With Game of Thrones undoubtedly mirroring many of the struggles we face today – greedy leaders jockeying for power, discrepancies in wealth – it’s no surprise fans of the show are keen to read further into its plot.
Many believe the hit HBO series, based on the popular novels by George R.R. Martin, are littered with subliminal political messages, with fan theories ranging from US senator Bernie Sanders resembling the High Sparrow to The Wall being a metaphorical symbol for President Donald Trump’s proposed physical border between the US and Mexico.
However, one such claim has now categorically been confirmed.
A Song of Ice and Fire has long been taken to be an allegory for the threat of climate change – the words ‘Winter Is Coming’ an obvious nod to a looming natural threat – and Martin has confirmed he absolutely intended this to be the case.
‘There is – in a very broad sense – a certain parallel there,’ Martin told the New York Times.
‘The people in Westeros are fighting their individual battles over power and status and wealth. And those are so distracting them that they’re ignoring the threat of “winter is coming,” which has the potential to destroy all of them and to destroy their world.’
The American novelist said there was a ‘great parallel’ between the fictional universe and what the modern world is doing, as people become obsessed with trivial matters and continue to ignore the impending threat of climate change.
‘We’re fighting over issues, important issues, mind you – foreign policy, domestic policy, civil rights, social responsibility, social justice. All of these things are important,’ Martin explained.
‘But while we’re tearing ourselves apart over this and expending so much energy, there exists this threat of climate change, which, to my mind, is conclusively proved by most of the data and 99.9 percent of the scientific community.’
Earlier this month, environmental experts issued a ‘final call’ to save the world from ‘climate catastrophe’, revealing that plans to keep the planet under 1.5 degrees C were now completely off-track.
Instead, the planet is now reportedly hurtling towards a temperature of 3C unless rapid changes are made.
Though A Game of Thrones was first published in 1996 when research on climate change was only just emerging, it was certainly becoming a genuine concern outside of the scientific community and Martin recognised it an important theme to pursue.
Now, the 70-year-old is urging GoT fans to take heed of the problem and do their bit for positive change.
‘[Global warming] really has the potential to destroy our world. And we’re ignoring that while we worry about the next election and issues that people are concerned about, like jobs. Jobs are a very important issue, of course. All of these things are important issues. But none of them are important if, like, we’re dead and our cities are under the ocean,’ he stated.
‘So really, climate change should be the number one priority for any politician who is capable of looking past the next election.’
Martin also offered up his opinions on which character most resembled Donald Trump and, somewhat unsurprisingly, voted for evil king Joffrey Baratheon.
‘They have the same level of emotional maturity,’ the author explained.
‘And Joffrey likes to remind everyone that he’s king. And he thinks that gives him the ability to do anything. And we’re not an absolute monarchy, like Westeros is. We’re a constitutional republic. And yet, Trump doesn’t seem to know what that means. He thinks the presidency gives him the power to do anything.’
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