Okay, Game of Thrones fans, look away now because I know you’re just enjoying some of the best episodes ever (apparently), but I am still miles behind you. Yes, that’s me, one of those people that gets caught up on the hype train at the very last minute and then has to watch seven seasons in about six weeks. I’m doing pretty well actually.

I tried watching Game of Thrones a long while back and got through about an episode and a half, I think. It just didn’t particularly grab me and I let it slide past without a second glance. People talked about it, it made headlines for good and for bad, and Game of Thrones people became famous without me managing to know who they were.

But then two things happened. The level of anticipation and excitement for this final series ramped up to a level that was impossible to ignore and somehow managed to get me excited even though I had no idea who any of these characters were or what they were fighting for. Then Now TV started advertising their box set collection with the tagline “Every bloody episode” which I just enjoyed as a marketing strategy.

So I tried again. I watched a few episodes. I still wasn’t sure but some colleagues told me it was worth sticking with, at least through the first season and then to the second. And I kept watching. I could take it or leave it – when I wasn’t watching, I barely thought about it but when I was watching I did want to know what happened next.

The first series did keep me intrigued enough to move on to the second, although then I did start to lose the plot a little bit. The cast is too vast, and a lot of the second season was about fighting-age white males, all dressed the same in black, claiming they were the rightful king. It won’t be news to you that the characters that kept me going were Daenerys and her dragons, Arya and her general awesomeness, and that vague hope that Joffrey would get his comeuppance at some point.

Spoiler: he did! I’ve managed to make it to the start of season four, survived two ghastly weddings, and things are starting to bed in. I get what the aim of this show is now, partly from the seeds that are being sewn, but also from the variety of spoilers I’m hearing. No complaints at all, who am I to come at this show eight years late, but it has helped me realise that even if I don’t know who all these people are, it doesn’t matter. The main ones are all going to come together and, if the chatter is to be believed, engage in an epic battle.

Three seasons ago, I wouldn’t have thought I would say this, but now I will: I can’t wait!