A Game of Thrones Rant on Storytelling
Like so many fans, I've been shaking off a bad feeling and a terrible after taste, from a rather childish disappointment about Season 8 of Game of Thrones. I know it's childish. But disappointing, nonetheless. And I chose to explore this a bit thoughtfully -if only, to feel less childish.
A Game Called Life
A few years ago, I was going through the aftermath of one shocking betrayal, from whom I considered close friends. This happened in the business arena. This situation was personal but not *only* personal. It involved a number of subtleties, misuse of authority, misunderstandings, jealousy, revenge, and, of course, power struggles. I lost a crude battle I wasn't aware I was fighting. And mercilessly being crushed at. In the end, I was left empty-handed after having a huge project in my hands, as well as misrepresented in the eyes of people I cared about, and having valuable doors closed harshly.
This left me not only disoriented and disgusted, but quite hurt, and with a great deal of spare time to brood and try to process everything. I wasn’t in the darkest of places, but resentful is a word that rings true. I felt so many things, not only at my friends but at the whole situation. At all the people that were involved in one way or another. At the unfairness of it all. At the miscommunications that made the whole thing build up, only to blow up at my face, and my face only.
Most of all, I resented my naiveness.
Oh yes. I was feeling resentful.
Yet despite everything, I wanted to understand.
Around those days, via Ryan Holiday, I discovered Robert Greene's book, The 48 Laws of Power, which has been one of my favorite reading experiences ever. It was delightful, original, entertaining, educational, and, useful. So useful. I didn't love the Machiavellian tone, yet this book gave me a framework to see and understand so many situations I couldn't see, let alone understand before -in personal life, in society, in history, in politics. A framework around power.
Power may not be everything the human experience revolves around, but once you analyze it, it's hard to argue that it isn't a large portion of life -and arguably the most fundamental. Betrayal, conspiracies, crimes, coup d'etat to legitimate governments, wars, and so many other previously intriguing elements from human history, were now clear to me. Crushing experiences from life, strifes I've seen in both of my extended families, and so many breakups I had witnessed were explained elegantly. All made accessible through the lens of this force called power.
I started feeling reassured, slowly getting my perspective back, and was able to put the pieces together from my recent business setback. And as I was going through that, I also chose to entertain myself. I actively looked for a TV show with the appeal to lose myself a bit, to divert my mind from heavy matters, and to have a little fun. I chose Game of Thrones.
A Game of Thrones
Just like Robert Greene's book, up to that point, Game of Thrones became one of my favorite viewing experiences ever. And, excuse my redundancy, it was also delightful, original, entertaining, educational, and, useful. It became the very illustration of so many of history's examples from the 48 Laws of Power. It depicted the power laws themselves, too. I became fascinated with the storytelling, the characters, the fictional geography, the plausibility of so many of its character's narratives (spiced with dragons, white walkers, and faith-based resurrection. Go figure).
Coupled with my reading, legal assessment, business coaching, and some practical reasoning, I started to understand better what had just happened in my professional endeavors. Although I still felt betrayed, I now had a renewed understanding of the hidden motivations and agendas people have, turf battles, and power plays. Or perhaps, I understood them for the first time in my life. And Game of Thrones provided some timely and effective portraits to so much of my learning and reasoning back then.
Around the days I first watched Game of Thrones, I read a lot more -including The 33 Strategies of War, and Mastery, also by Robert Greene-, and a number of books on philosophy, psychology, career, leadership, and human behavior. The Dip, by Seth Godin, The Power of Meaning, by Emily Esfahani Smith, Behave, by Robert Sapolsky, Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, and, The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, stand out, among dozens read that year.
It may sound ridiculous that a TV show like Game of Thrones could have enhanced the life lessons I was going through and illustrated deep concepts and theories I was learning from my reading, assessments, and, coaching. But that's how I remember it, and how I registered it in my memory. These memories are what made me dig some more to explain my disappointment after watching the Season Finale, bringing me to the conclusion I present below.
But before that, let's talk about Game of Thrones alone.
As I watched and rewatched the show, I was able to reminisce on so many lessons I had the privilege of learning in College -especially while taking elective courses on World History, Anthropology, Politics, and, Law. The show resonated with so many books I've read over the last two decades. It resembled the social development we have seen around the globe during different eras. It portrayed, through fictional characters, the traits, and quirks, of some of the world's real heroes and villains.
Unlike so many shows on television or the big screen, it didn't seem to bend events to favor major characters. It seemed unique in coming to terms with bad things happening to good people, great things occurring to despicable folks, and it kept presenting real dilemmas many of us face in life.
