Sharpen your broadswords and stock up on Dornish wine: The third season premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones is days away, and winter is (allegedly) still coming. The fight for the Iron Throne is no joke — just ask Renly Baratheon — but plenty of fans have still managed to find the humor in Game of Thrones. Here, watch 16 of the best Game of Thrones parodies on the web, and come back to TheWeek.com on Sunday for the first of our weekly Game of Thrones recaps:
1. Game of Thrones Season 3: Princess Bride promo
If the seemingly endless string of tragedies endured by our heroes in Game of Thrones has ever made you wonder why you started watching this series in the first place, you'll be able to relate to Fred Savage in this clip, which splices Game of Thrones with The Princess Bride as it summarizes the show's first season:
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2. School of Thrones — Episode 1: Prom Night is Coming
This three-video series recasts Game of Thrones as a John Hughes-ian high school comedy in which the Starks are hipsters, the Baratheons are bros, and Littlefinger is the sinister principal. Who will be the Prom King of Westeros Valley High? (via WinterIsComing.net)
3. Game of Thrones, 1995 style
What if Game of Thrones had been adapted for TV before HBO had earned its reputation for sophisticated TV dramas? It probably would have looked something like this "recently discovered" opening credits sequence for an absurdly cheesy mid-90s version of Game of Thrones, complete with excruciating power metal theme song. (via The Huffington Post)
4. Game of Thrones political attack ads
In the midst of election season, Mother Jones released three political attack ads targeting major players in Game of Thrones. Though hilariously skewed attacks were leveled against Daenerys Targaryen and Robb Stark, the best of the three is this (warranted) call for Joffrey Baratheon's birth certificate. What a bastard. (via Mother Jones)
5. What if Game of Thrones was a 16-bit RPG?
Fans of Super Nintendo role-playing classics like Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger will appreciate College Humor's hilarious video game send-up of the HBO series. (A second video based on season 2 is also available.) Now when do we get a version we can play? (via College Humor)
6. Game of Thrones meets Mortal Kombat
Prefer fighting games to RPGs? One clever YouTuber added the graphics and sound effects from arcade favorite Mortal Kombat to one of Khal Drogo's fight scenes, which ends with a particularly grotesque Fatality. (via Buzzfeed)
7. Saturday Night Live explains Game of Thrones sex scenes
Why is Game of Thrones so full of gratuitous nudity? Saturday Night Live offers a behind-the-scenes look at Game of Thrones that "reveals" that HBO hired a 13-year-old boy just to add sex scenes to the show. Sample dialogue: "I remember there was this one scene where a dude was talking to himself, and I was like, 'Why don't we add two naked ladies just going to town on each other?'"
8. The Simpsons does Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones has been referenced in TV shows ranging from Castle to Parks and Recreation, but no show has paid more impressive or faithful homage to the series than The Simpsons, which used one of its signature couch gags to mount a lavish animated re-creation of Game of Thrones' opening titles.
9. What if Game of Thrones was a romantic comedy?
This trailer, which reimagines Game of Thrones as a romcom, is surprisingly faithful to the romantic entanglements of the series — Brienne loves Renly, Renly loves Loras, Jaime loves Cersei — but it's still enormously disconcerting to see Game of Thrones set to the strains of Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe. (via The Huffington Post)
10. Jaime Lannister vs. Eddard Stark — Lightsaber Version
Game of Thrones + Star Wars = Nerd heaven.
11. If Game of Thrones was on the CW
What would Games of Thrones be like if it aired on the CW? 100 percent less political intrigue, and 100 percent more soapy relationships drama. (via The Huffington Post)
12. "Damn it Feels Good to be a Lannister"
This Game of Thrones-themed cover of Geto Boys' "Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta" captures the enduring appeal of Jaime and Tyrion Lannister in all their wealthy, arrogant glory. (via Entertainment Weekly)
13. Game of Thrones meets Seinfeld
It's amazing how quickly the tone of Game of Thrones changes when you open a scene with Seinfeld's bouncy theme song and throw in a laugh track. Oh, that Littlefinger — such a lovable scoundrel! (via Wired)
14. One and a Half Man
Admit it, Game of Thrones fans: Corny as it may sound, we'd all watch a series about Tyrion and Bronn wandering around Westeros, getting in and out of trouble. It even comes with a moral: "In a world full of direwolves and lions, sometimes the rarest creature is a friend." (via Buzzfeed)
15. Disney's Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones isn't exactly the most family-friendly show on television, but syncing a second season trailer with clips from classic Disney animated movies results in some oddly fitting juxtapositions. (via io9)
16. A Storm of Swords — "It Gets Better"
This last video is only for those who have read A Storm of Swords, the third book in George R.R. Martin's original series, which will serve as the basis of the upcoming third season. After a certain traumatic scene in the middle of the book, fans who have completed the books that have been published thus far reassure new readers that things get better for the characters — before remembering that things actually get much, much worse. [Second City]
This article — originally published on March 6, 2013 — was last updated on March 28, 2013.
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