This year marks the last season of arguably the world’s most currently beloved TV series and with tears in our eyes 1-Up Club would like to say – “Thanks HBO”.
It’s hard to believe nowadays but it was a risk to build the series around a mythical world, like a cracked-mirror reflection of medieval Europe, but executive producers David Benioff and DB Weiss had a clear vision.
They were wise enough to add thriller-fiction pacing and exploitation-film nudity to the mix. This definitely got people’s attention in a time were fans of this sort of fiction drama were still few and fare between, definitely not enough to cover the costs of the mind blowing scenes we see in the later seasons. If one were to revisit the first season of GoT they’d notice the much stricter budget, especially when compared to the last season.
By the third season GoT was attracting 5 million viewers per week. However, blood and breasts alone don’t explain why the show became a worldwide phenomenon. This is because Game of Thrones, for all its grimness and brutality, represents a return of old-fashioned escapism. GoT invites you to join a world where you can solve your problems with a sword and saddle.
By 2012, after the show had been on the air only one year, Game of Thrones’ fan base was named the most devoted of all fandoms by New York magazine’s Vulture.com, beating out even devotees of Oprah Winfrey, Star Trek, Star Wars and Twilight. Since the release of the first volume of the book series, “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R. R. Martin in 1996, a dedicated fanbase has emerged. The season 7 finale attracted a record 12.1 million viewers, further solidifying its status as a cultural icon.
According to a report from Variety, the final season of the series has a budget of $15 million per episode.
We started out in 2011 with Ned Stark’s summary beheading of a ranger who had deserted the Night’s Watch. By the end of episode 9, Ned himself was beheaded–and Sean Bean gone from the show. The last thing we saw in 2017 was a resurrected dragon bringing down the great wall of ice protecting the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms. Along the way, we met and lost over half the named characters. The show followed the fierce and never-ending contention between the Starks and the Lannisters. We came to see Hodor for the hero he always was, and Ramsay Bolton for the dog food he was always destined to become. Dany Targaryen evolved from a bullied younger sister to chief claimant to the Iron Throne. We also saw her sleep with her nephew Jon.
All in all, it’s been a wild ride and I don’t regret a single night of missed sleep – I simply slept during morning lectures instead. It will be hard to say goodbye in what is expected to be a bittersweet ending.
