Thursday, December 31, 2015

George R.R. Martin may make a Winds of Winter announcement very soon

George R.R. Martin’s has made a few interesting comments on his Not a Blog lately. Yesterday, he shot down a deeply pessimistic rumor that he hadn’t completed ANY new pages of The Winds of Winter since A Dance with Dragons was published in 2011. That might seem obvious to most of us, but as Martin doesn’t like to discuss A Song of Ice and Fire on his personal blog, it was notable.

Later that night, he implied that he’ll be dropping some new information about Winds very shortly—tomorrow, in fact. Ironically, the implication about Winds came at the tail-end of a comment about how frustrating it could be to get bombarded with questions about his progress on the book. In Martin’s words:

I know that each individual who asks that question thinks it is just one question… but the questioning is endless. Every day. From many sources. Blog comments, livejournal messages, emails, sometimes snail mail, interviews. No matter how often I update (I used to, you know, several books back), someone else will be along the next day to ask for another one. It wears me out.

We can only imagine how difficult it is to field the same questions day after day after day. I wonder if he stopped writing regular updates about his progress in part to ward off questions, which would mean that the more people asked about his work, the less information they got. Irony’s ironic like that.

Anyway, the ending line is where the action is. After discussing the constant press of Winds of Winter-related questions, Martin wrote:

I may do a year’s end post tomorrow though, so…

The implication here is that The Winds of Winter will be included on whatever 2015 roundup Mr. Martin may choose to write. This tracks with something from a post he put up on Christmas Day: “Been quite a year, but I can reflect on that closer to New Year’s.” What could it be? Release date? Progress report? Nothing? Anything’s possible, but should it happen, they’ll be no stopping the questions from flowing. Until then, let’s have peace.

Enjoy your New Year’s Eves, everybody!


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/31/george-r-r-martin-may-make-a-winds-of-winter-announcement-very-soon/

WiCNet’s Top Ten Posts of 2015

Happy New Year’s Eve, all! It’s been an eventful year for Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire—the fifth season of the show rocked the fanbase, rumors about The Winds of Winter continued to fly, and the filming period for Season 6 was perhaps the busiest in the show’s history, in no small part because of the massive interest in whether a certain mopey Night’s Watchman was alive or dead. We’re going to celebrate by looking back at some of the biggest posts from the past 12 months, barring stuff like episode recaps, as determined by your clicks.

One of our biggest posts of the year was also a bit of a downer. Jane Johnson, the editor for the Song of Ice and Fire novels, echoed the sentiments of many fans when she bemoaned how the show is straying from the source material.

Incidentally, she made these comments around the time Barristan Selmy died in “Sons of the Harpy,” so we can only imagine what she had to say by the end of the season.

On the lighter side of things, Game of Thrones isn’t appealing purely for the story—it’s also a marvel of production design, costuming, and makeup. With that in mind, our rankings of the 25 Best Hairstyles on the show went over very well.

Another, more up-to-date fashion post: the 25 Best Looks from Game of Thrones Season 5.

Moving on to speculation about Season 6, there’s one topic all but guaranteed to get A Song of Ice and Fire fans talking: Lady Stoneheart.

Speaking of speculation, we had fun before Season 5 began thinking about whether Griff and Young Griff, two important characters from A Dance with Dragons, would make their debut on the show. Wishful thinking, in hindsight.

There but for the grace of an overactive imagination…early in the year, a very interesting letter surfaced. It was a letter George R.R. Martin wrote to his publisher during the early stages of writing A Game of Thrones, and it outlined how he imagined the series progressing. To put it lightly, his initial ideas transformed considerably over time.

Since it happened, we’ve written a few times on Sansa’s wedding night with Ramsay Bolton, about the event itself, the fan reaction to it, and the real-life dimensions of it. The most popular post on the topic was the first, when Ani Bundel broke down how the community was feeling.

Of course Jon Snow was going to show up on this list somewhere. First, writer David “Razor” Harris’ obstinance in the face of Snow’s apparent death racked up clicks…

…and then there was a revelation about what, if anything, the future holds for the 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.

As I said above, the filming period for Game of Thrones Season 6 was probably the busiest in the show’s history. Check out some of the new characters, including several taken straight from the books, who we’ll be dealing with in 2016.

Who doesn’t love a good Game of Thrones fan theory? This one, on the Grand Northern Conspiracy, proved especially popular.

Lastly, we catalog the 33 Most Stunning Deaths on Game of Thrones, Seasons 1-4. Probably due for an update ahead of Season 6, if we can bear it.

See you all in the new year!

(I realize that there are actually 14 posts on this roundup, but I’m grouping together the two fashion-related slideshows, the Stoneheart posts, the Jon Snow articles, and the Season 6 casting calls. Is that cheating? Probably.)


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/31/wicnets-top-ten-posts-of-2015/

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

George R.R. Martin praises fantasy artists, refutes claims about his Winds of Winter progress

Yesterday, George R.R. Martin took his Not a Blog to discuss one of his favorite topics: the Hugos, awards given out annually to honor the best works of science fiction and fantasy.* For this entry, he discussed who he felt should be nominated in 2016 for the Best Professional Artist award. Unsurprisingly, his suggestions included people with whom he’d worked on products related to A Song of Ice and Fire, which seems like as good an excuse as any to dive into their work.

First up is Magali Villeneuve, a French artist who worked on the 2016 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar—that’s the cover in the header image above. Martin recalls seeing the work Villeneuve did on Fantasy Flight Games’ Game of Thrones collectible card game. “Her stuff impressed me so much that I told Random House I wanted her to do the next ICE & FIRE calendar. Magali knocked that one out of the park as well, as all of you who bought the calendar (it debuted last summer at Comicon) can testify…Magali has never been nominated for a Hugo. She should be.”

If the bulk of Villeneuve’s stuff is as good as her work on the 2015 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar, that seems like a no-brainer.

March ASOIAF 2016

Martin also praised Gary Gianni, who worked on the 2014 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar. More recently, he provided the illustrations for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a short story collection that tells the tale of Dunk and Egg, two characters who loom large in Westerosi history. Gianni has also never been nominated for a Hugo, despite producing art like this.

Gary Gianni artwork Night of the Seven Kingdoms

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sold very well, which can’t hurt Gianni’s chances come nomination time. Hopefully, this’ll be his year.

Martin also talks up John Picacio and Michael Komarck, each of whom have contributed art to the Wild Cards books, a superhero and science fiction anthology series that Martin edits.

George R.R. Martin

Also of note: in the comments for this post, Martin addressed a recent editorial that appeared in The Concourse, which is operated by Deadspin, which is owned by Gawker. Basically, the author of the editorial suggested that Martin had written exactly NO new pages of The Winds of Winter since A Dance of Dragons was published back in 2011, apparently ignoring all the sample chapters from Winds that had been made available in the years since. Nevertheless, the editorial became a viral hit, and the author was quick to dissuade anyone who might believe it

No pages? Really?? Astonishing, the things you can learn on this interweb.

I have learned to ignore crap like that. I was not even aware of this one until your post.

So there you go. Martin has written pages of The Winds of Winter. As for when it might be done, that’s still anybody’s guess, although sonething tells me I’ll be checking in with Not a Blog a little more than usual over the next couple days, what with 2016 around the corner.

*A solid chunk of Martin’s writing on the Hugos this year centered on a controversy involving a faction of Hugo voters called the Sad Puppies. More on that story here.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/30/george-r-r-martin-praises-fantasy-artists-refutes-claims-about-his-winds-of-winter-progress/

News: Statement to MD Theatre Guide from Old Navy about Controversial Shirt

oldnavyartist

Clothing chain Old Navy has created quite the controversy with their T-shirt design for children that reads “young aspiring artist” with the word “artist” crossed out and replaced with the word “astronaut” or “president.”

You would think that the distasteful shirt design is just an internet hoax, but Old Navy has confirmed that the shirts are real.  The “young aspiring artist” shirt, in fact, was for sale for $9.94 in their “Funny Baby T Shirts” section.

MD Theatre Guide reached out to Old Navy for a response about their controversial shirt.  The following is their email, unedited.

Statement from Debbie Felix, Old Navy spokesperson:

“At Old Navy we take our responsibility to our customers seriously. We would never intentionally offend anyone, and we are sorry if that has been the case. Our toddler tees come in a variety of designs including tees that feature ballerinas, unicorns, trucks and dinosaurs and include phrases like, “Free Spirit.” They are meant to appeal to a wide range of aspirations. With this particular tee, as a result of customer feedback, we have decided to discontinue the design and will work to remove the item from our stores.”

MD Theatre Guide “Young Aspiring” T-Shirts for sale:

For fun, we whipped up our own “Young Aspiring” T-Shirts designed to be proudly worn by actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and artists!  All shirts include the “Young Aspiring” statement with full-color MD Theatre Guide logo. You may purchase them from our online store using paypal.

young-aspiring-tshirts-MDTG


See original article at: http://mdtheatreguide.com/2015/12/news-statement-to-md-theatre-guide-from-old-navy-about-controversial-shirt/
See original at: http://kevintumbles.tumblr.com/post/136277143865

A Song of Ice and Fire novels among the most sought-after in Australian prison

Imagine a life where you have almost nothing to do other than spend time in a small cell, walk around a yard or recreation area, and maybe work a menial job that pays literal pennies. Now imagine living that life for years on end. Would you want to try and find a good book to read, to alleviate what one expects is an unbearable amount of downtime? According to the Canberra Times, that’s exactly what the male and female inmates at the Alexander Maconochie Centre (ACT), a minimum to maximum security prison and remand centre in Australia, have done.

According to its report, in 2015, books from George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series were among the most-requested works from the Hume library at ACT, which houses approximately 5,000 books. The same was true of last year.

The blood, power struggles and romance that fill George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones books, which inspired the hugely popular television series, were also sought-after.

It’s not just Martin’s works that have enthralled the inmates at ACT. Fantasy fiction in general is very popular among the hundreds inmates who call the prison homeThe Painted Man by author Peter V. Brett, which is the first book in his The Demon Cycle series, was also a top pick. The book features blood-thirsty demons who rise at night to feed on the living…so there’s that.

This really puts the waiting for The Winds of Winter into perspective. I’ve often complained that the wait between George R.R. Martin’s books is frustrating, but if I literally had almost nothing to do but wait for it, it would seem like an eternity.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/30/a-song-of-ice-and-fire-novels-among-the-most-sought-after-in-australian-prison/

Should the producers change things about the show because of fan reaction? Poll Results:

No. No they should not, at least according to the people who voted in our poll.

Benioff and Weiss

Stay the course, guys.

If you’re just joining us, this poll was inspired by comments made by Game of Thrones director Jeremy Podeswa (“The Gift,” “Hardhome”). He said that the show’s producers were “responsive” to the intense fan reaction following Sansa Stark’s rape by Ramsay Bolton in Season 5 and had changed “a couple of things” about Season 6 as a result. Most people didn’t think this was the right call.

Mind you, not everyone agreed. This is a slippery question, and one that I was happy to see inspired a lot of discussion. Plenty of people, including myself, thought that there may be times when heeding fan complaints is warranted. The producers shouldn’t try to please everyone—that’s impossible—but being sensitive to the fan base in select circumstances can help ground the show.

This debate played out in the comments. Take this argument from commenter KK, who stumped for the “They shouldn’t change anything” side of the debate:

No, they should absolutely NOT change anything. As we all know, often the people who are happiest with something; they are the most quiet — so… just because (arguably) the minority of viewers that can’t handle the violence have a louder voice, doesn’t mean there are more of them or that their opinion should be one of which the producers should cater. The death of Shireen bothered me far more than Sansa’s wedding rape (both harsh) but I wouldn’t want the show to pull back on ANY of the violence. It moves the story forward, makes it a more powerful and heart gripping show (why I think it’s so popular) and it’s a massive part of the GoT world — and a mirror of our own world in many ways.

At the same time, commenters like Jaqen is Q didn’t think there was anything wrong with the producers using the resources available to them, including fan criticism, to craft the best story they can.

If the producers do something on the show and lots of people say it’s wrong, offensive, etc. and the producers look at it and go ‘Yeah, those people might have a point’ and change it or do something in response, they have every right to do so. It’s not censorship, it’s not backpedaling, it’s not a violation of free speech or free expression; it’s just a change of perspective based on interactions with other people, which is how life works.

But back on the other hand, Nathan made a good point about the authors of a show, in this case David Benioff and Dan Weiss, relying on their storytelling instincts and not giving into the whims of people who may not be thinking very far ahead.

