One year ago, I wanted to watch a TV series together with my girlfriend, and because "Game of Thrones" was (and still is) very popular we decided to give it a go. The first episodes were a bit confusing, but as everyone was talking about it we thought about watching a couple of episodes more, and then we were really into it. At the end of the first season, when Ned Stark was beheaded, we said: "Ok, what's coming next?". Basically, that's the whole focus of the series, you always want to know what's happening next, and that's what makes it so special. In school, all my colleagues watched it and I used to talk with them about what happened and ask ourselves who's going to die next.
I think I needed less than three months to watch the whole 50 episodes. Now I can't wait for next season, only problem is there are four-five months until it will be out. I hope that the Stark family – even though a lot of them aren't around anymore – will get its revenge. I'm counting on Bran to do it and to reunite with his two sisters, Arya and Sansa. Another thing that I hope is to see the Starks making an alliance with Daenerys Targaryan and take over Westeros, that would be great, but also that Jon Snow returns to the series after what happened in the season five finale. I like Jon Snow and the entire Stark family a lot, because they are all regular people, a real family, united and always strong, kind of like a cycling team.
At the opposite end was Joffrey Baratheon, a character which I really despised, and seeing him finally out of the series was one of the top moments so far. It made me even more sure that one of the main themes of the show is justice and that in the end every character that does something bad pays for it at some point. I don't like betrayals or intrigues, even in real life I want people to be honest and behave in a good way, not treating others with arrogance and making them suffer.
Although he's a Lannister, I must say I like Tyrion! He's a really nice character, someone with such a personality is always nice to have also in real life. He is witty, has the right words all the time and makes fun of things in a nice way. You need fun, not only in the TV series, but also in life and in a cycling team, so I do hope he'll not be forced to leave "Game of Thrones", although if I remember correctly, one of the main sayings of the series is "Valar Morghulis", so you can see where this is going...
There are two more seasons until the end of the series, but I already have my own theory about what is going to happen, and I have to say that the way I see it, things will be pretty grim at the end. Because I really don't think there's going to be a throne left, as they don't know how many whitewalkers are beyond the Wall, so my guess is that the words Ned Stark said since the first episode – "Winter is coming" – will become reality eventually and have a huge impact, so Westeros will get conquered by the undead army. It would be a major shock, but which episode wasn't shocking in one way or another?
I know that "Game of Thrones" is just a TV series, but we are talking about it like it's real, like it's actually happening in the real world, and I think the main reason is that many of the situations encountered there can have a reflection – at a different scale, of course – in our world. This shows what a huge cultural impact the series has and how it disconnects you from the day to day routine. Bottom line, I can't wait for the new season to come out in April. I'll be busy racing, but for sure I'll make some time to watch it together with my girlfriend or my teammates, depending on where I'll be at that moment.