Game of Thrones Blog

Game of Thrones is coming to an end soon. I know I know, I’m upset too. I mean when are we going to ever see a series like this again? One with such a high budget, such a good cast, and such wide-spread popularity around the world? This series is a global phenomena and is the most awarded show in the history of TV awards (Golden Globes, Emmys…).

Not to worry though. This won’t be the last time we visit the world of Westeros on the silver screen. HBO, the publisher of Game of Thrones, has announced that they are writing and filming a prequel series to the show that takes place thousands of years before the event of the show during the infamous Long Night.

The Long Night was similar to the main conflict in this show where White Walkers and ice zombies and other monsters came from the far north and attacked the land. There isn’t much detail in the lore about what exactly happened which gives the writers a lot of breathing room to create their own unique story that stays true to the lore. Personally, I can’t wait for this because I will get to revisit the world of Game of Thrones but under completely different circumstances, with completely new characters, and no book series to use as the backbone of the story. The show runners will be able to make it their own and I feel like it will be very special.

Game of Thrones has made too much money for HBO not to keep pursuing it. So once that series comes out, and the new season of Game of Thrones premiers in April 2019, expect to see me geek out about everything and write about it. But until then, Adios!

Season 8 of Game of Thrones. The last season. The culmination of one of the best and most critically acclaimed TV shows in the history of TV. What is there not to be excited about? If you are as big a fan of GoT as I am, then you know how long the wait has been. The most recent episode of GoT aired in August 2017, so it will have been a year and 8 months of wait for the new season (airs in April). The wait has been long but April is quickly approaching, and there are many things to get excited for.

First off, almost all of the main characters (Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, the Stark children, Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, and the Greyjoys) will all be in the same location: Winterfell. The show has come first circle since most of these characters were together in Winterfell in the pilot episode. But the circumstances are WAY different now. Alliances have changed, a threat of all out war with the White Walkers looms, and Cersei has gone fully mad just to name a few.

The biggest thing I’m looking forward to are the battles. Because let me tell you, the White Walkers have an Ice dragon which means that we are gonna see a dragon vs dragon fight. Yeah you heard that right. DRAGONS vs DRAGON. Not to mention that the combined forces of the north and anyone else siding with them will fight the huge ice zombie army. With the budget of the show drastically increasing every season, you better believe this battle is gonna be a spectacle. Last season’s battles were amazing enough so I’m excited to see what the power of money can do. ALSO, there will definitely be a battle between the winner of this  fight against Cersei and her army at King’s Landing. So we got at least two HUGE battles lined up with millions of dollars dumped on them to create jaw dropping experiences. Yeah, you could say I’m hype.

Aside from the action, there is also the drama aspect of the show to look forward to. After all, this show is about the characters and their interactions, and the battles are there as the cherry on top. The BIG question will be answered: Who will sit on the Iron Throne in the end? Who will win the Game of Thrones? Will the White Walkers destroy the world or will the humans defeat them? Only time will tell. Character wise, I’m looking forward to Cersei’s final meeting with Jaime. Recap: Jaime and Cersei were incestuous lovers but Jaime left her because she was crazy, and now they will meet on opposite sides of a huge conflict. Will they get back together (hopefully not) or will one kill the other? Questions like these are making me geek. Also, there is the Clegane-bowl to look forward to. Recap Part 2: Sandor Clegane hates his brother Gregor Clegane because he burnt half his face off when they were kids because Sandor was playing with Gregor’s toys. And now they are on opposite sides of the conflict. Oh, did I mention that the Cleganes are both enormous and incredibly strong and skilled in fighting? Well, yeah they definitely have to fight to the death or else that will be a huge opportunity wasted. Talk about a sibling rivalry.

Anyway, those are the biggest things I’m looking forward to for Game of Thrones season 8 and you should be excited too. Like I’ve said countless times, if you haven’t watched the show, THEN GO WATCH IT NOOOOOW. Sadly, this being the finale means that the story will end and I will enter the typical post-finishing-a-show depression, but it being Game of Thrones it will make it a very depressing depression. Not to fear though because there’s multiple planned prequels to Game of Thrones set to air shortly after season 8 culminates. So not all hope is lost.