I’d argue that the author, and the ones creating the show, have artistic merits and an understanding of literature higher than the average person. Therefore, they shouldn’t placate the average viewer who may not have an adequate understanding of fiction writing, cultural context, and characterization etc. to have a fully vetted opinion on the story as it stands, nor where it intends to go. In other words, let the artists create, then judge their contribution to our culture after the story is finished, when we can critique the story thoroughly, intellectually, and as a whole.

Then again, the people who make Game of Thrones don’t do so in a vacuum. The ideal of the artist sitting alone in a room and creating a masterpiece is appealing, but it’s not very realistic in this day in age, especially when it comes to something as popular as Game of Thrones. Benioff and Weiss probably can’t help but be influenced by fan reaction a little bit. The best we can hope for, I think, is that they exercise wisdom and restraint when deciding how to handle those reactions.

Then again (I’m saying that a lot—it’s that kind of debate), Benioff and Weiss may have ways of insulating themselves from criticism if they really wanted to. As commenter SF Bluestocking said:

I, personally, think that the show would benefit from, if not necessarily more engagement with criticism on the part of the showrunners, definitely more eyes on things. It’s a show with a pretty small writing room and very few people in positions of actual decision-making power. The good news is that this means we basically always know where to point fingers when things are bad. The bad news about this is that, with so few cooks in the kitchen, so to speak, and all with so much power and control over the process (and with basically free rein as far as HBO is concerned because $$$), there’s really no accountability unless D&D choose to be accountable. So far, that hasn’t been their style. This would be helped by just having more (and more diverse) people in the decision-making room.

And then there are people like MF, who’s normally in favor of an author sticking to her vision but might make an exception in the case of Benioff and Weiss, who are supposed to be channeling someone else’s vision (that’s the idea, anyway).

I’d normally say no to this, but the things viewers have reacted negatively to were not things that were in the actual books, but made up by the writers of the show. I felt like last season went out of the way to make everything lurid and unpleasant…I HOPE, anyway, that this backlash against some of last season’s events might make them question their assumptions about why people are watching the show.

I don’t think these questions are going to be solved anytime soon. There are too many competing views. For the moment, all we can do is sit back and see if the decision bears fruit come Season 6.

 


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/30/should-the-producers-change-things-about-the-show-because-of-fan-reaction-poll-results/

Flashback, Flashforward: What Could Bran Be Seeing in Season 6

It’s not even 2016 yet, and already Entertainment Weekly has dropped a bomb about Game of Thrones Season 6. Not only is Brantree c0nf1rm3d, eleventyone, etc, but Isaac Hempstead Wright is promising us that Game of Thrones‘ first foray last season into flashback land was only the beginning. This coming season, Bran will be making like he’s on Lost, flashing, forwards, backwards and perhaps even sideways. All from the comfort of his own version of Westerosi living room, “like a detective…almost as if he’s watching the show.” Who knew weir trees got HBO?

So what could Bran possibly be flashing on about? With certain scenes confirmed as happening this season (which we’ll get to in a minute), we do have some ideas of which direction we may go. But we also have quite a long list of visions that Bran is supposed to see via his greenseeing powers that are listed in the novels. Spoilers and speculation ho!

—-SPOILERS, NOTHING BUT SPOILERS—
—GIMME THOSE SPOILERS, DON’T LET THEM END—

Isaac Hempstead Wright Game of Thrones

In A Dance with Dragons, we see Bran have several visions via his tree bonded state. In order, they are:

  1. His young father praying with a bowed head “…let them grow up close as brothers, with only love between them, and let my lady wife find it in her heart to forgive.”;
  2. A girl and a younger boy play fighting with branches;
  3. A pregnant woman coming out of the black pool praying for a son to avenge her;
  4. A slender girl on her toes kissing a knight as tall as Hodor;
  5. A pale, dark-eyed youth cutting three branches from the weirwood and shaping them into arrows;
  6. Other lords of Winterfell: tall, hard, stern men in fur and chain mail;
  7. A bearded man forcing a captive down on his knees, and a white-haired woman killing the captive with a bronze sickle.

Now, we know that child-aged versions of Ned Stark and his brother and sister were cast this season. So it’s a good chance that a couple of these visions, specifically two and five, will probably be in the offering. Though the first one, of Ned Stark praying that Jon and Robb grow up as brothers, would be nice, it’s also unnecessary. We know Ned wanted them to grow up a family and that Cat never did forgive or forget. The sixth one is also a bit of a throwaway–it would be easy enough to do as part of a montage, but also easy enough to cut. It’s the third, fourth and seventh ones that I want to see included this season, if nothing else than to confirm what they show. I have always assumed that three is Lyanna Stark, having just learned that Robert killed Rhaegar at the Trident, and that four was her and Rhaegar’s first kiss. But that’s not to say it’s really what those visions are, that’s just one theory. The final vision, on the other hand, is a total mystery to me. There are quite a few theories floating around as to which past event it is, but considering the promises of futurecasting, perhaps this one is a chilling vision of things to come? I certainly could see Dany wielding an arakh (which Bran would see as a “bronze sickle”), not to mention there are several candidates for the “bearded man” by her side.

Other flashbacks I’ve been dying to see ever since the show began: Melisandre’s visions of Azor Ahai and Dany’s visions in the House of the Undying. The former is unlikely to be shown to us in that format, and the ship sailed on the latter long ago. But that doesn’t mean Benioff and Weiss couldn’t backtrack and/or reassign. Have Bran see Azor Ahai and the first battle of the Long Night way back during the Age of Heroes. The “all this has happened before/all this will happen again” aspect is too good to be lost. (And wouldn’t it be nice to let TV show viewers understand why the first Brandon Stark all those generations ago felt it necessary to build The Wall?) Pair that with some flash forward visions of the ending fight that coming between the Night’s King and those humans who will stand and fight him, and you’ve got a doozy of a scene for Season 6.

