According to Buzzfeed, my “Game of Thrones” name would be Lady Hannada Baelish, Defender of the Vale. A few years ago I would have thought it was ridiculous to have even uttered that sentence, but, alas, it is a new age: an age where dungeons and dragons are becoming cool again, and my inner nerd gets to rejoice every Sunday night.
After The Red Wedding left fans in disarray, “Game of Thrones” made a promise that this season would be back with a vengeance. I’m not going to give away what happens in the first episode of the fourth season of “Game of Thrones,” since most people probably haven’t had a chance to catch up on Sunday’s episode, but it is worth noting how Hollywood is finally using its imagination again.
When I’m sitting in my history class, listening to my professor go on and on about the past, I like to imagine it as if it were an episode of “Game of Thrones.” In my mind I’m traveling with famous revolutionaries and fighting great wars.
As a kid it was cool to be a knight or princess, but at what age did it stop being cool to slay the dragon and save the day? All of a sudden school became so important, and games of make believe ceased to exist because homework needed to be done.
I have this theory that the reason we watch so much television is because it’s the only outlet our imaginations get to have anymore. We can’t storm the castle, so instead we storm the living room in our attempt for an intellectual escape. It’s in the comfort of our own rooms that we can see dragons breathe fire and sorcery come to life.
There is so much monotony during the day. Wake up and check the five different types of social media before the day starts because you’re afraid you may have “missed something.” Go to school and take notes in class as you pretend to go through the motions. By the time class is over, the exhaustion hits and procrastination takes over. Finally, once you’re in bed and checking those same five social media sites one last time, that’s when it hits: Today was the same as every other day.
I believe that’s why people look forward to “Game of Thrones” so much on Sunday. It is the one day that your imagination gets to run wild and see sights it has never seen before. All that monotony gets to be broken up for one hour. Hollywood is taking a step back from reality TV and investing in imaginary TV.
In a trend that I have seen lately, locations are becoming expansive, and it now takes “Game of Thrones” an entire year just to film all of its beautiful sets. All of those children who stopped playing dungeons and dragons finally get the chance to build something purely out of their subconsciouses. “Game of Thrones” is not filmed on a small scale, but rather a “Lord of the Rings” movie kind of scale. No more are CGI sets, but real live sets that look fit for a king.
Once school is over and I have to return to the Shire (New Hampshire), I will no longer be just Hannah Widener, boring old college student. Instead, I will finally have time to catch up with my imagination on “Game of Thrones,” and I will be Lady Hannada Baelish, Defender of the Vale. For at least a little while anyways.
