"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die": Concepts of justice in George R R Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire'

Abstract

In George R R Martin's fictional realm of Westeros, there are three key concepts of justice conveyed to the audience: legal justice, divine justice, and poetic justice. Legal justice is determined through trial by the King (or an appropriate substitute judge), divine justice is determined by trial by combat/battle, while poetic justice is a central theme in the lives of characters throughout the narrative. In the case of legal justice, power lies largely in the hands of authority figures, who can manage the circumstances surrounding the trial to ensure their desired outcome. This article argues that this portrayal of legal justice provides a mirror for the audience, allowing them to reflect on many of the problems faced by defendants in Australia's legal system. In the fantasy series, where the legal process is perceived as unjust by the accused, they can, mid-trial, request a trial by combat where power shifts to the accused and, partially, to 'the Gods' who, through divine intervention, purportedly guide the innocent to victory in one-on-one armed combat. When either of these avenues fail, Martin often draws upon elements of poetic justice to either save or punish particular characters for their pattern of just or unjust behaviour. As this paper will demonstrate, throughout the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' novels, and the corresponding 'Game of Thrones television' series, Martin utilises these formal and informal systems to connect readers with the thought processes of the key characters as they also wrestle, within their fictional world, with the concept of justice. As such, both the books and television series provide the audience with a way to examine and reflect upon their own understandings and concepts of justice.