(By the way–so you know how there’s this spoiler about a certain dead character having been seen on set, and that’s the proof we’ve been looking for that they’ll be some Red Priestess Resurrection action this year? What if we’re all wrong, and those are just Bran’s visions of things that neverwere? /trolling)

Meanwhile, though some of Dany’s visions are now out of date, like the vision of the dwarves playing out the War of Five King’s at Joffrey’s wedding, or the image of Robb Stark wearing his wolf’s head post Red Wedding, some are still highly valuable clues, as well as insight to all that has come before. “A dying prince with rubies flying from his armor whispering the name of a woman with his last breath” isn’t just the longed for vision of Rhaegar’s defeat at the Trident, it’s also seriously cinematic. Who wouldn’t want to film that? “A blue flower growing from a chink in a wall of ice” is just a lovely shot, and one that could be reused and remixed in many of Bran’s trippy visions. Heck, he already got the “blue-eyed king with a red sword in his hand who cast no shadow” reassigned to him back in Season 4, with the first weirwood tree vision. But the real one that I want Benioff and Weiss to go back for is the following scene that gives the entire series their title:

…a man who looked like Viserys, but taller and with darker eyes, who says to a woman nursing a baby, “Aegon…What better name for a king…He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire”; and when the man’s eyes meet Dany’s, he says either to her or the woman with the baby, “There must be one more…The dragon has three heads”, and he picks up a silver harp and begins to play…

Now, I know that the show has (so far) cut Young Griff aka Aegon, much to the confusion of books readers, who have to wonder if this is proof he really is a False Dragon, and therefore as unimportant to the main plotline as, say, Lady Stoneheart. But this vision of Dany’s has, to me, always been proof that Aegon, though a late arrival to the dragon party, is probably the real deal. And if the show is streamlining his story into something less out of the blue, or at least less convoluted, this would be a good introduction. And hey, who knows–maybe the show could decide that instead of a random extra Targaryen throne claimant, the baby that Ned Stark named after his mentor and father figure Jon Arryn was to be named Aegon if things had gone very differently, and this is a vision of what his birth should have been instead.

But no list of flashbacks would be complete without the twin original sins, as it were, of the Tourney at Harrenhal, and the Tower of Joy. Now, we know from filming spoilers the Tower *is* on the docket this season. That means we have a Lyanna, we have a Young Ned and we have several important players from that time period cast. How much more would it take to add in some Year of the False Spring scenes interspersed, since they’re already on payroll? As I’ve said before, that story, which is told and retold via memories, myths, and tales over the course of the later books, has clearly been cut because having characters stop the action and recount this random story of a thing that happened twenty-plus years ago out of the blue would never work, especially when the show is a jammed for time and storytelling space as it is for the events of the present. Though I did appreciate the truncated version from Littlefinger last season–not to mention that LOOK he gave Sansa when she tacked on the false ending that Robert insisted on spreading as fact after his victory over the Targaryens–I want the show to find a way to show the events of this incident. And if Bran sitting around watching A PreGame of Thrones on his Weirstation 4 (or is a WeirBox One?) is the way to get to see Lyanna as “the Knight of the Laughing Tree” go out and kick some ass, I’ll take it. Especially if it ends with Rhaegar riding right past his wife and crowning her with a wreath of blue roses, and naming her the Queen of Love and Beauty to boot.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/30/flashback-flashforward-what-could-bran-be-seeing-in-season-6/

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Join us in farewell to 2015 and A Storm of Swords

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The Wall has been watched, gifts have been given, and Six is coming. This week leads us into the year’s tenth episode, one final occasion to celebrate a dedicated community’s journey through A Storm of Swords.

We have one last batch of Owns to collect before the year reaches its close. Join us in this revisitation of boundless feels, chills, and excitement. This special episode (with a few special guests) records Wednesday night!

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Let this collection (of some) of our favorite moments from A Storm of Swords serve as a guide to your submissions. This is but a shallow list. Will you help us fill it?

There and back again

5

Jon turned his cloak, and lived to tell the tale. Are we numb to the height of tension and drama this story reaches? Climbing the Wall aside, he made a series of seriously bold moves.

Lads, gents, good sers

10

Thanks to this brotherhood of loyal men for some of GOO’s strongest and longest pauses for laughter and song. But to meet them again at the end with our new friend, it’s almost too perfect.

Hand of the King

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From a salty, lonely rock to a dungeon of pitch black, Davos became the One True Hand of the King. Yes.

The new Warden

22

Roose Bolton lied, cheated, and subverted his King to replace the Starks as the North’s great power. He’s a dirty bastard.

Mance’s vast accomplishments

25

Mance Rayder united the free folk. HE MARCHED ON THE WALL.

Tyrion and Sansa get married

28

This really happened.

Arya left it all behind

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Beautiful weasel soup. Best friends. Bad dreams. Real adventure, real change. Arya leaves Westeros, an incredibly cruel cliffhanger is born.

The Red Wedding

37

….

Poor guy

39

Jon wins again. He is your Lord Commander, Thorne.

Murdered at his own wedding

40

Tough break, Joff.

The plot thickens

47

Lysa tells all. We learn (just at the end) of all that Petyr’s done, left to imagine what he’ll do next.

Redemption

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With Storm, the podcast experienced a true change in Jaime Lannister. He did it.

The Nightfort

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Bran and company crossed into the real North through a magical passage beneath the Wall.

The One True King

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Stannis, the One True Mannis, turned his attention from usurpers to the North and the Kingdoms’ great enemy.


We’re saying bye, once and for all, to a book we’ve traveled together for so long — in the final episode of the year. If you’ve read the book (or followed along), tell us your favorite moments from A Storm of Swords!

Thanks for an amazing 2015. It’s been an awesome year with the lot of you.

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The post Join us in farewell to 2015 and A Storm of Swords appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.


Via http://watchersonthewall.com

A Search of Ice and Fire now includes the sample Winds of Winter chapters

It’s a Song of Ice and Fire fanatic’s wildest dream: a website that allows fans to search through the complete text of every book in the saga, plus offshoots like The World of Ice and FireThe Rogue PrinceThe Princess and the Queen, and all the stories from the recently released A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms collection. It’s A Search of Ice and Fire, and it’s just become more useful than ever.

If you’ve never heard of the site, here’s how it works: you check off the particular books you want to look through, type in a keyword, and hit the ‘Search’ button. The website will produce relevant excerpts from the complete texts of the chosen works. It’s a beautiful time-waster. You can, for example, use it to find out how many times George R.R. Martin mentions that Stannis grinds his teeth (just seven, although it feels like more), or how many times he describes Tyrion’s walk with some form of the verb “to waddle” (just shy of 60). Also: all but one of the references to something being “as useful as nipples on a breastplate” are made by the Lannister children. You think that’s something Tywin said when they were growing up?

