Game of Thrones: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men... all will play the 'Game of Thrones'.''}}

 

 

In the land of Westeros, the seasons last for years. The story opens with the threat of a ''long'' winter fast approaching. The Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, has unexpectedly died. King Robert ventures north to Winterfell to name his old friend, Eddard Stark, his new Hand and second in command. Despite the concerns of his wife, Catelyn, Eddard reluctantly accepts his new title out of duty. Whilst there, he uncovers evidence that Jon Arryn was murdered--and that the hand behind Arryn's death may now be poised to strike the king. [[It Gets Worse]] from thereon.

** Magister Illyrio is overweight and has a high rank in Pentos.

** The Spice King is fat and apparently leads {{spoiler|well... led}} the Thirteen of Qarth.

* [[Aerith and Bob]]: People from Westeros tend to have European names, some familiar (Robert, Jon) and others more exotic (Eddard, Sandor). People whose families hail from outside Westeros, such as the Dothraki and the Targaryens, have fantastical names (Viserys, Drogo). The last two kings of Westeros were Aerys and Robert, which is quite close to the trope name.

* [[Age Lift]]: In the books, the Ned/Robert/Catelyn/Cersei/Jaime generation are in their early to mid 30s while the Daenerys/Jon/Robb generation are in their early teens. In the show, the older generation is implied to be somewhere in their early to mid 40s and the younger generation are 16-18. This is less jarring than having fifty-something [[Sean Bean]] convince us he's 35 or having someone who looks 13 [[Harmful to Minors|play the lead]] in Daenerys' story, and especially since some of the scenes they'd have to film might in fact be ''illegal'' to film with an underage actor.

** As ruthless and vicious a fighter as the Hound is, he is shown to be a far nicer person in comparison to his brother Gregor and his master Joffrey.

** The city guardsman who brought out Robert's infant bastard from the brothel refused to kill him.

* [[Everybody Has Lots of Sex]]: Ned Stark has a bastard son, and Robert has countless. Many scenes take place in Littlefinger's bordello. The sexual relationships of a number of characters are major plot points. Daenerys' change in sexual position is even a major turning point in her character - she is ''on top''.

* [[Everything's Deader with Zombies]]: When humans are touched by White Walkers, zombification apparently ensues. These zombies are somewhat tougher than the usual breed, however, as they can survive just about anything other than [[Kill It with Fire|fire]]. There is also the implied possibility of a [[Zombie Apocalypse]] due to the number of human wildlings living beyond the Wall, who could potentially get touched by the Walkers, as well.

* [[Government in Exile]]: The Targaryens, at least in their opinion.

* [[Grammar Nazi]]: Stannis Baratheon, who corrects Davos Seaworth on the usage of less vs fewer when Davos is answering about his knucklebones, [[Fingore|hacked off by Stannis]].

* [[Grim Up North]]: The North is colder, harsher and less populated than the South. North of the Wall is even worse.

 

** Petyr: his unrequited love for Catelyn caused him to become obsessed with achieving power over his social betters.

** Maester Aemon's lecture to Jon warns him about the dangers of love, as it is the one thing that can cause a man to ignore his duty.

* [[Machiavelli Was Wrong]]: Invoked by Ser Loras in his convincing Renly to make a play for the throne. He argues that Renly's charisma would make him a far better king than those before him because he ''would'' rule through love and respect rather than fear.

* [[Macho Masochism]]: The Greatjon laughing off a direwolf eating two of his fingers. Also, Drogo showed his badassery in a duel by deliberately allowing his opponent to cut him, in order to draw the guy closer. {{spoiler|This came back to bite him, as the wound gets infected and nearly kills him}}.

* [[The Medic]]: Talisa of Volantis, who attends to the wounded after a battle between Robb Stark's army and the Lannisters'.

* [[The Mentor]]: Several, for most of the younger main characters and some of the older ones. Jon Arryn was this to Robert and Ned, Rodrik Cassel to Robb, Jon and Theon, Lord Commander Mormont to Jon, Syrio Forel to Arya, and Septa Mordane to Sansa. In Season 2, Quorin Halfhand takes over for Jon, Dagmer Cleftjaw for Theon, Yoren, {{spoiler|Jaqen H'qar, and Tywin Lannister}} for Arya and in a way, Cersei Lannister for Sansa.

* [[Meta Casting]]: Theon Greyjoy is a wastrel and [[Butt Monkey]] who lives in the shadow of his sister. Alfie Allen is the brother of the singer [[Lily Allen]], and as for the butt monkey and wastrel part, she wrote a [https://web.archive.org/web/20090924085248/http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/lyrics/1580821 not very flattering song] about him.

* [[Meta Twist]]: HBO gleefully marketed the show as if Sean Bean were the main character, and thus the ''one'' star with [[Contractual Immortality]]. {{spoiler|Nothing could be further from the truth, though those who had read the book would know this already - it would be impossible to even remotely follow the book's story with Ned alive}}.

** Daenerys, especially in her first appearances.

* [[My Nayme Is]]: Many of the character's names are very similar to modern names, such as Eddard for Edward.

== N-S ==

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Sandor "The Hound" Clegane, Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, Ser Jaime "The Kingslayer" Lannister, and most infamously Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen.