Game of Thrones & Real Game Changers

Okay, so a day or two has passed since the last episode of the 8th (and somewhat infamous) season of Game of Thrones has aired. People are still coping, many are still fuming, and other, more pro-active folks are using their energies to create petitions to completely redo the last season of the multi-million dollar show. Meanwhile, some provocative legislature on women’s reproductive autonomy is being passed like wildfire in many states, and even the president is saying “Whoa, Nelly” on Alabama’s extreme, newly passed abortion law. Under this specific law, women and children would be forced to give birth to babies forced upon them in depraved, violent, and profoundly traumatizing circumstances, namely rape and incest.

I am personally Pro-Life and I’m also 100% Pro-Women’s Health and reproductive-autonomy. We’re treading a dangerous line when our society is once again turning blame and shame to only the female populous. The growing lack of consideration for women and girls is increasing at an alarming rate. When this argument reaches the Supreme Court – as it inevitably will – our country needs to be prepared to accept full responsibility for the health and safety of all, whatever the outcome. At this point, we’re already failing pregnant and post-partum mothers in myriad ways. It’s increasingly becoming more deadly and costly for mothers to safely give birth to their children in America, especially for women of color (specifically, Black women). More American women are dying of pregnancy-related complications than any other developed country in the world. No wonder our birthrate is declining.

But let’s go back to Game of Thrones, a show that I have never seen.

 

Apparently, the show took place in a medieval-like society with 7 kingdoms containing royalty, dragons, slaves, and zombies. People loved it until well, the end, and now there’s a big hole where folks had made space for a “satisfying” ending.

Why am I writing about this show if I’ve never seen it? Well, because it all has to do with writing, of course.

Game of Thrones is based on the books written by George R.R. Martin. He’s written five books of what he initially planned to be a 7-book series, but the most recent book came out eight long years ago in 2011. Coincidentally, that’s also the year of the HBO series’ first season. According to this article, Martin shared major ideas for how he wanted the books to end with the main show writers years in advance.

Now, as a writer, I find a lot of this to be highly interesting. First of all,  the author is a genius because once he landed that HBO deal and the show took off like a juggernaut, the man said, “Wait, let me see how all of this turns out before I toss another precious book baby into the world.” The whole time, people are buying merchandise, subscribing to HBO, devouring his books as canon, and some have even gone so far as to name their offspring after some of his characters.

Why would Martin disrupt that flow of interest and devotion by presenting another book until after the show has ended? Will he even release another one at all?

Watching all of this from the sidelines is interesting because most writers like to imagine what it would be like to have their work shared with, and appreciated by, millions. Very few people understand the struggle and heartache it takes to create a cohesive, alternative world as well as all of the beings that live within them. Many of us are happy if our work reaches a few hundred or *gasp* a couple of thousand people.

Now, Martin has the wonderful option of deciding whether or not to finish the series, or tour forever talking about ways he would have written it differently, or ride the wave of all of the continued hype and actually drop the next book installment with a continuation of the author’s solid character arcs that apparently disintegrated in the final season’s adaptation of the saga (this happens so often, it’s almost cliché). To be fair, the show’s writers no longer had any books to base the final season on, so there’s that.

No matter how we sum it up, in the end, author George R.R. Martin is clearly the biggest winner of all.

What are your thoughts about the last season? Have you read any (or all) of the books? I’m enjoying seeing how impassioned people are about all of this, and I’d love to hear your take.

Sending Love and Light to all of you.

©Atina Atwood 2019 Exploring Love and Life, One Word At A Time.™

– Atina Atwood is a southern girl who moved from Europe to the West Coast. A former university professor in Germany and California, Atina stepped away from Academia to focus on her miracle child, life, love, food, quilting, and of course, Romance. She is the author of the Holiday Heartbeats series. Follow her on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook for more, and sign up for Atina’s newsletter here.