The proprietor of A Search of Ice and Fire recently modified the site so fans can search through the released sample chapters from The Winds of Winter, which have been leaking out slowly since 2011. There’s still no word on a release date for the book, and with the sixth season of the show approaching, people are getting antsy. Perhaps A Search of Ice and Fire can help with the cravings a bit.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/29/a-search-of-ice-and-fire-now-includes-the-sample-winds-of-winter-chapters/

Game of Thrones Season 6 Speculation: Bran isn’t leaving the cave

Following yesterday’s exciting reveal by Entertainment Weekly of a Game of Thrones Season 6 photo featuring Bran, many people are excitedly talking about the where and the how of the pic. The last time we saw our dear Bran, his hair was much longer and curlier, his legs weren’t working, and he was getting ready to start his training to be a greenseer. So, when this photo dropped, and we see Bran with a closely shorn head, sitting atop a horse outside the cave, the questions began to swirl.

778-ew-isaac-hempstead-wright

In an all new interview with Isaac Hempstead Wright, EW got the scoop on some storylines that will impact Season 6, calling Bran’s plotline “Inception-like storytelling.” This means that we are going to be shown a lot of flashbacks (and possibly flash-forwards) through dream-like sequences, via Bran’s weirwood/greenseer magic.

…we’re given looks into very important events in the past, present and future of this world and Bran is beginning to piece them together like a detective, almost as if he’s watching the show. Equally, he’s now discovering how crucial he could be in the Great War. It’s quite Inception-y.

This means that Bran is going to be spending a ton of time in the cave, viewing important scenes from the past and future of Westeros that will come into play in what Wright calls “the Great War,” all under the watchful eye of the Three-Eyed Raven (Max von Sydow). By the way, I believe this is the first time we’ve heard that particular title (Great War) given to the events of what is coming.

Now, with all that information from the actor himself, let’s look a little closer at that photo:

  • Bran is outside the cave

I think the simple explanation here is that Bran is having a green-dream. Remember back to Seasons 1 and 2, when Bran would dream following his fall from the broken tower. In these dreams, he could walk around Winterfell as if his legs were working fine. Those dreams seemed real (like the photo above), until he awoke in his bead.

Bran old spice meme

  • Bran is on a horse

Where did that horse come from? Bran arrived at the cave on Hodor’s back. There’s no way he’s found a horse since, unless the horse is Uncle Benjen’s. Where is Bran’s special saddle? After his fall, he could not ride a horse without the special saddle design given to him by Tyrion Lannister. In my mind, this only cements that the EW photo is from a dream.

  • Bran is looking up…at what?

Here’s where it gets fun. If this is a dream, then it’s probably a dream that holds some importance. Wright used the descriptor “The Great War” to describe what his character is preparing for. Could Bran be looking up at the Night’s King? Perhaps as a full-fledged greenseer, Bran is now dreaming about the real enemy to all life in Westeros, and that is the Night’s King.

Regardless of what’s really happening in the photo, until we get to April/May, the speculation is going to be running wild. And, with Game of Thrones Season 6 relying heavily on flashbacks, added to the fact that book readers and non-book readers are on the same page for the first time in the series’ history, we really have no idea what is coming. Isn’t it exciting?


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/29/game-of-thrones-season-6-speculation-bran-isnt-leaving-the-cave/

Isaac Hempstead-Wright discusses Bran’s “Inception-y” storyline in season 6

Bran

Following up their tantalizing first look at Bran Stark in season 6, Entertainment Weekly spoke to a nearly 6-ft tall Isaac Hempstead-Wright about his absence from season 5 and what we can expect from Bran’s storyline this April. Potential spoilers below. Proceed at your own discretion.

The 16-year old actor addressed Bran’s omission from last season, recalling the meeting in which showrunners, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff told him his character wouldn’t appear in season 5.

“When I first heard the news Dan and David wanted to have a chat with me, I was like, ‘Oh no!’,” he says. “Usually that’s to tell you [your character is] dead. So comparatively, missing a season was like, ‘phew!’”

The showrunners decided to omit Bran from season 5 in order to fast-forward through Bran’s psychic-Weirwood-tutelage under Bloodraven, comparing Bran’s learning curve to Luke Skywalker’s largely off-screen mastery of the Force.

“And they’re exactly right,” Hempstead-Wright says, “I would have just been sitting in a cave going, ‘Oh, I can nearly do it now.’ “

Presumably, this means we can expect a fully (or nearly fully) trained Bran Stark in season 6 which interviewer, James Hibberd, describes as Bran’s “biggest and most crucial season yet.”

“Previously Bran’s seen tiny glimpses of future or past but never has he been very much in control in the situation,” Hempstead-Wright says. “Now we’re given looks into very important events in the past, present and future of this world and Bran is beginning to piece them together like a detective, almost as if he’s watching the show. Equally, he’s now discovering how crucial he could be in the Great War. It’s quite Inception-y.”

The post Isaac Hempstead-Wright discusses Bran’s “Inception-y” storyline in season 6 appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.


Via http://watchersonthewall.com

Isaac Hempstead Wright teases Bran’s newfound powers in Game of Thrones Season 6

Yesterday, Entertainment Weekly debuted the first official image from Game of Thrones Season 6: a shot of Bran Stark, last seen in Season 4, sitting on a horse after having gotten a major haircut. Bam:

778-ew-isaac-hempstead-wright

Now, the magazine has published the interview it did with Isaac Hempstead Wright, who has played Bran for five seasons of the show. Well, four—he sat this last season out.

Speaking of his absence from Season 5, Wright talked about how that came about. “When I first heard the news [executive producers] Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff] wanted to have a chat with me, I was like, ‘Oh no!’” he said. “Usually that’s to tell you [your character is] dead. So comparatively, missing a season was like, ‘phew!’ “

There are a whole lot of plotlines to deal with on Game of Thrones, and apparently the producers didn’t want to distract from the others by adapting a storyline that would have consisted mostly of Bran sitting still while he learned how to use his latent powers.“And they’re exactly right,” Weight said. “I would have just been sitting in a cave going, ‘Oh, I can nearly do it now.’”

