CEBU, Philippines - Many of my friends were posting about Game of Thrones, the new HBO TV series, on Facebook and Twitter, so I finally decided to check it out. Let me just say: the last time I felt like this about a series was... well, never. I’ve been hooked on TV shows before, and I still remember my Harry Potter reading days, when I wouldn’t want to do anything else but read all day and I would actually snarl at anyone who dared disturb me.
But did I feel so strongly for Harry that I wrung my hair out of frustration every time he made a stupid decision? Did I ever want to cut off his head myself because he denied me the satisfaction of seeing vengeance served by showing an idiotic display of mercy? And did I ever want to kick myself in the butt for wanting Harry to win, despite one disappointment over another? No, no, and no. Because J.K. Rowling never did take Harry to that kind of complexity. Oh, but George R. R. Martin, who penned the books of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, knows his complicated characters, and the television adaptation — so far spanning nine episodes — have totally left me gnashing my teeth at each and every frustrating turn in Lord Eddard Stark’s blasted honorable life.
Game of Thrones is based upon the first book of the planned seven-book epic fantasy. It’s set in a medieval fantasy world and zooms in on developing events in three locations: The Seven Kingdoms, which is ruled by King Robert Baratheon as the series opens; the Wall, the Seven Kingdom’s northern border, manned by rangers tasked to protect the border from all sorts of invaders, human or not; and the land across the sea, the East, which is home to the violent warlords called Dothraki and the exiled children of the former king of the Seven Kingdoms.
And everything is rotten in these three locales. In the Seven Kingdoms, the queen’s family, the Lannisters, has begun a treacherous attempt to wrest the crown from the Baratheons. The Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, is the first victim. King Robert summons Ned to take Jon’s place, and this stirs up the boiling cauldron even faster—and it doesn’t help that Ned is upfront to just about everyone who asks about his plans! Meanwhile, in the Wall, a weak army of petty criminals and outcasts patrolling the border find the dead bodies of rangers who had failed to return from a mission—bodies that have become something else entirely! Lastly, somewhere in the East, the exiled prince and princess are plotting a return to power backed by a Dothraki army.
To say that every plot point in the series is building up to one exquisite big bang is an understatement! But in the mean time, I gnash my teeth at my noble, idiotic hero.
Ned Stark, the Lord of Winterfell, is perhaps the most frustrating protagonist I have ever encountered—and yet, I can’t help but root for him, as he is the epitome of an ideal king despite his lack of a desire to be one. “The man who delivers the death sentence should be the one to carry it out,” he tells his son, after giving a deserter the death sentence and chopping the said deserter’s head off with his sword. Definitely a leader who walks the talk, one who doesn’t just delegate the dirty work.
Stark’s honor, unfortunately, is what makes him vulnerable to his less honorable foes, begging the question, “Is honor really no good in war?” In what little fantasy I’ve exposed myself to, honorable virtues have always been exalted, and those who fight with honor eventually emerge as victors. Game of Thrones thus far tramples upon this sort of naivete, and yet keeps us hoping for the good to eventually triumph even in its upside-down world.
Will it happen? Will it not? The season finale is to be shown next week, and the final two books have yet to be published. In the meantime, I wait with bated breath.
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