Once upon a time, Game of Thrones was a political drama set in a fantasy world. Those days are now irrevocably behind us. Since the beginning of the season, the world of the show has changed. Melisandre used her blood magic to revive Jon Snow from death. And, more recently, Daenerys used her magical fire powers to take control of the Dothraki horde, making her army the most powerful military force in the known world. At the same time, Bran sees visions of the past on the regular. It’s happened: Game of Thrones is an epic fantasy now.
How Game Of Thrones Became Epic Fantasy
Game of Thrones has always had magic in it; nobody will deny that. We first see wights in the first scene of the first episode. The dragons born at the end of season 1 are overtly magical. Thoros of Myr has brought back Beric Dondarrion from death. The sorcerors of the House of the Undying could foretell the future. The show was like a raspberry shortbread cookie: All the action was in the politics and interpersonal relations, but there was magic around the edges.
That has changed forever. Now, the magic of Game of Thrones is front and center—not a curiosity with limited effects (like the Lightning Lord’s revival) or future implications (the dragons, the White Walkers). Even its most prominent appearance before this season—Melisandre’s use of blood magic to kill Renly Baratheon—was seen as a dark and terrible aberration. But magic is no longer kept at the fringes. One of the series’ two most important characters is back from the dead. The other used her immunity from fire to make herself some kind of barbarian goddess. The Dothraki aren’t magical, but their presence under Daenerys’s rule makes the show feel somehow more fantastical and less political. After all, they’re a horde. And Bran has magic out the wazoo; he can even influence the past.
But the truth is, Game of Thrones was always going to become an epic fantasy—for better or for worse. The first appearance of the wights in the first scene of the first season established that. The threat of the White Walkers, once looming in the distance, is now close at hand. And that means all the epic elements of the show are coming to the forefront as well. It’s only going to increase from here, so you better like magic.
