How 'Game of Thrones' Changed My Life

In the interest of those who have not seen the show nor have read George R.R. Martin’s novels, I will keep this spoiler free. There are still a lot of things in the Game of Thrones franchise that I don’t know or have forgotten with the sheer size of the work.

It’s one of the biggest TV shows in the world right now. It’s helped made being a geek cool again (though in my opinion, it’s never stopped being cool). The show itself is massive: eight seasons of epic episodes with nearly 70 hours of screen time—there’s a lot to catch up on if you are behind. Whilst I have not seen every single episode, I’ve seen enough to form an opinion of the show and I have also read some of the books and hope to get the whole collection so far.

I love the intense world building and how much depth we see in all the characters. Even minor characters get an important role. My experience reading some of the Song and Fire Ice novels was like reading an epic history novel that makes you care about the characters. I remember picking it from the library when I was younger and the librarian took it off me and said, “You shouldn’t read that. It will be too complicated for you.”

Was the librarian right? Yes, it’s complicated and long but I still enjoyed it. The show and books are a good ride. I liked the books from what I’ve read so far (only completed the first book and haven’t got round to finishing the others when I rented them from the library), but I’ve found myself more switched on with the show.

There’s always this assumption that the books will always be better than any visual or audio format like films and TV show, but I think I prefer the show than the books. The books give interesting stuff but the show has been a perfect adaptation, especially the first two seasons and the episodes I’ve watched.

Because of GOT, I have learned that sometimes the books are not always better. They’ve both share one thing in common: a diverse cast with valiant heroes, dickheads with big egos, calculating snakes, and spectacular villains. Some of them have died spectacularly.

Game of Thrones has also made me more virtuous when it comes to spoilers. If it wasn’t for the spoilers I think I would have been more inclined to be more faithful to the show.

In the past, spoilers haven’t bothered me much, but now I can see why spoilers are called spoilers. Game of Thrones is the kind of story you need to experience without spoilers. It’s the shock value and plot twists that make it fun. Nobody predicted the Starbucks cup, though.

With the show being around for eight years, and the books even longer, it’s only natural for me to have changed my favorite characters over the years. At first I hated all the Lannisters with the exception of Tyrion, but now I like all of the characters and found their character arcs fantastically handled. You may have read my last article about why I’m not-so-secretly routing for Cersei.

Daenerys used to be my all time favorite character and have at times, but I’ve gone off her a bit. What hasn’t changed is my love for Ayra as a character.

I do think that Game of Thrones has changed many people. I believe it’s opened a pathway for new readers and viewers to get into fantastic and rediscover the lord of the rings again, (another one of my favorites.)

Rambles aside, I think Game of Thrones has taught us all that change can be good, even in gloomy times. It’s okay to change your mind about things and it’s helped create a voice for many regardless of whether they’ve watched the show or not.