But for fans of the original, a censored Game of Thrones would feel like listening to a metal album through a low-pass filter: technically the same notes, but none of the power.

Reviewing the censored version of Game of Thrones is an interesting task because it essentially asks you to evaluate a show that is famous for pushing boundaries—only with those boundaries firmly enforced.

Thus, HBO created not one, but several "alternate" cuts. The most famous (or infamous) is the version distributed to Asian and Middle Eastern broadcasters, often called the "International Edit."