Putting aside the dragons and ice zombies, one of the most frequently cited reasons fans love Game Of Thrones is its “gritty realism” and willingness to embrace the horrors of medieval life. The J. Paul Getty Museum is seizing on fans’ fascination with both Game Of Thrones and history by recapping each new episode using only medieval art. Each Monday, the Museum’s Tumblr uploads illuminated manuscripts and paintings from its collection that have some relevance to the episode’s major plot points. For instance, here’s the Getty’s summary of the moment the Sand Snakes confront Trystane in the season six premiere:
So far the Tumblr has recaps for the first and second episodes of season six, as well as recaps for all of season five as well. The museum also hosts an academic blog that updates after each episode. Last season’s blog focused on medievalisms in Game Of Thrones. This year, manuscripts curators Bryan C. Keene and Alexandra Kaczenski are exploring the parallels between medieval illuminated manuscripts and TV storytelling.
The Getty has a knack for finding the perfect image to recap the emotion, if not the exact beats, of each plot point. Which means this is how the blog marked the (spoiler!) momentous return of Jon Snow: