The current series is set at the onset of such a long winter. The climate is essentially European but varies between extreme cold in the North and a Mediterranean climate in the South and Westeros is subject to epochal winters and summers lasting for years. Much of the geography of Westeros is the British Isles, including the wall. The civilisation of Westeros is clearly based on the European Middle Ages, specifically as George martin has stated, the Wars of the Roses in Fifteenth century England. So why so much violence and what does it tell us about the political institutions that support such a high level of violence? In fact by the end of the seventh season more than half of the important characters had died, most of them violently.
Clearly death is a key element of the show, and no character is safe.
All but two were due to injury, burns or poisoning with most dying as a result of assault (63%) and war (24%). A recent academic paper analysed the narratives of 330 named characters over the life of the show. Given the informal motto of the show ‘Valar morghulis’ (‘all men must die’), this is by no means a straightforward exercise. As the final, long-awaited, season of Game of Thrones gets underway, there is likely to be a flurry of speculation about who is likely to win.
