25 ways Star Wars is better than Game of Thrones

8. The world-building

This one is probably the toughest of all to choose the best.

Game of Thrones and Star Wars couldn’t be more different when it comes to world-building. One is essentially a sprawling landmass that may or may not cover an entire planet. The other is a literal galaxy of solar systems, planets and planetoids, stars, space anomaly and hyperspace lanes.

Westeros in Game of Thrones is a complex kingdom with a deep, flawed history full of rivalries and grudges that date back hundreds of years. It’s also a world of sorcery, fanatical mysticism, mythical creatures and the most awkward, frustrating familial politics.

But while Game of Thrones’ world-building gives context and history to families, characters and kingdoms, Star Wars succeeds at building a world that we’d actually want to live in. You know, with at least some happy endings.

One of the things Star Wars is best at is making its galaxy believable, even when it’s full of Force energy-wielding space monks and physics-defying space travel. Even when the plot is straight “good vs. evil,” there are still gray areas that make the story and characters more relatable and human or at least sentient.

With thousands of planets and different species of sentient beings in the Star Wars galaxy, the franchise’s storytellers are vastly underrated when it comes to building history and culture for each planet and character.

There are bright and beautiful planets like Naboo and Scariff, environmental extreme planets like Hoth and Crait, desert planets like Tatooine and Jakku and magical landscapes like those found on Bespin and Lothal. There’s also the city-planet Coruscant and the towering forest world of Kashyyyk, home to the Wookiees.

Each planet and more throughout the galaxy has gotten its own world-building story at some point in the franchise. Focusing on a specific planet and even a specific town or character from that planet adds immense depth to the overall tapestry that is the world of Star Wars.

The world-building of Star Wars also never stops, as more and more stories, planets and characters are introduced.