Archive for the ‘Game of Thrones’ Category

Shameless Self-Promotion: I was asked to write a Game of Thrones Recap

Posted: July 5, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Blogging, Game of Thrones, TV
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I’ve had this blog for a just under a year, and most of it has been Game of Thrones-related. Not episode recaps or reviews, mostly opinions, or musings, or justifying some the characters’ bad decisions. I guess.

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Writing about the show is enjoyable, and helps pass the time in-between seasons. (Only 9 more months until Season 5!) And the television show provides tons of things to write and opine about.

To my joy (and thanks to great support from some of my favorite podcasts who were very generous towards me) my blog received attention during Season Four, and I was asked by the publisher over at the Film School Rejects site if I’d be willing to write a recap for the most recent season for them.

Well, yes! I would indeed be willing. And so I did.

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Defending the Wall: the Scythe

Posted: July 2, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will deal with plot points from the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. If you are not caught up, I recommend you not read this article. Go watch last season. Oh, and then come back and read this. But watching should be your priority.

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North of the Wall. In Happier Times. No One Had Been Beheaded Yet.

The most recent season of Game of Thrones dealt with an event that had been foreshadowed since Season Two: an all-out attack by Mance Rayder’s Wildling forces against the Night’s Watch brothers at Castle Black. An assault on The Wall.

Neil Marshall, the director of the epic battle episode Blackwater from Season Two, helmed this cinematic presentation of the two pronged attack, where the Free Folk finally get around to taking on the Crow stronghold. I’d read the books (I promise to dial down the smug) and I found that the battle played out *largely* as I expected.

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End-of-Season-3 Game of Thrones Scorecard: Joffrey Baratheon’s Approval Rating

Posted: June 17, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Season Four Game of Thrones has now finished up. I’ll start writing some new GoT articles soon, but here’s a backup post I wrote as part of my previously published Defending Joffrey article, with some observations on the End-of-Season-Three political landscape in Westeros.

patricksponaugle's avatarEven I'm Shocked How Long This Is

This post will be talking details about the end of the third season of HBO’s excellent series Game of Thrones. Therefore, if you are not caught up, please don’t spoil yourself by reading this. Go watch the series (or better yet, read the books too) before reading anything here.

Joffrey-house-baratheon-30574390-1273-613 I Don’t Have a 100% Approval Rating? I’m Not Killing Enough People Then!

On my main blog, I have an article on the young king of Westeros, Joffrey Baratheon. In that post, I make a claim that at the end of Season Three of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Joffrey has a 40% approval rating. How could I make that claim?

Well, I totally made up that number, that’s how. But, there was a method I followed.

And when I say “approval”, what I kind of mean is “support.” Look, just bear with me.

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Game of Thrones Podcast and Community Spotlight – The Natter Cast

Posted: June 11, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Podcasts
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As of this posting, we Game of Thrones viewers will have one more episode until the hiatus between Seasons Four and Five.

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I’ve been enjoying this season (if enjoying is the correct word… you know what I’m talking about) but I’ve also enjoyed listening to my favorite Game of Thrones podcasts.

In the show’s first season, there was only one podcast that I knew about (I acknowledge that there might have been many, I was just unaware.) Now there are too many to possibly listen to.

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Unconventional Warfare in HBO’s Game of Thrones (Seasons 2 and 3)

Posted: May 15, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Last Sunday’s Episode of Game of Thrones “Laws of Gods and Men” featured a stirring testimonial about my favorite Baratheon brother, Stannis.

I’m still on my Game of Thrones blogging hiatus (while Season Four is ongoing), but here’s a Stannis-related post I wrote last year on my supplementary material backup blog, one of the elements packaged with my In Defense of Stannis Baratheon post.

Hope everyone is enjoying Season Four, I certainly am.

patricksponaugle's avatarEven I'm Shocked How Long This Is

On my main blog patricksponaugle.com, I have a post basically defending Stannis Baratheon on HBO’s Game of Thrones. The following article will contain spoilery details of Season Two and Three Game of Thrones. If you are not up to date, I recommend you read no further. Look away, right now!

renly-baratheon-shadow-assassin Being King Wasn’t as Awesome as Renly Imagined

No discussion of Stannis would be complete without addressing the implications of him assassinating his brother, Renly, via magic.

