Tag Archives: Game Of Thrones Season 2

Playing the Game of Thrones With Season 2: Ep. 4 – A Review

Episode 4: Garden of Bones

 

Elena: So is Qarth going to be as awesome as it seems like it will be?

Rachel: Qarth is…well, it is Qarth. Dany’s storyline begins a fundamental change here, maybe not in what you would expect from her as a character, but from what you would expect from GRRM as an author. Dany has been relentlessly journeying up until now, and with each stop on her journey she’s added another skillset, another aspect of her personality. She is definitely more than the unsure young girl who wishes to go home; now she’s a canny survivor. Qarth will teach her to be an effective politician.

I’m not going to lie and say that book readers don’t sometimes complain about Dany’s storyline. Maybe she will just sit in Qarth for a while, but dammit, she’s going to LEARN STUFF. Just you wait. Lore building! Baths! Cool dresses! Interpersonal relationship building!

Meanwhile from what I’ve seen so far of Qarth, I’m totally happy. I am not going to bitch about the lack of boobie-revealing dresses (really…I’m not), and I’m totally fine with Xaro being a summer islander. The line was kind of weirdly delivered, but whatever. Qarth is a multicultural city. The milk-men of Qarth are definitely present. SO EVERYONE JUST CALM THE HELL DOWN ABOUT IT. I mean… if I don’t ever hear another race-based complaint from the Game of Thrones fandom…well, that would make my damn life..

Also…Pyat Pree looks like a Star Wars character. Not like a Sith or anything, just one of those random background Naboo politicians with questionable morality.

Who am I kidding.. Pyat Pree IS A STAR WARS CHARACTER.

Elena: So…can we talk about that field nurse Robb decided he wants for his queen?

Because that scene was pretty fabulous.  She’s fabulous.

I’m not sure if her strategy for man-catching is brilliant or not.  Walk onto a battlefield and look all brave and compassionate and did I mention brave?  And then saw a guy’s foot off—and, come on, y’all, that was not a one-clean hack and it’s done kind of amputation but literally sawing through the flesh and the bone, grind, grind, grind, crunch, ah THERE it goes finally and then the foot falls off into the mud, thunk—and then stand up totally unaffected by what you just did and tell off a king.

Damn.

Girl’s got brass balls the size of Grey Wind’s.

And Robb noticed.  He was straight, I’m King in the North…I live by the old ways…I need a woman who is strong enough to deal with that…and even more I need a wife who will question me sometimes because, y’all, I’m not even 20 and I don’t have people second-guessing me anymore and secretly deep down inside I could use the certainty that comes after a good honest debate wherein I am forced to consider things I didn’t think of and make logical defenses of my decisions…HER!  THIS ONE!  I MUST MARRY HER! IT IS A SIGN FROM THE OLD GODS!

No, that’s not right.  That comes later, when Robb thinks it over and has to figure out how to justify breaking the alliance his mother made for him.  For now he was just like OMG-she-is-a-hot-BAB (bad-ass bitch), and then his eyes turned into hearts like zombie-Albie and for five seconds GOT turned into a romantic comedy, Westeros edition (because that line?  “At least tell me your name!”—that line has been in pretty much every rom-com about a beautiful stranger since the beginning of time). Hey, maybe that’s what the whole series is. I don’t know yet.

So, her strategy?  Brilliant.  Brilliant because it worked.  (Yes, I realize she is not actually trying to catch any man’s attention by being a nurse.  I’m just saying it was such a tactically excellent move that if it had been her strategy it would have been the bestest strategy ever.)

Rachel…thoughts?

 

Rachel: JEYNE! Or as she is called in the show, Talisa from Volantis. Can I just…can I just call bullshit right now on “Talisa from Volantis”? I’m gonna. Here I go.

GURL. WE KNOW YOU’RE JEYNE WESTERLING. Now, whether the character is lying to protect herself from Robb OR the producers have changed her name a la Asha…I don’t care. I’m just going to call her Jeyne Westerling. I’ve dedicated a great amount of space in my head to remembering names of fake people, and I just don’t have room for fake names of fake people, too.

Let’s trust that the average Game of Thrones viewer can tell the different between a smart move and a dumb move…and leave it at that. (I know that the producers don’t trust that the average Game of Thrones viewer is anything else but an 11 year old boy searching for stimulation and violence…but let’s PRETEND).

I’m starting to get negative.

Elena: Can you be negative about Joffrey?

Rachel: I like Joffrey. Well, I mean I like to hate Joffrey, which is the same as liking the character because HE ISN’T REAL so you can’t actually dislike him for real because none of the terrible things he does actually happened.

But even though he didn’t actually make Ros the adorably (sarcasm) inserted prostitute stand-in horribly abuse and rape another nameless prostitute…I still hate him for it. This was such a weird scene to watch, because I knew it was coming. Fans had been discussing this particular scene (fabricated for the show) for a few days online prior to the episode airing. Calling it the most disturbing sex scene they had ever seen, a totally unnecessary scene, a scene that pushed the limits of cable broadcasting, etc., etc., etc.

I agree that the scene was unnecessarily disturbing. I think we get it, we hate Joffrey. Was there anyone out there that needed an extra push? However, because I was prepared for uncalled for depravity I wasn’t as throw-remote across-the-room, scream-at-everyone-around-you disgusted as many. I did turn to my friends and put my hands in the air like, “just another weird thing we had to sit through.”

Speaking of additionally weird things – Littlefinger using Ned’s bones as a come on was fucking dumb. Littlefinger is smarter than that. The only way I can live with it is to continually think all out of character behavior is masterminded to confuse us! YOU’RE SO CRAFTY LITTLEFINGER!

< / end ranty bullshit >

Elena: See, I find it interesting that people who read the books thought that scene was unnecessary.  I think it was, maybe not necessary but at least useful, in making it clear that Joffrey is not just some spoiled child who wants to kill everyone who disagrees with him who is in the unfortunate position of being able to order that done.  No.  He is a straight sadist.  He might very well have gotten his nuts off watching Ros beat and maybe antler-rape her fellow whore, just…not by engaging with them himself.

And this was far from the most disturbing sex scene I’ve seen.  Please.  I’m not saying it wasn’t disturbing or awful, but…it had nothing on, say, Irreversible.  And pushing the boundaries of cable TV?  How?  All it actually showed was an ass-spanking.  Ros raised her hand in such a way as to imply maybe there was just more beating rather than penetration, and I’m sure that was done to soften the blow, which I find kind of a cop-out on HBO’s part.  You can’t actually show it, fine, but at least have the balls to be clear about what’s happening after the screen goes black.

Also, can I point out how monumentally poor Tyrion’s choice of whores was?  Normally he’s more savvy.  But I looked at the difference between Joffrey and those two women and was kind of like, no wonder he’s not interested.  They were both so obviously older than him.  And he is a slender young man, with a very boyish look.  Most men like to feel big and powerful around women, ergo they like women who are smaller than they are, or at the very least the same size.  Both of these women were bigger than Joffrey, because they are ADULTS, and he is so very obviously not.  Tyrion should have had Littlfinger’s brothel send a couple of 16-year-olds who’ve been at it since they were children (since you know Littlefinger has child-sex on offer somewhere, so he’d have the personnel for this) who would be Joffrey’s age and on his same juvenile scale.

There might also have been an aspect of the women’s experience versus his inexperience.  Fumbling virgins feel much more comfortable with other fumbling virgins than with someone who is uber-experienced and (in your head, at least) going to laugh at you for not knowing how to do any of it.

Rachel: So, Elena, is Melisandre magical?

Elena: SHADOWBABY OMG! I give up. Melisandre is magical.

Rachel: CORRECTION –  Melisandre’s VAGINA is magical. Did I not tell you? DID I NOT TELL YOU? So yeah, shadowbaby. Coming at ya. The look on Davos’ face is probably my favorite moment. First he’s all, “Don’t talk about my wife.” Then he’s all, “HOLY CRAP WHAT IS COMING OUT OF YOU?” Poor Davos. Shit just got real for him. Methinks Melisandre is not going anywhere soon. Much to Davos’ discomfort.

