Why Game of Thrones is ruining A Song of Ice and Fire

For years now I have delicately danced around major plot points in the ASOIAF universe. Every situation where the TV series or books come up starts with: “Where are you? What’s the last thing that happened?” Everyone’s entry point into the series has been disparate and I so cherished my times getting shocked by each turn of the page that I want, desperately, to preserve that experience for every that I talk to.

This post contains spoilers up to the Season 6, Episode 3

See? Even though the show has “caught up” to the books and even passed them I still can’t help but protect the few secrets that remain.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get over that behavior, something about how I experienced the twists and turns of ASOIAF makes me want to avoid ruining the experience for those watching Game of Thrones (now a very distinctly different thing).

But, you show watchers are insufferable.

I don’t think I like learning the plot of the books from the show, it seems a worse way in every possible sense. But I can’t avoid it, I’m a prisoner to the show now. Despite being smug about my knowledge for the past 5 seasons; you illiterates are ruining something I love for me.

“But Kaz,” you’ll say, “you don’t have to watch the show. You can just ignore it and enjoy the books. You don’t have to watch the show and annoy all of us with your audible eye-rolls!”

False.

Besides all of my friends and family blasting every plot point onto Facebook every Sunday and Monday (quite rudely, might I add). Game of Thrones is an inescapable piece of pop culture consciousness now. You could blissfully live your life, both in the real world and online, without ever running into ASOIAF spoilers before Game of Thrones aired.

Oh, I’m sorry, did you accidentally open your eyes while at the grocery store? Blam! Spoiled!!!

These kinds of things are going to be unavoidable going forward. I can’t stick my head in the sand and not interact with the world in order to prevent the major plot beats of future ASOIAF novels being spoiled. Especially considering that the series will be complete just before the inevitable heat death of the universe…

So rather than missing out on the cultural touchstone that the series is right now in order to preserve spoilers that will be spoiled for me anyways I relent and watch Game of Thrones.

But I’m not happy about it.

Go ahead, tell me why I’m wrong, that’s why the comments section is below…