It’s wild: for a decade, everyone devoured shows like Game of Thrones grey morality, backstabbing alliances, fragile empires. Then, when an actual war breaks out, people’s ability to read geopolitics collapses back to… Harry Potter-level good vs evil.
So let’s map today’s world powers onto Westeros houses.
🦁 House Lannister = America
- Big, rich, loud.
- Actually broke but pretends to be untouchable.
- Bullies allies, then acts shocked when loyalty frays.
❄️ House Stark = Europe
- Noble, “principled,” endlessly loyal.
- Gets repeatedly wrecked by reality.
- Somehow still shocked each time.
🌹 House Tyrell = UK
- Lost the throne ages ago.
- Keeps trying to stay relevant through “soft power.”
- Punches above weight, but only in theatre, not war.
🐉 House Targaryen = China
- Ancient dynasty reborn.
- Once weak, now surging.
- Dragons = tech, and there are a lot of them.
☠️ House Greyjoy = Russia
- Harsh, poor, brutal.
- Doesn’t share your values, doesn’t want to.
- Punches way above its apparent weight.
🧟 The White Walkers = Climate Change
- Terrifying existential threat… in Season 1.
- Now written out of the narrative because politics prefers palace intrigue.
- Still out there, still coming.
🔥 The irony: we wanted Game of Thrones politics: murky motives, power games, shifting alliances. Instead, reality hit and most people reached for wands, not swords.