And then you think about Stannis and his 13 men vs Renly and his 100,000 and (minus a peach, grrr) how much their little bitchy feuding does not matter because MAGIC. Plus a million to Stannis. You don’t know what Team Stannis is doing with said magic yet, but you know it is magic, and magic automatically gets plus a million. It’s the law.

Yeah, Renly has Margaery on his team, so don’t count Team Peach out…but MAGIC.

Elena: That was super-fucked up.  I scrawled WTFFFF (what the fucking fucking fucking fuck, naturally) in my notes for this scene.

I am still creeped out about shadowbaby.  I am worried for everyone in Renly’s camp. I have this fear that shadowbaby will take over everyone’s brain in the camp and then Stannis has the 100,000-man army and his red woman and shadowbaby, and yikes, y’all.  It’s going to be shadowbaby drones vs white walkers vs dragons at the end.

I vote dragons. TEAM DANAERYS KHALEESI STORMBORN!

Speaking of dark and creepy things…why is Harrenhal like Isengard?

Rachel: Well Moff Elena, Isengard is a place useless little hobbits go when their hiking leader is brutally killed by douches to learn how to not be useless.

They also go to learn how to torture people with rats.

They also go to get wine (More wine, sir?) for Tywin BAMF Lannister. Which you fucking DO, because being a cup bearer is way better than being a smith or a dead guy hanging from a gibbet. Plus, you can learn things when you’re allowed to stand in corners of rooms occupied by BAMFs.

Also, it looks like Lannister guards have officially been combined with the Mountain and his men. Plausible, considering the Mountain is a Lannister banner-man. It’s fine. This eliminates needless scurrying about the countryside, and as long as they keep Arya’s litany…then I don’t think anyone will have a problem understanding who is who.

Plus next week it looks like we get more Jaqen H’ghar! * fangirl screaming * Okay…just me screaming.

Playing The Game of Thrones With Season 2: Ep. 3 – A Review

Episode 3: What is Dead May Never Die

Elena: Brienne?

Rachel: WOOOOOT! Brienne of Tarth! One of my favorite characters. She’s like Sam, lovably earnest. She’s a lot savvier than Sam is though because she’s had a rougher time at life than him. Sure, Sam’s dad threatened to kill him if he didn’t go to the wall but at least his mommy loved him! Brienne is just a lady too big for the role she was born to. She’s basically what Arya wants to be when she grows up but without having her own Brienne of Tarth to look up to or pave the way. She’s dealing with a super misogynistic culture in which she is attempting to adopt a traditionally masculine role and she’s not doing it with witty quips and daddy’s blessing like Asha.  However, Brienne IS taking charge of her own life. I think it’s really important that we see Brienne for the first time in an episode in which Cersei and Sansa are struggling with the hardships of being female in a patriarchal society.  Brienne is a noble lady like Arya and Cersei and Asha. But rather than be married off in trade for land and loyalty to a husband that would surely not love her due to her lack of beauty she is forcing her way into a world that doesn’t want her there. She wants to be a lady knight.  With Renly’s grant of the boon of Kingsguardship, she IS a lady knight! And that place on the king’s guard is for life and just like Jaime Lannister or a man of the Night’s Watch, means she can’t marry. It’s definitely a risky choice for her but Brienne is tough.

Brienne refuses to be a victim.

Rachel: What did you think of the Southerners we met this episode?

Elena:  I loved getting another example of a way in which a woman can forge her own path and take some control of her future back from her family. I hadn’t realized the Kingsguard enabled her to piss on marriage, but that is awesome for her. Because, yeah, marriage is not for Brienne of Tarth. Not any marriage a man on Westeros would recognize, since she would never be willing to stay at home, sew, or wear a dress.

I was less impressed with Loras’s reaction.  A, learn how to lose with grace you arrogant little shit.  B, why on earth would you not want someone who can best you in the lists protecting your true love Renly?  Brienne is basically having to out-knight the knights in order to be accepted as one of them, which means she is fucking awesome at what she does.  And the best part is she’s not a man, so she can’t threaten Loras in a sexual way! I guess Loras feels like he’s got Renly’s peen on lockdown so he is worried about other things.

Speaking of Renly and his unstiffened peen…what was that with Loras’s sister?  She is yet another example of a woman who wants power and is willing to get it through the men in her life.  And she, unlike the other ladies we’ve met who are gaining power through marriage, is doing it of her own accord.  I come to this conclusion based on the way she presents herself—she has sexualized herself, as if determined to be obvious that she fucked her way to the crown.

Now if only she looked more like Loras so she could fuck her way to an heir….

Elena: While we’re on about women as property, what’s going on with Tyrion’s agenda, and is Cersei cracking up?

Rachel: Unfortunately for Cersei, and as she has lamented before, being a woman in Westeros pretty much sucks. Even the Queen Regent of the western continent can’t even get what she wants when her brother takes it upon himself to marry her kid off to…well someone…in order to broker more power to their side. Power they should have already because well who else is ruling this joint? Except that’s not how it works. LIFE ISN’T FAIR, IS IT, CERSEI? Sometimes I feel bad for her. It’s funny that lots of fans are empathizing with Cersei’s frustration at her inability to keep Myrcella when they condemn Sansa for being mean to Shae. WHY DO YOU THINK CERSEI IS SO DAMN MEAN TO SANSA, YOU GUYS? Because sometimes you have to lash out at someone who can’t hurt you. (Even though Shae should be mocked openly and often for thinking her best lady of the night dress would be suitable for lady-maiding. Come ON, Tyrion…get her a real dress to work in, for the Seven’s sake!)

Elena: Or was that Shae’s rebellion? She seemed kind of pissed to be there, and she and Tyrion did have that argument about how she was not a weakness. Oh, honey, you don’t know his family, do you?  Perhaps he sent her to Sansa just so she can learn about Cersei? Anyway.

Rachel: This episode was just FULL of women all living the same problems and dealing with them in different ways. Let’s go back to Margaery Tyrell. She got married off to her brother’s lover because if she births the next successor she could secure some more power for her family. Even if her husband is gay and she has to share him with her brother, Margaery is totally willing to do that. She’s most probably willing to do that because being a Queen is better than not being a Queen … but maybe Cersei would beg to differ.  But then I would bet Shae would agree with Margaery. Or would she?

Tyrion by the by…is up to tricksy tricks ferreting out some of the more obvious roadblocks in court. He pissed off Littlefinger, sure, but he is a resource with too much potential value as an ally to totally throw away, so look for Tyrion to make it up to Littlefinger in the future.  Pycell getting his whiskers hacked off by Bronn was epic. More whisker hacking! Maybe we can just hack off whiskers instead of heads from now on?

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Elena: Bronn! We also need more Bronn.  That, too, would be nice.

Rachel: Were you sad for Theon and his father issues? His fake brother issues? His sister issues? What about his whiney baby issues?

Elena: My notes on the first look at Theon this episode: “Theon is not impressed with the Pike house.” Which is a joke because the Pikes are another frat, and Theon’s a Theta Chi. Yes? No? It was funny in my head.

Um, so Theon decides to be a Greyjoy.  No good can come of this.  “Everybody knows you never go full Greyjoy!”

I was conflicted about whether to judge him for his choice.  Family is a huge part of the ethos in this world—“What do we always say is the most important thing?  FAMILY!”—but on the other hand…he’s betraying Robb!  And the Starks who even if they are all incompetent players are the team I’m rooting for until I meet someone better or they’re all dead.  So, no bueno.  Bad Theon.

He was put in an untenable situation, and I find it interesting that I don’t have much interest or sympathy in him as a character.  He acted the over privileged lordling once too often in my company for me to care that he feels inadequate with his family.  Guess what?  If Robb Stark is able to lead a fucking army and argue down his bannermen at this age, Theon is old enough to not judge his own worth on the valuation of any other man…even his absentee dad.  (Yes, I know, that’s not how daddy issues work, but the point is we have other characters who don’t have his hang-up that made him so manipulable, so I no longer find his daddy issues a valid excuse for what he does.)

But the drowned god bit was fucking cool, and I hope we get to hear a little more about that!

