There are actually a number of reasons why people (myself included) took such a personal interest in the story:
- GOT may have been the greatest show in the history of TV in terms of how much the character engaged the audience. You could argue that the Sopranos, of the Wire, or Breaking Bad, etc, were just as good or better than the show, but there was never a character in those shows I cared about as deeply.
- Super diehard fans probably feel that it is George RR Martin’s story, not Benioff & Weiss. We are thinking that GRRM will finally save the story when the books come out (fingers crossed).
- The choices D&D made to ignore all the foreshadowing and the past mythology of 8000 years completely changed the writing level of the show. As an audience, we are asked to suspend our disbelief on a constant basis. One could argue that Ned and Catelyn’s decision making was so irrational that it invalidates the entire story, but we accepted it anyway. However, when your suspension of disbelief is jarred on a constant basis (The Iron Fleet’s seeming ability to teleport, cross bows that shoot arrows like lazers, a marathon run, raven message, dragon rescue also needing teleportation, multiple stab wounds including a knife twist in the gut being healed by a night of rest and some milk of the poppy, etc.) and to such an extent where you can’t even get through the episode without yelling at the TV, the writing has crossed a line and become little more than a soap opera with dragons.
