Home Box Office's (H.B.O.) Game of Thrones has been a success, beyond its suits' wildest imaginations. Even for the network's passionately followed programs, the epic tale of power struggles and alliances, ambition, war and dragons, is an unquestionable cultural powerhouse. It perhaps struck at just the right time, when complex programming, which often encourages repeat airing -- such as binge watching via on-demand services -- and is generally thrust forward by social events online and in real life; met with a complex global reality that rivals its own plots, but within a smaller galaxy of players.

One thing is certain, a book series by George R.R. Martin that was mostly fawned over by board gamers, Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts and the types who would play Magic: The Gathering, making this kind of a spark on the high-definition television screen was not foreseen. Although, it might've always been hoped for. What's interesting is that while often marketed as a program about fantasy and intrigue set in the Medieval period; the show's real basis is closer to our own. This has only helped it become the stellar hit that it has become, according to one Ph.D. candidate, who seems to know a thing or two about history.