Big Worlds On Small Screens: Rebecca Fisher Discusses A “Game Of Thrones”
~ by Rebecca Fisher
Introduction:
Though the first book in George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series was published in 1996 and became a best-selling success all on its own, it was not until the television adaptation first aired in 2011 that Game of Thrones entered the mainstream cultural landscape. These days even those who have never watched a single episode are capable of recognising the phrases “winter is coming” or “you know nothing, Jon Snow”, and words such as “khaleesi” have entered the common vernacular.
Nearly a decade after The Lord of the Rings film trilogy ended, Game of Thrones solidified the demand for serious fantasy stories for adult viewers. And I mean adult viewers, as there’s no way you’d want anyone under the age of twelve watching Game of Thrones. Heck, there are plenty of people over the age of fifty that I wouldn’t want watching it.
As it happens, Game of Thrones is as unlike The Lord of the Rings as you can possibly imagine two franchises that both technically exist in the same High Fantasy genre to be. The latter is an epic but straightforward good-versus-evil conflict between stalwart heroes and diabolical monsters. Game of Thrones is an epic that’s awash in moral ambiguity, where goodness of heart does nothing to guarantee a character’s happy ending, and the death toll among the main cast is matched only by how quickly it’s replenished by an endless profusion of new characters to replace them.
Premise:
It’ll be a challenge to sum up the gist of Game of Thrones, partly because it’s so vast in scope, and partly because most are already familiar with its twists and turns. Based on the books series A Song of Ice and Fire (as yet uncompleted) by George R.R. Martin, it’s not difficult to see why it’s so popular. Merging expansive world-building with a range of complex characters and events inspired by the War of the Roses, Game of Thrones feels more like a war epic with a heavy dash of political espionage than the usual fantasy conflict of good-versus-evil.
The continent of Westeros is divided into seven regions, ruled over by houses of varying power and influence. They all swear fealty to King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) whose seat of power lies in the city of King’s Landing, best described by a quoting a line from Star Wars: “a wretched hive of scum and villainy.” Here, though, the city’s rotten interior is wrapped in silks and hidden beneath courtly smiles.
And so it is north that King Robert goes to bestow the office of Hand of the King upon his old friend and comrade Eddard “Ned” Stark (Sean Bean), considering him the only man he can trust. Reluctantly, Ned is drawn into the court intrigues at King’s Landing, where he finds increasing evidence that the death of his predecessor was not an accident.
Yet this is only one small thread in a massive tapestry of plots and subplots that stretch across the continent and beyond, encompassing dozens—and dozens!—of characters, and leading to all manner of murders, subterfuges, battles, marriages, assassinations, trials, massacres, sieges, betrayals—and the occasional meeting with banking conglomerates.
Story:
The “story” of Game of Thrones is almost impossible to describe thanks to its intricacy and sheer size. Though Ned’s investigation into the potential conspiracy at King’s Landing lies at the crux of the first season, the plot also reaches to the far north, where a massive Wall guards the rest of the Seven Kingdoms from mysterious creatures known as the White Walkers, and the distant east, where the last of the Targaryen dynasty is preparing for their imminent return to reclaim the throne of Westeros.
What everyone is after: the Iron Throne
As the noble houses become embroiled in a civil war for the Iron Throne, the Night Watch stationed at the Wall become increasingly concerned that something strange is stirring in the farthest north – something that poses a greater threat than anything in the Seven Kingdoms.
Every character has a different agenda, is spurred on by a variety of motivations, and through them the show explores the issues of class, religion, family, war, and power. It’s all wrapped up in the titular “game of thrones” – what people will do to get power, and how far they’ll continue in order to keep it.
Characters:
Whew, where to start with this one? Game of Thrones boasts a massive cast of characters – a whopping thirty-six actors have been listed in the opening credits alone, and the show involves a supporting cast of dozens more. It’s estimated to be the largest cast on television, and no matter how small the role, a respected British thespian will be called in to fill it. The likes of Diana Rigg, Ciarán Hinds, Tara Fitzgerald, and Mark Gatiss get only a handful of scenes each, but the general motto of the show seems to be that there’s no character too minor that an illustrious actor can’t be cast to play them.
The closest thing this show has to a main cast: Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and the Lannister siblings: Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion
Newcomers have since become household names in the wake of the show’s popularity (particularly Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Kit Harrington), while established character actors such as Lena Headey, Sean Bean, Natalie Dormer, and of course, Peter Dinklage fill out the main roles.
One of the advantages to having a cast this vast is that you’re bound to find a favourite character, even if a few others get on your nerves. Are you going to root for the noble Starks, one of the few houses in Westeros that are genuinely noble and fair? Or maybe the last remaining Targaryen Queen, who is slowly but surely mustering her forces in the east? Or the remains of the Baratheon family, exiled on Dragonstone Island? Or maybe you secretly admire the ruthlessness and cunning of the Lannisters?
