A Game/Song of Ice, Fire, and Thrones (Rudolph)

## Introduction

How does escapism influence society? With the rapid growth of an average individual's interconnection within the past few decades, the need to escape has grown as well. Several new forms of entertainment have sprung forth to answer the demand. Radio, Movies, and Television were all created and popularized within the last century. The modern population is dominated by the entertainment industry and thus is enthralled by escapism. However, escapism itself has always existed. Fantastical mythologies were spread orally during the age of classic Greece. *Journey to the West* followed the adventures of Sun Wukong while teaching the ideals of Buddhism. *One Thousand and One Nights* was the origin of many famous characters such as Sinbad, Ali Baba, and Aladdin. Many separate stories were written about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Many stories that originated orally were later transcribed for preservation and localization. Plato feared the dehumanization of knowledge within text, but how would he react to the dehumanization of entertainment? Taking human emotion from a play would strip it of all usefulness and leave it a shell of what it formerly was. However, text immortalizes the mythologies of the past so they can be translated into different cultures in future generations. If the story is never written down, it will be lost to time forever if the people who hold it fade away. The Aztec mythologies, most notably being of the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl, have been entirely lost along with its people. However, with the advent of many new mediums in which to spread information and ideas, anyone's text can linger for eternity in the modern world. With escapism on the rise, many new authors have joined the fray in writing new stories along with many new readers. *The Lord of the Rings* is seen as the progenitor to the modern fantasy, H.P. Lovecraft spawned an entire sub-genre of horror with his depiction of the unknown, Science-Fiction enraptured a whole new set of readers since its emergence in the 1800's, and *A Song of Ice and Fire* was crafted to break down the conventions put forth by *The Lord of the Rings*.

*A Song of Ice and Fire* (*ASOIAF*, and better known as *Game of Thrones*, a reference to the title of the series' first book, *A Game of Thrones*) is a series written by author George R.R. Martin. The first book in the series was published in 1996 with four more books coming after, the latest release being *A Dance with Dragons* in 2011. ASOIAF had already achieved success before the T.V. drama took the world by storm, with *A Feast for Crows* reaching the top of The New York Times Bestseller List in 2005 and *A Dance with Dragons* doing the same only a few months after the show began airing. Many reader communities that still thrive today have existed since the years following the release of the original book such as A Wiki of Ice and Fire and A Forum of Ice and Fire. However, the community truly grew when the show began airing. Around two million people watched the premiere, and by season 4 it had conquered all competition. With the community ever expanding with every new season and every new entry into the book series, many different sects of fans have conglomerated to many different platforms.

## Knowledge Communities

As with any popular text with an online presence, many communities exist on the web for fans to share knowledge concerning the text. However, A Song of Ice and Fire differs from that, especially now that the show could have an entirely different outcome compared to the book series. The show is ending in 2019, but George R.R. Martin still has two books that have yet to be published, with the current gap between now and his last release being seven years. The separate communities always existed apart from each other, but now there is a true schism between show-watchers and book-readers.

### A Wiki of Ice and Fire

There is going to be a definite pattern between what defines the book community and the show community. The book community will always use the series name, not what the show has popularized. A Wiki of Ice and Fire was created by fans and is for fans, and is a single part of the larger site Westeros.org. The wiki is like any other, but is more personalized for book readers. Above the typical "Characters" tab lies the "Books" tab and the "Chapter Summary" tab. On the landing page, unique articles, quotes, and facts are updated and featured daily. There are over 7,508 articles dedicated to exploring the lands of Westeros and Essos.

### Game of Thrones Wiki

With every passing episode, the difference between the show and the books grows in spades. The Game of Thrones WIki is made by the fans of the show, for the fans of the show. As the show continues beyond the books, a place is definitely needed to house show story lines and characters. The landing page has links to the latest episode page and the upcoming episode page at the very top. It houses recent news concerning show production and plans for continuing the Game of Thrones franchise. Many of the same tabs exist between the two wikis. The site currently hosts 4,224 articles.

## Remediation

Since A Song of Ice and Fire is still relatively fresh and still in the works, not much in terms of remediation exist other than the *Game of Thrones* television adaptation. The show started off with some notable actors from the beginning such as Leaney Headey, Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, and Sean Bean. It also brought in many newcomers to the industry such as Kit Harington, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and Emilia Clarke. The show is produced by HBO and David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are the show runners. While not entirely attached to the show, George R.R. Martin does help in writing.

### Fan Art

Fan art also exists in the two different mediums, however the show has definitely skewed most depictions of characters in its favor. There is still a thriving community for originality when it comes to off-screen important characters that have yet to be depicted (at least until recently) such as Rhaegar Targaryen and the Mad King Aerys Targaryen. There are also many characters who simply do not exist in the show such as Quentyn Martell or Young Griff.

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## Interpretive Disputes

The fans of the series usually do not dwell on what is, but focus on what will become. Most interpretive disputes deal with theories on a characters motives or what they are planning. What will be the next big twist? Who will die next? This has worked its way into the show through a most systematic way. The dreaded episode nine. Every season has ten episodes, but episode nine is where the truly horrific actions occur. Typically, the last episode of the season tends to deal with the immediate fallout of the previous episode.

With the books existing for such a long time, many long time theories have come about that the show had to handle with care. Since the show is far beyond the books now, the show runners had to confront an issue. Should they fulfill popular fan theories, or should they leave them be?

Many forums exist to discuss such theories.

### A Forum of Ice and Fire

As the name suggests, this is a forum mostly for book theories. Some of the oldest theories originally came from deep within the thousands of pages of arguments and theory crafting. There are a few categories dedicated to show details and discussion, but it would be hard to go through any thread without seeing a book referenced.

### r/gameofthrones

Like any subreddit, this page is entirely dedicated to everything Game of Thrones. Most people are currently commenting on the long wait they are suffering through for the final season. Others are posting jokes about the wait. Some are evaluating the series as a whole. If any theory crafting is left, it will inevitably deal with who will end up on top and who will die in the final season bloodbath.

### r/asoiaf

This is exactly like the previous subreddit, but for the books. Users are far more abuzz about theories and evaluation of the books. This is surprising since their wait has been far longer than the show-watchers. Most discussion has to deal with a character's chapters in a certain book or a released chapter from the book that is currently in production.

## References

1. ↑ A Song of Ice and Fire Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A\_Song\_of\_Ice\_and\_Fire
2. ↑ Watchers on the Wall: http://watchersonthewall.com/
3. ↑ A Wiki of Ice and Fire: https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Main\_Page
4. ↑ Game of Thrones Wiki: https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Game\_of\_Thrones\_Wiki
5. ↑ A Forum of Ice and Fire: https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/forum/20-general-asoiaf/
6. ↑ r/gameofthrones Subreddit
7. ↑ r/asoiaf Subreddit