Satanic Morality in Game of Thrones

Our family have become big fans of the TV series, Game Of Thrones. There are many things about it we enjoy and we each have our own favorite characters and plot lines. However, more pertinent to this blog, is the fact that we feel the moral backdrop to the story is at least Pagan and perhaps Satanic.

Before going further I would like to emphasize that in our view nearly all the main characters seem to be driven by Satanic imperatives and morality, not just the ones it is easier to point to as the bad guys. While one of the pleasing and engaging aspects of the character development in GoT is that almost everybody is multi-dimensional with grey and ambiguous sides to their moral character, even those characters who are as close as the series gets to being the “good guys” seem to have a moral base that we could point to as being entirely Satanic.

For anybody who has not seen any of the series or read any of the books, here is the shortest synopsis possible. The stories take place in the fictional land of Westeros which resembles Europe in the Middle Ages to some degree with a good sprinkling of witchcraft, magic and a few dragons. The main plot revolves around the various factions who are trying to secure “The Iron Throne” the dominant seat of power in the land. The spiritual background is broadly pagan although most of the characters pay little more than lip service to any particular line of belief. There is one, still pagan, religion which becomes dominant for part of the story which bares some resemblance to our organised Abrahamic religions.

We have spoken of Satanic morality many times on our blog before but to briefly clarify for the context of this post; Satanic morality is personal and individual and rejects the concepts of absolute good and evil or laws set down by gods or churches. We, like many modern Satanists, refer to ideas set down by Anton LaVey which are based more on logic and usefulness than anything else, but we don’t regard even what he says as anything more than a rough guideline. It is possible for Satanists to indeed be all that the world considers to be evil, and a few no doubt are, but the vast majority of us recognize the need and usefulness of being helpful and kind when it suits us; which might well be most of the time. What we don’t accept or recognize is any divine or outside imperative to be kind or “good” all of the time.

And so to the characters of Game of Thrones…

We will start with the character who could be described as the most evil, the principle “baddie” of the show, Cersei Lannister.

Cersei, played superbly by Lena Headey, is a monster. She is clever and manipulative and driven more and more exclusively as the story develops by her personal ambition and obsession to rule the whole of Westeros from the Iron Throne and rid herself of any possible opposition. She thinks nothing of killing anybody who gets in her way (on occasion hundreds of people at a time), she is not adverse to physical or mental torture of her opponents and she will always take revenge without mercy. In case you think she is all work and no fun, rest assured she likes to let her hair down sometimes; mainly by having sex with her brother! Now as Satanists ourselves we have to admit there are some elements of Cersei which we don’t deny can be aspects of our morality. We do value ambition and being self centered. We think it is often good to be clever and manipulative. We are not against taking revenge if necessary. And we often go against other people’s sexual rules and morals. Cersei’s one redeeming feature is that she does genuinely love her children and does all in her power (like any Satanic Mother) to protect them and their interests. However even that gets out of control and has fairly disastrous consequences.

We cannot deny that Cersei is both evil and Satanic. Perhaps she serves as a warning to us. “There but for the grace of Satan go we.” Cersei is an example of a Satanist out of control, unrestrained by any law or much personal morality. In the show we see that she causes a lot of suffering as she proceeds and succeeds in her schemes and plans. However, it is not without personal loss and cost. Ultimately she is insane and hated by almost everybody.

We, like all Satanists, could go the way of Cersei. If we don’t, it is because we choose not to because of personal wisdom and personal morality.

Next we will look at Arya Stark.

Arya, is a tomboy; a girl who from the beginning preferred swards to dolls. She is played by the very talented Maisie Williams. Arya is strong willed and independently minded, determined to do things her own way. Most aspects of her character are what we understand as Satanic and yet she is portrayed for the most part as sympathetic. In a sense she is a victim of brutality but, in various ways we Satanists approve of, she refuses to be a victim and instead tries at every turn to control her own destiny. However, her story is dominated by her need for vengeance. As Satanists we do not rule out vengeance, in fact we see it as an aspect of taking responsibility for your life. In Arya’s case however we see the danger of becoming obsessed with vengeance. While we as the audience are in many ways rooting for Arya to get her revenge on the people who have wronged her (terribly in many cases) we can also see how as a person she is damaged by her obsession. On the one hand we want Arya to succeed in killing the people on her list (most of whom deserve nothing less) but on the other hand, as her violence increases, we see that she is becoming no less evil than those who have hurt her and that her lust for vengeance results in the deaths of innocents as well. Her story arc is not yet finished but it seems clear that even if she succeeds in her quest, she will be destroyed by it. There are lessons to be learned for us in her story.

As Satanic Witches, we couldn’t fail to mention the Red Woman or Red Witch, Melisandre.