Elena: Theon chose blood over water, which is funny because of reasons ^^.

Rachel: The part of Theon’s brain that makes decisions must be a terrible hell. One, because he’s kind of a swaggering idiot a lot of the time. And two, because there’s some serious cognitive dissonance happening in the guy’s life. He was raised by these seemingly honorable people… except that they murdered his brothers and took him as a hostage. Being reminded of that by your estranged father – well you can’t really blame him for siding with his family and plotting to screw Robb over. I mean you can, but it’s easily understood how he was utterly sandbagged into “going full Greyjoy”. His only choices were betrayal and… oh betrayal! Theon might be one of the more tragic characters in Game of Thrones. The Fool who learns too late? We shall see.

Everyone loves bad ass pirates who steal all the stuff and laugh at everyone who underestimated them!

Elena: Yoren died. I haz a sad.

Rachel: Yes, while Yoren suffered from an acute case of Boromir-it is I was never all that upset about his death. Mostly because in the books it is strongly and repeatedly emphasized how bad Yoren smelled and how he had fleas. He grossed me out you guys.

They also seem to be heavily contracting a few things into one thing (which I agree with for the sake of brevity and how it isn’t really necessary since the end result is the same) except that I’m worried about the Mountain’s men and the Lannister men getting all mixed together. Were these the Lannister soldiers? Were they the outlaws? Will that distinction matter in terms of the show? I’m hoping for a bit more explanation in the next episode because where Arya and Gendry end up is extremely related to the group of men that just captured them at the end of the episode and I’m not sure shoving all the motivations into one pot will make it easier to understand.

And I just want to emphasize that the three guys in the cage – IMPORTANT GUYS. Also, horrible criminals. Probably. I could be lying. I lie all the time.

Elena: I am going to be so pleased if we have just met the Hannibal Lector of Westeros.  Because that?  Would be awesome.  And hilarious.  What happens when he meets the white walkers?  Do they all just sit down and have a civilized meal of roasted Craster son?

Is Jon Snow there?  Is he hiding behind a tree still trying to figure out what happens?

Hey, Jon Snow, don’t feel too bad for not figuring out the subtext everyone else picked up on the second they saw one man surrounded by 50 women…you still know where to put it.

Want more? Then check out the latest episode of Team More Wine Sir as we pour more wine and talk more about “What is Dead May Never Die”!

Playing The Game of Thrones With Season 2: Ep. 2 – A Review

Episode 2: The Night Lands

Elena: What was so fucked up about the last 15 minutes that got you all riled on Twitter?

Rachel: Right, so to explain without being spoilery – I went to bat for this show’s last episode saying that it could end up being better than the books, and this week the show reminded me why that will never happen. I get that everything needs to be simplified, but I feel like they are writing to the lowest common denominator. I.e., We gotta write boobs and we gotta take out anything that requires brain cells to understand. This oversimplification results in scenes like the one between Stannis and Melisandre. A complicated and by no means confirmed suspicion of Davos’ in the novels becomes a hypocritical sex scene, and I don’t think it’s good writing.

Lots of fans think Melisandre and Stannis are lovers. Fine. It’s up for interpretation, so any opinion is valid. But Stannis goes to great lengths to prove to people that he is not a hypocrite and simple seduction is NOT at the heart of that relationship. No WAY is that all there is to it. Stannis does things because they are right, and he does what needs to be done to keep the right way. Seduction should not work on the Lobster King. If he is seduced it’s not because of Melisandre’s boobs and CERTAINLY not because she can give him a son. Stannis would not be interested in a bastard son. He just WOULDN’T. So that entire scene was dumb. And humph.

 

Elena: Speaking of boobs…Any thoughts on the Ros/Littlefinger scene as it relates to the exposition of his character on screen vs in the book?

Rachel: Well, Ros isn’t in the books. Didn’t you know that? You know that. She’s entirely made up. So Ros exists entirely as a tool of exposition. Mostly for Littlefinger at this point. In the books we know Littlefinger is sly because everyone says so. The show feels the need to actually give us examples of his cunning and wit. So it lulls us repeatedly into thinking he’s a decent person and then BAM – reminds us that he is the person you should trust the least. Poor Ros. If I were her I would tread carefully. Littlefinger talks to her too much and we know he regards knowledge as power.

She also exists for boobs.

 

Elena: On to happier subjects! What did you think of Yarra Asha? I know you heart her so…did they do her justice?

Rachel: Dude, (can I call y’all ‘Dude’?) Asha was AWESOME! Gemma Whelan even had the walk down. She’s snarky, confident, cool, she’s got leather pants! Can’t wait to see her throw an axe around!

The people who are all up in arms about how Asha “isn’t hot enough” should really re-examine how they interact with society. Asha is plenty hot and Gemma’s costume and makeup is appropriate for the character. Asha the character isn’t alluring or desirable because her face is pleasantly symmetrical and she wears eyeliner and boob hoisters – it’s because she’s a warrior woman who gives orders and splits heads. She’s always got something smart ass to say (Greyjoy trait), and to compare her to Melisandre – she’s also a woman of agency. It’s not about getting married or protecting her children or even her “maidenhood” (Asha would make a dirty joke here). It’s about paying the iron price. Done.

Haters to the Wall!

PS – does everyone else think that the Greyjoy armor is going to be the best armor out of all the armor?

 

What is your opinion on the Greyjoys so far?

Elena: They are…not what I expected. I don’t know what I did expect.  Something more like Baratheons on the Sea, perhaps? Even knowing that the father rebelled and all that did not prepare me for meeting them.  I am FASCINATED by their family ethos.  They are like…House Pirate.  Or maybe House Honey Badger (the Honey Badger doesn’t give a shit.  It takes what it wants!  Oh, it’s eating grubs? That’s nasty—but it’s hungry!  Honey Badger doesn’t give a fuck).

I just…I loved the iron price.  I loved him calling Theon a nancy boy.  I loved Balon’s point about “I am not going to let someone put a crown on my head, I’ll win it for myself.”  And Yarra Asha was awesome!  She’s the first woman we’ve seen who is grabbing power and influence on the strength of her own self rather than her family.  I mean, yes, she is a Greyjoy and all the brothers are gone, but instead of letting the house fall into despair or pin its hopes on Theon she has stepped into that void and made the fact of her sex irrelevant.

Also…what happened to Theon?  He didn’t turn out a proper Stark or a proper Greyjoy.  He just fails on all levels.  And he looks like a terrible lay.  Theon…the Theta Chi president of Westeros.

And, yes, their armor is going to be AWESOME.

 

Rachel: Tyrion is in top form but I’m not sure how wise it is to challenge Varys, what do you think?

Elena: Is Tyrion challenging him?  Or just telling him to tread lightly?  Sometimes a display of power is all you need to make diplomacy look a little more viable…I took it as Tyrion saying, “don’t fuck with me because I can and will do something about it.”  Which is a little different from saying, hey Varys, I’m going to replace you as spymaster.  I mean, I guess since no one knows Varys’ game anything that interferes with what he wants to do—which could easily be a hand of strong will and intelligence and at least some treachery, like Tyrion—might be a challenge to him, but I took it more as Varys and Tyrion feeling out each other rather than an actual challenge.

Tyrion’s Axiom of the Week: I’m not Ned Stark. I understand how this game is played.

Rachel: Gendry and Arya should get their own books/series, agree?

Elena: They would make an excellent sword and sorcery type adventuring pair.  They definitely need to just say fuck Westeros and sail off into the wide blue yonder.  As far as we know this planet isn’t Waterworld, so, you know, there’s other continents out there.  And obviously Salador Saan does just fine as a pirate, so that’s always an option. I would read that, especially if it had the promise implicit in all non-GRRM/GRRM-derived fantasy that the main characters won’t fucking die.  But, yeah, the two of them were hilarious together!  And hilarious with the other parts of the To The Wall Contingent.  So maybe the going off alone doesn’t actually work.

Anyway, Gendry surprised me. I expected him to be…dumb.  Yes, I have that academic-nerd prejudice about jocks, and I assumed something about a blacksmith apprentice.  He’s not dumb.  He may not be edumucated, but he’s well spoken and funny and insightful.  I look forward to more Gendry.

