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Игра на тронове (сериал) - Вижте пояснителната страница за други значения на Игра на тронове. „Игра на тронове“ (на английски: Game of Thrones) е сериал на HBO, който следва историята на фентъзи епос поредицата „Песен за огън и лед“, вземайки името на първата книга, и дебютира на 17 април 2011 г. Два дни след премиерата на четвърти сезон през април 2014 г., HBO подновява Игра на тронове за пети и шести сезон.[1] Сериалът, поставен в измислените континенти Вестерос и Есос в края на лято, продължило десетилетие, вплита няколко сюжетни линии. Първата следва членовете на няколко благороднически дома в гражданска война за Железния трон на Седемте кралства; втората покрива нарастващата заплаха от предстояща зима и митичните същества на Севера; третата хроникира опитите на изгнаната последна представителка на свалената династия да си възвърне трона. Чрез своите морално двузначни герои сериалът изследва въпроси за социалната йерархия, религията, лоялността, корупцията, гражданската война, престъпленията и наказанията.[2] „Игра на тронове“ привлича рекорден брой зрители по HBO и придобива изключително широка и активна международна фен база. Снима се основно в Белфаст, Северна Ирландия и на някои места в Европа (в Хърватия). Актьорите в сериала са основно англичани или ирландци. Съдържание Сюжет[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Действието на сериала се развива в Седемте кралства на Вестерос, където лятото продължава десетилетия, а зимата – цяла вечност. Игра на тронове приблизително следва трите фабули на Песен за огън и лед.[3] Поставен в измислените Седем кралства на Вестерос, сериалът хроникира бурните династични борби сред благородническите семейства на кралството за контрол над Железния трон. С начеването на сериала възникват допълнителни заплахи в ледения Север и на източния континент Есос.[4] Романите и тяхната адаптация извличат обстановки, герои и сюжетни елементи от голяма част от Европейската история.[5] Основен източник на вдъхновение за романите е английската Война на розите[6] (1455–85) между династиите Ланкастър и Йорк, отразени в династиите на Мартин Ланистър и Старк. Повечето от Вестерос, със своите замъци и рицарски турнири, напомня за Западна Европа от Развитото Средновековие. Съзаклятническата Церсей например напомня Изабела (1295–1358), „Френската вълчицата“.[5] Тя и нейното семейство, описани в историческата поредица романи Прокълнатите крале на Морис Дрюон, особено вдъхновяват Мартин.[7] Сериалът също съчетава такива разнообразни вдъхновения като Адриановия вал (който става големия Вал на Мартин), падането на Рим и легендата за Атлантида (древна Валирия), византийския гръцки огън („див огън“), исландските саги от Епохата на викингите (железнородните), монголските орди (дотраките), както и елементи от Стогодишната война (1337–1453) и Италианския ренесанс (c. 1400–1500).[5] Голямата популярност на сериала се дължи отчасти на умението на Мартин да вплете тези разнородни елементи в еднородно цяло, което се явява правдоподобно на свой ред като алтернативна история.[5] Герои и актьори[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Подобно на романите, които адаптира, „Игра на тронове“ разполага с широк ансамблов актьорски състав, който по думите на Джордж Р. Мартин е най-големият в телевизията. По време на продукцията на третия сезон са записани имената на 257 актьори. Следното обобщение ограничава списъка с герои от „Игра на тронове“ до героите, изиграни от актьорите с основни роли. Лорд Едард „Нед“ Старк (Шон Бийн) е глава на фамилията Старк, чиито членове са въвлечени в голяма част от сюжетните линии на сериала. Той и жена му Кейтлин (Мишел Феърли) имат пет деца — най-големия, Роб (Ричард Медън), изисканата Санса (Софи Търнър), палавата Аря (Мейзи Уилямс), авантюристичния Бран (Айзък Хемпстед-Райт) и малкия Рикон (Арт Паркинсън). Повереникът и заложник на Нед – Теон Грейджой (Алфи Алън) живее с тях в Зимен Хребет. Жената на Роб е лечителката Талиса Мейгир (Уна Чаплин), а Аря се сприятелява с чирака-ковач Джендри (Джо Демпзи). Копелето на Нед, Джон Сняг (Кит Харингтън) и близкият му приятел Самуел Тарли (Джон Брадли) служат в Нощния Страж на лорд командир Джеор Мормон (Джеймс Козмо). Червенокосата Игрит (Роуз Лесли) е дивак от групата на Тормунд (Кристофър Хивю) и е любовен интерес на Джон, докато Джили (Хана Мюрей) е любовен интерес на Самуел. Роб е съветван от своя знаменосец Рууз Болтън, чийто копеле е садистичният Рамзи Сняг (Иван Реон). Бриен Тартска (Гуендолин Кристи) влиза на служба при лейди Кейтлин Старк. Старият приятел на Нед крал Робърт Баратеон (Марк Ади) споделя нещастен брак с кралица Церсей Ланистър (Лина Хийди). Напук на баща си, баснословно богатия лорд Тивин Ланистър (Чарлс Данс), Церсей е взела своя брат близнак, „Кралеубиеца“ сър Джайм Ланистър (Николай Костер-Валдау) за свой таен любовник. Тя ненавижда малкия си брат, умното джудже Тирион (Питър Динклидж), който бива съпътстван от любовницата си Шае (Сибел Кекили) и наемника Брон (Джеръм Флин). Големият син на Церсей е принц Джофри Баратеон (Джак Глийсън), който е под закрилата на обезобразения воин Сандор „Хрътката“ Клегейн (Рори Маккан). В „Малкия съвет“ от съветници на краля са хитрецът лорд Петир „Кутрето“ Белиш (Ейдън Гилън) и евнухът шпионин Варис (Конлет Хил). Братът на Робърт, Станис Баратеон (Стивън Дилейн) е съветван от жрицата Мелисандра (Карис ван Хоутън) и бившият контрабандист Сър Давос Държеливия (Лиъм Кънингам). Богатото семейство Тирел е представлявана в двореца чрез амбициозната Марджъри Тирел (Натали Дормър). Отвъд Тясното море братът и сестра Визерис (Хари Лойд) и Денерис Таргариен (Емилия Кларк) — изпратените в изгнание деца на краля, свален от Робърт Баратеон — бягат за живота си, опитвайки се да си върнат трона. Денерис е омъжена за хал Дрого (Джейсън Момоа), главатар на номадите Дотраки, и се охранява от рицаря в изгнание Джора Мормон (Иън Глен). Продукция[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Концепция и развитие[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Сериалът започва развитие през януари 2007 г. HBO назначава Дейвид Бениоф и Ди Би Уайс като сценаристи и изпълнителни продуценти на сериала, който ще покрие материал от една книга на сезон, след като закупуват правата върху поредицата на Джордж Р. Мартин. В началото е планирано Бениоф и Вайс да пишат всеки епизод в сериала, освен един на всеки сезон, който да напише автора на книгите. По-късно Джейн Есперсън и Брайън Когман се присъединяват към екипа на сценаристи. Бюджетът на „Игра на тронове“ се сравнява с този на „Рим“. Пилотният епизод е струвал между 5 и 10 милиона долара, а целият бюджет за първи сезон от 10 епизода е около 50-60 милиона. За сравнение, един средностатистически сериал с сезон от 22 епизода, струва 50 милиона долара. HBO наемат експерта по езици Дейвид Дж. Питърсън да създаде езика на Дотраките - "със свое собствено звучене, обширна лексика от повече от 1800 думи и сложна граматика". Първата и втората чернова на сценария за пилотния епизод се предлагат съответно през август 2007 г. и юни 2008 г. И въпреки че и двата сценария са се харесали на канала, пилотен епизод е поръчан едва през ноември 2008 г., след като стачката на сценаристите през 2007-2008 г. забавя процеса. Снимки[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Първият сезон започва снимки на 26 юли 2010 г. в Северна Ирландия, по-късно в Малта и Шотландия. През втория сезон снимките се местят в Дубровник, Хърватия, вместо в Ирландия и екипът снима и в Исландия. Въпреки сцените в Хърватия, се снимат отново други сцени в Ирландия. Костюми[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Костюмите на сериала са вдъхновени от много култури, като японската и персийската. Костюмите на дотраките приличат на бедуински (един е направен от рибешки кожи, за да изглежда като драконови люспи), а диваците носят кожи с козината навътре като инуитите.