Archive for the ‘TV’ Category

Game of Thrones and Guards: Get Good Ones

Posted: February 7, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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As the title suggests, this post will be covering Game of Thrones, specifically the quality of the armed (in some cases, hired) help. If you’re not caught up with the sixth season, then be warned that I will be talking spoilery plot points that had sweeping political ramifications.

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Prince Doran: It is fortunate for me that I have a cadre of vigilant guards to protect me from spoilery plot points with sweeping political ramifications.
Ellaria: Oh Doran! You’re adorably naive.

Usually, I’d say that the only problem with having guards on Game of Thrones is not having enought of them…

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Scratch a Karstark, Find a Stark

Posted: January 31, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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If you don’t know who Karstarks or Starks are, you’ve somehow stumbled across a post about Game of Thrones, which is a show on HBO based on an unfinished series of books by this excellent author, George RR Martin. If you’ve not watched the show (or read the books, I guess) then this post will be spoilery.

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Ptui! Southerrrn Softie Spoilerrrs!

Starks, Karstarks. What’s in a name?

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Risky Rewards from Roose Bolton

Posted: January 24, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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One of the more interesting and understated characters on HBO’s Game of Thrones is Roose Bolton, the Lord of the Dreadfort.

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Lord of the Dreadfort? No need to be so formal. Addressing me as “Warden of the North” will be sufficient to keep your skin on your back. Mostly.

Usual spoiler warnings apply: One cannot talk about Roose Bolton without dropping massive spoilery details for the series.

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Hizdahr zo Loraq – the Lost Stark of Essos

Posted: January 17, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be about a rather minor character on Game of Thrones, Hizdahr zo Loraq. I won’t be holding back any details on his story arc, so if you’re not caught up (and are really invested in this character) I’ll be spoiling details about him (and other stuff as well, I guess.)

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Okay, lets talk about Hizdahr.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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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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