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‘Game of Thrones’ has many elements of neo-medievalism. From dragons to White Walkers, this series brings the magical to life both on TV and in the books the show is based on. The series is loosely based on mid-to-late 15th century Europe. However, the series is set in an alternate realm called Westeros. Because the seven kingdoms within the realm are at war throughout the entire series, ‘Game of Thrones’ paints a very bleak and violent picture of the Middle Ages.
Westeros is a fictional city that is loosely based on the War of the Roses, which occurred in the mid-15th century. The show is centered on a battle between the Houses of Stark, Lannister, Targaryen and Baratheon for the Iron Throne, much like the House of York and House of Lancaster did during the War of Roses for the English throne. One of the big differences, however, is that one of the main characters has dragons at her disposal.
Daenerys Targaryen is gifted with three dragon eggs at her wedding. After her husband’s death in the first season, she places the eggs in the funeral pyre and they hatch. She is then known as the Mother of Dragons and raises the dragons as if they were her children. They become pivotal to her journey back to Westeros to take back the Iron Throne. She feels that the Iron Throne is her birthright because her father had been King before being overthrown. In the later seasons, we meet the White Walkers, also on a journey to Westeros.
The White Walkers are the ‘big bad’ of the show and have been slowly making their way to Westeros over the course of the series. They are ancient ice beings who can reanimate the dead to use them as soldiers, called Wights. They are able to freeze things simply by touching them and can only be killed with dragon glass, which can be found on the island that Daenerys has claimed as her base in the later seasons. However, she is unaware of the dragon glass and the White Walkers when she lands on the island.
Together, these elements paint an engaging fantasy world that has a very large fan base. However, because everyone is always fighting with and/or killing each other, it does not make Westeros seems like a very desirable place to live overall. Westeros does have qualities that make the world seem like it could be an enjoyable place to live however, such as tight-knit families, love and loyalty. This is proven by the Stark family always trying to reunite with each other (and succeeding a few times), as well as through Daenerys’ marriage to Khal Drogo. Their marriage lacks love and trust at first with Daenerys fearing him, however, they grow to deeply love and respect each other as equals, resulting in a very happy and loving marriage, albeit short.
The medieval elements present in ‘Game of Thrones’ work very well to engage the audience. The main characters are strong and it is easy to root for them. Alternatively, they have a wide variety of villains in the show as well, both human and non-human. Some you have some sympathy for, while you celebrate when others fall. They also live in a world that has dragons and magic in it, both of which are always very popular among modern viewers. Together, the elements build a world that is believable, the viewers could see themselves living there and it is easy to suspend our disbelief because everything seamlessly blends together and flows well.
These elements also suggest that the show’s producers and writers viewed the Middle Ages as a very violent time, evidenced by the near constant violence throughout the show. There have been a large number of very gruesome deaths throughout the span of the show, with many of them being unnecessary. Some of the murders seem as if they were committed out of convenience more than anything, while others were planned purely for revenge, such as Arya’s kill list that she compiled while on the run. This doesn’t paint a very nice picture of the time period.
And in conclusion of my work, I would like to analyze the selected review. The review that I have chosen was written by Tim Goodman from The Hollywood Reporter (Goodman, 2011). Based upon his review, he found the setting highly engaging, opening his review with “Barely a few minutes into HBO's epic 'Game of Thrones' series, it's clear that the hype was right and the wait was worth it” (Goodman, 2011). He went on to compare ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘The Sopranos’, due to having all of the right elements needed to lure an audience into the show. He discussed how the show manages to stay fast-paced and enjoyable even with “numerous characters and a dense, interwoven backstory” (Goodman, 2011). He applauded the production team for creating a world that challenges its viewers to pay attention to the small details, connecting the dots and making connections as they watch. He also pointed out that because the pace of the show is so precise, viewers do not have any difficulty in keeping up with the numerous story lines that are present in each episode. He stated that because the story telling was so precise and the characters so fully developed, that it was very easy to keep up with all of the twists and turns without getting lost.
He made many comparisons to ‘The Lord of the Rings’, which makes me believe that he went into the show prepared to suspend his disbelief. Because of this, I do not feel that he took the show less seriously because it lacked realism. He did not expect realism when he started watching ‘Game of Thrones’ and therefore, was able to enjoy the show as the neo-medieval piece it was meant to be. Though he compared ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘The Borgias’ and ‘Camelot’, television shows that were both based on real people (though neither is historically accurate), he maintained that ‘Game of Thrones’ was based in a fantasy world. Overall, he seemed very impressed with how the production of the show was managed and thought that it was a very entertaining television show.
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