Thoughts on GoT Season Six Part Three

Faith and Identity

(GoT spoilers)

Post the Age of Enlightenment, our culture has slowly let go of the bonds that tie faith and identity together. It's one of the reasons why we have so much trouble relating to people who still do this. Mind you, I feel like we probably need another dose of this, given how strongly Personal Identity Politics seems to be captivating people, but that's a blog post for another day.

One of the difficult things about writing fantasy is that you often deal with worlds that have not had their own Age of Enlightenment. The concept of the person as separated from what s/he believes in is alien. The problem is, people who write these stories are products of a post-Enlightenment and have trouble thinking outside of it. I think that Game of Thrones Season Six did a fairly good job with it.

Faith is very important to the people of this world. Faith in gods. Faith in political figures. Faith in groups. Faith in codes of behavior. None of this is without merit either. Quite often, many of these faiths have a lot of justification for why people believe in them. The characters and we as the audience see proof of something that might be worth believing in. Magic. Miracles. Wars won against all odds. The tie to the individual is where things get complicated. When the faith is strong, so is the person. When faith falls apart, what is left of identity?

I'll warn you now, this was getting huge so I had to divide it into a couple of posts. We'll tackle Faith in the Person first.

One of the more interesting things about the Free Folk is that most of them don't accept the idea of bloodline leaders. That isn't to say that if you lead your tribe that your kid wouldn't, but more that your kid is going to have to prove themselves on their own merits, not based on what you've done. And it makes sense. Too many times, powerful and inspiring rulers are followed by lackluster or just downright awful children. That should never be the case.

As the story progresses, we find that this concept isn't just one the Free Folk believe. We as the audience also want to see the leaders be people who have strong qualities, not just impressive bloodlines. A lot of other characters, however, want those bloodlines in play. What begins to happen is that we see characters who have both royal blood and the ability to inspire others emerging as the leaders.

Jon is starting to just begin to experience something Daenerys has been dealing with since the last episode of the first season. He is now someone who inspires faith. He is someone people believe in and see as a person who can get them through the rough times. There is a reason for it. He's been brought back from the dead. He lived through a battle where he should have died a dozen times over. He walks with an albino creature of legend as his companion. Making Jon their king wasn't just a declaration of faith in his abilities, but a way of bonding his followers to him. Faith in Jon will get them back on their feet during battle. Faith in Jon will help them to survive the dark days.

Ever since she stepped out of the fire with baby dragons, this has been Daenerys's reality. People follow her. A lot of people criticize the character for having things too easy but tend to forget this is a teenaged girl in an incredibly sexist world who is not only staying alive but succeeding. She started out with nothing and is now heading towards her homeland with a massive army. Is it just because of the dragons? Of course not. But even if it were, it's important to keep in mind that no one else had managed to bring dragons into the world for over 100 years, even though a lot of people had tried.

One of the polarizing things about Daenerys is that she draws strength from her belief in herself. This doesn't bother me, but I guess a lot of people have trouble with the idea that a woman can place her faith in her own identity. Dany does, and really, Dany HAS to. She has nothing else. When she is in a scary situation, she is prone to listing her titles and names, but then again, that is also her way to keeping up her own inner strength. She had to face people who wanted to rape, enslave, and possibly kill her. She had no choice but to rely on her own abilities.

Even though people have often tried to come to her rescue, over and over again, Dany has proven that no one can really save her but herself. The same faith that others give to gods or kings or codes, Daenerys Stormborn gives to herself. Had she not, she would be dead by now.

Like Jon, she has publically displayed reasons for people to put faith in her. She walks out of burning buildings. She hatched dragons. She is able to unite people and inspire even the most cynical of Lannisters.

In our bitter and jaded modern way of thinking, this kind of Magic Jon and Dany can set our teeth on edge. It seems too much. People start bringing up terms like Mary Sue about them. Of course, we do this from the comfort of our homes, sitting in front of computers. We are not people who are facing the kind of despairing and harrowing situations that require people like Jon and Dany to inspire them. Dire circumstances require impressive people. Otherwise, people will lose hope.