Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

Season 5 Reflections on Season 2: the Wandering Monarchs

Posted: August 25, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post is the second article in a series talking about season 5 of Game of Thrones, and how it has a mirror-like quality to season 2. Should that summary not adequately describe what I’m doing, feel free to check out the kick-off post.

I’ll be talking about Starks and Lannisters elsewhere, but here I’ll be discussing the stories of Stannis Baratheon and Daenerys Targaryen.

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No matter the season, fire’s always present when Dany and Stan are around.

Even though Stannis and Dany’s stories in either season don’t intersect (at all) I felt it relevant to feature them in the same article since they have some similarities.

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Game of Thrones: Season 5’s Reflections on Season 2

Posted: August 25, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be the first in a series, talking about the fifth season of Game of Thrones. Let that serve as a spoiler warning.

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The fifth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones recently ended, covering most of the same ground as the fifth book in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (and some elements from the fourth book in the series, A Feast For Crows.)

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Closing Arguments In Defense of Olly

Posted: August 18, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This is the fifth part in a series talking about the wee crow Olly, from Game of Thrones. These posts have been discussing why people don’t like Olly (and why I’m not really on board with the Olly Hate.) Should you want to read my Team Olly series from the beginning, go here.

If you aren’t caught up on the show, this post really won’t be all the relevant to you, and I’d hate to spoil some of the major things that happen in Olly’s storyline should you happen to start watching. (You should be caught up though. Game of Thrones is an excellent television show.)

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Don’t spoil me! I’m only up to Season 4 Episode 9, when no one was hating on me yet!

Disclaimer: even though I usually focus entirely on show-details for my blog, because Olly wasn’t a canon character from the books, I felt the need to at least contrast the events in the books with the show’s adaptation. If you’re a show watcher and not a book reader and you plan on reading the books one day, I understand your reluctance to keep reading my work here. But I feel pretty confident that nothing I say in my defense of Olly will be so spoilery that it lessens your enjoyment of the books.

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In Defense of Potato Olly

Posted: August 18, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This is part four of a five-part series defending Olly, the scrawny farmboy who played a major part in the fifth season’s finale on Game of Thrones. If you’re not up to date on the show and have no idea who Olly is or what he’s done, then you don’t want to be here. You want to be binge-watching Game of Thrones.

You want to!

OllyElevator

Olly can’t get enough Game of Thrones. But maybe it’s a bit too intense for his age…

Quick disclaimer: I’ll be talking about some minor differences from the books and the show, nothing super-spoilery, but I know some show watchers want to read the books one day, and try to avoid any book details. (Good luck.)

Previously, I’ve covered some of the reasons why show fans dislike Olly.

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In Defense of Olly the Conspirator

Posted: August 18, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This is the third part of a series, defending Olly of Game of Thrones from a variety of charges. (I kicked off the articles here.) If you don’t know who Olly is, haven’t watched the show, then I don’t know why you’re here.

Last article, I talked about Olly and his role regarding Ygritte. This post is about Jon Snow.

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Wait! WHAT ABOUT ME? IS SOMETHING ABOUT TO HAPPEN TO ME?

Quick Disclaimer: We can assume that people who haven’t watched the show deserve to be spoiled for reading this, but I wanted to warn people that I’ll be referring to some book details in regards to Jon’s story. Just wanted to warn off people who want absolutely no knowledge from the books (even if it’s not all *that* spoilery. Trust me, warrior.)

Jon Snow and the Conspiracy. The Jonspiracy.

I’ve already mentioned that people were hating on Olly even before the end of season 5.

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In Defense of Olly the Killjoy

Posted: August 18, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This is the second part of a series, contemplating the charges against Jon Snow’s steward Olly and if he deserves all of the Internet abuse he gets. This was somewhat explained in more relevant detail in my last post. To summarize: I say he doesn’t. Maybe?

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How do you like me NOW?
Oh, not very much?
Oh.
😦

Disclaimer: this post will be giving some plot details from the battle at Castle Black from the books (from A Storm of Swords, specifically.) If you’re not a book-reader but one day want to be, what I’ll be telling you won’t be super spoilery – but I wanted to give you fair warning.

Ygritte: the girl kissed by fire, killed by a child.

Near the end of season 4, things weren’t looking too good for Jon Snow. An overwhelming force of Wildlings were assailing the northern face of the Wall, but a more immediate danger in the form of a Free Folk raiding party was dangerously close to capturing Castle Black and securing access to the tunnel through the ice.

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In Defense of Olly: Opening Arguments

Posted: August 18, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This article will kick off a series of posts defending Olly, the farm boy and raid survivor turned Night’s Watch recruit in Game of Thrones. If you’re not up to date on the series through the end of season 5, you probably don’t want to be reading this article.

If you really really hate Olly, I assume you’d not want to read this article either. Poor Olly.

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Everyone knows how to read. But me.

Things seemed to be a bit simpler a few seasons ago, when nearly everyone was on board hating Joffrey Baratheon. (The team that runs The Joffrey of Podcasts would no doubt say otherwise.)

But with Joffrey’s death in season 3 by poisoning –

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In Defense of the Sand Snakes

Posted: August 4, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be covering details from the fifth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones (and therefore all the seasons leading up to that as well.) Should you be behind on your TV watching (you troglodyte) then I recommend you not read this post.

(Others might recommend you not read my posts for other reasons. I do try to be entertaining, though.)

SandSnakes

He had better be entertaining. Or a spear might be thrown into his face. Which would entertain us…

Specifically, this post will be talking about Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms and possibly the weakest storyline in the fifth season. Or was it? (It probably was.)

I’m taking a pro-Dorne stance, or at least I’m going to try and find the silver lining in that dark cloud. It’s what I do.

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In Defense of the Unsullied

Posted: July 21, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be discussing plot elements of HBO’s Game of Thrones. If you’re not caught up, then this post will be fraught with peril. Dark and full of terrors, or at least spoilers. If you wish to remain unsullied (whether or not you happen to be Unsullied) then stop reading, and start watching the show.

Go on, get out of here!

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We’re going! We’re going!

Fine, let’s start.

This post will be talking about the Unsullied’s fighting reputation and how Season Five didn’t do much to support their vaunted rep. Or did it?

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White Walkers and Wights: Not Watertight?

Posted: July 7, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be discussing certain plot points from HBO’s Game of Thrones. In particular, Season 5’s excellent episode “Hardhome.” Let this be your spoiler warning. But if you’re not caught up, you really should do so. Hardhome was amazing.

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Damn it to Thenn!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!

In the eighth episode of the most recent season of Game of Thrones, the show delivered on something that had been hinted at in the first season and teased at the end of the second season: an attack by an army of the dead.

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