Game of Thrones (GOT) is the most watched, most pirated series with the most awards in the history of television. Television fiction is based on the still unfinished literary work of George R.R. Martin. Directed for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, GOT is considered the series that has most influenced more people throughout the world. Those who know the fiction of HBO superficially, will find interesting the contributions of professionals from different fields that explain why it is different from the others. But those who boast of not having fallen into the mythical, feudal and violent obsession of GOT, those who enjoy distinguishing themselves from others, must convince themselves that when they finish reading it, they will rethink the reason for so much pride. The fictional plot tells the story of seven kingdoms, which after thousands of years of bloody battles, have united under one king. History is mixed with a very stark political reflection, typical of the spirit of our times. Game of Thrones began its journey making it clear that it did not work like other series. This series is a realistic vision of the desires, ambitions, and actions of the human being. It is not a love series, it has no happy endings, and it has real, logical and brutal endings, which give a low blow to human sensitivity, despite the fact that the last season was crudely criticized by all fans. But Benioff and Weiss were not at fault, but rather, I think, it was the fault of the writer who has not given us the last two books. So the directors had to ‘improvise’ what they thought would be more logical. This series breaks with the patterns to which we are accustomed, the series was not going to leave charismatic characters alive without a strong motive, nor was it going to feed the public’s hopes regarding plot resolution and the advance of the history.
Game of Thrones has always wanted to be a cruel object. A red room that attracts spectators, like sirens to sailors on the high seas, and encloses them in a sadomasochistic chamber from which they can soon get pleasure, as soon as they can bleed through any of their holes. The level of commitment, of approach to the viewer, is indescribable. That a character like Hodor, who is only able to say his name, is able to tear a handful of tears for his sacrifice, says a lot about the care given to each and every one of the characters that make up the fiction.
George R. R. Martin shares with all these authors the idea that the ultimate foundation of power is violence, and that the exercise of power destroys both those who suffer it and those who exercise it. This is a fatal condition of the human species from which so far we have not found escape. We can only temporarily protect ourselves from its worst consequences through social institutions such as democracy. But it is a weak defense, just like the Winterfell Wall. This series has innumerable historical parallels such as the operation of medieval monarchies, where marriage alliances lead to dynasties being so related that wars between kingdoms will be between relatives, such as the Hundred Years War, between the Kings of England and those of France, or the war between the Lancaster and the York, cousins facing death by the English throne. Visually the series is incomparable, the detail of the costumes, the depth of the dialogues, the drama in the performance and the incredible moment of showing us 3 dragons with a delicacy of movements and guttural sounds, make us doubt that these creatures really did not exist.
Jeremy Egner from The New York Times said ‘Game of Thrones became a global phenomenon largely by upending expectations, and one way it achieved that was by using the calcified conventions of the fantasy genre against us. The noble patriarch defined by his morals? Gone in the first season. The prince, his valiant son who followed his heart? Slaughtered along with his pregnant wife. This was a Shakespearean saga about power, blood and loyalty, we once told our skeptical, fantasy-averse friends. Not some show about dragons and wizards. And then in its final episode, a dragon committed the story’s most potent symbolic act and a wizard was put in charge.’
