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Abstract

the beginning of an Action story (inciting attack, hero at the mercy of the villain) and we see the Northerners including Rob Stark and Daenerys Targaryen preparing for war.</p><p id="485a"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcTkNV5Vg1E">For the Season 1 Trailer — Click here.</a></p><h1 id="7e33">What are the Obligatory scenes of the Global Genre (Society)</h1><ul><li><b>There is an inciting threat or challenge to the reigning power</b>: Ned Stark discovers that the death of Jon Arran was murder, that the Lannisters are seeking power</li><li><b>The protagonists (subjugated persons) deny responsibility to respond or to rise up against the antagonist (reigning power)</b>: Ned does</li><li><b>Forced to respond, the protagonists lash out according to their positions in the power hierarchy</b>: Ned starts to investigate what Jon Arran was looking at before he died</li><li><b>The protagonists’ initial strategy to outmaneuver the antagonist fails</b>: Ned Stark confronts Cersei and warns Cersei that she will have to leave</li><li><b>The protagonists learn what the antagonist’s object of desire is and sets out to achieve it for themselves</b>: Ned changes the wording of the will to make sure that Robert’s heir is the next King rather than Joffrey</li><li><b>During an All-Is-Lost Moment, the protagonists realize they must change their approach in order to shift power from the antagonist to themselves</b>: Ned Stark realises that he and his family will die unless he pledges loyalty to Joffrey</li><li><b>The protagonists’ gifts are expressed in the Revolution Scene</b>. <b>This is the Core Event and Climax of the Society story where the power either changes hands from the subjugators to the subjugated (protagonists succeed) or the subjugators remain in power (protagonists fail)</b>. <b>The winner and the loser are made clear</b>: Ned Stark confesses to his crime in front of the audience, and Joffrey still orders his execution</li><li><b>Whether the protagonists win or lose in the Revolution Scene, they are rewarded in the Resolution or Climax on either the internal, the interpersonal, or the external level:</b> Ned dies, but his death has disrupted Joffrey’s reign, the Northerners will now fight against his rule. Had Ned shown loyalty at the start, the Lannisters would have had full power.</li></ul><h1 id="e6d9">Conventions</h1><ul><li><b>There is one central character with offshoot characters that embody a multitude of that main character’s personality traits ( the mini-plot) In Game of Thrones we have the full cast of characters in each family</b>. Starks: Ned Stark is one of the main characters (steady, warrior), Catelyn Stark (emotional, impulsive), Arya Stark (rebel, fighter), Sansa Stark (obedient, power seeker), Rob Stark (King in Waiting), Jon Snow (black sheep of family, honorable, noble)</li><li><b>There is a “big canvas:”</b>: Winter is coming, White Walkers are returning, and the political game of thrones</li><li><b>The power divide between those in power and those disenfranchised is large and evident to the audience</b>: The hunger for power is evident, we see how badly treated prostitutes and lesser men are treated. The ease at which life is discarded shows the power divide.</li><li><b>There is a clear revolutionary Point of No Return</b>: <b>The moment when the power shifts is clearly defined and dramatized. This is the big event, the climax</b>: Ned Stark’s execution is the dramatic shift in pow

