Game of Thrones may have ruled the world, but it received its fair share of criticisms along the way, from characters teleporting all over the place, forgetting about Gendry, all of season 8, and its treatment of women.
While a lot of that is down to what the TV showrunners did after overtaking George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, a lot of the way women are spoken to and treated follow what Martin has written.
Speaking at a San Diego Comic-con panel, which Digital Spy attended, the author defended his work from the criticism by claiming that it is only following actual history.
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"Game of Thrones is based on... a period called the Anarchy," he said. "Henry I, King of England, his only legitimate son, drowned while trying to cross the Channel. He was left with one legitimate child, his daughter Matilda who he named his heir and the Lords swore fealty to her.
"Some years later, he died and the Lords said, 'Oh that oath doesn't apply, because here comes her cousin, Stephen', who crosses the Channel quickly and steals the treasury and gets himself crowned King, and you enter a period called the Anarchy.
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"Maude, or Matilda as she was known, and Stephen fought for a decade to two decades, and it was horrible and bloody. I don't think Westeros was more anti-woman or misogynistic than real life history. People fear change."
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For more from San Diego Comic-Con, including plenty of teases for the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, you check out all our coverage here.
Game of Thrones seasons 1-8 are available on DVD and Blu-ray. Spin-off House of the Dragon will premiere on August 21, 2022 in the UK.
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HBO/Warner Home Video Game of Thrones Seasons 1-8 - The Complete Series [DVD] [2019]
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Columbia For The Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) [Explicit]
Michael Joseph Game of Thrones: A Guide to Westeros and Beyond: The Complete Series
Penguin Random House George RR Martin's A Game of Thrones Leather-Cloth Boxed Set
Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
