Ending the Watch: a Coda on Scientists in Game of Thrones

jspc 2 (2) pp. 105–106 Intellect Limited 2019

Editorial

Steven Gil Queensland University of Technology

Ending the watch: A coda on scientists in Game of Thrones

For many commentators, the televisual rendition of A Song of Ice and Fire ended not just on a sour note but with a whole series of sudden key changes that left it feeling like a whole different tune. Creative appeals to ‘foreshadow- ing’ or George R. R. Martin’s tactic of subverting expectations on the part of showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss did little to ameliorate criticism. A crowded and rushed ending was inevitable with the complex and sweeping series narrative collapsed into only six episodes. However, no one could have foreseen the flaws in execution that would culminate in a run so divisive that it inspired a fan petition for the season to be remade (Sandler 2019). A plethora of fan theories, like the prophecies featured in the series itself, came to noth- ing. Nowhere is the season’s problematic execution more obvious than in the two separate scenes spread across two separate episodes wherein a contem- porary coffee cup and plastic bottles joined the cast (Desta 2019; Jaeger 2019). ‘Medieval mad science: Depicting scientists in HBO’s Game of Thrones’ was written in the hiatus between the penultimate and final seasons, which meant leaving open the potential for further elaboration of the themes in the final, as yet unfinished, episodes. Now that those episodes have aired, thus closing the on-screen narrative, it is possible to determine whether there is anything in them that adds to or augments the conclusions drawn in the article.

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Unsurprisingly, the focus on major characters and pragmatic demand of restricting action and events to a capstone leave little room for the support- ing cast of scientist proxies to participate. The Order of Maesters is wholly absent and its last remaining representatives – Samwell Tarly and Qyburn – each occupy background roles. Qyburn is present, fulfilling his role as Queen Cersei’s Hand, but there is no further need of his scientific and technical talents. His greatest impact on the story arc comes from the earlier creation of an anti-dragon weapon: the Scorpion. Now an extension of the writers’ whim, these prove either massively effective or totally redundant depending on the demands of the plot and whether that episode’s visual spectacle trades on the death (‘The Last of the Starks’ 8.04) or death-dealing power of a dragon (‘The Bells’ 8.05). Given the resultant carnage that a dragon-mounted Daenerys inflicts on the innocent inhabitants of King’s Landing, we are presented through the series’ moral complexity with the realization that even the military-industrial outputs of science serve a dual purpose as a means of defence. When the usually heroic dragon is recast as a means to slaughter the innocent, a mad scientist can be recast as a saviour figure able to produce the means to stop the destruction. Qyburn’s other principal creation, the ‘saved’ Gregor Clegane, or FrankenMountain as labelled by fans, performs almost equally as ancillary a role: acting as a menacing guard and executioner. A final scene, delivering on the anticipated confrontation between Clegane and his brother, sees him finally break rank and ignore Cersei’s orders before throwing Qyburn aside with such force that it breaks the ageing man’s skull (‘The Bells’ 8.05). While this final battle reveals the distorted body of Clegane, it provides no further insight on how he was saved from certain death. Interestingly, he does prove more difficult to dispatch than any other character, being apparently immune to any injury, including a dagger through the brain. This power suggests that Qyburn’s scientific and medical practices are sufficient to create a soldier more formidable than the resurrected dead or the Night King himself. Clegane is finally dispatched when consumed by fire that, alongside the killing of his creator, closes the Frankenstein arc.

References Desta, Yohana (2019), ‘Game of Thrones: Yes, a plastic bottle sneaked into the finale’, Vanity Fair, 20 May, https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/05/game-of- thrones-plastic-water-bottle-finale?verso=true. Accessed 11 June 2019. Jaeger, Max (2019), ‘ “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner blames Emilia Clarke for coffee gaffe’, New York Post, 12 May, https://nypost.com/ 2019/05/12/game-of-thrones-star-sophie-turner-blames-emilia-clarke-for- coffee-gaffe/. Accessed 11 June 2019. Sandler, Rachel (2019), ‘This “Game of Thrones” fan demands a rewrite – and 1.2 million sign petition’, Forbes, 18 May, https://www.forbes.com/sites/ rachelsandler/2019/05/18/this-game-of-thrones-fan-was-so-angry-at-the- show--he-created-a-viral-petition/#b26eb871d932. Accessed 11 June 2019.

Steven Gil has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work in the format that was submitted to Intellect Ltd.

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