Great Houses of Westeros. Major social groups: rulers and subordinates

Thanks in large part to a talented film adaptation, The Game of Thrones was able to do what no fantasy work before it could do: reach a mass audience that has watched four seasons in one breath and is now watching the fifth with might and main. Yes, the film adaptation of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" in three parts also made many admirers of the novel shed nostalgic tears and attract beautiful fairy tale new audience. Yes, Tolkien, or rather his world, became the ancestor of a whole trend in the youth subculture. Yes, he was before. He is a classic of his genre. Yes, his world is also thought out to the smallest detail, and fans can even afford to learn the languages ​​\u200b\u200bof this world. But Tolkienism has a certain age. For many, it ends around the time when secondary sexual characteristics begin to appear, while the “Game of Thrones” for an audience at this age is just beginning to play with all colors and meanings. We undertook to study the phenomenon of the popularity of the "Game of Thrones" and sort out this complex, fascinating and unfair world, in which there is always a place for a feat, a glass and an affair.

What is this?

"Game of Thrones" is the title of a novel that has received a film adaptation, a number of board and computer games, comics and souvenirs based on them. The novel, in turn, is part of the A Song of Ice and Fire series of books. There are several more published stories in the series, one guidebook, and several stories in the works (in addition to the two unreleased volumes of Game of Thrones). Total is:

Novel. Presumably seven volumes, of which five have already been published, the sixth is on the way. It has been written since 1991, the ending should appear by the end of the decade.

Stories and novels about the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. There is a series of stories about Duncan and Egg: "The Hedge Knight" (1998 in English and 1999 in Russian), "Sworn Knight" (2003 in English and 2006 in Russian), "The Mysterious Knight" (2010 in English and 2012 in Russian). Martin is thinking about nine or ten more novels in the cycle. There are works not from this cycle - "The Princess and the Queen" (2013), the guide "The World of Ice and Fire" (2014) and "The Robber, or the King's Brother" (2014). In some places, information also slips that in his free time from the sixth volume, Martin is preparing a collection of the best antics of Tyrion Lannister. If so, then I'm even ready to forgive him for the delay in the Winds of Winter. And you?

Series. On screens since spring 2011. There were four seasons of ten episodes each, as well as a failed pilot. A total of 41. The fifth season is released on April 12, 2015. The actors signed contracts for the sixth. True, there are rumors that in fact the most tenacious characters are already busy up to the eighth season and are provided with an excellent fee. It is also rumored that this season the series will overtake the book in some places. And Martin claims that the fan-producers have surpassed him in bloodthirstiness. Recently, the writer announced that he refuses to take part in the preparation of the next season, the standard writing of one of its episodes, visiting filming locations and even commenting on the video. He has too much to do with the sixth volume and side projects. But on the other hand, it is known that George Martin and HBO signed a contract for the film adaptation of other works of the writer. Eh, prequels are waiting for us, if the interest of the audience in the film adaptation does not fade away. Wise move on HBO's part, though. As soon as the stars of the current epic "Game of Thrones" demand the most indecent fees in the history of cinema - change them to new ones, and leave the essence of the work the same. True, it is not clear whether small fees will recoup the cost of special effects - in the affairs of bygone days, dragons will be more.

Board card games. First desktop card game based on the novel appeared in 2003 and received two expansions. In 2011, it was re-released, but it was not talked about as actively as about another board game that appeared after the hype around the series, in 2012. With a whole world, figures, cards, tasks, tokens and even swords. An ordinary card game is sold in Ukraine for almost 900 hryvnias, and the one with figurines costs 1,400 hryvnias. In Russia - 2500 and 4000 rubles, respectively. In addition, there is also a board tactical game Battles of Westeros (2010), in which you can play battles in the "War of the Five Kings" between the Starks and Lannisters, and with the addition, also the Baratheons.

RPG. It was released in the summer of 2012 and is available for PC, PS3 and XBOX 360. George Martin was involved in the creation of the game, who made sure that the content did not contradict the events of his world, although the game intersects with the books only sporadically. The game is similar to the series - the soundtrack is borrowed from it. Some actors took part in the voice acting, the scenery is similar, and visually the characters are similar to the people who played their roles in the series. This is a product not so much for fans of the novel, but for the audience that the series has brought. The plot of the game starts with the death of Jon Arryn.

Real time strategy. The full title is A Game of Thrones: Genesis. The game appeared in 2011, that is, the year the series began. Therefore, there is no external similarity between its heroes and actors. The goal of the game, as usual, is to capture the iron throne.

Quest. It has been produced by Telltale Games since 2013. Consists of six episodes, but so far only three have appeared. HBO is also involved in the work on the game, which automatically means that the entire visual part corresponds to the series. The events in the game begin during the "Red Wedding" and revolve around the vassals of the Starks - Forrester, who are almost not given attention in the book. The game is available for the following platforms: iOS, Android, Windows, Mac OS, PlayStation and XBOX.

Comics. Martin is a comic book lover! But comics based on the "Game of Thrones" began to appear only nine years after the book's release. And in 2014, a comic book was published about Martin himself - George R.R. Martin: The Power Behind the Thrones.

Souvenir products. All kinds of calendars, figurines, weapons, T-shirts, picture books and posters, Halloween costumes and other rubbish, where without it. Perhaps this 3D book (or map) is my favorite. Fans scold her for the inaccuracies of the text. But look how well done! And Martin himself sometimes has problems with the accuracy of the text.

The novel and its uniqueness

At the time of preparation of the article, five books of the series appeared in print, written in the same style: when information is presented from a third person, but always through the prism of perception of one of the characters. Martin is credited with much love for William Faulkner's phrase that the conflict of the human heart with itself is the only thing worth writing about. And it is this format of presenting the material that best reveals the conflict of personality. There is not a single even, "white" or "black" character in the storyline. Everyone is alive, everyone is sinful, and everyone has an excuse for their actions. This elevates the "Game of Thrones" above any fantasy, turning a fairy tale into reality.

"Game of Thrones" (A Game of Thrones, 1996). This is the simplest (at least among all those published) for the perception of the work of the cycle. In it, George Martin introduces the reader to the first portion of the main characters. Here, absolutely all the “good guys” are very good, and the “bad” ones are bad to the tips of the toenails on the toes of unwashed feet. Written dynamically and interestingly, all on behalf of those whom the reader trustingly takes for the main characters and begins to love with all his heart. And although the first book shows that this is a good, sensible fantasy, it is difficult to discern the huge potential of the epic in it. All the evil shown in this world looks like ordinary magical squabbles. In the first volume, there are only subtle hints of magic and amazing characters. The "good guys" (the Stark family) methodically expose the lies of the "bad guys" from the Lannister family; and it seems that the truth is about to be revealed, the conflict will exhaust itself, happiness and grace will come in this world. The number of those who are drawn to the role of the protagonist can still be counted on the fingers and toes of one person. And now the impudent author, at the end of the work, decapitates the very goodness of the book. And also, at the very first wedding, in the very first volume, he declares that a wedding at which at least three people were not killed is boring. And at all the following marriages, he has fun from the heart. Here the intelligent reader begins to realize that he has stepped into a much more exciting and daring story than he could have imagined from the first chapters of the book. If you shed a tear in the final pages of volume one, congratulations, you're on the hook. And you probably know what happened next.

"Clash of Kings" (A Clash of Kings, 1999). The second volume, in addition to the rapidly and fascinatingly developing storyline, is also interesting in that it actively manifests two other traits characteristic of Martin the writer: the ambiguity of characters and a huge talent for weaving intrigues. Personally, Tyrion Lannister confidently took the role of my favorite character from the second volume and remains so to this day (Martin, by the way, also loves this dwarf most of all, whom he actually wrote off from Richard III). The evil dwarf from the first volume is revealed in the second as a wise and not bloodthirsty person, an excellent strategist and a noble reveler. Quite unexpectedly for himself, the reader, who had not previously had problems with sympathy, understanding who in this book is bad and deserves death, and who is good and must win, begins to sympathize inappropriately with one villain, then another, and frankly needs the company of a lovely girl Sansa, wishing her to quickly turn from a stupid chicken into a beautiful lioness. The second volume is also interesting from the point of view of the growth of the plot - each king in his place, together with the army, knocks together his own storyline, gets hold of the darkness of secondary characters and generously flavors them with the blood of the land of Westeros. Greed, separatist sentiments, unlimited wine and dirty intrigues mix up such a cocktail that it is not possible to tear yourself away from the work. Although from time to time the thought slips through to pile on a heartless author for easily killing favorite characters.

