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In a Song of Ice and Fire there are no good guys or bad guys. Each side has moral quandaries and a drive to survive. The only “Evil” characters are sadists, and
by dexwiz 9y ago
In a Song of Ice and Fire there are no good guys or bad guys. Each side has moral quandaries and a drive to survive. The only “Evil” characters are sadists, and there are quite a few. That is part of the reason the books are so engrossing.
People have lamented the Game of Thrones show has gone down hill after passing the books. I argue that is because the narrative has shifted to a war against the White Walkers, a clearly malevolent force. Instead of a mutlifaceted story about amoral factions, it’s become Lord of the Rings. The story lost its spark and rejoined the common good versus evil narrative.
- qznc 9y agoYes, there are plenty of gray characters in Game of Thrones, but has Jon Snow done anything evil? Has Ramsay done anything good? Afaik the show follows the general story line as planned by Martin.
- hacknat 9y agoOne of my biggest beefs with the Game of Thrones “there are no bad guys” assertion is the Wights. Seems to me they are George Martins Orcs.
- qznc 9y agoI do not consider the Wights (or zombies in general) as evil since they do not have a free will. They are more like a force of nature like a stampede or a forest fire. The will behind the Wights are the white walkers and if they are evil is still open.
- akvadrako 9y agoIf the writers are any good, the white walkers will also turn out not to be clearly bad.
- humanrebar 9y agoThey are kind of described as out-of-control biological weapons the Children of the Forest used against the First Men. So it's possible they are more like a weapon of mass destruction (zombie virus) unleashed for complex reasons (war, survival) and less like a people.
- goatlover 9y agoI think they're more a force of nature or weapon that got out of control. They're also similar to the Borg in ST or replicators from Stargate. Maybe you don't consider those to be evil, but they're certainly bad, like cancer is bad to an organism.
- goatlover 9y agoBook Euron isn't evil? Show Ramsay and Joffrey? GRR Martin claims there are no good guys and bad guys. Doesn't mean he stayed true to that for the entire part of the story he's responsible for.
- carapace 9y agoI noticed that too: Tolkien is about good-vs-evil; Game of Thrones is aristocrats being awful to each other. I would read Tolkien to my kids but not Martin. FWIW
- dragonwriter 9y ago> In a Song of Ice and Fire there are no good guys or bad guys. You say that, but then... > The only “Evil” characters are sadists, and there are quite a few. Sounds like bad guys to me. > People have lamented the Game of Thrones show has gone down hill after passing the books. I argue that is because the narrative has shifted to a war against the White Walkers, a clearly malevolent force. But it hasn't shifted. The story (in both the books and film) has always (from the first page of the first book and the first scene of the show) been about what people do in the face of that force, as its threat became more manifest.
- galieos_ghost 9y ago>I argue that is because the narrative has shifted to a war against the White Walkers, a clearly malevolent force In the books they are described as otherworldly, almost beautiful and their motivations are unknown. The show writers got lazy and essentially made them snow zombies.