HBO Go & Chill with Gabbi: Game of Thrones

Photo+Courtesy+of+IMDB.

Photo Courtesy of IMDB.

This week we are doing things a little differently, people. This article is special, because the show I am reviewing is on HBO Go, not Netflix. I made my own rules, sorry not sorry. I have decided to talk about Game of Thrones this week because, besides being one of the more engaging shows I have ever watched, the sixth season premieres this Sunday. This article may include spoilers since I am reviewing up to the end of the fifth season. I am still not sorry.

Game of Thrones is based on the George R.R. Martin book series Song of Fire and Ice. The first three seasons of the television show are basically the same as the novels. The fourth season is where the two start to drift. The reason for the drifting is due to the fact that Martin was not finished with the novels, so the show had nothing to work with. However, Martin works closely with the show’s producers to make sure nothing too drastically different happens.

The show is set in the fictitious land of Westeros. The Throne, which happens to be made of iron, is the prize of who is the rightful ruler of the lands. The three major players for the Throne, consistently throughout the series, thus far, are: the Lannisters, the Starks, and the Targaryens. Still it is not clear who the series is truly about, although every fan has a theory on who they think it is. Personally, and like many, I think it is Jon Snow.

Before I say anymore, here is my warning to you; Everyone dies. Martin is a very sadistic man and everyone you love will die horribly, cruel deaths. Also, the deaths come very unexpectedly. The characters you hope will die, also die, but live longer than they should.

The Starks, my favorite royal family, are the wholesome family that are just trying to make it through the winter. The Stark family is/was made up of Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon and Jon. Ned is warren of the North. He has a lot to worry about, much more than just the Throne. In the North, winter is on its way…even into the fifth season. Get used to the phrase, you will hear it a lot. In the winter, whitewalkers kill everything in their path. A whitewalker is best described by me as a frozen zombie. If you die and they do not burn you, welcome to the whitewalkers. You get a taste of them within the first five minutes of the series.  Besides the whitewalker situation that they are dealing with, they have so much more drama that could not possibly fit in this article.

The Lannisters are the evil ones. Seriously. With characters like Jaime, Tywin, Joffery, and Cersei bearing their last name, they are not to be messed with. I do give Cersei a lot of credit. She is playing the game for the Throne among a mostly male competition. She is scary because she is determined to do anything for the throne. However, the Lannisters have their own set of personal problems. Twins, Jaime and Cersei are…uh together? That is probably the best way to put that. Peter Dinklage’s character, Tyrion, also known as the Imp for his appearance, happens to not be evil, but definitely isolated by his family. Mother Lannister died when she gave birth to Tyrion, so everyone is salty. I cannot forget to mention Joffrey. Even if you have not seen GoT, you know him. He is an a**hole. That is literally everything you need to know.

Now the Targaryens, known as the dragon family. The Mad King, killed by Jaime, was a Targaryen, so they think that they deserve the throne. Daenerys has a rough time for most of the series, up until the most recent episodes. Her brother sells her to Drago, but if he did not she would never have been Khalessi. Some more shitty things happen to her, but out of all the bad, she finds her dragons, which is a game changer in the series.

Up to season five is on HBO Go for viewing, each episode is about an hour long. I finished all 50 episodes in about a week [I do not have a life, SOS find me a hobby]. The season six premiere is this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. and if you have the app you can watch live. Fingers crossed we find out the fate of our beloved Jon Snow quickly into the show.