There are countless novels and films that share this sentiment - “Saving Private Ryan,” “A Farewell to Arms,” “Hacksaw Ridge” - the list doesn’t end. However, simply showing an audience that “War is hell,” while effective, is nothing new. Martin’s intentions in writing “Game of Thrones” were grounded in both wanting to be honest about the gruesome realities of war in a genre that is notorious for sugar coating them and more generally wanting to subvert common fantasy tropes in a way that made his story more grounded in reality and actual history.
In the first part of this article, we discussed how George R.
