In which I discuss Game of Thrones

Not entertainment or the arena
Storytelling
Deaths back then
Stillborn
The good are predictable
Violence is horrible
Choices have consequences

I stayed away from Game of Thrones until this year - enough people were talking about it that I decided to get into the series one weekend and, a half-embarrassingly short time later, I've read large parts of books 1-3 and caught up on the series.

First, some accolades: this is a show that keeps us interested and engaged with just tidbits of various characters from episode to episode. A few weeks back, the show was tracking storylines at 10 different locations, as represented here in a spoil-free list that will make sense to show fans. We're blessed by writers that can accomplish exposition rapidly - and have much more screentime thanks to HBO's commercial-free nature then other hour-long dramas.

• Dragon Lady
• Wolf King
• Wolf Girl
• Wolf Cripple
• Stag Legit King
• Lion / Sapphire
• Crow / Wildling
• Crow / Mother
• Tortured Squid
• The Capitol (Mockingbird, Spider, Lions, Roses, Wolf)

The next praise-worthy bit is how much the show can establish and humanize characters for us, even while it seems like every episode features someone dying, prompting tweets like:

“Why doesn’t George R.R. Martin use twitter? Because he killed all 140 characters.”

What does the show not get right? For one thing, it relies on actors (espeically women actors) that are too uniformly attractive - and who remove their clothing too much. For a show that relies on efficiency, these scenes mull slowly along close body-shots that seem to serve no other purpose than titillation.

However, on the other area of debate, I'm rather understanding of the gore in the show. Martin's deaths - all of them - have a point, and a role in establishing a rule that in this universe of Westeros - NO ONE is safe. Not the protagonist, not the hero, not the child, not the one who must avenge. There was plenty more story to be told about our friendly Starks - but George R. R. Martin wants us to follow him over the bodies of these beloved characters, and the show's efforts to show us what felled them is in the pursuit of accuracy - and a warning about the kind of world that has existed in the purges of Mao and Stalin. Tens of thousands - millions - have died for lesser crimes than shown on their show. We would do well to remember that.