Tag Archives: Game of Thrones

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The Wheel Was Broken… Along with Our Spirits

I could have easily written this post yesterday, when it would have been more relevant. However, rather than striking while the iron of this topic is hot, I’ve opted to give it another day to make sure that most people got around to watching it before I accidentally spoil it. There’s really nothing more infuriating than dedicating so much time to a series, waiting so long for the ending, to have some keyboard warriors spoil it all for you. I’d want to punch that writer in the face. Especially when they do things like say “You Wouldn’t Believe who Died” only to post the picture of the character who died. It’s that reason that I stopped watching “Orange is the New Black”. I don’t forgive so easily. (That being said… there are spoilers. So don’t read if you didn’t watch.)

“Game of Thrones” fans waited so long to get their conclusion. Fans of the book series are still waiting for the next book, the supposed second to last book of the series. Feel sorry for us, not the television show fans. We’ve waited longer, so we have every right to feel disappointed in the show right now. When you really think about it, they had 2 years to put out something great. Something memorable. (And not just for the many blunders, like coffee cups and water bottles. Seriously, 2 years and their editing team couldn’t catch those things?) They shortened the season but promised longer episodes. The hype train for GoT was real. And I was all aboard, ready to go, counting down the days to get what I felt would be the only conclusion that book readers would get at this rate. I have resigned myself to the fact that the only closure for the nearly decade I have dedicated to this book series would come from the television show. I was Team Targaryen all the way, whether that came from Dany or Jon. My husband, he is Team Stark. He spent more of the series upset than I was. Understandable; the Starks got screwed the entire series up to this point.

Spoilers, incoming. You’ve been warned.

Last season wasn’t great, but it was watchable. This season? I would put it more in the “passable” category. It became more of a means to an end rather than enjoyment. The story was rushed. The writing was inconsistent, as if they just focused on Tyrion’s impact and tossed a bunch of other words to the rest of the cast and hoping for the best. Tyrion was still flawless in his speeches. Did I mention that the story was rushed? I would have rather them give us the usual sized season with the 50 minute episodes than 1hr and 20 minutes of a rushed story. Did we even get real closure on the situation? Sansa is the Queen of the North and Tyrion is the Hand of the King, again. Nothing shocking there. Arya has decided to become Christopher Columbus. Makes sense, but it seems out of the blue. In the books, she seemed to idolize Nymeria Targaryen, who traveled and was a warrior princess. But in the show, this was never really mentioned other than that was what she named her direwolf.

And Jon? He didn’t get the throne, nor did he ever really want it. He did save the world more than a few times, only to be thanked by being sent back to the Wall as a punishment for doing the right thing. Does he abandon his duty to become the “King Beyond the Wall”? That seems both out of character and a reasonable conclusion, depending on which version of Jon you’re going with. The dutiful Stark raised by Ned wouldn’t break his oath. But a Jon with nothing to live for, who has nothing left, just might. Or was he just making sure the wildlings got settled in nicely? I would have loved an answer either way. And Bran becoming King Bran the Broken? It wasn’t a shocking twist. It was odd how he seemed like he didn’t want it and then all of a sudden it seemed that he planned that turn of events.

In the end, the Starks were the real winners after an entire series of losing. I’m happy the Starks ultimately won the “Game of Thrones”. The ending isn’t my issue: it’s how we got there. That episode was the best episode of the season, and if the rest of the episodes were as good, the season wouldn’t have been terrible. My hope, as a reader of the book series, is that we get more answers than the barely-there cliff notes version that we actually received.

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Weekend Wrap Up

Mondays are the start of the new “work” week. Over the weekend, this blog sits stagnant, and by Mondays I usually like to have at least an idea of what is going to be discussed here. No such luck, but I’ll anger people with my opinions on some current events and whatever else I feel like discussing of events and topics from the weekend until today. Once again, a random Monday rant.

