Does The Walking Dead leave Game Of Thrones for dead?

They’re TV’s biggest cult hits — but which is better? Is Game of Thrones more realistic than The Walking Dead? Can zombies really beat dragons?

THEY are the two biggest cult television hits, with many loving both The Walking Dead and Game Of Thrones. But they also have their detractors.

So which is better? Game Of Thrones has more viewers, while its books also have far more readers than The Walking Dead comics.

And when it comes to Emmys and other TV awards, the traffic is also all one-way.

But is that the real picture? Do zombies beat dragons? Let’s see just which is the better show. Oh, and a word of warning: This post is dark and full of spoilers.

GAME OF THRONES

While I’m a huge fan of both shows, there’s no question that Game of Thrones is the better of the two

At 10 episodes per season, it’s punchier and much less depressing. Game of Thrones characters have end-goals, admittedly most are throne related, but that’s infinitely more interesting than just surviving somehow.

Negan, a villain who talks to his baseball bat. Yawn.

The Walking Dead has zombies, I hear you say. Well GoT has Zombie armies … AND dragons. (Is anyone else anticipating Dragons V Zombies as much as me?) The Walking Dead has bad guys — The Governor, Negan, those Terminus cannibals. Game of Thrones has entire dynasties of bad guys. The Lannisters even have their own theme tune about how bad-ass they are.

GoT characters have intricate backstories which are gradually revealed over the course of the series. Jon Snow could be both the prophecised saviour prince AND heir to the Iron Throne? Wow. TWD ones just gives us random facts about past lives. Yeah, every character once had kids / a partner / a twin. And then they died. What a shock.

And speaking of deaths, while Dead Ned and the Red Wedding were shocking and tragic, they weren’t gratuitous — they were necessary. There would be no show without them. Unlike TWD, GoT deaths are not one meaningless death after another, timed with season finales, or worse … MID-season finales (whatever they are) Who is Negan going to kill this time? Yawn. Even if or when Negan gets his comeuppance it won’t have the surprise that Joffrey’s sudden departure did.

The plot lines of GoT are weaved together to present multiple sides to the same story. We know why evil characters are driven to act the way they do. Why did we feel sorry for Cersei after her walk of shame and then excited to see her revenge on Septer Unella? This is the woman who caused all the Stark deaths and disablements. A woman in a romantic, treasonous relationship with her own twin brother. Who destroyed the Tyrell family out of sheer jealousy. Who intentionally injured her baby brother in his crib and hated him his whole life. Cersei’s one of the most evil characters on the show and the writers have us pitying her and cheering for her. Now that’s good television.

Jaime and Cersei Lannister ... who can’t identify with an incestuous love affair?

Meanwhile on the Walking Dead, Carol’s having a crisis about killing people and has left the gang. Again. Entire episodes are dedicated to one plot line, or worse, one character. Did we really need an hour on Tara? On Morgan? The plot moves slower than an aimlessly shuffling crowd of the undead. Once Negan is defeated we KNOW what will happen. The gang will keep trying to survive, some will die and they’ll meet another bad guy or group. Defeat, rinse, repeat. What’s going to happen in the final season? Will they find a cure, and civilisation will go back to normal? I doubt it.

At least Game Of Thrones we know there’s an endgame, even if it’s buried deep within the consciousness of George RR Martin. (Finish the damn book already, GRRM).

Angela Connell is mother to two preschool-aged children, so she feels like a walking dead person most days. She is a fan of all things zombie and Game Of Thrones in book and TV form.

THE WALKING DEAD

As brilliant as Game Of Thrones is, it cannot compete with The Walking Dead for creativity.

One of the best things about Game Of Thrones is the way it has brought fantasy to a much wider audience, who previously thought “fantasy” was all Lord of The Rings, with singing elves and dancing dwarves.

But, for all the exultation over how groundbreaking it is, GoT is basically three standard fantasy tales woven into one.

Jon Snow nearly broke the internet by sort-of dying.

We have the rebellious fight for the crown (Starks vs Lannisters); the banished true heir’s slow rise to the throne (Daenerys); and the army of monsters from beyond a wall threatening to invade, an invasion that nobody takes seriously (The Night King).

All three of these storylines have been written before, and brilliantly. GoT was just the first to weave all three together.

And killing off main characters? George RR Martin himself admitted that the idea for that came from Gandalf dying in The Fellowship Of The Ring.

Yes, it has lots of bare boobs and bums, which The Walking Dead doesn’t.

But is that really a reason to watch a show?

Yes, the backstories are interesting on GoT. But they also leave us cold because they are so different to us. Yes, we enjoy the rise of Dany but can we identify with her? A princess who rides dragons and can’t be touched by fire?

How about Cersei? Can you really feel kinship with a noblewoman who enjoys sex with her brother and torturing people? Can you put yourself in her position?

Contrast that with Carol from The Walking Dead. She was an ordinary housewife who lost her abusive husband — and then saw her beloved daughter turned into a zombie. She fought furiously to save the people she loved, discovering a new side of herself and a hidden strength. She adopted a pair of young girls, Lizzie and Mika, surrogates for her lost daughter, who even called her “Mum”. Only Lizzie was driven mad by the apocalyptic world and killed Mika, forcing Carol to execute Lizzie to save baby Judith. Now all this death has left her unable to cope and wanting to live alone, because she cannot bear to lose anyone else she loves. Relate to that? We can relate to ALL of it.

Carol with baby Judith, Lizzie and Mika. This was a shocking story, while the presence of Tyreese, who wanted to kill Carol because she had murdered his sick girlfriend, only added to its power.

The Walking Dead puts ordinary people, people that you could realistically meet any day of the week, into an extraordinary world. It is a world of infinite variation and you never quite know what is going to happen.

On GoT, you know that Dany and Cersei will face off, that the Starks will be reunited and the Night King will be defeated. While many characters have died, there are others who should have died but were magically saved (hello, Jon Snow).

On TWD, you don’t know what will happen next. Every new villain has a different effect on the heroes and any of them can die, at any time. Even beloved ones like Glenn.

Negan enjoyed a drink with Spencer but then killed him when Spencer tried to betray Rick. That was a gutsy move.

Yes, there have been issues with the first half of season seven and its plotting. But it is back on track now.

It’s a different show but, in many ways, it is a better show.

Duncan Lay is the author of nine fantasy books including Australian bestsellers Bridge Of Swords and The Wounded Guardian and a fan of GoT, The Walking Dead, all superheros and Star Wars.