Nothing says classy like a sweet bit of historical referencing, and much of Game of Thrones is based heavily on British history. It doesn't take a genius to work out where the inspiration for the Wall came from, but there are links to history with a lot of the characters also, Cercei and Tywin for example. Then you have the heavy influence of the Wars of the Roses and the Red Wedding also draws inspiration from the Black Wedding in 1440. There's nothing particularly wrong with borrowing from history - most books do - but this adoption of historical events only adds to the uneasy feeling that Game of Thrones hasn't got a whole lot of depth to it, and it's hard not to feel like these nods to history are nothing but an attempt to add a false air of academia. There's not really anything clever about mimicking history in such overt ways: just because the show references long past and some fairly unknown historical events, doesn't really give it much actual credence, other than proof of good researching skills.
