Game of Thrones has ended but the lessons it can teach us will live on, like that dragon that just flew off into wherever at the end.
There wasn't much to be learnt from events in the show itself that you wouldn't have picked up at primary school: trustno one; people want to be your friends because of what they can get out of you; life is full of pain.
It's the reaction to the show and how the ending was put together that has most to teach us.
1. It's really not healthy to get too emotionally invested in a TV show.
Fan reaction to the ending was the whinge heard around the world and a spectacular case of entitlement. Somehow millions of people were so exercised by a preposterous fantasy that they could be bothered signing an online petition asking for it to be remade to suit them. These people are used to getting whatever they want. Imagine the power they could wield if they got worked up about something really important.
Daenerys and her dragon. Photo / Supplied
Admittedly, George RR Martin and the show's masterminds David Benioff and DB Weiss are no Shakespeares, but at least the writer of Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice didn't have to put up with audiences second guessing his work on social media:
Rose by any other name is the corniest ever @#teamdaffodil
Somehow a generation has been spawned that doesn't understand the point of stories is to show us other people's points of view.
2. Everyone's an unqualified critic.
People who would struggle to paint a toenail or write a shopping list have meticulously pulled apart the art direction, writing and every other aspect of a show which, its faults notwithstanding, was for most of its run as brilliantly crafted as any piece of television ever made. So, no matter how qualified in your field you may think you are, rest assured there will always be some drongo out there who knows better.
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Photo / Supplied
3. Our memories are short and not to be trusted.
"Game of Thrones: worst finale ever?" asked one newspaper headline. The person who wrote that obviously never got to the end of The X Files, Lost or Dancing with the Stars, year after flat-footed year.
4. It's always possible to out-cool the next person.
As the final episode approached, social media was overwhelmed with people rushing to tell the internet that they didn't give a toss, had never watched a single episode and therefore ... umm ...
Sansa Stark. Photo / Supplied
5. Life makes more sense if you can see things from the other person's point of view.
Sure, the last few episodes, if not seasons, were rushed. But after this Benioff and Weiss get to make the next Star Wars movie. Wouldn't you want to get all your chores done ASAP if it meant you got to do something that much fun?
6. Be cautious about trying to form alliances.
I'm not talking about the dynasties in the show - the Canisters and the Shirelles and the Vulgarians. I'm talking about Air New Zealand, which got some publicity by publicly inviting George RR Martin to come on down - on them - to finish writing the books on which the show is based. That backfired when Martin said he's been here heaps, is coming again next year anyway and thought it would be dandy if Air New Zealand made the same offer to less affluent writers. Air New Zealand has risen to the bait and agreed to shout 20 GOT geeks down here. Which is doubly ironic really, because Martin's probably making more than the airline these days.
