The post Why setting a Game of Thrones prequel during the Age of Heroes is an odd choice appeared first on Winter is Coming.
Via https://winteriscoming.net/2018/06/30/editorial-why-the-age-of-heroes-is-an-odd-game-of-thrones-prequel-choice/
Saturday, June 30, 2018
Why setting a Game of Thrones prequel during the Age of Heroes is an odd choice
Via https://winteriscoming.net/2018/06/30/editorial-why-the-age-of-heroes-is-an-odd-game-of-thrones-prequel-choice/
Friday, June 29, 2018
Sophie Turner (Sansa) teases a “bloodier” final season of Game of Thrones with “more death”
Highly detailed images of the battered King’s Landing set as filming quiets down
Royal Mail and HBO to auction off stamps signed by cast members for charity
Lena Heady gives this print her stamp of approval. Get it? Stamp?
Grab your checkbooks, if you’re so inclined: The British Royal Mail service and HBO are auctioning off several signed versions of the Mail’s Game of Thrones stamps it released earlier this year — not actual size, fortunately, but rather enlarged prints — to raise money for the Mail’s charity partner, Action for Children.
The prints were signed by Lena Heady (Cersei Lannister), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) during filming of the eighth and final season (which, as we reported a few days ago, is said to be finished for good and will be celebrated with a final wrap party tomorrow).
The auction opened last night on Action for Children’s eBay charity page and runs until July 8th. All proceeds from the auction will go directly to the charity, which helps nearly 300,000 children, young people and their families across the UK.
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Thursday, June 28, 2018
Tourism Ireland wins multiple awards for its Game of Thrones season 7 ad campaign
Kristian Nairn toys with fans, teases Hodor’s return to Game of Thrones: “You never know”
San Diego Comic Con 2018 to Feature Exclusive Game of Thrones Funko Figures!
At this year’s San Diego Comic Con, after so many consecutive years, Game of Thrones will be skipping its usual appearance at Hall H, but there’s a silver lining for attendees: HBO and Funko have announced an Olenna Tyrell vinyl Pop! figure as a Comic Con exclusive, as well as an exclusive 4-pack for the Dorbz dragon figures!
Lady Olenna Tyrell of Highgarden will be available as an exclusive Pop! at SDCC. You can see the design for the “Queen of Thorns” below, in all her glory, glass of wine in hand and wearing her signature ornate headdress. Quick wit and sharp tongue not included!
The dragons will also be available as an exclusive Dorbz 4-Pack! How did they get four figures out of three dragons? Well, along with Drogon and Rhaegal, there are two versions of Viserion: the traditional one, and the “Icy” version raised from the frozen depths by the Night King. But don’t worry, alive or undead, they all look cute as hell:
If you were planning on going to SDCC and were disappointed by the news that there would be no Game of Thrones presence, this may alleviate your pain a bit. The Olenna design is dead-on; and look how cute those smiling dragons are! Even zombie Viserion!
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Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Amazon inks content deal with Game of Thrones producer, continues quest to conquer TV
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau deconstructs Jaime’s choice to leave Cersei and discusses the challenge of filming shorter seasons
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau recently chatted with Vanity Fair about the thought process behind Jaime’s desertion of Cersei and hinted at the choices Jaime might make next season.
During his interview, he also reflected on the challenges that season 7’s shorter runtime presented to the actors, who were used to playing out storylines set on a much more condensed timeline.
“Trying to connect the dots between the scenes was a little complicated because you invest so much time, so many years in these characters, so when suddenly you find out that Jaime comes back and his son has committed suicide . . . there’s so many things that obviously you can’t go through, on-screen, all of these moments, but you have to still walk through them in your mind, if you’re an actor, at least talk about them. There was a lot of those connecting the dots throughout the season.”
He also addressed Jaime’s monumental decision to finally, finally leave his toxic sister at the end of last season. According to Coster-Waldau, it was the moment Cersei commanded Robert Strong to execute Jaime that cut the chord.
“That breaks his heart,” he said. “Because his whole life has been about her.”
His single line before turning away, “I don’t believe you,” was packed with subtext: “[He’s saying,] I don’t love you anymore. . . . I’m calling your bluff, and, you know, you can’t hurt me now because my heart has been destroyed by you. You can’t hurt me anymore than you already have,” Coster-waldau said.
