Philosophies of Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones as both a television series and book series is an extremely in depth study on the nature of people, their faith, knowledge, political power, and ethics while also keeping the narrative entertaining and understandable. There are many philosophies shown in the show, which I will be referring to since I haven’t read the books (sue me), and they all have this fascinating way of intermingling and mixing to create great, tense conflict between characters. I will be talking about a few characters and how their philosophies shaped their position and power within the show. Still, there is still this looming greater truth among all the characters that has kept the show from ever becoming stale. That truth is the truth of death. Death is the one thing in Game of Thrones that no one can escape or ever be safe from. That notion helps form the ultimate philosophy of the show which takes from the ideas of Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Seneca.

Daenerys Targaryen: Moral Absolutism

Dani, for short, has a very strong philosophy that never wavers, sometimes to her detriment. She is a princess of a long forgotten kingdom and in the beginning of the series, she is no more than a slave. This life gives her an unprecedented sense of self reliance and morality that shapes her philosophy on life and what good and evil is. She eventually gets three dragons and with that kind of firepower, Dani is able to take an 8,000 men army along with thousands of others to fight behind her. She travels to cities built by slaves and the slave trade and, as one of her titles suggests, she became the breaker of their chains, liberating all the slaves within the area called Slaver’s Bay and naming herself queen of Meereen (one of the slave cities). Ultimately, Daenerys believes in the individual and knows that having the power of the people is key to being a good leader. This idea she shared with the philosopher Machiavelli, who believed that a successful ruler must know how to get the population of the state on their side. Dani’s vocal and blunt way of telling the people what she believes to be right (freedom, liberty, etc) and what she believes to be wrong (tyranny, oppression) rallies the low class majority helping her easily dismantle the old ways. Her philosophy and moral compass is what drives her and ultimately gave her all the power she so quickly gained. But, a large amount of power comes with a large amount of responsibility. Not long after Dani liberates the slave cities, descenters and opposition emerges. The sudden change in economy and and culture that slave trade had created was destroyed and rebel groups such as the Sons of the Harpy erupted. What Dani lacks is the flexibility, or virtu as Machiavelli says, to adapt from old to new. Tyrian Lannister, Dani’s head advisor, put it well while explaining why a gradual abolition of slavery was smarter than an instant uprooting.

This internal conflict Dani faces between her morals and the real world emphasizes the difficulty of being a ruler and begs questions of how true to one’s self must one be and how to keep a balance between doing what’s morally right and doing what’s right in the long run.

Varys and Baelish: Good for the Realm or Good for Me?

Petyr Baelish

Lord Varys

Two of the most interesting characters on the show are the two characters shrouded in the most mystery. Both Varys and Baelish are shown to be very smart, very observant, and very cunning. Varys has a position on the high council in the most powerful place in the world, King’s Landing, while also being known to most as the Master of Whispers by reason of his network of hundreds of loyal spies spread out all across the lands. Like many philosophers, he sees knowledge as the ultimate power over people and with an abundance of information at his disposal, he will always be more the wiser than anyone else. Likewise, Lord Baelish has the social intelligence to work his way into any king’s ear or allegiance with whatever will give him the advantage. He knows never to trust anyone and that to think of people as naturally corrupt. This is where the two diverge philosophically. Where Baelish sees people in the worst perspective, as did Hobbes who saw people as inherently brutish and in need of control, Varys sees the betterment of “the realm”, or the whole of society, as his philosophical stance. He wants nothing more than a greater peace everywhere and has remained independently sovereign of anyone else to ensure his flexibility and completing his life goal. He doesn’t want glory or a crown. He believes in a greater responsibility for the “greater good”. Fortunately, this leads him to Daenerys and he quickly becomes one of her most trusted supporters. Oppositely, Baelish’s attempts to always outsmart everyone in order to ascend his ladder to personal greatness garners him a lot of enemies. This exponential growth of paranoia and insecurity within his world consequently traps him in his own game and gets his throat slashed (it was brutally fantastic).

Syrio Forel: Not Today.

Like I said in the beginning, the themes of death, its finality, and its unpredictability is what keeps the show continually entertaining. Death is this unfettered, unstoppable force that has no prejudice to anyone, kings and peasants alike. The show does a brilliantly effective job at showcasing death’s power over the people afflicted and the ones left behind. You can never guess who will survive from episode to episode and this ominous fear that anyone, at any moment, could die is the foundation of the show’s philosophy. Syrio Forel, a sword dancer or lancer, takes this philosophy to heart. He doesn’t believe in any of the many gods that are established in the show but what he calls the “only true god”, the God of Death. His philosophy relies on the idea that death is the one truth in the world. It is the only thing no one can deny and everyone must encounter. He is not so much in fear of death as he respects it and its unhindered power. Subsequently, he tells his pupil, Arya Stark, that the only thing you can do to fight this deathly force is to simply say “not today”. This implies that you are will always be at risk to die but all you can do is fight to live one day at a time for all that we have is each day as it comes. This philosophy takes a great deal from the philosopher Seneca, who decidedly said that life is not so much too short but that people do not spend the time alive to their fullest ability. “Live while you can” seems to be the overarching idea with both Syrio and Seneca while also being the crux to the show and its characters.

QUIZ

1. What does Daenerys find difficult to balance as a new ruler?

2. What is called to have the ability to adapt and change, according to Machiavelli?

3. Varys feels he has a responsibility to do what?

4. Which philosopher could be compared to Baelish?

5. Who does Syrio believe in?

DQ

If you were in Daenerys's position, how would you balance the responsibilities to your people and the responsibility to yourself and your values? Which one is more important?

Do you fear or embrace death? Is death something you should fear or embrace?