Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is a television series produced for HBO based on George R. R. Martin's novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. The first season aired in 2011, and seven seasons have aired to date, with 10 episodes in the first six and 8 episodes in Season 7. The eighth and final season, confirmed to contain 6 episodes,Game of Thrones season 8: when is the final series on TV? , August 30, 2017 (Accessed 27 September 2017) began airing in April 2019 and finished in May 2019.
==Canon==
The series is set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos and interweaves several plot lines with a large ensemble cast. The series centers on three primary story arcs. The first story arc centers on the Great Houses and the conflicts that arise between those seeking control of the Iron Throne, or seperation from it. The second story arc focuses on, Daenerys, the last descendant of the Targaryen dynasty, exiled in Essos and plotting her return to Westeros. The third story arc centers on the Night's Watch, a brotherhood charged with defending the realm against the forces beyond The Wall, an ancient barrier created to defend Westeros' northern border. The Night's Watch is the only group that knows about the greatest threat to the Seven Kingdoms, the White Walkers.
Although taking its source material from A Song of Ice and Fire, there are many significant differences between the books and the TV series, including character changes such as Asha Greyjoy being renamed "Yara" in the TV series to avoid confusion with pre-existing character OshaProducers confirm Asha name change, July 27, 2011 (Accessed 27 September 2017). Additionally, there are many points of divergence between the plot of the TV series and the books, with more dramatic and numerous divergences as the TV series progressed. Whereas Season 1 closely followed the first book ("A Game of Thrones") and the first few seasons stick roughly to their parallel book, Season 7 takes place beyond the timeline of the books and the plot is mostly speculatory. Several events in Season 7 have confirmed long-standing fan theories, such as "R + L = J"R+L=J: a comprehensive oral history of Game of Thrones’ ultimate fan theory 18 September, 2017 (Accessed 27 September 2017).
* See Wikipedia's List of Game of Thrones characters for a complete list of characters. For individual character pages on Fanlore, see :Category:Game of Thrones Characters. 
* See the Game of Thrones Wiki's Differences between books and TV series for a comprehensive catalogue of differences between the TV series and the book series.
==Criticism==
Since it first aired, Game of Thrones has been under fire for excessive portrayal of violence, explicit sexual content, and particularly violence of a sexual nature targeted against women. It has been noted that this is typical of shows on HBOHBO Slammed For Sexual Violence Against Women in Its Shows July 30, 2016 (Accessed 27 September 2017). This has been defended as historical accuracy, a claim which has been the subject of research August 25, 2017 (Accessed 27 September 2017) and widely disputed in fandomWhy is the “historical realism” thing always rape?, a thread following a post by drst on tumblr (Accessed 27 September 2017).
===Critical Essays===
* Why Does Game of Thrones Feature So Much Sexual Violence? (2015)
* Why Are GoT Fans Surprised? (2015)
* Why Game of Thrones is a Bad Show 101 (2017)
===Reaction to Season 8===
:See Fan Response to Game of Thrones Finale for more information..
There was an overwhelmingly negative reaction to the ending of Game of Thrones. Season 8 received a MetaCritic user score of 4.1/10Game of Thrones: Season 8 (accessed 8 June 2019), compared to previous seasons, which have averaged roughly 9/10. One fan created a petition, "Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers,"Remake Game of Thrones Season 8 with competent writers. , May 10, 2019 (Archived 8 June 2019) which has over 1.6 million signatures as of June 2019. Season 8 has also inspired a wide variety of unfavourable memes, and critical essays, including the notable Scientific American article, "The Real Reason Fans Hate the Last Season of Game of Thrones."The Real Reason Fans Hate the Last Season of Game of Thrones May 17, 2019 (Accessed 8 June 2019)
==Fandom==
===History===
Fandom started buzzing about the series when initial casting was announced and some familiar faces were in the mix—Sean Bean (LOTR, Sharpe), Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Jason Momoa (Stargate Atlantis). Many members of the cast have appeared in Doctor Who.List of actors who have appeared in Game of Thrones AND Doctor Who, and their roles by Major-Clanger (accessed 8 June 2015)
Even before the first episode aired meta was being writtenWorking blue: advance worries about HBO's series of A Game of Thrones by hradzka, 16 April 2011. (Accessed 26 April 2011) about the show, which only increased after airing. Popular topics include the faithfulness (or not) of the adaptation, aging up of the children, misogyny in the show compared with the books, and why Tyrion (played by Peter Dinklage) is so awesome.For example, Game of Thrones Episode One by facetofcathy, 20 April 2011, and 
The things I do for love. by marina, 24 April 2011 (both accessed 26 April 2011).