However, Coster-Waldau cautioned that Jaime’s decision might not be long-lasting. “That’s, of course, said in a moment of passion. Who knows if it’s true?” he said.
“I’ve almost been married 20 years—June 6th will be our 20th anniversary—and I’m very, very lucky. I have a wonderful wife. But over 20 years, there are times where you have fights. You can be so angry that for a second in your passion and anger you can go, ‘Oh, fuck this.’ Of course, three seconds later, you go, ‘No, no, no. What am I doing? What am I thinking?’ . . . I think the fundamental emotions are the same in every relationship. As a setup for the season we’re shooting now, it was just amazing.” He then hastened to add that his relationship with his wife is nothing like Jaime’s relationship with Cersei.
Speaking of the “amazing” upcoming season, though, Coster-Waldau said that it has “definitely been the toughest season by far” but that “it’s also been the most fulfilling.”
“This is the end of the show. There won’t be any more stories after this, so, for me . . . I don’t know if it gets better, but I just find it a lot more interesting.”
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Fandom-Wide Survey Ratings for Game of Thrones, Part 3: Justifiable Homicide?
By Chris Wright, aka James Rivers, with Petra
We’re onto Part 3 of our Game of Thrones survey results, in which we learn that of two formerly Essos-dwelling female characters, only one’s lethal acts are consistently seen as justified.
We’ll review nearly four dozen events on the show – various beheadings, imprisonments and mass killings – to see which got a nod of moral approval from respondents. On a different topic entirely, we’ll see which houses are most favored.
For Part 1 of the survey results, which includes survey basics and ratings of plot elements and seasons (and were presented at Con of Thrones last month), click here. Part 2, which has ratings regarding characters, is available here. Part 4 is yet to come!
Justifying Actions…or Not
We asked respondents the following:
“Below is a list of certain plot developments. For each, please choose how justified you feel the action taken was (as opposed to how justified the character taking the action felt). Please consider mainly the show depiction, if you also have read the books.”
Per usual, we had a five-point scale ranging from Very Unjustified (1) to Very Justified (5).
We listed 45 actions/events – nearly all of them involving attempted or successful murder – presented in three relatively random groups of 15. The three groups showed up in a random order, as did the 15 events within each of them. The actions were phrased in “active voice” as much as possible (example: “Olenna poisons Joffrey,” not “Joffrey is poisoned”) so it was clear who was performing the action/event.
Here were the nine most-justified character actions.
There’s a lot of Arya way up here; respondents were largely OK with her actions. Of course, many of them have been “rah rah” retributive moments.
Here’s the second group of nine.
To be clear, just because one found an action justified doesn’t mean they were pleased with the end result. For instance, as shown above, more than two-thirds of respondents said Tyrion’s use of wildfire during the Blackwater battle was justified. But as shown back in Part 1 of our results, only a third were pleased that Stannis lost that battle.
And the middle group of nine, though all but one fell on the “justified” side, however slightly.
Here we have three beheadings rated very closely together (those of Will, Rickard Karstark and Mossador), and also very close to neutral. What, if anything, does that say about the moral universe, and justice system, on Thrones?
Our second to last grouping…
I was pleased from a data-validity standpoint that the High Sparrow’s related arrests of Loras and Margaery, despite their being in different groups (remember these were split into three groups of 15), wound up with nearly identical scores. We also have three actions involving Melisandre rated relatively closely together. Though there’s one more that is rated much lower…
And the final one.
To paraphrase Petra in an earlier article, it’s not surprising that the murder of children would be seen as very unjustified. Though I wonder: Suppose Stannis had defeated Ramsay at Winterfell, even taken over that northern capital. Would the burning of Shireen have been seen as more justified?
Petra: It’s interesting that the most-justified action wasn’t committed by an unambiguous fan favorite, like Jon, but by Sansa, who was among the top favorite and least favorite characters (see Part 2). Fans are able to acknowledge that her action was justified even if some of them also don’t like her as a character.
(Note: I included it for the record, but the “Robert’s bastards are ordered killed” item was not asked clearly on the survey; the question said Joffrey had ordered them killed. That’s in the show only. In the books, it was Cersei.)
