Game Of Thrones — 15 Personal Nuggets From The Series

“Oh! Not again. What’s all this fuzz and hype about this movie sef?!” This was always my reaction each and every time I hear the words Game of Thrones mentioned.

The first time I heard these words was in 2014 when I was an intern at a design firm in Ibadan. My Boss was obsessed with the series, he’ll talk about it, predict the next scene, feel bad for his wrong predictions, commend the storyline, and so on.

It was as if his life depended on completing the new season.

For those who haven’t watched the series, Game of Thrones is a tale of seven kingdoms fighting for the Iron Throne. Whoever sits on the Iron Throne controls the realm (The seven kingdoms plus the free land of Bravados).

The hype was so much that I naturally created an edge between me and the movie series. This enmity between us continued till very recently when the seventh season was released.

As always, the hype was magnanimous and superfluous, my initial reaction was to rebuff but curiosity got the better of me this time. I decided to see for myself what the fuzz is all about.

Suspense, action, loyalty, diplomacy, war, magic, evil, sheer wickedness, sex, conspiracy, selfishness — these words and more are prominent in the Game of Thrones’ vocabulary.

Much of the hype was on the lewd scenes of the series which was my initial contention but, all my resentment and antagonism to Game of Thrones died after the first three episodes.

Help! I can’t stop watching. I was a replica of my Boss, only this time, I was worse. It was like I was under a spell, when I’m not watching I’m thinking of watching.

Contrary to popular public opinion on the Game of Thrones, I find it educative, rich and full of insights. So, I decided, if I was going to spend 70 hours of my life on the Game Of Thrones, I must make it an investment.

I opened a new sticky note and started scribbling some important life lessons. The following nuggets are some of the many lessons I learnt:

• Most times it’s better to allow your enemies crush themselves. All you have to do is fight the champion, not every one of them.
• Very often, the enemy tries to dispirit us with exaggerated tales of woes and conquest to instil fear in us but when you stand your ground and face your fears you’ll discover, more than once, their vulnerability.
• When you no longer fear fear, every other obstacle to achievement is removed.
• There’s no losing in the Game of Thrones. Therefore you prepare, strategize and play to win.
• Don’t compete with them.
• There’s no true prediction to life, time and chance happen to us all. I never knew Lord Ned Stark could be beheaded.
• The Lannisters can testify to this.
• Just like Teju ‘Babyface’ Oyelakin Said “Reading and studying is a pointer to destiny”. I am a testator to the power of reading myself, I have tasted the power of knowledge.
• Lord Edard Ned Stark (of blessed memory) will tell you more on this.
• All Men must die! So the only significant thing about a man’s life is what he did with the dash (-) between his year of birth and year of death.
• Defeat the leader, defeat the competition.
• King Stanis’ foolishness in believing all prophesies of the Priestess of the god of fire led to his ruin.
• The mother of dragons understood this principle and applied it well, her dragons and the power to be unharmed by fire gave her a leverage over other kings, this, she used effectively in different scenarios.
• Tyrion Lannister (The Imp) rose from a captive slave to the inner council and special adviser to the queen in Mareen because of his oratory, tact, diplomacy and negotiating skills.
• Although I’m still on the sixth season, a popular saying has been established in my subconscious mind, “Never to judge a book by its cover”.
• No matter what public opinion says on a matter, always try to experience it yourself and then decide what to believe and what not to.
• I’m sure some of us already have our weekends planned. If you belong to the squad without weekend plans, kindly shift for us to pass, we can’t let two full days of fun pass us by.
• Anyways, we hope the approaching festive season brings good tidings and financial freedom for everyone.
• HAPPY FRIYAY!

Originally published at aggital.com on October 13, 2017.