***Warning – there will be spoilers below***
I don’t tend to watch a lot of television and when I get into a show, it’s usually only once it has finished or when there are a few seasons out at least, so I can start from the beginning and not have to wait weeks for the next episode. With the exception of The Mindy Project, there isn’t actually a show I watch religiously on a regular basis.
And then I started watching Game of Thrones.
I’d tried to watch it when it had first come out after hearing that it was the new big thing, but I didn’t get past the first episode. Although this was probably due to the fact I tried watching the first episode on a red-eye flight from New York back to the UK and I didn’t have a fully functioning brain at the time.
There have been a lot of GoT conversations going on in the office recently, especially when one of my friends became hooked and had her own binge. I was planning on giving it another try and watching it at the end of August in the two weeks I have free after leaving work, before moving to another country. But instead, I ended up being peer pressured into watching it before season five starts, so I can get up to date.
Despite not having watched it before, I actually knew all the big plot spoilers. I knew Ned Stark got his head chopped off, I knew what happened in the Red Wedding and I knew all about Joffrey dying and making everyone very happy. The good thing was, I knew all of this and I still enjoyed it! It seems that GoT is now going to be other show I watch week-in-week-out!
But even knowing most of the big events and who the characters were, here are 5 things I learned from my GoT binge:-
- Jon Snow knows quite a lot.
I knew of the quote telling Jon Snow that he knew nothing, so I kind of assumed he was supposed to be a little bit dim, maybe completely conceited and thinks he’s smarter than he actually is. Turns out, he knows loads! People need to start listening to him more because he’s the only one who talks some sense and it’s almost down to him that The Wall is still standing.
- No one is allowed to be happy.
Like, no one at all. If they begin to feel even a little happy, something awful happens. It can get more depressing than an EastEnders’ Christmas Special. And much like a soap opera, weddings are not joyous occasions.
- The women are the ones who are in control.
The big strength of GoT is that everyone loves the characters and they’re written very well – the female characters especially. In a world where men think they run everything because they have swords and whatnot, it’s actually the women working behind them who are wielding power. There are some very awesome, strong female characters – Daenerys, Cat Stark, Brienne, Olenna Tyrell and especially Arya!
- There’s A LOT of incest.
Lots of inappropriate brother-sister touching and then a lot of full-on inappropriate brother-sister action. And if you’re a Lannister, maybe throw a cousin in there if a sibling isn’t handy. Maybe they should avoid the incest because it results in this…
- You need IMDB at the ready for every episode you watch.
With most characters having the average lifespan of a gnat, there is a massive turnover each episode and you’ll find yourself watching it, sure you recognise one of the actors and wanting to know what you’ve seen them in before. A quick pause, check IMDB, go “oh, it’s so-and-so!” then you may resume.
And three things I already knew:-
- Sean Bean dies.
Obviously! Were people really that surprised? I’d be more surprised if Sean Bean was in a role that let him survive until the end.
- Winter is coming.
Although I now understand the whole importance of it and that winter can actually last a couple of years.
- Tyrion is the best.
Every time he rocks up on screen, it instantly gets better.
So I will now be joining the millions of other people eagerly awaiting the start of Season 5 and it’s going to be interesting now I’m on the same page as everyone else. I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to the surprises or not!
xoxo
Working Life Out 