It has been such a long wait! Or should I rather say craving – to see the new season of Game of Thrones. There are some movies and TV shows you wait to see because you know they will be worth watching. And there is the almost maniacal countdown to the date of premiere, the search for every single production photo that comes out in the Internet, and the trailers – oh, my, you haven’t felt that happy since you watched the last episode of Season Four!
Game of Thrones became a TV phenomenon the moment the first episode aired on HBO. Certainly, the books had a large and devoted following. But that is not enough to explain the global success of the show and the plethora of new fans it has gained during the past four years.
Of course it has to do with the monstrous cast, featuring names like Sean Bean, Lena Headey and Charles Dance. Surely, the production sets, locations and costumes are amazing. Beyond doubt, the screenplay is a masterpiece, possibly one of the best we have seen in the last decade. But there is something more, for all these elements are also present in other TV shows that didn’t have the same startling success.
The truth is that Game of Thrones has no competition in its genre – high-fantasy TV series. Actually HBO took an epic risk with creating such a massive production in a genre that has never been touched before. Yes, The Lord of The Rings trilogy scored monumental success, but it was shown on the big screen. But nothing like this has ever been done for mass television. Well, the risk paid off in even more epic proportions.
The fact that the first episode of Season 4 broke all rating records and actually crashed the HBO servers surprises no one. Game of Thrones will easily reign supreme in the years to come as well, simply because it is unique. It blends realism, intrigue, violence, sex, dragons, magic and family tensions so incredibly well that it literally glues you to the screen. The team has managed to achieve a rare feat – to retell a fantasy story and still keep the sense of reality in its viewers.
Young people who love to read fantasy, the same people who made the first Hobbit movie a billion-earning success will come back in millions for every new episode. HBO is only lucky that the quality of the story and the shocking plot twists come spinning around from G.R.R. Martin’s pen with every following book. Yes, the Red Wedding was a shocking setback for team Stark supporters. But we saw in the episodes of season Four that the children of the North have not forgotten – as Arya quite brutally confirmed. Also there are also new characters bursting on the stage – one can hardly imagine what Oberin Martell‘s daughters can do in their quest for revenge. So the roller-coaster goes on and on with no end in sight – we do not even know what will happen in the Winds of Winter!
So unless some of the other leading networks does not decide to make The Wheel Of Time into a TV series, I really cannot see how Game of Thrones could lose its triumphant place as the best and most watched TV show at the moment. All men must watch!
