García Márquez in the times of Game of Thrones

Magical realism exists in all cultures. The human being is creative by nature, his first form of expression was drawing, so it is logical to think that he has always imagined and created mythological creatures that develop in a common way on a daily basis.

George RR Martin He has written a series of fantastic novels surrounded by magical realism. Fictional wars that resemble real wars, monstrous genocides romanticized on the screen, fantastic animals that everyone would like to know, being Game of Thrones the most successful. On your side, and in his time, Gabriel García Márquez wrote One Hundred Years of Solitude. A novel also full of eternal wars, incredible genocides and stories of impressive animals that do not exist.

Similarities between Game of Thrones y One Hundred Years of Solitude

Although it cannot be assured that RR Martin has read Gabriel García Márquez, the general similarities between the two stories seem to indicate that it is possible.

Obvious items like incest, the family cycle, the secrets about the origin of the characters, the magic of summer and the misfortune of winter, are present in both. However, there are other connections that are not seen so much with the naked eye, and that are interesting to delve into.

Incest

Incest as the main theme is obvious in both works. While Martin takes it a bit further with an incest between twins, Márquez comes very close to this case with what is reflected in the love between Rebeca and her stepbrother José Arcadio Good day. However, in both cases they are hot, intense, deep, maddening loves.

Both Cersei, in Game of Thrones, like Rebeca, in One hundred years of loneliness, they lose their minds for the forbidden love of their brothersBoth live in exile, although in different ways. The first, by not being able to freely live his love; the second, when she was exiled from the Buendía family for marrying and surrendering to her passion.

Another incestuous relationship that is repeated both in one novel and the other, is the one that it also occurs between aunt and nephew. In the beginning of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Amaranta seeks comfort in the arms of more than one nephew, although she does not consume these relationships, she marks them all for life.

However Aureliano Babilonia's relationship with his aunt Amaranta Úrsula, and how it develops, is too similar to of Daenerys Targaryen and her nephew Aegon Targaryen, better known as Jon Snow.

Hidden provenance

Jon Snow and Aureliano Babilonia have more in common than incestuous love for their aunts. Both were lied to about their origin, denying them the truth of their origin.

Aureliano Babilonia is never explained who his real parents are. He grows up believing that he is a Buendía, the son of Fernanda Del Carpio with Aureliano Segundo Buendía, but at the end of the play he discovers that he is really their grandson, since his mother was Renata Remedios and his father Mauricio Babilonia.

Jon Snow is lied to, telling him that he is Eddard Stark's son with a prostitute named Wylla. Again, in the final stage of the series, Jon finds out he's Lyanna Stark's son - Eddard's sister - and Rhaegar Targaryen, so her real name is Aegon Targaryen.

Children of incest, children of bastards

Warrior men with an aura of power water their seed painlessly. Robert Baratheon, the king with whom the series begins, he has bastard children all over King's Landing.

Colonel Aureliano Buendía had 17 bastards, which he fathered during the 32 wars he led and lost. In both storylines, the bastards are killed, leaving only 1 survivor. On One Hundred Years of Solitude, finally, this one dies assassinated. It is not yet known what will become of Gendry, but it would not be strange for the same to happen.

Cersei and Jaime Lannister manage to have healthy children, although marked by incest. Madness, cruelty and weakness mark the children of this couple, just as they mark the children of José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán.

The last Aurelian, son of Aureliano Babilonia and Amaranta Úrsula, born with the dreaded pig's tail and is eaten by ants. Among the most popular theories about Jon and Daenerys, that of a son of theirs who was half dragon stood out. Again, the incest mark on a tail.

About Game of Thrones

Written in 1996 by George RR Martin, Game of Thrones (A game of thrones), is the first novel in a series called Song of ice and fire. Won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1996, and in 2003 the Ignotus Award for Best Foreign Novel.

In 1996 Martin won the Hugo Award for Best Short Novel with Blood of the Dragon. For 2011 the television series Game of Thrones began on HBO, which ends this year 2019. In principle, the series had RR Martin as part of the scriptwriters, however, in the last season he was not present.

Gabriel García Márquez and George RR Martin are parents of magical realism, in different latitudes and different times. The similarities are so many that it is difficult to enclose them in a few letters, but it is fun and exciting to find them.