The Hidden Psychology Behind Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones has kept its fans hooked for over 20 years. The excitement that I and millions of other people feel as season eight approaches is a testament to the power of its storytelling.

So in this video I want to talk about three reasons its story is so genius, and show how those reasons actually predict how it will all end based on the story's structure.

And there of course will be spoilers up to book five and season seven, including those books and seasons. So to begin with, fiction often treats good and evil as uncrossing un opposites. Harry Potter is basically a saint and Voldemort is pure evil. Captain America is all that is virtuous. Red Skull is a literal Nazi zombie. Recent villains like Thanos and Killmonger have added some depth to the Avengers universe, but by and large our fictional antagonists are pure evil. Defeating them is unambiguously right. Game of Thrones, though, is populated by morally gray multidimensional humans. Yes, some of them are despicable, nasty humans, and we rejoice when they get their comeuppance. But almost none can be reduced to the embodiment of evil. Now, the theme of gray characters has been explored recently in popular fiction. By itself, it's not enough to elevate a series, but the genius of Game of Thrones is that it doesn't initially present itself as having that subtlety. Jaime Lannister seems to be the quintessential one Dimens villain until book end season three when we learn that he saved an entire city and no one has any idea. Theon Greyjoy goes from being a background character to a traitor of his best friend and murderer of little boys. But then his torture is so brutal that we can't help but feel for him and root for his redemption. Robb Stark appears to be perfectly good, avenging his father and never losing a battle, making sound strategic decisions. But then his sense of honor and short sighted desire to choose his own wife causes him to break a marriage pledge, which results in the of everyone that he cares about. It seems that no matter how evil, minor or one dimensional a character may seem, we will one day be forced to encounter their humanity. And that is one of the core strengths of Game of Thrones that we would do well to remember in our daily lives. Humanity exists where you least expect it. Now, I'm not sure how the show will handle it, but I would bet that the books extend this principle to the seeming embodiment of evil in the series, the White Walkers, also known as the Others. And I think that would poetically sum up the point that applies equally equally to storytelling and life. Even though they may appear to be shallow or evil at first, the other has humanity as well. Which brings us to the second point. Drama is built on the reversal of fortune, and I don't think anyone out there now does reversals better than George R.R. martin. You see it in the arc of just about every single character, but perhaps no one exemplifies this better than Daenerys. She starts out an exiled princess is made into a slave bride, becomes favored and prepped to take over the world. Then her undefeated husband is killed from a graze with a knife. Then when it looks like she's committing suicide, she emerges from fire with dragons. And that's all in the first book. After that she wanders the wastes and nearly starves. We think that she must give up a dragon only for her to inquire an entire army without losing a single dragon. She becomes queen and then again loses everything all over again, including her dragons. And it's finally when she is enslaved and alone that she becomes the most powerful ruler on Westeros in the span of just a few minutes. But it's not simply the reversal of fortune that makes for brilliant storytelling, it's that the characters are actively causing these reversals. Whether it's through her mistaken trust or through her brilliant gambits, Daenerys is authoring the changes in her life. And now we see the same thing with Jaime Lannister. It's his own choices that lead to him losing his hand. Game of Thrones is a world full of active characters making choices that significantly impact their fortune. This is the lifeblood of drama.

So let's take everything we've discussed and make some predictions on how the ending can incorporate all of these themes. First off, the White Walkers. Others will be humanized in the end. At least in the books, we're going to find out that the others are not just the embodiment of evil, but that they have sympathetic reasons for attacking the South. Now I do not believe that the war is going to end in an outright destruction of the others, but instead in some kind of truce. Second, Jon and or Dany will have to make decisions that completely reverse their fortunes. First, that's going to mean saving the war when all seems lost, but additionally the love story they have begun is going to come to a tragic end. Only one of them can make it to the end as a flesh and blood human. That's what reversal of fortunes mean. The other one is going to have to go out in heroic sacrifice either by dying or perhaps even turning into an other to establish the truce that I mentioned.