[8] Костните брони на диваците са направени от отливки, взети от истински кости и са сглобени с върви и латекс, наподобяващи катгут.[9] Докато статистите, играещи диваци и Нощния страж носят шапки, както би било нормално в студен климат, главните герои не носят, за да могат зрителите да ги идентифицират. Всички дрехи, дали за жени от кралския двор или за диваци, престояват за две седмици, за да се подобри реализма по HD телевизията.[8] За актрисите са използвани около две дузини перуки. Направени от човешка коса и дълги до 60 см, те струват до $7 000 всяка и се мият и стилизират като истинска коса. Поставянето на перуките е дълъг процес. За Емилия Кларк например се изискват около два часа за стилизиране на нейната къдрава коса с платинено руса перука и плитки. Косите на Джак Глийсън и Софи Търнър са боядисани. За герои като Денерис и нейните дотраки, косата, перуките и костюмите се обработват така че да изглеждат, че не са мити със седмици.[8] Приемане[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Игра на тронове се очаква с нетърпение от фенове преди премиерата си [10][11] и се е превърнала в критичен и комерсиален успех. До 2014 г., според The Guardian, той е станал „най-голямата драма“ и „най-обсъжданото шоу“ по телевизията.[12] Културно влияние[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Въпреки че сериалът е отхвърлян или получава снизходителни отзиви преди излъчването си от някои критици, поради особеностите на жанра,[12] неговият последвал успех се отдава на увеличената популярност на фентъзи темите и мейнстрийм приемане на фентъзи фендъма. „След този уикенд“, пише CNN.com в навечерието на премиерата на втория сезон, „може да ви е трудно да намерите някого, който да не е фен на някаква форма на епично фентъзи". Според Йън Богост, Игра на тронове продължава тенденцията за успешни екранни адаптации, започнали с трилогията Властелинът на пръстените на Питър Джаксън от 2001 и продължила с филмите Хари Потър, установили фентъзито като печеливш масов пазарен жанр и служат като „преходни дроги към фентъзи фен култура“.[13] Успехът на сериала в преодоляването на предразсъдъците срещу фентъзито се придава от писателите, интервюирани от The Guardian на общ копнеж за ескейпизъм в популярната култура, честата употреба на женска голота в сериала и умението му да балансира забавни и сериозни теми – дракони и политика – които му позволяват да придобие престижът, притежаван от конвенционални първокласни драматични сериали.[12] Популярността на сериала значително увеличава продажбите на романите от поредицата Песен за огън и лед, скоро препубликувани и останали на върха на бестелър списъците в продължение на месеци. The Daily Beast пише, че Игра на тронове е станала особен фаворит на много ситком сценаристи и следователно е споменаван в множество други телевизионни сериали.[14] Заедно с други фентъзи поредици, Игра но тронове се счита за отговорна за значително увеличение в покупките на хъски и други подобни на вълци породи кучета.[15] Игра на тронове също е основа за добавки към популярния речник. Честите сцени в първи сезон, в които герои обясняват мотивите си или произхода си докато правят секс с проститутки поражда термина „секспозиция“ за описване на практиката на даване на експозиция на фона на секс и голота.[16] „Дотраки“, името на конниците номади, появяващи се в сериала, е на четвърто място в списък с думи от телевизията, най-често използвани в интернет, съставен през септември 2012 г. от Global Language Monitor.[17] След вория сезон, медиите започват да използват Игра на тронове като фигура на речта или за сравнение със ситуации на интензивен конфликт и измама, напр. съдебните битки за американския закон за здравеопазването,[18] Сирийската гражданска война[19] или борби за власт в китайското правителство.[20] От 11 до 27 април 2014 г. Железният трон от Игра на тронове прави обиколка на пет български града.[21][22] Излъчване[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Сериалът е продаден и се излъчва в 58 страни още по време на първия си сезон. - Арабска лига - OSN Series - Аржентина – HBO - Австралия – Showcase - Австрия – TNT Serie - Бангладеш – HBO - Белгия – RTBF, Prime - Боливия - HBO - Босна и Херцеговина – HBO - Бразилия – HBO - България – HBO - Канада – HBO Canada - Куба – Super Écran - Чили – HBO - Колумбия – HBO - Хърватия – HBO - Чехия – HBO - Дания – Canal+ - Доминиканска република – HBO - Естония – Fox Life - Финландия – Canal+ & YLE - Франция – Orange Cinéma Séries - Германия – TNT Serie - Гърция – Nova Cinema - Унгария – HBO - Хонконг – HBO - Исландия – Stöð 2 - Индия – HBO - Ирландия – Sky Atlantic - Израел – Yes Action - Италия – Sky Cinema 1 - Латвия - Fox Life - Република Македония – HBO - Малайзия - HBO Asia - Мексико - HBO - Молдова – HBO - Черна гора – HBO - Нидерландия – Ziggo, HBO Netherlands - Нова Зеландия - Soho - Норвегия – Canal+ - Пакистан – HBO - Филипини – HBO - Полша – HBO - Португалия – Syfy - Румъния – HBO - Русия – Fox Life - Сърбия – HBO - Сингапур – HBO Asia - Словакия – HBO - Словения – HBO - Южна Африка – M-Net - Испания – Canal+ - Швеция – Canal+ - Швейцария – SF zwe, TSR1 - Тайван – HBO - Тайланд - HBO Asia - Турция – CNBC-e - Великобритания – Sky Atlantic - Уругвай – HBO - Венецуела – HBO - Виетнам – HBO Asia Оригинално излъчване[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Друга медия и продукти[редактиране | редактиране на кода] DVD и Blu-ray[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Първият сезон излиза на DVD и Blu-ray на 6 март 2012 г. Комплектът включва информация и материал зад кулисите, но няма да има изтрити сцени, защото почти всичко заснето е включено в сериала. Саундтрак[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Саундтракът, композиран от Рамин Джауади само 10 седмици преди началото на сериала, излеза през юни 2011 г. Интернет[редактиране | редактиране на кода] Към всеки епизод от сериала в интернет излизат клипове с пояснения и анализи от екипа на сериала. Продукти на пазара[редактиране | редактиране на кода] HBO наема „Dark Horse“, за да продуцират продукти за „Игра на тронове“ като малки фигурки и други. Продуктите се очакват да са на пазара до март 2012 г. Източници[редактиране | редактиране на кода] - ↑ Goldman, Eric. Game of Thrones Renewed for Season 5 and Season 6. Посетен на April 8, 2014. - ↑ Colvile, Robert. Game of Thrones: a show that breaks the golden rules of television. // The Telegraph. London, May 21, 2012. Посетен на June 11, 2013. - ↑ Martin, George R. HBO options Ice & Fire. // GeorgeRRMartin.com, January 18, 2007. Посетен на March 31, 2013. - ↑ Martin, George R. From HBO. // Not a Blog. LiveJournal, July 16, 2010. Посетен на March 14, 2013. - ↑ а б в г Holland, Tom. 'Game of Thrones is more brutally realistic than most historical novels'. // London, The Guardian, March 24, 2013. Посетен на March 24, 2013. - ↑ Orr, David. Dragons Ascendant: George R. Martin and the Rise of Fantasy. // New York Times, August 12, 2011. Посетен на March 24, 2013. Martin's books are essentially the War of the Roses with magic - ↑ Milne, Ben. Game of Thrones: The cult French novel that inspired George RR Martin. // BBC News Magazine, April 4, 2014. Посетен на April 6, 2014. - ↑ а б в Wischhover, Cheryl. Game of Thrones' Hair and Wardrobe Secrets Revealed. // Fashionista. Посетен на June 6, 2012. - ↑ Snead, Elizabeth. 