and even surviving, and it’s no guarantee of perpetual happiness. At the same time it seems like those who aren’t good aren’t necessarily happy. And those who are good did seem to spend a lot of their life time feeling more happy and satisfied. Maybe being good is necessary but not sufficient?

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    • Ahh that’s an interesting insight, “goodness is necessary but not sufficient.” I completely agree there’s more to the dynamic of succeeding in life than goodness though goodness is necessary for a fulfilling life. I’m happy that point struck you and you made that comment, it’s honestly something to think about. Because people too often go from being good, seeing the world doesn’t fall into place around them, and become bad believing that’s how things will work out. It’s not necessarily the case. Goodness itself is subjective too, life’s complicated haha but the show does sort of bring that to light. I believe in my heart that the good tend to lead more fulfilling, happier lives but they need to keep in mind the harsh realities of existence as well

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  10. Our library offered the first four books in downloadable audio form, which is a great way to get through chores you don’t want to do. But alas. The next aren’t available for free, so I can’t do a spoiler even if I was tempted to. Watched an interview of Peter Dinklage on Jon Stewart recently — not only is Tyrion the man, so is Dinklage — and he says that from this point on the film departs radically from the books anyway.

    Martin’s pace is not glacial. He’s written over thirty books in his lifetime. I agree with you — it takes time to craft, but he not only takes the time, he produces, in volumes.

    On the comment above on goodness and sufficiency. Martin’s characters who are good often die, but they are portrayed as experiencing deeper joys. He seems to want to raise the question — what will we choose, goodness and joy, or survival at any cost?

    Happy bitter-sweet watching.

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    • That sounds like a great way to get the story haha I prefer reading but an audiobook of Game of Thrones while doing other chores sounds like a blast. It’s true the books and the show are going to diverge quite a bit from what I understand, which I don’t really mind personally. They say they’ll come together to the same point, just two different routes to the same end. Both should be very entertaining. And that’s true George RR Martin is prolific, he’s created a lot, and even though it takes a long time for him to put out a Song of Ice and Fire book, it’s because they’re humongous books and he’s pumped a lot of plot into each individual one. Very true that it seems he wants to raise the question of what is best, survival at any cost or goodness and joy. Though I would think it more accurate to say “power” at any cost as opposed to pure survival, I definitely believe that question is a big piece of the show. Happy bitter-sweet watching to you too! It’s a phenomenal show, very well made and well paced. Thanks for the comment! 🙂

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  11. I watched this series for the first time last week-end , HBO ( which I don’t subscribe to) ran it ongoing through the seasons for two days. I was very caught up in it and may have to order HBO, though I am not much of a TV person. Thank you for the low down on this very exciting series!

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    • It’s a tremendous series haha if you haven’t gotten to the end of season three yet then I will not say anything but yes it is a very heart-wrenching but exciting series, not as happy as Sesame Street but not quite as depressing as Walking Dead. It’s worth a binge watch! Happy to inform with my post happy blogging! 🙂

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    • Boyce Avenue’s a great band! But very true, I know a lot of people who just refuse to watch Game of Thrones until the series ends and they’re confident it has a happy ending. It’s almost impossible to say how the show’s going to end George RR Martin’s a master of depressing surprises, whenever I feel too depressed from shows like Walking Dead and Game of Thrones I just flip on a good old Harry Potter movie and it tends to cheer me up haha I wish JK Rowling would just keep creating in that universe

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      • Love Game of Thrones, and your post about it, Further I agree with you on watching Harry Potter to cheer me up (although you have to watch one of the first movies because HP also can leav you depressed ;)…)

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      • Very true can’t start at Half-Blood Prince if Dumbledore’s your favorite character haha but overall Harry Potter is a much more positive and uplifting series, thank you for the comment! Happy you liked the post, can’t wait to see what happens next this season! 🙂

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      • Very true, we need the extreme lows to appreciate the highs! As much as it rips at my heart strings I love the roller coaster ride of shows like Game of Thrones it’s a thrill haha

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