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er, everything we knew to be safe is no longer safe. We are shaken.</li><li><b>The vanquished group is doomed to subjugation, exile, or death</b>: The Starks now face a high threat to life. The Stark children are in trouble: Bran is crippled, Arya is on the run as a boy, Rob is planning war but is inexperienced and Catelyn is in grief</li><li><b>The ending is paradoxical and bittersweet, either a win-but-lose or lose-but-win for the protagonists. What they lose is specific to the sacrifices they made in attempts at gaining power and well-being</b>: Rob Stark and Jon Snow are maturing into leaders, and Arya is proving herself to be a fighter. Ned’s death leaves us with more bitterness than we’d like but the story isn’t over yet.</li></ul><h1 id="095e">What’s the point of view?</h1><p id="2f7c">Multiple points of view characters are needed to tell a story that is so complex and stretches over many regions, houses, schemes, and overall history.</p><p id="1eac">Still, I’d like to point out something GOT makes a lot of use of <b>Dramatic Irony </b>— the reader knows more than the characters. Examples of this are the existence of the White Walkers and who pushed Bran out the window, these are things that the characters in the show don’t know the answers to, but the viewer has seen the event and is left wondering when the characters will figure it out and what are the repercussions of discovering that information.</p><h1 id="3208">What are the objects of desire?</h1><p id="cb64">Ned Stark wants to have justice restored and power shifted to the rightful heir but needs to save his family</p><h1 id="c4b9">What’s the controlling idea/theme?</h1><p id="a667">We gain or maintain power and save our families’ lives when we prove our ruthlessness, status, and authority through bloodshed and political bargaining.</p><h1 id="3352">What are the Beginning Hook, Middle Build, Ending Payoff?</h1><p id="e684"><b>Beginning Hook</b></p><p id="370a">Jon Arran dies, and King Robert Baratheon asks Ned to be the Hand of the king. Ned decides to accept because he doesn’t want the Lancasters to influence the king, but as a result, he leaves his family vulnerable to attack by assassins but he also sees that the kingdom is in danger from debt and the Lancaster influence.</p><p id="d682"><b>Middle Build</b></p><p id="3aea">Ned discovers that Jon Arran might have been assassinated (poisoned), he discovers that the prince is a bastard, and when the king is on his deathbed Ned must decide whether to accept the prince as king or show the king’s document making him protector of the realm. This is a hard decision for him because he would rather return to his kingdom in the North than be part of the politics. Ned decides to become the protector of the realm and is betrayed and imprisoned.</p><p id="98e5"><b>ENDING PAYOFF</b></p><p id="f5b7">Ned’s son assembles an Army to rescue his father. Ned must choose to save his family and bring peace to the realm by confessing to crimes he didn’t commit and swearing fealty to the Lancasters. He does but is killed anyway. Arya escapes, but Sansa is still held captive.</p><h1 id="18f0">In Summary</h1><p id="bce9">A Game of Thrones is an excellent example of the 6 Core Questions, which is why it was so compelling for viewers to watch and readers to read. Breaking down your favorite books, movies, and TV series will help you understand how to make better stories and level up your own writing.</p></article></body>

Story Grid Analysis of Stories

Game of Thrones Season 1 — TV Series Review — For Story Nerds

Fantasy Society Genre

I am a Certified Story Grid Editor, and as such, I’m always using the Story Grid to analyze my favorite novels, movies, or television series. Applying the Story Grid to your favorite stories will help you self-edit your own work by identifying key genre scenes that you can compare. I advise you to apply the Story Grid ‘Editor’s 6 Core Questions’ and the ‘5 Commandments’ to your first draft and see how your manuscript looks and how it might be improved.

In the first season of Game of Thrones (GOT), you’ll see multiple storylines weaving together, but the overall story is about power, and the value at stake is power changing hands — the clue is in the name: Game of Thrones. You’ll see other genres laced throughout as well, and you can definitely see the action life values of life and death woven into the plotline.

Did the Story Work?

This is really one of my favorite series, and the screenwriters did such a great job with the first season. It’s a fantastic example of how to write a screenplay from a really excellently written book series. George R. R. Martin did such a great job connecting the plotlines throughout the books/ seasons. This had to take so much planning — J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter level planning.

What are the Story Grid Editor’s Six Core Questions?

It’s a great way to analyze any story and figure out if it works. Here are the questions.

What’s the genre?
What are the conventions and obligatory scenes for that genre?
What’s the Point of View?
What are the objects of desire?
What’s the controlling idea/theme?
What is the Beginning Hook, the Middle Build, and Ending Payoff?

What’s the Global Genre?

In Season 1, the House of Lannister struggles against the House of Stark for power in the world. The story is about power and impotence, and each character’s position of power or lack of power is closely linked to the threat to life they face.

They are playing a game of thrones, but with drastically different positions of morality. Ned Stark’s principled position leads him to make the wrong move, and he is killed. He was attempting a revolution, but he failed. This is the Society genre with the values of Action and morality close by.

Ned Stark is the main character for us, BUT we do see the children at the beginning of an Action story (inciting attack, hero at the mercy of the villain) and we see the Northerners including Rob Stark and Daenerys Targaryen preparing for war.

For the Season 1 Trailer — Click here.