In terms of moral values Melisandre is one of the most ambiguous characters in the series. She is a witch from another continent who follows another religion dedicated to the Lord of Light (although her beliefs and practices are sometimes very dark indeed). At first she is keen to convert people to her religion but is less evangelical towards the end of the series so far. She has premonitions and uses magic (often very dark magic) quite frequently. Her magic includes what Satanists would call lesser magic, often involving sex and seduction. She appears very beautiful but we later learn that her appearance is deceptive. It could be argued that she instigates and presides over one of the most evil acts of the series (the murder/sacrifice of a very innocent child) and yet she also plays a key part in rescuing the archetypal hero of the series from the clutches of death.

So let’s speak about Jon Snow

In fairness there is nothing very Satanic about Jon Snow except for the fact that his obvious “goodness” is a self chosen path. He is the good warrior, on the side of the right; a protector of the poor and vulnerable. While he has seen and experienced bad things, there are very few elements of darkness in his character. In some ways that makes his character’s development a bit more bland than many of the others. But still, we include him in our list for two reasons. Firstly because Satanists can of course be good if they choose to be. (We like to think we make that choice most of the time). And secondly…Eye candy! Sophie and I would love to invite him round for dinner and afters; and while we may not tempt him over to the dark side exactly, we could at least work on his kinky side! (Mind you, these days we’d probably have to fight off our daughter Tina first)!

Another character all three of us might like to entertain after dark if we had the chance is Daenerys.

Daenerys Targaryen is in our view one of the most positive Satanic characters in the series. She also has one of  the most impressive and testing personal journeys. She begins as a shy and powerless teenager dependent on her abusive brother; and develops through luck, cunning and courage into an impressive and inspirational leader and warrior Queen. She has more than her fair share of troubles and tragedies but with magic (she is impervious to fire) and cleverness rises to become one of the principle challengers to the Iron Throne. It would be all too easy to point to her as the female equivalent of the “nice” Jon Snow and certainly, like him, she has a strong moral compass which is usually in favor of helping the underprivileged and freeing slaves.  She also has a sense of duty to her destiny meaning she will often do what is best for her people or her long term plans rather than what she would like to do in the moment. But she has not become powerful without developing a darker side and knowing how and when to use it. She can be very  ruthless and vengeful when she needs to be. Indeed we see her as a woman whose instincts and moral values are entirely Satanic (like us) but in a positive and good way that is not often seen or understood by non satanists.

And finally we shall speak about Tyrion…

Tyrion Lannister is a dwarf, a fact we will mention briefly only because it is pertinent to his role in the plot. Actually Tyrion is, in our opinion, a giant of a character not only in Game of Thrones but also in modern literature, and surely Peter Dinklage who plays Tyrion is proving to be one of the great actors of our time. He certainly has some of the best one liners and set piece speeches of the series. Like Daenerys, we see Tyrion as a fully rounded Satanic character who has a highly active and visible dark side but knows the destruction and depravity that can lead to. Ultimately his moral compass points to doing what is wise for the short and long term. He can be a foul mouthed womanizer, a heavy drinking pleasure seeker who spends much of his time with whores. But he is also the most intelligent and perceptive character in the story who can be very courageous and who knows the pain, the power and value of love in it’s many forms.

There are many other characters we could mention but we don’t have time. There are certainly many others we like and find fascinating, and all of them in our view could be seen as representations of satanic lifestyle in it’s many forms. The fact that some are broadly “good” and some are broadly “bad” only serves to show the diversity which exists within the satanic landscape.

We also like diversity of sexuality that is represented in the world of “Thrones”. Devoid of Christian influence, people are less hung up and generally more free to enjoy and express their sexual tastes and preferences. We would like to think the same would be true in a Satanic world.

There are many reviews of Game of Thrones on the net and probably many are more comprehensive and better written than this. What we have attempted to show however is two things. Firstly that many GoT characters and storylines could be described as Satanic. Secondly that describing them in such a way does not really mean what some people (especially Christian types) would expect. In Game of Thrones and in real life Good and Bad are not defined by the religious or spiritual labels you claim, but by your actions. It is just as possible (we would say more likely in fact) for a satanist to do what is good or at least best in the given situation, as it is for a Christian to to do what is evil. Satanists are people who deal with their inner darkness and use it wisely and constructively.

And finally if you haven’t seen the series or read George R.R. Martin’s books, why not give them a try. The books are inventive and extremely well written. The TV series has high production values and is also well written and acted. It got us hooked! One warning though in case you have been living on the dark side of the moon and if you haven’t been paying attention to what we have said here, be prepared for rather large doses of sex and violence between the plot twists!

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