The genius of the story is that each ruling house has both heroes and villains among their number, and it’s hard to root for the victory or fall of one when you know that several sympathetic or villainous characters will rise or fall along with them.
Conclusion:
Like many fans, I’m fascinated at the thought of what’s going to happen when the show finally catches up with the as-yet-unfinished books series. George Martin is a notoriously slow writer, and the show has already used material from A Dance With Dragons (the final available book), as well as delivering a couple of scenes that are completely original to the show (like what the White Walkers are really doing with all those abandoned babies). It’s somewhat ironic, then, that George Martin is so vocally opposed to fan-fiction, as new rumours surrounding season five suggest that producers/writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss are straying very far from the books in order to fill out their ten-episode-per-season quota.
But with the show already green-lit for Season Six, the question of what’s going to happen next remains. Can George Martin churn out some new material quickly enough? Or will Benioff and Weiss be required to build plots and characterization from scratch? Given that the upcoming Season Five will be combining books Four and Five, it seems almost inevitable that scenes original to the show will sneak their way into the episodes.
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Next Time: Penny Dreadful
Back in the 19th century a penny dreadful was a lurid and sensational magazine publication that could involve anything from vampires to highwaymen. The show Penny Dreadful takes this atmosphere of horror and suspense in the Victorian backstreets to craft a story that mingles three of our most famous Gothic tales: Dracula, Frankenstein and The Portrait of Dorian Grey. Somehow, the combination works.
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About The Reviewer:
Rebecca Fisher is a graduate of the University of Canterbury with a Masters degree in English Literature, mainly, she claims, because she was able to get away with writing her thesis on C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. She is a reviewer for FantasyLiterature.com, a large website that specializes in fantasy and science-fiction novels, as well as posting reviews to Amazon.com and her They’re All Fictional blog.
To read Rebecca’s detailed introduction of both herself and the series, as well as preceding reviews, click on:
Thanks for this series, Helen and Rebecca, and this entry in particular. There is so much that has been and could be said about both “A Song Of Ice And Fire” (the books) and “Game of Thrones” (the show), and I think you have done a great job of introducing people to both.
I read all the books before watching any of the series (apart from a few YouTube clips which got me interested in the first place), and am looking forward to entering “Unsullied” territory as the show moves beyond the books.
The challenges in adapting such a sprawling and intricate series for the screen are immense. With the exception of how they have chosen to portray sexual violence, I think HBO have done a good job, and the cast are almost uniformly excellent – in addition to those listed above, I must give a shout-out to my favourite character and her actor, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams).
I think the key difference between the books and the series lies in their titles. “A Song Of Ice And Fire” is – it seems to me – first and foremost about the existential threats to Westeros posed by the White Walkers and the dragons, and the oncoming winter, and about how these are largely ignored by the feuding nobles and politicians contending for the Iron Throne (a story with many resonances in our own world!).
“Game of Thrones”, on the other hand, has foregrounded the political machinations themselves and largely pushed the other elements into the background. It’s still a great series – but I’m hoping the wider world of Westeros, and not just power plays in King’s Landing, get more attention as the series moves towards its conclusion.
Argh, I can’t believe I forgot to mention Maisie Williams! She is indeed very good as Arya Stark, as is Michelle Fairley as Catelyn, playing a character that the writers didn’t seem to fully understand. And of course, Jack Gleeson as that nasty little s**t Joffrey.
I agree that the show feels more comfortable (and is at its best) when dealing with the political intrigues and backstabbing at King’s Landing. I think it helps that it’s also the juiciest part of the novels, whereas Jon Snow/Daenerys often seem very detached from what the show considers “the main storyline”. That said, they have their moments: the dragons and the White Walkers are pretty compelling!
I live in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, so I just have to hop on a bus for fifteen minutes to get to all the political intrigues and backstabbing I could ever want – maybe that’s why (well portrayed though it is in the series) it’s more about White Walkers, dragons, Children of the Forest and faceless (Wo)Men for me.
As a longtime, avid fan of the ASOIAF series (although a tad more reserved about A Feast For Crows, which—together with my own writing obligations—is why I have not yet read Dance Of Dragons) I feel the political maneuverings are still pretty much forefront in the books as well as in the TV show. But I agree that a stronger focus on the winter that is coming could also be beneficial—but maybe more expensive to shoot in terms of special effects etc? I watched the first season of the TV show but could not get into it. I suppose after all these years the world is so firmly embedded in my mind and the show did not capture it for me. Some of the characters felt “wrong” as well, particularly Jon Snow.