As the latest season of gamed of thrones comes to a close, it is evident that the HBO juggernaut tells a story of feuding families in a rather functionalized setting of medieval Europe. There is no question that the plot across all seasons seeks to answer the questions: Where is power derived from? What do people do with power? The biggest struggle in the movie is the conflict over royal power in the 7 kingdoms. GOT is set majorly on Westeros, a territory divided between familial and political units. The King of the seven Kingdoms is entitled to sit upon the iron throne which is the apex of political hierarchy. A talk of the7 Kingdoms is a folly with one realm and only one leader wanted to control the whole territory. The Kingdoms were the North, Vale and Sky, Isle and Rivers, Kingdom of Rock, Stormlands and Dome. Moreover, the tussle is exemplified through warfare and involvement of the supernatural world. The paper seeks to elaborate the thesis that power is nothing close to absolute but instead, it is constantly shifting, as seen in the Game of Thrones film.
According to Pavlac, Game of Thrones is a mediation of fickleness of power. In the quest for control, naivety and complacency are always punished. The storyline is propelled through surprise assassinations and hideous battles (Pavlac 10). In comparison to modern power struggles, it is clear that just is was then, political leaders are consumed by a jockeying of power and ignoring the worsening climatic menace. In the first season, the onset of power tussle is seen when Jon Snow and his band of night’s watchmen successfully routs Multineers, an act that solidifies Jon’s power. Jon dispatches Karl and Ghost kills Rast. Conversely, the other side of the wall was ruled by the Night King, who was unspeakably evil and would kill everyone for the throne. After the scenes of “Beyond the Wall” Snow effectively resigned his position as the King in the North. Additionally, North of the wall had blood thirsty warlord who holds Daenery captive (Pavlac 9).
Control and power is attained in three forms namely: military, political and spiritual. Cersei aligned with Euron control numerous fleets of ship. Daenarys had three dragons and an army with 8000 men. Dothraki had 140,000 soldiers while Dorne had more 20,000 battle ships. John Snow on the other hand led 20,000 riders, 15,000 infantry 1 direwolve and 1500 wildlings. Spiritual power is depicted by the emergence of white walkers, an army of undead. These characters have no complex strategy and no human desires. They are meant to simply kill because their leader created theme in a way that they believe their lives mean nothing.
There is much debate on whether the series depicts oppressive gendered power relation because of the little substantive authority that women are given. For instance, King Joffrey Bratheon is depicted as a cruel boy even before his ascend to the throne. He may only be a teenager but so far, he had used his power to hold tournaments, order killings and threaten anyone who resisted his leadership. For instance, once he takes the iron throne, he abuses Sansa Stark (Season 2, episode 4). Sansa was forced to kneel on the floor of the King’s chamber with a cross-bow held across her face. Essentially, this episode demonstrates how women are treated in the film. The King reinforces Sansa as an object and not as a fellow human being. Once the soldier begins beating Sansa, Joffrey sexualizes the violence by reminding the audience of the powerless nature of the female body and its only potential utility is for reproducing his authority.
A number of characters use their strengths in an attempt to acquire power. Targaryen plays progressive politics in the quest for power, irrespective of the consequences to her people. She oppressed wherever she goes and enslaved whoever opposed her. Additionally, Melisandre uses magic to kill her master Cressen and convinces Stannis Bratheon to accept her one god. She is given the war room and her influence is overwhelming (Silverman and Robert 17) Equally, Tyrion Lannister arrives in King’s Landing and serves as the temporary King. Although he was not looking to overthrow his leader, he used his genius nature to rule over the kingdom. To amerce power, Cersei had massacred a large portion of Targaryen;s city. However, later on Lannister loses her power both domestically and globally irrespective of the vast wealth. Also, after death of Joffrey, Robb (North’s eldest son) declares war on the Lannisters. The stannis forces attack on him and his army is concealed beneath the city. This was enough to keep them enemy at bay.
Daenery Trrgaryen took her time by creating alliances with Meeren (the ancient Eastern Kingdom). She plays a long political game by planning on ways to elevate the fight again Cersen Lannister, these then ruling queen of the West. Her power basis is smaller and strategic because she knows that shift in power is not easy since she had inadequate armor to overpower the seven kingdoms (Silverman and Robert 15). The smaller powers came together because they had been wronged by the Lannisters.
Season 7 saw a major shift of power after the introduction of the white walkers. The earthquake at the penultimate episode is a symbol of a power balance shift in Westeros. Dragons had always been the fantasy world’s nuclear power and the Night King will not have the slightest hesitation in dropping the bomb. The white walkers acquired one of the most powerful weapons in Westeros; the Ice Dragon. However, the Night King has a rival who could kill him at any moment and his name is the Death Star. By stopping him, the King will have stopped the entire invasion (Silverman and Robert 45).
For power to be attained, there are certain strengths that one leader may have over the other. In the case of Game of Thrones, the show runners focus the end of power struggle on four likely victors namely: Daenerys Targaryen, CerseI Lannister, the Night King and John Snow. While there is no guarantee that there will be a shift of power by other characters, these four emerge as the front-runners (Pavlac 12). With arguably the cleverest adviser in the series, Danery uses her three dragons, a small army and Dothraki to fight for power. On the other hand, Jon Snow uses his track of leadership to win over free folk in order to achieve power. Cersei Lannoster fights dirty and her ruthlessness was compounded after the death of her children, the Night King on the other hand is able to raise the dead and that proves to be his biggest strength.
Conclusion
In Game of Thrones, political and military power continuously shifts because it is always flux, fraught and tenuous. Irrespective of the fact that the war is ugly, realization of control seems all-important to the individuals in the series. The greatest challenge not only comes from the design of human rivals, but also from inexorable march of death as well the unthinking and uncaring forces of this world. Essentially, fight for control of the seven kingdoms is a vicious cycle and even the most successful practitioners of power never really have absolute control.
Works Cited
Pavlac, Brian A. Game of Thrones versus History. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017. Print.
Silverman, Eric J, and Robert Arp. The Ultimate Game of Thrones and Philosophy: You Think or Die. Chicago: Open Court, 2017. Internet resource.