What are the Obligatory scenes of the Global Genre (Society)

There is an inciting threat or challenge to the reigning power: Ned Stark discovers that the death of Jon Arran was murder, that the Lannisters are seeking power
The protagonists (subjugated persons) deny responsibility to respond or to rise up against the antagonist (reigning power): Ned does
Forced to respond, the protagonists lash out according to their positions in the power hierarchy: Ned starts to investigate what Jon Arran was looking at before he died
The protagonists’ initial strategy to outmaneuver the antagonist fails: Ned Stark confronts Cersei and warns Cersei that she will have to leave
The protagonists learn what the antagonist’s object of desire is and sets out to achieve it for themselves: Ned changes the wording of the will to make sure that Robert’s heir is the next King rather than Joffrey
During an All-Is-Lost Moment, the protagonists realize they must change their approach in order to shift power from the antagonist to themselves: Ned Stark realises that he and his family will die unless he pledges loyalty to Joffrey
The protagonists’ gifts are expressed in the Revolution Scene. This is the Core Event and Climax of the Society story where the power either changes hands from the subjugators to the subjugated (protagonists succeed) or the subjugators remain in power (protagonists fail). The winner and the loser are made clear: Ned Stark confesses to his crime in front of the audience, and Joffrey still orders his execution
Whether the protagonists win or lose in the Revolution Scene, they are rewarded in the Resolution or Climax on either the internal, the interpersonal, or the external level: Ned dies, but his death has disrupted Joffrey’s reign, the Northerners will now fight against his rule. Had Ned shown loyalty at the start, the Lannisters would have had full power.

Conventions

There is one central character with offshoot characters that embody a multitude of that main character’s personality traits ( the mini-plot) In Game of Thrones we have the full cast of characters in each family. Starks: Ned Stark is one of the main characters (steady, warrior), Catelyn Stark (emotional, impulsive), Arya Stark (rebel, fighter), Sansa Stark (obedient, power seeker), Rob Stark (King in Waiting), Jon Snow (black sheep of family, honorable, noble)
There is a “big canvas:”: Winter is coming, White Walkers are returning, and the political game of thrones
The power divide between those in power and those disenfranchised is large and evident to the audience: The hunger for power is evident, we see how badly treated prostitutes and lesser men are treated. The ease at which life is discarded shows the power divide.
There is a clear revolutionary Point of No Return: The moment when the power shifts is clearly defined and dramatized. This is the big event, the climax: Ned Stark’s execution is the dramatic shift in power, everything we knew to be safe is no longer safe. We are shaken.
The vanquished group is doomed to subjugation, exile, or death: The Starks now face a high threat to life. The Stark children are in trouble: Bran is crippled, Arya is on the run as a boy, Rob is planning war but is inexperienced and Catelyn is in grief
The ending is paradoxical and bittersweet, either a win-but-lose or lose-but-win for the protagonists. What they lose is specific to the sacrifices they made in attempts at gaining power and well-being: Rob Stark and Jon Snow are maturing into leaders, and Arya is proving herself to be a fighter. Ned’s death leaves us with more bitterness than we’d like but the story isn’t over yet.

What’s the point of view?

Multiple points of view characters are needed to tell a story that is so complex and stretches over many regions, houses, schemes, and overall history.

Still, I’d like to point out something GOT makes a lot of use of Dramatic Irony — the reader knows more than the characters. Examples of this are the existence of the White Walkers and who pushed Bran out the window, these are things that the characters in the show don’t know the answers to, but the viewer has seen the event and is left wondering when the characters will figure it out and what are the repercussions of discovering that information.

What are the objects of desire?

Ned Stark wants to have justice restored and power shifted to the rightful heir but needs to save his family

What’s the controlling idea/theme?

We gain or maintain power and save our families’ lives when we prove our ruthlessness, status, and authority through bloodshed and political bargaining.

What are the Beginning Hook, Middle Build, Ending Payoff?

Beginning Hook

Jon Arran dies, and King Robert Baratheon asks Ned to be the Hand of the king. Ned decides to accept because he doesn’t want the Lancasters to influence the king, but as a result, he leaves his family vulnerable to attack by assassins but he also sees that the kingdom is in danger from debt and the Lancaster influence.

Middle Build

Ned discovers that Jon Arran might have been assassinated (poisoned), he discovers that the prince is a bastard, and when the king is on his deathbed Ned must decide whether to accept the prince as king or show the king’s document making him protector of the realm. This is a hard decision for him because he would rather return to his kingdom in the North than be part of the politics. Ned decides to become the protector of the realm and is betrayed and imprisoned.

ENDING PAYOFF

Ned’s son assembles an Army to rescue his father. Ned must choose to save his family and bring peace to the realm by confessing to crimes he didn’t commit and swearing fealty to the Lancasters. He does but is killed anyway. Arya escapes, but Sansa is still held captive.

In Summary

A Game of Thrones is an excellent example of the 6 Core Questions, which is why it was so compelling for viewers to watch and readers to read. Breaking down your favorite books, movies, and TV series will help you understand how to make better stories and level up your own writing.