"Storm of swords" (A Storm of Swords, 2000). Martin goes on a rampage, kills another portion of those whom we considered the main characters. Adds more religion, alcohol and sex. And then he also hints in every possible way that the small problems of small people are generally complete garbage compared to the true forces that will fight in this world for their leadership. No one else can say a kind word about the author - he killed at least one favorite of everyone, destroyed all ideas about the first persons of Vestoros. There are 122 bodies in total. I don’t know about you, but in this book I don’t really care who sits on the Iron Throne, because by the end of the third volume, every character (except maybe Tyrion) has time to lose their liking three or four times. And this is not the only grief brought by the third volume. In time, he leaves almost immediately after the second. But then disaster strikes - Martin falls silent for a long five years. He continues to develop his world, complements and expands it in his head, answering questions from fans.

"A Feast for Crows" or "A Feast for Crows" (A Feast for Crowns, 2005). By the time the book appears, I manage to finish school, go through half of the university, fall out of love with literature about magicians and wizards. In the circles of close people, the hope for a new book gradually subsides, they stop discussing the old ones. When it comes out new volume, already it is necessary to re-read the first three. To further complicate the task for readers, George Martin adds characters and settings. In the fourth book, events unfold in Dorne and the Iron Islands. More and more characters and blood conflicts emerge from the depths of the story. Instead of poems, to improve memory, one has to study the names and registrations of new inhabitants of Westeros and neighboring continents. Martin, under pressure from fans, thinks to diversify the world of A Song of Ice and Fire with stories about other times and heroes, constantly diverting from the novel to side projects. Meanwhile, an icy danger looms over the lives of the already familiar characters of the Game of Thrones, the scale of which can only be imagined by Jon Snow on the Wall, and his brother Bran Stark somewhere in the vicinity of the Wall. Well, a couple more wise people of this world. The writer goes all out with the development of side projects, writes not a very long volume compared to the next one, and almost doesn't kill anyone. The ease with which he answers questions about the plot in his interviews, the confusion about events that only editors and fans can help with, inspire rather pessimism. It was Tolkien who had a world thought out to the smallest detail, with a harmonious structure of events, heroes, languages. George Martin creates chaos that is unlikely to be streamlined in the entire life of the author. He admits it himself, of course. And at the same time, in a number of interviews, he makes fun of himself that he is a person who started a lot of things, but did not finish anything. Graying and stuttering from such jokes, on the fourth volume it remains only to wish longevity and perseverance to the writer and read the book with rapture.

"A Dance with Dragons" (A Dance with Dragons, 2011).- The last book to be published. The six years leading up to its publication had been George R. R. Martin's time both in side writing and in dealing with fans, shortening the book, rewriting gaffes found mostly by fans, rewriting chapters in next volume. The total volume of 1700 pages (according to Wordstar statistics and the words of the author) would no longer fit in one book. For the reader, A Dance with Dragons is no less difficult than for the creator. It's hard for me to imagine what will happen to the producers, directors and viewers when it comes to the series. First, volume. Secondly, multiple reincarnations of heroes. Thirdly, the atmosphere. If the first three books are a cheerful drunken frenzy, even taking into account the Red Wedding, the fourth is a dark restless night of an alcoholic, then the gloomy A Dance with Dragons is an opioid gloom for its own, after which there should already be either a hospital or a morgue. Judging by the participation in last years questions to Martin about what will happen to the work if he does not live to see the finale of the book, a premonition of a gloomy end overcomes many admirers. And the hopelessness of the fifth volume develops into anxiety for the life of the 65-year-old writer. But it is worth watching any interview with Martin, as it becomes clear - he is in order, in good health, in humor and ready for new murders. Nothing to worry about. The worst is yet to come.

"Winds of Winter" (The Windows of Winter, 2016?). The novel is not yet ready, the release dates have already been postponed. Now for 2016. George Martin claims that you can only follow the release dates of new books on his official website http://www.georgerrmartin.com/. There are still plans for the release of a new story on October 6, 2015, but not a word about a new volume. But the network has the first spoilers of the sixth volume - "Winds of Winter". Even in Russian translation. Some of it was written and not included in the fifth volume, something Martin talked about at fan meetings, and they recorded and translated. IN this moment there are already chapters from the author himself about the fate of Theon Greyjoy and a certain Mercy, fans have recorded the chapters of Victarion Greyjoy, Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Arianna Martell, Barristan Selmy. But given the propensity of this verbose and heartless man to change history and forget his own words, all these chapters may cease to exist by the time the book comes out.

"Dream of Spring" (A Dream of Spring, year -?). The main intrigue of this volume is whether Martin will live to see its end. The second intrigue is whether the series will end earlier. One of the journalists Once again having asked the first question of these two to Mr. Martin, he literally received in response a spit and an indecent gesture. The second question is even more troubling. After all, if the rating of the series falls, then HBO will close it without any doubt. Producers talk about it openly. And imagine this: a typical day of filming, all the fuss, costumes, horses, wine, war and naked women. And then bang - and the entire film crew of the series, Martin and in general everyone who could know something about the finale, die. A curtain. This, of course, is an unrealistic scenario, but it is quite in the spirit of the Game of Thrones.

World of A Song of Ice and Fire

Martin's world is no less detailed than Tolkien's. With its history, its map, its peoples and languages. Although the same Dothraki was developed specifically for the series by a group of philologists, they do not try to speak it in the book, and one can only guess about other languages.

But the writer rests and says that his world was born out of chaos, while Tolkien's world was born out of order and a literally scientific approach. Therefore, the Silmarillion is a masterpiece union of science and fantasy, and A Song of Ice and Fire is a story hastily cobbled together under pressure from the fans, the mistakes in which the same fans had to correct. To create, by the way, too - "The Guide" was written by Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson - editors of Westeros.org.

Three continents are mentioned in A Song of Ice and Fire: Westeros, Essos, and Sotorios. When compared with our world, then according to the description, Westeros most of all resembles Europe, Essos - Asia with its endless steppes, nomadic tribes and the level of development in relation to medieval Europe. Sotorios is Africa. Especially dangerous for a person from the northern lands in those days.

Westeros is the most civilized and populous part of the world. This is where most of the action takes place. In any case, from what has been written and filmed at the moment. The shape of the continent resembles an inverted map of Ireland. Researchers of Martin's work connect the presence of seven kingdoms with the history of "seven power" in England. And in one of the interviews, Martin says that the image of the Wall came to him during a visit to the "Wall of Hadrian" - a defensive structure of the first century AD, built in the north of England to protect against the raids of the tribes that lived on the territory of present-day Scotland. The names that the writer gave to the wildlings (the inhabitants of the lands beyond the Wall) eloquently allude to the Scandinavian inclinations towards the neighbors. The height of the structure is 4-6 meters, the width is 3 meters, and the length is 117 kilometers. The material for the wall was stone, peat and earth - it's almost like ice and magic in a book. The writer had a chance to visit the attraction in the early morning, when traditional British weather reigned there, seasoned with loneliness and early awakening. He thought a lot. Can you imagine how many cute plot twists this beautiful man could have conceived in such a murderous place! It’s good that at this point in his life he was not yet writing Game of Thrones, otherwise we would have missed half the characters on the first hundred pages of the work.

Geography of the world "Game of Thrones"

There are many maps of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire: from different volumes of the novel, from fans, from the bins of the series, commissioned by HBO. Early maps differ markedly from later ones. Martin says that this is a typical situation for the Middle Ages - people do not really know what their world looks like, not all the continents and corners are known to them. But I suspect that the reason for this discord lies in the fact that the world was created gradually. Errors and inaccuracies were corrected over time, some places on the map appeared later. We took the HBO map for the fourth season of the series as a basis. Still, this content was created in close collaboration with Martin. You can explore the HBO map yourself at this address: http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/season-4/episode-10/map

Kingdom of the North

In fact, this is the border of the civilized world, because behind the Kingdom of the North there is already a Wall with terrible monsters. Judging by Martin's various interviews, this is his favorite place all over his world. When George was asked which castle he liked best, he replied that it was Winterfell. With its asceticism and godswood in the center. When asked about his favorite kingdom, he answered the same. In Winterfell, you see, manners are simpler, the weather is better. Cool and all. Apparently, if you ask the writer about who his favorite characters are, he will without hesitation name the Stark family, whom he himself so easily and naturally finished off in the books. This guy also likes to talk about how he loves and appreciates his dead heroes. So everything fits.