The show itself picked up a significant proportion of male viewers, as well as the female-dominated transformative works fandom areas. There are large amounts of overlap between fans of the TV series and fans of the books.
===Separating Canon===
Because Game of Thrones has surpassed book canon, and has also made changes to characters and storylines, some fans treat the books series and television adaptation as separate or alternative universes, and will emphasize whether their fanworks fall within the showverse, the bookverse or both. The tag valyrianscrolls was proposed by joannalannister in 2019Debut post explaining the #valyrianscrolls tag to highlight bookverse fanworks and was adopted by several users, primarily on Tumblr.
===Statistics===
*In 2015, Game of Thrones was ranked eighth in the Top 20 "most reblogged" live-action television show on Tumblr.Most Reblogged Live Action TV 
*In 2016, Game of Thrones was ranked number three in the Top 20 "most reblogged" live-action television show on Tumblr, gaining five ranks in popularity from the previous year2016′s Top TV Shows - Live Action. 
*A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms (which includes Game of Thrones) was the 23rd most popular fandom on Archive of Our Own in 2017What are the most popular fandoms on ao3?
*In 2017 Game of Thrones moved up to number two in the Top 30 "most reblogged" live-action television show on Tumblr.2017′s Top Live-Action TV Shows
*In 2018 Game of Thrones dropped ten places to number 12 on Tumblr's Top 30 "most reblogged" live-action television shows, but still managed to remain within the top thirty despite no season airing that year.2018’s Top Live-Action TV Shows
===Pairings===
Some of the more popular ships are
* Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth (Jaime x Brienne) - Canonical in the TV series only
* Arya Stark/Gendry Waters ("Gendrya") - Canonical in the TV series only
* Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark ("SanSan")
* Jon Snow/Ygritte (Jon x Ygritte) - Canonical in both the TV series and the books
* Jon Snow/Sansa Stark (Jonsa)
* Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark (Ned x Cat) - Canonical in both the TV series and the books
* Cersei Lannister/Jaime Lannister (Jaime x Cersei) - Canonical in both the TV series and the books
* Sansa Stark/Margaery Tyrell ("Sansaery")
* Theon Greyjoy/Robb Stark ("Throbb")
* Renly Baratheon/Loras Tyrell (Loras x Renly) - Canonical in both the TV series and the books
* Petyr Baelish/Sansa Stark (Petyr x Sansa)
* Daenerys Targaryen/Drogo (Daenerys x Drogo) - Canonical in both the TV series and the books
* Daenerys Targaryen/Jorah Mormont (Daenerys x Jorah)
* Daenerys Targaryen/Jon Snow ("Jonerys") - Canonical in the TV series only
* Tormund Gaintsbane/Brienne of Tarth ("Briemund") - Based only on their interactions in the TV series, as they do not meet in the books
:See also: List of Game of Thrones Pairing Names
===Research===
*Game of Thrones Research Project at questeros.org
===Terminology===
*A + J = T: fan theory holding that Tyrion Lannister is actually the bastard son of Aerys Targaryen
*A + J = C & J: similar fan theory regarding the parentage of twins Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister
*Bastardbowl or Snowball: fan nickname for the Battle of the Bastards, the epic showdown between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton
*Cleganebowl: name given to the showdown between Sandor Clegane and Gregor Clegane 
*D & D: fan acronym for showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss
*GRRM: fan acronym for A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin
*Pink Letter: the letter sent to Jon Snow by Ramsay Bolton, so named for its pinkish hue
