Archive for the ‘Opinion’ 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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What I’m (Re)Reading: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

Posted: April 26, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Book Review, Opinion, Writing
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George RR Martin’s next installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire saga, The Winds of Winter, won’t be out this year. Maybe it’ll be out next year. Maybe.

In the meantime, I felt the need to read some compelling fantasy that would be similar in many ways.

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There are tons of great fantasy books available and there is no end of lists of suggested reading while waiting for the next GRRM epic. Although I should be reading something new, I had a yen to re-read something something great, that I knew would hit the spot.

It was high time to re-read Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles.

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Breaking Bad Season Five – We Just Finished the Series (Post 3 of 3)

Posted: April 13, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Breaking Bad, Opinion, TV
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This is my final post discussing our viewing of the end of Breaking Bad. Two posts ago, I had a recap of the last eight episodes of the season, and last post I discussed some topics more or less relevant to the final season. Now I’m going to express my final thoughts on the entire series. (I’ll be short. After all, I’ve already put out series of blog posts at the end of each season. How much more can I say?)

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Breaking Bad Season Five – We Just Finished the Series (Post 2 of 3)

Posted: April 13, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Breaking Bad, Opinion, TV
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Last post, I announced that my wife and I had just finished watching the final episodes of Breaking Bad. That previous post was a season recap that probably everyone skipped reading (not an unwise decision: either you’ve seen the show and don’t need the recap or you’ve not seen the show and SHOULDN’T read that recap)

This post will my observations on the final season. (Post 3 will be my observations on the entire series.)

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That Coffee Can’t be as Good as Gale Boetticher’s. That Stuff was the Bomb, Yo.

Season finales have a tough task in general. They have to wrap things up in a satisfying way, there’s a pressure to refer back to things that have happened over the years, besides resolving plot issues, there are emotional closures that need to be crafted, and the final episodes need to be surprising. It’s no fun if it’s too obvious or predictable what’s going to happen. But things can’t be too surprising. Things should make sense.

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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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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.

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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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