The End Of The Golden Age of Nerds?

April 2019 will be remembered as the point at which nerd fandom reached critical mass. On April 14th the final season of Game of Thrones will begin airing. Almost ten years of political intrigue, nudity and Dragons have lead up to this moment, it’s feels as if everyone is waiting with bated breath to see who sits upon the Iron Throne when it’s all said and done. Or if you’re of a more nihilistic persuasion, to see if there will even be an Iron Throne to sit on.

Courtesy of HBO 

On the night of Thursday April 25th, Avengers Endgame will premier and we’ll finally close the first book of The Avengers Saga. It’s taken more than 20 movies and 11 years but it truly does feel like the story for the original main characters is ending.

Courtesy of Disney 

Where it feels like everyone is watching Game of Thrones, it’s all but confirmed that everyone is watching Endgame. For proof look no further than the presale records that have already been set.

Perhaps most intriguing is the weekend of April 25th-28th. This weekend episode 3 of Game of Thrones season 8 is set to feature a battle scene that took 11 weeks to film. It’s been said that this scene will be the longest battle scene ever committed to scene, silver or home. This scene will air the same weekend that Avengers Endgame premieres. If the power of nerd boners could be harnessed the grid would overload from this weekend alone.

So what happens after? For fans of these franchises this is the culmination of years of waiting, speculation, and theories. The great questions such as which Starks from Tony to Sansa survive will be answered. However will there ever be a moment like this again? A moment when there is genuine pride in being a nerd and embracing the culture surrounding it. While movies seem more homogenized than ever, television is going in a different direction. More services are popping up every day, all of them offering quality content. The chance that a show like Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones becomes a cultural phenomenon is slim.

To conclude, Winter is here and Endgame has come for our on screen heroes, but more importantly, this may mark the end of an era. Or perhaps it is only the beginning and some other show we’ve yet to hear of will spur conversation and obsession. For now it’s too early to call, and we may as well enjoy the ride while we’re still on it.