Daily Times

Admittedly, the Game of Thrones (GOT) TV serial craze hit me quite late in the day, in fact as late as after the conclusion of the sixth season; and I might add that perhaps it still has not achieved crazy levels, since I remain ambivalent about watching the generally much awaited seventh season. Being a dinosaur surviving in the information age as best as I can, it was more comfortable to buy the DVDs, much to the amusement and unmasked astonishment of my kids, and sit and watch the entire six seasons of the famed television serial at my own pace. In retrospect, waiting for the conclusion of the final season, before commencing on the aforementioned particular enterprise, might have been more appropriate; patience, laced with suspense, is something to be avoided in this busy world.

Unequivocally, I have not been paid by the producers of GOT serial, or anybody else for that matter, for this write up, and in all honesty, this does not even qualify as a review; except that for all those fellow dinosaurs out there who have not yet watched the serial, a bit of elaboration will be essential for the build up to deliver the punch line. On the other hand, GOT was an enjoyable venture as far as pure entertainment value goes; a particularly refreshing break from a stressful work schedule specifically if you enjoy fantasy fiction. Personally, having grown up reading comics, the idiot box having not achieved its idiot status back than, it is surreal to see Batman whoop the Joker and Capitan Kirk aboard the Enterprise on the silver screen. Replying to the detractors, who rather boorishly argue that fantasy fiction is an utter waste of time and energies, which are better spent in pursuing scholarly endeavours, such as classical literature, go suck a lemon!

In general, insufferable snobs harping endlessly about award winning literary exploits, repeatedly quoting a handful of extracts, which perhaps were memorised with the sole purpose of belittling us common folks, are such a pain in the backside. Haven’t we always wondered why can’t uncomplicated entertaining books, and movies for that matter, qualify for awards; a mystery of the modern era. If we go by market logic, an unprofitable venture should not survive, let alone get recognition and awards. But perhaps this is just another mechanism deployed by the upper echelons of society to differentiate themselves from the peasants, and at the same time ridicule the latter for their deemed ignorance. But, for my money, imagination is the supreme entertainment, and the more fantastic the better; and somebody else’s imagination invariably opens portals in your mind you thought you never had.

Due apologies for my habit to digress; time to get back to the plot before I end up using the limited space allowed by the editor. GOT is set in a time when gunpowder had not been invented and dragons and other creatures roamed the lands and skies on a planet which may or may not be earth; except mankind is the protagonist and up to its usual antics to acquire power vis-à-vis the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. Powerful dynasties vie and go to war to claim the Iron Throne and be king, or queen. The ruling elite obviously have no morals and stoop to any level to achieve their objectives which is reminiscent of political intrigue in the modern world; perhaps more akin to Europe during Medieval times or China during the wars of the three kingdoms.

As is always the case on earth as well, while everybody dies in the struggle for power, the brunt of death and misery is for the masses who end up being slaughtered for generally no cause unless they get conscripted in which case they die for a cause which again has nothing to do with them; a ruthless world. But come to think about it, quite similar to our world today, where wars are fought with modern weaponry for unknown, and in certain cases unfathomable reasons, resulting in misery for the masses at large while those responsible for the conflict relax in their well equipped citadels. In fact if you kick in a few missiles, a few nukes and chemical weaponry, GOT might very well be set on Earth today. There are dynasties today which rule the seven kingdoms and the battle for the Iron Throne, superpower status and ultimate hegemony of the world, rages on.

Times hardly change, on this world or in a fantasy world. In all this mess, the writer of GOT introduces an unassuming character with an equally unassuming moniker, the High Sparrow, who is a champion of the poor with radical views. He actually believes that laws should be the same for everyone and that, amazingly, the rich should pay for their sins in accordance with the rule of law. This is the part where GOT probably gets categorised as fantasy fiction; I mean there are people who still believe in dragons and zombies and witches, but hardly anybody on the planet will not have a good laugh on being told that the rule of law is equally applicable to the rich and powerful.

As is generally the case in this world as well, this upright High Sparrow is sucked into the scheming and plotting of the ruling elite and ends up assuming the position of the High Septon, which is the title held by the top honcho of the made up religious faith in GOT. And this is when he goes bonkers and starts practising what he preaches, ultimately dishing out harsh punishments to the ruling elite until he goes too far and goes after royalty. Curiously, at this point, either deliberately projected or by default, the High Septon suddenly emerges as an arrogant and rigid troublemaker; and the audience starts perceiving him as the bad guy. His only fault is to challenge the status quo and strive for a world where everyone is equal in the eyes of the law; the corrupt are taken to task.

Eventually the High Septon ends up going too far and in an attempt to convict those associated directly with the Iron Throne gets blown to bits together with his entire entourage by wildfire, a chemical substance akin to gunpowder; perhaps the next season might even have guns which shoot wildfire. I hope you enjoyed the story, but I am certain by now everyone is wondering about the purpose behind this brief summary on GOT. Well fans of GOT will tell you that the sixth season was the best of all since finally the bad guys get it; and if you ask what was their favourite season, a majority will enthusiastically blurt, the part where Cersei (the Queen) blows up the Sept of Baelor together with the High Septon and his band of troublemakers. And to be honest, so did I enjoy that irritating High Sparrow get some in spades. Problem is, was he actually the bad guy? So what is it with us that while we all take about an end to inequality, economic and judicial, and passionately argue for across the board implementation of rule of law, but as soon as someone appears who wants to change the status quo, we suddenly find faults with that person and relish him being blown to bits by those in power. Nothing more need be said, except perhaps a time to think.

The writer is a chartered accountant based in Islamabad and can be reached at syed.bakhtiyarkazmi@gmail.com