'Game of Thrones' Designer Michelle Clapton's Secret Source for Wildling Bones: eBay. // The Hollywood Reporter. Посетен на June 11, 2012. - ↑ Gregory, Mathilda. Is A Game of Thrones the most eagerly anticipated TV show ever?. // guardian.co.uk. London, Guardian News and Media, July 23, 2010. Посетен на March 13, 2013. - ↑ Colins, Scott. With 'Game of Thrones,' HBO is playing for another 'True Blood'. // Los Angeles Times. Посетен на March 13, 2013. - ↑ а б в Hughes, Sarah. 'Sopranos meets Middle-earth': how Game of Thrones took over our world. // The Guardian, March 22, 2014. Посетен на March 22, 2014. - ↑ Williams, Joel. Mainstream finally believes fantasy fans. Посетен на April 5, 2012. - ↑ Lacob, Jace. 'Game of Thrones': 'Modern Family,' 'Parks and Rec' Writers on Why They Love the HBO Drama. // The Daily Beast, September 21, 2012. Посетен на September 27, 2012. - ↑ O'Brian, Liam. Game of Thrones inspired Huskie craze goes cold as owners give up on dogs. // London, The Independent, December 26, 2012. Посетен на March 10, 2013. - ↑ Hann, Michael. How 'sexposition' fleshes out the story. // guardian.co.uk. London, Guardian News and Media, March 11, 2012. Посетен на March 29, 2012. - ↑ Steinmetz, Kate. And the Top TV Words of the Year Are .... // TIME, September 25, 2012. Посетен на September 27, 2012. - ↑ Brescia, Ray. Game of Robes: Why Conservatives May Ultimately Praise the Roberts Switch on Health Care Reform. // The Huffington Post, July 6, 2012. Посетен на July 7, 2012. - ↑ Varsavsky, Martin. The Game of Thrones Around Us. // The Huffington Post, July 4, 2012. Посетен на July 7, 2012. - ↑ Garnaut, John. Strongmen of China playing a risky game of thrones. // Melbourne, The Age, July 1, 2012. Посетен на July 7, 2012. - ↑ Железният трон на крал Джофри идва в България - ↑ Железният трон стигна до София - ↑ Seidman, Robert. Sunday Cable Ratings: NBA, 'Storage Wars,' 'Ax Men,' 'Khloe & Lamar' + 'The Killing,' 'Breakout Kings,' 'Sam Axe,' 'Game of Thrones' & Much More. // TV by the Numbers. Посетен на October 4, 2011. - ↑ Seidman, Robert. Updated: 'Game of Thrones' Ratings: Season One. // TV by the Numbers. Посетен на October 4, 2011. - ↑ Goldman, Eric. Game of Thrones: Why Season 2 is Sticking to 10 Episodes. Посетен на October 4, 2011. - ↑ Seidman, Robert. Sunday Cable Ratings:'Game of Thrones' Returns To Series High; + 'Khloe & Lamar,' 'The Killing', 'Mad Men, 'Army Wives' & More. // TV by the Numbers. Посетен на April 3, 2012. - ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda. Sunday Cable Ratings: NBA Playoffs + 'Game of Thrones' Finale, MTV Movie Awards, 'Sister Wives', 'The Glades', 'Longmire' + More. // TV by the Numbers. Посетен на June 5, 2012. - ↑ Crider, Michael. ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 2 Teaser Trailer from ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Premiere. // Screen Rant. September 26, 2011. Посетен на October 4, 2011. - ↑ Hibberd, James. 'Game of Thrones' renewed for third season. // EW.com, 10 April 2012. Посетен на 10 April 2012. - ↑ Season Three. // George R. Martin's "Not a Blog". Посетен на April 11, 2012. - ↑ Purdom, Laura. 'Game Of Thrones' Season 3 Premiere Date, Casting News And More Highlights From Comic-Con Panel. // The Huffington Post. Посетен на July 13, 2012. - ↑ Илиев, Александър. Премиерата на сезон 3 на Game of Thrones с рекордни рейтинги. // TVseries България. Посетен на April 2, 2013. - ↑ Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Game of Thrones' Wins Night, 'Falling Skies', 'Mad Men', 'Army Wives', 'Veep', 'The Client List' & More
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Game of Thrones Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, the first of which is titled A Game of Thrones. The episodes are mainly written by Benioff and Weiss, who are the executive producers alongside Martin, who writes one episode per season. Filmed in a Belfast studio and on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Malta, Scotland, Croatia, Iceland, the United States, Spain and Morocco, it premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011. Two days after the fourth season premiered in April 2014, HBO renewed Game of Thrones for a fifth and sixth season.[4] The series, set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos at the end of a decade-long summer, interweaves several plot lines. The first follows the members of several noble houses in a civil war for the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms; the second covers the rising threat of the impending winter and the mythical creatures of the North; the third chronicles the attempts of the exiled last scion of the realm's deposed dynasty to reclaim the throne. Through its morally ambiguous characters, the series explores issues of social hierarchy, religion, loyalty, corruption, civil war, crime, and punishment. Game of Thrones has attracted record numbers of viewers on HBO and obtained an exceptionally broad and active international fan base. It received widespread acclaim by critics, although its frequent use of nudity, violence and sexual violence has attracted criticism. The series has won numerous awards and nominations, including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Drama Series for its first four seasons, a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Series – Drama, a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in both Long Form and Short Form, and a Peabody Award. Among the ensemble cast, Peter Dinklage won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Tyrion Lannister. Contents - 1 Plot - 2 Cast and characters - 3 Production - 4 Availability - 5 Other media and products - 6 Reception - 7 References - 8 External links Plot Game of Thrones roughly follows the three storylines of A Song of Ice and Fire.[5] Set in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, the series chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among the realm's noble families for control of the Iron Throne. As the series opens, additional threats emerge in the icy North and in the eastern continent of Essos.[2] The novels and their adaptation derive settings, characters and plot elements from much of European history.[6] A principal inspiration for the novels were the English Wars of the Roses[7] (1455–85) between the houses of Lancaster and York, reflected in Martin's houses of Lannister and Stark. Most of Westeros, with its castles and knightly tournaments, is reminiscent of High Medieval Western Europe. The scheming Cersei, for instance, calls to mind Isabella (1295–1358), the "she-wolf of France".[6] She and her family, as depicted in Maurice Druon's historical novel series The Accursed Kings, particularly inspired Martin.[8] The series also combines such varied inspirations as Hadrian's Wall (which became Martin's great Wall), the fall of Rome and the legend of Atlantis (ancient Valyria), Byzantine "Greek fire" ("wildfire"), Icelandic sagas of the Viking Age (the Ironborn) and the Mongol hordes (the Dothraki), as well as elements from the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) and the Italian Renaissance (c. 1400–1500).[6] The series' great popularity has in part been attributed to Martin's skill at fusing these disparate elements into a seamless whole that appears credible on its own terms as an alternative history.[6] "The Sopranos in Middle-earth" is the tagline showrunner David Benioff jokingly suggested for Game of Thrones, referring to its intrigue-filled plot and dark tone combined with a fantasy setting.