HBO’s Game of Thrones continues to matter to its global fans, including some key insights from Redditors.
Game of Thrones beyond doubt has been one of the most riveting and successful fantasy drama series launched by HBO, capturing the imagination of viewers across the world from 2011-2019. It is no wonder that its prequel, House of Dragon, was greenlit in 2019 and premiered in August 2022, with the second season being confirmed merely five days after its world launch due to the massive and loyal following of both shows.
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Game of Thrones continues to dominate conversations on Reddit where its fans debate and contemplate important aspects of the show and their opinions that deeply matter to them as fans.
Daenerys Targaryen
The Mother of Dragons and last remaining member of the House Targaryen in GoT, Daenerys Targaryen and her portrayal by Emilia Clarke sparked a lot of debate on Reddit.
ExtremeFactor noted her acting was superb: “I know she’s still a kid but when I watched the first episode of GoT Daenerys immediately made me root for her” including the author of the original post who felt that she stood out the most in the entire series”. Others felt she lacked talent and did not deliver the proper accent required for her character in this show.
Rhaenyra Versus Daenerys
In an interesting comparison, Redditors found Clarke’s acting was less authentic that the current actress, Rhaenyra, who appears in House of Dragon, which recounts the story of Westeros 172 years before Daenerys and charts the demise of the House Targaryen.
“Even if we’re just going by in universe explanations, it still doesn’t really work, so it just comes back to the actress playing Rhaenyra having more talent than Emilia Clarke”. Don’t get me wrong, she is a lovely person and seems very authentic, but her acting ability has always paled in comparison to her costars”.
Immunity to Fire
Redditors also debated the magical powers endowed to the House Targaryen on the Game of Thrones to withstand fire given the key plot twist where the Dragon blew fire and melted the iron throne. Per retzhaus45: “As soon as that dragon blew fire I was like what did they do that for? Just burn the linens off and then there’s just unburied corpses there?”.
Some Redditors felt that other members of House Targaryen did not have the same immunity that Daenerys had to fire with ShianneElizabethh noting: “Only a true dragon cannot be burnt or something along those lines. Dany says something like that when Viserys (her brother) died”.
The Storyline of Jon Snow
Redditors debated on the intrinsic value of Jon Snow later being revealed in the series as Aegon Targaryen. While some simply felt it was sloppy move, as Rhaegar already had another son named Aegon, others felt it was the first moment of democracy exhibited in this show.
“Jon Snow was the last targaryen all along, which they referenced many times over in the show. He is also the one who put an end to the Targaryen bloodline which is known for mad kings and queens. And with the death of Dawnerys comes election of kings and queens that are fit for the throne”.
Time Jumps
Redditors also debated upon the time jumps seen in Game of Thrones as well as its prequel, House of Dragon. Jumping back and forth in time is nothing new, especially with a popular TV series, a recent example being the end of Better Call Saul, which preceded the stalwart global favorite, Breaking Bad.
In connection to how GoT uses flashbacks and aging of its key characters as part of their plot development, WhySoJelly noted: “I don’t mind a time jump or a flashback. I dislike it, when a story is told like: future, present, past, future, present, past, present, future, past”. But how these impacted the overall feel of the show seemed overall to really matter to hardcore fans.
Evilest Character On GoT
Lots of debate swirled around the topic of who was the evilest character on Game of Thrones given that many characters had dark, sinister backstories in the series. Lord Ramsay Bolton, son of Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort, is a name that was suggested by several in the conversation. Per stevenw84 “In my opinion, they didn’t convey his hatefulness or evil enough. If they wanted him to be completed hated, there should have been more brutal scenes involving him”.
Redditors such as Temporary-Neck-1151 pointed out that: “Ramsay honored family traditions that’s a good quality. (Of course the tradition is flaying people alive)” and that he was perceived as not liking the fact of having to kill his family. Bogaigh noted sarcastically:”Your point is valid, but I had to chuckle that ‘didn’t seem to enjoy killing his family’ is the only redeeming quality we can come up with!”.
Joffrey Versus Ramsay
Further to the topic of evil characters, a recurrent thread of conversation debated the sheer wickedness of Joffrey Baratheon versus Ramsay. Some arguments evolved over his sheer evil in using dogs for murder, per this user of Reddit: “To train dogs to be vicious murderers with a taste for human, you can’t treat them kindly”.
The nearly unanimous vote was for Ramsay having a deeply more dark character than Joffrey. Per wajones67: “To me Ramsey is the most evil. You can’t ever assume he won’t turn on you. Joffrey is susceptible to flattery. Build him up enough, stroke his ego, and you’re good. Ramsey will let you think you’re getting away with that and then skin you alive because he just felt like that one morning”.
Is It Still Worth Watching?
The positivity and support seen on Reddit towards Game of Thrones as a series is evident in responses to whether it was simply worth it. Per an enthusiastic Redditor, givingyoumoore: “Watched it last summer. I get that the ending wasn’t what I expected or hoped, and admittedly plenty of it made no sense. But I still had fun. There was enough good and enough amazing visuals to keep going and enjoying. Pod singing in season eight melted my heart”.
This is echoed and analyzed further by gingerhasyoursoul who felt GoT was well done despite its rushed ending: “Yeah the show is very well done despite the incredibly rushed ending. The sets, music, production quality, and acting are all fantastic. It really only has one glaring fault. D&D lost interest in doing the show and just used terrible writing choices to get the show over with. HBO should have fired them after season 5 when it was clear they didn’t care anymore”.
GoT Episodes Worth Watching Again
A pertinent question was asked on Reddit regarding which episodes would be worth revisiting, even if they had seen the finale. “The Watchers on the Wall” seemed to be a popular choice of Redditors. This 39th episode of the scintillating medieval fantasy GoT where Castle Black is attacked from all around gave its director, Neil Marshall, an Emmy nomination for his excellence in directing in 2014.
“Blackwater” and “The Battle of the Bastards” also figured highly in the conversation with Chefman11 noting: “I will watch Battle of the Bastards just to see John Snow beat the ever living sh** out of Ramsey, over and over. That was my favorite, “f**k yes” moment in the whole series”.
Why So Much Hate for Season 8
Redditors continued to defend the GoT with heated emotions regarding the ending of Season 8 and other aspects. Som Redditors defended the show and the difficult to please everyone with such a universally loved series. A user on Reddit very succinctly concluded some causes: “Few reasons why it was such a big deal:
- Almost a decade of build up
- Was just that beloved of a series, that it adds insult to injury
- D&D no doubt rushed it for seemingly selfish reasons. No way around this one
We knew it wasn’t going to be the political game we saw in early seasons. It became a big budget action movie of sorts. In reality, most everyone has happy endings, and the ones who didn’t have it explained, albeit rushed and unsatisfying”.