Also I hope Yoren continues to be such a badass protectorate if Joffrey’s minions come back.

(And speaking of Joffrey: hahahahaha I totally called that it was him and not Cersei behind the dead babies!  I win!)

 

What did you think of Hotpie and friends?

Rachel:  Hotpie looks exactly like how I pictured him in my head, and Lommy Greenhands ACTUALLY HAD GREEN HANDS, ELENA! Give that costume design team an Emmy. Just do it. DO IT FOR LOMMY!

We’ve also got Rorge, Biter and Jaqen H’ghar! And I actually can’t say a damn thing about them without spoiling you so let’ s just say they are criminals. Which was obvious. I liked ’em!

 

Sam’s plan to save Gilly is hilariously bad—how do you feel about what is shaping up north of the wall?

Elena: Sam is so easily manipulated by the first girl person who calls him brave.  I would say I am surprised he’s behaving this way, considering what his father did to him, but part of it is probably his projecting what he would have liked someone to do for him (step in and save him/help him), and part of it is that maybe he realizes her father treats her even more shittily than his father treated him.

But the plan was just…stupid.  Has Sam like….never actually seen a pregnant woman?  Because I don’t think that’s going to work out too well on a march across the frozen north.

As a side note:  did Sam read romance novels or something?  Given that he’s said he’s read about sex and birthing babies?  What kind of library did his father have?

Also…what the fuuuuuck are they doing still at Craster’s?  Did they have to rebuild his hold in exchange for a night’s shelter?  NOT WORTH IT.

Rachel: Ah, yes. Camping with Craster. That is what I call all the bullshit filler in tv/novels/movies from now on. BECAUSE WHY ARE THEY STILL CAMPING AT CRASTER’S? This isn’t the first time the show has struggled with the passage of time, but even if you haven’t read the books it is weird. In the last episode the Lord Commander said they wouldn’t be staying long, and Theon is journeying, and Arya and Gendry are journeying, and Dany is dying in the wilderness so we know at least a few weeks have gone by! Except in the North where time … passes more slowly because time is very cold.

I guess in editing they decided they didn’t want to really move the Jon Snow plot line until later in the season so they would just…keep them camping at Craster’s.

Which sounds kind of like a terrible local access television show about….

Nevermind.

Rachel: It’s also really sad that Live-Action Aladdin died. Let’s have a moment of silence for Rakharo. 

Want more? Then check out the latest episode of Team More Wine Sir as we pour more wine and talk more about “The Nightlands”!

Playing The Game of Thrones With Season 2: Ep. 1 – A Review

Episode 1: The North Remembers

Rachel: How does it feel to be back in Westeros? Enjoying a bigger budget and critically acclaimed actors?

Elena: It feels GREAT to be back in Westeros!  Damn.  I was definitely starting to feel like I could get back into playing the Game of Thrones before the season started, but pretty much from the rundown of the most salient points of last season I was thinking fuck yes.  It’s just…so devious!  And so dangerous!  And there are so many beautiful men; I just don’t know where to look.  I feel like Mozart in Amadeus:  “They’re all so beautiful! Oh, why don’t I have three heads?” Except that usually there is only one on screen at any given time, so, you know, I get by with just the one. And the costumes are looking sharper, and the scale seems bigger, and we have gotten to see that the pretty excellent dragon effects from last season were not a fluke.  Pretty much the first episode was everything I hoped it would be.

This is also the first season I’m watching with no idea where the story is going or who any of the new characters are (other than those I can identify by name or prior reference, such as Asha “Yarra the Pirate” Greyjoy or Stannis Baratheon).  I actually think it makes it more fun for me, because then I can discover the story and have the insane reactions to events that all the non-book-readers enjoyed last season.

…If I’m being honest, I have to admit I am enjoying the show more than I enjoyed the part of the first book I read.  I think the reading speed I was limited to made a difference—this show just seems to move so much faster than the book did (whereas if I had been reading the books at a normal speed I probably wouldn’t feel like it was THAT big a difference, because I would expect the book to be a 10-12 hour read straight through).

At this point I am planning to just let the series ride and go read the books after the show is done.  However…I reserve the right to change my mind if at the end of this (or any future) season I can’t stand not knowing what happens next!  I think the lack of a final book in the series will hamper that impulse, though…if I have to wait one way or the other, why not just pace it out with the show?

Rachel: The first episode opened with Joffrey!  He’s your favorite! Do you think Sansa is doing well?

Elena: HA!  Your assessment of Joffrey in the anticipation post, that he is the one character we are meant to hate unequivocally and as such should be cherished, really helped me with him.  Now I can revel in his bastardry (heh—literal AND figurative) and not have to worry about keeping an open mind on him or whether I’ll have my mind changed when I see his point of view the way I’ve heard happens with Cersei/Jaime in later books.

Sansa is…surviving.  And for that she gets serious props.  She has been thrust into a shit situation (okay, she also thrust herself into it BUT she didn’t really understand it and, while, WELCOME TO REALITY, WHERE ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES, PRINCESS…she is also a sheltered young lady who is being abused, threatened, and is living in fear of her life).  And yet she is still alive, and more than that, she is not just looking out for herself or trying to become like her keepers, but in her own way is still exercising her own will.  Saving that man?  That was ballsy.

Show Sansa is actually kind of admirable.  I don’t want to emulate her, but I like what she is doing.  My problem with book Sansa was that I got her point of view, not just her actions, and her point of view convinced me she was functionally retarded…some kind of daydream savant or something.  If I don’t have to see her FUBAR point of view, I can project some kind of practicality and shrewdness behind her behavior here.  Yay, Show Sansa!  You might make it to the end alive!

Rachel: Thoughts on new characters? Stannis, Davros, Melisandre, Craster?

Elena: Stannis kind of disappointed me.  He was so…uncharismatic.  Definitely not like either of his brothers.  And we thought Ned Stark was inflexible?  Shit.  Stannis makes Ned look like an anti-hero of ambiguous morality.  “My brother rebels?  Kill him for a traitor.  Dead Ned Stark’s son rebels?  Kill him as a traitor.”  Stannis does not play the Enemy of My Enemy Is My Friend Game.  He only recognizes enemies.

Melisandre is really interesting to me because she is the first female we have met who is gaining power through her own agency (as opposed to who she was born or whom she married).  I also reveled in her unspoken Princess Bride reference:  “I’ve spent the last three years building up an immunity to iocane powder.”  In our Skype discussion Rachel asked me if I thought she had done some subterfuge like that or if she is protected by her god.  I vote that she is not touched by the divine but is simply a master manipulator.  I think it would be more interesting, narratively speaking, if she DOES have the backing of a god whose power she can call forth at will…but I have yet to see any damn evidence of any god manifesting in the world, and so for now I am taking the cynical view on her.

Craster is…the fundamentalist who marries his daughters and wants to bang Jon Snow, Who Knows Where to Put It, because Jon is prettier than half his daughter-wives?  Yeah, that guy was crazy.  I hope his daughter’s riot over Jon Snow when he leaves.  Lol.

Rachel: Five kings (ok, 4 and a queen). Place your bets! Stannis or Renly? Is Dany doing it with her bloodriders? Did you like Robb’s decision to send Theon to the Iron Islands?

Elena: Stannis lasts longer than Renly—because Melisandre is going to give him an army of true believers, and that is going to trump gold and political ideology/hero worship.

I think Dany is about to start doing her blood riders…menstrual days give the term a whole new meaning (…I know.  ICK.  Sorry.  Had to!)

Robb is entering a world of pain with that choice.  YOU ARE KING IN THE NORTH, SO STAY IN THE NORTH.  DUH.  I understand Theon’s point that if you want to win the war you have to take King’s Landing.  The thing is…Robb doesn’t need to win the war.  He needs to not lose the war until the south gets tired of fighting the north.  No one can get behind him the way they can in the south thanks to the bottleneck on the continent.  Winter is coming, and he and his men know how to survive in the winter better than any of the thin-blooded southerners.  They are all about to start infighting.  All he has to do is make the conflict with his army last so long and be so costly they give up.  Eventually even the Lannisters would if Robb can make the costs outweigh the benefits.

