#Budrickton
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “A Man Without Honor”
It’s fun to guess at who the man is in the title of this week’s episode. There are plenty of men without honor in Westeros and Essos. The show’s breakout star of late, Alfie Allen’s Theon Greyjoy is the easy candidate, beheading Rodrik, roasting two children alive (supposedly Bran and Rickon), and betraying the Northern kingdom that was his home for half his life. But we’re meant to sympathize with him too; he was the prisoner for that half of his life, taken from his home and his family. The Greyjoy Rebellion bred this little shit, and it’s almost easy to believe that it isn’t his fault that he’s turned into a despicable, cruel Joffrey-in-the-North.
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The Fourth Prime Evil: Error 37
It’s as if a million nerds cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.
#Error37 hit top global trending status around 3:40 am.
Someone created this site around 3:50 am.
No one online seems to actually be playing the game an hour after launch, at 4:00 am.
Yup. Diablo III’s out. I’ll see you all in my Error 37 t-shirt at Comic Con this summer.
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “The Old Gods and the New”
Sunday’s hour of Game of Thrones felt a scant 20 minutes, loaded with shock factor, upheaval and the brand of Westerosi monstrosity we’ve become accustomed to.
“The Old Gods and the New” is a phrase we’ve heard many, many times in Westeros. The Old Gods were kept by the original, ‘first men’ of Westeros. The New Gods are the Seven — the Mother, the Father, Warrior, the Crone, the Smith, the Maiden, and the Stranger.
And still newer gods come from all directions; Melisandre’s Red God, which Jaqen has invoked. Syrio’s God of Death, to whom we say, not today. And certainly not least, the Drowned God of the Ironmen, to whom payment was made on Sunday, with Rodrik Cassel’s head.
The Avengers: You’re Going to See It. Now You’re Here to Understand Why You’re Going to See It.
The Avengers should be as necessary to you this weekend as breathing, if:
– You saw and enjoyed the Marvel Universe films of the past five years — like Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America.
– You read and enjoy superhero comic books.
– You have a fucking pulse.
If two of these things apply, you’ve probably already seen it. If all three do, you saw it last night at midnight like the rest of us.
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “The Ghost of Harrenhal”
Harrenhal already seems like it could be the likeliest place in Westeros for a ghost to take up residence. Arya Stark is basically dead to the world; small wonder she finds herself in a position to be Harrenhal’s newest specter, a girl whose words can now kill.
Sunday was about Game of Thrones’ characters gaining new ground in unexpected places. Finding new sources of strength where they never imagined them to be. And naturally, having those new gains define character arcs and plots for the rest of the season. A setup episode of connective tissue necessary at this season’s midpoint.
Before all that setup could happen, and just as the show was teasing us with the prospect of an alliance between Highgarden and the North, we had to see what became of Stannis and Mel’s love-shadow. And we did.
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “Garden of Bones”
The first time we see a Free City of Essos, far from the territories subject to the Iron Throne, we learn that the area surrounding its gates is called the ‘Garden of Bones’, so named for all those denied access to Qarth, left to die outside its walls.
More grim still, is that Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones takes that title for its name as well. Viewers everywhere seemed to agree, the episode proved this world is becoming almost unbearably dark. The name ‘garden of bones’ juxtaposes an implied beauty or serenity — life — with the reality of death, the physicality of death; all that remains after life is gone, and Sunday was all about coming to terms with death.
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “What is Dead May Never Die”
“What is Dead May Never Die” is the pledge of the men of the Iron Islands. When they undergo this ‘baptism’ by saltwater in their adolescence, they are ‘drowned’ in the waters in homage to the old tradition — Ironmen were literally drowned, then resuscitated, and having suffered that little ‘death’, they style themselves as dead men, unable to be killed on the battlefield.
Theon Greyjoy bathed in saltwaters at the climax of Sunday’s episode of Game of Thrones, and made the choice to betray the North, and his foster brother, Robb Stark.
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “The Night Lands”
This is the week everything could go wrong for a heavily serialized show like Game of Thrones. It’s the second episode of a second season; a show can knock an audience on its ass one year with a perfect storm of timing, talent and spectacle, and then lose it all during the hiatus. A shoddy premiere can rest on the laurels of its fans’ frothing anticipation and still come away with merit.
We’re pretty fortunate then, that we got the premiere we did, and the second episode to prove shit’s still on track. The immense task of adapting Martin’s ‘song’ is somehow, somehow still staying faithful to its source text. Ponder that, and marvel at it after every episode.
THIS WEEK on Game of Thrones: “The North Remembers”
A long, nine-month wait for the return of Game of Thrones ended with maces and shields smashing together with glorious clamour. All for the entertainment of a boy-king absolutely drunk with the power of the Iron Throne sitting patiently under his lanky, undeserving rear. Patiently, in wait, for numerous contenders ready to raze the world for a chance at it.
An opening image is everything in the cinematic art, even for an episode, or better still a season of television. What does the Hound’s crushing defeat of another soldier tell us about this new season to come? What tone does this scene set for the year?
Bloody fucking contest. Orchestrated violence. Unequal rivals set against one another. The paramount nature of power? A king getting whatever he wants, no matter how he laid claim to the crown.
Littlefinger reminded our good Eddard Stark last year that succession hardly mattered, when Ned pushed for Stannis to claim his elder brother’s throne. After all, Robert took it with Ned’s help by taking it by force from the Mad King. Right, wrong, whatever it was, it was Robert’s throne, and he knew it, even if he bankrupted the realm, and whored and drank his way to an early grave proving it.
Power! A lesson not lost on Joffrey, who writers Weiss and Benioff remind us quickly with their opening scene, is enraptured by power and misusing it grossly. And that he should be justly hated for it.
Coming Back for the Clash – Game of Thrones: Where We Are, And Where Season 2 May Take Us
King Robert Baratheon, ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and resident of the Iron Throne of Westeros, is dead.
His son – in name only – reigns as Boy-King, strings tugged by the villainous family he unknowingly owes the entirety of his incestuous bloodline to; Robert’s brothers lay dormant, yet assuredly plotting in city-states half a continent away; his old enemies conspire across a northern sea in a country forgotten by the current, imperiled kingdoms; a young man commands a kingdom at war in the north newly receded from the governance of the Iron Throne; and a new queen rises across a second sea in the east, mother to a rediscovered power that tore Westeros apart a century before.
