So many people have voiced an opinion about the series finale of Game of Thrones in the past week or so. Nothing makes my opinion more important than any other, but as I loved both the books and the show, why not?
Many years ago I was pursuing my sister’s bookshelf. I picked up this big Fantasy book that had caught my eye. It was the first book in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. “Was this any good?” i asked. She let me have the book and I once I found time to read it, I could not put it down.
It was everything I loved about the Fantasy genre; rich in detail, a imaginative world in which I could immerse myself and characters that felt like they could be real. As I was reading the book I thought I knew what was going to happen, because let’s be honest, as creative as the Fantasy genre is, most books follow a reluctant hero arc, similar to Tolkien’s books. Three fourths of the way through the book Eddard Stark, the seemingly apparent main protagonist gets his head lopped off by teenage tyrant Joffrey. I couldn’t imagine how this story was going to move forward.
I tore into the next book, Clash of Kings. Not only were new characters introduced but new views were introduced to the characters from the first book. Characters who I thought were villains in the first book no longer appeared like they could be. The same could be said for who I thought were “the good guys”. Full-fleshed character development! Nothing was certain and anything could happen.
Years later I heard the rumor that HBO was developing a series from these books. I was hesitant to hope that it would be any good. Historically, the Fantasy genre has not been transitioned well into the big/small screen. True, The Lord of the Rings, books had been received well by the general population and were beautiful movies that remained true to the spirit of Tolkien.
Overall I this HBO did justice to Martin’s story. Westeros was alive in all of its horrible violence. My beloved Jon Snow, in all of his sad-sorry-self was real. Peter Dinklage was absolutely perfect as Tyrion. My stoic Breanne was flesh and blood. It was excellently cast and I don’t think I could have asked for more from the series. As a whole I feel the entire series, seasons 1 – 8, were well done. My only complaint, which I feel is small potatoes, is that I wish the last season was fleshed out a bit more. I know many were disappointed with the ending, but I was half expecting it.
A co-worker and I were discussing GoT one day. He asked who I thought was going to sit on the Iron Throne. I explained that initially I thought it would be Jon Snow because that’s who it would be if this was story followed the traditional Fantasy reluctant hero arc. I mean, all signs were pointing at him, like a flashing neon sign. I said that this was George R.R. Martin’s story, the one who brought us The Red Wedding, Ned’s execution and other WTF moments, so it’s going to be someone we don’t expect at all, like Bran.
I feel sad to see the show end, though I am happy that it appears that I have Winds of Winter to look forward to sometime next year. I fully expect some things to be different, yet the same, and hopefully I’ll get my wish of a more fleshed out story. And by the looks of it, if the spin-offs are half as good as GoT was I’ll be subscribing to HBO now for years to come.
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