*The Purple Wedding: the wedding of King Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell, so named for the poisoning that takes place during it (the poison is hidden within a purple jewel and is slipped into a cup of red wine and turns the victim's face purple)
*R + L = J: fan theory about the true parentage of Jon Snow, confirmed in Season 6
*R + L = J + M: fan theory that Jon Snow has a twin
*Ser Twenty of House Goodmen or Ser Ten of House Goodmen: characters jokingly created by fans after Ramsay Bolton said he only needed "twenty good men" to infiltrate Stannis' camp
*Sexposition: the use of sexual scenes to provide information about backstory and character motivations
*Team Dragonstone: a name originally given to Stannis Baratheon and his supporters, but it changed when Daenerys Targaryen made Dragonstone her base in Westeros 
*Throners or Thronies: nicknames for fans of the show, though it is unclear if these terms have ever been used by fans themselves, or rather if they are used primarily by people outside the fandom
===Challenges and Activities===
* asoiafuniversity
* A Song of Ice and Fire Kinkmeme
* Game of Ships
* Game of Thrones Season 4 One Week Challenge
* Got-exchange
:For the full list of challenges on Fanlore, see :Category:Game of Thrones Challenges or List of ASOIAF/Game of Thrones Challenges
==Fanworks==
===Fan Art===
*Game Of Thrones Universe by Raymond Waskita
*Game of Thrones characters by d-r-a-c--a-r-y-s
*Disney Princesses as Game of Thrones by DjeDjehuti
*Game of Thrones by Fandias
===Fanfiction===
* The Love Club, a well-known fanfiction based on Love, Actually featuring most of the fandom's most popular pairings.
* Game of Stacks by CommaSplice, Modern AU featuring multiple pairings
* The North Remembers by qqueenofhades, Stark focused
===Vids===
*Thistle and Weeks by sisabet, premiered at Vividcon 2011, is a vid focusing on the story arc of Daenerys Targaryen in season one.
*Flares by Zurik 23M
*Kings by jess9191
*Perish Twice by Lim
*Battle Royale (Game of Thrones vid) by zubzub
*Run Boy Run by Hollywoodgrrl
===Meta===
*House Lannister as The Faith of the Seven by cesei
*DIREWOLVES + NAMES = STARK KIDS’ DESTINIES? by katemarzullo
=== Parodies ===
* [ES] El Tronito Juego de Tronos el Musical (Parodia Despacito), by FLOWTIME. Music video for a parody song in which the characters of Game of Thrones sing about the series' plot over an instrumental cover of "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee.
* [ES] La Dragonera by Trazzto - Parodia Juego de Tronos, by TRAZZTO. Parody song talking about Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons over an instrumental cover of "La Gozadera", by Gente de Zona and Marc Anthony.
* "Game of Thrones" Ultimate Birthday Rap Battle (Featuring Taryn Southern), by Firefall. Music video for a parody song in which performers disguised as the characters from Game of Thrones sing the series' plot at a children's birthday party.
=== Podcasts ===
* Postgame of Thrones
===Recs===
* Game of Thrones Fanfic Recs at TV Tropes
* Het Reccers "Game of Thrones" recs at LiveJournal and Dreamwidth
* Game of Thrones/ASOIAF Rare Pairs Fic Recs
==Resources==
* Games of Thrones works at AO3
* Game of Thrones & crossover works at FFN
 
===Dreamwidth Communities===
* Game of Thrones Dreamwidth comm
* Fiery Ice, land comm
===LiveJournal Communities===
* Game of Thrones LJ comm
* Fanfic comm for the series as opposed to the books
===Tumblr===
* Tags: Game of Thrones, GoT, GoTedit
* DailyGoT
* Shipcestuous GoT tags: Game of Thrones & GoT, "ASOIAF" is also used.
===Wiki===
* Games of Thrones Wiki
==References==
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