Why I keep watching Game of Thrones

I've watched all eight seasons of Game of Thrones five times since the final episode. That is a lot of evenings spent in Westeros, and I still get excited when somebody tells me they're thinking of starting it.

Let me start with the dragons. If you haven't watched the show, I could try to describe what it feels like when one spreads its wings. Or I could show you this:

Look at the people underneath him. Then look at Daenerys on his back. One creature changes the size of the whole world around him. I love the sound of his wings, the way the music rises when he appears, and the brief silence before you find out what he is going to do.

The more I watch, the more the dragons feel like characters. Drogon can be close to Daenerys one moment and terrifying the next. He has a temper. He watches people. He doesn't seem like something she can simply point in a direction and control. The other dragons have their own presence too, and I find myself looking for them, wondering what will happen to them, the same way I do with the people.

The dragon in that second picture is Viserion, after the Night King brings him back for the White Walkers. I watched him grow alongside Drogon. The blue fire looks incredible, but what makes me stop and stare is knowing who he was before.

The show can pull me in just as quickly with a look across a table, an insult somebody has been saving for the right moment, or a person walking into a room where they aren't welcome. I love that all of it belongs to the same story.

I've talked my sister, some friends, and people I've met on Twitter into giving it a chance. I try not to tell them too much. Half the pleasure is meeting these people yourself and deciding, sometimes very confidently and very wrongly, who you can trust.

The show can look intimidating from the outside. There are kingdoms, families, names that sound alike, and a map in the opening credits. Please don't feel you need to learn any of it before you press play. I certainly wouldn't ask someone to study for a TV show. Give the people a little time. Soon you know whose arrival makes you nervous, whose joke makes you laugh, and whose safety you're worried about when an episode ends.

That's what keeps me watching. I care about people who make awful choices. I get attached to people I didn't expect to like. Sometimes I wish two characters could sit down and have an honest conversation, even while I know it would be a much shorter series if they did. The show makes room for all of that alongside the spectacle. It can fill the screen with an army, then make a quiet conversation feel just as important.

And it is funny. A scene with Tormund insisting he has always had blue eyes still makes me laugh. That little burst of annoyance comes in a world where everyone has plenty of reasons to be afraid. I love that the characters can be frightened, foolish, brave, and funny, sometimes within minutes of each other.

I've watched House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and I'm glad there are more stories in this world. The original is still the one I keep going back to. Knowing what happens hasn't worn it out for me. It gives me more time to notice the faces, the conversations, and the little moments I missed before.

If you've never watched Game of Thrones, give it a few episodes. Then tell me who you trust. When you've met the dragons, tell me which one you like. Five rewatches in, I still want to hear your answer.