The Method Lacking in The Game of Thrones’ Madness

Let’s talk gore, no no not what the professional wrestler does although that would be fun too but the other kind of gore that game of thrones is so fond of. It’s been 5 seasons, 50 episodes and over 2500 minutes of throat slitting, heart stabbing, stake burning, blood spillage and we’re still going strong. The one thing that has made this series so unique is the lack of a main character, something rare in many shows. At first it was refreshing, surprising and unique but there are problems we’ve run into with this style. We’re not saying that we won’t watch it but that we have our peeves. First of all you can’t invest in a character and without that every few episodes has the audience rebuilding their investment in the show. Robb Stark and his mother come to mind as two people whose stories had just become interesting when they were cut short and were ripped out abruptly. So for the next few episodes as people get over their shock they have to redevelop new relationships and although at first it was novel now it’s becoming routine.

In the Game of Thrones universe there are no completely good and completely bad characters only those living in a moral grey area. However, from what is seen in in the series it’s that there are no good only morally grey or completely bad, it’s a medieval dystopia without the hero that it needs nor the one it deserves. Brienne of Tarth is to some extent the only good person currently alive. Ned Stark, if you overlooked his infidelity, was the other person who had some moral compass and the series made it quite clear that he should get punished for it.

The problem with being good in Game of Thrones is that it gets you nowhere Jon Snow being the best example. Jon snow single handedly turns the tide when the Wildlings attack Castle Black. The man simply gets of the lift and unleashes the fury of God on the Wildlings so hard Oly grows a set and slays himself a Wildling girl. That moment when he stares at the chaos before descending into it he establishes himself as the savior of the Night’s Watch and wielding mini-Mjolnir slays the biggest Wildling in the yard. What happens to the people who voted for him to be Lord Commander that he becomes so easy to kill? If the bad people don’t receive consequences for their bad actions why are the good receiving consequences for their bad actions when their misdeeds haven’t even accumulated over time? Why don’t the good people have some support the same way the bad do? At least Ned’s execution got Winterfell to rebel but Brienne has little or no support, likewise to Tyrion Lannister and Barrister Selmy who have to leave to serve Daenerys Targaryen. The blood doesn’t need to be minimized but there do need to be some people who get more than a random turn of events that ends with them on the wrong side of a sword.