George R.R. Martin encourages people to vote in the midterm elections

It’s election season in the United States, and it looks like voter turnout is going to be higher than usual for a midterm election. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin is doing his part to encourage people to get to the polls, whether it’s on election day tomorrow or through early voting. Check out his message:

“I created the world of Westeros, but I’m glad I live in the United States of America, because in Westeros, to get rid of a bad king, you need dragons, but here, in the United States, we have something more powerful: the ballot. Get out and vote.”

George R.R. Martin has never made a secret of the fact that he’s not a big fan of President Donald Trump, and I’m assuming that’s who he’s referring to when he mentions “a bad king.” Although if that’s the case, it’s kind of an odd tac to take for a midterm election, since Trump isn’t on the ballot.

But let’s not get lost in the weeds. Hopefully we can agree on two things: 1) It is way better to live in the U.S. than Westeros, for a ton of reasons, and; 2) Voting is important and you should do it, no matter who you vote for.

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It’s been an odd week for the intersection of Game of Thrones and politics. On Friday, President Trump tweeted this:

pic.twitter.com/nk2vKvHuaL
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2018

Trump is referring here to sanctions he’s reimposed on Iran. HBO responded with a joke, albeit a barbed one:

How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?
— HBO (@HBO) November 2, 2018

All of this was pretty surreal, but things got even weirder on Saturday when Ghasem Soleimany, a Major General in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, hit back with a Game of Thrones-inspired photo of his own:

Sure, Soleimany didn’t make a specific Game of Thrones reference (the House Mormont words are “Here We Stand,” which is kind of close, but I doubt it was intentional), but that font doesn’t lie.

So we have the president of the United States and a powerful Iranian general trading Game of Thrones-themed threats on social media. Weird world we live in, huh?

UPDATE: Martin isn’t the only Game of Thrones figure encouraging people to vote. Take it, Lena Headey.