Last night I sat in my living room and listened to a “Game of Thrones” podcast called “The Watch,” which is hosted by Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald on TheRinger.com. (This is the same Web site that runs the Binge Mode podcast, a gem I only recently discovered—thanks to my Thrones soulmate—that has quickly become my go-to when it comes to rehashing the show.) During this latest installment (following episode 2, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”), Andy said something that really resonated with me and I felt the need to write about it. Here’s what he said:
“…That’s the other piece of watching a show incrementally that feels very different…I urge everyone listening, everyone who’s watching this season to really enjoy this week. Like really take pleasure in this week, and obviously read all the coverage you want, rewatch all the stuff you wanna rewatch, listen to Binge Mode and all the other great content that’s out there about the show. It’s not gonna be like this again. Every other generation of people who watch this show…will immediately be able to watch the next episode—to binge it. We don’t get many moments like this anymore. It does make me think about those last six episodes of “Breaking Bad,” which were the last time TV felt this breathless. …What’s gonna happen, but something has happened. They’ve already made these decisions and they’re waiting for us and we can’t know. And there’s so few things anymore that we can’t know that it’s kind of delicious. It’s pretty great.”
Perfection!
He is so right, and this is exactly what I’ve been feeling over the past few weeks (and even months), leading up to and after the Season 8 premiere. This has been such a happy and anticipatory time for me, waiting and thinking and reading about and overanalyzing what’s going to happen next within this amazing world. What’s the endgame here? How are things going to play out with the Night King? Who’s going to live and who’s going to die? Who’s going to end up on the Iron Throne? Will there even be an Iron Throne at the end? I have endless questions.
When my husband and I first started watching Thrones, the first four seasons had already aired so we were able to binge-watch them on HBO, which we thought was awesome at the time because we couldn’t wait to see what would happen next and we were in such a hurry to catch up to everyone else. But now I see the beauty in waiting, in anticipating. The past few weeks in-between episodes have allowed us (fans of the show) to not only share our thoughts and feelings and fears and theories about what’s coming next, but also to bask, together as one, in the exciting and terrifying unknown. At this very moment, we are all in the same boat. Only those closest to the show know what’s coming. HBO isn’t even previewing these last few episodes for the press. We are all here, waiting with bated breath, for the next move. And the wait leading up to tonight’s episode—the Battle for Winterfell—is the pinnacle of this perfection. This is the night we’ve all been waiting for, and dreading. This is the night that many of our beloved friends are going to die. We don’t know who, we don’t know when, and we don’t know how. We know nothing. And the pure torture and excitement and anticipation of that is, well, the greatest feeling.
Think about it, when it comes to your happy moments, what would life be like without anticipation for those moments? I wouldn’t ever wanna know. For me, the anticipation is almost as wonderful and as fun as whatever it is that I’m anticipating. Take Disney, for example. One of my greatest joys in life is planning my family’s Disney vacation (we go at least once a year). I love researching and determining which resort we want to stay at, comparing each park’s hours and deciding which days we want to visit each park, setting up all of our advance dining reservations, booking all of our FastPasses, writing up my packing lists (yes, I’m the girl who has lists for her lists!), picking out all of our clothes and essentials for packing, and even packing itself!! Those days, weeks, months of anticipation leading up to the morning we leave on our trip are some of my most cherished moments, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything.
Or what about pregnancy and the birth of a child? Those nine months of anticipation—it just doesn’t get any better than that, does it?! Even if you have a rough pregnancy, you can’t help but look back on that time fondly, if only for the anticipation of what’s to come. During that time, you get to watch and feel and hear your baby growing inside of you. You get to talk to that baby, plan for that baby, sacrifice for that baby. You wonder whether it will be a boy or a girl. You wonder what he/she will look like or sound like. You wonder what type of personality he/she will have. And all the while your anticipation grows, slowly but surely, until that happy momentous moment when you finally come face to face with the tiny human you created in another moment of love and joy and passion. And you can’t imagine ever being that excited about something ever again.
Or even Christmas morning. Who on this great Earth doesn’t get all giddy and excited and anxious to wake up Christmas morning and see whether Santa came?! I don’t know about all of you, but my excitement and anticipation for Christmas begins on Nov. 1—when I jump on my Christmas music bandwagon—and honestly doesn’t wane until, oh, probably the end of January. LOL. Sometimes I’m so sad and depressed for the holidays to end that I continue watching Christmas movies into February. I just love holding onto those moments…those happy, fleeting moments. Then it’s back to waiting for another whole year. A whole glorious year to anticipate another beautiful holiday season with my family.
Perfection!
And so, that’s where I find myself today. Holding onto these ephemeral moments with “Game of Thrones.” Back in 2017, when we first found out that Thrones was going on hiatus for two years, I was beyond crushed because that just seemed like an infinite amount of time to be away from these characters, these moments. But looking back on it now, I realize it was probably the greatest gift the showrunners could have given us. Not only because that length of time opened the door (Hodor!) for a variety of Thrones-related experiences—the concerts with Ramin Djawadi; the pop-up Thrones bars like the one in Washington, D.C., which served up all sorts of Thrones snacks and alcoholic beverages; the Thrones-themed vacation spots popping up in and around Europe; and even things like painting classes and trivia brunches dedicated to the show—which we may or may not have been able to share in had the show started up again more quickly. But mostly because without the seemingly endless wait, we fans wouldn’t have gotten to experience the spine-tingling, exhilarating, and sometimes excruciating anticipation for what’s turning out to be the greatest—and certainly the most epic—show of our time.
And I, for one, believe it’s been worth every single minute of that wait.
Good luck tonight, my friends, and stay safe. The night is dark and full of terrors, and I just know it’s going to be a rough one. Have wine and tissues handy. I’ll see you back here later in the week for my next episode blog.
Related Game of Thrones Content:
GoT Finale: A Mom’s Watch Has Ended (Episode 6)
GoT: A Thousand Lives (Episode 5)
GoT: An Ending Not Quite Fit For A (Night) King (Episode 3)