Dilemmas involving honor. Inner conflicts pertaining to ethical considerations. Confronted loyalties in the face of the unexpected. Power struggles and the inevitable opportunism they bring. Betrayal, conspiracy, treason. Most events and circumstances seemed real, probable to happen at different points in history, and, much of the inner friction experienced by most characters, felt relatable -at least to me.
Not to mention how the architecture of the show, with its geography, its history, its mythologies, weaved together so many layers of content. It all brought alive lessons in applied economics, war strategy, the spread of religions, cultural anthropology, and how any of these can be steered one way or another by sheer luck.
At the individual level, I could see how anyone could struggle with recognizing what is right and what is wrong in complex scenarios. I could better acknowledge the type of considerations one statesman or business leader had to go through at certain moments. And I became aware of how the suffering or good fortune of certain individuals or families, can shape communities, societies, and countries.
What we usually call plot twists, deep character arcs, improbable moments of redemption, entangled foreshadowing sequences, didn't come across as storytelling maneuvers. They all came across as life. Real life. Beyond the uselessness of right and wrong, or the one-dimensionality that media, religion, and academia numbly try to shovel through our throats.
Game of Thrones seemed to depict life itself [minus the fantasy elements]. Crude, raw, and violent, more often than not -just like life. And the beauty of it all was that it never expected us to reach conclusions, to become rigid, to root for someone while disdaining another. As individuals, it was inevitable to feel identified with some characters and repulsed by others, yet these told more about us than it did about the show.
And as the seasons progressed, it was as if, between the lines, most people I knew that also enjoyed Game of Thrones and me, got to experience the profound realization that Kurt Vonnegut shares in this lecture. As he comments on what makes a masterpiece a masterpiece, analyzing Shakespeare, he states:
"We don't know enough about life to know what the good news is and what the bad news is".
Among many lessons, Game of Thrones seemed to teach us that. Life is not black or white. It isn't linear. It isn't unidimensional. It definitely isn't predictable. It can get ugly, but there's always a glimmer of hope, beauty even, beneath it all. The show seemed to educate us along these lines. While providing compelling illustrations in all the topics I mentioned above -for those intellectually inclined. All this may sound like an exaggeration, I know. And I agree. But this is how the show registered in my memory. And this is what undoubtedly built up so much expectation, that was met with disappointment.
So, what exactly went wrong with the Season Finale of Game of Thrones?
A Game of Questions
For starters, the first thing that seems to have gone wrong was rushing it. Unnecessarily. This brings so many questions that I won't explore, but will state: Why didn’t do at least 10 seasons? Why couldn’t you wait for the books to come out? If the first Six Seasons worked just fine, why did you change the approach in production? Why it was you, the current producers and writers that started it, who had to finish it? Why rush the end of the most successful show? Isn’t not knowing if a show will succeed the main concern of TV producers? Why butcher the most successful show this way? All we can do is wonder. Yet according to George R.R. Martin, the show could have gotten over 10 seasons, but the current writing staff "wanted a life". I ask myself if they did at least consider passing on the baton? Who knows.
Secondly, the harsh switch from one style of storytelling to another. Zeynep Tufekci illustrates this quite clearly in her Scientific American article: "The Real Reason Fans Hate the Last Season of Game of Thrones". In short, she explains that most TV shows rely heavily -or uniquely- upon psychological storytelling, whereas Game of Thrones used a sociological style of storytelling -in previous seasons. The psychological level is still there, as we still need central characters, just as societies do rely on individuals, but there are larger forces at play than the individual.
This switch in storytelling style seems to be the crucible that explains best what went wrong, and, combined with the rush to finish production, didn't allow for the depth, the nuances, and the arcs to develop what the last season covered. The lack of depth was particularly frustrating in the last two episodes.
I also believe that dropping the 'Book-to-TV Season' ratio (5 books for 7 Seasons; 2 books (yet to be published) for 1 Season) created some flaws in the proportion of some character development. Perhaps overstretching the first books inevitably misrepresented a number of character lines, and we were led to frame circumstances, luck, or hidden agendas, as protagonism or even heroism. This seems to be the case with a few of the main characters, topping the list Daenerys Targaryen, followed by Jon Snow, and Tyrion Lannister. While characters we followed since early seasons, such as Jamie Lannister, The Hound, Gray Worm, or Arya, simply felt plucked out in the end, as inconvenient guests to the party.
