It's What Game of Thrones Lacks That Makes It GreatApril 4, 2012 by

This post contains MINOR spoilers from the 1st season and from the books 1, 2, & 3. Its nothing you probably don't already know but I'm just putting the warning up in case. Oh yea and there are spoilers from the show Lost as well, though I don't think you will care.

A Game of Thrones (GoT) is set in the fictional world of Westros that most closely resembles medieval Europe . There are Knights and Ladies in waiting, Kings and their courts, Lords, lessor lords, and their lands, castles and hold-fasts, all which are all very much in line with the medieval theme. But GoT is also a fantasy series. There is magic and sorcery, direwolfs, wargs (skinchangers), giants, wrights, frozen zombie like creatures called The Others (they are called whitewalkers in the show), and dragons; oh glorious dragons. However, the fantasy elements are not the main focus of the show and only make up a small portion of the content.

  These magic mysteries are hinted at and teased occasionally only to keep things eventful and allow for large character swings and changes.  This keeps the mystery in the show and keeps possible plot lines almost endless, for example a character that has died may be risen again later, or someone may be able to change their form in order to accomplish something or infiltrate a position.  Within the fictional setting of Westros magic is so rare that most people don't even believe that it exists.  Often the magic is hinted at in allegory or ancient stories, and much of the current population has only heard of magic in this fashion.  Even the characters utilizing magic in GoT often realize the flaws in magic, the dangers in using it and the limitations it can reach.  I.e. having the only 3 living dragons in the world might be great, but if you can't control them they may be more of a burden then a benefit.

  Game of Thrones is self described by George RR Martin as a fantasy series for grown ups. This inherently makes it a fantasy series that is trying hard in many ways not to be a fantasy series.  Ie by having magic and fantasy be just a part of the whole, and not the main focus (This ain't no Harry Potter bitches). Lets face it, fantasy is a children's genre, and with very graphic violence and sex (in both the books and show) GoT is something you would not want your children to watch (or read). So it is appropriate for an adult audience that the fantasy and magic are toned down to their very minimum in GoT. This is why it is so successful and also why it will ultimately fail. The fantasy elements are lightly sprinkled throughout the show and their lack of focus and explanation only serves to make them more interesting. But sooner or later fans will want answers to these mysteries and they will want to eventually see those dragons in battle; and this is where I see a problem arising. I refer to ABCs series LOST. It was much more interesting NOT knowing who Jacob was or what the hell the smoke monster was, but once they attempted to explain these mysteries and I found out that they were once brothers and that they are immortal I was like "OK .... That's cool ... I guess". I was very underwhelmed. But GoT is not LOST; its nowhere near it. Unlike LOST GoT is based on an already established cannon of books and already has an end, though the end is not written yet, George RR Martin has stated that he has a general idea of how the books will end. I also read that he has shared the ending with the producers of the show. This will hopefully make for a better ending that LOST.

By keeping the fantasy elements rare and mysterious George RR Martin and the producers at HBO have succeeded in making GoT a great show. The viewer feels like a citizen of Westros hearing tales of far away lands where magical sorcerers cast spells and dragons roam the desert; not sure whether to take it as truth or simply a mummers farce. It's all starting out well, I'm just hoping it ends well.

How do you feel about the level of fantasy in GoT? Want more? Less? Leave a comment and tell me.


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Predictions for Game of Thrones Season 2March 28, 2012 by

First off I have just finished the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings, which is what the second season of Game of Thrones will be based on. I say this because there will be some spoilers from the book. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

In the first season, for whatever reason, most likely budget related, HBO took out some key scenes from the book. Most notably Tyrion's first battle at The Green Fork.

With season 2 close at hand I am going to attempt to predict which things HBO will leave out and which they will leave in.

Daenerys is bald. LOL yea right! In the book the fire that burned Drogo and birthed the dragons also completely burned Dany's hair. This will be left out. We know this already because after the fire, at the end of Season 1, Dany still had here beautiful silver locks.

 Will Dany hang boob in Qarth? The common attire for women in Qarth is a dress that exposes one breast. Dany has already exposed her breasts in earlier episodes so it would not be too far off to expect them to have her wear the one boob Qarth outfit. Though Dany's previous exposures were brief and this would be a much longer exposure.

The wolf dreams. So far, in the books, it is revealed that Bran, Jon, and Arya are worgs. That means that sometimes when they sleep their conscience goes into their pet direwolf and they feel, sense, smell, taste and think as if they were the direwolf. These are dreams to the children but real to the direwolfs and everyone else. In Jon's wolf dream he scouts the wildling camp and then is attacked by an eagle. After Jon wakes up and travels a bit he finds Ghost with a wound that was most likely caused by an eagle. If and how HBO plans on doing these scenes is beyond my skills of prediction. I think that these scenes will be very difficult to do with out taking away from the realist feel that the show has. However, it would also be difficult to leave the scenes out since some very crucial details are told through the wolf dreams. For example it is Bran's wolf dream that lets them know they can come out of hiding in the Winterfell crypts.

Theon kills Bran and Rickon. Or so it would seem. After their escape Theon tracks down Bran and Rickon kills them and then puts their heads on spikes. But in reality he never found them and just killed some look-a-likes so that the common folk of Winterfell would fear him. The descriptions of their heads on spikes and the description of Reek dressing up the imposter's heads to look like the boys (he cuts off their faces, god forsaken Boltons) is graphic enough in the book; I wonder how they will treat those scenes in the show.

And finaly the big elephant in the room: The Battle of the Blackwater. It is one of the most important and intracite parts of A Clash of Kings I could hardly see HBO just leaving it out. However to fully do the scene Peter Jackson style it would probably cost way too much money so I imagine that HBO will do some cuts but hopefully not too much.

Relating to The Battle of the Blackwater, will Tyrion get his face scar? HBO has already left out some features of Tyrion. He is much uglier in the books and has two different colored eyes. Also in the Battle at the Green Fork he injures his elbow and his injured elbow is usually mentioned when Tyrion is felling tired, worn out, or beaten. But since HBO left out the Battle at the Green Fork they also left out Tyrion's injury. In the Battle of the Blackwater he suffers a grievous wound to his face which takes half of his nose and leaves a large scar on his face. I imagine that if HBO decides to include this that it will be some small scar and he will keep his nose. That is if they do it at all!

Whether or not HBO leaves these parts in or cuts them I still think season 2 will be great! They did such a good job with season 1 and since George RR Martin is working with HBO I can only predict that it will be awesome.

What are some of your predictions?

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