First things first. If you are not caught up with "Game of Thrones," stop whatever you are doing and get that taken care of. Right now. Brace yourselves. Spoilers are coming.
Second, when I say "Game of Thrones," I am strictly referring to the television series on HBO. I have yet to read "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin, and that is just one of many series I look forward to reading.
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When I say the series is starting to bore me, I say it as a big fan of the series. Nearly everything about this universe has me intrigued. I love the premise, the legends, the battles and, of course, the memorable characters. Now, one thing I certainly did not love was the sadistic plot twist surrounding just about every wholesome character on the show -- and that is my biggest problem with the series now.
Just for the sake of recapping, let’s start with our first victim: Eddard “Ned” Stark, played by everyone’s favorite soon-to-be corpse, Sean Bean.
Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North and Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark was a man with a sense of honor matched by no other. He showed great compassion for his family, including his illegitimate son, Jon Snow, as well as his subjects. But as fate (i.e., George R. R. Martin) would have it, his honor ultimately got him falsely accused of treason and beheaded by the child king, Joffrey Baratheon.
Let’s move on to Eddard’s first-born son, Robb Stark.
Declared King in the North during the War of the Five Kings, Robb Stark was a gifted warrior and strategist. He won every battle he fought, as well as the hearts and minds of his people. His one fatal mistake was choosing to marry a foreign healer named Talisa Maegyr, rather than a daughter of Lord Walder Frey. Unsurprisingly, this led to the infamous Red Wedding, bringing Robb’s Northern rebellion to a tragic end.
So, we have a man who gets beheaded for doing what he feels is the right thing and his son who gets stabbed in the heart for marrying the girl he loves. Bravo, George. Bravo.
Finally, we reach Jon Snow.
He is known in Westeros as the illegitimate son of Lord Eddard Stark, though his true parentage has been a topic of roaring debate for quite some time now. Nevertheless, he pursues a humble but important life in the Night’s Watch, a caste of Westerosi guards permanently stationed at the Wall on the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms. The young warrior faces a series of unconventional challenges that make him grow in mind, body and spirit. He gains confidence and instills it within his fellow Watchers, and after leading a successful defense of Castle Black from the Wildling Army, it ultimately pays off when he is elected the 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Under his command, he brings in the Wildlings in order to save them from much more dire threats lurking beyond the Kingdoms.
But – big surprise – Jon Snow gets betrayed and shanked by his subordinates for doing what they believe is compromising the Night’s Watch.
There is a plethora of other tragically ironic demises witnessed in "Game of Thrones,"' but that is what I believe is the show’s biggest problem. I only chose my favorite characters because I am a fan of all things wintry, wolf-like and honorable. But other characters were unjustly punished by the cruel hands of fate (again, read George R. R. Martin), such as Bran and Sansa Stark, Oberyn Martell and Tyrion Lannister, just to name a few. I get it -- like in real life, bad things happen to good people in "Game of Thrones." It no longer bothers me that it all but proves that surviving in Westeros is conditional upon being morally bankrupt. What I do mind is that it happens at nearly every turn in the series. These sadistic twists are happening so often that the act itself is becoming less of a twist, and once you realize it, the whole idea loses its luster. But I will still keep tuning in to the series, hopeful for some new and exciting episodes from HBO.
OK, maybe hopeful isn’t the best word when it comes to "Game of Thrones."
