Let me start off by saying that this article may contain spoilers. It will also definitely contain meandering ruminations on the direction of the television series. If you’re going to read what I have to say, then I suggest you be caught up on the series. Having read the books wouldn’t hurt either, but isn’t required.
Now… what the heck is going on with Game of Thrones?
In short, a lot of characters are being killed off, and the writers of the television version of the series are deviating from the books, in some cases wildly, and in some cases in ways that are making the viewership very, very uncomfortable. At the rate they’re changing the stories, the characters may actually start wearing sunglasses. Would that really be such a bad thing?
Death… so much death.
John Snow is dead. Stannis Baratheon is dead. My heart… is dead. Maybe not in the truest sense of the word, but some of my favorite characters are now gone forever. Death has been a staple of George R.R Martin’s work, but I’m starting to get the feeling that the writers of the show are simply killing off characters because they feel it’s required at the end of each season.
Am I crazy for feeling this way? I’m not so sure.
They’ve killed off not only some major characters, but some major plotlines along with them. Unless Brienne didn’t actually swing the sword to end Stannis Baratheon’s life, and unless John Snow is resurrected by Melisandre, well… you get the idea.
So where is the series going forward? I honestly have no idea, but I will say one thing: I suspect it will be wildly different than whatever George R.R. Martin comes up with for his upcoming books. He’s not getting any younger, thinner, or quicker at writing these stories, and the show has now outpaced the stories George has written.
I hope the new season brings a lot more Arya, a bit less killing off of major characters, and some fresh blood to flesh out the ranks of the cast. We’ve lost so many good people, and if the writers aren’t careful, sooner or later they’re going to run out of characters to kill off.
