8 Weeks Later...

Eight years ago, I was only 11 years old. I had never even heard of Game of Thrones before, and it wasn’t until late 2016/early 2017 that it really took off with my peers and I rarely saw it in the mainstream media as I just didn’t take any interest, nor did I really notice it until I saw it pop up in my Tumblr feed one day. I thought it looked decently interesting, so I checked out the first episode but within the first five, I closed the window. It looked like the most boring show on the planet! I gave it a couple more shots here and there, but ultimately, I left it and forgot about it.

Fast forward to the present day and Game of Thrones is one of my favourite shows of all time and I couldn’t get enough, and I couldn’t watch it quick enough! Here’s some backstory to fill you in on how I discovered the show, and how it has truly changed my life in such a short amount of time: In 2018, I was lucky enough to study for a year abroad. During that time, I didn’t have many opportunities to watch much TV and in Japan the shows that we know, and the shows that we regularly watch aren’t broadcasted. Most people don’t know about them and they’re not advertised on TV or on the web—I was blissfully unaware of the season 8 hype and the conclusion of this franchise.

So, you can imagine my shock when I come home January this year and my parents like, “we found this amazing new TV show called Game of Thrones; you should totally watch it!” and during the two-hour car ride back home from the airport, my parents did not stop talking about Game of Thrones! (My journey and experiences could wait! Did you know Dany is going to take the Iron Throne?! How brazen!) I was a bit sceptical at first as I had tried to watch the show a couple of times in years gone by, but it just did not seem interesting and especially considering what my parents usually watch on TV, Game of Thrones was completely different to what they would spend Sunday nights binging. But alas, I heard them out and I sat there listening to them. I listened to my Dad rave about the Dragon Queen, about how she was the next best thing since sliced bread, and how she was going to take over the throne and be the new queen of the seven kingdoms. And I listened to my Mum who was absolutely furious with some of the characters and hearing her just ramble and rant and oh the Red Wedding! I sat there, slowly being convinced to give this show one last chance. After all, my parents never got this involved with shows before!

I have read the first Game of Thrones book and I quite enjoyed it. It was really good; however, I thought Game of Thrones was another one of those "the book is better" type of shows because when books get turned into movies and TV shows… Well, that generally doesn’t turn out great. Knowing this, I went into it thinking that Game of Thrones is going to be pretty average but ridiculously hyped up as it’s got such a following and stupendously popular. Despite that, I gave it a go because of my parents and I wanted to be able to join in their conversations because they seemed to quite enjoy it, and I hadn’t seen my parents gush about a show like that for quite a long time. It led me to believe Game of Thrones must’ve been quite something.

My parents, they loved it! They couldn’t get enough of it (either) and couldn’t wait till April. They were practically counting down the days! Mum had written on the kitchen whiteboard how many days were left until season eight, and every day she would edit her counter. It was adorable, I’m not going to lie.

Now set on my new mission, once I got settled in back at home I opened up Foxtel and watched the first episode and it frustrated me at the start, but I kept with it because I wanted to be able to converse with my parents and talk about their new favourite show together with them. Sticking it out turned to be the best decision I have ever made (almost) and before I knew it, I had accidentally ended up watching the entire first season within a day! I watched all 10 episodes of season one within 24 hours! How crazy is that? Within the next ten days, I watched all seven seasons of Game of Thrones (In my defence, I was on break from university…). It was all I could think about. All I thought about was getting up and watching some more Game of Thrones. Oh boy, was it amazing! I couldn’t get enough of it and it was so good and so emotional, and I did not think it could be so good when the books are already amazing! Like you know, how could this TV show have been better than the books?! Nothing is ever better than the books; then came Game of Thrones!

Within such a short amount of time, I have gone from thinking Game of Thrones is just another hyped up TV show, to living and breathing and actively counting down the days until season eight alongside my Mum. Sitting at the dinner table with Mum and Dad at dinner time was fun as we speculated what season 8 would bring us and we could bond together as a family over this show- it was something we’d never done before. As long as I can remember, we each always favoured such varied and different shows and movies to each other, but Game of Thrones seemed to tick all of our boxes whilst it connected us-amazingly! and I didn’t think that we could find anything like it.

I’ve never had anything like that with my parents before. No, I didn’t see them for a year, but coming back and discovering Game of Thrones was like a complete overhaul. My life and relationship with my parents drastically changed.

Growing restless waiting for season eight come out, I started to get involved with the Game of Thrones community online and I’ve met some incredible people through our shared love of the show and it’s just amazing to have found this level of friendship. If you had asked me if I would find friends from a TV show online, and we would hit it off and be best friends in hours, I would’ve called you a liar. I would’ve said that’s not possible, but I have met the best people. They are so kind and so pure and wholesome; I love how this show brought us together, and I think it’s crazy but yet wonderful how a TV show could do this, how it can bring people from different walks of life and different backgrounds together.

Game of Thrones, the show which has captivated the whole world. Now I’ve only been in the Game of Thrones fandom for a couple of months, but I can imagine how people have felt for the past eight years—having that constant of Game of Thrones, that episode every week for the last eight years. It could change your life most definitely; especially when I’ve been talking to some people about Game of Thrones. It was their rock when they were going through rough patches. It was their rock when things were falling down around them. It was something which kept them going. It’s made me wonder whether some of these people would still be here today if Game of Thrones wasn’t produced. My circumstances are completely different from theirs, but Game of Thrones has also changed my life completely! Maybe not as drastically as it has changed theirs, but at the very least, the relationship I have with my parents has improved 10-fold! I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve got this opportunity to reconcile with them and start heading in the right direction.

I am certainly going to read the books as soon as I can get my hands on a set! I can’t wait to relive this experience through ink on paper, who knows where reading the books will take me? Perhaps I can even convince my Dad to give them a shot? I would love if the Game of Thrones books would be the first he reads cover to cover. I desperately want to repay the favour my parents gave me by convincing me to give this series a shot. It has been nothing but pleasant this past couple of months and I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for this series and my new-found friends!

I wonder where we’ll be in another eight years’ time?