Sunday night has become my favorite night and it's all because of television. Is that sad? Or am I in league with the rest of the population? Judging by the incredible ratings of The Bible and Vikings on The History Channel and Game of Thrones on HBO, I'd say I'm in lock step with everyone else.
To date, we are three episodes into the third season of Game of Thrones and the seventh episode of Vikings just aired. It wouldn't benefit either my readers or myself to summarize what's happened in every episode of these shows. HBO and The History Channel already do that on their websites. Instead, I'd like to talk about how the two shows compliment each other...which is interesting considering they're produced by different companies, aired on different networks and one is fantasy and the other is based on real history.
I've been watching Game of Thrones since the first episode of the first season and I haven't missed a single airing. Impressive, I know. But before everyone lines up to congratulate me on my ability to watch television, I'd like to steer this blog back to its purpose...to discuss the melding of history and entertainment. I'm not normally a fan of fantasy, but George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones does such a great job of incorporating real history into its storytelling, one would think it was based on actual events and medieval legends. The fact, however, is that Martin birthed the Game of Thrones stories from his own active imagination. I've never met the man and know very little about him, but he is clearly a student of history because the subject permeates his stories. In tonight's episode, for example, I observed so many historical depictions or touches that I stopped counting a half hour into the show. I particularly appreciated the opening scene of the episode when the dead nobleman was put on a barge and pushed down river so an archer could hit the barge with a flaming arrow and turn it into a burning funeral pyre. Of course, that's the same thing Vikings, Celts and other cultures did in real life. It was also a scene that was depicted on last week's episode of Vikings on The History Channel. Several minutes later in the same Game of Thrones episode, many rebellious slaves were crucified along a thoroughfare just like Spartacus was by the Romans in real life (and in the Spartacus movie and television show...I'm not sure if it was yet depicted on the show because I've only seen one episode of it so far. But if it hasn't been, it certainly will be).
I've already discussed The History Channel's Vikings in a separate blog entry, so I won't rehash old material. I will, however, say that Vikings is a wonderful follow-up to Game of Thrones. Its weapons, costumes, modes of travel and frequent references to "the gods" fits so well with the Game of Thrones motif that it would be understandable if someone thought the two shows were merely different chapters of the same story. It's not inconceivable to think that a character could be pulled out of Vikings and inserted with ease into an episode of Game of Thrones and vice versa. It's too bad the two shows weren't on the same network because the cross-promotional possibilities would be a marketer's dream.
If you're a lover of history like I am or merely a casual enthusiast of the subject...heck, if you just like good storytelling, Sunday night is the night for you. And you can watch the shows in any order you like because both The History Channel and HBO rebroadcast each episode several times in the night. Of course, you could also watch the shows whenever you want On Demand. The possibilities are endless! Oh what a great time to be a history buff!!!
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