Archive for the ‘TV’ Category

Cersei, Dany, and the Two-Edged Sword of Religion

Posted: January 10, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, TV
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Early seasons of Game of Thrones were largely focused on the political and military wranglings of kings, with some trying to secede, some trying to settle grievances, and some with their eye on securing the Iron Throne.

The approaching season will most likely revolve less around kings and more around the actions of two queens: Cersei Lannister (political insider and new incumbent on the throne) and an idealistic outsider with a destiny, Daenerys Targaryen.

cerseidany-crop

Although there are many points of similarity between these two royals, for this post I’d like to focus on just the intersection of religion with their current political situations. Both involve winged creatures and fire. (And I’m not necessarily talking about dragons.)

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Cersei Lannister: the Queen Who Played with Wildfire

Posted: January 3, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be talking about HBO’s Game of Thrones in general, and specifically about Queen Cersei Lannister. She had a pretty eventful season recently on the show, and if you’re not caught up on Game of Thrones, maybe you should stop reading and start watching episodes.

cerseiglance

Yes. Do go away.

Cersei Lannister. The Girl On Fire. (Or rather, the queen who arranges the fire.)

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Think of the Children! (of the Forest, I mean.)

Posted: December 20, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Happy Holidays! This post will be talking about HBO’s Game of Thrones, the nearly finished adaptation of George “I’ll finish this when I’m good and ready” RR Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ll be talking about details from the most recent season, so if you’re not caught up with the show as of this date, there’s always a danger of being spoiled.

childrenoftheforest

Spoiled? Feh! Nothing would spoil our idyllic and pastoral lifestyle! Let’s have some fun with blood magic and human sacrifices!

The Winter Solstice is the inspiration for celebratory holidays, based on the observation that the long, dark evenings will start to shorten and daytime will grow longer and longer.

Part of the informal celebrations of the season involves folklore character Santa Claus up in the North Pole with an army of helpful toy-making elves laboring away on surprises for all the good little boys and girls who aren’t on his naughty list. (No one talks much about the invasive surveillance network that old, bearded Santa Claus must be using.)

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Winter and the continuation of war by ‘Other’ means in Game of Thrones

Posted: December 6, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be another examination of themes or elements from Game of Thrones, HBO’s long-running adaptation of George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. If you’re not caught up with the show, particularly if you don’t know who the White Walkers are, then this post might not be for you, should you one day want to enjoy the story unspoiled.

white-walkers-on-horses

We’ve brought the ice. We’re all out of fire though. That’s cool.

Still here? Great!

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Ser Davos – Here’s to Good Old Dave

Posted: November 22, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be talking about Ser Davos Seaworth, the excellent stalwart and stand-up guy from HBO’s Game of Thrones. Look, there are very few people in Game of Thrones that are as decent as this guy and still alive.

I’m glad to write about him. (Or am I? We’ll see.)

davos

No need to butter me up, boy. I’m just an oldish bearded white guy. There are dozens and dozens of oldish bearded white guys on this show. One of us was bound to be decent.

Ser Davos the Onion Knight

Davos Seaworth is a noteworthy character in the Game of Thrones universe.

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Election Update: Democracy in Westeros

Posted: November 8, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Yes, this post is coming on the US election day, but no, it’s not about the US elections. It’ll be political, but I’ll be talking about politics in Westeros, the continent of the Seven Kingdoms (often with a varying number of kings) in HBO’s excellent television series, Game of Thrones.

kinginthenorth

Time for the usual disclaimers: I’m not a political scholar, but if the current US election is any example, anyone can pretend to be a political expert. (Uh oh, I did say I wasn’t going to talk US politics… time to pivot hard…)

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Westworld’s Bad Hombre: the Man in Black

Posted: November 6, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Opinion, TV, Westworld
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This post will be discussing Ed Harris’ character on HBO’s Westworld. If you’re not caught up with the show, this post will be spoiling details from the first five episodes. Fair warning.

edharris

Fair warning. That’s cute.

The Man With No Name

I mentioned in a previous post about Westworld, comparing it to LOST (like I am sure everyone has done) that before the season began, I’d assumed that Ed Harris would be stepping into the boots once filled by Yul Brynner. That Harris would be the analog for Brynner’s black-hatted robot gunslinger who would become the face of danger in the park, as the robotic denizens turned on the vacationing human guests.

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Silicon Dating: the When of Westworld

Posted: November 3, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Opinion, TV, Westworld
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This post will be talking about HBO’s science fiction drama Westworld, and will be talking about some spoilery speculations. If you’re not into theorizing about the show, I guarantee this will either be spoilery (if correct) or just irritating to you (if wrong.)

westworld-va-tout-dechirer

At the time of this post’s publishing, we’re halfway through the first season of Westworld, which has presented a plethora of mysteries to chew on. And chew on them people have, with intriguing observations and theories.

Seriously, if you’re not into possibly spoilery speculation, hop out of this post now.

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Silent Bob (AKA Gregor Clegane)

Posted: October 25, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, TV
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Less than a week from Halloween! Now’s a good time to talk about a rather spooooooky character from Game of Thrones.

RobertStrong

This post’s topic will be Ser Gregor Clegane. If you’re not up on the latest season of Game of Thrones, then you’re way behind. Get caught up! We’ll wait.

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Getting LOST in Westworld

Posted: October 19, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Lost, Opinion, TV, Westworld
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This post will be talking about HBO’s new drama Westworld, but I’ll also be talking about ABC’s LOST. (And possibly Mutant Enemy Productions’ excellent film Cabin in the Woods.)

If you’re not up to date on these properties then this post might not be for you. (Unless you don’t care about spoilers. I don’t judge.)

westworldeye

Last chance to eject, because I’ll not be shying away from talking about plot details of all of the properties I mentioned above.

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