Archive for the ‘TV’ Category

Game of Thrones is still over a month away, but there’s no reason not to keep blogging about it. If you’re up on the storyline and have any interest in some off-beat comparative religion talk, you have come to the right forbidding, chilly seaside.

Don’t listen to him! I drown people who are interested in comparative religions! (To be fair, I drown everyone I get my grizzled hands on.)

Located west of the Riverlands across Ironman’s Bay, the last stretch of dry land before one enters the endless Sunset Sea, you’ll find the Iron Islands.

Before the advent of dragons in Westeros, the Ironmen of those rocky metal-rich islands held tremendous sway over the people of Westeros. The Riverlands and all people who lived within the sound of the waves paid tribute to keep axe-wielding torch-brandishing reavers from their doorsteps.

The Ironmen consider themselves a breed apart from the other inhabitants of Westeros, with cultural differences that include a specific faith not followed on the mainland. The Ironborn do not hold with the Old Gods or the New, but instead worship the Drowned God who dwells beneath the waves.

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If you don’t know who Bran Stark is, then you’re not familiar with HBO’s Game of Thrones, or the book series A Song of Ice and Fire that it’s based on. I won’t forbid you from reading my article (because it’s great, yo) but it’ll end up spoiling details of the plot. I recommend you binge-watch the show and come right back.

The most recent season of Game of Thrones marked the return of Bran Stark, the little lad who climbed too high, saw things he shouldn’t have seen, yet lived to tell the tale. Well, he would have told the tale, if he didn’t have traumatic amnesia.

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On the off chance that the names Jon Snow or Ned Stark are unfamiliar to you, go watch Game of Thrones or read the book series A Song of Ice and Fire. Otherwise this post will be spoiling the story.

Ned: Thanks to the North’s chilly climate, things don’t spoil too quickly up here.
Jon: Well actually, Lady Catelyn just makes me eat all of the spoiled food.
Ned: There’s that. Wait, did you just “well actually” me?
Jon: Uh, no?

When Game of Thrones first aired in 2011 on HBO, one could not escape promotional material featuring Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark, played by ruggedly handsome Sean Bean.

Typically our man Ned was shown seated and pensive upon the Iron Throne, the symbol of power in the fictional Seven Kingdoms.

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Whoa, it’s the month of May, and there’s still no new Game of Thrones? Fine. (Pronounce that the way my teenage daughter might…)

So hopefully you’ll enjoy a short essay on the politics of the kingdom of the North, an area usually associated with the rule of House Stark. (Spoilers within if you’re not watching the show/reading the books. But you already know that.)

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Politics? I hear you cry out. Don’t we have enough of that going on in the real world? Yup. We do. But I’m still going to write about Westeros and politics. (My family gets less worried about me when I’m talking about kings and not presidents.)

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If you’re unfamiliar with the land of Dorne, the southernmost of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros in HBO’s Game of Thrones, then this post possibly won’t be all that interesting. It’ll also be spoilery should you wish to go back and watch the show or read the books. (You should read the books, because Dorne has a better reputation on the page.)

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Television Sand Snakes: Admit that we’re cool!
Book Reader: Never! I’ll never admit to such lies!

Dorne: the region in the Seven Kingdoms that defiantly resisted Aegon the Conqueror the longest; the people of Dorne eventually joined the super-kingdom in Westeros on their own terms. It’s recognized as a pretty crazy place.

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This post will be talking about Game of Thrones. In particular, I’ll be discussing king-in-exile Viserys Targaryen. This has been your spoiler warning.

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Spoiler warnings? Spoiler warnings are for babies! When I am seated upon my throne, there will be no “warnings”

There’s precious little that can be said positively in regards to Viserys Targaryen.

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Ugh, Game of Thrones Season Seven still hasn’t aired. Time to write another post about the show. I’m sorry.

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Before we get started in, I’d like to take a moment to talk about something that inspired this article…

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April is here and April showers bring May flowers, so now seems a reasonable time to talk about the flower-themed queen from Highgarden: Margaery Tyrell.

(If not everything in the above sentence makes sense to you, then you are behind on your Game of Thrones watching and should correct that before reading this post.)

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Margaery Tyrell is one of those rare Game of Thrones characters who has more depth and dimension on the television show than they do in the books.

To be fair, that’s probably because in the published books so far, the Highgarden celebrity has never had a point-of-view chapter. She’s certainly an important character in the books, but she’s clearly only a secondary character.

On Game of Thrones, she’s a player.

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[This week’s post is a special bonus, a guest post authored by the lion-hearted Shannon Jelle from Geekly Press. I’m delighted to feature her observations on Cersei Lannister. — Pat ]

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It’s not easy being a lone direwolf flying solo… and by that I mean it’s not easy sporting fan swag that reads “Hear Me Roar” in a family of Stark and Targaryen supporters. It’s even harder when I let loose that I’m not just a fan of house Lannister, but one specific member. No, not Tyrion, who drinks and knows things. And not Jaime, the gilded knight who’s had one of the most redemptive arcs in all of fantasy. Oh, and yeah, not Tywin the very strategic and manipulative patriarch. I’m talking about Cersei. Yeah, you read that right. All Hail Queen Cersei, Long May She Reign.

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This post will be talking about Lord Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish, one of the masterminds of mischief in HBO’s Game of Thrones (and in the source material, A Song of Ice and Fire.) As usual, discussion of characters from Game of Thrones is going to involve talking about plot points, so if you’re not up to date on the story this post will spoil things for you. (Unless you don’t care about spoilers, that’s cool.)

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Baelish: Let me tell you a spoiler about the Hound. How his face got spoiled.
Sansa: How discourteous!

You can trust me on that. Just don’t trust Littlefinger.

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