“See you on the Wall.” OR Why Game of Thrones - For Me - Ultimately Does Not Work As A TV Series
First off, although I will not be specifically discussing the events of Series 3, Episode 9 "The Red Wedding"; spoilers of some level or not are inevitable, so if you have not reached this point in the series, turn back now.
Also, I have not read the books.
I know a lot of you will be screaming that I should; but I will maybe explain why I probably won’t later on - for now this article is based on my experiences of Game of Thrones as a TV series alone.
I am being such an awkward bastard right now.
Over the past few weeks I have been watching Season 4 of The Wire [note, potential spoilers; I have not got to the fifth and final season yet], and I’m really enjoying it.
This is despite the fact that at least one major character has been killed off, and lots of other characters that I had an emotional support for, have also been killed off.
By contrast, I have just finished watching Episode 9 of Season 3 of Game of Thrones (“The Red Wedding”), which brings me to a fairly similar situation – in that many characters that I have an emotional connection with have been killed off by this point.
And I’m not happy about that; and I’m trying to figure out why.
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Let’s rewind a few years to Season One – over 10 episodes I had gotten to know the honest-northern Stark family, the current-ruler-Baratheons, the scheming Lannisters and the mysteriously-eastern Targaryens. Over the season there are twists and turns, but ultimately there is an unexpected shock towards the end of the first season, which serves as a catalyst for the change of power at King’s Landing, and for other events further afield.
Although harsh, the death of Ned Stark made narrative sense – it set up a redemption story for the scattered Stark family to regain themselves, perhaps killing off Joffre in the process, and for the king in the north to bring about peace to Westeros once more.
Which was what had been driving me to watch Seasons 2&3 – to see if the Starks achieved this.
For many of them, this is now no longer possible.
I think the misstep that occurred here in the narrative of the TV show, is that the Starks felt (to me) like they were meant to triumph in the end – sure it would take time, and heavy losses: Not least because the Lannisters are in charge right now; there’s an emerging alternative Baratheon threat from the South and (unbeknownst to most); a dragon-headed army is massing on the Eastern continent.
All of those families (and more of them that have been hinted at over Seasons 2 & 3) are playing the game of thrones – to try and reclaim the Iron Throne for themselves – but the Stark’s are elevated slightly from this because they are working to avenge their father’s death in the process; which is why I perhaps share a larger affinity with them than the others.
I already realise that – even in this fantastical world – the Houses of Westeros are squabbling over an ideal that probably never was (like all battles in real history), so I don’t ultimately care who wins back the throne. Likelihood is that even when they do, Westeros will be burnt to a dragony cinder, or enveloped in ice thanks to the White Walkers from beyond the Wall.
So because I identified a little more with the decimated Stark’s and their desire to avenge their father’s death; they got my fair share of emotional attachment – which has now well and truly been tattered.
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Further discussion after the most recent episode prompted some response from my friends who have read the books. Telling me it’s all part of a bigger picture.
At the time, I couldn’t really see that – to me there was no point that RR Martin was trying to make with any of the Houses of Westeros; ultimately they can all be wiped out either by internal treachery, or by external unknowns (dragons/ice giants). So I questioned exactly why I should invest any care into any of the characters, if they’re just going to get killed off unexpectedly, with no real gain.
[Had most of the Stark’s died off in a valiant attempt to restore peace/avenge their father – I would have happily accepted that].
My frustration led me to Frankie Boyle’s twitter feed, after he had evidently spoiled the rest of Game of Thrones for reasons I couldn’t even being to question of such a character – but he then explained why he had done so.
At the time this summed up my attitude to GoT, and pretty much decided for me why I should no longer bother to invest my emotional interest in the show.
At the time, my reasoning was as follows:
- Either, RR Martin is trying to make the point that socio-political in-fighting is all very well, but once you take the big picture [i.e. Ice Giant invasion], it doesn’t ultimately matter – in which case all he has served to do is remind me of something I know all too well about the real world, and the series simply reminds me what an often appallingly run world we often live in; not a great escape away from the realities of life
- Or, RR Martin is making the point that the fate of all of the Houses is important, but because people are dicks to each other, political scheming will rarely succeed, and often at a very bloody cost – again, simply a reminder of the true past (and occasionally present) of humanity, and not enough of an escape away from reality for me
“It’s character driven, but not about the characters.” Said one of my friends; “It’s… (a show) about reacting to politics… It’s much more about the houses as a whole.” And I think I understand where they are coming from - I’m supposed to be invested in which house/tribe is doing what {and the series has tried to reinforce this - allowing you to customise your Facebook/Twitter banners with your ‘House Allegiances’}; so what remains of House Stark is still something I should root for - just like others want the Targaryeans to succeed - or the Lannisters to prevail etc. etc.
But I think because I have not had the exposure to the depth of the books (a common failing for most shows/films based on books), I’m not invested at all in what House Stark stands for [I thought I did - but pretty much everything they stood for has been ground into dust]. Ditto any of the other main clans featured in the show {I can’t even remember what the wildlings are for - are they trying to claim King’s Landing/The Wall - or are they just legging it away from the Ice Giants?}.
