Game of Thrones is a truly amazing show. I have just watched the penultimate episode of series 2 and feel almost as if I lived through every sword blow and show off every arrow into the hordes of Stannis Baratheon. When Tywin Lannister (brilliant portrayed by Charles Dance) strode through into the antechamber of the Iron Throne I nearly soiled myself! To wait a week for the final episode seems more than I can take right now, but needs must.
I once read an excellent book called 'Everything Bad is Good for You: How Popular Culture is Making Us Smarter' which concerned the general improvement of popular entertainment. The book was designed to counter the popular misconception that popular entertainment has been getting steadily more and more 'stupid' and crude, and instead argued that very often popular entertainment is growing more complex and rewarding. This is not to say that a great deal of what passes for popular entertainment is pure shit (it truly is) but that the best of what we have to offer now truly surpasses much of what we had in the past. Game of Thrones is a fantastic piece of evidence that goes someway to proving that thesis, with a huge range of characters and an intricate storyline. The best thing about the program is that it maintains just the right level of complexity. Some say it has too many characters but this I feel is one of its strengths. It may perhaps require some repeat viewing to take it all in, but this is by no means a bad thing.
Although the show is based on a series of books by R.R. Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire), in many ways the TV show is the superior end product. This surprises me, but it should not. The only downside so far has been the premature death of one of my favourite actors, Sean Bean, although to keep Ned Stark alive just so I could see more of him on screen would destroy the story somewhat.
The show takes place in a bastardised medieval land with recnognisable historical tropes for Kingdoms. The Dothraki led by a Khal are clearly a stand in for the Mongol horde led by a Khan, the Greyjoys of the Iron Islands are some kind of Viking warrior force. Westeros itself seems to be primarily made up of dynasties from the Latin West with the lands to the east made up of Oreintalist style Middle Eastern/Islamic themed city states. This grounds the show and makes it recognisable to anyone with a sense of the past, whilst at the same time allowing for a completely new departure from established historical knowledge. Where it differs from a fictional medieval land is the inclusion of fantasy elements, particularly dragons and and ominous White Walkers from north of the wall.