Stannis’ defeat of Renly was accomplished using an unconventional form of warfare, and I think it warrants a discussion, as well as comparison to other examples of unconventional warfare that are seen in Game of Thrones, but don’t seem to get the same negative associations of shadow assassin demon-babies.

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Pat’s Game of Thrones Blogs – Pre-Season Four Collection

Posted: April 15, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Uncategorized, Writing
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Season Four of Game of Thrones, HBO’s excellent adaptation of George RR Martin’s saga A Song of Ice and Fire, kicked off in the first week of April. I’m pretty excited. Stupidly excited.

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People following my blog are aware that I’d published over a dozen Game of Thrones-related articles last year, and at the beginning of this year I set myself a challenge to crank out a GoT post every week in preparation for the new season.

Now that the new season has started, I’m taking a break from posting new articles (I’m too busy reading everyone’s reactions to the current episodes), but I wanted to package up links to my 2014 pre-season postings, like I did for my 2013 collection.

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And Now My (Season Four) Watch Begins…

Posted: April 4, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Writing
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Or it will in a few days, on Sunday April 6th. Season Four Game of Thrones!

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Wanted to thank everyone who visited my blog and checked out my various Game of Thrones related posts. (Collections found here and here.)

I’m relieved that the season is about to start up, not only because I want to enjoy another ten hours of A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation, but I can ease off on writing about the show.

During Season Four, I won’t be posting any of my weekly Game of Thrones articles. I’ll be too busy:

  • watching YouTube reactions
  • reading recaps
  • listening to Game of Thrones podcasts

Starting in July, I’ll try to put out two posts a month related to Game of Thrones, and in 2015 I’ll repeat my challenge from this year and crank out a GoT post every week until Season Five starts up. Unless my math is way off, that’ll be 24 articles; coincidentally I have a list of 24 topics ready – it’s hard not to start working on them right now.

Best regards, and I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming season.

Photo courtesy of the greatest father in the Universe. There’s no need to debate this.

© Patrick Sponaugle 2014 Some Rights Reserved

The Targaryen Candidate

Posted: April 1, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be discussing plot points from the third season of HBO’s fantastic series Game of Thrones. If you are not caught up on the show and don’t want to be sullied by spoilers then stop reading. Go watch the show. Then come back. DO IT!

Dany-Happy

Vote For Me, Smallfolk! (That is, If I Grant You a Vote!)

 

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Defending Magic in Game of Thrones

Posted: March 25, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be touching on magical plot points covering the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent series, Game of Thrones. If you are caught up with the show, there won’t be any spoilers here.

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Although HBO’s Game of Thrones was relatively light on magical elements in its first season, the show is undeniably a fantasy as we approach its fourth season.

Dragons, witchcraft, curses, illusions, face changers, resurrections, and creepy bald headed warlocks have all made their way on screen.

The question is, are all these elements good for the show? Game of Thrones operates masterfully as a quasi-historical epic, without magic. If magic can be used to dramatically change the equation of power between the competing factions, then doesn’t this lower the stakes? How can we become invested in the story if magic can be used, a la deus ex machina, to slay or save one of the characters without warning?

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By the Old Gods and the New: Religion in Game of Thrones

Posted: March 18, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones
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This post will discuss the some of the faiths presented on HBO’s Game of Thrones. I’ll try not to drop any plot spoilers, but in general I’ll be talking religious observances and possible miracles shown during the first three seasons of the show. If you are not up to date on your Game of Thrones watching, I have no idea why you’d be reading this, but it won’t be super spoilery. (Just slightly spoilery, I guess.)

nedAndTree

Don’t Sit Under the Weirwood Tree, With Anyone Else But Me… With Anyone Else But Me… With Anyone Else But Me.

George RR Martin doesn’t do things halfway.

His stories are populated by dozens of major characters and hundreds of secondary characters who represent many cultures, speak many languages, and worship different gods. Some of the faiths appear monotheistic, some polytheistic, some with organized rituals, and some with hardly any dogma at all.

Why do we care? I don’t know. I’m just looking to write about something Game of Thrones-related and I’ve already covered helmets and crowns. But I’ll try to be entertaining.

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