So we have multi dimensional characters making active and impactful decisions that drive the plot forward. That alone would be enough to form the bedrock of an excellent and addictive story. But George adds one more major piece, and I think this is the most unique. It's that Game of Thrones is a hidden hero's journey. Now the hero's journey is a story structure that Joseph Campbell noticed in many of the most popular stories and myths from around the world. There are many elements to it, and some may be omitted in each particular case, but at a high we start with the boy of humble origins who is secretly of important lineage. He uncovers his own magical properties and has to master a challenging and dangerous weapon to defeat a supernatural evil and bring peace to the realm. Along the way, he finds a mentor who must die so that he can face the final evil on his own. And very likely he gets the girl bonus points if the story is titled after this humble boy so that we know exactly who to keep our eyes on. All along, you've seen this arc play out in hundreds of different ways, and it remains satisfying yet predictable. Now, given how closely Game of Thrones adheres to the hero's journey, you'd think that it would be the same way predictable, but it's not. Not even close. And it's because George hides the elements of the hero's journey in plain sight. For instance, the series is called A Song of Ice and Fire, a confusing title that fans usually just replace with the title of the first book, A Game of Thrones. Now, most people do not realize that the entire series has always applied to Jon Snow the whole time, because Jon Snow is secretly the son of Lyanna Stark representing ice, and Rhaegar Targaryen representing fire. When we see Jon fall in love with a grit, we presume that things are finally back on track after Ned Stark's death and the Red Wedding. But then Jon tragically and unheroically loses her and we assume that the hero's journey is completely off the rails forever. And most importantly for 80% of the first season and book, George gives us the perspective of the main character's uncle. We logically assume that Ned and then Rob are our heroes, so when they're killed, we experience the horrible thrill of feeling like anything can happen. And this is George's genius. We love the hero's journey, but we're bored of the fake peril that comes from knowing that the hero must survive until the final act in hiding our heroes. By connecting us with Jon's uncle and then killing him, we feel as if everything, anything, can happen. The same deception plays out to a lesser extent with Dany and Khal Drogo. This makes us feel that every moment in the story could go sideways. Many do, while still treating us to the most psychologically satisfying story arc ever told. And when we find out that this has been a hero's journey all along, there is a rush like no other.

Now, since I believe that this is essentially Jon's story, since it's called the Song of Ice and Fire, I believe that this series ends when Jon ends. So I'm predicting that we will see Dany remain alive with Jon's child. That seems to at least be where the show is pointing us, though. I have to acknowledge that the books have prophesied that Jon may have to sacrifice Dany in order to defeat the Night King. I am not 100% sure if it's going to be Jon or Dany that survives, but I very strongly believe that everything we've seen points to only one of them making it through.

If you're like me, this is going to be a bittersweet end, because I've never found a story that captivated me like A Song of Ice and Fire, and I will miss it. There is good news, though, for those of you, like me, who are anticipating withdrawal, and it's that George R.R. martin wrote three excellent short stories that a lot of people don't know about. They are set in the world of Game of Thrones. I've gone through each of them twice and you can check them out today for free courtesy of our sponsor Audible. Now. This collection is called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and it has it all. It's got the rich characters, those reversals of fortune that you love to hate, and just flat out amazing stories throughout. These deserve TV shows of their own, but for now, you can listen to them all 3 when you sign up for a free trial of audible@audible.com charisma or if you text charisma to 500 500. Audible has a massive collection of audiobooks that you can listen to on your commute, doing chores at the gym, wherever, and after your trial. It's just $14.95 a month, which comes with a free audiobook of your choice every month. So if you're not listening on your commute or you haven't checked out A Night of the Seven Kingdoms, I highly recommend you do so. It is truly awesome and it will help you to go through the withdrawal period that I personally am anticipating. You can start all of that today for free@Audible.com Charisma or by texting Charisma to 500 500. So I hope that you guys enjoyed this video. If you haven't yet done so, you may want to hit that subscribe and notification bell because I have some fun videos coming up. Game of Thrones breakdowns, Avengers stuff, and of course, the charisma tips that you've come to know from our channel. If you want to make sure that you don't miss any of those, those buttons might help if they are pressed. Either way, I look forward to seeing you in the next video.