The main castle is Winterfell. By origin, the northerners are descendants of the First Men, as are the wildlings beyond the Wall. The religion of the northerners - the worship of the Old Gods, whose faces are carved into weirwood - is also one of the oldest in the world. They were the last to kneel before the Targaryens. For the inhabitants of this part of the continent, passion for tournaments, luxury, and wine is not typical. On the other hand, a reverent attitude to issues of honor and diligence are characteristic (of course, in winter they have the worst of all).

Ruling House: Starks

iron islands

Islands in the west of Westeros, just south of Winterfell. On the left, the sea goes around them (again, the sea? Where are the oceans?), On the right, the bay iron men. Small, poor, but very proud territory. In one of the interviews, Martin mentioned that Scotland is its prototype. Well, there were a lot of gopniks there too. Although in neighboring Ireland even more. The inhabitants of the Iron Islands exist in very difficult conditions and mainly at the expense of the sea: there is fish, there are robberies.

The inhabitants of the Iron Islands believe in the Drowned God and fear the Storm God. The first promises life after death (“what has died cannot die again”), the second is hardly mentioned in the books. But obviously in these parts the storm brings with it only grief. The local population is a cross between the First Men and the Andals, who once conquered Westeros. The nickname of the inhabitants of this territory is the Ironborn. As for the names, they also sound quite in English. Historians see them as Vikings.

Ruling House: Greyjoys

Western lands

The Western Lands are bordered by the Iron Islands to the east, the Kingdom of the North to the north, the Riverlands to the east, and the Reach to the south. This is a beautiful and comfortable area for living, due to its proximity to the sea, as well as the generous bowels of the earth for precious materials, rich in artisans. It was natural wealth that helped the local lords to make a fortune. And the Lannisters - to get as close as possible to the court of kings-spenders. Although, of course, without the wisdom of Tywin Lannister, no amount of money would have helped.

The main city is Lannisport. But the main castle - Casterly Rock - is the family nest of the Lannisters. The territory is inhabited by the Andals, so the local religion is the belief in the Seven.

Ruling House: Lannisters

river lands

Located in the center of the continent. Fertile lands with a large number of rivers, forests, valleys. Oddly enough, not very densely populated, although the conditions for life are favorable (Martin overlooked it, or do people always huddle on stones and ignore the fertile land? Or were they just too lazy to get from the sea?). There are no large and loud cities in this territory. In the Riverlands, at the hands of the Freys, vassals of the house, Robert Stark and all his companions died at the Red Wedding.

The main castle is Riverrun. For a long time the territory was inhabited by the Children of the forest, the First people came to displace them, but in the end the Andals came and defeated everyone. The religion of the house is the belief in the Seven brought by the Andals. The most popular religion in all of Westeros.

Ruling House: Tully

space

This is a huge kingdom in the center of Westeros. From two sides it is washed by the seas. The climate is mild and excellent for growing food. To imagine the Expanse, you need to remember the beautiful France. Well, or at worst, the black soil of Ukraine and Poland. Largely due to the natural generosity of the region, any normal neighbor wants to see the ruling house of this land in his allies. The wealth of the Tyrells, including natural wealth, helped the overburdened royal court adequately organize the wedding of Joffrey and Margery. Well, how normal. Adjusted for the murder of the groom, of course

The main castle is Highgarden. These beautiful lands were easily conquered by the Andals, so both the religion and the population here are the same as in the two previous kingdoms.

Ruling House: Tyrells

Vale of Arryn

The Vale of Arryn is a kingdom in the east of Westeros, ruled by an ancient noble family. From the point of view of geography, this once kingdom has everything - valleys, rivers, and tall mountains. Therefore, in addition to the Andals who captured the region, numerous notorious mountain clans also live here. They don't care about royal power, they are the same pirates, only on land. They engage in robbery and robbery. The clans have their own hierarchy, their own bad rites, which often serve as a sufficient basis for the name of the clan. Apparently, that's why Catelyn Stark visited Sister Lisa so rarely.

The main castle is the Eagle's Nest. Catelyn and Lysa kept Tyrion there, and the widow Arryn left forever through the Moon Gate. Sansa Stark and Littlefinger stayed there for a while, ex-husband Lisa. Nothing is said separately about the beliefs of the locals, but it is worth assuming that this is again the cult of the Seven and some simpler local gods.

Ruling House: Arrynes

Stormlands

The Stormlands are the domain of Robert Baratheon, who was crowned king after the death of the mad King Aerys II Targaryen. Despite the fact that the name of these lands contains the word "stormy" that leads to suspicion of unsuitability, they are quite fertile and friendly. In the west, they border on Dorne, but high mountains save them from the attack of temperamental neighbors. Compared to other neighbors, the sea surrounding the ex-kingdom from other sides seems friendly. In order to more vividly imagine the living conditions of the locals, I propose to recall the Genoese, their conquest of the coast of Crimea and the construction of fortresses in the bays of the Black Sea. I believe that those who repeatedly tried to take the same Balaklava by storm were also sure that some hardened spells were guarding the natural fortress. The enemies of Storm's End think the same way.

The main castle is Storm's End. According to legend, the first castle in these parts was built by the unlucky Durran, who later managed to marry the daughter of the gods of the sea and sky. Those father-in-law disliked and the castle was destroyed. But with the help of magic and such and such a mother (but in fact Brandon the Builder), the stronghold was rebuilt. She became so impregnable that for 1000 years she never surrendered to the enemy. As a result, the local lord lost the war to Targaryen when he decided to fight not outside the castle walls, but outside it. Targaryen's army defeated and killed the rival. The baratheons received the castle as a gift from the king for their help and participation

Ruling House: Baratheons

Mandrel

Dorne is another proud kingdom that the Targaryens have long failed to conquer. What the dragons and the sword could not accomplish was eventually brought to life through the bed - Dorn was joined by blood marriage. This is a hot desert region in the south of Westeros, inhabited by the Dornish, who were once conquered and converted to their faith by the Andals. For a long time, Martin avoided describing this region. There was Dornish wine, there were mentions of princesses. Actual characters are only introduced to Game of Thrones in the final volumes and the fourth season of the series. But further the role of these characters, obviously, will increase. After all, the Dornish also decided to fight for the Iron Throne with their available blood methods.

Main Castle - Golden Spear

Ruling house: Martel

royal lands

The southern lands are a great place for the residence of kings. King Aegon I, a Targaryen by origin, landed on the southeastern part of Westeros, which later became known as the "Royal Lands", after the death of Valyria. Here he built his capital (King's Landing) and set about conquering other territories of the mainland. In this place, all the events take place at the court of the Baratheon, and then the Lannisters.

Ruling house: Targaryens, then Baratheons, Lannisters and beyond - we don't know yet.

Continents Essos and Sotorios

The reader (and viewer) learns about Essos in storylines, dedicated to Daenerys Targaryen, as well as from individual characters (the sorceress Melisandre, for example) or through references to objects and sores, originally from the eastern part of the mainland. We know almost nothing about Sotorios. According to tradition, the southern lands turn out to be the most dangerous, little-known, full of evil and terrible diseases. Actually, George Martin, as a fantasy author, is not alone in this vision of the south. The Nilfgaardians of Sapkowski are also southerners. Tolkien's Mordor is the southeast. Yes, there is fantasy. In order not to go far, we can remember that on our home planet with you all sorts of phenomena inconvenient for civilization (be it Ebola, ISIS or Golden Horde, a large flow of illegal migrants from Mexico and Morocco) have been frightening citizens of more highly developed countries from the south or southeast for many centuries in a row. There is something subconscious, primitive in this vision of the world by fantasy authors.

The Dothraki Sea, Asshai, the Giskar Lands, the Free Cities, Jogos Nhai, Lhazar - crumbs of information about these vast territories become known to the reader through the movements and conquests of Daenerys Targaryen.

5 glaring historical parallels in Game of Thrones

As is known, good artist knows how to steal what lies badly. Writers, including fantasy authors, do not indulge in borrowing plots from history. Moreover, the history of the Middle Ages, forgotten from the school bench, just asks for pages of terrible works. In the "Game of Thrones" several historical moments appear in the form of allegories.

