Game of Thrones: Why is it loved so much?

[zzkill]

It's too bad he's being cut from the next season and replaced by warwick davis.

http://hbowatch.com/peter-dinklage-april-season-four/

Really? Do you want to be skinned alive or something? It would have been better to disguise a rickroll with this. I miss those.

 

[Revolutionary]

I don't understand how could anyone possibly...

I have never read any of the books or watched an episode of the television series.

Oh I see...that's your problem right thur...
I'ts a rich narrative with (some) complex characters, interesting locations and happenings without getting into the realm of the Tolkien-waffle. And the HBO show is wonderfully made so that's a bonus.

 

[John Bowrey]

The characters are well written and memorable, they all have deep flaws which affect them in interesting ways.
The entire universe is very well thought out, with dozens of houses, locations and historical events seamlessly woven into the story. Add that to the author being an all around badass in his own right, and possibly the best TV adaptation in the world, Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) has earn't its fanbase through quality.

 

[Teoes]

"Any man dies with a clean sword, I'll RAPE HIS FUCKING CORPSE!!" Yeah, not enough Sandor love in this thread.

Many good reasons already mentioned but to reiterate I love the fact that plot armour is largely non-existent as pretty much everyone goes through the mill and is beaten, killed, or displaced. There are very few clearly good and clearly evil characters. Joffrey's possibly the most evil but he's also a spiteful, ignorant, petty, childish little shit so he's as punchable as he is loveable. Sansa's barbed comments to him just before the Battle of Blackwater mark her character's high point for me.

Can't wait to start watching Season three.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Do you really need an answer to why we like it while you never read the book nor watch an episode at all?

Anyway I like it for the universe (so deep and rich) and the huge cast and their stories going on at the same time.

 

[Tom_green_day]

I didn't find the TV series too interesting. The plot is more-or-less absent, there isn't a suitable mix of action and dialogue for the genre, and there are just so many characters that it doesn't make sense. On the other hand, Danaerys.
I much prefered the books. Since characters are named there's less confusion as you can just flick back a few pages to remind yourself of them. The plot is more linear and understandable, and you expect more talking since it is just a book.
On the other hand, series 3 looks like it will be good. Can't watch it yet because I live in the UK.

 

[The_Echo]

I think a lot of people are in it for the tits. I liked the props and costumes, but everything else was meh to me. Also, WHY DO YOU CONSTANTLY HAVE TO SHOW SOME RANDOM WOMAN'S TITS?

From what I'vge seen, it's just another show that advertises itself as some epic mid evil saga yet it's just talking and nudity.

Basically, it's popular because of fanservice. And yet people hate Anime for doing the same thing.

I don't think (most) people will sit through a 50+ minute episode for, at the most, maybe a minute or two of a topless woman. Moreover, the majority of the women who bare themselves on camera are prostitutes. So, y'know. They're gonna be naked sometimes. It's far less often than some would have you believe.

The appeal of the show, very simply, is the plot. You might come to it for whatever other reason, but the reason you stay is the plot, and the characters involved in it. (Also, Raiku, while much of the show is a lot of dialogue [a staple in the drama genre], there's a fair bit of action to be had as well.)

 

[Kanova]

I hate it because

Spoiler

I don't like reading about a 13 year old fuck a barbarian, and I really hate it when EVERY MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER DIES

 

[Kilo24]

I didn't find the TV series too interesting. The plot is more-or-less absent, there isn't a suitable mix of action and dialogue for the genre, and there are just so many characters that it doesn't make sense. On the other hand, Danaerys.
I much prefered the books. Since characters are named there's less confusion as you can just flick back a few pages to remind yourself of them. The plot is more linear and understandable, and you expect more talking since it is just a book.
On the other hand, series 3 looks like it will be good. Can't watch it yet because I live in the UK.

As far as number of characters go, I found precisely the opposite. The book series has legions of characters shown, referenced, and/or killed off. After five books of many, many plotlines - half of which still haven't been tied into eachother, and half the rest have been aborted via killing the characters involved - I find it very hard to keep track of and interested in all of them. Putting a face and a voice to the characters in the TV series really helps, and so does the narrowed focus.

The plot was more linear and understandable in the books? I can't really agree with that. I can say that, yes, the appendix was useful, but the way all the plot threads were interwoven it was pretty hard to figure out where characters were introduced in the books by flipping back a few pages.

I also don't necessarily expect more talking out of books, so I guess that's another difference in our tastes.

Honestly, the books are going nowhere fast. I'm pretty skeptical of the quality of most adaptations of books, but frankly the TV series is pretty good at mitigating the major flaws of George R.R. Martin's writing. It'll be interesting to see how the later seasons handle so much of the meandering, as they have tweaked a lot of it in the already released ones. And I'm surprised to find that I agree with a lot of what they changed.

 

[Amaror]

Well... basically everything I can say has been said a lot. I just enjoy it. The characters you hate are hated because they're doing their job so well and it's rare for me to hate a character because they're supposed to be.

When i want to see tits, I DO NOT wait a week for a new episode of a series that might show some.

Although I see nothing wrong with it there is ONE thing about what you said I need to reply to. What is this might you speak of??

I think it's the right word, is it not? "might", which means as much as "could". According to dict.cc it's correct.

 

[Mr.Squishy]

Complex characters writing. Nobody is perfect.

This. Also, the chips fall where they may, actions have consequences and plot armor is pretty much non-existent.

 

[Zac Jovanovic]

I meant Jaime though, he was the first I saw of the show, and it was the scene where he goes from giving an uplifting talk to a young lad with whom he's imprisoned, to violently and unceremoniously strangling /or beating his face to death.

One hell of a first impression.

