Recent headlines:
World: Milkshake Thrown at Nigel Farage (Ah, a headline which makes me instantly smile. How rare.)
Gaming: Sony and Microsoft are working together on new ‘game and content-streaming services’ (Damnit, streaming is the future after all)
I’m Playing: World of Warcraft (Frost Mage is SO FUN), Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr (had no idea that came out today), Minecraft, Diablo III (a Witch Doctor for season 17).
This entry contains no overt spoilers for Game of Thrones, but does allude to the nature of the story’s ending.
Six years ago, I was in the books aisle in Tesco eyeing up A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones. I no longer remember the first time I heard about the series, but I remember taking the book to the till and being told – quite enthusiastically – that I was in for a treat. I asked if the TV series was good in comparison to the books (then having finished its third season), and despite expecting the usual “ah well, you know, the books are better” sort of discourse, was surprised when the show was also strongly recommended. I took the book home and by the end of the prologue I had become the latest in a massive following to fall in love with the series.
This morning, the first thing I did was boot up my PC and watch the finale to Game of Thrones, the show which has long outpaced the books and has, in my opinion, done a damn good job of continuing the story. Not the best, but good enough for me to be continually obsessed with and impressed by. And this morning, it… ended. This epic story of nations and families and, well, thrones, somehow it all came to a point and it ended. And it was beautiful. And I’ve spent the rest of the day coming to terms with it.
I’m not going to wax lyrical about how this series meant a lot to me, personally, as if my catharsis is somehow more potent than others for some reason or another. It’s not. I’m probably just more vocal. But god damn. It ended. For the last six years I have imagined numerous endings to the story, but I’ve never been able to point to any of them and say, “this is obviously going to happen”. It’s not like Harry Potter with the inevitable showdown between good (Harry) and evil (Voldemort). Down to the penultimate episode, I flat out didn’t know what would happen. I had ideas, but this show constantly surprises – surprised – me with character-driven actions, with irrational decisions or botched prophecies, and that was great.
My favourite part of the whole experience has been sharing it with friends. What’s going to happen next? Is this that great battle in the snow which was foretold? Is she going down a dark path? Does R+L=J? For a handful of weeks almost every year there’s been a day where I’ll take to my DMs and talk to one particular friend about our theories and jokes we’ve seen online. You know who you are. It has been the grandest time. I can’t think of Game of Thrones without thinking about those conversations. I hope we’ve found another series to rave about by the time this publishes!
I think Game of Thrones’ biggest accomplishment, from a storytelling point of view, has been its characters. I can think of no other piece of fiction which has crafted so many unique and colourful characters all with their own motivations, beliefs, habits and flaws. They all come with motifs, recurring quotes and statements which they live by. To have a world filled with so many of these rich characters that are all at odds with each other – which all grow and change throughout the series – and to have those characters interact and exist in the same rooms at certain times causing particular actions – is an achievement which astonishes me. And sure, things got a little dicey in the last two seasons, that’s the whole point of all this controversy, but if we’re talking about my perspective on this – which we are- none of it was unforgivable. By that point, so many seasons (and, originally, books) of top tier characterisation had already stoked a passion for this story fierce enough to easily overcome snags in the final moments of the story.
The ending was magnificent. I teared up multiple times. The closure of many of these characters’ arcs was bittersweet, many of them being irreversibly damaged from the trauma of the last decade or so. But it was hopeful. In a world as bleak as A Song of Ice and Fire, it gives me immense pleasure that the overall message was one of overcoming the cause of these tragedies. And yes, a lot of the story was tragic. Most of those happy endings are rather tragic when you look at them a little closer. But it’s a flavour of tragedy which leaves room for healing. It’s a winter which gives way to spring.
And that, future Kristian, is where you were a year ago today. Awestruck and reverent about events which never really happened. How very you.
Further reading:
‘You can’t change your favorite pop culture — but you can change how you engage with it’ by Susana Polo (Incredibly relevant right now)
The Weekly Deathmatch #56 – Overwatch – Super Marvel Maker Classic
Perpetually Perturbed 