2. Balanced, Not ODing On Cynicism
The battle between Good and Evil is as clear cut as it's gonna get in Lord of the Rings. The ring is evil because it's Sauron's, the hobbits are so good and innocent they might as well be kindergarteners, we know Saruman's a rogue even before Gandalf comes to seek his council, the same Gandalf who is masterfully portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen like everyone's favorite grampa and Orcs make cockroaches look like butterflies. The point here is that, as with any good story, there is a balance here that gives off just the right dose of thrills, heroic moments, suspenseful situations and cathartic conclusions. Just to pluck one example from many; the moment in Fellowship when Frodo gets stabbed by the Nazgul at Weathertop. Totally unexpected and creepy, it takes the combined heroics of Aragorn and Arwen to save him and even then, it's a wound that never properly heals and is a constant reminder of how he doesn't belong in The Shire anymore. Now compare something like that to the cynicism that seems to be drowning all Game of Thrones characters, regardless of whether they're evil or good. Injustice is one thing, but for Joffrey to tell Sansa that he will be merciful and then order her father's death in front of her is a monster of a different color. The examples of the good guys dying is too many to count, most recently Old Mormont who gets stabbed by one of his own and stumbles to his death without so much of an afterthought. It's a cruel, cruel, cruel world in Thrones and one begins to wonder how much of it is done just for the pure, cheap, shock value.