[9] In a 2012 study, the series was listed second out of 40 recent U.S. TV drama series by deaths per episode, with an average of 14.[10][11] Cast and characters Like the novels it adapts, Game of Thrones has a sprawling ensemble cast, estimated to be the largest on television.[12] During the production of the third season, 257 cast names were recorded.[13] The following overview reduces the list of characters in Game of Thrones to those played by the actors credited as part of the main cast.[14] Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean) is the head of the Stark family whose members are involved in most of the series's intertwined plot lines. He and his wife Catelyn Tully (Michelle Fairley) have five children: the eldest, Robb (Richard Madden), the dainty Sansa (Sophie Turner), the tomboy Arya (Maisie Williams), the adventurous Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and the youngest, Rickon (Art Parkinson). Ned's hostage and ward Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) used to live with the Starks before encountering the sadistic Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rheon). Robb's wife is the healer Talisa Maegyr (Oona Chaplin), and Arya has befriended the blacksmith's apprentice Gendry (Joe Dempsie). Ned's bastard son Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and his friend Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) serve in the Night's Watch under Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo). The red-haired Ygritte (Rose Leslie), one of the Wildlings led by Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju), is Jon Snow's romantic interest, and Sam cares for the young Wildling Gilly (Hannah Murray). Catelyn is served by the tall warrior Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie). Ned's old friend King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) shares a loveless marriage with Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), who has taken her twin, the "Kingslayer" Ser Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) as her secret lover. She loathes her younger brother, the clever dwarf Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), who is attended by his mistress Shae (Sibel Kekilli) and the sellsword Bronn (Jerome Flynn). Cersei's father is the fabulously wealthy Lord Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance), and her oldest son, the cruel Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), is guarded by the scar-faced warrior Sandor "the Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann). The king's "Small Council" of advisors includes the crafty Master of Coin, Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (Aidan Gillen) and the eunuch spymaster Lord Varys (Conleth Hill). Robert's brother Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) is advised by the foreign priestess Melisandre (Carice van Houten) and the former smuggler Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham). The wealthy Tyrell family is represented at court by the ambitious Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). Across the Narrow Sea, siblings Viserys (Harry Lloyd) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) – the exiled children of the king overthrown by Robert Baratheon – are on the run for their lives, trying to win back the throne. Daenerys has been married to Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), the leader of the nomadic Dothraki, and is guarded by the exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen). Production Conception and development According to David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the two came up with the idea of adapting George R. R. Martin's novels to the screen in 2006, after Benioff began reading the first novel, A Game of Thrones. He called Weiss to share his excitement, and Weiss finished the thousand-page book in "maybe 36 hours".[15] They successfully pitched the series to HBO, and convinced Martin – a veteran screenwriter himself – in the course of a five-hour meeting in a restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard to agree to the idea. Benioff recalled they won Martin over with their answer to his question: "Who is Jon Snow's mother?" The series began development in January 2007.[16] HBO, after acquiring the TV rights to the novels, hired Benioff and Weiss to write and executive produce the series, which would cover one novel's worth of material per season.[16] Initially, Benioff and Weiss were to write every episode save one per season, which Martin, who also joined as a co-executive producer, was attached to write.[16][17] Jane Espenson and Bryan Cogman were later added to each write one episode of the first season.[2] The first and second drafts of the pilot script, written by Benioff and Weiss, were submitted in August 2007[18] and June 2008,[19] respectively. While HBO found both drafts to their liking,[19][20] a pilot was not ordered until November 2008,[21] with the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike possibly delaying the process.[20] The pilot reportedly cost HBO between US$5 and 10 million,[22] and the total budget for the first season had been estimated at US$50–60 million.[23] In the second season, the show obtained a 15% budget increase to afford the most important battle in "The War of the Five Kings", the civil war central to the season.[24] The season 2 episode "Blackwater" had an increased budget of US$8 million and the average episode has a budget of US$6 million, which is two-to-three times more than a typical network or cable series costs per episode.[25] Adaptation schedule Showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss intend to adapt the entirety of the still incomplete A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, if HBO permits it. They envision the series to have a scope of some 80 hours, about eight seasons' worth of material.[26] In 2013, producer Frank Doelger said "[w]e'll probably get through to seven seasons".[27] Benioff and Weiss said they do not want to pad Game of Thrones out so as to wait for George R. R. Martin (who has taken up to six years to write an installment of A Song of Ice and Fire) to finish writing the last two novels. Knowing the broad outlines of Martin's intended ending for A Song of Ice and Fire, and concerned that extending Game of Thrones to ten seasons would kill its sense of momentum, they consider it possible (but not preferable) that the TV series ends before the last novel is published.[28] As of April 8, 2014, six seasons have been ordered and four have been filmed, adapting the novels at a rate of about 0.8 minutes per page.[29] Seasons 1 and 2 each adapted one novel. For the later seasons, the creators conceive of Game of Thrones as an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire as a whole, rather than of individual novels.[37] This gives them the liberty to move events back and forth across books according to the requirements of the screen adaptation.[38] The four seasons filmed so far each consist of ten episodes. Most episodes from the first and second season run for about 52 minutes, while many of the third season's episodes are 56 or 57 minutes long. The series' pilot and the second, third and fourth season finales run for more than an hour apiece.[39] Title sequence The series's title sequence was created by production studio Elastic for HBO. Creative director Angus Wall and his collaborators received the 2011 Emmy Award for Main Title Design for their work on the sequence.