Category: Game of Thrones

Season Finale: Game of Thrones – “The Children”

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Myles McNutt's avatarCultural Learnings

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“The Children”

June 15, 2014

“You remember where the heart is?”

Each season of Game of Thrones has been an exercise in selective adaptation, but its fourth season has been a feat of adaptive engineering. Working primarily with material from the third book but leaning heavily on the fourth and fifth in certain storylines, it is the season that has emphatically taken the “book-to-season” adaptation comparison off the table.

At the same time, though, the season has been organized around key climaxes taken directly from the third book in the series. Moreso than in other seasons, you could tell the writers were having to stretch storylines to maintain the timing they had established, creating material to flesh out the scenes on The Wall to justify the Battle of Castle Black taking place in episode nine or finding things for Arya and the Hound to do so that their scenes in…

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Game of Thrones – “The Watchers On The Wall”

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“The Watchers On The Wall”

June 8, 2014

“Blackwater” was about convergence. It was the inevitable collision between Stannis’ claim to the throne and the Lannister powers controlling it. In truth, Stannis’ side of the battle was pretty thin, sketched in without a whole lot of detail beyond Davos and his son. It was really about how Stannis’ attack changed the power dynamics at King’s Landing, whether through Cersei’s steely resolve, Tyrion’s ingenuity and intelligence, or Joffrey’s cowardice. At a stage when this was still ostensibly a show with the Stark family as its protagonist, it was an early example of the richness of stories in King’s Landing, capable of carrying an entire episode on its own.

“The Watchers On The Wall” wants to be “Blackwater.” Neil Marshall has returned as director. Mance Rayder’s not dissimilar to Stannis, in terms of development at this stage in their respective narratives, an…

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Game of Thrones – “The Mountain and the Viper”

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“The Mountain and the Viper”

June 1, 2014

“Traditions are important – what are we without our history?”

One of the perils of being a book reader watching Game of Thrones has been the fact that so many of the biggest moments have been “surprises” in the context of the narrative. We look to events like the Red Wedding, or the Purple Wedding, or Ned Stark’s fate on the Steps of Baelor as key events in the narrative, but we can’t necessarily share the anticipation of those events with viewers who have no idea they’re coming.

This is why “The Mountain and the Viper” is such a fun episode as a reader writing about the show. For once, the show has built in its own hype machine, setting up the trial by combat and building suspense for it over the past two episodes. The week off for Memorial Day…

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Game of Thrones: Season 4, Episode 7 (“Mockingbird”) – Memorable Lines

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Careful- I’m the last friend you’ve got.  -Jaime warns  Tyrion

 If I wanted wits, I’d marry you.  -Bronn jokes with Tyrion

Aye, I’m your friend.  But when have you ever risked your life for me?  -Bronn asks Tyrion

Most of these powders and potions- lies, deceptions, to make men think they witnessed our lord’s power.  Once they step into his light, they will see the lie for what it was- a trick that led them to the truth.  -Melisandre explains to Selyse

They can live in my new world, or they can die in their own world.  –Daenerys to Jorah

You cannot give up on the gravy!  No gravy, no pie.  Simple as that.  -Hot Pie to Brienne and Pod

I said: That’s not a monster- that’s just a baby.  -Oberyn to Tyrion about the first time they met

I will be your champion.  -Oberyn tells Tyrion after picking up the flaming torch 

I have only ever loved one woman- your sister.  -Littlefinger admits to Lysa

Game of Thrones – “The Laws of Gods and Men”

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“The Laws of Gods and Men”

May 11, 2014

“We prefer the stories they tell. More plain, less open to interpretation.”

This is why the Iron Bank of Braavos prefers numbers.

They’re strange, in this way: whereas the other groups who jostle for power in Westeros (and across the Narrow Sea) are interested in histories and lineages, the Iron Bank is only concerned with numbers. It’s why they’re unmoved by Stannis’ claim to the throne by blood, and why they’re won over by Davos’ claim that Stannis is the closest Westeros has to a stable ruler should Tywin Lannister meet his end.

Interpretation is at the heart of law, of course, and of the men and women who enact it. Although the majority of the episode is taken up by an actual trial, the storylines that precede it show the reverberations of other forms of justice, in which similarly cruel…

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