Game of Thrones: The Finale For Me

Lately, I’ve been rewatching Naruto. Part 1 and Part 2 are comprised of hundreds of hours of television. Dattebayo!

Is it good? You ask. Should I watch it?

Well, I say, embarrassed. Of course not!

So…. this post is actually about Game of Thrones, not Naruto. It’s been 5 years since the finale, and I am ready to join the Discourse.

In this post, I am going to tell you about the loaded preconceptions I had about the series before I got (too??) into it. Then I will tell you what it was like to ride that canon wave to its conclusion in 2019.

If You Haven’t Seen Game of Thrones In 2024, Your Brain Should Be Studied.

Welcome! You can join we who know so little of the Office, our collective memory would barely fill one (1) clip compilation. Also available: membership to our brunch club of we who cannot confidently name each Friend in Friends.

Maybe watch Game of Thrones? Or don’t. Maybe read the books? Nevermind, I’m not in charge of you. But anyways, spoilers ahead.

I firmly support the anti-recommendation agenda. I respect you. I would never presume your time means so little that you would enjoy watching something I do.

In one way or another, we all participate in the mass hypnotism of a popular, great, current water-cooler show.

Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s great. Just because something is great doesn’t mean it’s popular. Just because something is great and popular doesn’t mean it deserves your attention.

I would go so far as to say, if you feel led to psychotic breakdown over someone suggesting you watch a show with more than 5 seasons, run with it. Some viable reactions include:

1. Say you’ll watch it. Lie. Go feral. Move to the desert. You are Wilderness Goblin.
2. Monastic devotion. Stop what you are doing. Leave wherever you are. Begin consuming [recommended media] until you are one with the fandom.
3. Lie 2.0. Say you’ll get around to watching [recommended media] eventually. Avoid it forever. Change your name.
4. (Secret Difficulty) Spend years declaring[recommended media] is trash. Begin watching by accident. Get hooked. Convert. Evangelize.

Infiltrating A Community

I was in college when I first learned of the HBO show. I filed it away as not for me. For the first few seasons, the series rattled along in the stratosphere of my awareness, as so many Star Treks, Drs. Whence, or Lords of Ringing — a significant fandom, but one far from my interest.

When I eventually decided to get into the series, I made a few bizarre but intentional choices. Before I watched a second of Game of Thrones, or cracked a book, I spoiled myself on the entire series.

Doing this did not take away a speck of enjoyment. I would do it again.

First, I went on a Wiki binge and read all about Game of Thrones. I just wanted to know what I was getting into! I read character bios. I watched climactic clips. Spoiling it was my way of experiencing it fresh. I read all the twists and turns in advance. I did this to ensure my time watching the show and reading this behemoth series was “worth” it.

Second, I read the A Song of Ice and Fire books backwards, starting with the most recently published one.

Finally, I joined various Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire subreddit communities.

Let’s Talk About Reddit

There’s a lot to be said about Reddit, the social forum website. For the sake of this post, Reddit is a great way to explore a new dimension of a community you’re interested in. You can quickly find authoritative collections of top discussions, FAQs, need-to-knows, and learn “what’s up” with whatever you’re interested in. Larger fandoms go further than a single subreddit, branching into further communities that emphasize a particular rule of expression.

At one point I was part of, or at least knew the existence of, 5–6 separate communities for fans of Game of Thrones:

• Show-only discussion
• Book-only discussion
• Show and book discussion
• Positive discussion
• Circlejerking
• Shitposting

I will not be explaining circlejerking and shitposting today, so…

On Reddit, communities develop around these franchises to share reactions, theories, conspiracies, art, and jokes. A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) is so old, it’s not uncommon to see multi-decade fans mingling with people who just fell in love with the series today. Fans share their journeys experiencing the story for the first time, or noticing new things reread or rewatch after reread or rewatch. Additionally, you may find groups of startlingly horny internet strangers that produce a graduate program’s worth of research into the sexual fantasies of television show fans.

After completing this rigorous pre-work, I was ready to watch the show.

It Felt Good to be Part of Something Big… Until It Didn’t.

The Purple Wedding was the first episode I remember watching on television.

