Never be afraid to ask me about my personal nitpicky definitions for media, i love this shit!
the reason it took me so long to piece together my feelings about this show is because, like i said, its tied up with the uncanny valley of my personal tastes. There is no one obvious decision that is bad, but rather it consistently presents a character or theme I might enjoy and ruins it for me. The characters are somehow simultaneously over explained and unrelatable. The world is too realistic but also so cartoonishly dark you cant take it seriously. everything that happens is predictable, and yet i still manage to be disappointed by the execution. it is so out of synch with the bare minimum of what i’m willing to tolerate that its almost impressive. Usually when i hate something i’ll consume everything i can from the franchise so i can properly illustrate my complaints (or in the hopes that it will redeem itself) but game of thrones was so contentious to me specifically that i couldnt even be in the room if it was on. The only other show that has ever offended me that badly was scandal, which coincidentally is also a shock value political drama.
Its not enough to say “Game of Thrones shouldnt count as fantasy because XYZ” because I have examples of the same things being done in different fantasy books without contending with their classification. I don’t even like some of these books, and yet I still got a clear taste of the world and characters in a more tactful way then game of thrones does anything.
But my initial interest in Game of Thrones (and subsequent disappointment when it doesnt live up to my expectations) can be boiled down to one complaint:
The Tone
When I think of the perfect fantasy adventure that exemplifies what I lowkey want from any fantasy world my mind inevitably drifts to the presentation of The Last Unicorn. What this surreal not-quite-a-kids movie from the 80s lacks in vague writing and a pretty lackluster 3rd act it makes up for with its almost oppressive tone of loneliness, searching, loss, and wonder.
The film opens with a song about a world that wastes away waiting for just one glimpse of a unicorn before everything succumbs to the cynicism and apathy. The lyrics express how it feels to slowly lose your sense of wonder as nature crumbles, seasons change, and time passes. But at the end of each verse, as if to represent a silver lining, there is a reminder that there is just one unicorn left. She’s old and broken and you might never see her, but she’s a reminder that magic lives somewhere out there. And for that, you feel alive.
That feeling of carrying on with the bittersweet hope of seeing a unicorn follows throughout the movie. Every single character the unicorn comes across has had their hope destroyed, but those who kept believing are able to see her and join her on her quest. It presents optimism and faith as an unquestioned truth, but a truth that weighs on your soul as you grow up.
Like game of thrones the world of the last unicorn is cruel and unfair. In such a world hope is a heavy burden, and those who wait for unicorns instead of moving on with their lives destroy themselves waiting. Its so sad and unfair that when they finally meet her they fall to pieces.
The last unicorn journeys is to find others like herself, other spots of light in the darkness that have been stolen away by the cruelty of men. It is this sacrifice of her own innocence that saves the other unicorns, and though she can return to the forest happy there are unicorns in the world again she’ll never truly go home again. Her home was defined by the eternal and immortal hope she represents, and with that gone, it will never be the same.
The Last Unicorn is haunting and oppressive and bittersweet, and it never has to explain its themes to anyone.
We never learn what happened to Molly Grue in the years she waited to meet the unicorn. She doesnt get a monologue where she explains in masochistic detail every terrible thing she saw and did to make her so ashamed to stand before the unicorn now. If you’re young like I was when I watched this scene, you might have no idea why Molly is angry at all. The answer comes with age and experience, not through the writer describing the disgusting abuse she faced from her husband and his men. This scene is darker and sadder than anything that happens in Game of Thrones because of its sincerity, not its content. While we can listen to Cersei talk about how the period-appropriate misogyny made her sad as a kid she never allows herself to be as vulnerable as Molly Grue in this scene. By comparison we know Molly a lot less than we know Cersei, but Molly manages to instantly have my sympathy in one scene while I still dont give a fuck about Cersei after six seasons.
This refusal to explain itself is present in the lore as well. Rules are not drawn up and given context but instead referenced with such certainty that you believe and remember them.
Why must one never run from an immortal? Because it will only attract their attention.
This rule of the universe is brought up once but I think about what it could mean all the time. What if it means that immortals are so powerful that your only hope to avoid their notice? That their nature as an eternal truth makes running away pointless? Perhaps theres something about immortals being so ancient that they can only see you if you’re moving quickly. It is such an alien and vague statement thrown out so casually that it makes you feel confused and out of place in a strange environment you dont understand.
Like, I dont know, you’re on an adventure through a fantasy land or something.
While its cool that I know the scientific properties of fire that keeps burning until its all gone, if I understand that fire as a threat its mere presence in the story already spoils its effect. Its a fire that keeps burning. Big Whoop. I guess those ships are gone now but what exactly did that add to my experience? The dragons are neat but they’re a type of lizard that is capable of preforming magic. Once you know what that magic is theres nothing all too mysterious or dangerous about them. They’re just large aggressive carnivores. Of course its a stupid idea to let them run rampant through a city. Anything shocking that happens because of the dragons isn’t a reminder that this world is strange and mysterious place filled with unpredictable creatures, but that these big fire-breating animals have owners who are idiots.
It doesn’t matter where the Harpy came from or what exactly happened to Molly Grue. The harpy is terrifying despite having no special powers and Molly’s arc begins and finishes within a minute and 16 seconds and it manages to be more believable and tragic than anything that happens in Game of Thrones. And while the idea of a dry political drama within a fictional universe is a cool idea, its just not one I have any interest in and I’m tired of people insisting i need to watch it.
Mooncustafer 