Data scientists and network theorists reveal why Game of Thrones is the most successful fantasy series

Game of Thrones is the biggest TV show to have ever filmed, both in terms of its budget and viewership. It also holds the record for the most number of Emmy Awards won. Have you ever wondered, why the show is so popular? Research by data scientists and network theorists might hold the key to the secrets of the show’s unprecedented fame!

Researchers from five universities from the UK and Ireland came together to unravel A Song of Ice and Fire, the books on which the TV series is based.

A paper was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A team of physicists, mathematicians and psychologists from Coventry, Warwick, Limerick, Cambridge and Oxford universities got together. They used data science and network theory to analyse the acclaimed book series by George R. R. Martin.

The study shows the way the interactions between the characters are arranged is similar to how humans maintain relationships and interact in the real world. Although important characters are famously killed off at random as the story is told, the underlying chronology is not at all so unpredictable.

The team found over 2,000 named characters in Martin’s book and over 41,000 interactions between them. Even the most pivotal characters average out to have only 150 others to keep track of. This is the same number that the average human brain has evolved to deal with.

Did the results surprise you? Tell us what you think of the research in the comments below!