Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

In Defense of Arya Stark (She Needs Defending?)

Posted: January 15, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Arya Stark might be the most popular of Catelyn and Ned Stark’s kids. She’s great.

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The Only Stark Who Wears a Helmet

But bizarre as it sounds, occasionally I hear people complaining about Arya. Oh, they don’t complain about Arya the way they do about Sansa. No one seems to find Arya annoying or her story boring. So why am I defending her? What is there to defend?

(This post will be talking Game of Thrones. Mostly in reference to the television show on HBO, up through Season Three. I’m steering clear of any spoilers for the books, please respect that in the comments.)

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In Defense of Sansa Stark

Posted: January 7, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be discussing plot points from the first three seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. I won’t be dropping any spoilers from the books, and I ask any commenters to respect that as well. Now, lets talk about Sansa Stark.

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Most people who watch HBO’s Game of Thrones like and sympathize with the Starks (unlike one of my colleagues who is all-in with House Lannister.)

But usually that affection is withheld from the eldest Stark daughter, Sansa. People don’t necessarily want her to die (like they do with Theon) but they find her so annoying. Although in some ways this feeling is justified, but in general I don’t like the amount of hate that Sansa generates and I’d like to respectfully state my case in her defense.

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In Defense of Craster (Well Now I’ve Gone Too Far)

Posted: January 1, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Relax Larry. I’m not literally defending tempestuous incestuous polygynist child sacrificing wildling playboy Craster. But his relationship with the Night’s Watch has some interesting implications.

This post deals with plot points from the first three seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. So there will be some spoilers. I won’t be spoiling anything from future plots in the books, and I’d appreciate that spirit be observed in any comments. (I do hope people leave comments!)

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I Have No Need of Defending, Southern-Boy! I be a Godly Man!

So why “defense” of Craster? I’ve realized that many of my Game of Thrones commentary posts are in reaction to my buddy Bob’s complaints when watching the show (he hasn’t read the books.)

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Melisandre: Hot or Not?

Posted: December 26, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Well, obviously she’s attractive, that’s not my point.

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This post discusses elements from the first three seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. There will not be any spoilers regarding future plot points from the books. If you are up to date on the show, this post should not be considered dark and full of terrors.

Game of Thrones can loosely be described as a realistic fantasy (moreso in the beginning admittedly), there are fantasy elements but they are usually more behind the scenes. The average person of Westeros might hold superstitious beliefs while never seeing anything supernatural.

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History Will Call Us Wives

Posted: December 17, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Book Review, Movie Review, Opinion
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Recently at work, I was bringing in my really old board game, Dune (from Avalon Hill.) My office is a pretty cool place to work, and at lunch we occasionally get a game of something going. Since we’ve played some games in the past that required more than a few lunches to complete (Game of Thrones, Small World) I thought Dune might be a good addition to lunchtime strategic competitions.

One of the interns from the cubicle pod near ours saw me carrying the box, and asked if I knew that they’d made a movie called Dune. I did know that. Oh, I had that knowledge.

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Back in 1984, I was very excited to see David Lynch’s adaptation of one of my favorite science fiction books. I roped my dad into coming along, since I’d convinced him to read Dune during a summer vacation trip. He had agreed that the book was great.

After we saw the movie, we agreed that unlike the book, the movie was not.

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In Defense of Balon Greyjoy. Wait, WHAT?

Posted: December 16, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Warning: I’m talking HBO’s Game of Thrones here, and I won’t be talking about anything that hasn’t been shown in the television show (or strongly hinted.) I won’t be having any spoilers for future plot points involving the secessionist self-crowned King of the Iron Islands, the butt that sits on the Sea-Stone chair, Balon Greyjoy.

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Pull that Goddamn Rope! And That Other Goddamn Rope!

Full disclosure, I’m not a fan of House Greyjoy. But I think that they are a great part of the story. I just wished that they’d joined with Robb Stark and the North in a coallition against the Lannister-led regime. But I’ve been thinking on this, and maybe that wouldn’t have made sense. Balon Greyjoy probably made the right call in attacking the undefended North.

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The Wall! Huh! Good Gods, Y’all, What Is It Good For?

Posted: December 11, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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At the northern reaches of the Seven Kingdoms, rising 700 feet and stretching nearly from coast to coast lies the Wall.

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South of the Wall

I’ll be touching on topics regarding this glacial wonder of Westeros, from the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. This won’t be crazy crazy spoilery, since I’ll be mostly talking about a large chunk of ice, but there will be some incidental references to the plot as presented from the television show (nothing from the books that hasn’t happened yet), so if you aren’t caught up on the story currently on HBO, don’t risk it.

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In Defense of Stannis Baratheon.

Posted: November 26, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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There’s not a lot of love thrown around for the character of Stannis on HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. I think it’s time to enumerate some of Stannis’ many positive qualities. And just maybe the naysayers will come around to consider dead King Bob’s younger brother as the right man to run Westeros. After all, at least he’s not Joffrey.

Usual spoiler warnings apply. I’m not going to be revealing anything that hasn’t happened on the show, although there’s always the chance that I’ll bring in some book detail from the same period that’s covered by the TV series. But this is going to otherwise be all HBO show-related. (Look, just watch the show.)

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In Defense of Theon Greyjoy. WHAT?

Posted: November 9, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Relax, you people, relax. This isn’t going to be a six-part series defending Theon Greyjoy’s actions or character like I did with Jon Snow. (Or my one-part post defending Ned Stark, for that matter.)

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I’m more interested in discussing HBO’s Game of Thrones showrunners’ decisions in regards to Theon Greyjoy’s storyline, as presented in Season Three of the show. His torture, and the cagey and dodgy manipulations of keeping his captor’s identity secret have been somewhat controversial. And I have some opinions on that.

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Zombies, Quasi-Zombies, and Happy Halloween

Posted: October 31, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Opinion
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It’s Halloween and why not have a post about shambling, walking corpses that feed on the living? Or angry, adrenaline’d infected that attack the healthy? Or things that kind of fall into that category of scary? Zombies and quasi-Zombies.

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Recently on Facebook, one of my friends commented that they were so bored with zombies, that zombies weren’t interesting. I understand there’s a certain amount of Zombie Saturation Syndrome going on right now, but I think stories featuring elements of the relentless, indefatigable, cannibalistic undead aren’t necessarily played out.

And since I enjoy talking about zombies, I thought I’d put finger to keyboard and do just that.

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