Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend. Today's was written by Audience Engagement Producer Kayla Osborne.
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From 2011 to 2019, there was an understanding all across the world: no spoilers.
Those almost blissful eight years were a time when white walkers, dragons and 'bastards' united a global audience.
It was the Game of Thrones era. A time when millions of people waited a respectful amount of time before posting their spoiler-y thoughts online.
The internet was full of healthy debate, juicy theories and pictures of the unforgettable cast.
My friends and I would spend hours discussing episodes, our ringtones were the theme song and the books became a staple in our uni bags to read during breaks.
And that seemed like the norm at the time.
From my pals in regional NSW and Qld to friends from the US, UK, France and more - it was something that united us all.
Even my parents and grandparents jumped on the Game of Thrones bandwagon.
The final season was chock full of controversy, but that united the fandom even further as we railed against what the writers had chosen to do with our favourite characters.
And just three weeks ago George RR Martin and HBO granted us a new TV gift, House of the Dragon.
It's a Game of Thrones spin-off series set 172 years prior to the original epic saga.
And so far, so good.
There's heroes to cheer for, villains we love to hate and, of course, dragons.
Some critics have said the show won't have the gusto of its predecessor. But I am seeing Game of Thrones fans everywhere raising their metaphorical goblets and swords in celebration.
It's been a long time since a television show united a global audience. There's been a few hits in the past couple of years - but none with the staying power that Game of Thrones had.
It's yet to be seen if House of the Dragon can reach the same levels but if anything can reignite those old fandom flames, I think it's going to be a dragon.
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