Game of Thrones; A Story of Houses of Mystery and Blood

ICN- Game of Thrones, a legend for legions of fans across the world, has been adapted from a novel by George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire. Produced by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, its shooting began in July 2010, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and a bit more in Malta. HBO has granted the series this opportunity to become the beloved of so many viewers and a hot topic for discussion in friends or intellectual gatherings around the world. The series has given a lot of food for thought to critics and journalists to feel good about themselves again!  

             Doune Castle was used as the set for Winterfell in the

Itzurun Beach, Zumaia, Spain (Dragonstone)

Alcázar of Seville, Spain (Dorne's Sunspear)

Trsteno, Croatia (King's Landing Palace Gardens)

Itálica, Spain (King's Landing Dragonpit)

Vatnajökull, Iceland (Beyond the Wall)

Magheramorne Quarry, Nothern Ireland (Castle Black & North of the Wall)

Ramin Djawadi, an Iranian-German composer, accepted the offer to write the music for this series. In order for the series to own its own distinctive style of music, Djawadi remarked that he did not use flutes or solo vocals, and that is how the main title music has turned into a special trademark for Game of Thrones.  

              Ramin Djawadi

For the fans of Games of Thrones it is not necessary to tell what has happened so far, yet in order to expand the analysis, we need to point to certain parts. The Starks of Winterfell, in the north of Westros, who have played a substantially important role in most of the events, are in charge of the ancient, enormous wall of ice (metaphorically carrying a political weight with itself) that guards the Kingdoms from some evil beyond, which can symbolize anything relevant to the present situation of our own world today.

Whether they are scenes of pre-determined onslaught or those of headlong rush into murder, betrayal, and conspiracies, they feature the key plot twists in this “quasi-medieval” series. There is a predisposition toward “greyness” in characterization. Not even one plays a pure hero with whom we can identify our long-standing romantic ideals. They give us their shock effects or spark our fear, either by murdering somebody we never could imagine they would (Tyrion Lannister killing his father) or by certain acts of betrayal of their own type that we cannot really grasp (the incest between Cerci and her brother, Jaime, or the “red wedding” that in fact was meant to decimate the Starks), and they can at times stimulate us to have sympathy for them (the mass murder of the Starks arranged by Lord Walder Frey). For instance, the sympathy for Arya Stark is felt when she witnesses her father’s beheading and also for all the other tragedies that she is destined to undergo subsequently, but it doesn’t take us much longer when that feeling of compassion turns into some kind of fear realizing all those dramas have fomented in her such ruthlessness and a sharp drive to revenge: Season 7 opens with displaying her pleasure from the revenge on the house of Frey, saying, “The one wolf alive, and the sheep are never safe”. The Aristotelian catharsis could be pinpointed at such major, crucial sequences for some of these characters. It is this Catharsis that gives us some kind of relief even by seeing such cruel revengeful acts because we have empathized with Arya or people like her in the series.

Presumably each character is designed to be its own anti-hero; we do not see pure evil nor pure innocence, instead we see powerful people with various shades of gray. Neither black nor white characters, humans in this story are muddle-headed, power hungry, filled with twists, and at the same time, those who constantly talk about the peace and justice they want to bring. Even a fundamental sub-story like that of Jon Snow or of Ned Stark can sometimes put us in a dilemma over deciding about their character. “Hero” in this story loses that transcendent air, and becomes the one which simultaneously disappoints, shocks, and thrills its viewer.

Game of Thrones  can be regarded more a political epic tale than a fantasy one; it is peopled with actual characters and centers extensively on human drive for power and justice and the political intrigues and games they hatch, rather than the magical creations. For instance, in the first season only twice does anything really supernatural is opened up to the viewers - one right at the beginning of the first episode, as unnerving as it shows the walking-dead children in an icy forest. And of course, the splash of such fantasy (White Walkers) is extended more in just season 7 after all those scenarios that have happened so far.  It is implied throughout the characters’ expressions and reactions that their world (Westros) cannot accept or welcome any dragons, sorcerers, and witches with their dark magic. They show it clearly that they are truly past that time by their astonished looks or their moments of shock when they hear about such things as dark magic, dragons, or the army of the dead.

“The Army of the Dead” or “The White Walkers” is solely mentioned by a few characters, especially the Night’s Watch with Jon Snow at the top, his loyal friend, Sam, and  Jon’s youngest brother, Brandon (Bran) with his weird visions. After being crippled, Bran comes to accept his “greensight” and his ability to be a skin-changer, exceeding his physical limitations. His prophetic dreams and visions bring him a particular light and awareness of what is happening beyond the Wall and of the fortune it will bring for the people of Westros. Jon constantly worries about the premonition of the coming of the Dead that might pose a serious threat to the Wall, and to the future of the whole Westros, consequently. That is why he regularly reminds his peers of it and struggles hard to even raise the awareness of his rivals about this in order to redirect their plans and goals toward preparing for the war with the Dead. Yet people of Westros do not believe such stories to be real, and that at least such things belonged to the ancient times and not now.

However, in line with this, the apocalyptic atmosphere of the series is pointed at the very opening of it. Arguably, the apocalyptic genre, which Game of Thrones also falls into, pictures for us the post-modern anxiety that stems from the upcoming end of the world. The contrast between the fear of the apocalypse by virtue of the zombies’ presence as “post-modern features” in an ancient or medieval setting like this is what makes it full of wonders for the viewers to see how these two elements can mingle and make the story appealing to millions of fans. In this regard, the presence of the Walking Dead and a glimpse of them in its horrific prologue sets up the backdrop for the sharp-eyed viewer to relate to the struggles of Jon Snow and his supporters in the course of the story and their good intentions for Westros’ inhabitants; “saving the future of the continent”. The semi-zombies or the White Walkers of this epic could stand for some realities of our own world which require another article to elaborate on.

There are several outlets that have made comparisons between Game of Thrones and series like Lost. One of them is Hollywood Reporter that has recognized it to be “the most immersive grownup adventure TV has produced since Lost”. Some others have, on the other hand, been persistent to compare it with Lord of the Rings, while no rationale can be set up here to even begin this. “Rings was a noble adventure quest, an allegorical battle of good vs. evil with clear heroes and villains, laced with humor and warmth and shot with often stunning beauty,” said the USA Today.

Inside almost all the episodes in this series, one is always confronted with situations rife with webs of conspiracies, spies, and grubby plots, even on the part of characters who we mainly assume to possess big virtues among all their evil rivals. They are our lights in that deep darkness. However, this is the writer’s trick to not make everything all transparent for the viewer and to create some mysterious riddles so that we will not be able to make up our mind about how we can see the characters. Such situations also in part can be said to challenge our own simple moral rules that have lingered strongly for long in our own real lives. If he/she could do such heroic actions, why did he then commit those disgraceful things? Maybe he/she did the right thing, or maybe not. Maybe if I had been held up in their situation, I would have done the same. Such feelings of ambivalence and states of quandary for the viewer show that the writer has succeeded in doing so.

To be continued …