Archive for the ‘Game of Thrones’ Category

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!

3EyedCrow

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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In Defense of the Warlocks in Game of Thrones

Posted: March 11, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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If you’re up to speed on HBO’s Game of Thrones, at least a few episodes into Season Three, then this post won’t be spoilery. 

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Too Magical For Eyebrows!

I want to state up front that I’m not siding with the Warlocks of Qarth against plucky Daenerys Targaryen. I can’t defend their nefarious plot to abduct her in order to draw power from the Silver Queen and her dragons.

Instead, I’m defending them against allegations that they are an over-powered drama-breaking element in the show.

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Defending Theon Greyjoy

Posted: March 4, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be covering events from the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. If you’re not caught up on the show, I recommend you skip this post, unless you don’t mind spoilers.

There are tons of characters with shades of gray in Game of Thrones. Some we like, some we hate, some we love to hate.

theonfancy

Dad’s Totally Going to be Impressed With Me. Sharp Dressed Man!

Theon Greyjoy is one of those characters who generates diverse reactions. I know people who are sympathetic to him, who downright hate him, who are fascinated by his journey, or who find his journey so awful that they hope he dies. The sooner the better, they would say.

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In Defense of Joffrey Baratheon (Yes, JOFFREY)

Posted: February 25, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be touching on the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent series Game of Thrones. If you’re not caught up on the story, be forewarned that I’ll be dropping plot spoilers for the TV show.

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Bring Me a Puppy! A King Has a Schedule to Keep!

There isn’t a lot of good things that can be said about the eldest son of Queen Cersei…

  • Executing Ned Stark? Bad move.
  • Torturing Sansa with severed heads, having her publicly humiliated? Extremely ungentlemanly.
  • Killing Ros? There’s nothing that I can say that would adequately express my horror and disgust.

But, and as odd as it sounds, I’m not here to condemn Joffrey Baratheon (although he is worthy of condemnation.) I’m here to defend the one time he was solidly, entirely right. And as a bonus (or the opposite of bonus) I’ll try to cast some reasonable doubt on some of the atrocities attributed to him.

Even the Mad King 2.0 can be surprisingly correct on occasion.

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In Defense of Catelyn Stark

Posted: February 18, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Yes, even Catelyn Stark gets a defense.

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This post will be spoilery for the first three seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. If you’re not up on the series WHY NOT? Go watch it, then come back. I’ll wait.

Now that they’re gone, let’s get started.

In general, people who read the books or watch the show seem to like and appreciate the Starks. Even the flawed ones. It is typical for everyone to love Arya, to like Ned (but regret his code of honor), to be okay with Robb (but wish he’d have not been so … Robb), etc.

But often people complain about Lady Catelyn Stark and her (arguably) rash decisions. I’m on board with some of that.

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