How did 'Game of Thrones' become such a 'phenomenon'?

- “ RIP GRRM “ -

Well, actually, ...

we mean, “Please Continue Resting” and NOT completing the books.

“You win or you die” - *Unless you’re a ‘fan favorite’ with ‘Plot Armor’**. *

- “ Their unpredictable chances of survival added to its addictive appeal as the deaths racked up -- 59 in season one, soaring to 3,523 in the massacrous eighth and final season, according to Statista.” -

In the latter seasons, the ‘plot armor’ protections were too numerous to mention here.

Wow! You really ‘Subverted our expectations” with *this ‘muck of unworthy praise*’:

*- “Much of the credit must go to the spectacular way Westeros was brought to life by showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff”- *

That unwarranted bit of ice-kissing just as unpredictable as us ‘losing breakfast’ after reading it.

So, “Happy Anniversary“ (?), *we guess***. - Apr 14, 2019 **Season 8 premiered - and, like some of the lesser characters, ‘fans’ continued ‘dying off’. (Couldn’t understand the need for this story now - a ‘member when...’ for what could have been?) With fantasy, we understand there will be ‘trolls and all sorts of vile beasts’. Looking forward to their continuing storyline as well. Get back to work, George!

Simple is wasn't a "revival" if an old good TV show with all the fun, controversy, jokes, removed so not to upset some group or another replacing every character with a different gender, orientation in unrelatable relationships for the majority of the people, adding in at least one or two deep-seated conspiracy, etc...

Basically it let the vast majority of adolescent and adult girls/women/boys/men be over stimulated, it showed that not everyone is a winner, life isn't always fair, foul language and insults are part of life, etc...

Simply put people could watch it and not be told what to think.

Well because of when John Snow fell in love with Jaime Lannister and they live happily ever after, and the part where Tyrion Lannister defeats and kills The Mountain single handedly with his bare hand.

Then the part where Cersei and Daenerys make up and then they adopt Arya who later went on to marry Sandor, all of that was great so relatable to everyone.

Oh wait none of that happened.

So I wonder why the show was a success? (Sarcasm)

Sounds like you watched it, as well @Antiquesaving 10:11am.

From the great season 1, it started mostly consistent with the books, this was NOT a show for ALL audiences.

Some enjoyed GRRM’s ‘fleshing out’ of fantasy from his inspiration, JRR Tolkien’s “Middle Earth”.

From Your ‘take’ on the story, can we assume you hate “identity politics”, “gender swapping”, etc evident in the modern retelling of canon and established lore?

You were spared @zichi 9:33am. We were more satisfied by @Antiquesaving’s 10:11am ‘character arcs’ and ‘plot resolutions’.

@snowymountainhell

It is less about “identity politics”, “gender swapping”, and more about being realistic.

I am not from the inner cities of the USA nor am a from the south or western part I am not even From the USA nor is English my primary language.

So even though I have tried, most rap music and country music and the subjects they cover are not things I can easily identify with, so I don't listen much to them.

The same applies to movies and TV despite having an unusual number of friends in the LGBTQ,etc.. community I am not a member of it so though I understand their wants for more shows they can identify with the vast majority of people are not members of that group and if people cannot identify with characters then they generally also enjoy the show less.

This is just human nature, Japanese productions centre around things the Japanese understand and identify with, not around the USA, Europe, etc.. why because that is the target audience the majority not a small fraction of society.

TV, movie, music are businesses and the goal is to get as many people to buy tickets, buy music as possible and by producing something that is great or identifiable for a tiny protection of the people and then wondering why it was not a great big hit, is ignoring reality.

A hit so-called chick flick is rarely about the relationship between two women, it is generally a love story or love tragedy between a man and a woman, why? Because that is what the women watching the movie identify with.

The same reason men watch action movies, they see their fantasies of being the hero, getting the girl.

It seems some forgot this.

if people cannot identify with characters then they generally also enjoy the show less.

What do you think is essential for someone to identify with a character?

What do you think is essential for someone to identify with a character?

Try common sense.

My favorite character Night King was given an abrupt sendoff.

Try common sense.

You mean a character having common sense? Doesn't seem right to me. Lots of people identify with characters who lack common sense.

Bit of a drivelly article. Nice to see so many people with so little of consequence to say wrote books based on a TV show.

GOT was really unpredictable esp. the first 3 or 4 seasons.

Also, T&A sells too. Interesting characters and story lines where any of the "heroes" can get a blade slid through them or a boy pushed out of a tower was refreshing.

Perhaps a big reveal of how viewers have grown tired of Hollywood's lack of making anything surprising anymore.

Beats me, I suppose people need a good soap now and then.

I watched the first episode and while I liked Sean Bean's character and the whole concept of the wall in the frozen wastelands with creatures lurking beyond, the rest of it was pretty generic fantasy stuff. The Drogo stuff was especially corny.

It was dark, well-budgeted, creative, had what ended up being a fantastic cast (some fantastic -- like Dinklage), and incredible detail in its universe. I mean, if I turned off GOT and went with to my living room to watch J-TV with my partner, there was recycled Kimtaku or someone in an absolutely horrible, technicolor-looking show. Talk about different universes!

I gotta say, though... opening credit sequence of GOT is still one of the best.

Right, I have not yet seen the final season, I was so disappointed by the season before that I just skipped it, interestingly I still can't feel the motivation to invest a few hours to see how it ended, the spoilers on the media are good enough for me.

As soon as the showrunners could not get books to follow a story, the show went flat in any common sense the characters chznged personalities and all went cheesy.

The special effects contribute to the story, it does not create it.

Sex scenes were just closer to the truth, instead of all hidden for religious or moral reasons no one should care about. Gore also was necessary because you know, to kill someone you need to be strong or cunning or lucky or just mean, and blood usually flows if you use a blade.

Shame it ended that way. I voted for writing again last season at least which was rushed and a total waste.

haven't watched it before, any good ?

Well, @mmwkdw 2:52am, you could ‘binge’ watch over 2 weeks, about 70+ episodes. Or, ...

if you want to understand the ‘nonsense and heartbreaking disappointment’ many fans encountered in the last 3 seasons, then space your viewing out to ‘once a week’ with 12 month breaks between seasons. The 10+ years invested may lead you to similar conclusions as those expressed above.

Right, I have not yet seen the final season, I was so disappointed by the season before that I just skipped it, interestingly I still can't feel the motivation to invest a few hours to see how it ended, the spoilers on the media are good enough for me.

Good call. It was awful.

The TV series was good, but the books by GRRM are so much better.