In case you needed any further proof that Game of Thrones is a pop cultural phenomenon unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, we bring you the news that over one million people have reportedly signed up to learn one of the show’s many iconic and complex languages.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ‘GAME OF THRONES’ SEASON 8 WILL FOLLOW AFTER THE GIFs.
According to Daily Mail, over a million crazed Game of Thrones fans have signed up to learn the language of Valyrian on Duolingo.
Valyrian is no gimmick, either, as David J. Peterson — the linguist who invented both High and Low Valryian, along with with various other Game of Thrones languages — created a fully-fleshed out, 2000-word language when developing Valyrian for HBO.
Consisting of High — which is for the high-borns such as lords and princes — and Low — which is reserved for low-borns such as peasants a common folk — Valyrian is used all over Westeros by various different characters, including Daenerys Targaryen.
In fact, the language of Valyrian is responsible for some of Game of Thrones most iconic phrases, such as “Valar Morghulis” (all men must die), “Valar Dohaeris” (all men must service), and “Dracarys” (dragon fire).
Now, Duolingo — the extremely popular and widely-used language-learning website and app — say that over 1.2 million people of signed up to try their hand at the Game of Thrones language of Valyrian.
Personally, if I was going to commit the time and effort to learn a new language, I’d learn one that could be applied in the real world. That said, I got a C+ in Spanish 4 during my junior year of high school, so I’m really not one to judge others trying to expand their minds through the tool of language.
The eighth and final season of HBO’s epic Emmy Award-winning fantasy drama series ‘Game of Thrones’, which aired its first episode back on Sunday, April 17, 2011, will air its final episode and conclude its legendary eight-year run on Sunday, May 19, 2019.