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Quality Television (Game of Thrones)

Quality Television includes programs of robust pedigree that combine contemporary

genres to form new ones. The quality television program must encompass a broad ensemble cast,

controversial and realism tendencies, self-consciousness, and a series of memories. The program

has to pay particular attention to the casts, relationships, and provoke thoughts. Additionally, the

quality television has to enlighten and confront the viewers’ emotions. The fictional television

programs are evaluated based on the use of ambiguous plotlines, psychological realism, as well

as the script complexity to evoke viewers’ emotions.

“Games of Thrones” is a television series that is based on the “song of ice and fire”

composed by George Martin. Notably, David Benioff created the film in collaboration with

Weiss. The series was filmed in Belfast, as well as other locations in Morocco, Iceland, Canada,

and Croatia (Genz 243). The first season of the film was produced in 2011 while the seventh

season ended on the 27th August 2017. Respectively, the eighth and the final season of the film

is set to premier in 2019. The executive producers of the film include George Martin, Bernadette,

Frank, Carolyn, David, and Weiss (Genz 243). The fantasy drama has a total of 67 completed

episodes in all the seven seasons.

In this analysis, I will focus on the first episode of season seven that is entitled

“Dragonstone.” The episode was directed by Jeremy Podeswa and written by David and Weiss.

The music in the film was composed in English by Ramin Djawadi. The cinematographic
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features were developed by Gregory Middleton and were initially aired on the 16th July 2017.

The script editor was Crispin Green, and the episode runs for 59 minutes (Thompson 56).

Moreover, the episode featured numerous casts such as Jim Broadbent, Paul Kaye, David

Bradley, and Bella Ramsey. The plot of the episode focuses on the alliance that was formed

between Cersei, Jamie and Euron Greyjoy after the death of Frey (Thompson 36). The other

theme in the episode includes the coming of Daenerys to her native home in Dragonstone.

The episode can be classified as a quality television program as it met most of the

subjective criteria used by film critics. The quality television serves as an audience category in

several ways. First, the film encompassed a broad ensemble cast who appeared for the first time

in the series. These new casts played significant roles in the film. The guest appearance also

paved the way for the exit of other traditional characters in the series such as David Bradley.

These guest casts include Jim Broadbent, Pilou Asbaek, Jacob Anderson, Daniel Portman, Tim

Mclnnerny, among others. The appearance of multiple guests in the episode attracted the

viewers’ attention hence improving the film’s popularity.

Ambiguous plotlines are also used to serve as quality television for the audience

category. The plot is divided into six distinct locations. These locations include the Riverlands,

beyond the wall, Winterfell, King’s landing, old town, and Dragonstone. In the Riverlands, Arya

Stark disguises herself as Walder Frey (Thompson 75). She, therefore, moves to the North and

kills all the men in the House Frey. The House Frey men are given poisonous wine in the scene

leading to their death. However, Walder’s wife, Kitty is left alive and acts as a witness. Kitty’s

testimonies are used to present a series of memories in the plot which are essential for a quality

television program.
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Arya Stark then travels to the South to make friendship alliance with the Lannister

Soldiers. Arya also plans to kill the Queen, but her claims are not taken seriously. Sandor and his

friends decide to take refuge in an abandoned farm. They discover that a farmer and his daughter

had been killed on the farm. Beric Dondarrion does not understand why he was resurrected.

Sandor sees a flame vision at the intersection point between the sea and the wall. During the

night, Sandor is troubled and compelled to bury the bodies of the farmer and his daughter. The

Thoros of Myr decides to help Sandor in burying the bodies. The scene presents quality

television for the audience as deep thoughts and emotions are evoked when Sandor buries the

dead bodies. Self-consciousness is also featured in the scene when Beric Dondarrion

acknowledges that he does not understand why he resurrected (McKay 32).

Beyond the wall, the Wights and White Walkers arrive in the South. Moreover, Bran and

Reed Meera approach the wall. Bran has sufficient knowledge about the White Walkers as well

as Eddison’s experience. As such, Bran and Meera are welcomed at the wall by Eddison Tollett.

The scene at the Winterfell is also captivating as it features Jon Snow, Ned Umber, and Alys

Kartarks. Jon Snow forgives the two children, Alys and Ned, even after their father betrayed

them. Sansa Stark objects to the pardon, but the two children take the oath of loyalty (McKay 7).

Tormund fortifies the wall and follows Jon’s command to recruit soldiers for the battle. Women

and young girls are included in the army. Sansa continues to undermine Jon’s authority. Thus,

Jon becomes frustrated with her leadership position. Sansa is paranoid and does not want Jon to

repeat the mistakes that led to the death of their father and brother. Cersei Lannister commands

Jon to kneel. Sansa is aware that Lannisters are dangerous. However, Jon is oblivious to Cersei’s

threat.
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Quality television that appeals to the audience is vividly depicted in King’s Landing.

Cersei is informed that Targaryen has returned to Westeros. Cersei is also informed that they are

surrounded by several enemy soldiers seeking to take over King’s Landing. In the mood of

despair, Euron Greyjoy approaches Cersei and promises to offer her military support. Euron also

proposes to Cersei for her hand in marriage. However, Cersei rejects the proposal as she does not

trust anyone. Euron does not give up on his attempt to bring more gifts to Cersei. In Oldtown,

Samwell Tarly is fascinated by the conventional training methods that are used by his master.

