Posts Tagged ‘Bran Stark’

The Stark Political Situation in Westeros

Posted: January 12, 2020 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Game of Thrones is over, but that shouldn’t stop us from talking about the show or the logical consequences of what might happen going forward in this fictional universe. Particularly in regards to politics, because the political situation in Westeros was a topic that we could all (mostly) discuss with our family at Thanksgiving, without fear of being written out of the will or something.

Arya: Cowards! Challenge your Republican relatives to Trial by Combat!

The final storyline in the show, after Season 8 dealt with the White Walkers (Arya took care of business by stabbing the icy Night King), dealt with the treacherous Lannisters (Daenerys Targaryen brought the Red Keep down on Cersei and Jaime Lannister), dealt with a Daenerys who was tired-of-not-being-taken-seriously (Jon Snow took her seriously and pulled an Arya on her), was the show dealing with the question of who would be on the Iron Throne at the end.

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Tired: King Stannis. Wired: King Bran

Posted: January 9, 2020 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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While Game of Thrones was on the air, I was fortunate enough to write about the show over on the excellent show-centric website Watchers on the Wall. But, even though the show has concluded, there are still books due to be published. Over on the WotW site, I have a new feature that largely involves book speculation. Sort of.

In the post, I speculate that Bran Stark’s book storyline might act as a reference to the failed ambitions of his grace, King Stannis Baratheon.

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He Wants to Erase this World. And I am its Memory.

Posted: April 25, 2019 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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We’re past the second episode of Season Eight Game of Thrones, and therefore we’ve seen 1/3rd of the final episodes. It’s going by so fast.

Soon we’ll only have our memories to sustain us. (And rewatches. And unpublished books. And people debating on blogs and Reddit for years.)

But speaking about memories … on the Watchers on the Wall website, I’ve just published another feature article talking about the recent episode, and specifically the exchange between Bran Stark and Sam Tarly where Bran asserts that he is the memory of the world.

The scene offered a lot to unpack and I only scratched the surface, to be honest. But I discuss what it means for the Night King to be targeting Bran, what an endless night might mean in this nuanced context, etc.

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Shaggydog and Summer: Defending Dead Direwolves Part 3

Posted: September 2, 2018 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This is the third post in a five-post series on the direwolves in HBO’s Game of Thrones (with corresponding plot details from the books of A Song of Ice and Fire.) You can get more details from my initial post – basically I’m discussing the Stark direwolves with a speculative eye on what might be happening in the remaining episodes and unpublished books. (And I might be defending some decisions that the showrunners have made.)

Them good doggos.

The last post was about Lady and Greywind, the two direwolves whose stories are faithfully recorded in the books and show. This post will be about Shaggydog and Summer, the wolves that belong to Catelyn Stark’s youngest sons Rickon and Bran.

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Bran Stark: the Fall Guy

Posted: May 16, 2018 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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We’re finally out of the month of April, so it’s less-than-one-year until the premiere of Season Eight Game of Thrones. It feels like it’s been forever.

The final season will no doubt feature exciting battles and conflict resolutions, but I expect that most of the characters (depending on how fast they get killed off) will be able to hit some narrative beats to bring their over-arching storylines to a satisfying (if possibly bittersweet) conclusion.

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Bran Stark: the Wolf with Wings

Posted: May 16, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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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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Northern Politics: the Stark Candidates

Posted: May 2, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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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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Tomorrow Night’s Watch

Posted: March 14, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be talking about Game of Thrones and specifically the institution of the Night’s Watch. If you haven’t read the books or watched the show, then spoilers will be throughout.

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For thousands of years the Wall has stood as a glacial barrier between the Seven Kingdoms and whatever forces lurk in the far north. For presumably an equal duration the Night’s Watch has manned the Wall, vigilantly alert against the fall of the next Long Night.

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Hodor

Posted: March 7, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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If you’ve wandered into this post without knowing who Hodor is, then you probably have not seen much of HBO’s Game of Thrones or read A Game of Thrones, the first novel that the show is based on. That’s cool, all are welcome. But it’d probably be best if you not read this particular post, and instead checked out the show and then came back fully informed. Because I’ll be talking some spoilery details.

Just know that Hodor is a beloved character in a series that has at least one thousand characters. (Many of them not nearly as charming and exemplary as Hodor.) Now, shoo.

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Hodor!

Anyone who is still here either knows all about our gentle giant, or is willing to be spoiled.

Fair enough.

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Summer, the final track of SEVEN: the Game of Thrones Concept Album

Posted: May 4, 2016 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Music, TV
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I recently began writing about all seven of the songs from SEVEN, the wonderful concept album from the Manimals, inspired by HBO’s Game of Thrones. (Full details can be found in my initial post.) I have covered six out of the seven, and now I’m on to the final song.

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Summer is not only the name of Brandon Stark’s direwolf, it’s also his point of view song on SEVEN, as well as the final track.

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