1. "The Battle of the Five Kings" is the war of the Scarlet and White Roses. Even for the names of the main houses, the author did not go far. The Starks and Lannisters are the historical Yorks and Lancasters. Martin does not hide that he was inspired by these events.
2. The "Red Wedding" is generally a popular phenomenon for the Middle Ages, especially frequent in places where several clans fought for leadership and were poorly able to obey the king. Researchers cite the "Black Dinner" in Scotland or the "Glencoe Massacre" as an example. Both there and there, the guests were not treated according to the rules of etiquette.
3. The Battle of the Blackwater is the story of how the Arabs besieged Constantinople twice in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Greek fire, well known to the Byzantines, came to the aid of the besieged.
4. "A Feast for Crows" was inspired by the Hundred Years' War and crusades. The increasing role of religion in the book, especially since this volume, is due to the religiosity of Europe and the bloodthirstiness of the churches of that time.
5. The Faceless - a clan of assassins from the Free Cities - grows out of the legend of the Assassins.

Fanatic historians have found the names historical figures(Martin passed some of them on his own in numerous interviews), which served as prototypes for characters from the best houses of Westeros. There will be a bunch of mad kings alone. There is even a special site on the English-language Internet - http://history-behind-game-of-thrones.com , where fans catch and interrogate historians about what, in their opinion, the world of A Song of Ice and Fire is based on. Should Martin be scolded for bringing to light the darkest pages of history? No. The French theater critic Georges Polti believes that there are only 36 dramatic plots in the world. Already humanity has managed to survive all of them and replay up and down. Therefore, everything that happens in the novel and does not contradict the laws of physics must have happened to our poor world. But the humanity of mankind is definitely worth thinking about once again. However, no matter how many abominations history repeats, it is still not enough for people: they continue with rapture to walk the rake of stupidity and cruelty. And then write books and films about it.

10 Unused Facts About How The Novel Was Made

1. Game of Thrones was meant to be a trilogy. But as the writing progressed, the characters introduced into the narrative demanded that Martin tell more about them. So far, it has resulted in supposedly seven volumes. But you never know how the characters will behave further.

2. To come up with names for the characters, reference books like “What to name your child” help the author. The writer has no children, but with the names of the characters it really turns out cool. When choosing names, the author takes into account their euphony, memorability and similarity with other names of the House.

3. Martin's universe is inhabited only by real-life animals or well-known fantasy animals. George specifically decided not to complicate the perception of the work for readers. They, the poor fellows, still have so many heroes to memorize and learn the geography of the world of “A Song of Ice and Fire”.

4. Terrible poverty helped Martin create such a rich fantasy world. The boy grew up in New Jersey. As a child, the writer's family could not afford anything, even Staten Island was beyond his reach. Instead of all the entertainment in the world, the boy had only books. Real wealth, indeed.

5. Initially, Martin was unsure about whether or not to involve dragons in the events of the book. In the first chapters, they appeared there only as part of the story of the Targaryens. He was persuaded by a girlfriend, whom he greatly respected as a fantasy author. Thanks to the unknown lady, because in the current version of the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, wherever you spit, you will hit a dragon everywhere.

6. Martin admits that the indiscriminate killing of characters in the work allows him to make readers sincerely worry about their favorite characters and never think that they are safe. If a beloved character finds himself in a dangerous situation, the reader should be scared for him, should be scared to turn the page. He should know that no one is insured, says Martin. He talks about all this in his interviews through fits of laughter.

7. George Martin gets confused about the colors of his characters' eyes. Although for a novel this moment often has great importance. He points to the true parents of the hero. And from time to time, Martin confuses the color of the eyes of the same hero just like that in different volumes of the work. The author's oversights have to be corrected by fans who inform the writer of his mistakes in their letters. In general, he considers himself an extremely absent-minded author, his oversights are often corrected by fans. It was thanks to the vigilance and perseverance of the fans that the ideas of stories and a guide to the world of ice and fire came about.

8. It is believed that the prototype direwolf lived in North America and died out about 10 thousand years ago. It was the largest animal of the canine family, today they are trying to breed its likeness from the American Shepherd Dog.

9. At the moment, Martin writes only prequel stories on his own. In the rest of the work he is assisted by co-authors.

10. The creation of religions in the book took place approximately according to this scenario: Martin thought about the characters, about the environment in which they live, what from their environment they can believe. Then he turned to real or existing cults and looked at what could be borrowed from them, what had not yet been borrowed. Here is the cult of R'hllor, they say, migrated to the book from Zoroastrianism.

How the epic novel got on TV

George Martin's skepticism about film adaptations could only be overcome by HBO. And only thanks to the fact that he had in his portfolio a number of works that could approach the “Game of Thrones” in scope. Martin was fond of writing stories from an early age (in his early twenties he was already famous author), but one day he failed in this field. He wrote a story that turned out to be of no use to anyone, no one bought it. This failure was followed by an offer to work on television - writing stories. In his new career, Martin was annoyed by the fact that colleagues constantly asked him to cut his material. He did this reluctantly, sacrificing not whole scenes and dialogues, but individual nuances. When Martin returned to literature, he had time to get very angry at the need to cut his material. Therefore, the writer began to create the "Game of Thrones" with enthusiasm, not sparing colors and details. After the release of the first two volumes, proposals for a film adaptation flew to Martin, but the unwillingness to limit oneself in volumes and a dislike for those who offered forced the writer to refuse. With HBO, another story came out - Martin was confident that this company would create a quality product. Her portfolio included voluminous works, there were big-budget works, there was a lot of experience with a drama series and experience in creating special effects.

The phenomenon of the popularity of the series

When House M.D. came out, it became fashionable to play the hardened cynic. When The Big Bang Theory appeared, even the last blondes began to master jokes about string theory. Breaking Bad and Dexter shook the idea of ​​what kind of hero millions of law-abiding clerks can empathize with. Game of Thrones pushes your comfort zone yet again ordinary person”, letting dragons into it, knightly duels, intrigues of the royal court, an epic battle for world domination and the accompanying: drunkenness, incest, blood feuds, stupidity and meanness on a national scale. Next to a typical Game of Thrones schemer, even main character"House of Cards" looks like a straight-forward country boy.

If you look at the list of the highest rated series on IMDB, an interesting pattern emerges: their main characters are not so positive people (with the exception of The Good Wife, perhaps).

Modern man needs freaks, cynics, even more bastard and selfish heroes than himself (or what he thinks of himself). In the "Game of Thrones" there are not only such bastards, there are heroes for every taste. And it is precisely the "good guys" that are written out the most disgustingly, starting from the second volume and the second season. Good in its purest form, as well as evil in its purest form (in the form of Joffrey or Tywin Lannister, for example) - are equally unpleasant to the author and the viewer. Moreover, it practically does not occur in life. But people are always nicer to what is close to them, and what looks believable. However, in this whole story, only the motives of individuals are plausible, but not the conditions of their existence.

An important factor, including determining the success of a fantasy series, is the tendency of modern man to escapism. So says critic Ken Tucker, author of a number of key world publications (New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, etc.). Game of Thrones is a great place for these purposes. Here is the Middle Ages in all its glory, and there is no extra stupid magic (except for the very minimum, which may well pass for the traditional religious madness of clergy), the ears of world history do not stick out in the background. Well, if you add to this the arguments from the previous paragraph, you get a very beautiful combination. On the one hand, a fascinating plot and bastard characters allow a normal adult to admire medieval massacres, disguised men and special-effect dragons without a twinge of conscience. On the other hand, to run away from the beautiful technological world to a world where it is still possible to solve problems with a fist on the table or a sword in the heart, where it is not the one who paid off the mortgage earlier and found a better job, but the one who is strong, dexterous and smart.

The third factor is all the sins of the world in one bottle: depraved women, cynical humor, wine, murder, incest and other perversions, meanness, cunning. And all this is free. And everything is so well mixed up that no one will reproach him for being addicted to something condemned by civilization. Even for you, readers, a special sympathy for these topics is clearly visible: the more naked the girl in the main photo to the text, the more cynical the humor in the title and lead, the more scandalous the topic, the more willingly you will go to read the material. And if it also features drunk robots from the LGBT community who beat children on the sly, then this is definitely a potential hit.

Another factor in the success of the series is the amazing level of intrigue. There aren't many stories in the world better than this. Although, of course, everything in the book is, as usual, brighter.