The training involves excessive menial labor with less research. Tarly desires to access the

library with the aim of improving the training (McKay 7). However, Ebrose Archmarster

prohibits Sam from accessing the library. During the night, Sam succeeds in stealing the keys to

the restricted areas of the library and takes several reading materials. Sam discovers the deposits

of dragonglass in Dragonstone. He informs Jon about the dragonglass using a raven. Targaryen

arrives at Dragonstone in a fleet of ships. She enters the building together with her advisors.

Targaryen asks Lannister whether they can begin at the war council. The ambiguous plotline in

the script served as an audience quality television(McKay 55).

Quality television functions as aesthetics in the episode through the writing and casting of

the film. For instance, the fascinating conversation between Jon and Sansa Stark is used to

aesthetically portray Sansa’s dissatisfaction. Sansa is discontented with the credit that he is given

for securing the union with Vale (Matthews 225). The dialogue is also used to indicate the

differing opinions of Jon and Sansa regarding the threats posed by Cersei and the White Walkers.

The conversation between Cersei and Jaime portrays the duo’s cruel nature. Cersei has little

concern for innocents after her children are killed.

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Aesthetics is also used in the episode through the involvement of a broad ensemble cast

that included Jim Broadbent and Ed Sheeran for the first time. Jim Broadbent plays Archaester

Ebrose in the scene. His inclusion in the film was highly anticipated as HBO had announced it in

August 2016. Ed Sheeran, a famous musician, was also included in the film to create aesthetical

appeal. The musician made Cameo appearance at numerous points in the series hence increasing

the aesthetical appeal for the episode. Ed Sheeran came as a surprise to Maisie Williams who is

one of his greatest fans. Sheeran plays a Lannister soldier who attracts the attention of Arya after

singing an unfamiliar song. The song is adapted from George Martin's book. Silver Symon sings

the song in the book (McKay 71). However, the character of Silver Symon in the book

significantly differs from Sheeran’s role in the episode. The use of a talented musician in the

episode to perform the actual singing was aesthetic and tremendously increased the film’s

appeal. Sheeran is not too typical in the scene hence creating the increased need for his presence.

When asked about his role in the film before its airing, Sheeran indicated that he plays a minor

role that involves a mere conversation.

Quality television also served as an industrial category as depicted from the high sales

volume. The director of the episode, Jeremy Podeswa was pleased to work with new casts such

as Sheeran. The director stated that he enjoyed working with the musician and believes that he

perfectly fits the industry. According to statistics, the episode was viewed by over 16 million

people across the globe. Over 10 million people saw the film on HBO while the rest accessed the

episode via DVR and streaming (Somin 4). The “Dragonstone’ is one of the most viewed

episodes in the series. Other prior episodes had fewer online comments and tweets compared to

the “Dragonstone.” The episode was highly rated due to its quality television features. In 18 to

50 demographics, the film acquired a rating of 4.7 (Somin 4). Over 2 million tweets were
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inspired by the series making the episode one of the most popular in the film’s history. The film

was also pirated over 90 million times by its third day of being aired. The high rate of piracy

indicates the unusual nature of the quality television features which were included in the film.

Most of these pirates were aware that they would make huge returns from the film. In Great

Britain, the film was viewed by close to 4 million people. It was one of the highly rated

broadcasts in the United Kingdom during the initiation week (McKay 27).

The film appeals to both the local and international market. By August 2017, over 30

million people in the United States had viewed the film. The episode was the most viewed film

that has ever been aired on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom. The film has also received

tremendous praises from the critics. The approval rating for the episode is 96 percent. From the

45 reviews which were conducted by “Rotten Tomatoes” website, the film received an aggregate

score of 8.4/10 (Marnell 5). The quality of television that functions as the industry category in

the movie includes the righteous revenge as well as newly formed alliances. Some of the

reviewers who praised the episode include Matt Fowler, Erik Kain, and Jane Mulherrins.

According to Jane Mulkerrins, the episode met the quality television standards for the industry

category as a result of its ability to surprise the viewers (Marnell 5). Despite being a Dragon-

heavy show, the film was highly fascinating and appealing to the viewers.

Game of Thrones is among the most popular fantasy dramas that have ever been air on

television. Currently, the eighth season is underway and will air in 2019. Reports by HBO

indicate that the budget for each episode in the eighth season will be about $15 million (Marnell

3). The growth in demand for the film has prompted the expanded budget as well as increased

funding for the episodes. The first episode of season seven set the pace for growth as it included

the aspects of quality television. Quality television aspects have been adequately used in the
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‘Dragonstone” to serve the audience, industry and aesthetics categories. The film provokes

thoughts, a series of memories, as well as psychological realism hence making it a fantastic

fictional film that encompasses quality television.

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Works Cited

Genz, Stéphanie. "I’m not Going to Fight Them, I’m Going to Fuck Them: Sexist Liberalism and

Gender (a) Politics in Game of Thrones." Women of ice and fire: Gender, Game of

Thrones and multiple media engagements (2016): 243-266.

Marnell, Blair. "Game of Thrones Final Season May Cost $15 Million Per Episode |

Nerdist". Nerdist, 2017.

Matthews, Jolie Christine. "A Past that Never Was: Historical Poaching in Game of Thrones

Fans’ Tumblr Practices." Popular Communication 16.3 (2018): 225-242.

McKay, Hattie. "The Feminists are Coming: A Critical Analysis of Melisandre and Feminism in

Game of Thrones." Relics, Remnants, and Religion: An Undergraduate Journal in

Religious Studies 3.1 (2018): 7.

Somin, Illya. "The Politics Of “Game Of Thrones”". Washington Post, 2017.

Thompson, Ariella. "An Examination of Audience Perceptions of Sexual Violence and

Misogyny in Game of Thrones™." Journal of Promotional Communications 5.3 (2017).