[40] It depicts a three-dimensional map of the series's fictional world, projected onto the inside of a sphere, which is centrally lit by a small sun contained within an armilla.[41] As the camera swoops across the map and focuses on the locations in which the episode's events take place, complicated clockwork mechanisms let buildings and other structures emerge from the map and unfold. Meanwhile, accompanied by the title music, the names of the principal cast and creative staff are displayed. The sequence concludes after about one and a half minutes with the title card and brief opening credits indicating the episode's writer(s) and director. Filming Principal photography for the first season was scheduled to begin on July 26, 2010.[2] The primary location was the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[42] Exterior scenes in Northern Ireland were filmed at Sandy Brae in the Mourne Mountains (standing in for Vaes Dothrak), Castle Ward (Winterfell), Saintfield Estates (the Winterfell godswood), Tollymore Forest (outdoor scenes), Cairncastle (the execution site), Magheramorne quarry (Castle Black) and at Shane's Castle (the tourney grounds).[1] Doune Castle in Stirling, Scotland, was also used in the original pilot episode for exterior and interior scenes at Winterfell.[43] The producers initially considered shooting the whole series in Scotland, but eventually chose Northern Ireland because of the availability of studio space.[44] The first season's southern scenes were filmed in Malta, a change in location from the sets in Morocco used for the pilot episode.[2] The city of Mdina was used for scenes in King's Landing, and filming also took place at Fort Manoel (representing the Sept of Baelor), at the Azure Window on the island of Gozo (the Dothraki wedding site), and at San Anton Palace, Fort Ricasoli, Fort St Angelo and St. Dominic monastery (all used for scenes in the Red Keep).[1] For the second season, shooting of the Southern scenes shifted from Malta to Croatia, where the city of Dubrovnik and nearby locations allowed exterior shots of a seaside walled medieval city. The Walls of Dubrovnik and of Fort Lovrijenac were used for scenes in King's Landing and the Red Keep. The island of Lokrum, the St. Dominic monastery on the island of Trogir, the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik and the Dubac quarry a few kilometers to the east were used for scenes set in Qarth. Scenes set north of the Wall, in the Frostfangs and at the Fist of the First Men, were filmed in Iceland in November 2011, on the Svínafellsjökull glacier and near Smyrlabjörg and Vík on Höfðabrekkuheiði.[1] For the third season the production returned to Dubrovnik in Croatia. The Walls of Dubrovnik, Fort Lovrijenac and nearby locations were used for scenes in King's Landing and the Red Keep. One new location Trsteno Arboretum is the garden the Tyrells use in King's Landing. The third season also returned to Morocco (previously used in the pilot episode), including the city of Essaouira, to film Daenerys's scenes in Essos.[45] The production employed three units ("Dragon", "Wolf" and "Raven") filming in parallel, six directing teams, 257 cast members and 703 crew members.[13] One scene featuring a live bear, Little Bart, was filmed in Los Angeles.[3] The fourth season returned to Dubrovnik and included new locations in Croatia, such as Diocletian's Palace in Split, Klis Fortress north of Split, Perun quarry east of Split, Mosor mountain and Baška Voda further down to the south.[46] Filming took 136 days, ending on November 21, 2013.[47] Costuming The show's costumes are inspired by many cultures, such as Japanese and Persian. Dothraki outfits resemble the Bedouin's (one was made out of fish skins to resemble dragon scales), and the Wildlings wear animal skins inside out like the Inuit.[48] Wildling bone armor is made of molds taken of real bones and assembled with string and latex resembling catgut.[49] While extras who portray Wildlings and the Night's Watch wear hats as would be normal in a cold climate, main actors usually do not so viewers can identify the characters. Björk's Alexander McQueen high-neckline dresses inspired Dormer's unusual funnel-neck outfit, and prostitute costumes are designed to be quickly removed.[48] All clothing, whether for Wildlings or for women at the royal court, is aged for two weeks to improve realism on high-definition television.[49] About two dozen wigs are used for the actresses. Made of human hair and up to 2 feet (61 cm) in length, they cost up to $7,000 each and are washed and styled like real hair. Applying the wigs is a lengthy process; Clarke, for example, requires about two hours to style her brunette hair with a platinum-blonde wig and braids. Other actors such as Gleeson and Turner receive frequent haircoloring. For characters such as Clarke and her Dothraki, hair, wigs, and costumes are processed so they appear as if they have not been washed for weeks.[48] Sound Unusually for television shows, the sound team receives a rough-cut of a full season to work on, and they approach it like a ten-hour feature film. Season 1 and 2 each had a different sound team, but for the third, fourth - and going into the fifth - season, the same team has been working on the sound.[50] For the show's blood and goo sounds, the sound team often uses a shammy. For dragon screams, they have used the sounds of two tortoises mating, as well as dolphin, seal, lion and bird sounds.[51] Visual effects For the large amount of visual effects in the series, HBO hired the British VFX company BlueBolt for season one. Most of the environment builds were done as 2.5D projections, to give the viewer a good sense of perspective, but also to keep the amount of programming from becoming too overwhelming.[52] The season one finale "Fire and Blood" was nominated for an Emmy Award for Visual Effects in 2011. Due to the effects becoming more complex in the upcoming seasons, including CG-creatures, fire, and water, BlueBolt, which had only been established a few years before being offered the position, passed the job on to German-based Pixomondo. Pixomondo served as lead VFX producer for seasons two and three. Nine of its twelve facilities contributed to the project, with Stuttgart serving as the lead.[53][54] The episodes "Valar Morghulis" and "Valar Dohaeris" won the Emmy Award for Visual Effects in 2012 and 2013, respectively. For season four, HBO again switched VFX companies, this time to Mackevision, also based in Germany.[55] The season four finale "The Children" won the Emmy Award for Visual Effects in 2014. Language The Westerosi characters of Game of Thrones speak British English, often (but not consistently) with the accent of the English region whose geographic location corresponds to the character's Westerosi region. For instance, Eddard Stark, as Warden of the North, speaks in actor Sean Bean's native northern accent, while the southern lord Tywin Lannister speaks with a southern accent. Characters foreign to Westeros are often (although not always) played with a non-British accent.[56] While English is used to convey the common language of Westeros, the producers charged linguist David J. Peterson with developing the Dothraki and Valyrian languages as constructed languages, based on the few words used in Martin's novels.[57] Dothraki or Valyrian dialogue is subtitled in English. The BBC estimated that, through the series, these fictional languages were heard by more people than the Welsh, Irish and Scots Gaelic languages combined.