More important, they and their writers understood the cardinal rule of television: It is all about the characters. Even as their budgets increased to jaw-dropping amounts (from an average of $6 million per episode in Season 1 to a reported $15 million per episode in the final season), allowing them to create all manner of eye-popping spectacle, they realized that the show’s real power comes from neither fire nor ice but its people. The look on Arya’s face when she hears that both Jon Snow and Sansa are at Winterfell. The moment Jaime tells Brienne the truth about why he became the Kingslayer. The dark banter between Tyrion and Varys.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 11, 2019 14:26 UTC