Winter is coming

Note: This is not a review.

I am a Lord of the Rings fan, so I am not surprised if I was easily lured to watching all the episodes of Game of Thrones – Season 1 in one day.

My TV series’ playlist this year has been dominated by crime dramas (Criminal Minds, Lie to Me, The Mentalist, Dexter and Bones), so going back to historical dramas would be nice. I finished last year The Tudors, Spartacus and Rome, so I was happy to pick from the pirated DVD stall (outside E-mall) another historical drama – one with the title Game of Thrones. But I was wrong.

Thrones is not a historical drama. I usually google the synopsis of a series before watching, but I was not able to do it with Thrones, so watching it was really a good surprise for me. It has more than enough elements to make me a wiling hostage for maybe 8 hours. It is a tale of dynastic families, swordfighting, sex, loyalty vs. betrayal, war and the struggle for power – the themes that describe Westeros, with seven kingdoms all determined to fight for the Iron Throne.

Thrones’ plot is definitely not that original, but originality is not an issue for me, especially if I crave for fantastic setting and plot, after watching LOTR a long time ago. It reminds me a bit of the account of betrayal in Rome, the court politics and power play in Kings and The Tudor, the war and conspiracy in the movie Octavius. Many details of the series are reminiscent of some popular themes like King Arthurs’ knighthood, the Roman empire, the English monarch, Greek mythology, tales of dragon and even zombies. The series’ juxtaposition of these elements has even made the story rich and exciting.

Thrones, further, has some elements of surprise, of unpredictability – especially if one is concerned about the survival of his/her favorite characters. For instance, I was really expecting that the beheading of lead cast Ned Stark by King Geoffrey would not push through, that something would happen to save Ned. But it’s probably telling the series’ followers that Thrones’ plot is too dynamic to revolve around Ned for the next season.

Another surprise for me in this series is that sex is not much as I had thought. Compared to The Tudors, Spartacus and Rome, Thrones would be conservative. Maybe, with the exciting storylines and impressive acting of the cast, Thrones does not need much sex to sell.

With the season’s final episode, I can’t wait to see dragons flying in the second season.

When I checked online for info regarding the second season, I found out that the Game of Thrones is based from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice, the series of novels. A friend recommended that I read the books. I hope I have the time, otherwise I can just be satisfied with the TV series.