Abstract:

Adapted from George R.R. Martin's best-selling and still unfinished anthology A Song of Ice and Fire, HBO's multiple award-winning Game of Thrones (2011-2019) features a throng of religious and quasi-religious groups and practices in its imaginary neo-medievalist world. From devotees of the Old Gods in the north of Westeros to the militant Faith of the Seven in the south, from drowned initiates of the Iron Islands to infidels burned alive to the Lord of Light, from supposedly celibate grandmaesters and Night's Watchmen to worshippers of the Great Stallion and deified Death on the exotic continent of Essos, this popular TV series offers numerous thought-provoking analogues to historical and contemporary religions. Moving-picture images of ostensibly pious believers and religious rituals do not, however, automatically constitute sacred art. Indeed, utilizing a cultural studies lens informed by de/secularization theories, I will argue that the disjointed eight seasons of GoT collectively constitute antagonistic secular art that narrates the demise of its fictitious religions. While the completed novels may yet offer thoughtful commentary on how the adherents of differing faith traditions could peacefully coexist in a pluralistic society, their screened adaptation presents religion as an antiquated and violent phenomenon that its main characters ultimately discard.