  • My next book release: Finally, I think I’ve completed the writing and editing portion of my next release. There’s still one short story and poem I haven’t decided if I want to add in or pass off until next time. All that’s left is figuring out what I should have for my cover. I thought the editing process would be more difficult than this part, but it is because I’m picky and I have a certain vibe I want. I say want in hopes to convey how fickle I am being about this, because I take care with these projects like I would my own babies and would settle for nothing less than my ideal for the cover. It’s important. Hopefully, I can convey this idea easier to my photographer on the clock that I barter photos for dinner. By that I mean, I cook his supper every night because the quickest way to my husband’s good side is a nice place of something spicy and bad for him with a side of pepperoncinis.
  • Government and their place: This category goes in two parts. First of all, does the government have any right to check your phone records and emails and the such? Well I would say since the Patriot Act, they gave themselves that right and what could possibly go wrong. Nobody liked that idea before, but we allowed it because the government told us it was in our best interest. Fine, I don’t have anything to hide so have fun. Now, all of a sudden we’re in a riot because the government is looking into our phone and interweb records. Ok, so the only thing that changed is that the government didn’t admit to it? So, let’s see if I follow this: Patriot Act gives the government the right to do this whenever they want essentially, we accept it with reservations but suddenly 10 years later, we decide “whoa back up guys, this is serious business because a corrupt politician has the right to check our stuff and not tell us because it’s in the interest of national security”. Who didn’t see that coming? Next argument up for debate: Should the government tell you what you can buy with the money they give you for groceries? When I was on WIC, the checks they gave me specifically listed out what I could buy, and I bought what was on those checks. It wasn’t “my” money, though since I worked and paid taxes I suppose it was still essentially “my” money, so I didn’t really complain. They were helping me out. It’s like if I ask my Mom for gas money and I bought myself shoes with it instead and need to ask her for more gas money. She’d probably be pissed that she gave me money under the pretense that I was getting that money for something, and ended up with something entirely different and didn’t get what I needed. I think that the government has every right what to tell you to do with their money. If you don’t like that you can’t buy cigarettes with it and need to buy your child Cheerios, then maybe you should make your own money or get another job to buy yourself whatever you want with the money. Maybe all the welfare should be distributed like WIC, with each check having its own shopping list so nothing gets misused. That would be an interesting idea for a first step in welfare reform. That, and go back to requiring people to at least pretend to try to get a job or volunteer for community service to earn it. Yeah, maybe that makes me a terrible person for saying it but I stand by it 100%
  • Game of Thrones: (Spoilers ahead, including book spoilers.)Anyone who knows me know that I’m a huge fan. Now, I’d like to vent about something. The Red Wedding was awesome, and I was squealing like a little school girl over it. Last night’s episode started off strong, and I admit I am a sucker for that sadistic Ramsay Snow. I didn’t like Jaime appearing before his son’s wedding After Jon ending up at the Night’s Watch post after getting shot up by his lady love, I was excited for the final scene. What were they going to do?! Then I see Dany, and I’m hoping now is when she gets mad about being betrayed and sending people away. Before I know it, I think I’m watching some alternative rock concert and a person stage diving. I stared blankly at the screen with a “WTF” face. Now, I’m still wondering why they did that and why it just fell flat. It reminded me of how mad I get when watching a movie, and after a great movie they just give up and half-ass an ending. (Looking at you “Stand-Up Guys”.)

Hope you enjoyed my summary of the weekend on-goings.

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Books and Screen

I’m a huge fan of the Songs of Ice and Fire book series, which also makes me a huge fan of the Game of Thrones HBO series. Thankfully I got my boxed set in the mail and I’m ready to get my marathon in before the season premiere next month. In case you’re wondering, I chose the Targaryen boxed set. (Team Dragon!) I bring this up because of every time I see a book gets turned into a movie or TV show, I cringe a little because they always change something that I feel hurt the core of the story. Thankfully, Game of Thrones is very faithful to the books and any changes were made for logical reasons and never changed anything too important to the story.

This leads me to my next point, with last night’s episode of the Walking Dead. First of all, I dislike Lori. Sorry, dislike doesn’t even begin to cover my feelings of dislike for her. How can you act like a dumb housewife in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? I was assured by my husband who actually read the comics that she wasn’t as dumb in the series, and I hope that’s right. They took all sorts of liberties with the comics, and hearing my husband mention them makes me happy I didn’t read the comics. I hate it when they change storyline that way. I hate it. (Maybe Wednesdays post I’ll make comparisons on how Cersei from Game of Thrones is portrayed differently from the series as Lori from the Walking Dead was.)

My last point: My Sister’s Keeper. I read the book, and it was a good book for what it was. I’ll read anything that’s suggested as good, but I don’t prefer that sort of sappy tear-jerker. I was interested to read it because I heard about the plot when the movie was released. I was ready to rent the DVD when it came out, and I read about it and decided I was too angry to bother with it. Why wouldn’t I read the spoilers to the movie, I read the book so there shouldn’t be too much to learn? I was wrong, and I’ll say “spoiler alert” here. The completely changed the outcome of the book. They changed the ending! I couldn’t believe it, and I vowed never to watch the movie.

Nothing upsets me more than reading a good book and watching something on the television, whether it be a movie or TV show, and have it ruined by Hollywood. It’s not bad enough they can’t come up with their own stories to tell, they have to ruin perfectly good books. I hope that if I ever become a famous writer that Hollywood wants my works, that they never ruin my stories that way. Well, it could be worse and they could be remaking The Great Gatsby again. Oh… crap.