Expensive and high-quality realization of the author's idea. Truthfulness and closeness to the plot of books. Great selection of actors. Professional special effects. Filming in the best places planets.

Finally, virality. Have you watched Game of Thrones yet? And what could you have been doing since 2011, so that you still don’t see it? Seriously? Or maybe you don't watch shows at all?

10 Unused Facts About The Creation Of The Series

2. The characters in the series are much older than the characters in the book. This was done in order to simplify the perception of the plot by a modern person. In the Middle Ages, to the realities of which Martin refers readers, people matured much earlier, and at the age of 13 they took on a lot of responsibility. Therefore, the 13-year-old "kings" from the book turn into broad-shouldered young people in the series.

3. Martin knows how his book should end. The authors of the series also know the idea of ​​the writer. But expresses doubts that the TV show will end the same way. After all, its writers are rare Game of Thrones fans, and they already allow themselves to change the plot.

4. George Martin admits that it was much easier to kill characters before the appearance of the series - because now his characters have turned into living people, for whom playing in the series and success there is very important for further career. So he's not that much of a monster.

5. Some actors from time to time pester the writer with a request not to kill them. And if they read the book, they would know that their heroes have already been killed, Martin laughs. Actors, in turn, do not read the book, so as not to worry about their death ahead of time.

6. By the fifth season, four or five (in different interviews Martin gives different numbers) more characters will be killed in the series than in the book. Martin claims that he tried to resist this, but the directors have their own motives (the actor asked for too much raise?).

7. The actors (apparently those whose characters, through an oversight, remained alive) signed contracts until the sixth season (the words of the HBO program director as of early 2015).

8. Several Iron Thrones were created to shoot the series - six or seven, if Martin does not confuse anything. None of them can compare with what was conceived by the author. In his interviews, the writer periodically laments about this. There are several reasons: insufficiently large pavilion for filming (the royal palace is filmed in the same place as the interior of the Titanic), large financial and time costs for the production of the existing Iron Throne, as well as difficulties with filming. Martin's throne is several times higher than any person, it has steps. But the author is pleased with what the film crew of the series did. The throne turned out to be impressive, asymmetrical and aggressive.

9. One of the copies of the Iron Throne was played at the presentation of the fourth season of the series among the fans and went to a resident of Brooklyn.

10. George Martin has another contract with HBO for the series. The writer says about him there: “I want to shoot a fantasy series and a couple of historical ones. The episodes will be about an hour long." However, Martin is evasive in his answers. It can be seen that he is set to be filmed, but he does not have the final confirmation from the channel or the right to disclose information.

Favorite Game of Thrones intrigues

A large amount of material, conflicting information from Martin, a huge space for conjectures make fans struggle to unravel the yet unrevealed secrets of the work. What gossip worries our readers the most, what opinions do you hold?

1. Who will sit on the Iron Throne?
2. Who will be the reincarnation of Azor Ahai?
3. Who are Jon Snow's parents?
4. Who will be Daenerys' husband?
5. Dragons or White Walkers?

White Walkers and ISIS

* By decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014, the Islamic State was recognized as a terrorist organization whose activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation.

The image of the "white walkers", the cruel dead, killing almost all living things in their path, apparently speaks of a fear of real deep barbarism, which does not know the moral principles of Western civilization. Parallel to the "white walkers" in the modern world are Islamist terrorists. Their bases are usually located in hard-to-reach lands like mountains and deserts, and their endless malice towards the Western world comes from an ideology of total cruelty - all this echoes the image of the living dead from the Game of Thrones. In the world of the series, the "walkers" are the dead - whoever they were in life. This is similar to the recruitment of residents by Islamists European countries, whether or not they have roots in the Arab world. "Walkers" are similar to the Islamists and special attention to children: both of them do not hesitate to accept them into their ranks. Remember the scene in which the leader of the dead is brought a baby, and compare it with the creepy videos of the "Islamic State" in which the hostages are killed by teenagers.

The State of Daenerys Targaryen and the "Asiatic Tigers"

The state with its capital in Meereen, founded by Daenerys Targaryen, can be called artificial: after all, they do not always want to live in the same state with the conquerors. Her regime, which combines democracy with totalitarian control (permanent audiences of the inhabitants of the city with the ruler and the army of the "Unsullied"), reminiscent of the hybrid regimes that existed in small Asian states like Singapore or South Korea. They borrowed growth models from Western countries, oriented towards Western culture and market. So is Daenerys - in fact, a refugee from another continent, a cross between a colonist and an effective manager like the Singaporean Lee Kuan Yew.

Melisandre and the Islamic Revolution

Establishing a state religion always takes a long time. For example, after the baptism of Rus', Christianity coexisted for a long time with pagan beliefs and practices. Another thing is the revolution. In Game of Thrones, a priestess of the fire god R'Glora named Melisandre, after influencing her lover Stannis Baratheon, establishes a monotheistic cult of fire as the state religion of Dragonstone. The reform is accompanied by the burning of the Gentiles alive and other repressions, and soon the foreign and domestic policy of Stannis begins to be determined by religion - more precisely, Melisandre's predictions. The Islamic revolution that took place in Iran in the late 1970s, although it was associated with a popular movement, brought to power a government that also did not disdain repression. Most issues of internal politics have begun to define the traditions of Islam, and in external relations the decisive word always remains with the religious leader, the ayatollah.

War of the Five Kings and Syria

The civil war that unfolded on the territory of the Seven Kingdoms is similar to any other domestic armed conflict, but of modern events, it most closely resembles civil war in Syria. Both in the fictional Westeros and in the real Middle East, very similar and very similar people are fighting each other at the same time. different people. Here and seemingly totalitarian power in the face of the Lannister clan or the Assad clan, and organized rebels like northerners from Winterfell and the Syrian Free Army, and radicals: Robb Stark's headquarters was torn apart internal conflicts, and in Syria, Islamists appeared among the rebels, who were first supported by al-Qaeda, and then they merged with the Islamic State. Players who keep a low profile, but still participate in the conflict and have their say in it, also exist in both worlds: in the "Game of Thrones" these are small kingdoms and principalities that adjoin one side or the other, and in real Syria, for example, these are well-organized Kurdish detachments.

The regime of Lisa Arryn and modern North Korea

Kathleen Stark's sister, Lysa Arryn, after the death of her husband, ruled alone in a small mountainous state with an impregnable castle as its capital. Total control and brutal executions are reminiscent of any authoritarian state, but most of all - the modern DPRK. No other state pursues a policy of isolationism as consistent as that of the Vale of Arryn. Another similarity is Lysa Arryn's weak-minded son, Robin. The dynastic transfer of power between people with obviously unstable mentality is reminiscent of the transfer of the title of head of the DPRK from one Kim to another. There is something in common between the death of Lysa Arryn at the hands of Petyr Baelish and the ongoing rumors about the division of power among the North Korean elite: what are the news about the sudden execution of Kim Jong-un's uncle, who was an adviser to the young dictator, worth at least.

Lannisters and the National Front

Another dynasty that has a very similar counterpart in real world, - Lannisters, or rather Tywin and his daughter Cersei. They remind many of another political father-daughter pairing: Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine. Although their party, the Front National, has never been in power in France, their rule of the political entity is similar to how the Lannisters rule the Seven Kingdoms. The conflict that arises in the "Game of Thrones" between Tywin and Cersei over the latter's role in government has recently acquired an analogue in Le Pen relations: just the other day, Marine Le Pen announced that she would most likely remove her father from participation in the elections.

"Winter Is Coming" and "The End of History"

Since the first episode, the heroes of the Game of Thrones have been repeating the formula “Winter is coming” like a mantra. Winter in the world of the series lasts for years and is life-threatening in Westeros. But this expectation could not be born just like that, without fears about the fate of real humanity. On the one hand, "winter is coming" may be an expectation of a global catastrophe - which may take the format of a nuclear winter. On the other, slightly more optimistic side, the theme of the coming eternal winter may be similar to the concept of the “end of history”, which began to be developed by Hegel, and developed in the 20th century. When history comes to an end, it loses its imaginary teleological character, and humanity begins to live outside the concepts of progress and development.

