“Winter is coming.” House Stark’s motto, from the HBO series Game of Thrones, is more than fiction. It’s a reference to the climate and nature sovereignty, which have the potential to extinguish humans. In an interview with The New York Times,  Martin confirms a fan theory that the series draws important parallels with the general crisis that can hit us as a consequence of global warming.

“We’re fighting over issues, important issues, mind you — foreign policy, domestic policy, civil rights, social responsibility, social justice. All of these things are important. But while we’re tearing ourselves apart over this, this threat of climate change exists. And it really has the potential to destroy our world”, said the writer of one of the most successful fantasy series since it went on air in 2011.

UN warning

In October 2018, the United Nations (UN) released an alarming report on global warming that provides a grim view on the world’s future and the human life. The organization warned that we must contain global warming to a maximum of 1.5 ºC above pre-industrial levels. For this, carbon emissions would need to be cut by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach zero by around 2050.

The series enjoyed growing success between 2011 and 2018, with an involving and fascinating plot. The author emphasizes that when he started writing the story, back in 1991, nobody was talking about climate change. Now, people spend much more energy and thought and debate in the media discussing sports than this threat that’s going to destroy our world.

“And we’re ignoring that while worrying about the next election and issues that people are concerned about, like jobs. Jobs are a very important issue, of course. All of these things are important issues. But none of them are important if, like, we’re dead and our cities are under the ocean. So, really, climate change should be the number one priority for any politician capable of looking past the next election.”

Game of Thrones: the game of records

Thrones picked up a record in 2017 and entered the Guinness Book as the most popular series in the world. According to Parrot Analytics – a data science company that measures world-wide audience demand for TV content – it had an average of 7,191,848 daily Demand Expressions™.

Game of Thrones is also the most awarded fiction series , with a record 47 Emmys. According to the Dot digital group, season 5 costed about US$ 8 million per episode to be produced, while the final episodes of the series costed around $15 million each. The high cost of the series includes graphical and audiovisual design, costumes, technologies, games and others.

Thrones was filmed in 5 countries: Croatia, Ireland, Spain, Canada and Iceland. The choice was based on the characteristics of each kingdom. Winterfell, for example, was filmed in Northern Ireland. King’s Landing was in Croatia. And besides its presence in so many places, the second episode of Season 5 was broadcasted to 173 different countries and territories, starting in the early hours of Monday, April 20th, 2015. The show aired the world’s largest simultaneous broadcast.

Season 8 is the final one and it will be wrapped up in December 2018, returning in April 2019 with only six, but longer episodes. The final is unpredictable, since there have already been so many differences between the show and the books. Fans are eager to find out how the story will end for some characters who have their fates undefined.

What about you? Are you tuned in on Game of Thrones?

Content published in November 26, 2018