Eight Years Later: How 'Game of Thrones' Changed My Life

I was a bit late to the party of Game of Thrones because when the show started, I was still in high school and some of my classmates were already watching it. I didn't watch any original content that HBO put out back then because of how violent and really sexual they can get but as soon as I turned 18, I felt like I could finally explore all of the stuff they do put out. I'm 24 years old now and if you told younger me that this show was going to be on my radar, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

When I was in college, I had a few classmates recommend the show to me, including my older brother. They all told me the same thing but I took it with a grain of salt, "Don't get too attached to ANY of the characters.". I honestly thought they were exaggerating because I usually do that with certain stuff I watch but when my older brother told me and he doesn't watch a lot of stuff as much as me, that's when I knew it was serious so I had to see for myself. Also, the Red Wedding had already happened so I was at least two seasons late to the party.

One day, I was riding the bus back home from school and I ended up going to the library since I was renting movies and TV shows a lot along with a few books to read while I'm on the bus so by the time I got home, I did my homework and spent time with family, but by the time I was ready for bed, I popped an episode on and it didn't pull any punches. I didn't remember much about the first episode other than that Bran likes to climb stuff and Jamie and Cersei were siblings. When I saw that, Jamie and Cersei were having sex with each other and I almost puked.

After that, one episode became two, two became three, and so on. I was hooked and I remembered when Ned Stark had gotten captured, I was thinking he'd do the classic hero's escape and go on the run when he was about to get executed, but as soon as that sword came down and made contact with his neck, I literally screamed at my TV like I was in pain. My mom even had to check on me for a minute.

So, I made it through season 1 and I had to get through season 2, which I also didn't remember that much, but as soon as I saw the White Walkers when they were walking past Sam, that's when I knew that there was some shit going down for sure. Things were only going to get worse before things get better and I thought I was ready.

Then, season 3 happened and that's really when shit happened. I got to the Red Wedding and that moment literally made me think, "NO ONE is safe in this show." I couldn't function after seeing that because my mind was all over the place since that was all that I was thinking.

While the remaining seasons were going on, I ended up developing a taste for more gorgeous women like Khaleesi (Emilia Clarke, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Missandei of Naath (Nathalie Emmanuel, The Fate of the Furious), and even Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer, Captain America: The First Avenger). I already had a taste for gorgeous women but I ended up developing a taste for gorgeous women who like a challenge or isn't afraid to speak on the tough stuff. It's crazy that even TV shows give me sprinkles of what my ideal woman is like. Hell, I even had a bit of a crush on The Red Woman/Melisandre (Carice van Houten, Incarnate). Not only her, but I also may or may not be even taking a bit of a liking to Brienne of Tarth (Gwendolyn Christie, Star Wars: The Last Jedi).

Other than the fact that I've been following how crazy the show has been and how gorgeous some of the women are, I love that the battles look more and more like a movie. While everyone has been complaining about the Battle of Winterfell and how dark it was at first, I was one of those people who were more than okay with that because I knew the dead were coming but I like that I couldn't see them at first since all I had was the Dothraki go in and they all got wiped out. Another battle that really stuck out to me as well was the Battle of the Bastards because it started off small but it just erupted into something bigger and it ended with the two bastards, Jon Snow and Ramsey Bolton. By that point, I was cheering because I couldn't stand Ramsey.

Game of Thrones changed my life because I've never really been this invested in a show in a long time. I can't remember the last time a show has made me scream at my TV or let alone get me swinging at the air when a certain character I like dies and it's not even my favorite show. My favorite shows are The Punisher, Smallville, Daredevil, The Flash, Firefly, Angel, and a few others I can't name at the moment.

I still can't believe that it's over now. Every Sunday was kind of another day for me until Game of Thrones came into my life. Now, it's like I don't know what to do because this show was so epic and filled with crazy moments. Even after Smallville ended, I knew what I was going to do because I was still in high school when the show ended but now that I'm a young man, I don't know what I should do next. I'm gonna miss this show and it really has been a hell of a ride.