*Contains spoilers
Religious themes have long been central to some of the greatest
works of fantasy and science fiction. In some they are obvious and even heavy handed,
as in C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, in others, just as Tolkien’s Lord
of the Rings, they are understated yet profound. Even the Dune saga
is driven by deeply rooted and omnipresent religious themes.
Game of Thrones, for its part, carries on this tradition
today. Existing as it does in an alternate “medieval” universe it presents
religion in a way that is both familiar and unfamiliar. In fact, there are a
number of forms of religious devotion in Westeros, which itself is a world in a
process of religious transition. The oft-uttered phrase—“the old gods and the
new”—indicates that two forms of religious worship are present in the Seven
Kingdoms. The “old gods” found in sacred weirwood trees evoke some vague and
un-named notion of pre-historic nature worship, while the “new gods” are represented
by a pantheon of archetypes—the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Warrior,
etc. On the surface the Faith of the Seven appears polytheistic, but for some
they are in fact representations of a single, multi-dimensional deity. Add to
this the Drowned God, the Many-Faced God, and the Lord of Light and you have a
rather crowed religious environment.
Yet in spite of this alternate medieval religiosity, there
are themes and images that are evocatively Judaeo-Christian. From the messianic
“prince that was promised” to the resurrection of Jon Snow, biblical archetypes
seem to lie just below the surface of the Song of Ice and Fire. This, in
itself, is not surprising, since much of western literature, both ancient and
modern, is infused with biblical themes.
Last night’s episode “the Bells” was no exception, as it
carried us into the realm of the apocalyptic. Not only was there a torrent of
fire and brimstone, but also a dragon and a woman about to give birth (Apocalypse
of John 12?). More poignantly, however, was the appearance of a “pale horse”
ridden by Death (Apocalypse of John 6:8)—one of the famous “Horsemen of the
Apocalypse.” The fact that this horse is then mounted by Arya Stark, herself
devoted to the God of Death, serves to reinforce the allusion. This many be an
interpretive reach or it many have been deliberate. Regardless, it was a
powerfully expressed moment in such an overwhelmingly cataclysmic episode.
Strictly speaking, such a reference should not work, since
the biblical narrative is not a part of the Game of Thrones universe.
Still, in an episode in which Jon and others bear witness in horror to the apocalyptic
end of the world as they know it, it is nonetheless fitting.
The full implications of the imagery remain to be seen as the series comes to a close.