Rachel: Next week will probably be more Ayra and Renly, less King’s Landing. What are you hoping for next episode?

Elena: More of the same!  And a Nymeria/Arya reunion!

Tyrion’s Axiom of the Week: If I were capable of tricking father, I’d be emperor of the world.

Elena: What did you think of the new-to-show characters–Melisandra and Stannis & co, and northern hut guy?

Rachel: Seeing as I’ve read the books I’m more interested in seeing side characters that I love hit the small screen (Davros! Dolorous Edd! Gilly! Ser Dontos (that Elena called “that man” LOLZ)), but I’m also really really excited for Team Stannis. Because as Elena has said, Stannis is the wet blanket of Westeros. You can always count on him to come in and ruin your day. He IS worse than Ned. He’s totally and absolutely unforgiving. There’s the right way to do things and the wrong way to do things. Stannis is the arbiter of right. It makes him so interesting to me. You can tell in his intro scene with the burning of the Seven and Melisandre telling him to draw out the burning sword, that he might not give a shit about any of it. When he is finished with the ceremonial duties of Melisandre’s R’hllor show (that is the one true god’s name btw, R’hllor) Stannis just leaves the sword on the beach and marches his uppity butt back up to Dragonstone to write a snippy letter. You get the feeling that Stannis does not put up with any nonsense, and yet he’s putting up with all KINDS of nonsense with this R’hllor business.

Which is exactly why I asked Elena if she thought Melisandre had magic/god on her side. Those of us who have read the book tend to say Melisandre definitely has some magic. She does some crazy shit! We’re hoping she can pull off another piece of magic in the next book (c’mon George!). I can’t wait for that thing that is going to happen just to get Elena’s reaction. I predict lots of fuck words.

Elena: Any changes from the book that you found significant, even if the change itself isn’t that big?

Rachel:I think it is significant that Littlefinger is so confrontational. The Littlefinger in the novels is much slyer, to the point where any commotion he causes makes me think he is trying to distract those he confronts from juicier meat. I LOVE the scene between him and Cersei, but it also comes off (like the monologue with the prostitutes from Season 1) as something Littlefinger just wouldn’t do.

The rest of the episode remains a set up and introduction of new characters. I have no complaints whatsoever. As I say in the podcast – television might actually be a better medium for this story.

Elena: Who’s winning the badass CG/CG enhanced pet war, direwolves or dragons?

Rachel: Definitely the dragons! The direwolves look great, Grey Wind was all huge and wolfy, but he also looked slightly like he’d been pasted over Robb and foreshortened. I was hella impressed with the dragons. Not only do they look like they have weight and leathery texture, but they also look great in the full sunlight of the red waste. That’s hard to do with CGI.

I’m sad because it also looks very expensive so I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much of the dragons or all three at once. HOWEVER, we can tell that the budget has been increased. The costumes are richer, there’s more location shooting, the CGI is def. better and most importantly the Wig Budget has been raised! YES!!!! Cersei is free of that horrible contraption they had on her head! It’s amazing! She looks soooo much better!

Elena:   Now that Martin’s got 2 books left, any thoughts on what happens when the show catches up to him? Or do you think he can pull off a book every 2 years to stay ahead of the series?

Rachel: Here is where I defend myself with regards to my previous statement.

I was talking about the show with a friend, and they made a very valid point. The show definitely takes advantage of the fact that GRRM is a screenwriter. He is extremely aware of how his work would translate visually. Game of Thrones is great television, period. The New York Times can suck it. It has fewer characters than most soap operas and more drama. There are teams and individuals that viewers can root for. There are vistas and clothing and food and magical animals and bawdy jokes. It’s television! What the show does BETTER than the novels is cut the bloat. It gets rid of all the stuff we don’t need. That stuff might be nice to read, but it would be hell to sit through, and so it gets cut.

We know book 3, A Storm of Swords, is being cut into two seasons. Fine. A very lot happens in that book, plot wise. I don’t think you can say the same for Feast or Dance but it’s arguable due to the amount of characters involved that they too can be cut into multiple seasons. Cool. Let’s say we DO catch up to Dance with the series. If George maintains his 6-year time frame for writing the novels…we might catch up with him for the last novel. This could happen. George has a lot of demands on his time now that the books have gotten so popular and the TV show requires his attention and screenwriting on occasion, plus his other projects and tours and conventions. He could very well take 6 years to write the next book. Will the show then become canon?

He’s told Benioff and Weiss the ending. Presumably because HBO wouldn’t sign on to a project they didn’t have a full outline for. So if they follow that overall plan will George then produce the exact opposite in his novels? JUST TO SCREW WITH US? Who knows!?

Honestly, I don’t think it’s something to actually worry about. But it does make for nice conversation – books vs. the show: what is canon?

Can’t get enough of us? Then listen in on our brainstorming conversation for this episode! The podcast is back…well, like a White Walker it has come back from the dead as a less formal but more lethal version of its former self.  No guests. No structure. Just Elena and Rachel discussing the episode over drinks.  More wine, sir?


“Game of Thrones” Showrunners Talk Season 2 and Plans For Season 3

The wait is ALMOST over for the return of HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones.” It returns tonight with the highly anticipated season 2.

In a recent interview, the showrunners, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, for the series revealed some information fans can expect in the new season such as which characters will get more screen time, the truth behind shooting the scenes with dragons, and some of the changes they made from the George R.R. Martin book series, “A Song of Ice and Fire”. He also revealed the preliminary plans for the third season.

Weiss and Benioff talked about some of the difficulties they encountered when creating season 2. They talked about keeping veteran characters vibrant for fans but also introducing new characters into the season.

Weiss stated,

It’s a bigger fish to fry. It needs to be real battles and dragons and direwolves. And we’ve got all these characters that you’ve hopefully have fallen in love with that we need to keep vibrant. We’ve got all these new people who hopefully will be equally compelling. The way George has dealt with that challenge is to start making the books longer. We will have that luxury if we’re lucky enough to be allowed to continue making the series. But in terms of each season, we got 10 episodes, and that’s literally all that’s conceivable to [produce] of this particular show.”

Benioff added,

You know, what was scary during the first season is you’re doing all this work and you have no idea if it’s just gonna sink into the ocean without a trace. At least knowing that there’s a fan base out there that’s waiting for these shows … that helped a lot.”

The showrunners also talked about problems they had while filming in Iceland. While filming there was a major blizzard that they had to work through, the actors remained professional.

Benioff said,

There was a blizzard. There was a shot where Samwell’s talking to Jon and he looks normal. You cut to Jon, then you cut back to Samwell and he looks like Father Time — like with the snow and the ice just frozen onto his face in just a matter of seconds. It’s really hard to do continuity. [But the actors] never complained once.”

Weiss reminiced on a conversation he had with actor, Kit Harington regarding the blizzard.

I knew it was gonna be pretty rough [on Kit Harington] and there’s no shelter out there for six, eight hours in very cold conditions. And I went up to talk to Kit on his first day of shooting and asked, “How you doing?” He said, “I’ve never ever had a day of shooting that I loved as much as this.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering, they did confirm that fans will see a character from season 1 do their first nude scene, but they aren’t saying who.

Not to ruin anything for people who haven’t read the novel, but there is a major battle scene coming up in season 2. Benioff described how tough it is for actors to film those scenes.

It was pretty much a month straight of night shoots, which is just tough for anybody unless you’re a vampire. It’s Belfast nights, which means it’s cold and it’s usually wet. There was an incredible amount of mud. It’s tough for the crew, but then when you see it on screen and see how good it looks, you see the way the weather affects people. You see the wind blowing their hair and the rain coming down. None of that’s faked.”

Wiess also talked about incorporating dragons into the realistic world they have created within the show.

Ideally you have enough of them and not too much of them. If you’re in a scene where you and I are talking and there’s a dragon sitting next to my water bottle, then you may as well be talking gibberish because no one’s going to see anything except the dragon. You have to be careful with that stuff and not use it when it’s going to be detrimental to what you’re trying to put across.”