My run with Game of Thrones is intrinsically linked to 2016 through 2019, wherein I lost my parents and everything got weird. Thus, I felt battered and isolated. This tentpole megashow became a safe space I could hide behind. I was talking the talk. I was speaking the lingo. I read tweets. I tuned in, I cared. I was “part” of something current and mainstream when everything else was falling apart.

I had gotten past the toughest part of joining a fandom: the fans.

Fans can turn you off because they’re obsessed. Fans can also turn you off due to their toxicity. It should be a warning sign when [recommended media] becomes someone’s entire personality. A fandom’s codes, shorthand, and other references can be dizzyingly alienating. For many, that can be enough to turn them off to [recommended media] for good. This can be true for anything, but it is especially true when a beloved book series is turned into prestige television.

There is a certain type of impotent fan range, poisonously tied to gaming and nerd culture. Rather than simply not liking something, ignoring it, and moving on (as most people do), this category of person is driven to Post Online.

If you’re reading this and haven’t watched Game of Thrones, maybe you haven’t heard the kerfuffle about the finale.

Game of Thrones joined a long line of book series whose primary sin was becoming a television show. “Fans” lay a long list of offenses at its feet.

It’s well-reported that the Game of Thrones television adaptation almost didn’t happen. It took hard work, trust, a gamble, to make the series come to life. Echoes of the anger surrounding Game of Thrones’ adaptation reminds me of the nonstop drama over the fifteen years the Harry Potter movies came out.

While it’s true that some interpretations can be faithful and some are not, Game of Thrones was the most ambitiously accurate adaptation of media besides the Bible. The least interesting thing you can do to me is complain about the difference of an adaptation.

Why not welcome variances in books, movies, and television? Doesn’t that mean you have more adaptations of the world you enjoy? Some fans act as though an alternate depiction puts imagination to death.

Anger over adaptation goes beyond inaccuracy, and this was not the only issue that caused consternation over the Game of Thrones finale. The show got ahead of the books. This caused a delta for fans when the show began to outpace the book, wild theories were flying. Expectations and anticipation was high.

Some book fans waited years to see how the story would wrap up. Game of Thrones ending was the payout of a long-term sports bet. This was their Super Bowl. If your character didn’t “win” the actual game of thrones, or was unfairly removed from play, you may feel your involvement and “support” was wasted.

I remind myself that for some people, the plot of Game of Thrones not turning out as expected is literally the worst thing that has ever happened to them. Think how deeply the bonds of community tie “love” to franchises, stories, and brands. In some cases, people truly are processing disappointment at not getting what they think they want for the first time. What seems silly to you or I is blasphemous to some fans.

In pursuit of blissful, uncomplicated relationships with media, the Aggrieved Fan’s Prayer goes as follows:

The ending was bad because I say it’s bad, it was bad to me. It’s bad because I don’t understand it. It’s bad because it doesn’t match what I envisioned in my head. It’s bad because it didn’t make me feel good. Amen.

The Game of Thrones Finale

I found every second of the Game of Thrones final seasons to be emotionally satisfying and tonally consistent. All my faves had great endings. I had a great time.

I am sympathetic to those whose experiences were ruined, but that sympathy only goes so far. Culture and movies are a surface for capitalism. When those forces depict stories that captured your identity, it’s natural to feel protective or angry when they do not go as planned… just kidding. The actors, directors, cast, crew, do not owe you a fantasy. If you wish for certain imagination fodder, may I introduce you to the world of fan fiction?

Media discernment equips you with the tools necessary to not take it personally when a character you identify with doesn’t do something you would or would not do. Dissatisfaction of interpolation from original media (books to movie, video game to TV show) is the salt mine that keeps giving.

Anyone Remember Game of Thrones?

“Game of Thrones is dead,” declare bitter former fans, of a show that spawned a spin-off, and continues to break streaming records. Recency bias in media means people think the most commercially successful show in the history of television was not a success. What they really mean is dead to them, and possibly with good reason.

Why anyone would choose to look back on something with such bitterness is something I do not understand. Still, when it comes to [recommended media], it’s easier let people like what they like, and conversely hate what they hate.

If I may offer one recommendation after all, let’s fight the extremes on either end.

Do you have a complicated relationship with complicated relationships with media? Me too! Consider subscribing at oddsoul.blog 🙂