Instead, the producers took a cue from the original Star Wars trilogy. At the end of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker is sorta handy with a lightsaber, but has a ways to go before he can be called a Jedi Master. Then, in Return of the Jedi, he walks into Jabba’s palace using mind tricks and ready to slay an entire war party’s worth of bad guys above the sarlacc pit on Tatooine. Apparently, he got a lot of training between movies. That’s what the producers want for Bran (that’s also the analogy they used, because they’re dorks), so we can expect him to begin Season 6 with a firm handle on his abilities.

Bran and Luke Skywalker

Bran Starkwalker

And just what do those abilities entail? Those who have read A Dance with Dragons know that Bran is learning to use his greenseeing abilities to peer into the past, present, and future of Westeros by looking through the eyes of the weirwood trees that dot the landscape. Here’s how Wright puts it:

Previously Bran’s seen tiny glimpses of future or past but never has he been very much in control in the situation. Now we’re given looks into very important events in the past, present and future of this world and Bran is beginning to piece them together like a detective, almost as if he’s watching the show. Equally, he’s now discovering how crucial he could be in the Great War. It’s quite Inception-y.

I’m sure fans have plenty of ideas about what some of those events may be. It’s also intriguing to hear that Bran will discover “how crucial he could be in the Great War.” Bran has been a character in transition since the end of Season 2, after Winterfell was sacked and he started heading north. Considering that Bran’s plotline has been heavily featured in promotional material for the new season, I’m betting this will be the year when he finally reenters the story as a major player.

Entertainment Weekly seems to think so, too. James Hibberd writes that this season is “a game-changer” for Bran, and Wright is very excited about it. When Hibberd asked the 16-year-old actor about his reaction to reading the Season 6 scripts, he described a time when he couldn’t contain himself. “Oh! That’s the best scene I’ve ever done!” he said. “Oh! That scene is even better!”

Three-Eyed Raven in Season 4

The final piece of the puzzle is the Three-Eyed Raven, the mysterious figure who’s been appearing in Bran’s dreams and beckoning him north since Season 1. Bran finally met him at the end of Season 4, where he was played by actor Struan Rodger, pictured above. Since then, the producers recast acting heavyweight Max von Sydow in the part, and Wright is characteristically enthusiastic about it. “There are certain lines that you think are almost fillers, like, ‘He’s over there,’ but when Max von Sydow says them, he can make it sound like it’s the most important news you’ve ever heard,” he said.

So that’s where we stand on Bran. You can hear him chatting with the Three-Eyed Raven in the Season 6 teaser trailer.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/29/isaac-hempstead-wright-teases-brans-newfound-powers-in-game-of-thrones-season-6/

Celeb roundup: Charles Dance and Noah Taylor star in Agatha Christie mystery

A new adaptation of And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie’s famous novel, helped the BBC dominate ratings over the Christmas holiday, and a couple of Game of Thrones stars were part of the fun.

For those not familiar with it, And Then There Were None tells the story of ten people who are lured to an island under various pretexts (well, two are already there, but close enough). Once together, it’s revealed that each of them has a dark secret from their past, and they begin to die off one by one. What’s more, they die in ways that reflect each of the verses in Ten Little Indians, an old nursery rhyme. It’s classic murder mystery stuff. Since it was published in 1939, it’s become one of the best-selling books in the world.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR AND THEN THERE WERE NONE FOLLOW, ALTHOUGH IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT BY NOW YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO

Noah Taylor in And Then There None

Noah Taylor stars as Thomas Rogers, an unscrupulous butler who murdered his former employer by withholding her medicine (she’d left him and his wife some money, and he wanted it now, please). Game of Thrones fans may remember Taylor as Locke, the lackey of Roose Bolton’s who chopped off Jaime Lannister’s hand in Season 3. He’s no nicer here.

Meanwhile, Charles “Tywin Lannister” Dance himself stars as Justice Lawrence John Wargrave, a retired judge with a serious sadistic streak. He’s the one who summons everyone to the island, so he can kill them for their crimes. It’s not hard to imagine Dance excelling with the part of a cruel hardass.

The BBC aired And Then There Were None in three parts. Hopefully we get to see it on this side of the pond at some point. Nothing like a good murder mystery to fill a lazy Sunday in winter.

Shifting gears, have you ever wanted to have your makeup done by the professionals who paint the White Walkers? Well, I can’t guarantee that exactly, but Sugahfix.com has a contact list for several of the makeup artists who worked on Game of Thrones Season 6. Now that they’ve finished with the show, they’re available for weddings, parties, and other big occasions in early 2016.

Having worked on Game of Thrones, most of the makeup artists are situated around Belfast, but many travel to clients. If you’re planning to throw a Game of Thrones-themed party, or just any party, you couldn’t ask for better.

Fiona-Hunter

Makeup artist Fiona Hunter creating an Avant Guard makeup look.

h/t Radio Times


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/29/celeb-roundup-charles-dance-and-noah-taylor-star-in-agatha-christie-adaptation/

Monday, December 28, 2015

Game of Thrones/Star Wars Mashup Shows How Captain Phasma Got Her Armor

By now, if you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, then you either don’t like Star Wars, or somehow didn’t know that the first live-action Star Wars film in 10 years had finally come to theaters. Many actors from Game of Thrones landed roles both large and small in the film. Foremost among these is Gwendoline Christie (Brienne) portraying the blinged-out First Order Stormtrooper leader, Captain Phasma.

With Christie taking on the role of another strong female, it was a only matter of time before some enterprising fan made a video mashup of her Game of Thrones and Star Wars characters. Enter YouTuber levellord, who did just that with The Birth of Captain Phasma. Check it out:

I mean…how well done is this video? That suit of Phasma armor looks like it was there in the original Game of Thrones episode from Season 4, “Oathkeeper.” Also, I’m just now seeing that Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would make the perfect young Han Solo—in Han’s very own standalone Star Wars story—as long as he could master that gritty North American accent.

WARNING: THE FORCE AWAKENS SPOILERS AHEAD!

LUKE SPOILER MEME

Gwendoline Christie called Captain Phasma a “Boba Fett-style character”…and for the most part, she was right. She was barely on screen, had maybe five or six lines, and she suffered a stupid end that may or may not mean she’s dead. In my mind, Captain Phasma was the biggest failing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a film that didn’t have many failings.

For all the hype and hoopla surrounding Phasma, she took a punch from Chewbacca, and was immediately intimidated into dropping Starkiller planet’s shields after a few clumsy threats from Finn. Can you see the correlation between Phasma and Fett now? For all the love Boba Fett receives from Star Wars fans, he was knocked into the Sarlacc pit by accident, and didn’t even try to use the myriad of tools at his disposal to climb out…onscreen, anyway.