[58] Effect on location Game of Thrones receives funding from Northern Ireland Screen, a government agency financed by Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund.[59] As of April 2013, Northern Ireland Screen has awarded the show £9.25 million and according to government estimates, benefited the Northern Ireland economy by £65 million.[60] Tourism Ireland has a Game of Thrones-themed marketing campaign similar to New Zealand's Tolkien-related advertising,[61] and Invest NI and the Tourist Board[60] also expect the series to generate tourism revenue. According to a government minister, the series has given Northern Ireland the most publicity in its history outside politics and the Troubles.[62] The production of Game of Thrones and other TV series has also provided a boost to the creative industry in Northern Ireland, contributing to a growth of 12.4% in arts, entertainment and recreation jobs from 2008 to 2013 (as opposed to 4.3% in the whole of the UK).[63] Tourism organizations in other filming locations also reported notable increases in bookings after their locations appeared in Game of Thrones. Bookings through one web portal in 2012 increased by 13% in Iceland and by 28% in Dubrovnik, Croatia. In 2013, bookings increased by 100% in Ouarzazate, Morocco, where Daenerys's season 3 scenes were filmed.[64] Availability Broadcast Game of Thrones is broadcast by HBO in the United States, and through its local subsidiaries or other pay TV services in other countries, either at the same time as in the U.S. or some weeks or months later. The series's broadcast in China on CCTV, beginning in 2014, was heavily edited to remove scenes of sex and violence, in accordance with a Chinese practice of censoring western TV series to prevent "negative effects and hidden security dangers", according to the People's Daily. This resulted in viewer complaints about the incoherence of what remained of the series.[65] The broadcasters carrying Game of Thrones include Showcase in Australia, HBO Canada, Super Écran, and Showcase in Canada, HBO India in India, Sky Atlantic in Ireland, SoHo and Prime in New Zealand, HBO Pakistan in Pakistan, HBO Philippines in the Philippines, M-Net in South Africa, and Sky Atlantic and Sky1 in the United Kingdom.[66] Home video The ten episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones were published as a DVD and Blu-ray box set on March 6, 2012. The set includes extra background and behind-the-scenes material, but no deleted scenes, because almost all the footage shot for the first season was used in the show.[67] The box set sold 350,000 units in the first seven days of its release, the largest first-week DVD sales ever for an HBO series. The series also set an HBO series record for digital download sales.[68] A "collector's edition" of the box set combining the DVD and Blu-ray versions, a dragon's egg paperweight and the first episode of season two was released in November 2012. DVD/Blu-ray box sets and digital downloads of the second season were made available on February 19, 2013.[69] First-day sales again broke HBO records, with 241,000 box sets sold and 355,000 episodes downloaded.[70] The third season was made available for purchase as a digital download on the iTunes Store, in Australia only, in parallel to the US premiere.[71] Piracy Game of Thrones is widely pirated. The significant delays in availability outside of HBO or its affiliates[72] and the cost of subscriptions to these services contributed to this. According to the file-sharing news website TorrentFreak, this cost ranges from 15 to 25 U.S. dollars per month in the U.S., up to 26 pounds per episode in the UK and 52 Australian dollars per episode in Australia, if somebody were to subscribe to a service exclusively for Game of Thrones.[73] TorrentFreak estimated Game of Thrones to be the most-pirated TV series of 2012,[74] 2013[75] and 2014.[76] One episode was downloaded about 4,280,000 times through public BitTorrent trackers in 2012, about equal to the number of broadcast viewers.[77][78] Piracy rates were particularly high in Australia.[79] This led US Ambassador to Australia Jeff Bleich to issue a public statement[80] condemning Australian piracy of the series in 2013.[81] One copy of the third season's premiere was the most simultaneously shared file in the history of the BitTorrent filesharing protocol, with over 160,000 sharers and more than a million downloads.[82] The season four finale episode was downloaded via BitTorrent approximately 1.5 million times within 12 hours, setting a new record for illegal downloads.[83] Observers, including series director David Petrarca[84] and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said illegal downloads did not hurt the series' prospects, as it benefited from the resulting "buzz" and social commentary, while the high rates of piracy did not significantly translate to lost subscriptions. According to Polygon, HBO's relatively relaxed attitude towards piracy and sharing login credentials amounted to a "free-to-play" model for premium television.[85] To counteract piracy, HBO said in 2013 it intended to make its content more widely available within the week of the US premiere, including through its digital service HBO GO.[86] Other media and products Soundtrack The music for the series is composed by Ramin Djawadi. The first season's soundtrack, written in about ten weeks before the show's premiere,[87] was published by Varèse Sarabande in June 2011.[88] Soundtrack albums for the subsequent seasons have also been published, featuring tracks performed by the bands The National, The Hold Steady and Sigur Rós. The series's instrumental title music has been much covered. Accompanying material Thronecast: The Official Guide to Game of Thrones, a series of podcasts presented by Geoff Lloyd and produced by Koink, was released on the Sky Atlantic website and the UK iTunes store. A new podcast was released after each episode, featuring analysis and cast interviews.[89] In 2014, HBO commissioned a free album of rap songs about the series, Catch the Throne.[90] A companion book, Inside HBO's Game of Thrones by series writer Bryan Cogman (ISBN 978-1-4521-1010-3), was published on September 27, 2012. On 192 pages, illustrated with concept art and behind-the-scenes photographs, the book covers the creation of the series's first two seasons, as well as its principal characters and families.[91] Merchandise and exhibition HBO has issued licenses for a broad range of merchandise based on Game of Thrones. These include various games, replica weapons and armor, jewellery, bobblehead dolls by Funko, beer by Ommegang, and various items and apparel.[92] Top-end merchandise includes Ulysse Nardin wristwatches for $10,500[93] and resin replicas of the Iron Throne for $30,000.[94] In 2013 and 2014, a traveling exhibition of costumes, props, armor and weapons from the series visited or is to visit several major cities in Europe and the Americas.[95] Other works based on the series The series has also inspired other works, including four video games based on the TV series and novels. The strategy game Game of Thrones Ascent ties in particularly closely with the series, making characters and settings available to players as soon as they appear on air.[96] The fall 2012 ready-to-wear collection by the fashion brand Helmut Lang was inspired by Game of Thrones.[97][98] In March 2012, Wiley-Blackwell published Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper than the Sword (ISBN 978-1-118-16199-9). This entry in Blackwell's Pop Culture and Philosophy series, edited by Henry Jacoby and William Irwin, aims to highlight and discuss philosophical issues raised by the show and its source material.