Can someone give me a brief summary of what Game of Thrones is about? The most I've got out of it is...
There exists a land of men known as Westeros (it's geography is heavily bassed off of Great Britain, bar the south which is more similar to Mediterannean desert).
This land used to be split into 7 kingdoms. These kingdoms had many noble families in them and one royal family each.
Hundreds of years ago the Targaryen Kings rode dragons into Westeros and conquered these lands (the Targaryen's came from a land in the East where Dragons used to live).
The 7 kingdoms lost in battle to the Targaryens. The Targaryen's unified the lands and proclaimed themselves kings, with the former royal houses becoming the lords of their former kingdoms, looking after them for the Targaryen King. The lesser lords of those areas would be subservient to the higher lords, and in turn the King/Queen.
The Targaryen's ruled for generations with varying success for centuries.
The Dragons however slowly died out.
Eventually however, the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, was in power. He was, as his name suggests, mad, and he lashed out and had other lords killed.
His son, Rhaegar also suposedely kidnapped the sister of Eddard Stark, a noble of House Stark, Wardens of the North (head Northern household).
Eddard (Ned) was the ward of Jon Arryn, the Lord of the Eyrie (one of the seven Kingdoms). Robert Baratheon, of House Baratheon, who ruled the Storm lands (another one of the seven kingdoms) was also a ward of Jon Arryn, and friend of Ned.
The two of them led a rebellion against the Mad King.
Ned's sister, father and elder brother died. Ned became the Lord of Winterfell.
The Targaryen's were almost all killed, bar Viserys and the newborn Danaerys. They were fled by their supporters across the sea to the east, where they stayed in hiding.
Robert Baratheon was crowned King of the Westeros. He married Cersei Lannister, of house Lannister, who ruled the Westerlands and supported the rebellion (they have a lot of gold).
Move the plot on several years.
Jon Arryn dies mysteriously. Robert Baratheon visits the North to ask Ned to become his "Hand of the King", which Jon Arryn was before, who happens to basically be the right-hand man of the King, and for the most part, truly rules the Kingdom.
It turns out there are conspiracies at the capital and eventually wars begin over the state of the throne.
Meanwhile Danaerys in the east, with her brother Viserys, are trying to gather an army of Dothraki (imagine a Mongol hoard), who will help them retake Westeros.
In the North sits the Wall and the Night's Watch. The Wall is a massive 700 foot wall of ice stretching from the west coast to the east.
It is supposed to defend Westeros from the Others, evil icy beings who once waged war on the men of Westeros.
This purpose has mostly been forgotten in modern times however, and instead it defends Westeros from wildling people who live uncivilised in the far north.
The Night's Watch, who man the wall, are volunteers, although most take it the job as a way to escape punishment for crimes, whether that was imprisonment or death.
This is the main storyline of the series, although it does develop a lot more beyond that.
The series also touches on other themes within the world, such as;
Marriage
Heirs to thrones and lands
Bastards
Love
Religion (there are several religions, many of which seem to have credibility in having powerful active deities)
War
Slavery
Death
Dragons and other mythical creatures
love
Family
Torture
Identity (not in a soppy way, more of a ninja-ey way)
Bloodlines
Prophecy and the Future
Visions and the power to control beasts.
Vengeance
And More
It's so difficult to really describe it all and not give it all away.
It is truly a modern epic. And I don't mean that in terms of superlatives, but in that it is a story of epic proportions and content.