If you were to ask me, I would say Season 7 ranks among my top 3 favorite seasons. Why? Because this season is easily the most action-packed season of all. The season featured 3 high budget action sequences, all of which were incredible to look at. The first big battle was when Theon and Yara Greyjoy’s fleet is attacked by their crazy uncle and king of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy. This guy is scary. He’s got bushy mutton chops, one mean hammer, and a funny Irish accent which combine to create a very intimidating enemy. Combined with his crew of freaks (they cut off the ears of their victims. Yeah I know weird right?), the Euron is a force to be reckoned with.

The second action sequence is my all time favorite battle because of the way the show runners used music cues to build suspense to the battle, and of course because of the battle itself. Hear me out because if this doesn’t sound like the craziest battle ever in film history, then something is wrong with you. Daenerys Targaryen, a queen and a contender for the Iron Throne, rides her huge Boeing 747 sized Dragon into battle with her army of 40,000 or so Dothraki all on horseback and screaming with their weapons waiving in the air as the attack a supply train defended by the Lannister army. This is the moment I had been waiting for for so long, Daenerys an her army squaring off and decimating the Lannisters. She was RUTHLESS. Daenerys and her dragon would go on bombing runs and lighting everything and everyone on fire while the Dothraki tore the Lannister army to shreds. Tell me that doesn’t sound awesome.

The third action sequence is almost as cool. Jon Snow and his little crew of fighters are stranded on an island in a frozen lake and are surrounded by thousands of wights and the white walker leader, the Night King. The zombie army attacks the island, and it seems all hope is lost until Daenerys and her three dragons come in, and once again light everything they see on fire. But there’s more. The Night King decide’s he’s had enough. He picks up an ice spear and launches it at one of the dragons, and kills it. AND THEN HE HE BRINGS HIM BACK TO LIFE WITH HIS ZOMBIE POWERS AND HE BECOMES A ZOMBIE ICE DRAGON. Pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Game of thrones season 7 had some amazing looking battle scenes with crazy realistic looking dragons and practical effects. So why do critics think it’s not as good as the other? The main complaint about the season was that the logic was questionable for multiple parts. Season 7 had 7 episode, instead of the usual 10 meaning that there was less screen time to cover the story. As a result, the show runners resorted to “fast travel” so that characters could get to their narrative destinations and serve the plot. This infuriated many, including the critics at Vulture.com. In his review of season 7, critic Matt Seitz says “the series had lost track of how long it takes to go places, becoming a video-game map of fast travel teleports that bend to the narrative’s demands.” I agree with this because Westeros is supposed to be many thousands of miles long, yet Jon Snow was able to send a raven from Eastwatch headed for Dragonstone (1500 miles away). Have Daenerys read the message pleading for help and fly all the way up to Eastwatch all in one episode. To recap, the raven and the dragon flew a combined 3000 miles in one episode. Yeah that sounds off to me.

Narrative shortcuts like this bothered me a little but didn’t jeopardize the season for me, but it did for the critics. The other big complaint was the shift from a character based show to one that exploits its huge action sequences to garner more attention. As Variety critics put it “Slapdash shortcuts and sloppy turns undercut the show’s psychological power, its ability to put you inside a character’s emotions, no matter how fantastic the circumstances.” I disagree with the critics here. I think this season had very strong character arcs. Throughout the season we go to see the relationship between Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryan, the two biggest characters on the show, flourish as they met each other as stranger and ended up as lovers. We got to see Jaime realize that Cersei is evil and eventually left her for the North and the “good guys”. These two plot-lines were extremely compelling and added so much depth to the characters involved, especially Jaime, who had been at Cersei’s side for the whole show until now.

Yes, the show took some shortcuts here and there, but the show runners gave us a great looking season with the best action sequences I’ve ever seen and very interesting and rewarding character developments. And to the critics I say this: Game of Thrones Season 7 earned an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, which basically means its the best drama TV show right now. So suck on that critics!

Variety Critic: https://variety.com/2017/tv/reviews/game-of-thrones-season-7-finale-review-1202540715/

Vulture Critic: http://www.vulture.com/2017/08/game-of-thrones-season-7-review.html

The Dothraki are a race of people in the world of Game of Thrones. They are vicious and strong horse lords that roam the land pillaging villages and taking their people as slaves. They value bravery and strength and skill in battle. The Dothraki are led by a small group of men and let the women be in charge of care taking and cooking food. These people resemble the Native Americans in that they are very primitive with their hunter gatherer lifestyle, and live very harsh lives. Trained for battle from an early age, male Dothraki become fierce warriors and a force to be reckoned with. This culture and savage lifestyle is portrayed very accurately on the Game of Thrones TV show. Living in huts, roaming grasslands, dressed in animal skins, riding horse, raiding villages, the show really immerses the viewer in the culture.

