Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

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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In Defense of Robb Stark

Posted: February 11, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Hey, it’s almost Valentine’s Day, and who better to talk about than the incorrigible romantic, Robb Stark?

Before we get started, anyone who hasn’t seen the first three seasons of Game of Thrones, or hasn’t read the equivalent amount from the book series (or hasn’t read all the season recaps that came during and after Season Three) I really don’t want you reading this post. Because it’s going to be spoilery, and I’d rather you watch the show and experience Robb Stark’s storyline fresh.

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If You Don’t Recognize This Scene, Stop Reading.

I’m serious as a heart attack. I don’t want to spoil you.

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Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown* in Game of Thrones

Posted: February 4, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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It would also be fair to say uneasy rests the rear that sits on an iron throne, but this blog post is about fashion not furniture. It’s time to talk about crowns.

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This article will be discussing characters and plot points from the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent series Game of Thrones. If you are caught up on the television show (or have read up through roughly 2/3rds of the way A Storm of Swords) then there won’t be any spoilers here.

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Season Four Breaking Bad – We Just Finished It (Part 2)

Posted: February 2, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Opinion, TV
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Last post, I explained that my wife and I had just finished watching the penultimate season of Breaking Bad. The previous post was a season recap that probably everyone skipped (fair, I get that) and this post will my analytical observations, or whatever.

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Big Chicken Brother is Watching Them

As usual, this post will be spoilery for the first Four seasons of Breaking Bad.

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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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