HBO
Sometimes, there are certain entries into the pop cultural zeitgeist that pass over fandom and into common knowledge. Shows such as The Sopranos, LOST, and Breaking Bad are previous examples of this phenomenon, as they reached such a high level of popularity that it almost became abnormal to not watch them. It’s safe to say, as it heads into it’s eighth and final season, that HBO’s Game Of Thrones has hit those same great heights of success.
Bigger and more expensive than any show to come before it, Game Of Thrones has grown into an experience that is quite unique in today’s age of television: scheduled viewing.
In the era of streaming and Netflix and HBO GO, most television is made to be consumed at the audience’s discretion. Want to watch your favorite show at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday? Go for it.
But not Game Of Thrones. If you don’t tune in to Game Of Thrones at 9 p.m. on a Sunday night, not only will you miss the discussion, but you risk spoiling it for yourself, as that aforementioned discussion is nearly impossible to avoid.
All of this is just a long way of saying that Game Of Thrones has achieved an almost unheard of level of popularity. In fact, the show has become so popular that educated researchers are taking the time to study it.
via Daily Mail:
Game of Thrones characters who switch sides are 65% more likely to survive than those who are loyal, according to scientists. Researchers who watched all 67 episodes in the name of science have worked out which traits make the characters most likely to die.
‘Highborn’ characters – lords and ladies, those who change allegiances, and women who have the best odds of surviving the notoriously violent show. The study, published in medical journal Injury Epidemiology, has been done ahead of the final season, which is expected to be released next spring.
And it gives big-name characters including Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, and Bran, Sansa and Arya Stark a good chance of surviving until the end. Scientists from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, studied the deaths of 186 characters in the hit TV show, based on the novels of George RR Martin.
Perhaps most interesting is that the researchers found that women in the GoT universe are 1/5 less likely to die than men.
Game Of Thrones assuredly epic eighth and final season will premiere in April 2019. As for who my money is on to survive: no one. I got The Night King winning in a rout.