It was also confirmed that season 2 will have more deviations from the book, but that the changes are neccessary.

Weiss said,

Definitely more, only because there are characters who are off screen in the book. A lot of the changes keep people front and center who are very important characters.”

Benioff added,

We’re adapting “A Song of Ice and Fire.” So we’re bringing in elements from [Book 3]AStorm of Swords. We don’t think of this season as being strictly an adaptation of A Clash of Kings, it’s really a continuation of our adaptation of the series as a whole. For our purposes, moving some stuff forward helps a lot and pushing some stuff back helps us a lot.”

Season 2 premieres tonight on HBO.

In March 2012, HBO ordered the production of a third and fourth season, which are to cover the third novel in the series, A Storm of Swords, and which are to be filmed concurrently in Northern Ireland from June 2012 to about February 2013.

WAR IS COMING – The Ladies of Ice and Fire Anticipate The Upcoming Season of Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones will begin its second season on April 1st. Rachel and Elena are super-excited to be back in their respective courts of fire and ice. Below they discuss their anticipations about the upcoming season. This particular post is relatively spoiler-free (character names are used, but nothing else). Be warned – episode-by-episode discussions will not be spoiler free through the currently aired episode, and Rachel’s reactions will not be spoiler-free through A Dance with Dragons.

Elena will be watching with the fresh eyes of a summer child, while you may regard Rachel’s viewpoint as that of the grizzled veteran with missing limbs.

Elena-

So I guess Game of Thrones is about to start back up on HBO, huh?  I…think I’m ready for that.  I gotta be honest, last year I suffered from ATF (Acute Throne Fatigue) what with having spent over a year reading the damn first book, writing up a chapter by chapter reaction, and having my opinions of it vivisected…and then podcasting about every episode…and then jumping into the fandom mash-ups.  Fun as all of that was, it was exhausting, and I really just hit a wall—The Wall, if you will—with the series.

About the time comments on the first trailer for the new season hit my Facebook wall, though, and I was reminded that April wasn’t all that far off, I thought…hey, maybe I should go finish the first book.  (For the record:  I have not acted on this thought.  I am not sure where my copy is.  Buried under mastiff direwolf hair on the back floorboard of my car, perhaps? But I thought it, and as we all know it is the thought that counts, right?  RIGHT?!?)

And I also thought…I’m kind of excited about new episodes of this series.  I’ve actually re-watched a few episodes of Season 1 since then, if I happened to turn on the TV and one of my favorite episodes—or just scenes, in some cases—was on.

I have not watched any trailers for the new season.  I don’t know if I want to.  I have managed pretty well to avoid spoilers so far, and while I’m sure HBO is careful not to spoil any real plot points, I’m afraid of seeing something that I might be able to pair with some other not-on-its-own-a-spoiler information I have and put two and two together.  And the thing is, I don’t need to see the trailers to know I’m going to keep watching the show. I’m excited about it based on the fact that I loved the first season. The production was quality, and the story and characters hooked me, so really I’m just ready to keep rolling down the midnight highway that is ASOIF without any LED-billboards up ahead breaking up the darkness.

Also, I heart Bronn and Lancel.  The scenes I re-watched made me realize they are my favorite minor (?) characters from Season 1.  TEAM BADASS FTW!  And also yay whatever team Lancel plays on.  Team More Wine, Sir?, perhaps?  YES. As a resident of New Orleans, I can get behind that team!

Rachel:

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I am READY for Season 2. I’M SO READY, YOU GUYS! Every time a cab passes me with a “War is Coming” ad on it I think to myself, “Self, you should get in that cab because that cab is as excited about Game of Thrones as you are.” I know this isn’t true, but I’m particularly vulnerable to fandom-based marketing.

Despite the fact that there hasn’t been a lot of physical marketing for Season 2 (no food trucks! A constant source of depression for my friends and I), I think HBO has firmly cast its lot with the Game of Thrones fans (seriously, I am not calling myself a “Thronie,” wtf is that?) The “fan” t-shirts and posters are great (the new design for the Stark t-shirt, THANK YOU!) and the “The King can do as he likes” poster and booth that they debuted at Wondercon…that right there is proof that if you market to fans in a non douchebag corporate way – you win!

The character featurettes that have been posting all on HBO.com are wonderful! They introduce lots of new characters without spoiling any of the incredible storyline that is coming at us come April 1st. Plus I get to enjoy all the manips and gifs hitting Tumblr, and that just makes me even MORE excited (warning, the Game of Thrones tag on Tumblr is probably not safe for those wishing to remain unspoiled). I’m not sure if the digital media only advertising track is going to bring in new viewers, but at this point word of mouth might just be HBO’s greatest hope on that front. Even if the “War is Coming” fist poster looks more like “Angry Jesus is Coming” than “Baratheon Boys gonna FIGHT”. It does. Don’t even bother getting grumpy about it. It could easily be mistaken for an evangelical billboard of doom.

Also, judging from those character featurettes, not only will we be enjoying some awesome new characters (Lobsterking! Delicious Knight! Weirdly evangelical sexy lady! Lady Knight! The Brother Taunter! The Girl Who Knows Everything!) We’ll be getting expanded content of some already established characters. (I’m looking at you, people of Highgarden!)

Whose storyline are you most excited to pick up again?

Elena-

Hm.  Tough one here.  Probably Arya’s, just because hers has the most likely chance of immediate resolution.  I mean, she is currently on her way to The Wall to be reunited with her bestest brother evah, Jon Snow, Who Knows Where To Put It (that is officially his name now.  Does it make an easy acronym the way ASOIF does?  JSWKWTPI.  No.  FAIL.  Oh well, I’ll just type it out every time then).  So, either she gets there and goes on ice as a character the way Jon has (heh, on ice…at The Wall made of…ice. Yeesssssssssss), or she doesn’t get there.  Either way I think it will wrap up quickly?  Or she’ll spend the entirety of Season 2 traveling, in which case her story will be almost as boring as Dany’s was last season!

This is not to say I am a Dany-hater—the horse-heart-chomping convinced me on her—but her story?  Way too drawn-out, at least in the books…it might have played better on screen, but after 8 months I am conflating my multi-media experience of Season 1.  Also I am getting off topic.  So, yeah, Arya’s whom I want to pick up with the most.

I am also excited to see more of Rob King In The North Stark but that’s really more because he makes my eyeballs steam.  More of that please!

Rachel-

In an attempt to keep at this anticipatory post as spoiler-free as possible I will say that I am excited to see Jon Snow’s story-line for obvious reasons if you have read A Clash of Kings and if you haven’t well…stuff. Reasons.

I’m also excited for the Blackwater and for Baratheon against Baratheon shenanigans. Also Robb Stark and King in the North stuff!

Character you are most excited about in Season 2?

Elena-

For me I’m actually going to go Dany.  She ended last season in a literal conflagration of all that her life had been.  And she walked out of the ashes with dragons. DRAGONS, you guys!  That’s a pretty blank canvas for her to repaint herself and her life with.  Rachel has laughed wickedly at me for intimating I thought her book/season 1 arc was slow-paced, so I am not sure I have huge expectations for her…but I am really excited to see where she, in particular goes, because I think right now she is the most dynamic character—the one who is in a state of change.

If I knew nothing of the books I would say Sansa as well, but the Sansa I know from the first book is functionally retarded, and so I have no hope of her ever doing anything except sucking more than she did before.  So instead I’m going to say TYWIN LANNISTER as my #2.  This guy has three extremely interesting (and possibly FUBAR) kids; he is obviously a politicker par excellence, and kind of a badass.  I want to see more of him.

Rachel-

Probably Jon. But I’m also excited to rejoin the Lannisters and Renly and all that. It’s hard to say, “I am most excited about this character” without telling you why and spoiling everything. I’ll spoil everything in the episode recaps under giant SPOILER WARNINGS. Promise.

Character you most want to see die in Season 2?

Elena-

JOFFREY.  Oh my god, Joffrey’s sanctimonious little tyrant ass would be such a sweet assassination.  I do not expect this to happen—mostly because Martin killed of Viserys in the first book, and you can only kill off the single most obnoxious character in the book once before it becomes a pattern—but I would LOVE to see it!