To add more immersion, the show even developed a Dothraki language! Created by David Peterson, the Dothraki language has 3400 words and its own grammar. Peterson gave a TED Talk in 2013 regarding the process of creating a language like Dothraki. It took him 4 years to develop the grammar and vocabulary. Words like “hlizifihk” “gezrikh” and “hrakkarikh show how the language matches the harsh lifestyle of the Dothraki with its hard to pronounce words and harsh syllables. When asked how he wrote the language. Peterson said he imagined what the Dothraki would have been like 1000 years in the past. He did this because to know the way of a language in the present day, you must first know how it evolved and what it originated from. Peterson tried to imitate the quirks of the language and how they would change over time and create a “protolanguage”. Since this is a fictional culture, Peterson compared the Dothraki to the Mongols of the Silk Era and the Native Americans and used their languages and culture as inspiration for the creation of his Dothraki language. The Game of thrones books also reveal some important background history on the Dothraki that Peterson used to create his language. Events in the plot of the story containing the Dothraki also served as inspiration.

I find this fascinating as Peterson is really digging into the roots of the Dothraki history to create an organic and realistic language that matches the culture and lifestyle of the people depicted in the Game of thrones novels and show. In the show, the Dothraki people seem like a real and fleshed out culture. The outfits, their lifestyle, and their developed and complex language help create a very lively and accurate picture of the Dothraki people in the Game of Thrones show.

Meet David Peterson, who developed Dothraki for Game of Thrones

In Game of Thrones, a sense of community arises in the different houses. A house is pretty much a family tree. For instance, House Stark is the ruling family in the North and is made up of the lord Ned Stark, his wife Catelyn Stark, and their five children. The extended family of Ned (his brother, uncles, aunts..) also belong to House Stark as long as they have the Stark name. Each of the seven kingdoms has a house that rules that kingdom. The Starks are the rulers of the North, the Lannisters are the rulers of the Westerlands…And each kingdom also has many smaller houses that serve the main ruling house.

Each house also has their words. These are words that encapsulate what the house stands for and values. For instance, the words of House Stark are “Winter is coming” which reveals the toughness and grit of the Northeners. On the other hand, the words of House Martell are “Unbowed Unbent Unbroken” which calls attention to the history of the house and how they never gave in or gave up their lands to foreign conquerors.

In Game of Thrones, what house you belong to is basically they way your social status is determined. Being part of the ruling houses gives you more prestige and authority and credibility over members of smaller or poorer houses. Members of a house live out their lives in hopes of improving their house and making their name carry more weight. Bringing honor and glory to a house is what every house member aspires to do. Dishonorable or cowardly actions like fathering a bastard or fleeing battle brings shame to the house and to you.

In the show, House Lannister is known to be the richest house because of Lord Tywin Lannister’s actions. He built his house back up after his father nearly brought it down. He won many wars, arranged helpful political marriages (marrying his daughter to the king) and invested carefully which all led to him being the leader of the most powerful House in Westeros. Now Tywin controls his children’s actions in hopes of bettering the House name. For instance, he ordered his dwarf son Tyrion to marry Sansa Stark to create a bond with House stark. He also planned to marry his queen daughter Cersei to Loras Tyrell, the heir of the very powerful House Tyrell. Even if his children despise him for trying to control their lives, he feels these actions are necessary for the sake of the family name. Tywin is also very conscious of keeping his children from doing dishonorable deeds. For instance, Tywin hates his dwarf son Tyrion because of his dwarfanism and his lifestyle. Tywin admitted that he wanted to kill Tyrion as a kid because he thought a dwarf child would bring shame to his family. Tyrion grew up to be a clever alcoholic who spends too much time with prostitutes. As a result, Tywin despises his son even more because he thinks that Tyrion’s lifestyle brings shame and distaste to the Lannister name.

With Tywin Lannister, the concept of family and always putting family first is his priority. He is a very proud man with a very proud family behind him and does anything and everything he can to keep that pride and power in his family name. Family means everything to Tywin, and many other characters in the show, and will go to any means to make sure his family is always on top.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 8 years, then you probably have heard of Game of Thrones. You know, the show everyone talks about constantly. The show that has won 38 Emmy Awards making it the most awarded TV show in the history of TV shows. This show consistently garners millions of viewers every time a new episode drops and makes more money that you could ever imagine. Yes, this show is extremely popular. But why? What makes this show standout so much? Why watch this show when there’s plenty of other good ones out there? The answer to that is that this show has everything. Compelling and dynamic characters? Check. Detailed and intricate plots? Check. Amazing visuals and battle scenes? Check.