The length and depth of each of such character's arches, through 7 Seasons, led us to believe something, to develop a clear range of expectations, and without any context, in Season 8, we witnessed a sudden, unexpected, and confusing turn. Put simply: WTF?
Even if I am misinterpreting or misreading the relative weight of each character, what I am saying is that in the end I was left confused, and unsure of who was who. I didn’t feel that ambiguity in prior seasons.
This sudden turn may have looked like a "plot twist" in the writer's room. And don't get me wrong, I think we all were expecting just that. But all the plot twists in previous seasons, besides their shock value, made sense. It was not about the plot. Or the nature of the twists. Everything aligned with the story, nothing was incoherent. And this is where I felt the most disappointed. It was supposed to be about the story -in a fictional continent named Westeros, sure, but still a story we cared deeply about.
I'm sure Season 8 of Game of Thrones informs us about the plot we will see in the remaining books of the series, from George R.R. Martin. But, I don't think that's what we expected from it. Or at least not the only thing. I really lament that the Season Finale of the greatest TV show to date was reduced to a trailer. A summary of coming attractions, of the books to come. A far and distant cry from a book adaptation.
As I said in the beginning, disappointing.
A Game of What, Then?
Television shows and movies are all about entertainment. Granted. But not only entertainment, dear HBO producers. We could debate and argue all day long what makes a great show great, but I'd state my case around one thing: Storytelling -and the education embedded in it.
Lacking moral authorities, one of the main elements that we have, to dwell upon considerations about ethics, morale, or power, are stories. In any form, including comics, fantasy, fiction books, or sci-fi sagas. Sure, no great statesman will come from watching Game of Thrones, The Avengers, or The Matrix. Neither from reading Homer or Alexandre Dumas. But as far as real educational prompters, this is what we have. What we've always had.
I do believe that as a large chunk of the population in the world, lack access to higher education, ethical leaders, or morally solvent institutions, stories are what we have to educate ourselves. Yes, we value and cherish entertainment. But many of us value even more the philosophical, timeless, and educational considerations connected to life that those stories provide.
If I was talking to any of the scriptwriters or producers of Game of Thrones, I wouldn't tell them that it was their job to educate us. Not at all. But the very least they could’ve done was to understand why the show was so incredibly successful. Education, through storytelling, may not be the reason. But I'd bet that, if properly researched and analyzed, it does play a role in such success.
I repeat: TV shows aren't supposed to educate us. Yet they so often do. If anything, because we learn best from stories. And next to storytellers, who else is supposed to educate us about life? With the appropriate integrity, capacity, and legitimacy?
Journalists? Academics? Politicians? Religious Leaders?
There may be arguments favoring and disfavoring all of the above. And it's your job to develop an education for yourself involving all of them. But we can't skip stories. And TV happens to be one of the best storytelling mediums available.
It may sound sad, lame even, that we need fiction or TV to aid our education. Except it isn't fiction or TV doing the educating. It's the storytelling. It's the artists. The authors, the creators, the ones conjuring up all the art that is embedded within the human soul. Cheesy as that sounds, it's true.
Storytelling. That's where education comes from. The TV, the scripts, or the plot on paper are just the channels. Their creators had been exposed to real life, to real knowledge, to real dilemmas. Hence the writing. Hence their work. Hence their art. Knowingly or not, they can be true educators. And had been for as long as we can tell. Storytellers, since the dawn of time, have been doing this job not only beautifully, but effectively.
Over the course of my life, I'd gotten world class education from storytellers. Think of Jorge Luis Borges. Roberto Bolaño. Miguel de Cervantes. Shakespeare. Dostoievsky. And what about Mark Twain, James Joyce, or Patti Smith. Among hundreds more.
Yes, I am biased. Storytelling is my favorite channel to get educated through. *Through*. Not by it, not because of it, not obligated from it. Education through stories. About life. About power. About death. And so much more. Just the way so many stories enhanced my educational processes when I first discovered Game of Thrones -described at the beginning of this article.
Watching the Season Finale of Game of Thrones, one can't help to feel sad that such a storytelling opportunity got lost among the ropes, trots, and tropes, of TV production. Letting so many of us, down. I have nothing but admiration and respect to David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, for bringing this show alive. I'm sure they have their reasons to have managed the end of it the way they did. And there sure are many things behind the scenes that we, as the public, couldn't possibly foresee, comprehend, or deal with.
But still, I feel disappointed. It's not personal. It's just the way I feel.
End of rant.
Let's just hope we can all pick up the stories we were expecting to watch, in book format once George R.R. Martin publishes the last two books of the series.