And I would be hella impressed, if he does die, if it’s in such a way that I feel sympathy for the little shit.

Rachel-

Everybody wants Joffrey to die, Elena! Jack Gleeson has done such an amazing job of providing us with a truly evil character to hate in a cast of characters neither good nor evil. It’s Joffrey who is our shining white knight of douchebaggery! HUZZAH! Long live the king, and stuff!

And boy is going to be even more douchey! Get ready!

This question relates to my ongoing attempts to create a Game of Thrones drinking game with my friends. We’ve pretty much settled on shots every time someone dies, but perhaps certain characters should get different drinks. Suggestions?

Elena-

If a major character dies drain your whole glass/bottle/can? If Joffrey dies drain two?

Is there a new character you are particularly excited about?

Elena-

Not exactly…I mean, for one thing I don’t KNOW any characters to come other than those mentioned off-screen last season, like Stannis Baratheon.  But I have seen from casting announcements and Rachel’s FB/Twitter that we’re getting some new females who at least some in the fandom love, so I’m excited about that. I don’t know who any of them are except Asha-Not-Yarra Greyjoy.  I’ve seen other names but couldn’t place them in a context.  Let’s just call it as “New Women of Westeros.”

Rachel-

Hmmm, I don’t know if it is a good idea to skip all of the featurettes. There are a whole lot of new characters coming at us in the new seasons. The story lines will be effectively doubled, and sometimes the connections between characters gets muddled. I think it was smart of HBO to release these little featurettes to help fans who have not read the books keep everyone straight. Not that I don’t have complete faith that all the new people will be effectively introduced to the audience. I just know that I watched the show with people who had not read the books last season and I often had to answer “who is that again?” questions.

Saying that:

Melisandra, Jaqen H’ghar, Asha-not-Yarra, Margaery Tyrell, Ygritte, Brienne, Stannis and Davos, Roose Bolton. So many crafty people coming at us you guys! SO MANY CRAFTY BITCHES! (I’m looking at you, Stannis.)

Any fandom you’re particularly excited for?

Elena-

Well, of the GOT Tumblrs my favorite is probably Arrested Westeros, simply because I love Arrested Development so much.  But in this case, the fandom I’m most excited about is my work family!  I have changed jobs since Season 1 was on air.  At my old job, no one watched the show, and if I brought it up they gave me the skank eye for being so weird and nerdy.  At my new job, EVERYBODY watches GOT!  Fuck yeah Monday morning dissections!  Also this will obviously force me to watch it every Sunday regardless of what else is going on in my life, else risk having the episode completely spoilered for me at work.  The good news is, none of the coworkers read the books, so I can have my fellow newbie/TV-only reactions and speculation with them, and then my evil laughter/cryptic remark-dropping dissections here with Rachel.  Win-win!

Also, if you did not catch the “here” part of that, Rachel and I will be discussing every episode here at Optionated!

Rachel-

I feel like the fandom is super healthy. It’s always nice when you’ve got new things to anticipate, but Game of Thrones fans have been keeping a hilarity-driven fandom going through the long waits between books for years now.  (For example, there is an 8-second video on YouTube that has been around for a long time that shows a wine glass and a golden hand knocking over the wine glass that pretty much puts me into hysterics.) The show has just given us pretty pictures to manipulate. Which I’m going to say, does have its advantages. I have even done my share of stupid mspaintery.

Behold:

I thought that Roose needed a little help. So I helped him.

But I think my favorite little fandom nugget is the following, which I am using because I actually know the person who made this but I only found this out recently. That’s how the Internet works sometimes:

BECAUSE ONIONS! LoL This never fails to make me laugh hysterically.

This person that I know is known as SwordintheDarkness on Tumblr. But be warned – she is super spoilery, and her GoT knowledge is incredible. She can remember the PAGES that shit happens on. So if you have read through A Dance with Dragons I recommend her Tumblr.

I also can’t promise that my own twitter (@DarthRachel) will be spoiler free. Sorry. There’s nothing I can do about that. In fact, as I am the spoilery side of these Episode discussions you should just beware me all together.

I’m the Shaggydog of Optionated.

No, I’m not. I’m not that cool.

Elena-

Well, if you’re Shaggydog then I’m Rickon. Always in the background, never in the know. I am the sweet summer child slowly losing my innocence under the shadow of war.

WAR IS COMING, Y’ALL!

Fuck yeah.

Two More Game of Thrones Trailers Released


The popular HBO television series based on the books of George R.R. Martin will begin anew come April 1st. With this rapid approach of the season 2 premier of Game of Thrones, we can watch online as marketing gears up for the upcoming coming war.

No, not the war depicted in the storyline, but the war for our consumerist souls. HBO at this point expects a huge viewership turnout for the season premiere, but it wants more. AMC’s The Walking Dead broke cable rating records simply with a mid-season premiere. From what I can tell, the success of this was based on the infectious nature caused by the season 1 fanbase, trailers, teasers, stills, and rocking posters, exactly like what a movie production does. So HBO’s marketing team must have noticed this because it’s seems to have revved up their campaign as of last month.

Since December, we’ve seen multiple production trailers shot at exotic locations; anywhere beyond the city or town you live in is exotic really. Lots of behind the scenes talking to the cast either enjoying their lovely stay in tropical where ever, or freezing their butts off in depressive Iceland.

Then after The Walking Dead did it’s thing on television in February, we got hit with Game of Throne teaser posters, tag lines “War is Coming!”, stills and the release of the first full trailer for season 2, which they call Power and Grace. Yes, they even named their trailers.

Of course, there’s a reason for going to all this trouble. It’s because HBO stands to make a lot more merchandising. There’s the HBO branding and their affiliated products; like online players; DVDs, props; I’m sick of seeing these GoT swords everywhere. The new hot button item that’s going to come out are the two new GoT video games. One of them which is a massive multiplayer online role playing game. Sure it’s free to play now, but how much would a hardcore GoT fan pay for their own dire wolf? A dollar? Ten? How about a hundred?

Not to be outdone by The Walking Dead, HBO’s marketing team has gone a step further and released two new trailers, more hip and cool than the last. One trailer is called The More You Love, which examines the theme of love and how all characters entwined to it seem to walk a path of death and agony in the GoT. It’s loaded with imagery combined with intense words and phrases, like the image of a shadowy Arya Starks simply stating, “Anyone can be killed.” The trailer ends with a jaded viewpoint, “The more people you love, the weaker you are.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if the HBO marketing team was split into two and pitted against each other. Their task, to create a better trailer, because the second trailer takes an entirely different path in drawing attention.

The second trailer is called Seven Devils, and like really good trailers for movies, has a really cool song attached to it. It’s exactly like an Apple commercial at this point. It has lodged an annoying catchy songs in my head and I can’t stop hitting repeat on my music player. The song is also called Seven Devils and it’s by an English indie pop band called Florence + The Machine. So there isn’t a mainstream saturation of this song; yet. If this band wasn’t popular before, I would not be surprised if this trailer puts the band on the map or on the charts.

The sound of this song has the biorhythm beats like early Sarah McLachlan, vocals like Annie Lennox, mixed with the primal sound of a shaman’s drum. It’s the the touch of Celtic that makes the entire trailer and actually makes me excited to watch the Game of Thrones for once.

Check out the latest Game of Thrones trailers below and judge for yourself.

Trailer #2: Seven Devils

 

Trailer #3: The More you Love.

New Game of Thrones Season 2 Poster Released

With little less then a month to go till the season 2 premiere of “Game of Thrones”  HBO decided to reveal its new season 2 poster. It is similar to the first poster released as it features the “war is coming” thematic element, but is a bit more artistic then its minimalist counterpart. You can see the new poster above.

The second season that premieres on April 1st, is said to be focusing primarily on the events of “A Clash of Kings” the second book in the “A Song of Fire of Ice” series.