The American series "Game of Thrones" has become a phenomenon in the field of film and television. The release of the next, sixth season was awaited with bated breath by millions of people around the world. The series, which started in 2011, has gathered an impressive audience for 5 years, its heroes are known better than many real politicians on planet Earth, he himself has become the source of many memes and an integral part of the culture of the younger generation around the world. According to The Guardian, in 2014 the program was the "Best Drama" and "Most Talked About Show" on TV in 2014. The series has received numerous awards and nominations, including 26 Emmy Awards and 86 nominations. Its influence on the minds and moods of the inhabitants of the globe is undoubted. It remains to determine what kind of influence it is and what phenomenon we are dealing with.

american thing

Game of Thrones is a television adaptation of a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, collectively titled A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin is a typical American. Journalist by education. In his youth, he avoided being drafted into the army so as not to fight in Vietnam. Fan of superhero comics. It is significant that Martin did not receive a systemic historical or philological education, although he was quite erudite, which was reflected in the Game of Thrones. The fictional world, according to the author's idea, should resemble the historical European Middle Ages, however, the characters of the characters, their motivations, the structure of relations in this world give out a typical American approach - a complete misunderstanding of what traditional Europe, the European Middle Ages are, and what is the fundamental difference between the Middle Ages and the New Time.

Two types of fantasy

In principle, in the literature, which is usually referred to as a fantasy genre, there are two trends. Let's call the first conditionally British. It can be attributed to the Inklings - J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, C. Williams, as well as their predecessors in the 19th century - William Morris with his novels "The Forest Beyond the World" and "The Well at the End of the World" and the Scottish novelist and theologian George MacDonald. Features of this direction: careful work with historical and mythological material, deep erudition of authors who received a classical education, and most importantly - the rejection of the ideology of the New Age with its anti-hierarchy, progress, industrialism, secularism, rejection and ridicule of the spiritual dimension in man.

Indicative, for example, is the attitude towards Tolkien's progress. In Mythopoeia, which reveals Tolkien's views on creativity, myth, and rationality, the writer exclaims:

And I don't need your progress forever,
O you upright people!
Excuse me, I'm not a walker in the column
With the gorillas of progress! Whole total
Their marches of the victorious, she-she,
The yawning of the abyss, if in His mercy
The Lord will set a limit and a term for him

However, in the original it sounds much more capacious:

I will not walk with your progressive apes,
erect and sapient. Before them gapes
the dark abyss to which their progress tends -
if by God's mercy progress ever ends,

These authors rebel against the present and look for an alternative in the forms characteristic of the past, they romanticize the Middle Ages and understand that it was built on fundamentally different foundations than the civilization of the New Age.
These are the principles of the European solar male Apollonian civilization: hierarchy, faith, fidelity, honor, family, the primacy of ethics and aesthetics over profit, theocentrism, the dominance of traditional relations between a man and a woman. In the historical Middle Ages, of course, many deviations from the ideal can be found, but the authors mentioned above inherit the authors of the Middle Ages in an effort to describe precisely ideal heroes and ideal situations. Like the people of the Middle Ages, they are conscious or instinctive Platonists, which means that for them the “ideal” is the real. That which belongs to eternity, which correlates with the heavenly ideal, is what it is, while earthly distortions of the ideal, sin and apostasy do not inherit eternity.

“Now you are looking at England within England. The real England is the same as the real Narnia, because in inner England, inside, all good things are preserved.
C. S. Lewis. last fight

The second trend that dominates modern fantasy. can be called American. Its pioneers were Robert Howard, along with a number of American authors, who by the middle of the 20th century created a shaft of low-grade literature in the genre of "sword and magic". The features of this approach are well revealed in the personality of Howard himself, as well as in the cycle of novels about Conan the Barbarian created by him: focus on samples of popular culture, a combination of high conceit with a mediocre education of the author, an eclectic mixing of elements of antiquity and modernity. The task of such literature is to impress the reader, to arouse commercial interest. The authors tend to share all the myths of modernity, including the belief in progress and industrialism. This kind of literature is not a form of rebellion against the modern world, but a way to make money. The authors do not recreate the ideal Middle Ages, but create a fictional world in which they act completely modern people for completely modern and understandable motivations for any American.

american barbarian

Conan the Barbarian is a typical American, there is almost no inner, spiritual dimension in him, he is the embodiment of a titanic cult of brute force, not Apollonian, pious wisdom. He is ambitious, dominating, almost materialistic.

Parody of the Middle Ages

In other words, the figure of a completely modern and precisely American man with his extreme titanic individualism, theomachism, and rejection of tradition is enclosed in a fabulous and fantastic shell. A vague but noble nostalgia for better times exploited for the sake of profit and assertion of power, the inviolability of the principles of modern civilization.

The difference between the two types of fantasy is the fundamental difference between European and American civilizations. American civilization was created as it was believed from scratch, it was a laboratory project of the Modern era, where Europe exported all its anti-traditional and essentially anti-European tendencies. Therefore, America does not know the tradition and all its appeals to this topic turn into a parody.

As Julius Evola said about this:

“America … created a “civilization” that is the complete opposite of the ancient European tradition. She founded a cult of practice and productivity; she placed value-adding, large-scale industrial production, mechanical, visual and quantitative achievements above all else. It produced a soulless greatness of a purely technological and collective nature, devoid of any sources of transcendence, inner light and true spirituality.

"Game of Thrones" is a typical example of just such an American fantasy. The Medieval shell contains a typically modern content. The value code of most of the heroes of the saga is indicative: treachery, greed, depravity, betrayal, a nihilistic attitude towards religion dominate, as if this is the main value content of that society, which at the same time is characterized by hierarchy and knightly tournaments, Platonic philosophy and scholasticism, feats of asceticism and universal religiosity. The world of the series is a modern world with some modifications, but in order to finally swallow the bitter pill of the values ​​of the modern West, they decided to sweeten it by adding a romantic traditional entourage. After all, the modern world itself is boring and unbearable.

The talented combination of Eros and Thanatos, the themes of sex and death, makes the series attractive. Imperceptibly, a deliberately distorted image of the Middle Ages is being imposed through popular culture of certain values ​​that are not at all characteristic of the Middle Ages, but are promoted by the modern West in a process that Patrick Buchanan called the Death of the West.

Gender ideology

“Game of Thrones” is the first mainstream series in which the topic of sodomy relationships turns into almost naked homosexual porn. The series demonstrates the “naturalness” of contacts of this kind, blurring the idea of ​​​​it as something sinful, secret, and unlawful by the frequent use of this topic.

It is significant that homosexual heroes are like a selection of positive characters. Sodomite Prince Renly Baratheon is the most worthy candidate for the royal throne, but dies, refusing to compromise. His lover - Loras Tyrell - a knight without fear and reproach, also an exceptionally positive figure. Oberyn Martell, a bisexual whose exploits in the love field are widely known, is a valiant avenger.

The sodomite king and his knight

The series also breaks the incest taboo by openly and sympathetically showcasing the incestuous relationship between the knight Jaime Lannister and his twin sister Queen Cersei. Several times in the film, both sigh and say that they can't choose who they love, the most common sentimental excuse used by perverts.

In turn, the tyrant boy King Joffrey Baratheon, a sadist who is hated by both the whole country and his relatives, becomes the embodiment of pure homophobia. In the third season, he stated that he would impose the death penalty for homosexual relationships. Thus, traditional values ​​and the fight against sin become associated with tyranny and cruelty.

Needless to say, mass promiscuous sexual relations, unthinkable for the historical Middle Ages, are an integral part of the world created by the fantasy of Martin and the creators of the series.

Multiculturalism and illegal immigrants

The world of Game of Thrones is emphatically multicultural. In Westeros, no, no, and you will meet a foreigner who occupies a high position (for example, the eunuch Varys). In Essos, a continent that resembles ancient and medieval Asia, Princess Daenerys Targaryen fights to free black slaves from the oppression of the white elite. "Black Lives Matter!" - tells us the creators of the series. In the establishment of multiculturalism, the creators of the series go further literary prototype. So the pirate Salladhor Saan was white in the novel, but became black in the film adaptation.

