Both are big-budget sagas about the ruthless pursuit of power. Both combine exquisite production values with immense popularity. “House of the Dragon” is the third-most “in-demand” television series in the world, according to Parrot Analytics, a data firm. (“Game of Thrones”, its antecedent, still tops the charts despite finishing in 2019.) “Shogun”, meanwhile, is in the top 0.2%. The tens of millions of people who have watched these shows undoubtedly include plenty of politicians, from Washington to Warsaw. Which raises an intriguing question: might they learn something? And if so, which of the swords-and-scheming blockbusters offers a better guide to seeking power in real life? At first glance, the answer is obvious. The world of “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy. Humans in Westeros ride dragons through the clouds at several hundred miles an hour, a feat that would be impossible even if dragons existed, which they don’t. Enemies are dispatched not in debates or at the ballot box, but via magic shadows, magic disguises and magic minerals. Sometimes they are raised from the dead. Sometimes dragons are raised from the dead, to become zombie dragons. None of these options is available to a politician in the real world.
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