Salmatic questions about the "game of the thrones"

Who is John Snow and why do you need to know whether he is alive or not?

The whole world celebrates the decade of “Game of Thrones”-the first episode of the series was published in April 2011. The television adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s novels was not inferior to the author’s plan: the series was eight years old, and also not written books were filmed. "Medusa" answers a shameful question about the main series of the decade.

This material was first published in 2016 - before the release of the sixth season of “Game of Thrones”.

Is it true, or something, the main series of modernity?

In short, yes. Both in terms of scope (the history of television series did not know anything like the number of actors and places of shooting), and in popularity: by the fifth season, every series of “Game of Thrones” on average watched about 20 million times. The first time after the release of the episodes on the air it was not possible to look legally - then the “game of thrones” was the leader in the number of pirate downloads. The series more than 100 times was nominated for the main television prize of Emmy and 26 nominations. Among the fans of “Game of Thrones” are US President Barack Obama. Shortly before the premiere of the new season, he asked the creators to show him the series in advance, and they could not refuse. After that, the New York journalist submitted an official request demanding to publish the series shown by Obama under the Law on Freedom of Information. In general, around the series passions boil about the same as inside himself.

Oh! Is it really so interesting there?

George Martin is a tension master and an unexpected denouement. As a rule - bloody. The narrative in the books “Songs of Ice and Flame” is conducted from a third party, but each chapter is built around one of the characters, his thoughts and actions. Many of these characters can be called the main characters - from the point of view of the role in the narrative and reader sympathy. However, not one of them is safe from death. The same in the series is the first rule of “Game of Thrones”: everyone can die .

Martin’s novels can also be considered a series (seven parts are planned in total, of which five are written), so that many laws of the serial genre are applicable to them: through storylines are interspersed with local, and each season, along with the denouement, it necessarily contains a link for the next. For example, the fifth season of “Game of Thrones” ends with the murder of one of the main characters (though in the fantasy world of Martin, his death may be, um, inappropriate), the introduction of a sword over his head and a jump into the unknown (literally) of the other two.

That is, how is the books not yet written?

George Martin has been working on the Song of Ice and Flame since 1991 and is now writing a sixth book of seven. It is believed that only three people in the world know how the cycle will end: Martin himself, as well as the creators of the Game of Thrones, David Benioff and Daniel Wayss. Under what circumstances, Martin dedicated the television people to his plan is unknown, but they guard the secret very strictly. Benioff's wife, actress Amanda Pete, claims that her husband does not tell her anything about work on the series. Once she even threatened to divorce him if John Snow dies.

In an interview with Variety in April 2016, Whiss and Benioff said that the final was already close: the series will most likely end in eight seasons, and the latter may be shorter than the previous ones.

Is the series different from books? Does it make sense to watch if you have not read?

The first season of “Game of Thrones” was a very close to the text adaptation of Martin’s first book (the first novel of the cycle is also called “Game of Thrones”). However, the further, the more discrepancies. By the fifth season, a significant number of contractions and discrepancies have accumulated, both relatively small and quite significant - some characters, for example, are merged together. Many storylines developed in books and scheduled in the series are still not filmed, others, on the contrary, have already advanced further than in novels. Suffice it to say that for the Universe of George Martin there are two separate wiki resources: one according to books , the other- according to the series . But the main thing is that, no matter how detailed the series is, it is hardly possible to film a 4000-page saga without loss. Numerous internal conflicts, on which the "song of ice and flame" is built, are presented much more voluminous in books - therefore, the motivation of each of the characters becomes much more understandable.

However, the series more than deserves attention as an independent work. And certainly he will like a much wider audience - even those who will never overpower 4000 fantasy pages in their lives.

Fantasy? Are there any elves there?

There are no elves, but there are dragons. There are still Lutovoks , a three -eyed raven, giants and walking dead, there is even magic - however, in the “Songs of Ice and Flame” there are much more from a historical saga than from fantasy. The world of George Martin is very similar to ours - only everything in it acquires an epic scale: the seasons last for several years, small islands turn into continents, and the walls reach a two -hundred -meter height and stretch for hundreds of kilometers.

Otherwise, the world of Martin’s novels resembles Europe of the late Middle Ages. The continent of Westeros, on which most of the story unfolds, is similar to the British Islands; The main plot - the struggle for the iron throne - repeats the war of the scarlet and white rose ; The prototype of the wall separating the civilized world and the lands of the wild, obviously served Adrian Val , built by the Romans to protect against raids of barbarians. There are a lot of historical parallels.

Can you more about the plot? Who is good? Who is bad?

This is each viewer himself. In one phrase, the main conflict of “Game of Thrones” can be formulated as follows: the confrontation between several applicants for the throne against the backdrop of the impending war of the living against the dead. Among the families who claim to be the throne are dozens of characters, and with rare exceptions, no one cannot be unequivocally determined in “good” or “bad” ones.

The main houses operating in the narrative are the harsh northerners of Stark, rich and powerful lannists and descendants of Targary's kings expelled kings. But there are dozens of no less significant families and other forces, now and then betraying each other or entering into alliances in a wide variety of configurations. It is sometimes difficult to follow them, but always exciting.

And yet, who is the main character?

One main character of the Game of Thrones does not exist. Of those who are definitely alive at the beginning of the sixth season, we note Daenerys Targaryen , Tyrion Lannister , his brother Jamie and sister Cersei , Arya and Sansa Stark , the cunning petir Beilish and the priestess of Fire Meliandra . If you insist that there should still be the most important hero, you can familiarize yourself with the study of Makaclyter College scientists (Minnesota). They analyzed all the internal ties of all the characters of the saga and came to the conclusion that one is still more important than the rest. This is Tyrion.

So. And who is John Snow? And most importantly - is he alive?

John Snow is one of the main characters, the illegitimate son of Ned Stark (he will not say that Nekh Stark was killed in the first season - after all, he was played by Sean Bin ). While the rest are busy with wars and straightening, John decides to join the night patrol - the military order, which protects the lands of the seven kingdoms from the wild. Over time, John heads the order, but soon becomes a victim of the conspiracy and dies. The intrigue is that the world of George Martin involves several ways to return the deceased character to life. Many fans of John Snow refuse to believe in his death.

Something a lot of corpses! The series is really so cruel?

In just six seasons, 704 characters were killed (the fate of everyone can be found in the Encyclopedia The Washington Post ), and the creators of the series do not spare the audience, depicting murders and executions - rather the opposite. But the Game of Thrones is an adult series. There is a lot of blood, cruelty and sex, and killing the characters, the authors often neglect the audience sympathies. Just do not watch the series with children and remember the second rule of “Game of Thrones”: your favorite character will most likely die. It is highly likely that he will be killed in some sophisticated way. But there is good news: most likely, those characters that you hate with all your soul will be brutally killed.

Konstantin Benyumov