[99] In 2013, Game of Thrones was notably parodied on the cover of Mad on April 30,[100] as well as by a web series, School of Thrones, which set the story in a high school whose students vie for the title of prom king and queen.[101] Two pornographic parodies of the series were also announced in 2013.[102] The "One World Symphony" company announced, in 2014, a musical production based on television series including Game of Thrones.[103] Reception Game of Thrones was highly anticipated by fans before its premiere.[104][105] It has since become a critical and commercial success. By 2014, according to The Guardian it had become "the biggest drama" and "the most talked about show" on television.[106] Cultural influence Although the series was dismissed or patronizingly reviewed by some critics prior to being aired on account of its genre trappings,[106] its subsequent success has been credited with an increased popularity of fantasy themes and mainstream acceptance of the fantasy fandom. "After this weekend", CNN.com wrote on the eve of the second season's premiere, "you may be hard pressed to find someone who isn't a fan of some form of epic fantasy". According to Ian Bogost, Game of Thrones continues a trend of successful screen adaptations, beginning with Peter Jackson's 2001 The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and continuing with the Harry Potter films, that have established fantasy as a lucrative mass market genre and serve as "gateway drugs to fantasy fan culture".[107] The series' success in overcoming prejudices against fantasy was attributed by writers interviewed by The Guardian to a general longing for escapism in popular culture, the series' frequent use of female nudity, and its skill in balancing light-hearted and serious topics – dragons and politics – that allowed it to claim the sort of prestige enjoyed by conventional top-tier drama series.[106] The series' popularity greatly boosted sales of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, soon republished as tie-in editions, which remained at the top of bestseller lists for months on end. The Daily Beast wrote that Game of Thrones was a particular favorite of many sitcom writers, and consequently the series has been referenced in many other TV series.[108] Together with other fantasy series, Game of Thrones has been deemed responsible for a substantial increase in purchases (and abandonments) of huskies and other wolf-like dogs.[109] Game of Thrones has also been the basis of additions to the popular vocabulary. The first season's frequent scenes in which characters explain their motives or background while having sex with prostitutes gave rise to the term "sexposition" to describe the practice of providing exposition against a backdrop of sex and nudity.[110] "Dothraki", the name of the nomadic horsemen appearing in the series, was listed fourth in a list of words from television most used on the Internet, compiled in September 2012 by Global Language Monitor.[111] After the second season, the media began using "Game of Thrones" as a figure of speech or as a comparison for situations of intense conflict and deceit, e.g., the court battles about US healthcare legislation,[112] the Syrian civil war[113] or power struggles in the Chinese government.[114] Critical response In general The critical response to the four aired seasons of Game of Thrones has been very positive. All seasons were listed on several yearly "best of" lists published by US media, such as the Washington Post (2011), TIME (2011 and 2012) and The Hollywood Reporter (2012).[119][120][121] Seasons 2 through 4 obtained a Metacritic rating of more than 80, which the website rates "universal acclaim". In 2013, the Writers Guild of America placed Game of Thrones in the fortieth place on the list of the 101 best-written TV series.[122] The performances of the very large, predominantly British and Irish cast have been widely praised. American actor Peter Dinklage's "charming, morally ambiguous, and self-aware"[123] portrayal of Tyrion, which won him an Emmy and a Golden Globe award, among others, was particularly noted. "In many ways, "Game of Thrones" belongs to Dinklage", wrote the L.A. Times[124] even before, in season 2, the "scene-stealing actor's"[125] character became the series' most central figure.[125] Several critics highlighted the performances of the women[124] and child actors.[126] 14-year-old Maisie Williams, already noted in the first season for her debut performance as Arya Stark, received particular praise for her work opposite veteran actor Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) in season 2.[127] Reviewing the first season, critics noted the high production values, the well-realized world and compelling characters.[128] Variety wrote "there may be no show more profitable to its network than 'Game of Thrones' is to HBO. Fully produced by the pay cabler and already a global phenomenon after only one season, the fantasy skein was a gamble that has paid off handsomely."[129] The second season was also very well received by critics. Entertainment Weekly praised the "vivid, vital, and just plain fun" storytelling,[130] and The Hollywood Reporter said the show made a "strong case for being one of TV's best series", its gravitas making it the only genre show dramatically comparable to shows such as Mad Men or Breaking Bad.[131] The New York Times published a mixed review, disapproving of the characters' lack of complexity and their confusing multitude, as well as the meandering plot.[132] Use of sex and violence Despite its otherwise enthusiastic reception by critics, Game of Thrones has been criticized for the amount of female nudity, violence and torture, and sexual violence against women it depicts, and for how it depicts these themes. The amount of sex and nudity in the series, especially in scenes that are incidental to the plot, was the focus of much of the criticism aimed at the series in its first and second season. Actor Stephen Dillane, who portrays Stannis Baratheon, likened the series's frequent explicit scenes to "German porn from the 1970s".[133] Charlie Anders wrote in io9 that while the first season was replete with light-hearted "sexposition", the second season appeared to focus on distasteful, exploitative and dehumanizing sex with little informational content.[134] According to the Washington Post's Anna Holmes, the nude scenes appeared to be aimed mainly at titillating heterosexual men, right down to the Brazilian waxes sported by the women in the series's faux-medieval setting, which made these scenes alienating to other viewers.[135] And in the Huffington Post, Maureen Ryan likewise noted that Game of Thrones mostly presented women naked, rather than men, and the excess of "random boobage" undercut any aspirations the series might have to address the oppression of women in a feudal society.[136] Saturday Night Live parodied this aspect of the adaptation in a sketch portraying the series with a thirteen-year-old male consultant whose main concern was showing as many breasts per scene as possible.[134][137] In the third season, which saw the character Theon Greyjoy tortured at length and eventually emasculated, the series was also criticized for its use of torture.[138] Madeleine Davies wrote in Jezebel that "it's not uncommon that Game of Thrones gets accused of being torture porn — senseless, objectifying violence combined with senseless, objectifying sexual imagery". But, according to her, the series' violence tended to serve a narrative purpose, except for the titillation and torture of Theon Greyjoy in "The Bear and the Maiden Fair".