Speaking of killing people, two female characters who do a fair amount of that are heading in opposite directions when it comes to their actions’ justifiability, according to our results. Here are results, on the one to five scale, regarding actions Arya and Dany have taken over the years.
Arya’s acts, which are generally more retributive in nature, are seen as more justified, with each scoring at least a 4.0 out of 5. Dany’s results hew closer to a 3.0 neutral score.
Petra: I can’t help but cite sexism as one reason why Daenerys’ actions have grown increasingly unjustified in their perception (my views on her character are complicated, but I don’t want to get sidetracked). But I’m forced to check my assumptions as Daenerys’ declining justified ratings contrast with Arya’s rising ones. It’s odd that they have changed, because their motivations and methodology haven’t. Perhaps it’s the changing context: watching Arya grow in independence and agency makes it hard not to root for her when she defeats adversaries, yet seeing Daenerys’ rise in power makes it a little … scarier when she uses that power to take out her enemies.
Justified-ness by Viewer Type
In Part 1 we explained the three “viewer types” – those who read at least one book before seeing the show; those who were exposed to the show, then decided to try the books; and those who’ve never read the books (either because of an edict from Sue the Fury or not). Let’s see how their opinions varied, or didn’t, for the above 45 actions.
For simplicity’s sake, we’re showing only either “justified” or “unjustified” stats below, whichever had the bigger difference (remember, neutral was a category too). We’ve lumped together the “very” and “slightly/somewhat” responses from above.
First up, here’s actions involving Dany or Arya. Those of you less into data dumps should keep an eye out for the red bars, which note actions with at least a nine-point difference across the groups.
The killing of the Tarlys registered the biggest split among all 45 events – a striking 16-point difference. And when there are big differences, it’s the show-only viewers seeing actions as more justified or less unjustified. The only exception above is Arya’s murder of Polliver, which book readers were more down with. Why would that reaction be different?
Tyrion’s twin slayings at the end of Season 4 engender differing reactions by nearly the same margin (12 points for Tywin, 13 for Shae), as do a couple of Cersei’s endeavors, be they mass slaughter or a simple poisoning. At least three of the four can be seen as retributive; again, I wonder why it’s vengeful events that seem to result in differences between book readers and show-onlys. (Meanwhile, though the difference is only five points, book-first respondents were less likely to find Ned’s beheading unjustified.)
In this group is the only event that book-firsts more saw as justified by a big margin: Robb’s beheading of Rickard Karstark. Just below it we see something similar with Ned beheading Will, though by only seven points, and at top right, Jon beheading Janos, by five points. Do book readers more approve of the Westerosi justice system than show-onlys? Or do they just like seeing northerners cut off others’ heads?
Kings, Houses and Bureaucracy
Elsewhere in the survey, we asked a question involving the undergirding of the early seasons and, in a sort of mock public opinion poll, probed for attitudes about varied Westerosi organizations.
The War of the Five Kings was the backdrop for the early seasons of Thrones, made clear by the cruel lampoonery at the center of the Joffrey-Margaery nuptials. We asked respondents to rank their preferred winner, from most preferred to least. These were the results. The number at right was the character’s average rank, with 1.00 being the best possible score (one only attainable if virtually every respondent ranked them 1st).
- Robb Stark – 1.32
- Renly Baratheon – 2.36
- Stannis Baratheon – 2.48
- Balon Greyjoy – 4.15
- Joffrey Baratheon – 4.67
Petra: No surprises here. Efficacy at leading was a little ambiguous for all five kings (we could have a looong conversation about that) but in terms of likability, Robb and Renly are the obvious winners and Joffrey was guaranteed to be at the bottom.
We also asked respondents to rank ten great, or at least greatish, houses from favorite to least favorite. These were those results. The number at right is, as above, the average ranking.
