Abstract:

Having received 204 industry awards and 581 nominations, Game of Thrones indeed is the most acclaimed American TV series of our time. Enshrouded with highcost exquisite production and fantastic construction, the drama entails profundity in political philosophy embodied in three key motifs of modern politics. The first one is the demoralized Machiavellian politics, which reduces political issues into technical ones. It is the dominant mode of modern politics, whose excesses constitute the other two motifs of the show. They are: (a) theocratic politics in secular societies, whose paradox is that it is the extremely secular order that nurtures radical fundamentalism; (b) revolutionary politics that overthrows the “old order”, with the “nextdayafterrevolution” issue being its severest challenge (i.e. how to ensure an authentic emancipation). As a fantasy drama, Game of Thrones is nothing less than a “(hyper)real representation” of today’s political world.

Key words: Game of Thrones, Machiavelli, revolution, theocracy, ordering