Game of Thrones Review

I used to prefer the books, but I've since become enamored of the tv show and hold it to be superior. I prefer the show because Tyrion isn't a noseless monster like he is in the books, I was really dismayed by what happened to him. Tyrion was always my favorite character, and seeing him with his due dignity in the show makes it surpass the book in my eyes. It is said that GRRM is a discovery writer, or gardener as he puts it, but I feel the books took too many wrong turns, especially becoming too enmeshed in events across the sea. I really love the books because of GRRM's masterful prose and characterization, and I look forward to reading the next ones, but overall I prefered the show because it was more cohesive.

The show does a brilliant job of orchestrating drama with high stakes or a ticking clock, there's always great tension and suspense to the scenes. Knowing where the books were going gave them the opportunity to plan out the characters arcs in great detail and with greater contrast between their beginnings and endings, diverging from the books. The story juggles so many plot threads that it doesn't spin its wheels much, there's always a subplot that is reaching a crisis point. You occasionally have buildup scenes, but there's many more payoff scenes, and boy do they pay off dramatically rich dividends.

There is great conflict between the rival families, but the lines between good an evil are blurred so that they are morally grey instead of black and white. Often times you follow the story from the perspective of villains, creating sympathy for the devil, so to speak. The world of Westerose is often cruel and unforgiving, as heroes lose what they hold dear due to betrayal or ambush. Tyrion becomes the victim of a misunderstanding when he is framed for murder, and Ned and Jamie battle over custody of Tyrion. Ned eventually discovers that Cerseis children are born of incest and are illegitimate, but before he can reveal the truth King Robert is killed while hunting a boar. Prince Joffrey ascends to the throne and has Ned executed, initiating a war with the northmen led by Rob Stark. The story has byzantine political intrigue, weaving together strands from across the 7 kingdoms to create conflict on the front stage. The story has lots of great twists and turns as one side then the other gains ascendancy for a short while before being supplanted. The story deals with the theme of once you become king your idiosyncratic Achilles heel will unravel you and you'll fall from power. All of the would be kings fall victim to their follies as their enemies wait for their turn to seize the throne. Its truly an epic story in scope and imagination, and does for TV what LOTR did for film.

The final season was flawed, but I had enough goodwill from the preceding seasons to forgive the errors. It was indeed weak writing for Daenerys to suddenly have her 180 degree turn and become a raging psychopath, and I think their idea could have worked if they'd shown a bit more care in its execution, and predicated things much better. It came off as a random occurance, instead of growing organically from the story. I also don't agree with the theme that power always corrupts, Daenerys did do a few morally questionable things, but nothing to justify this complete change of character. I think the writers prioritized their shocking twist over organic storytelling, instead of finding a better way to reconcile these two needs.