[139] A scene in the fourth season's episode "Breaker of Chains" in which Jaime Lannister rapes his sister and former lover Cersei triggered a broad public discussion about the series's depiction of sexual violence against women. The scene caused outrage, according to Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times, in part because comments by director Alex Graves appeared to indicate that he did not think what he filmed was rape.[140] To Sonia Saraiya, writing in the A.V. Club, the series's choice to portray this sexual act and one between Daenerys and Khal Drogo in the first season – both described as consensual in the source novels – as a rape appeared to be an act of "exploitation for shock value".[141] The Times wrote that critics fear that "rape has become so pervasive in the drama that it is almost background noise: a routine and unshocking occurrence".[140] George R. R. Martin responded that rape and sexual violence are common in war, and that omitting them from the narrative would have undermined one of his novels' themes: that "the true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves."[140] Fandom The novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its TV adaptation Game of Thrones have an exceptionally broad and active international fan base. In 2012, Vulture ranked the series's fandom as the most devoted in popular culture, ahead of Lady Gaga's, Justin Bieber's, Harry Potter's or Star Wars'.[142] Fans include political leaders such as U.S. President Barack Obama,[143][144] former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard,[145][146] and Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who, in a 2013 speech, framed challenges of European politics in terms of quotes from Martin's novels.[147] In 2013, BBC News said "the passion and the extreme devotion of fans" had brought about a phenomenon unlike anything related to other popular TV series, manifesting itself in a very broad range of fan labor, such as fan fiction,[148] but also Game of Thrones-themed burlesque routines, or people naming their children after characters from the series:[149] "Arya" was the girl's name rising the fastest in popularity in the US in 2012, from 711th to 413th position.[150] Writers cited by the BBC attributed this success to the rich detail, moral ambiguity, sexual explicitness and epic scale of the series and novels.[149] In 2013, it was reported that 58 percent of its viewers were male and 42 percent were female, and the average male viewer was 41 years old.[151][152] According to the marketing director of SBS, Game of Thrones has the highest fan engagement rate of any TV series known to her: 5.5% of the series's 2.9 million Facebook fans were talking online about the series in 2012, compared to 1.8% of the more than ten million fans of HBO's other fantasy series True Blood.[153] Among the many fan sites dedicated to the TV and novel series, Vulture noted in particular Westeros.org and WinterIsComing.net, which provide news reports and discussion forums, ToweroftheHand.com, which organizes communal readings of the novels, and Podcastoficeandfire.com.[142] There are also many podcasts covering the series.[154] Viewer numbers The first season of Game of Thrones had an average of 2.5 million viewers for its first Sunday night screenings, and an average gross audience of 9.3 million viewers per episode including all repeats and on-demand viewings.[155] For its second season, Game of Thrones had an average gross audience of 11.6 million viewers.[156] The third season was watched by 14.2 million, making Game of Thrones the second most-viewed HBO series after The Sopranos.[157][158] In the fourth season, HBO said that its average gross audience of 18.4 million viewers, later adjusted to 18.6 million, had beaten The Sopranos for the record.[159][160] The following graph shows viewer numbers for the first airings: Awards The first season of Game of Thrones was nominated for thirteen of the 2011 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. It won two, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and Outstanding Main Title Design. Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, was named best supporting actor by the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Scream Awards and the Satellite Awards. In 2012, the second season won six of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. References - ^ a b c d Roberts, Josh (April 1, 2012). "Where HBO's hit 'Game of Thrones' was filmed". USA Today. Retrieved March 8, 2013. - ^ a b c d e Martin, George R. R. (July 16, 2010). "From HBO". Not a Blog. Retrieved March 14, 2013. - ^ a b Schwartz, Terri (January 28, 2013). "'Game of Thrones' casts a bear and shoots in Los Angeles for major Season 3 scene". Zap2it. Retrieved March 8, 2013. - ^ a b c Goldman, Eric (April 8, 2014). "Game of Thrones Renewed for Season 5 and Season 6". IGN. Retrieved April 8, 2014. - ^ Martin, George R. R. (January 18, 2007). "HBO options Ice & Fire". GeorgeRRMartin.com. 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External links - Game of Thrones – official US website - Game of Thrones – official UK website - Game of Thrones – exhibition website - Game of Thrones at the Internet Movie Database - Game of Thrones at TV.com - Fan sites mentioned in the article: - Westeros – news and discussion - Winter Is Coming – news and discussion - Tower of the Hand – readings - A Podcast of Ice and Fire – fan podcast - Mad Men, season 4 (2011) - Homeland, season 1 (2012) - Breaking Bad, season 5, part I / Game of Thrones, season 3 (2013) - Breaking Bad, season 5, part II (2014) - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2003) - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2004) - The Incredibles (2005) - Serenity (2006) - Pan's Labyrinth (2007) - Stardust (2008) - Inception (2011) - Game of Thrones (season 1) (2012) - The Avengers (2013) - Gravity (2014) - "Conversations with Dead People" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) (2003) - Gollum's Acceptance Speech at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards (2004) - "33" (Battlestar Galactica) (2005) - "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances" (Doctor Who) (2006) - "The Girl in the Fireplace" (Doctor Who) (2007) - "Blink" (Doctor Who) (2008) - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2009) - "The Waters of Mars" (Doctor Who) (2010) - "The Pandorica Opens" / "The Big Bang" (Doctor Who) (2011) - "The Doctor's Wife" (Doctor Who) (2012) - "Blackwater" (Game of Thrones) (2013) - "The Rains of Castamere" (Game of Thrones) (2014) - American Horror Story (2011) - The Walking Dead (2012) - Game of Thrones (2013) - Ally McBeal (1998) - The Sopranos (1999) - The West Wing (2000) - Gilmore Girls (2001) - Boomtown (2003) - Arrested Development (2004) - My Name Is Earl (2006) - Friday Night Lights (2007) - Mad Men (2008) - True Blood (2009) - Game of Thrones (2011) - Homeland (2012) - The Americans (2013) - Orange Is the New Black (2014) - 2010s American television series - 2011 American television series debuts - English-language television programming - Fantasy television series - Game of Thrones (TV series) - HBO network shows - High fantasy television series - Incest in television - Magic in television - Peabody Award winning television programs - Serial drama television series - Television programs based on novels