History GameOfThrones / TropesGToK

* GoodVsGood:

GameOfThrones/TropesA ([[AdaptationalAttractiveness/GameOfThrones Adaptational Attractiveness]], [[AdaptationalBadass/GameOfThrones Adaptational Badass]], [[AdaptationalHeroism/GameOfThrones Adaptational Heroism]], [[AdaptationalModesty/GameOfThrones Adaptational Modesty]], [[AdaptationalVillainy/GameOfThrones Adaptational Villainy]], [[AdaptationalWimp/GameOfThrones Adaptational Wimp]], [[AdaptationDistillation/GameOfThrones Adaptation Distillation]], [[AdaptationDyeJob/GameOfThrones Adaptation Dye-Job]], [[AdaptationExpansion/GameOfThrones Adaptation Expansion]], [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication/GameOfThrones Adaptation Explanation Extrication]], [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole/GameOfThrones Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole]], [[AdaptationNameChange/GameOfThrones Adaptation Name Change]], [[AdaptationPersonalityChange/GameOfThrones Adaptation Personality Change]], [[AdaptedOut/GameOfThrones Adapted Out]], [[AgeLift/GameOfThrones Age Lift]], [[AnimalMotifs/GameOfThrones Animal Motifs]], [[AscendedExtra/GameOfThrones Ascended Extra]], [[AssholeVictim/GameOfThrones Asshole Victim]], [[AsYouKnow/GameOfThrones As You Know]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesB ([[BadassBoast/GameOfThrones Badass Boast]], [[BaitAndSwitch/GameOfThrones Bait-and-Switch]], [[BullyingADragon/GameOfThrones Bullying a Dragon]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesCToD ([[CallBack/GameOfThrones Call-Back]], [[CanonForeigner/GameOfThrones Canon Foreigner]], [[CompositeCharacter/GameOfThrones Composite Character]], [[CruelAndUnusualDeath/GameOfThrones Cruel and Unusual Death]], [[DeathByAdaptation/GameOfThrones Death by Adaptation]], [[DemotedToExtra/GameOfThrones Demoted to Extra]], [[DueToTheDead/GameOfThrones Due to the Dead]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesEToF ([[EstablishingCharacterMoment/GameOfThrones Establishing Character Moment]], [[FamousLastWords/GameOfThrones Famous Last Words]], [[FanDisservice/GameOfThrones Fan Disservice]], [[FantasyCounterpartCulture/GameOfThrones Fantasy Counterpart Culture]], [[Foil/GameOfThrones Foil]], [[Foreshadowing/GameOfThrones Foreshadowing]]) | '''Tropes G to K''' ([[HateSink/GameOfThrones Hate Sink]], [[JerkassHasAPoint/GameOfThrones Jerkass Has a Point]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesLToO ([[Leitmotif/GameOfThrones Leitmotif]], [[OhCrap/GameOfThrones Oh, Crap!]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesPToS ([[PragmaticAdaptation/GameOfThrones Pragmatic Adaptation]], [[RealityEnsues/GameOfThrones Reality Ensues]]) | GameOfThrones/TropesTToZ ([[WhamEpisode/GameOfThrones Wham Episode]])]]]]-]

** One more tricky example is [[GuileHero Margaery Tyrell]]. While she ''is'' very ambitious and willing to use others to get her means, she is also a genuinely good person that cares about the smallfolk and her family. She becomes the main {{protagonist}} in King's Landing in seasons 5 and 6, with [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]] [[spoiler:and later the [[TheFundamentalist High Sparrow]]]] as her {{antagonist}}s.

** By season 6, done again with [[spoiler:[[GuileHero Margaery Tyrell]]]], which served the last 4 seasons (especially seasons 5 and 6, after [[spoiler:Sansa and Tyrion left the city]]) as the {{protagonist}} in the King's Landing storyline, against [[StupidEvil Cersei]] [[SmugSnake Lannister]], and the [[TheFundamentalist High Sparrow]]. The show spends 4 seasons building the feud between her and Cersei, and the entire season building up her secret plan to thrawt the High Sparrow, only for her to be [[spoiler:[[DroppedABridgeOnHer killed abruptly]] by [[KillItWithFire wildfire]] in Cersei's final scheme (and because of the High Sparrow's [[BeliefMakesYouStupid stupidity]]), resulting in [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Cersei]] finally [[TheBadGuyWins winning]]]].

** Margaery and Tommen also count; they have a warm and congenial relationship, albeit somewhat manipulative on her side.

* HappilyMarried: Ned and Catelyn Stark seem to be genuinely in love in a world where most marriages (including their own) are arranged for political reasons. Khal Drogo and Daenerys also form a surprising bond.

** [[spoiler:Petyr Baelish's trial]] in season seven also is another heroic example. All the evidence against him is based either on visions from Bran, which would likely be inadmissible in any form of reasonable legal system. Or testimony from Sansa, who has already perjured herself to the lords and ladies of the Vale and is therefore an unreliable witness. Although much like the example featuring Ned Stark above, the accused is in fact guilty and Sansa and her siblings suffer no consequences for it.

** An Ironborn tries it three times on Theon during an AsskickingEqualsAuthority brawl. Theon NoSells it because of his earlier experience with this trope.

