Question about Game of Thrones...
Si_Crewe
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Both the missus and I enjoy a good fantasy movie such as LOTR or Maleficent and games like Skyrim.
I should make it perfectly clear, though, that it's the fantasy aspect of these things that we enjoy; the adventuring, the dragons, wizards and elves etc.
So, I was thinking about starting into Game of Thrones but I was wondering if it really IS a proper "fantasy" series or whether it's just The Good Wife with swords?
From what I've read, on IMDB, there obviously is quite a bit of scheming and plotting and backstabbing in it but that's okay as long as there's also a decent amount of traditional "fantasy" to it.
I should make it perfectly clear, though, that it's the fantasy aspect of these things that we enjoy; the adventuring, the dragons, wizards and elves etc.
So, I was thinking about starting into Game of Thrones but I was wondering if it really IS a proper "fantasy" series or whether it's just The Good Wife with swords?
From what I've read, on IMDB, there obviously is quite a bit of scheming and plotting and backstabbing in it but that's okay as long as there's also a decent amount of traditional "fantasy" to it.
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The level of magic is for the most of it fairly restricted, it's much more about politics, war violence and sex than adventure and dragons.
For the most of it, it could be set in medieval England, but there is fantasy lurking
But it's brilliant and give it a go.
without giving too much away in terms of content a lot of the storyline surrounding bran and the white walkers I would say is fantasy, so not just the dragons aspect
and whilst we haven't got there yet a lot of the arya storyline seems to be heading that way too
A dwarf
4 dragons (including Cersei)
A fiery priestess
The undead (White Walkers)
Giants
Wargs
A genie (Jaqen)
Fantastic fantasy scenery but there is a lot of sex and opponents fight with swords and words. The fantasy theme runs through the series but as others say it is not the main focus.
I managed to find 3 people (hard I know) that have never watched an episode and all 3 are now hooked.
There is no 'adventuring/questing' that one sees in traditional fantasy. The focus is on the human politics of 'low' fantasy but there is a good amount of 'high' fantasy, predominantly in the setting of the world and magic. The 'high' fantasy is an aspect that has been growing season to season as that storyline has developed.
Tyrion Lannister is not a fantastical character, he just happens to be a dwarf, unlike in Middle Earth where Dwarves are a race in themselves.
I was going to say, one of the other things that I enjoy about this stuff is that it often has an "epic" feel to it. Lots of vast, windswept landscapes, castles on hills and bleak mountains etc.
It all makes you feel like you're being carried away to another place.
What I don't want to see is a perpetual scenes with interior shots of poorly-lit throne-rooms and muddy villages which have obviously been built on a back-lot somewhere.
Most of all, though, I definitely don't want to see a medieval version of 90210 or Desperate Housewives where, in reality, it's just a different spin an the same old cliches about cheating, revenge and backstabbing.
Long as it's not that, I'm going for it.
I'm actually kinda surprised (and glad) that nobody's said "Oh, just watch it and decide for yourself!".
I do kinda feel like I should do that but I don't want to force the missus to sit through a week of it before we both find ourselves thinking "Erm, is this all there is to it?"
Which reminds me, DOES the plot evolve and move on or is it just more and more of the same stuff, season after season?
Don't forget the
Dire wolves and
Men without Banners
IMO it starts to get really epic after the first season. There is a defining moment at the end of season 1 that really gets the games going and characters go off in their own directions more. That's when it starts to feel epic for me.
I'm A huge skyrim fan and it feels pretty similar
The plot is always evolving, the plot is probably my favourite aspect of the show.
And most of it is filmed on location, which makes a huge difference to it feeling suitably epic.
Although it is still a political drama too and so you do get those scenes in dark throne rooms aswell but it's a healthy mixture and the characters are so ridiculously good that it doesn't matter anyway.
He looks like a friendly fisherman.
There are lots of sweeping location shots but there are as many interior scenes, that's where all the political manoeuvring occurs in the series.
One of the main draws of the series is that the plot moves forward, relationships change and people, good and bad, are maimed and die.
You should definitely give series 1 a go, you'll know by the end of it if it's for you or not. And there's only 10 episodes per season, so it won't take you long to get through it.
If you do decide to give it a go, don't look at anything on t'internet about Game of Thrones. There are some truly amazing twists and turns in each season and you won't want any of those spoiled.
Regarding your question about the plot: it is one long continuos story. So season one doesn't have a start, middle and end, like most series. Everything doesn't get tied up neatly Say 24, the Jack Bauer series, each series was its own thing and each series was the same as the previous, with a different villain and different threat. That's not Game of thrones. Think of it structured more like Lord of the Rings, which was one continuous story, split into three films. GoT is one long continuous story and each season is very different to the previous. As different as The Two Towers was to the Fellowship, a continuation.
If you do get hooked, it's not a series that you'll get bored of. It doesn't get stale and there's never a sense of "I've seen that before, the same thing happened two seasons ago".
Re the fantasy elements: they are kept to a minimum, while at the same time there's always there, if even as a threat that will eventually come. Season 1 is very light on the fantasy elements and there's more and more as you go through the seasons, with the end of season 4 extreme heavy on the fantasy element.
Give it a go. You'll love it.
Please delete.
haha - since when does being a dwarf make you a fantasy character?
He's a dwarf because of the same reasons we have dwarves in real life (genetic abnormalities), and faces the same predjudice that any "aberration" would if living in a medieval-type society, only saved due to being born into a Noble/Royal family.
There certainly isn't a race of small people in GoF (although there are a few giants).
Wait till you get to The Red Wedding in series 3 OMG
I would easily give it 10/10 along with Breaking Bad and The Wire , its that good
How is that a spoiler? It's as generic and general as you can get. My statement encompasses all characters from all the different families.
True, it doesn't give much away but don't you remember when you figured that out for yourself (assuming you watched from when it aired and nobody spoiled it for you)
Anyway, your mini spoiler has been massively trumped by the comment above yours. Again it won't mean anything to someone who hasn't seen the show but I don't see a reason for these things to be said. Si_Crewe just wanted to know if there was much fantasy elements in the show, no need to say anything about anything else.
Sometimes the old cliches are used so often because they tend to show up wherever human's gather together. We're just like that.
I blame Shuruppak.
Personally Game of Thrones doesn't have a Lord of the Rings feel to me. I like both but they are two different animals. To me Game of Thrones has the flavour of Shakespeare with the odd bit of magic.
And it is just an odd bit of Magic. Whilst you will indeed see all those magical beings listed above (minus the totally non fantasy dwarf) my feeling is that if you add up all their screen time so far they would probably only fill about two and a bit episodes...maybe three, this isn't scientific (the undead for example turn up for less than five minutes in one episode). That would leave around thirty eight episodes (so far) full of nothing but humans being shitty to each other with nothing more fantastical than a crossbow.
The mix of magic vs. normality may alter in future, but you'll need to be aware that the first four series are more Titus Andronicus than Hawk the Slayer.
More efficient than asking some random folk on the internet.
for what it's worth, the fears you have expressed are groundless.
I would never describe GoT as "fantasy" as such, not as in the same line as Lord of the Rings etc. What it is is a medieval setting with elements of mythology and mysticism not what is usually referred to as swords and sorcery.
However, that's not to say that it's not worth watching, it very much is worth it, the story is absorbing and there's plenty of good characterisation and plot twists to keep driving the narrative forward.
It's basically War of the Roses in a fantasy world setting with elements of unreality.
But it is epic. There are sweeping landscapes, decent battles, and excellent baddies.
The opening titles feel quite fantasyish too.