Analysis of GOT Series

Abstract

This study explores the distribution of screen time and episode appearances for characters in the popular television series Game of Thrones. Utilizing a dataset that records the total screen time and the number of episodes each character appears in, we apply data visualization techniques to identify patterns and relationships between these variables. A scatter plot is generated to examine the correlation between screen time and episode appearances, with a particular focus on key characters. By emphasizing the top ten characters with the highest screen time, we highlight whether prominent characters cluster in certain areas of the plot.

Introduction

This analysis focuses on the distribution of screen time across characters in Game of Thrones, utilizing a dataset that records the total screen time and the number of episodes each character appears in. Testing referencing here by mentioning Lystad and Brown (2018).

(a) Arryn

(b) Baratheon

(c) Baylish

(d) Bolton

Figure 1: A collection of different coats of arms from the book A Song of Ice and Fire, created by dezzzart, published on deviantart.com.

Data Import and Wrangling

The dataset is read into R and processed with dplyr. using the ggplot2 and dplyr libraries to visualize patterns and highlight key figures.

library("readr")
library("ggplot2")
library("dplyr")
library("ggrepel")

screentimes <- read_csv("GOT_screentimes_1.csv")

screentimes_high <- top_n(screentimes, 10, screentime)

Visualization

Using ggplot2 a scatter plot is generated to examine the relationship between a character’s total screen time and the number of episodes they appear in (See Figure 2). Each point represents a character, with screen time plotted on the x-axis and episode count on the y-axis. To emphasize the most prominent characters, the top ten individuals with the highest screen time are labeled using ggrepel, ensuring that their names are clearly readable without overlapping.

ggplot(screentimes, aes(screentime, episodes)) +
  geom_point() +
  geom_text_repel(data = screentimes_high,aes(label = name),min.segment.length = 0)

Figure 2: The relationship between a character’s total screen time and the number of episodes they appear in.

This visualization helps identify whether screen time is strongly correlated with episode appearances or if certain characters receive disproportionately high or low screen time relative to their episode count. Notably, main characters are expected to cluster toward the upper-right portion of the plot, while side characters may appear more dispersed towards the bottom left. The 10 Main Characters with the most screentime are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Top 10 Characters ordered by screentime

Name	Screentime	Episodes
Tyrion Lannister	293	54
Jon Snow	268	49
Daenerys Targaryen	221	49
Cersei Lannister	201	52
Sansa Stark	199	47
Arya Stark	189	47
Jaime Lannister	162	43
Theon Greyjoy	123	39
Samwell Tarly	121	37
Jorah Mormont	117	42

References

Lystad, Reidar P, and Benjamin T Brown. 2018. “‘Death Is Certain, the Time Is Not’: Mortality and Survival in Game of Thrones.” Injury Epidemiology 5: 1–9.