** Of note, the costume designers said that they did try to include helmets, hats, and cloaks for characters early on, with the probably predictable result of it being nearly impossible to tell characters apart in the filmed result, especially in wide shots. This was especially bad for the Night's Watch, since they were all uniformly wearing black. Leaving out head coverings is apparently simply a necessary medium adaptation.

** Subverted when Melisandre restrains [[spoiler:Gendry]] after comparing blood magic to slaughtering a lamb. Instead, she only draws some blood for a smaller ritual since Davos has persuaded Stannis to demand proof before consenting.

** The Hound's justification for taking the farmer's silver, that neither the farmer nor his daughter are strong enough to protect themselves in the long term and will be dead by winter, when Arya calls him on such a blatant act of theft that he said he'd never do, may mostly be motivated by [[SocialDarwinism his personal philosophy]], but he later turns out to be exactly right.

** After Dany abolishes slavery in Meereen, an elderly freedman petitions for permission to sell himself back to his old master, explaining that as a tutor he was well-treated and respected but now he's just a feeble old beggar in a WretchedHive of unemployed freedmen. Disturbed, Daenerys grants him the right to sell himself back to his master, but only for one year, which Ser Barristan cautions will lead to LoopholeAbuse. No one seems to mention [[TakeAThirdOption employment, rather than slavery]], even temporary.

** Averted with Davos. Growing up in Flea Bottom and being told of some new "true god" in each new port he docked in made him consider that gods were something people made up to give themselves hope. This is in clear contrast to the Book canon, where Davos is the odd man out in Stannis's court not because he is an atheist, rather because he remains a firm believer in The Seven. Meanwhile, Thoros of Myr believed the gods were just something made up to scare children into being good. Thoros came to believe again after his prayer [[BackFromTheDead raised a man from the dead]], while Davos is more reluctant, though Stannis argues it would make no sense to disbelieve after what he's now seen Melisandre do. We're not shown what he thinks after this.

* GrayEyes: Unlike his [[IcyBlueEyes book counterpart]], Stannis on the show has gray eyes, which reflect his cold and strong-willed personality.

* HypocriteHasAPoint: The Hound's justification for taking the farmer's silver, that neither the farmer nor his daughter are strong enough to protect themselves in the long term and will be dead by winter, when Arya calls him on such a blatant act of theft that he said he'd never do, may mostly be motivated by [[SocialDarwinism his personal philosophy]], but he later turns out to be exactly right.

GameOfThrones/TropesA | GameOfThrones/TropesB | GameOfThrones/TropesCToD | GameOfThrones/TropesEToF | '''Tropes G To K''' | GameOfThrones/TropesLToO | GameOfThrones/TropesPToS | GameOfThrones/TropesTToZ |

[[Series/GameOfThrones Back to the main article]]
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* IndecisiveDeconstruction: ''Game of Thrones'' is notable for deconstructing many aspects of heroic fantasy literature, but the later seasons start to play some traditional fantasy tropes straighter:
** The early seasons emphasized realism, social consequences for reckless individualism in a feudal society, and through its large cast and diffuse storytelling, conveyed that it wasn't centered around any single protagonist, and that it didn't have a single EvilOverlord, instead a GambitPileup of multiple factions. In later seasons, the main characters have all been established and the pace accelerates, so that EasyLogistics, TheMainCharactersDoEverything, TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot become more in effect, and the plots and denouement ultimately end up centering [[spoiler:on a single aristocratic family, the Starks, and how they started out as "merely" very influential and a major regional power, to the actual ruling dynasty of the continent, while at the same time castigating the previous dynasty as an example of too much power in the hands of a single family]].
** In Season 1, Arya's actions unwittingly lead to a peasant boy Mycah being killed for back-talking the crown prince, an action that the peasant is judged for rather than the young noblewoman, while even in Season 5, Bronn got into trouble for attacking the Dornish Prince's son. These scenes were intended to emphasize the feudal order and the sharp class and social distinctions. But they fade by the time of Season 7, where Arya who poses as a peasant openly insults the Queen to Lannister soldiers, only for it to be passed as a joke.
** Robert Baratheon was intended in Season 1 as a deconstruction of the standard fantasy hero, a great war hero who turned out to be a poor ruler, and who was a bad king precisely because he was a ReluctantRuler who didn't want to be King, and whose unhappiness and disinterest made him a poor fit for the role of ruling after the defeat of the EvilOverlord. By the time of Season 7 and Season 8, [[spoiler:both Jon Snow, and later Bran Stark, are framed as ideal candidates of the crown because neither of them are tempted by power. A show that has shown ambition neutrally at the start of the first four seasons, with Renly being framed positively for wanting the crown because of the good he could do, ends up playing AmbitionIsEvil straight with the downfall of characters like Stannis and Daenerys framed as coming from their fixation on the Iron Throne]].
** After repeatedly showing magic in an ambiguous, mysterious and altogether unreliable light across all eight seasons, while also showing that even those who see the future struggle to interpret it and make errors in judgment and bias (as in the case of Melisandre), [[spoiler:the show ends with a BenevolentMageRuler with perfect {{Clairvoyance}} entrusted, unironically, as TheGoodKing]].

** Lady Stark is seen brushing her eldest daughter Sansa's hair, signifying the love and bond between them.

* IntimidationDemonstration: Karl Tanner slices 'n dices the air with his twin daggers while advancing on Jon Snow.
** Also Ser Arthur Dayne and the other Kingsguard fighting Ned during Bran's flashback.