Hopefully, Phasma climbed out of the garbage chute she was thrown down (off-screen) and escaped Starkiller planet before it exploded.  I would love nothing more than to see Phasma in Episode VIII, chasing down Finn and the Resistance, in order to get revenge and redeem herself in the eyes of Supreme Leader Snoke.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/28/hilarious-game-of-thronesstar-wars-mashup-shows-how-captain-phasma-got-her-armor/

Theatre Review: ‘Bright Star’ at The Kennedy Center

Carmen Cusack in ‘Bright Star’ at The Kennedy Center. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Carmen Cusack in ‘Bright Star’ at The Kennedy Center. Photo by Joan Marcus.

The music started and actors walked onstage to harmonize with the lead as they twirled her around in a cabin set-piece. As the opening number continued I thought, “Oh this must be a play within a play like Curtains or Kiss Me Kate! No show could sustain this level of kitsch for the entire performance.” Unfortunately, I was wrong. Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Bright Star was entirely hackneyed and predictable, even for a musical. However, the Kennedy Center cast, set, costumes, and staging were outstanding.

In Bright Star Billy Cane (A.J. Shively) returns home from World War II to find that things have changed in rural North Carolina. Billy decides to become a short story writer and crosses paths with famed ruthless editor, Alice Murphy (Carmen Cusack). As Billy struggles with his writing and his feelings for his childhood friend Margo Crawford (Hannah Elless), Alice’s memories of love, deception, and stubbornness haunt her. Combining scenes from the 1940s with flashbacks to the 1920’s, Bright Star explores the importance of tenacity and hope.

…a wonderful production…the Kennedy Center cast, set, costumes, and staging were outstanding.

Despite Bright Star’s overdone storyline, the cast’s impressive acting still carried the plot. Actors embraced their “down home” characters while most maintaining enough nuance to create momentum for the show. Carmen Cusack was particularly remarkable as Alice as she shifted effortlessly between her past, free-spirited self and her present, sardonic and restrained self. Additionally Jeff Blumenkrantz as Daryl Ames provided well-timed comedic relief from the overly earnest story.

Furthermore, although all the songs had similar melodies, the actors’ vocal control allowed them to switch from twangy choruses to crystal clear belts. The incorporation of country and blues music differentiated Bright Star from most other musicals and made it vocally interesting before becoming too repetitive. The full harmonies also added depth to the music, and humorous songs like “Whoa, Mama” and “Another Round” stood out in comparison with some of the overwrought, more serious numbers.

The music meshed well with the imaginative set. The string band dressed in costume and played from a balcony and from inside a set piece of a cabin that rotated and shifted position depending on the scene. Set Designer Eugene Lee’s bold ideas distracted from the monotony of the story. In addition to the rotating cabin, Lee had a miniature train run on a trestle high above the stage, giving the appearance of a town by the train tracks. In combination with Japhy Weideman’s purposeful lighting design, Lee created the mountains and hills of North Carolina simply by shifting a wood cutout on the back wall of the stage. Lee also worked with Director Walter Bobbie and Choreographer Josh Rhodes to enhance the set through the motion of the actors. As Billy hitchhiked and Mayor Josiah Dobbs (Michael Mulheren) road the train, the characters’ motion worked with the set and lighting design to create the illusion of travel.

Additionally, Costume Designer Jane Greenwood and Hair and Wig Designer Tom Watson further enhanced the production by allowing the audience to differentiate the flashbacks to the 1920s from the 1940s action of the rest of the play. Although Alice’s reminiscing happens almost without warning, Greenwood and Watson create a seamless transition complete with decade-appropriate clothing and hair.

Overall The Kennedy Center hosted a wonderful production of a mediocre play. The only choice I didn’t like about Walter Bobbie’s direction was the decision to have actors simply standing onstage waiting to sing their harmonies. In a few numbers two characters were singing to each other as ensemble members stood in a line upstage, causing me to lose focus on the action while puzzling over the silent existence of the characters in the background.

After Bright Star finishes its run at the Kennedy Center it is moving to Broadway. Although I don’t think the plot or music will carry it far, the sheer talent of the cast and artistic teams might be enough to give it a successful run.

Running Time: 2 hours and 10 minutes with intermission.

Bright Star plays through January 10, 2016 at The Kennedy Center, 2700 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20566. For more information and to order tickets please call (800) 444-1324 or click here.


See original article at: http://mdtheatreguide.com/2015/12/theatre-review-bright-star-at-the-kennedy-center/
See original at: http://kevintumbles.tumblr.com/post/136125904830

First Look at Bran in Game of Thrones Season 6!

game-of-thrones-season-4-finale-bran-hbo

After the Jon Snow teaser and ominous Three-Eyed Raven (Max von Sydow) voice over of what’s to come in Season 6, we now have our first official look at the young Stark thanks to Entertainment Weekly!

More under the cut (and SPOILERS so view with caution if you want fresh eyes for the new season).

We last left Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) far up North in the mystical cave of the Three-Eyed Raven and have been anxiously awaiting the next chapter of his story!

778-ew-isaac-hempstead-wright

Most notably on his vacation from Season 5, Bran has been to the barber since we last saw and has even grown a bit!

Welcome back, Isaac! We look forward to your return in the Spring.

What do you think of the first look at Bran? Who do you hope to see next? Let us know below!

The post First Look at Bran in Game of Thrones Season 6! appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.


Via http://watchersonthewall.com

Entertainment Weekly publishes a revealing photo of Bran Stark from Season 6

SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6 AHEAD

Last we law Bran Stark, he had just met the Three-Eyed Raven in a giant weirwood tree north of the Wall. He was scraggly, with long hair, and was presumably going to stay with the Three-Eyed Raven for the long haul. After all, he’s a paraplegic with no easy means of leaving, and if things go the way they go in A Dance of Dragons, he’ll be there for a while.

Bran Stark meets the Three-Eyed Raven

Now, Entertainment Weekly has posted the first photo of Bran Stark from Season 6, presumably from a sneak peak of the season they’ll have in a new issue released tomorrow. Behold:

778-ew-isaac-hempstead-wright


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/28/entertainment-weekly-publishes-a-revealing-photo-of-bran-stark-from-season-6/

Game of Thrones theorycrafting: Essos connects to Westeros

Thanks to a couple new fan-made maps making the rounds on Reddit, now seems like a good time to bring up a Game of Thrones fan theory that’s been around for a while: the theory that Westeros and Essos are connected through the Lands of Always Winter, where the White Walkers live.

