After nine years, sixty-seven episodes and a lot of death, HBO’s powerhouse show Game of Thrones is finally coming to a bitter end. With such a culturally significant conclusion on the horizon and abhorrent temperatures in the air, now is the best time to hunker down and start a marathon binge of the show. Lucky for UIS students, we are granted a free subscription to the HBO GO subscription service. To log in, simply find the “U of I Springfield” option under HBOGO’s cable provider option, login with your UIS email and binge watch away. For those of you who have seen the show, this review is largely pointless. For those who have not, read on for a broad review of the series.

Based on the fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by author George R.R Martin, Game of Thrones follows a broad range of characters across the lore-rich land of Westeros. From Daenerys Targaryen’s rise as The Mother of Dragons, to Jon Snow’s life as a ranger of the Night’s Watch, the show covers serious ground but manages to fully flesh out each character’s story and the broad world of Westeros itself. Even without the stellar writing, much of this world’s realization comes from the stellar work of the actors on set. No actor in the show offers a truly uncompelling performance. Viewers will develop a fondness for a favorite character and unfortunately, they may not survive to the end. The show’s reputation of character death rings true. Your fave will die, you will cry, but you won’t be able to stop watching.

At its core, Thrones is a bleak and violent show that isn’t afraid to cover some hard content. The show displays brutal duels, nudity, sexual violence and worse. If you are not comfortable viewing content like this, it may not be the best series for you. Overall, this HBO adaptation deserves the broad scope of praise lauded upon it by critics. While the show does have its slow parts and gruesome moments, this doesn’t detract from the show overall. No matter your taste in media, the show is almost guaranteed to have some appeal for you. 9/10.