- Stark – 1.59
- Targaryen – 3.52
- Tyrell – 4.43
- Baratheon – 4.95
- Martell – 5.06
- Tully – 5.11
- Lannister – 5.16
- Greyjoy – 7.03
- Bolton – 8.8
- Frey – 9.05
Petra: Ranking houses is tricky because, well, what are you assessing? Their words? Their sigil? The likability of each individual member can vary wildly. Is it the house’s overall feel? Or perhaps the likeability of certain iconic members tints people’s view of the whole family. The Starks were/are all pretty likable, so their place at No. 1 is understandable. But the Targaryens’ rank may be due to the popularity of individual members – Daenerys and Egg, for instance – rather than an overall belief that they make the best leaders.
We also asked a broader question that’s somewhat similar:
“Below are ‘Houses’ and groups or other institutions that appear on the show and in the books. What is your overall opinion of each?”
This had, you guessed it, a five-point scale, going from Very Negative to Very Positive. And keep in mind, as we’ve seen elsewhere in this survey, something can be a “favorite” even if folks have a negative opinion of it (see Lannister, Cersei, on the good/evil and favorite character lists).
Note that, despite being No.2 in the 1-to-10 rankings above, House Targaryen has the fourth-most-positive image, with the Tyrells and Tullys above it.
Whew. That’s three sets of results down, one to go. We’ll be back with episode ratings (Hint: The bottom five episodes are all from the same season; another season of the show placed three episodes in the top ten) and more!
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Monday, June 25, 2018
Is this the year Diana Rigg finally wins an Emmy for her work as Olenna Tyrell?
Hundreds of extras shoot an action scene on the fire-ravaged King’s Landing set
Final Game of Thrones wrap party to take place soon & Fire ravages Season 8 set as second longest battle shoot continues!
Game of Thrones may be about to end production for one last time (with a definitive wrap party in the days to come—get the details below!), but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the frenzied shooting at the King’s Landing set throughout this past week. If you’re keeping score, by this point this climactic battle (and whatever other mayhem is going on there) has become the second largest action shoot in Game of Thrones history, rivalled only by the Moneyglass battle shoot from earlier in the year. And it’s still going, with a record number of extras running around the blazing destruction of the capital!
As usual, A Red Priestess was there to witness the action from afar… but, with this scale of destruction, it was more than close enough to get an idea of what was going on.
Better quality video. I hadn’t seen the small fire on the left #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/o5VWOccD06
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) June 22, 2018
— A Red Priestess (@a_red_priestess) June 25, 2018
The set has been transformed into a destroyed King’s Landing. Photo: A Red Priestess
This landmark Dubrovnik dome was set aflame. Photo: A Red Priestess
The tower also suffered damaged. Photo: A Red Priestess
Incidentally, the Red Keep gate was repainted to look like sandy stone; though this may seem confusing, only now it’s in line with how we’ve seen it before. Photo: A Red Priestess
According to Los Siete Reinos, this won’t be the typical battle scene of exclusively armed soldiers: this particular scene, which began filming two weeks ago, features more than 600 extras—among them women, which points to civilians being caught in the crossfire. Reportedly, the scene will resume filming this week and will wrap in early July. By the end, at least three weeks of filming will have been allocated for this portion of the larger King’s Landing battle sequence, which has been about a two months shoot, overall!
Speaking of wrapping: though the cast gathered for a party in early June, that was at least a month before the end of production. According to our sources, the true final wrap party will be on June 30th in Belfast, with all former cast members included.
Game of Thrones coming to an end may be quite sad for all of us, but they are, of course, right to celebrate. For nearly a decade, they have produced eight season of peak TV and, with a doubled shooting schedule for little more than half the episodes, it appears the writers, cast, and crew were given the best possible chance to create a worthy end for Game of Thrones. I for one am excited to watch the fruits of this Herculean labor!
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Sunday, June 24, 2018
WiC Weekly: June 16-22
The post WiC Weekly: June 16-22 appeared first on Winter is Coming.
Via https://winteriscoming.net/2018/06/24/wic-weekly-june-16-22/
Joe Dempsie talks about how filming Game of Thrones was different this time around
Westworld Season 2, Episode 10 live stream (“The Passenger”): Watch online
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Friday, June 22, 2018
Alfie Allen preps for life after Thrones, Jason Momoa goes viral, and other cast member shenanigans
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reveals the two Game of Thrones moments he “just couldn’t watch”
Game of Thrones season 8 will have “the biggest battle in TV history”
Nikolaj Coster Waldau on Game of Thrones Season 8: “We’ve gone all in”
Filming on the eighth season of Game of Thrones is wrapping up, and reports are trickling in on actors who have finished their shoots. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is one of them – he has filmed his last scene as Jaime Lannister. In a new interview with Variety, he shares his feelings about the final season, and what it’s like to say goodbye.