Game of Thrones is the HBO series based on the book series written by George R.R. Martin. The series was highly anticipated even in the early stages of development. The first season was very well received by both viewers and critics. It was so highly rated that the second season was picked up only two days after its premiere in 2011.  It was nominated for several awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards and Best Television Series – Drama at the69th Golden Globe Awards; Peter Dinklage also won both ceremonies’ Best Supporting Actor award (Emmy and Golden Globes). Other accolades include an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and an Emmy win for Outstanding Main Title Design.

Season 2  had to introduce many new characters into casting for the second season that began in May 2011. Owing to the very large cast of characters in Martin’s novels, the producers had to fill a great number of additional speaking roles.

  • Stephen Dillane was cast as Robert’s younger brother, Stannis Baratheon, one of several pretenders to the Iron Throne.
  • Carice van Houten is set to play Melisandre of Asshai, the “Red Priestess” of the foreign god R’hllor, an influential advisor to King Stannis Baratheon.
  • Liam Cunningham was given the part of the former smuggler Ser Davos Seaworth, a bannerman of Stannis.
  • Gwendoline Christie was cast as Brienne of Tarth, a female warrior who joins Renly Baratheon’s guard and becomes a follower of Catelyn Stark.
  • Natalie Dormer appears as Lady Margaery Tyrell, a noblewoman from the Reach promised to be the wife of Renly Baratheon.
  • Gemma Whelan was chosen to play Yara Greyjoy, the Ironborn captain and sister of Theon. Named “Asha” in the novels, the character’s name was changed to avoid confusion with the Wildling Osha, Bran Stark’s companion.
  • Tom Wlaschiha was cast as Jaqen H’ghar, a prisoner and recruit of Yoren, as well as an assassin of the Faceless Men.
  • Rose Leslie will appear as Ygritte, Jon Snow’s love interest among the Wildlings.
  • Daniel Portman took the part of Podrick Payne, the squire to Tyrion Lannister. The 19-year-old Portman plays Podrick as about 16 years old, instead of about 12 as in the novels.
  • Among the other new cast members are Nonso Anozie as Xaro Xhoan Daxos.
  • Kerr Logan as Matthos Seaworth;
  • Oliver Ford Davies as Maester Cressen;
  • Roy Dotrice as Pyromancer Hallyne, an elderly alchemist at King’s Landing;
  • Karl Davies as Alton Lannister, a character who does not appear in the books;
  •  Ben Crompton as ”Dolorous Edd” Tollet,
  • Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton;
  • Robert Pugh as the Wildling chief Craster;
  •  Hannah Murray as Craster’s daughter Gilly,
  • Patrick Malahide as Balon Greyjoy, lord of the Iron Islands and father of Theon;
  • Ian Hanmore as Pyat Pree;
  • Fintan McKeown as Ser Amory Lorch.

You can see the set of teaser images from season 2 here, and watch the HBO GO trailer below:

New Trailer For Game of Thrones Season 2

 

HBO GO recently revealed a new “First Look” at the upcoming second season of “Game of Thrones.” The second season that premieres on April 1st, is said to be focusing primarily on the events of “A Clash of Kings” the second book in the “A Song of Fire of Ice” series.

Game of Thrones is the HBO series based on the book series written by George R.R. Martin. The series was highly anticipated even in the early stages of development. The first season was very well received by both viewers and critics. It was so highly rated that the second season was picked up only two days after its premiere in 2011.  It was nominated for several awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards and Best Television Series – Drama at the69th Golden Globe Awards; Peter Dinklage also won both ceremonies’ Best Supporting Actor award (Emmy and Golden Globes). Other accolades include an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and an Emmy win for Outstanding Main Title Design.

Season 2  had to introduce many new characters into casting for the second season that began in May 2011. Owing to the very large cast of characters in Martin’s novels, the producers had to fill a great number of additional speaking roles.

  • Stephen Dillane was cast as Robert’s younger brother, Stannis Baratheon, one of several pretenders to the Iron Throne.
  • Carice van Houten is set to play Melisandre of Asshai, the “Red Priestess” of the foreign god R’hllor, an influential advisor to King Stannis Baratheon.
  • Liam Cunningham was given the part of the former smuggler Ser Davos Seaworth, a bannerman of Stannis.
  • Gwendoline Christie was cast as Brienne of Tarth, a female warrior who joins Renly Baratheon’s guard and becomes a follower of Catelyn Stark.
  • Natalie Dormer appears as Lady Margaery Tyrell, a noblewoman from the Reach promised to be the wife of Renly Baratheon.
  • Gemma Whelan was chosen to play Yara Greyjoy, the Ironborn captain and sister of Theon. Named “Asha” in the novels, the character’s name was changed to avoid confusion with the Wildling Osha, Bran Stark’s companion.
  • Tom Wlaschiha was cast as Jaqen H’ghar, a prisoner and recruit of Yoren, as well as an assassin of the Faceless Men.
  • Rose Leslie will appear as Ygritte, Jon Snow’s love interest among the Wildlings.
  • Daniel Portman took the part of Podrick Payne, the squire to Tyrion Lannister. The 19-year-old Portman plays Podrick as about 16 years old, instead of about 12 as in the novels.
  • Among the other new cast members are Nonso Anozie as Xaro Xhoan Daxos.
  • Kerr Logan as Matthos Seaworth;
  • Oliver Ford Davies as Maester Cressen;
  • Roy Dotrice as Pyromancer Hallyne, an elderly alchemist at King’s Landing;
  • Karl Davies as Alton Lannister, a character who does not appear in the books;
  •  Ben Crompton as ”Dolorous Edd” Tollet,
  • Michael McElhatton as Roose Bolton;
  • Robert Pugh as the Wildling chief Craster;
  •  Hannah Murray as Craster’s daughter Gilly,
  • Patrick Malahide as Balon Greyjoy, lord of the Iron Islands and father of Theon;
  • Ian Hanmore as Pyat Pree;
  • Fintan McKeown as Ser Amory Lorch.

You can see the set of teaser images from season 2 here, and watch the HBO GO trailer below:

Game of Thrones In Production Featurette in Iceland

While other cast members of HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones” get to go experience sunny Croatia, or scenic Belfast in Northern Ireland, there are poor sods who have to film their portion North of the Wall. That’s right, Iceland, during the middle of winter no less.

The critically acclaimed show, based on George R.R. Martin’s book of the same name is revving up the marketing engines. While releasing what is called teaser art, a poster image with the words, “War Is Coming” HBO also released a video to help fans ease their wait.

The teaser poster as explained in the article HBO Warning: War Is Coming to the Game of Thrones.

“Based on the family words of the House of Stark, “Winter Is Coming”, the war that is promised ties in from the first season of “Game of Thrones”. The eldest Stark is coming to whoop the false King for killing their father and holding their sister captive. Though not an official saying in the book series of the same name by George R.R. Martin, the phrase War Is Coming appears to the HBO’s tagline for the second season.”

Winter apparently didn’t come fast enough, so they went to winter instead. The cast and crew discuss in this video how the beautiful environment comes with it’s costs. Featuring soundbites from cast members including James Cosmo, Mark Stanley, John Bradley, Kit Harington and Simon Armstrong. The breathtaking scenery does help the actors dive into character, all contained in the cold and bleak fictional world. Though there are obvious pains for the production crew. Off handed remarks about “nearly” falling off of cliffs and falling into crevices for starters. Then the 4 hour window of light they have a day to film.

Everyone in the video looks cold and annoyed with life. I’m not sure how any of them can manage the smiles when their faces are that numb and exposed. For actors like John Cosmos, that’s either incredible make-up, or some of these actors have cold dried skin burn on their faces.

Woe to the skinny, under-weight actors with visible abs. They must be envious of John Bradley, the actor who plays the fat and timid Samwell Tarly. Though he feels the cold, I’m sure he must retain heat a little bit longer than the rest of them.

Also a sneak peek at Qhorin, also known as Halfhand played by Simon Armstrong. Was it me or did he look a little like older Leonard Nimoy Spock in this video?

Kit Harington, the actor who plays Jon Snow in the series said, “One of the most incredible experiences of my life. Epic.” Of course it is. You’re being paid. Other people endure the cold because they have no choice. Again, You know nothing, Jon Snow.

Game of Thrones returns with Season 2 on April 1st.  Check out the production trailer below.