Let me start with the characters. There’s a lot of them. And I mean A LOT OF THEM. It took me 3 runs of the show to finally be able to remember all of them and what they look like. And the crazy thing is that all these characters actually matter. The show mainly follows the Stark family (Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Jon, Ned, and Caitlyn), the Lannister family (Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion) and Daenerys Targaryen, but there’s dozens of secondary characters like Lord Baelish and Lord Varys that play huge roles in how the story unfolds. For instance, Lord Baelish is essentially responsible for starting one of the major conflicts known as the War of the Five Kings. The characters aren’t perfect either. They have flaws and are characters that the viewer can relate with. For example, Robb had agreed to marry into a political marriage, but he decided to marry someone he actually loves. There’s moments in the show where characters you’ve followed for a while meet and have to fight. An example of this is in season 7 when Jaime’s army fights against Daenerys and her army (and her dragons). There’s a moment where Bronn is trying to shoot down the dragon. I found myself rooting for Bronn to live but also rooting for Daenerys when he was firing crossbow bolts at the dragon. I was confused and didn’t know who to support because I wanted both to survive. It’s in these moments where you realize how much you care for these characters.

The plots and story lines are also intense and have twists where you never expect them. One minute you’re rooting for your favorite character and the next he dies and now you don’t know what to do with your life anymore (yes that’s how I felt after the red wedding). The political plotting and schemes are extremely compelling and keep you on the edge of your seat. The conflicts also feel very real and organic. For example, in season 1, Ned Stark is beheaded and this prompts Robb Stark to declare war on the Lannisters. Ned Stark was pretty much the main character of season 1, and seeing him get beheaded obviously should rile you up and make you hate the Lannisters. Conflicts and plots like these that enrich the characters and their incentives is another great part of the show.

And then there’s the action. Holy crap the action is good. From the one on one sword fight between characters, to the larger scale battles, to dragons flying around and burning things, the action is what makes this show shine. The visuals are crazy realistic, the shots are incredible, and there’s one battle scene with what might just be the best action sequence all in one take! The dragon CGI is also top notch. The way the scales and muscles move and how realistic it all looks is enough to make you believe dragons might be real (I wish). Being an adult show, the show isn’t afraid to show how gritty and gruesome fights can be.The blood sprays, you can hear bones break, and the grunts and screams of the people in battle seem very natural. The very best battle you will see is one where Daenerys is riding a freaking 100 foot dragon while it does “bombing” runs on the enemy and turning them to dust while the rest of her army (all on horseback) goes to town on the enemy soldiers (pictures above). I got chills watching that and had my jaw dropped the whole way through.

As you can see, I am a huge Game of Thrones nerd and I love to be one because this truly is the best show out there. Not only do normal people like me like it, but the critics adore it (38 FREAKING EMMYS). All in all, go watch this show because you’re missing out on what might just be your next binge watch.

WARNING: This post contains major spoilers from Game of Thrones. If you don’t watch Game of Thrones, go watch it now (at least until Season 3 Episode 9). If you don’t plan on watching Game of Thrones, then go watch it anyways because it is literally the best show in existence. You have been warned.

If you watch Game of Thrones (I will refer to it as GoT), then you know exactly what this is about. And for those of you who don’t, well stick around because I need more readers (just kidding, do what you want. I don’t control you). The Red Wedding might just be the single most depressing, surprising, and WTF moment in the whole show…in a good way (at least to me). If you watched this and felt nothing, then you’re a sociopath and must seek immediate help. If you watched this and did feel some sort of emotion , then congratulations for being a normal human being. People who don’t watch GoT must be thinking “What is this guy talking about? Aren’t weddings supposed to be fun and happy?” and to that I answer: Nope. Not in Game of Thrones. Here’s why.