Refugee

That this is not a whim of the director, but a deliberate policy, is evident from the attention paid to the topic of migration in the series. So. Who are the "wild" if not migrants? They live behind a wall, a cyclopean structure that separates the territory of civilization from the zone of barbarism (Donald Trump's dream). The inhabitants of the seven kingdoms of Westeros are not happy with them, because the "Wildlings" behave almost the same as the hordes of migrants who flood into modern Europe: they kill, rape, rob and want to settle in foreign lands. From the wild and inhuman creatures behind the wall of Westeros, the warriors of the Night Watch guard.
So what do we see in Game of Thrones? The positive character Jon Snow does everything to enable the savages to settle behind the wall, because they are fleeing from a terrible, inhuman danger. Almost Angela Merkel hosting Syrian refugees. Moreover, he undertakes an expedition to transfer part of the migrants to prosperous Westeros (did Pope Francis take an example from him?). And of course, it encounters misunderstanding on the part of xenophobes who do not want to see murderers, robbers and cannibals next to them. They kill the unfortunate. And his fate is unknown. Whether Martin wanted it or not, he reproduced a very modern theme in a fantasy setting, but interpreted it in a modern way. How can a man who empathizes with Jon Snow and the unfortunate Wildlings advocate limiting migration?

There is no God, there is death

Religion in Game of Thrones is okay. The traditional cults of the Old Gods and the Seven of Westeros are ceremonial in nature, their adherents are not at enmity with each other. Full American tolerance. The series demonstrates that everything is fine as long as religion is a private matter for everyone. Problems appear along with the appearance of people who truly believe in God. The cult of the god of fire and resurrection R "glor is clearly shown negatively. And supporters of the mendicant order of the Sparrows are completely organizing religious terror in the capital of Westeros, King's Landing.

In Martin's world there is no organized and influential church, no place for God in his Christian understanding and no place for Christ, which are explicitly or implicitly present in the works of the great Britons Lewis and Tolkien. Martin's gods manifest themselves either through a pantheistic presence (Old Gods), identifying with nature, or through a brute oppressive force that subordinates everything to its will. The latter is a typically Semitic and titanic idea of ​​a deity, characteristic of Judaism, Islam, and partly the Calvinist version of Protestantism, and overcome by the Christian mystery of love and the divine Sacrifice for man.

There is no God as such in Game of Thrones. Interestingly, all the "theological" moments in Martin's books are removed from the series. His philosophy is best expressed by a quote from a swordsman who once said to Arya Stark:

“There is only one god in the world, and his name is Death. And we only say one thing to Death: “Not today”

They are reminiscent of the words of the Apostle Peter:

“...the dead don't rise? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

Theology lesson from Silvio Forel

In the world of "Game of Thrones" the dead are resurrected, but this does not bring either them or their loved ones, neither happiness nor consolation. After all, the Christian resurrection is also the transformation of a person, but the Game of Thrones does not suggest that a person can be something other than the half-animal that he is now.

The world of "Game of Thrones" is thus a world without Christ and one God, but full of magic in the style of the New Age. From "God is dead" to "God is death."

New dark ages?

A distinctive feature of the "Game of Thrones" is emphasized "realism". Allegedly, they acted and thought like that real characters Middle Ages. It is often said that the series is more about politics than heroism. This view is the result of the loss of the traditional perception of politics as a philosophical and aesthetic practice by Plato and Aristotle. Of course, many medieval rulers were not like that, but it was precisely this understanding of politics that made the difference between the High Middle Ages and Antiquity from the present. The politics in Game of Thrones are emphatically modern: that is, they are cynical and based on the principle of selfish interest.

The political dimension of Game of Thrones is very peculiar. On the one hand, the authors of the series in every possible way demonstrate egalitarian, anti-authoritarian tendencies, primarily associated with the line of Daenerys Targaryen, one of the most popular heroines of the series. She rightfully claims the Iron Throne of Westeros, being a representative of the overthrown rightful dynasty. But one day, she declares that she will not become a spoke in the wheel of the Game of Thrones, but will break this wheel. This means that she is ready to break the old hierarchical order and replace it with a more egalitarian one.

Egalitarian multicultural totalitarianism Daenerys

On the other hand, the series reveals topics related to honor, order, loyalty, but not in relation to the country (with the exception of the important theme of "Night Watch"), but in relation to a particular family.

The mass consciousness is accustomed to the image of a world where everything is controlled by large family oligarchic clans. So it is in the "Game of Thrones", where the position of the birth is determined by their wealth. The modern global world is moving towards this as well. This is a frightening, postmodern version of the “new Middle Ages”, which Nikolai Berdyaev prophetically promised: the decline in the importance of nation-states, private armies, confrontation between the houses of different Rothschilds, Rockefellers and other masters of the world. A world of constant wars and conflicts. A world where power is only the power of money and power, and not spiritual authority. A world without God, but also without the former rationality with many sects, new religions, faith in magic and the occult. The world of exalted sexuality that broke all possible taboos. A world where there is not much difference between man and beast (hence the theme of werewolves in Game of Thrones). This is not only the world of "Game of Thrones", this is our future, which is gradually becoming real.

Welcome to Game of Thrones! We all got a taste.

Winter has finally come to Westeros, and the creators of the series decided to postpone filming so that the frame was not artificial, but real snow. The decision is understandable, but it also pretty upsets the fans, because the release of the seventh season will have to wait longer. Yes, and lovers of reading have to get bored: even if Martin promised The Winds of Winter either by April or August, who knows these promises.

However, savvy fans have found a way to pass the time. Instead of boarding up windows in case of white walker invasions, roasting pigs on fires and dozing at family gatherings, they returned to almost even outdated video games ... By making some adjustments to them, hmm.

In fact, there are a lot of such mods. Some of them change very little things, some completely reshape the world of the original game, inscribing characters and even huge locations from the PliO into it. However, units of such modifications make us run them again and again.

It doesn't matter if you want to calmly level up your hero while exploring the world of Westeros, take part in tough battles for the Iron Throne or cunningly dodge, deceive and manipulate others to achieve your goals - among these mods there is sure to be one that you will like. Perhaps even more than hanging out with a few of Littlefinger's beauties.

7. A Clash Of Kings (Mount and Blade: Warband)

Despite the fact that Westeros and Essos are twice the size of the original Warband map, the creators of the mod managed to completely recreate them inside the game itself. IN Clash of Kings you can customize your character the way you want - you can even choose a background from the PliO universe.

Just choose your banner and start an exciting journey through the vast world, looking into the villages and cities recreated from PliO. As you earn reputation and make friends with certain people, you can still swear allegiance to one of the parties or establish your own own house, taking part in epic battles - but now in the setting of "Game of Thrones".

The mod is still in development, but has already earned wild popularity. And the developers continue to delight us with new missions and intrigues.

Watch out, Cersei, we're on our way to King's Landing!

6. Game Of Thrones Adaptation (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

This mod completely turns the original game on its head. It will allow you to immerse yourself in the amazingly recreated atmosphere of the PLiO - here you will find your favorite characters of the saga, see familiar names, and be able to find many small interesting things. The world looks almost the same, and your main task is to destroy the dragons, but the cities and heroes are pretty reworked. And everything is done so convincingly that one can begin to doubt that Bethesda originally created all this.

Forget about the Imperials - the Lannisters rule the roost, and it's not the Stormcloaks that oppose them, but the Starks. At the same time, Solitude was changed so that it can hardly be distinguished from King's Landing - even the Red Castle rises just as majestically. And Winterhold already resembled Winterfell even in its name, but here the developers tried to give even more similarities.

The towers of Valtheim on the banks of the river turned into the Twins - the abode of the Freys. And this is not the limit at all: many cities and locations were added and added, including the Wall, which is completely open for research and, in addition, on which you can find the brothers of the Night's Watch and even meet Jon Snow himself in person.

With this mod, you can not only change the shape or emblems on the shields to those that exist in the world of the Game of Thrones. More importantly, almost any of the more than fifty PLiO characters can become your companion: Robb Stark, Ygritte, Dog... You can even get yourself a direwolf. Or Tyrion - whichever is closer to you.

A new version of the mod is still in development, but the Internet is a wonderful thing. Digging a little, you can easily find the old version - also very, very good.

5. Westeros: Total War Enhanced (Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms)

This mod is a little outdated at the moment, but still guaranteed to give you pleasure.

Westeros: Total War Enhanced recreates the world, characters, Houses and even weapons from the "Game of Thrones". And although Total War does not change its habits and remains focused on battles and battles, politics still matters a lot.

Key characters stand up for their respective sides with their name crests on their shields, and no one is forgotten - from the sadistic Boltons to the Wildlings beyond the Wall. In battles, the main thing is strategy, the brutality of the battles is absolutely consistent with the Game of Thrones, and knowledge of books and TV shows gives both victories and defeats a special taste.