My emotional investment into the TV Series has been character-based.
Yes there are a few characters left I have some feelings for - but not strong enough to want to follow them further; as they are either likely to be killed off unexpectedly/killed by the Ice Giants/or simply drift away from the main 'cause’ of their family and settle down somewhere remote:
- Tyrion Lannister - Most people’s favourite character; he is the one who most sees the reality of the game of thrones [more so than Baylish or Varys, who both think they’re winning the game], and seems - at least for now - to be staying true to his true love, whilst being a respectful husband in his arranged marriage to Sansa - I imagine he will either tire of the game at some point, and slip away with Shae to a quiet later life together - or he will fall too foul of his own family’s ambitions and meet an untimely end: The former I am happy to imagine; but fear of the latter keeps me from wanting to follow further
- Arya Stark - The most proactive of the remaining Stark’s in avenging her father’s death - but I can only see her life being in futility; either she will finally flip and become a genocidal killer on the loose, with some twisted justification that it is still for her father’s death; or she will realise that - even after plunging a dagger into Joffre’s neck, it doesn’t actually bring her father back - or even peace to the kingdom
I actually don’t think I much care for any more of the characters - yes the Kingslayer might find his own personal redemption in doing good deeds; yes Jon Snow might do right by Ygritte in the end - but both these (and the two above) are personal catharses - and I can relate to these on a personal level.
But the world within which these characters lie? I just don’t care about anymore - I’m not certain I ever did - the show is about the nobility of the lands, and their power-hungry squabbles; even if there is one eventual 'winner’ of the game - will they care to actually bring about peace? Or will it be a case of “now what?” Or will they, and everyone else who didn’t see sense in time to slip away from the Ice Giants, perish in one glorious deus ex machina act of pointlessness?
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Here I shall break to document my thoughts on Magic in A Song of Ice and Fire:
I’m reminded of the reboot of Battlestar Galactica – for me it started out as a promising, always-on-the-run sci-fi adventure series which quickly evolved into a socio-political drama which happened to be set IN SPAAAAAAAAAACE. The series took on a slower pace, and “deeper” meanings, and was ultimately a lengthy disappointment, even though I clung on to the end to see how a few of the characters I liked turned out.
Conversely, although set in a fantasy land, GoT for me was always a socio-political drama [indeed I believe it is based on the War of the Roses to some extent] which I enjoyed the inter-fighting, back-stabbing and general power plays that blossom throughout the series. And whenever the fantasy element reared its head – communion with the animals; ice giants; dragons – I kinda lost interest, because of an overall worry that there would be a deus ex machina event towards the end that just said ‘ooh look shiny green lights have saved the day’ or some-such. ‘Thrones could even have been played without the fantasy element at all – just a medieval setting, with the ‘gods’ referred to very much in the same way we take religion these days; not literal but inspirational.
I thought that through a little further and it does create issues with the Targaryen story line (obviously!) – although overall isn’t the point that Daenerys has a unique weapon that none of the other houses posses; but she is still one of the houses. She’s not meant to be a threat akin to the ice giants – just another ambitious house. So she could have just had an advanced medieval weapon; the point is she has the drive and desire to reclaim the throne for her family, not to just stroll into King’s Landing and torch the lot (although that is what she believes).
Overall, I don’t see what the magical element is supposed to add - other than to allow Samwell Tarly to survive his encounter with an Ice Giant; which undermines the 'real’ conflicts of the show. And again with Bran Stark and his creature-mind-control stuff. So far this has saved him and his travelling companions from being found out by the Jon Snow-accompanying wildlings, and will presumably allow him to control the dragons when they finally attack Westeros. Again, I would have preferred to see how a 'realistic’ situation would have been handled in this created universe - rather than getting out of tricky situations using magic or the mythical.
Otherwise the gritty realism feels undermined.
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Anyway, I’ve spent far too much of my life on this already; so in summary:
TL:DR
The Game of Thrones TV Series has been for me a show in which I invested my emotions into certain key characters and what they were trying to do, rising above the socio-political in-fighting around them.
I get enough of a sense of that in the real world, that I want to believe there are characters that can rise above that and succeed; and not be squashed heart-wrenchingly by a seemingly heartless creator.
I don’t doubt that the depth from the books invests you much more in the bigger ideas in Westeros and beyond; but now that I’ve already seen the key plot points - I have no desire to dive into the world further.
Had I read the books first, I’ve no doubt I would be siding with my friends who have. (Although not on the scale: the Fitz trilogy books by Robin Hobb carry huge emotional weight with me, so I know that I’m capable of immersing in created worlds).
But the TV series has fed me on a diet of unique characters, often in compromising or unusual situations; only to have them struck down without a cathartic redemption in sight: Game of Thrones parades idealised characters that you want to progress, and then goes 'NOPE’. No progress for them, removing the point of advancing them before your eyes.
I think I’ll reserve a final final judgement for whenever the series finally ends; to see if/how RR Martin delivers an acceptable point to the slaughter, without making the contribution made by characters passed worthless.
But until then, I don’t feel I need GoT in my life any more.
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