No one had ever heard of George Martin’s Song of Fire and Ice novels until Benioff and Weiss decided to make a TV show about them. It turns out that the world within, from the shores of Braavos to the northern fortifications of The Night Watch, was worth just as much watching as it was reading about. But that wasn’t the only reason its creators were chosen to write the latest chapter in the universe’s greatest porg and laser sword tales.
The goal after all, was to create new fans in addition to satisfying the faithful, and to do that Star Wars needed to get sexier. Sex sells. There’s a lot of it in Game of Thrones. If not in every episode, then at least once every other week. It happens in many different places. It’s shown in many different ways. And while it’s very interesting to watch, it isn’t what makes the show so seductive. In the case of cinema and television, “sexy” has little to do with the act itself.
The closest Star Wars ever got to sex was in The Empire Strikes Back. Known for being the darkest chapter of the series, Empire had a lot of what makes Thrones so great: betrayal, romance, lots of people getting killed……
And revelation.
The climatic battle where Luke Skywalker discovers that Darth Vader is his father was the Original Trilogy’s defining moment, one that was every bit as consequential as it was shocking.
Game of Thrones averages about two of those moments every season. So far, we’ve had The Red Wedding, The Purple Wedding, The Resurrection, The Walk of Shame, Hold the Door, The Beheading, The Battle of The Bastards and AILF (aunt I’d like to flatter). Who knows what crazy thing’s going to happen before the Iron Throne’s rightful occupant is decided in the final season next year?
