Saturday, May 25, 2019

My Issues with the Structure of the Plot in Game of Thrones Part 1

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This post will be a little difficult to write about because the plot of the show deviates from the books quite a bit during the later seasons. What further complicates things is that the book series isn't finished. George RR Martin still hasn't written the last two books of the series.

 However, I do think that both of them have enough similarities to warrant a post where I detail my problems with the overarching plot-lines of both stories. 

For those of you who have never seen Game of Thrones, I've come up with an easy way to summarize the plot. Throughout the series there are three main story-lines that happen simultaneously:


  • The Contest for the Iron Throne
  • Daenerys Targaryen's rise to power
  • The Battle Between the Night's Watch, the Wildlings and The Others / White Walkers 

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Even back when I liked the series there was only one plotline that ever interested me: The Contest for the Iron Throne. This plotline was the least predictable of the three and it was the story that featured George RR Martin's best writing. This was where we got epic moments like the Red Wedding, the trial of Tyrion Lannister and the death of Ned Stark. This was the story-line that featured all of the Machiavellian plotting, scheming and back stabbing that the series became famous for. 

I've never been a fan of the other two story-lines. Both of them had extremely predictable plot trajectories. If you were paying even a small amount of attention you knew where they were heading, which made the journey feel dull and sluggish. Plus these stories are ultimately told through the point of view of two particularly uninteresting characters: Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow. 

Daenerys Targaryen's Story-line

Let's start with Daenerys Targaryen's rise to power. For those of you who haven't seen Game of Thrones, one of the most important characters in the show is a chick named Daenerys Targaryen:
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Her story line in a nutshell is this:
 1) Daenerys starts the show as a pawn that her brother exchanges for an army that he'll use to conquer the Iron Throne.

 2) Daenerys eventually gains control of this army and steamrolls the continent of Essos.

3) Daenerys invades Westeros, kills its current ruler, massacres the people in the capital and then dies a tyrant.

Keep in mind, I'm trying to simplify this as much as possible. There's more that happens, but hopefully this summary gives you an idea of what her story was all about.

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On paper her story arc sounds amazing. Unfortunately the execution is pretty dull. Once Daenerys Targaryen rises to power she essentially just steamrolls over a bunch of faceless, one-dimensional slaveholders who only feel like they exist so that she looks awesome by comparison. 

Out of curiosity, can anyone who read the books / saw the show name any of Daenerys's adversaries on Essos without looking them up? I don't doubt that someone can, but for the life of me I cannot remember any of their names. That's just how dull and unmemorable they were. 

Inconsistent Power Levels
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One major downside of her story arc when taken as a whole comes from the idea that Daenerys is only as powerful as the writers want her to be. There's zero sense of consistency and logic when it comes to how powerful her armies are supposed to be. As a result, she never has a victory that feels earned or narratively satisfying to watch. 

 During the early seasons of the show she steamrolls over everyone. During the later seasons of the show the writers must have realized that they set her up to be this unstoppable juggernaut so they warped the logic of the narrative in favor of her enemy because otherwise Daenerys would curb-stomp said enemy in a single episode...which is what she ended up doing anyway. What this means for me is that none of her victories feel earned. They're all hollow to watch because she never has to struggle in a way that feels organic. 

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Here are some examples of ways in each the early seasons of the show handed Daenerys victory on a silver platter:

"Travel in the desert with her khalasar of misfits, until deteriorating to dehydration. When all hope is lost suddenly she finds a city in the middle of nowhere where a complete stranger vouches for her and her gang of barbarians Dothraki to enter (how convenient) 

Enters willingly into a trap at the House of the Undying (with no plan or backup) just to be rescued by her dragons, the Dragons start spiting fire for the first time in the most appropriate time "


Keep in mind, this isn't the full list. There are plenty of more examples given from the website that I linked to, but you get the point. There's a few more things I wanted to write, but I'm saving them for later so moving on...

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