Act Four: As 'Game of Thrones' continues into uncharted territory, what counts as canon?

Don't let our conversations about great art get bogged down in technicalities.   Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics   Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” (Helen Sloan/HBO) (Almost) every week, I dedicate this installment of the newsletter to a question from the previous Monday’s chat. If you want to read the transcript from our most recent conversation, you can do that here. While the chat will be going on a brief hiatus for July 4 and so I can recuperate from some upcoming (minor) surgery, you can submit questions for the July 18 chat here. And if you just can’t get enough of me talking “Game of Thrones” for the year, you can check out my Facebook Live chat with David Malitz here. This week, a reader has a lingering question about “Game of Thrones”: How should we think about the world [George R.R. Martin] has created if he never finishes the books? Do the final three seasons of GOT become part of the canon of this world? Or do we just have endless fights forever about what GRRM would REALLY have done? And does A Song of Ice and Fire become, like, the most successful multi-media project ever? My tendency, however waffling it may be, has been to say that, if canon is what the authors said happened, and fan fiction is what observers wish had happened, then both “Game of Thrones” and Martin’s novels are canon in their own spheres. “Game of Thrones” isn’t fan fiction; it’s an authorized adaptation that Martin himself has written for. They may be different, but they don’t have to be in competition, especially if their major plot points are essentially the same. I know I am very much looking forward to reading Cersei Lannister’s point of view chapter as the Great Sept of Baelor goes up in a roar of wildfire. I understand the tendency to want one, definitive edition. But given the tendency of the current media environment to produce all sorts of adaptations and spin-offs of every available story, I think that debates about which one is best, or who did it better, are often the least interesting conversations we can have about works like these. Why does it have to be a choice? Why not talk about how Lena Headey’s performance of Cersei brought new dimensions to Martin’s writing, or talk about the way the expanding number of perspectives in Martin’s novels laid the grounds for some awesome television casting? People for whom enjoyment of the entire story rests on, say, Lady Stoneheart can enjoy the series their own way, just as folks who love Yara Greyjoy as she is in the show can have theirs. One of the more exhausting trends in cultural coverage right now is the need to reduce everything to definitive answers, to neatly-ranked lists, to determinations about which opinion is right. Art’s great precisely because it’s subjective. Let’s not reduce “Game of Thrones” by limiting our discussions of the show and novels to litigating something so ephemeral as what counts as canon. ADVERTISEMENT   The Post’s Jason Rezaian to be honored by PEN Center USA Rezaian and Willow Bay, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, will receive awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 28. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘The Daily Show’ proves why TV shows deserve dignified deaths Not every show needs to run forever. And some would be better off knowing when to quit. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ is terrible, and yet still ahead of its time Roland Emmerich has managed to make an action franchise that counts among its heroes observant Jews and middle-aged gay men. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Game of Thrones,’ Season 6, Episode 10 Review: “The Winds of Winter” Despite the messiness of its sixth season, "Game of Thrones" was never more fully realized than it was at its best this year. By Alyssa Rosenberg  •  Read more »   ‘Finding Dory’ isn’t just about disability — it’s about community and support Dory can survive despite her short-term memory loss. But she thrives once she finds a community. By Stacia L. Brown  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Recommended for you   Intersect The corner of the Internet and interesting, in your inbox weekly. Sign Up »         Share Act Four:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Act Four. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071