I’m surprised I ended up watching this series. I remember when I first got to watch part of it, I got bored. That was a long time ago and I’m a different person now. I loved the story. I couldn’t help but notice it had some common themes with The Hunger Games series. There’s a power struggle between the forces of good and evil, but it turns out both sides were evil. A new leader, who doesn’t want to lead, comes out of the ashes of the old to usher in a new world. I suppose it’s an age-old struggle in stories and it makes for a very powerful plot device.
The age-old moral runs throughout this series: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The thirst for power drives man to unspeakable cruelty. Even those with the best intentions fall because they have justified cruelty to get where they wanted to be. The ending of the series was powerful in that Daenerys got what she wanted, but there was nothing left but ashes to rule for her to rule. She started out with good intentions and wanted to make the world a better place, but better doesn’t always mean better for everyone.
It was quite satisfying watching the cruel leaders get their just rewards in the end. They all met their fates in the worst possible ways. Their deaths would never have been enough to atone for their sins, but it had to do. Even the religious leaders turned to cruelty in order to get to power. It’s a strong allegory for the state of the world today.
Tyrion was my favorite character throughout the series. His family hated him from birth. The world hated him because he was a dwarf. Nobody ever expected anything of him, but he kept his humanity. He was the most human of all the characters. He grew into his role as an advisor. He made terrible mistakes, but he learned from them. It was no surprise that he was the one to come up with the final compromise in the ending.
Arya was a small girl at the beginning of the story. She endured terrible things, but she was strong, smart, and resilient. She became an assassin and meted out justice for the crimes committed against her family. Theon was viewed as an outsider, and he was put in impossible situations. He longed for his own family but was loyal to the family who raised him. He was broken and turned into a sub-human. It took the family who raised him to forgive his sins and embrace him again. We learned through him that family runs deeper than blood.
If you have the time commitment to put into this series, I think you should watch it. Very good.