Previously on Game of Thrones: Big war going on. House Lannister is bad because they killed Ned Stark, the lord of House Stark. Ned’s oldest son and heir, Robb Stark, is mad because he doesn’t have a father anymore and wants revenge. He gathers the forces of the North (one of the seven kingdoms in the continent of Westeros) and travels south to King’s Landing (the capital and seat of power). On the way, he must pass a bridge that is controlled by Walder Frey, the lord of House Frey and a really nasty old man with a bajillion wives. Because Walder Frey is greedy and old and has too many kids, he offers to let Robb and his army pass only if he agrees to marry one of his daughters (who are notoriously ugly). Robb accepts and crosses the bridge. Later on, Robb meets a hot field medic and decides to marry her instead. Walder Frey is not happy about this. For some reason (I forget why), Robb and his army decide to go back North and return home, and along the way they must cross Walder’s bridge again. Lord Frey knows of Robb’s new wife and proposes to let them cross the bridge if Robb’s uncle Edmure Tully (brother of Robb’s mom, Caitlyn Stark) marries one of Walder’s daughters (who are still really ugly). Edmure reluctantly accepts and a wedding is prepared. Ok, you’re all caught up on the basics.

The wedding ceremony has started and Edmure is walking up to see his wife for the first time expecting her to be as ugly as Walder himself. Surprisingly, she turns out to be extremely beautiful which makes Edmure really happy. Blah blah blah do you take this man as your husband blah blah blah yes I do, blah blah blah they kiss. After the ceremony, Robb, his mom Caitlyn, Robb’s pregnant wife Talisa (oh yeah I forgot to say she’s pregnant. Oh well) a bunch of important people from Robb’s army, Edmure, Edmure’s wife, Walder and his family, and Roose Bolton (one of Robb’s advisors) are all feasting, getting drunk and having a good ‘ol time. Now here’s where shit hits the fan.

Edmure and his wife are walked up to their bedroom. The doors to the dining hall are closed and locked from the outside, but everyone except Caitlyn is too drunk to care. The musicians playing fun medieval wedding music switch it up and play the song “The Rains of Castamere” a song all about how House Lannister absolutely smoked House Reyne for disobeying Tywin Lannister, the lord of House Lannister. Again, everyone except Caitlyn is too drunk to care. Already suspicious, she looks over at Roose Bolton, who’s sitting next to her. He points at his arm and Caitlyn pulls back his sleeve and sees that he’s wearing armor. Caitlyn realizes what’s going on. She stands up, smacks Roose in the face and shouts at Robb to warn him.

WARNING: What you are about to read will make you think “Wow, he was right. This IS really depressing, surprising and a really big WTF moment.” One of Walder’s family members stands up, pulls out a knife and repeatedly stabs Talisa in the belly effectively killing her and her unborn child. The musicians put down their instruments and pull out crossbows and shoot at any Starks they see. Robb takes a few bolts to the back and falls to the ground as he sees his wife die. Caitlyn is also shot but hides under a table. Walder Frey watches all this with a big smile on his face. While under the table, Caitlyn sees one of Walder’s wives hiding too and grabs her. She picks up a knife knife and threatens to kill Walder’s wife unless Walder lets her and Robb go. Robb stands up and weakly says “Mother”. Roose Bolton approaches Robb, says “The Lannisters send their regards”, and stabs him in the heart. Caitlyn watches it all, screams in agony, and slices the wife’s throat and stands there not knowing what to do with herself. Then one of Walder’s sons gets behind Caitlyn and slices her throat. The rest of the Stark army, all drunk, unarmed, and celebrating outside, get decimated by the Frey army. And just like that, the army of the North and a bunch of Starks are wiped out. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Red Wedding.

I TOLD YOU. For those of you who still aren’t too overwhelmed by what just happened, let me tell you something. House Stark are the good guys and Robb was pretty much on of the main protagonists of the show. For 3 seasons and 9 episodes, we have rooted for House Stark. The show-runners made us really care for these characters (especially Robb and Caitlyn) by dedicating a lot of screen time to their story arcs and character development. And out of nowhere, they decide to kill them off. What makes it worse is that in later episodes, we see how the rest of the Stark family reacts to the Red Wedding which makes the whole event even more depressing and meaningful. I know right? So rude! On one side, I like this because it means that no character is safe which makes the show less predictable and more entertaining. On the other hand, Robb was one of my favorite characters and my 14 year old self who watched this for the first time couldn’t believe his eyes. To the show-runners, I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that you suck but keep doing what you do. So yeah that’s that. If you don’t watch Game of Thrones, I recommend you go watch it now because it is filled with crazy and insane moments like this. And to those who do watch, I’m sorry for digging up bad memories. More crazy GoT moments will be discussed in future blogs. Until next time folks!