GOT Forever

Have you ever had a series or book that not only changed your life for the better, but also people around you as well? I have and if it honestly wasn’t for GOT I wouldn’t be the man I am today but more on that later!

When GOT started I was only 16 years old! Wow, time flies by so fast. I was in my “adult teens” with such a creative mind I had no idea what to do with myself. I would always create stories in my head of mystical creatures and armies battling out in order to claim something that can change reality of mankind. I couldn’t draw one bit, but I would constantly write these ideas down craving for an opportunity to one day see these ideas come to life. Boy, was I surprised when I started watching this show I never heard of called Game of Thrones. I'd seen the trailers of the show and immediately became intrigued. I invited two of my best friends over, who weren’t interested in “fantasy realities,” but because they were my friends they reluctantly agreed to check it out.

I’m not going to lie the first episodes started off real slow and my friends were about to give up on the series, but I knew this was going to be a show worth waiting on. The introduction of Eddard (Ned) Stark being the main hero of the show created a sense of hope and leadership that I wanted to have in my own life. Meeting the Stark sons and daughters as well as the half son of Ned, Jon Snow, created a sense of reality for me because that is how most families are. You have the sisters who think they are all that and deserve royalty and just want to live a lavish life (Sansa) and you always have or feel like the sibling who is treated differently and doesn’t feel like they belong (Jon). I thought this show was going to be a happy ever after show with a few conflicts but the hero always prevails. I was SOOOO WRONG. When the legendary "King Slayer" Jaime Lannister pushed Bran Stark out of the window out of the tower to keep his sister’s infidelity (with her own brother!), I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe that this show would start off with just a climax! All I could think was, “No way this is happening! How could they do this?! Why?”

After all these crazy thoughts running through my head I came up with one conclusion… These creators are genius! With such an impact to start this show, millions of people will be so intrigued and engulfed in this show they were going to shatter the mold of television and I was going to be a part of it. Finally getting my friends to watch more episodes, they became true fans and we created weekly times to watch an episode every Sunday and discuss what happened the following day.

As more episodes began to pile up and take more of my time dreaming of a reality like Westeros, I began to meet new people who loved the same "dream world" as I did. My fellow knights and warriors would set up events and parties every weekend to watch each episode and experience many epic moments that you could only experience in GOT. We would laugh together as Sam would say and do stupid things, or cry and be silent together as Jon Snow was betrayed and stabbed from fellow nightwatchers. We would throw Halloween parties dressed as our favorite characters, and one of my classmates even proposed to his girlfriend before going off to the military at one of our GOT events! As every character grew into the person they were destined to be so were we as we were preparing to move on to the next stages or our lives. I would think these moments would end once I left high school and went to college as we all departed, but it only made our bond stronger. As we experienced four years of college we connected in ways we couldn’t if we were all around each other physically. Being away gave us time to grow as individuals and embrace our own separate journeys ahead of us. Each journey experienced felt as if we were in GOT. We never knew what we were going to face, but every obstacle faced we would conquer it and continue to grow to reach our destinies. For me personally, my journey the past few years and even now feels like a Jon Snow journey. Jon Snow went through so many trials and tribulations to not only become the man he is today, but a leader who one day (not to throw out any spoilers) could possibly become a king that men and women can look up too. For many years, all I wanted to do was make everyone happy, and just focus on being a good friend, brother, and son. But, as time flew and I began to grow mentally and spiritually, I realized I have to become the man I’m destined to be and grow into more of a leadership role in my life. People have always looked up to me, but I’ve been afraid to become that person that could change the world if I tried and made an effort to. Jon Snow’s journey in GOT has led him to become this man and unlock potential that was hidden in him. If it wasn’t for the hard times and pain he has suffered, then he wouldn’t be this hero that has led people to victory and this noble man that many look up to.

This show has given me a chance to chase after my dreams of being a writer. Watching GOT every season showed me people do believe in these worlds of magic and creatures beyond imagination. These stories can bring people together and embrace an idea so crazy and insane that with faith and trust they end up being reasons why people can laugh and cry together. I’ve alway imagined creating stories where people can dive in and embrace roles they thought they would never want, or even escape life for a few hours. As I’m writing this story right now, I have ideas that I am working on with friends and family all because of a show that has changed many lives and will go down in history known as GAME OF THRONES.