Jodi and I tend to trail behind popular culture by about
five years. I could go on about that, and maybe someday I will, but just trust
that it’s the truth as a lead-in to this post. About five years after most of
the rest of the world, we finished watching Game of Thrones on Monday night. Before
I dive into the point of this post, I want to make a few things clear:
- I have read the books. Jodi has not. I will say
that when I started reading the first book, I was near a point of giving up on
the fantasy genre. I had read a few of the Robert Jordan “Wheel of Time” books
with great frustration. I found Jordan’s writing derivative, he had a penchant
for long blocks of retelling of previous books, and each book felt like a level
of a video game – you know, beat the boss to advance to the next level and the
next boss. I will admit that I didn’t
really feel much better about Game of Thrones until reaching the conclusion of
the first book and the beheading of Ned Stark. In the fantasy genre, main
characters never die, and it had felt like Ned Stark was going to be the lynchpin
of the series. With his death, it changed the tone. This truly was a “Game of
Thrones” where you either “Win or you die.” By the conclusion of the books that
are written, I was starting to worry about a couple things:
- Much like professional wrestling fans in the late
1990s, I found myself looking toward the aisle instead of watching the action
in the ring to try and see what surprise was coming next. The problem with that
is that there is a law diminishing returns with such booking. Sooner or later
because you don’t care about what’s in front of you, you stop caring about what
happens to anyone. The surprise from behind the curtain will never then live up
to expectation.
- I was becoming convinced that it was unlikely
with such a grand scope that the conclusion of this series was going to be wholly
satisfactory. Its charm was its immensity and once all these characters and
plots collided, I worried we might find that the pieces didn’t really all fit
together.
- I am not going to spend a lot of time discussing
the gripes most people had with the conclusion of the show. Mostly I’m fine
with it (see above, I suspected it wouldn’t all fit perfectly together). Was
the last season rushed? Yes. Why did Daenerys go mad? Not entirely sure –
grief, lust for power, just in the Targaryen blood. All of the above? Was Bran
the right pick as king? I don’t know, probably as good a choice as anyone. The lesson
was that wanting power is evil.
Since this is a writing blog, I wanted highlight things I’ve
considered about this series.
Character Development
The strength of Game of Thrones is development of numerous complex
characters. Jamie Lannister pushes a child out of a window to hide his affair
with his twin sister, yet by midway through the series you want to root for
him. Tyrion Lannister is a quick-witted drunken dwarf, who also happens to be
idealistic and a romantic. Brienne of Tarth is a hulking brute who is so
guarded because of the cruelty she’s faced her entire life. Theon Greyjoy has
confused loyalties, does terrible things in hopes to win his father’s approval,
endures torture and emasculation, and struggles to find redemption. These are
only a few of the characters we meet, love, and lose along the way.
The lesson for a writer is that almost no one is perfectly
good or completely evil. Crafting character isn’t just about providing physical
details and dialogue. It’s creating nuances in personality, building sympathy
and/or contempt, and developing all these traits through plot.
The World
Like Tolkien before him, George R.R. Martin creates an
elaborate world with a rich history that plays a major role in the events
taking place on the pages and screen. From the Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros
to the building of the great wall in the North to many other major and minor
events that are detailed in the books and hinted at in show. For example, “The
Rains of Castamere” is a song about the slaughter of House Reyne by Tywin
Lannister. It’s a grim tale and one that highlights Tywin’s cunning and
ruthlessness. The band begins to play this song after the wedding of Edmure
Tully and Roslin Frey, which Catelyn Stark recognizes and immediately knows
that she and her son, Robb, are in trouble.
I admire fantasy writers who can develop such rich and poignant
history. The trick is to do it without losing the forward motion of the story you’re
telling. I can’t claim that I have that ability, but if I ever write a fantasy
story, it’s something I’ll have to consider.
The Magic Balancing Act
Okay, the dragons are cool. The magic that brought them back
sort of vague, but they serve a purpose in the story. Melisandre seems to have
some magic, but her abilities seem to wax and wane at times. She serves the Lord
of Light but births a shadow of death. Sort of confusing. The faceless men –
still not sure I get that. Bran is the Three-Eyed Raven, which I guess means he
can see the past and the present and maybe the future. Maybe he’ll live a long
time if he lives in the roots of a tree. And, boy, the Night King wants him
dead, even though it seems like the Night King could have done just that since
the last Three-Eyed Raven was north of the wall for a long time with minimal
protection and wrapped up in the roots of a tree. The reality is that Bran’s
ability is a way to fill in gaps to the reader/viewer. It’s a plot device, so
you must accept some head scratching parts. The Night King – so I like the
story of everyone coming together to defeat this guy – but isn’t it really the
story of beating Sauron or insert every other totally evil wizard in the fantasy
realm. It made for great theater, but the character itself is flat, his
motivation kind of narrow, and then there’s only one way that he can lose, and
he allows himself to be fooled into exposing that weakness (himself). You know,
like Sauron tied himself to a ring that could be destroyed. The Night King just
needs to stay five miles from the battle, and his side wins. The more I think about
the end of the series, I sometimes wonder if the entire Night King scenario just
didn’t quite fit into this otherwise political story.
I guess what I am saying is that magic is something that is
part of fantasy, but it’s often a tricky thing, and I am not sure it’s a
strength for George R.R. Martin. Oftentimes writers use magic to get out of
corners. Can’t beat a villain, develop a magic scheme that makes it possible.
The problem is that magic often also blows holes in plotlines. I mean, if Gandalf
can call the eagles, why don’t they just fly the damn eagles to Mordor and drop
the ring in Mount Doom? Well, it’d be a shitty story if they did, for one thing.
The other is that writers should brush lightly but precisely when it comes to
magic.
Well, that’s what I have to say. Let me know your thoughts
on Game of Thrones, and thanks for reading.
