A Tiny Feud, a Large War, and an Example from “House of the Dragon”
Hello, Timmy! Today, let’s nail down once and for all that the perceived size of a conflict depends entirely on the characters involved. Remember “A Song of Ice and Fire” by George R. R. Martin? Known on TV as “Game of Thrones.” You do, right? An epic, large-scale story spanning multiple locations across two continents, various cultures, and numerous groups all vying for power and influence. But, what was it that carried the story? It certainly wasn’t just the scale; a conflict is a story by itself only in documentaries and news. It was the characters that told the tale, that made people care. Their significant and minor fights were what resonated with the audience, both in the series and in the books.
The scale might be grand, but what matters to the audience cannot be more human. As an example, let’s turn to “House of the Dragon.” The most powerful scene, by far, was one that should have been the most subdued and pity-inducing. To avoid too many spoilers, King Viserys is dying, and there is a power struggle between his young second wife and his eldest daughter. Everyone has a stake in this fight, everyone has ambitions and desires; after all, a throne lies pretty much empty. Many of his trusted confidants and advisors scheme to wrest the throne away from his daughter and grandson to place his second wife on the throne. The only thing that could stop them is him, but he is too weak to even walk. So, in a show of supreme power of will, he walks all the way to the throne, alone, unsupported, bent down by his illness to the point where he cannot climb the stairs to his throne. The power here lies in the fact that you have the old Dragon, weak and ravaged by illness, almost broken by the weight of a responsibility that he was probably too timid to bear, rallying the very last of his strength to protect his young, roaring one finally time. Silencing those who would see his line humbled and broken. While on the other extreme, you have all the schemers, undone by the action of a man they thought down for the count, witnessing what the throne can do to a man, even though they covet and ambition it for themselves.
So much is communicated in such a succinct and humble way; there are no armies clashing, no grand spells, or great rituals. Yes the fate of the realm may hang in the balance but that is just the external pressure. In that room you have the ambition of humans for more power and wealth and the desperate yet determined will of a father to protect his blood. I will always say that the most powerful and memorable moments in fiction, any kind of fiction, are character-driven, pushed by the actions and reactions of characters, and few things encapsulate it more than that small scene. I wasn’t expecting to bear witness to an old, infirm man hobbling to his chair with great effort for a little over two minutes would be such a memorable and epic scene.
Let that be a lesson to you, Timmy; you don’t need grandiosity where and when it is not needed. I see so many young and aspiring novices in the craft lose themselves to the shine of their own words, and that is a bit embarrassing. Yes, in that particular context, there are grander problems that rest on the result of that scene; peace is coming undone at the seams. But no matter the grander world around your characters, what matters is their own humanity. The grander world is there to give context, pressure, and identity, little else.
As such, what you need to learn from this is that even though you may have a large conflict on your hands, what matters at the time of writing is what matters to your character—their own conflicts, no matter how childish and sad. That is why a tiny feud between family members for a piece of land due to an inheritance can be more interesting than a civil war between two princes for the throne, especially because the smaller scale of the conflict can ensure that the protagonists on both sides interact with each other, making it more interesting. In the larger scale, both protagonists become targets, and it is harder to make them interact with each other. It doesn’t mean that you can’t make them interact, mind you, but it is harder when you are starting, especially to make it feel organic and not forced.
I hope that with this example, you have greater clarity in the craft.
Until next time.
