Posts Tagged ‘The Others’

The Winter War to Come

Posted: February 13, 2018 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Over on the Watchers on the Wall website is my latest feature article on Game of Thrones. It’s a long (like, really long) speculative piece on what might happen now that the ancient undead enemy is south of the Wall and has the opportunity to threaten the living.

Now that the article is published, I can finally read up on all of the set reports and other hints on what might happen during the season. I’ve been avoiding all of those things so I could write up my speculation in a spoiler-free way. You’ll have to trust me on this.

Littlefinger: Don’t trust him.
Me: Quiet you. Anyway, aren’t you dead?
Littlefinger: Am I? Hmmmmm.

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Thinking About the Night King

Posted: September 13, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Based on the climactic events at the end of Season Seven of Game of Thrones (if you’re reading this, I assume you know what happened) it seemed a good time to talk about the White Walkers, and what might be motivating them.

But you won’t find my thoughts here. I’ve posted them on the Watchers on the Wall website. Like I sometimes do.

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Wights, Wards, and the Wall. What’s Up with that?

Posted: July 4, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Season Seven of Game of Thrones is looming on the horizon, like the Wall itself.

I’ll be talking about that Wall, and details from Season Six (and earlier) so if you’re not caught up, you are taking the risk well-warned of spoilers.

In the finale of the sixth season of Game of Thrones, Bran Stark’s undead uncle Benjen escorted them from the far northern locale of the deceased Three Eyed Raven, to within site of the Wall. Before placing Bran next to a weirwood tree, Benjen announced that he was leaving.

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Game of Thrones: Magic of Ice and Fire

Posted: June 27, 2017 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be talking about magic, but not really Harry Potter magic. I’ll be addressing some supernatural underpinnings in HBO’s Game of Thrones. If you’re not up on the show, I wanted to state up front that I’ll definitely be discussing plot points.

The blogger would make an awful maegi. One is supposed to make vague statements  and trick the reader into stumbling onto curses and naked spoilers.

No one disputes that there is magic on display in Game of Thrones.

Daenerys Targaryen was given a brief lecture about magic and dragons by the Warlocks of Qarth, while in their House of the Undying.

When your dragons were born, our magic was born again. It is strongest in their presence, and they are strongest in yours.

This post will be about magic and specifically how Daenerys represents a magic that had gone away from the world, and which is now returning in force. I’ll also discuss that there’s a magic that never went away, a passive but persistent kind of magic. As a counterpoint to Daenerys, there’s a character who is the central focus for that type of supernatural element. (Narratively or symbolically speaking. Yes, it’s going to be one of those posts.)

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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.

ghost_on_a_hill

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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Second Looks: Fist of the First Men

Posted: October 27, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Happy Halloween! (Well, we’re close to Halloween, it’s due to arrive at some point, like a shambling undead horde…)

This post will be talking about HBO’s Game of Thrones, specifically events that took place during the fifth season episode Hardhome and how it relates to previous seasons. Hardhome was an amazing episode, possibly the best of the series, and if you’re not caught up I’d hate to spoil you on that experience.

WhiteWalkersAndWights

TRICK OR TREAT! Just no spoilers please! Or healthy snacks.

Still with me? Cool.

Hardhome featured a battle involving the undead army controlled by the mysterious and mystical Others. The legendary White Walkers directed their wights to attack the fortified Free Folk fishing village of Hardhome, and corpses did so en masse, tearing through the Wildling and Night’s Watch defenders. To make matters worse, the human casualties were resurrected to join Team White Walker. Spoooooky!

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White Walkers and Wights: Not Watertight?

Posted: July 7, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be discussing certain plot points from HBO’s Game of Thrones. In particular, Season 5’s excellent episode “Hardhome.” Let this be your spoiler warning. But if you’re not caught up, you really should do so. Hardhome was amazing.

KarsiWaterfront

Damn it to Thenn!!! SPOILERS!!!!!!

In the eighth episode of the most recent season of Game of Thrones, the show delivered on something that had been hinted at in the first season and teased at the end of the second season: an attack by an army of the dead.

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Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Stark

Posted: March 3, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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There’s this show on HBO called Game of Thrones. Maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s great (as is the book series it’s based on, A Song of Ice and Fire.) This post will be talking plot points from the show (but no spoilers from book materials that the show hasn’t covered yet.) If you’re not up on the show, it’s up to you if you want to read the following article. Consider this your warning.

RockPaperScissorsLizardStark

Rock. Paper. Scissors. Lizard. Stark.

In Season One of Game of Thrones, Lord Eddard Stark brings to the court the recently deceased King Robert Baratheon’s last written directive granting Ned the regency until Robert’s heir comes of age. This document is presented to Queen Cersei.

Cersei: Is this meant to be your shield, Lord Stark? *rips paper*
Ned: Hmmm, maybe I should have played rock instead…

Scissors-Beats-Paper

Anyone not familiar with the rules of Rochambeau? (Sometimes spelled Ro-sham-bo.) Rock-Paper-Scissors?

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By the Old Gods and the New: Religion in Game of Thrones

Posted: March 18, 2014 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones
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This post will discuss the some of the faiths presented on HBO’s Game of Thrones. I’ll try not to drop any plot spoilers, but in general I’ll be talking religious observances and possible miracles shown during the first three seasons of the show. If you are not up to date on your Game of Thrones watching, I have no idea why you’d be reading this, but it won’t be super spoilery. (Just slightly spoilery, I guess.)

nedAndTree

Don’t Sit Under the Weirwood Tree, With Anyone Else But Me… With Anyone Else But Me… With Anyone Else But Me.

George RR Martin doesn’t do things halfway.

His stories are populated by dozens of major characters and hundreds of secondary characters who represent many cultures, speak many languages, and worship different gods. Some of the faiths appear monotheistic, some polytheistic, some with organized rituals, and some with hardly any dogma at all.

Why do we care? I don’t know. I’m just looking to write about something Game of Thrones-related and I’ve already covered helmets and crowns. But I’ll try to be entertaining.

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The Wall! Huh! Good Gods, Y’all, What Is It Good For?

Posted: December 11, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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At the northern reaches of the Seven Kingdoms, rising 700 feet and stretching nearly from coast to coast lies the Wall.

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South of the Wall

I’ll be touching on topics regarding this glacial wonder of Westeros, from the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. This won’t be crazy crazy spoilery, since I’ll be mostly talking about a large chunk of ice, but there will be some incidental references to the plot as presented from the television show (nothing from the books that hasn’t happened yet), so if you aren’t caught up on the story currently on HBO, don’t risk it.

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