Spoiler

Actually, boinking his sister and attempting to kill Bran for her aside,

I find Jaime to be one of the most relatable characters in the books.

I hate it because

Spoiler

I don't like reading about a 13 year old fuck a barbarian, and I really hate it when EVERY MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER DIES

That's just why it's good, not the young girls fucking barbarians, I'll get to that in a second, but the second part.

Normally you have a main character that goes through all sorts of shit,beats impossible odds all the time and yet always survives and you know he will always survive. Because, well, he's the main character. Which, to me, curiosity how he's going to get out of this pickle aside, is very boring.

But G.R.R.M pisses all over that, you never know what will happen next, very little is black or white and no one is safe.
Which makes it a delightful read,or watch ,I suppose , always keeping you excited and on the edge of your seat.

Now the first thing, at least there is a dose of grim reality in 13 year old girls marrying and fucking.
This makes me think of the exact opposite, Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time". Where a bunch of gorgeous 20sh year olds go through heaven and hell together, fight, kill, deal with rulers, and monsters, and yet treat sex like the biggest taboo in the world. Hell, I think it's well over 4000 pages in before he first acknowledges a character getting some.

Now I'm not hating on WoT, but between the two I would pick the first every time.

 

[Petromir]

Well a few things:

A few epic pieces of casting.

A cast and subplot list that would make War and Peace weep bitter biter tears.

It's the war of the Roses with the undead and dragons and a tolkienesque whiff of magic.

Even those characters written to come off as superficial and shallow are deep deep complex people. And the characters are believable.

No character is to important to be killed off. So no plot armour, this helps with keeping the active cast members issue manageable.

Manages to maintain suspense due to the aforementioned lack of plot armour, unlike many tales where you are merely waiting for the miracle escape from death, here a chapter/scene ending on a cliffhanger you really have no idea whats happened.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

For me it's all about characters. There are no clear good guys and bad guys. Everyone has its own agenda, motivation, strengths and weaknesses. Even Tywin, supposed puppet-master behind everything is so sympathetic, even though he might be merciless and brutal.

Well, there is Joffrey and Ramsay Bolton. They have absolutely no redeeming qualities and are mustache-twirling evil.

 

[Ryan Minns]

I think it's the right word, is it not? "might", which means as much as "could". According to dict.cc it's correct.

Oh sorry, I was just making a joke. So many episodes have had boobs involved I was joking that it was a guarantee since it's so common.

 

[anthony87]

To those who think that people like the show because of tits:

 

[Amaror]

I think it's the right word, is it not? "might", which means as much as "could". According to dict.cc it's correct.

Oh sorry, I was just making a joke. So many episodes have had boobs involved I was joking that it was a guarantee since it's so common.

Sorry myself. English isn't my native language, so i thought i made a mistake there.
Yeah they are pretty common, but mostly at first. (season 1)
It's often used to describe the characters a bit. Tyrion frequents whores which is an important part of his personality (Or more, why he does it). Since they can't just make him think that, like it is in the books. Ross, the not book character, is first there to show Theons disrespect for women and later to give Littlefinger someone to talk to, because, again, you can't just describe his thoughts. And a lot of the tits you can see are hers.

 

[ShiningAmber]

I don't watch it. I really can't get into it which is weird, because I love fantasy. I even tried the to read the first book and after three attempts and three times ditching it, I figured it wasn't meant to be

I don't really like the show either. My guy friends say they watch it for the sex and naked women. I tried to watch it, but was instantly disgusted with the treatment of women. Maybe it's just me.

 

[PeterMerkin69]

I don't get the widespread love myself. I'm a huge, huge fan of the books, they and the Taltos series are the only fantasy I've ever enjoyed, but the show misses a lot of what made the books awesome, and spreads itself too thin to be enjoyed on its own. Important details are often overlooked or ignored entirely, and character defining moments are rushed to fit the timeslot. There's no time to digest what's happening before the show goes careening over to the Iron Islands or another continent, and an entirely different atmosphere and essence. People with ADHD probably love that, I do not. Hopefully this season and next will slow things down a bit since the third book is being split between them, but the two episodes I've seen so far haven't inspired much confidence.

I find myself enjoying the scenes written specifically for the show a lot more than my favorite scenes lifted directly from the books. It's not because they're objectively better, I'd say they're far from it, but they definitely feel like they belong there, whereas sometimes the others do not.

 

[ninjaRiv]

Because of the plot and the characters! Oh, wait... besides that?

Pretty much everything's been covered. One of the things I find most interesting is the build up towards the return of... THINGS! The things beyond The Wall, the things over seas, the magic things, the God things... The things! It's like magic and stuff is slowly creeping back into the world and all the characters are busy fucking around (in every sense of the word) and they don't see just how scary their world is about to become!

It's like there's a storm cloud above them and they're all looking at the ground, not paying attention. I just think that's pretty special; the foreboding.

Also, the characters are crazy complex, for the most part. Nobody is entirely good. Ned is the most black and white character in there and even he has some history.

Also, the tits? Yeah, it's nice to see tits and such but I've found that it matches the tone and plot just right so while later you might think "yeah, dem wus good titties!!!" or whatever, you don't really notice it so much. I find sex in movies and tv shows to be annoying, usually. "If I wanted tits, I'd watch porn. I HAVE THE INTERNET, TRUE BLOOD! I DON'T NEED YOU!!!" It often gets in the way of the plot. But sometimes the characters are revealing plot details while they're fucking!

So, to sum up; great characters, plot, foreboding and titties. I love all that shit.

But if you want to read the books at any point, don't. You seem to not be entirely patient and the books require a lot of that. And nerves, you need a lot of nerves, man. Especially after the first one.