Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics. "
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When you combine that with major genre franchises, the result becomes pretty magical. Game of Thrones is one of the
👑Rings of PowerOne ring to rule
🗡️The WitcherToss a coin
⚢Wheel of TimeThe Pattern weaves
👻The SandmanLord of Dreams
HBO’s Game of Thrones — the pop-culture juggernaut that made fantasy TV prestige — premiered with the episode “Winter Is Coming.” Across eight seasons it picked up a record 59 Emmy wins. In which year did its first episode air?
✗ Wrong. The answer is 2011. 2009 is when the original pilot was filmed (and largely reshot). 2013 is when Season 3’s Red Wedding episode aired. 2014 is when Season 4’s “The Watchers on the Wall” reset what TV could do with effects. GoT debuted April 17, 2011.
Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and the upcoming A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are all adapted from the sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire universe. Name the author whose unfinished novels (the next book has been pending since 2011) underpin every adaptation.
✗ Wrong. The answer is George R.R. Martin. Brandon Sanderson is the Cosmere/Stormlight Archive author (and the writer Robert Jordan’s estate hired to finish Wheel of Time). Patrick Rothfuss is the Kingkiller Chronicle author with his own infamous-publication-delay reputation. Joe Abercrombie writes the First Law series. ASOIAF is Martin’s.
Netflix’s The Witcher (2019–) adapted Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels with a lead actor who’s a famously hardcore fan of the source material — he wore the white wig, did much of his own swordplay, and personally pushed back against Lauren Schmidt Hissrich’s scripts before departing after Season 3. Name him.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Henry Cavill. Liam Hemsworth replaces him as Geralt from Season 4 (2025) onward. Aidan Turner played Kili in The Hobbit films. Sam Heughan is Outlander’s Jamie Fraser. The Witcher’s original Geralt is Henry Cavill, through Seasons 1–3.
House of the Dragon — the Game of Thrones prequel chronicling the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons — is set how long before the events of the original series?
✗ Wrong. The answer is ~200 years. The Targaryen kings featured (Viserys I, Aegon II, Rhaenyra) reign during the Dance of the Dragons (129–131 AC), which is roughly 172 years before Robert’s Rebellion in the original series. Martin’s Fire & Blood is the in-universe history that the show mines for source material.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power — reportedly the most expensive TV series ever made, with a five-season commitment from its streamer at well over $1 billion total budget — is set in Middle-earth’s Second Age, thousands of years before The Hobbit. Which streaming service is it on?
✗ Wrong. The answer is Amazon Prime Video. Netflix has The Witcher and Sandman. HBO Max has Game of Thrones and HotD. Apple TV+ has Foundation. Rings of Power is Amazon’s flagship original drama and reportedly its single biggest production-budget bet.
Amazon’s The Wheel of Time (2021–) is adapted from a 14-novel epic fantasy series running from 1990 to 2013. The series’ original author died in 2007 after completing only 11 of the planned books; Brandon Sanderson was hired by the estate to finish the final three. Who was the original author?
✗ Wrong. The answer is Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney Jr.). Terry Brooks wrote the Shannara saga. Raymond E. Feist wrote the Riftwar Saga. Terry Pratchett wrote the Discworld series. The Wheel of Time is Jordan’s, with Brandon Sanderson finishing the last three books from his notes.
Netflix’s The Sandman (2022–) adapts a beloved 75-issue DC/Vertigo comic that ran 1989–96 about Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, and his troubled siblings — the Endless. Whose comics is the show based on?
✗ Wrong. The answer is Neil Gaiman. Alan Moore wrote Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. Grant Morrison wrote Doom Patrol, The Invisibles and All-Star Superman. Mike Mignola is the creator of Hellboy. Sandman is Gaiman’s.
Netflix’s Shadow and Bone (2021–23) wove together the Shadow and Bone trilogy (Alina Starkov, the Sun Summoner) with the Six of Crows duology (Kaz Brekker’s Crows heist crew). Both source novel series are set in the same imagined Tsarist-Russia-coded fantasy world. Whose books are they?
✗ Wrong. The answer is Leigh Bardugo. Sarah J. Maas writes the Throne of Glass and ACOTAR series (the latter has a Hulu show in development). Cassandra Clare writes the Shadowhunters Chronicles (which also got a TV adaptation, on Freeform 2016–19). Marie Lu writes Legend and Warcross. The Grishaverse is Leigh Bardugo’s.
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Lord of the Realm — or smallfolk in the keep?
In terms of Game of Thrones and Shadow and Bone's similarities, a key aspect is both fantasy series' emphasis on political drama. Yes, both shows feature heightened fantasy elements, like dragons and the White Walkers in Game of Thrones, and The Fold and Grisha magic in Shadow and Bone. However, it is through how these two dark fantasy series explore complex geopolitical landscapes that they truly match. Ben Barnes' General Kirigan uses political manipulation to move the key pieces on the board around, just as characters like Littlefinger did in Game of Thrones. Shadow and Bone's Ravka is a nation at war, much like GOT's landscape.
Additionally, the Wall keeps monsters away while the Fold holds them inside. As for how Shadow and Bone connects to the hit dystopian sci-fi franchise The Hunger Games, both of them come from the same YA DNA. In addition to that, there are many parallels between Shadow and Bone's Alina Starkov and The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen. Like the latter, the Netflix series' main hero starts out from nothing, with a rare power within her being discovered and forcing Alina to embark on a journey that puts her directly into contact with a privileged class.
Much like Katniss rejected becoming a piece of the Capitol's puzzle, Alina must also make a choice. Both characters end up being part of the changing of the progressive regimes in their respective franchises, though to very different outcomes. These similarities to Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games make Netflix's Shadow and Bone the perfect choice for fans of those franchises, while the show also carves out its own path in the fantasy genre.
Why Netflix's Shadow And Bones Is The Perfect Weekend Binge
Credit: Dávid Lukács/Netflix © 2023The reception to Shadow and Bone was also strong, which should entice new viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, both seasons of Shadow and Bone combine for an 83% critics' score and a slightly higher 84% audience score. As such, this is a consistent fantasy series, showing no significant drops in quality, which is vital for a good binge. All those elements make Shadow and Bone the perfect binge on Netflix, and even if the show was canceled before a planned season 3 and Six of Crows spin-off, season 2's ending is still satisfying enough that the ride to that point is worth taking.
- Release Date
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2021 - 2023
- Network
- Showrunner
- Directors
- Writers
Netflix
Eric Heisserer
Mairzee Almas, Karen Gaviola, Laura Belsey, Jeremy Webb, Lee Toland Krieger, Bola Ogun
Eric Heisserer, Vanya Asher, Daegan Fryklind, Shelley Meals, Christina Strain, M. Scott Veach, Donna Thorland, Erin Conley, Nick Culbertson
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Jessie Mei LiAlina Starkov
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Malyen 'Mal' Oretsev
- Creator(s)
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Eric Heisserer