4. A Game Of Thrones (Crusader Kings II)

This mod simply had to appear sooner or later. Crusader Kings II fundamentally has a lot in common with the PLiO universe: a single king rules the world, arranges weddings, spectacular executions (sometimes even combined), and influences relationships between families so that decades later your House can prevail over others precisely because of this petty intervention. Intrigues are layered one on top of the other, plans are built within plans - why not the "Game of Thrones"?

This mod adds to the game the lands of Westeros and their rulers who seek power and strength. You can start three hundred years before the events of the first season and continue until the end of the fourth book. This is your opportunity to test your wits in the political intrigues around the Iron Throne... Or follow in the footsteps of the Mad King and destroy everything.

Will you be merciful or will you burn your enemies alive? The choice is yours.

3. Westeros: Age of Petty Kings (Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms)

Unlike previous mods, this one touches on a completely unexplored part of the PliO universe: the history of Westeros thousands of years before the start of the War of the Five Kings. And you can see Westeros fragmented into many small kingdoms that always do not get along with each other, to put it mildly.

In the Reach, where there are still no Tyrells even close, five different nations are fighting among themselves, and at this time, four more compete with each other for power in Dorne. Meanwhile, the conquerors do not sleep and attack from all sides - by sea and because of the ice - intending to subjugate the already blood-drenched Westeros.

The mod not only allows you to see and imagine what Westeros was like before the unification of the lands under the rule of the Iron Throne, but also makes it possible to understand what legends and what moments of history, albeit unobtrusively, but quite often the characters talk to each other.

2. Game Of Thrones: War Of The Five Kings V2

Maud Age Of Empires II HD Edition still in development, but you can already see that it very faithfully depicts the map and political situation of Westeros at the time of the events of the second season of the series or the second book.

Robert Baratheon is dead. While the Lannisters, led by Joffrey, seized control of King's Landing, Renly, Stannis, Robb, and Balon have proclaimed themselves kings and are now fighting in a war for the Iron Throne. Among the Houses there are also Tullys, Tyrells, Arryns ... And there is also the opportunity to send someone to The night Watch. Admit you want it.

New cities and settlements are constantly being added, and existing ones are being detailed. The developer receives good reviews and continues to improve the mod, but please note that his work is not over yet.

1. A Mod Of Ice & Fire (Civilization V)

A complete game changer. The mod completely copies the world of the Game of Thrones: cities, areas, unions and PliO Houses. The leaders do not have animations, but you will see their faces while talking to them - just like in the original Cilivization. And, of course, each opponent has their own unique tricks.

Want to own the most powerful navy? Well, first you have to outsmart Balon Greyjoy and the warriors of the Iron Islands - unrivaled sailors. They will generally outsmart anyone, unless Khal Drogo and his Dothraki horde set foot on their lands. By the way, be prepared for the fact that Daenerys will send her dragons into battle, so it’s better to prevent their birth in time in principle. Otherwise, you will have to rely on the lord of the Vale, Petyr Baelish, a consummate master of negotiations, alliances, and betrayals.

The barbaric raids of the White Walkers will also cause problems. Well, the greater the satisfaction will be when you destroy their nearby camps. If you succeed.

Of course, unfortunately, they won’t let you explore the world completely freely - there are restrictions. You can't hope that you will just nuke the Lannisters, but the game is the most fertile ground for spreading the influence of kings and advancing the faith. Religions from Cilivization V are replaced with religions of the world PL&O: Drowned God, Seven, R?Glor… No one will leave offended.

Know of any other awesome mods that we missed out on? Welcome to the comments!

Bran looked at the girl, who was dressed in a way that was not at all feminine. She wore sheepskin breeches, soft from long wear, and a tank top covered in bronze scales. She, although Robb's age, had the figure of a boy, her long brown hair tied back and her breasts almost invisible. On one side she hung a net of thread, and on the other a long bronze knife, on her arm she carried an old iron helmet, touched with rust, behind her back a frog spear and a round leather shield. Clash of Kings, Bran III

Unlike many girls of noble birth, her father taught her to fight with a net and a trident from childhood. Mira is an excellent huntress and can deftly catch fish with her spear. During the game, she managed to catch the direwolf Leto with her net.

Mira is described as having a cheerful disposition, which contrasts greatly with her brother Jojen. She is devotedly protective of her "prince", in the person of Bran Stark, and her brother, and is always ready to fight. Bran says that the only one who can piss Mira off is Jojen.

Events

clash of kings

In the middle of the World Harvest Festival, the Reeds and Jojen come to Winterfell to swear allegiance to House Stark and support Robb after the death of Eddard Stark. Maester Luwin asks Bran to greet them, as Howland Reed was a close friend of his father, and these were his children. Mira is next to Jojen when he asks where he can see the direwolves, and then accompanies him to the Godswood.

Afterwards, Mira manages to catch Summer with a net and a frog spear with three prongs. Bran initially claims that Leto won the duel, but Jojen notes that the direwolf is entangled in the net and cannot get out. After the fight, Bran asks Mira if she learned to fight so well from the master of weapons, to which the girl replies that there are no masters of weapons, no maesters, not even ravens in Greywater. Mira says that neither the crows nor the enemies of the Reeds can find their castle, since the island where it is located is constantly moving. Bran asks the girl if he can visit Greywater after the war, to which Mira replies that he can come there whenever he wants.

Jojen tells Bran that the whole castle can hear him screaming in his sleep, and asks the boy what scares him so much. When Jojen's questions lead to Bran having to admit that he is having wolf dreams, the boy gets very excited and the owner's excitement is transferred to the direwolf, who starts reacting aggressively to Jojen and growling. Mira asks her brother to climb the tree, but he refuses, arguing that it is not yet time for him to die. Shaggy Dog joins Leto and they both attack Reed. Then Jojen still climbs the tree, and Mira with it. They only descend when Hodor drives off the direwolves on Bran's orders.

Mira, along with Jojen, are present during the conversation between Bran and Osha, when the wildling tells the boy that she has seen many unusual and mythical animals, but has never heard of the three-eyed crow. Bran nevertheless tells Reeds about his wolf dreams, and then Jojen tells him about one of his dreams, in which he saw that the sea came right up to the walls of Winterfell.

Storm of swords

Having overcome the mountains, the travelers found themselves on the plains of Dara. Arriving in the Crown of the Queen, a small abandoned settlement, anticipating the approach of a thunderstorm, the travelers decided to wait out the storm in a tower located on an island in the center of a small lake, into which they made their way through a secret passage hidden under water. Summer stayed in the forest to hunt. At night, when a storm raged, the travelers saw one horseman and a group of armed men hiding in the ruins. village houses. Bran, Jojen and Mira were worried that Hodor's cries, who were frightened by the peals of thunder, might attract unnecessary attention to them, but everything worked out.

Afterwards, they continue on to the Wall and the Nightfort, the Night's Watch's castle, abandoned about two hundred years ago. The travelers have no idea how to overcome this obstacle, but Jojen claims that there is a door in the castle. Stopping for the night in the Nightfort, they hear rustling from the well. Mira manages to catch the troublemaker in the net. It turns out to be Samwell Tarly, who made his way into the castle at the request of Cold Hands. Through the Black Gate, Sam leads Bran and his comrades beyond the Wall.

Dance with dragons

Continuing their journey to the three-eyed crow, Mira, in the company of Bran, Jojen, Hodor and Leto, meet the mysterious character Cold Hands, who promised to guide them to the crow. Trusting him, they continue their journey, during which Mira began to notice that their guide does not feel the need for food, sleep and other needs necessary for a person. Soon, having made a halt in a village abandoned by people, Cold Hands leaves his companions for a while. Taking advantage of the moment, Mira shares her suspicions about their guide with Bran and both come to the conclusion that he is a ghoul, subsequently Cold Hands himself confirms their guess. Upon reaching the cave of the Three-Eyed Crow, the travelers are attacked by ghouls. Thanks to a small representative of the Children of the Forest race, all travelers, except for Cold Hands, who cannot enter, get to a safe place. Once in the cave, they meet a few Children of the Forest and the Last Treeseer. Since the cave was too big, Mira and Jojen decide to explore it.

At the end of the Mira saga, Reed is with Bran, Jojen, Hodor and Leto in the cave of the Children of the Forest.

Gallery

Family

		Howland reed								jiana