First, some history: regardless of whether this theory is true, Westeros and Essos were definitely connected at one time through the Arm of Dorne, a land bridge that linked southwesters Westeros with southeastern Essos. The First Men arrived in Westeros from Essos by crossing the Arm of Dorne. Once in Westeros, they went to war with the Children of the Forest, the continent’s original inhabitants. The Children used magic to bury the Arm of Dorne beneath the ocean. All that remains of it now are the Stepstones, a chain of islands.

Might Essos link to Westeros in another way? Some theorists figure that, assuming George R.R. Martin’s world is curved like ours, the far east of Essos may connect to the far north Westeros through the Lands of Always Winter, as shown here.

World of Ice and Fire

That’s the flat way of looking at it. Commenter Alternating_Sum pitched in with this handy three-dimensional-looking version.

A World of Ice and Fire

The area marked with a star would be the planet’s North Pole, located smack dab in the middle of the Lands of Always Winer, naturally.

This theory ties into something Daenerys hears from Quaithe, the Shadowbinder she meets in Qarth, in A Clash of Kings.

To go north, you must journey south, to reach the west you must go east. To go forward you must go back and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.

This line from Quaithe never made it onto the show (Quaithe in general has a lot less presence on the show), but Dany thinks about it a fair amount in the books. The bit about going east before reaching the west has some fans thinking that Daenerys can reach her ultimate destination by heading east from Meereen, trudging through the Lands of Always Winter, and invading Westeros from the north. The line about “pass[ing] beneath the shadow,” could refer to going through Asshai, a mysterious city on Essos sometimes referred to as “Asshai-by-the-Shadow.”

Does this theory hold water? Highly unlikely, not least of all because George R.R. Martin has said that it isn’t true, but it’s nice to imagine.

One more map of the possible Westeros-Essos link, from Reddit commenter acadian_cajun, before we go. This one is definitely the most accurate:

Map of Westeros and Essos


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/28/game-of-thrones-theorycrafting-essos-connects-to-westeros/

Game of Thrones Wins “Most Pirated Show of 2015”

In the least surprising news of 2015, Game of Thrones has once again taken the crown for “Most Pirated Show” of the year. This is the fourth year in a row the show has taken the “honor” of this title, one it has held since 2012 and Season 2.

Unlike some other years, where there has been some question as to Game of Thrones’ ability to hold onto the title, what with The Walking Dead and other popular fare attempting to rack up numbers, the show opened up the lead so early in the year that it was a shoo in for this year’s title by the first week of April, based on just the downloads of the previous four seasons, at 7 million downloads in 90 days. And that was *before* someone got a hold of the screener DVDs that HBO sends out to critics prior to the show airing and uploaded them to to the internet. TorrentFreak, which makes it its business to keep track of these sorts of dubious honors, says that over half of the downloads for the show came in the week after that upload, which is no surprise to anyone.

TorrentFreak, working from BitTorrent’s numbers says the show was estimated to be downloaded 14.4 million times. (And that’s not counting other well known sites like Pirate Bay.) To put that in perspective with last year’s piracy numbers, Game of Thrones beat the competition in 2014 with 8.1 million downloads via BitTorrent. As one can imagine, this year was a no-contest landslide. The Walking Dead’s numbers for second place are less than half that, at 6.9 million.

TorrentFreak 2015

The article goes on to note that despite the release of HBONow, which was an effort to both enter the streaming conversation and complete with Netflix, as well as make inroads with those cord-cutters who make up the bulk of those who illegally download shows like Game of Thrones, piracy showed zero signs of slowing in 2015. In fact, not only did numbers rise, but in many cases, including that of Game of Thrones, they dwarf the ratings numbers of those who actually watch it legally. HBO estimated that 8.1 million tuned into Thrones this season, which is a little less than half of the piracy estimate. (And again, we have to remember that TorrentFreak is only working with the numbers from one streaming site. Pirate Bay is just as huge as BitTorrent, and if one imagines that they have numbers of similar magnitude for the most popular show on the internet, that would mean that Game of Thrones could very well be looking at illegal download numbers in the 30 million range, which was the original estimate of the download numbers around the time of the screener leak.)

Of course, there was the fact that HBONow was only made available through AppleTV during the Season 5 run, and did not come to the far more popular platforms like Roku until this past summer. So perhaps, with HBO changing to distributing its screeners the 21st century way with online access only available to chosen reviewers, instead of the old school DVD-in-the-mail method, and the wider distribution of HBONow, 2016 could finally be the year they turn the corner. Until then, let us all hail the Most Pirated Show of 2015.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/28/game-of-thrones-wins-most-pirated-show-of-2015/

What Would Your "Game Of Thrones" Name Be?

Maybe Daenerys or Missandei?


Via http://www.buzzfeed.com/vikky/what-game-of-thrones-name-should-you-have-y65c?utm_term=4ldqpia

Sunday, December 27, 2015

WiC Weekly: December 20-26

Welcome to the Christmas week edition of WiC Weekly. What went down in the world of Game of Thrones this week? Read on.

Sansa Stark’s rape scene inspired the producers to revisit a few things in Season 6.

Our Small Council roundtable on the topic brought up some great points on all sides of the debate.

Next, we compile a list of 2016 movies featuring Game of Thrones actors. Everything’s coming up those people!

We have more details on the Season 6 wrap party.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the biggest movie to come out in…maybe ever, and several members of the Game of Thrones cast were a part of it.

The Game of Thrones cast members got into the Christmas spirit with a series of pics and messages.

Take a look at an excerpt from an animated featurette from the Game of Thrones Season 5 boxset

The BBC tries to get its show, The Last Kingdom, out from under the shadow of Game of Thrones. On the flip side, a Booker Prize-winning author embraces the comparisons.

We continue to look into how the Game of Thrones saga reflects ancient myth. This time: How closely does Jon Snow’s story follow the traditional Hero’s Journey, and what does it imply about his future?

And finally, we look into why the seasons in Westeros are so screwy in the latest edition Game of Thrones theorycrafting.


Via http://winteriscoming.net/2015/12/27/wic-weekly-december-20-26/