A A A

Many, Many Reasons You Should Be Watching Game of Thrones

Direwolves, dragons, and dwarves, oh my!  Game of Thrones is the best show on TV right now, and we've got a huge list of reasons you need to start watching right now.

Kevin Fitzpatrick By Kevin Fitzpatrick April 18, 2011
  
VIEW AS: List Slideshow
Viewing: Page 1 / 4
Game of Thrones
Credit: HBO
16

The Battles

Well, they don't carry around those big swords for their health!  Or actually...I guess they do.

The point is that Game of Thrones is chock-full of medieval action, weaponry and war, from the very first sequence of the Night's Watch fending an attack from the White Walkers, to the coming bloody battles of the War of the Five Kings. 

You'll find no shortage of epic fights, from ambushes, jousting, a little girl and her trainer, or even all-out war.

Game of Thrones
Credit: HBO
15

Blood, Guts, and Heads Will Roll

The swords are sharp, and the blood is plentiful.  Within minutes of "Winter is Coming," we knew that heads were going to roll on the road to Westeros' War of the Five Kings.

HBO, the same network that tosses blood buckets at True Blood, didn't pull any punches with the brutality of the series.  Decapitations spurt blood, boys get pushed out of windows, and there are plenty more crowning moments of violence to come.

Game of Thrones
Credit: HBO
14

Sean Bean

Come on, it's Sean Bean.  Nerds have been aware of Bean since at least his role as Alec Trevelyan of GoldenEye, let alone his turn as Boromir in Lord of the Rings.  And like it or not, Hollywood seems to think the man looks good with a sword.

Bean brings a grizzled, yet warm intensity to the role of Ned Stark, and whether or not we see a second season for Eddard "Ned" Stark, Bean's performance more than carries the narrative as it drifts across continents in the war of Westeros.

Check out this scene between Sean Bean's Ned Stark and Jaime Lannister for proof positive of the actor's incredible talent:

Game of Thrones
Credit: HBO
13

The Kids Are All Right

Game of Thrones isn't a vehicle for the latest Hollywood stars and starlets.  The adult actors are all well-trained and respected thespians, and the crucial-to-the-plot Stark children are much more than pieces and child actors positioned around to be cute as needed.

Says creator George R.R. Martin of the Stark children:

"The children in the Game of Thrones are required to do a great deal more. This requires some really serious acting chops. They have to convey fear, and grief, and love, and yearning and parts that would be challenging for even an adult actor with ten, twenty years experience. And here we're talking about young kids who have done a few school plays. So they were very hard to find.

We looked at hundreds of kids for each of these roles and I don't know where Nina Gold, our casting director, found the kids that she did, but it's amazing. All of them are great. The three principle kids, Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran) Sophie Turner (Sansa) and of course Maisie Williams (Arya), are all amazing."

Game of Thrones
Credit: HBO
12

Puppies!

Aren't they adorable?!  Who knew direwolves would be so cuddly as pups?

Be warned, though.  Ned may have given the orphaned direwolves to his five children as symbols of their household, but those pups are going to grow up quickly.  And a direwolf is far less cuddly when its ripping your throat out for attacking its master!

 
1234
Next 
See More: Game of Thrones | HBO | fantasy | magic | Sean Bean