Winter is coming. Maybe not here in the Northern hemisphere of planet earth, but in the land of Westeros winter is coming very soon... and it might not leave for decades.
April 1st marks the return of one of the greatest television series of all time. I'm sure if you've paid any attention to HBO's relentless advertising and promotions you know that I am talking about the one and only Game of Thrones. Thank God the IMDB show page has a ticker counting down the exact days, hours, minutes, and seconds until our deprivation is over.
There really is just something about this show that grabs you and pulls you in. It's the little details like the name Targaryen for example. Something about that name just sounds mythical and mysterious. Game of Thrones is really more like a very long feature cut into segments, rather than a serialized television show, which is really one of the beautiful things about cable television. Cable has a bit more freedom to be cinematic with their shows, which doesn't always equal better quality of television, but in this case it equals a whole lot of awesome!
I'm much too impatient for April 1st to come, so in the meantime I thought I would make a list of the top three reasons why I love Game of Thrones a slightly unnatural amount.
1). The fact that they have British accents. This may not seem that important but trust me, it is! Even though the characters live in a fictional land and do not live in the United Kingdom, or anywhere near it for all we know, I think that British accents are essential for the tone and the world of the show. Game of Thrones is old school, like hundreds of years old school, and it's just not possible to have a historic setting with American accents. Plus British accents just sound better in general, especially coming from Richard Madden (Robb Stark) or Kit Harington (Jon Snow). Both actors are very attractive to begin with yet somehow they become even more attractive simply because they have British accents... why is it that men become instantly more attractive with a British accent? The world may never know.
2). The Dothraki culture, language, and people are so ridiculously badass it's unbelievable. The Dothraki are utterly ruthless and terrifyingly vicious, especially Kahl Drogo, played by Jason Momoa who I should mention is also very attractive (Side note: I've just decided that reason number 2.5 is the amount of attractive men in the show). The Dothraki don't live by normal monarchial standards. If their king (Kahl) dies it is every man for himself and the most coldblooded will be crowned the new Kahl. The Dothraki language sounds completely legitimate. If I didn't know it was fictional I would assume it was an actual spoken language, most likely of middle-eastern origin. There's even a website dedicated to teaching people how to speak this imaginary language! Everything about the Dothraki is fascinating and it's amazing to see their culture brought to life in the show.
3). Emilia Clarke is absolutely amazing as the beautiful, platinum blonde, "dragon princess" -- Daenerys Targaryen who plays wife to Kahl Drogo. Emilia is relatively new to the screen, having only been in a few other shows and TV movies prior to Game of Thrones, but they could not have picked a more perfect young woman for the role! After last season's episode "The Kingsroad," where Daenerys establishes control with Kahl Drogo (watch the episode to see the scandalous way she does it!) and he begins to respect her, you see their love for one another become very real even though their marriage was arranged. In the last two episodes of season one she fights boldly for her husband's life and refuses to let him die. Emilia puts a passion and fire into this character that makes the show complete.
I really have to give props to George R. R. Martin for creating this amazing world and all of its complex and engaging entities in his series that the show is based on, A Song of Ice and Fire. He is truly a creatively gifted and talented individual. I have to admit that while I have read a few of Martin's short story collections, I have not yet read A Song of Ice and Fire, which is truly upsetting because I am normally such an advocate of "read the books first!" when it comes to film/TV based on literature. But after watching season one I plan to read the books as soon as possible, if only to get my fix of this majestic world when there aren't enough episodes of the show to fill the void!
The previews for next season (starting in 6 days, 3 hour, 17 minutes, and 45 seconds at the present time) look beautifully thrilling. I will be waiting on the edge of my seat until the moment of the premiere.