For those who live on another planet, the story : Long ago, the battle between dragons and creatures of the frozen lands created an alternation of seasons that lasted several years each. On the continent of Westeros, people have adapted to this difficult climate. But the incessant quarrels between the nine noble families took a heavy toll on the population. Right now, the king Robert Baratheons and his allies the Starks must face the threat of the Lannister family. Focused on their feuds, all these powerful noble ignore other signals, other threats, from beyond the big wall in the North, of from the remote desert. The ice and the fire may also promote their champions to claim the throne, or destroy it.
GoT, THE series of this last decade !
The cast is impeccable, bravo to all of them !
The series broke many records: budget, locations, sets, costumes (all splendids !) and a legendary opening sequence…
Still, I cannot pretend to be a total fan. At first, I was compelled by the story. I read the books, adored them. But after the fifth season, I began to tire of waiting for the battle between fire and ice, and for the story to revolve around incessant battles between families (or within families, for that matter). The superb, brilliant epic breath of the beginning ran out of steam, giving way to: which character will die next, and how?
So yes, GoT was the first series to use the death of the characters as a central plot. Why not. It was the first series that showed raw violence in a familial program. It is, no doubt, an excellent adaptation of the books -and I find normal to make changes between books and series-.
On the whole, as a big fan of heroic fantasy, I am grateful because this worldwide success boosted other major productions in the genre and gave new wings to heroic fantasy.
8 seasons, 73 episodes (50 mn), 2011-2019 / HBO
Official website
Casting
- Showrunners : David Benioff, D.B. Weiss / Based on the books of George R.R. Martin
- The Starks: Sean Bean, Michelle Fairley, Richard Madden, Sophie Turner, Kit Harrington, Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead-Wright + John Bradley West and Rose Leslie
- The Lannisters : Charles Dance, Lena Headay, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage + Jerome Flynn
- The Targaryens : Emilia Clarke, Hary Lloyd + Iain Glen, Jason Momoa
- The Baratheons : Mark Addy, Jack Gleeson, Joe Dempsie, Dean-Charles Chapman, Stephen Dillane + Liam Cunningham, Carice Van Houten, Gwendoline Christie
- And special mention to : Conleth Hill, Natalie Dormer, Aidan Gillen, Alfie Allen, Indira Varma…
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