Monty Python and the Game of Thrones
By Ani Bundel
Game of Thrones is a fantasy epic indebted to many that came before it. From 1981’s Excalibur to The Lord of the Rings series, one can trace the history of Middle Age and Middle Earth based fantasies that lead to first Martin’s novels and then the TV series. Though Game of Thrones is very much its own animal from its fore-bearers in terms of everything from sex to the political nitty gritty, the production is aware of how much they draw from and owe these earlier works. They’ve even referenced them in certain areas. Oberyn’s chant to the Mountain of his crimes against the Martell family was deliberately done to recall a far more savage and R rated version of Inigo Montoya’s chant in The Princess Bride. But the writers have been more humorous too. In the scene where Dany arrives at the Walls of Meereen, and their champion comes down to fight, some of his taunts are direct Valyrian translations of the famous Monty Python French taunter from The Holy Grail.
Which is why Buzzfeed’s latest mash up of Game of Thrones and Monty Python and the Holy Grail is so damn brilliant. Check out some of our favorites:
Makes “Winter is coming” seem like the soul of brevity.
I’d rather be turned into a newt than a shadow baby.
At least the Hound still has his arms and legs at that point.
No one’s bickering over who killed who frey. We all know it was you.
Check out the rest of them at Buzzfeed.com
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