When asked if he knows how the series ends, Coster-Waldau admits he does and had “such a mixture of feelings” about it when he read the script. “I was excited. I thought that Dan Weiss and David Benioff – the creators – they just couldn’t have done a better job on ending our story.”
Coster-Waldau is “satisfied” with where the story goes and believes the fans will be as well. “We’ve worked harder than ever before. We spent twice as much time shooting these six episodes than we did on two full seasons before. No expense has been spared. We’ve gone all in,” he explains. “We really hope people will like it. We’ve done our best.”
Regarding his final scene, Coster-Waldau confesses it was emotional. However, he confesses he’s not quite finished with Game of Thrones. “I don’t think it’ll ever be gone from my life,” he teases. “I’m going back to Belfast next week…I’m not 100% done, but the last scene in the script – I’ve shot that, yeah.” He then clarifies by saying, “The last scene with me.” It seems Jaime Lannister won’t be in the final scene of the season – make of that what you will.
Whatever Jaime’s eventual fate may be, there are guaranteed to be shocking moments before it’s all over. Coster-Waldau believes shocking the audience – but not going overboard – is “what the show has been very good at. It’s such a fine balance.” He goes on to say that one scene was particularly brutal. “Shireen being burned at the stake was just cruel. I understand why they did it, but I just couldn’t watch it. And it was difficult to even read.” Join the club Nikolaj.
No matter how difficult that scene was, Coster-Waldau believes that “even the most extreme things have been driven by story. At this point in the show…you’re reaping the rewards of the work that’s been put into all these characters. As an audience member, you’re kind of invested into every single one of these people, which is…” He trails off before admitting, “I shouldn’t talk about the ending here.” It seems we should prepare ourselves for broken hearts next year!
Check out his full interview, including his thoughts on representation and #MeToo, over at Variety.
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Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (the Mountain) debuts a new look “after 14 hours of filming in Belfast”
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has shot Jaime Lannister’s final scene, but isn’t done filming
From the Maester’s Desk – Endgame: The Spider and the Red Woman
Supporting characters can be important- sometimes they can even outshine some of the main players. Hodor wasn’t a top-billed character, but I’ll be damned if his demise didn’t hit me harder than that of poor Ned Stark. And in the game of thrones, apart from those who fight the battles, there are others who pull strings in the dark and try to influence big players to change the course of a battle or even the future of an entire continent.
One such master manipulator, presumably the one who’s solely responsible for the start of the War of the Five Kings, died after the remaining Stark kids beat him at his own game. One has fallen in disgrace and the other remains at the side of the dragon queen. This article is about these two surviving players, who are wholly different and yet have a lot in common: Varys and Melisandre.
Of the two, it is Varys’ role that underwent the most changes in the process of adapting the books to the screen, but the character’s essence is well preserved. Melisandre’s part was expanded a little, with the addition of scenes that were only implied or didn’t exist at all in the source material, but that make sense for the character and have had a direct influence in the events of the narrative.
In a shortened final season that is poised to be battle-centric as the Great War looms over Westeros, there’s not much time for political maneuvers, and Melisandre’s knack for burning people died with Stannis Baratheon. So what’s going to be the fate of the Spider and the Red Woman? I’ll be making some educated guesses, while eagerly awaiting to find out!
VARYS
Varys, known as “the Spider” by both friends and enemies alike, is one of the most intriguing and interesting characters of the series (the books and the screen adaptation too).
Conleth Hill plays him with much gusto, bringing a real sense of fun in many of the scenes he shares with Peter Dinklage or Dame Diana Rigg, but also nailing the more threatening side of the Master of Whisperers, such as the moment in Season 3 (Episode 4: “And Now His Watch Is Ended”) when Varys tells Tyrion the story of how he was castrated, and reveals that he managed to track down and capture the sorcerer who cut him. We do not know how Varys took revenge, but the implication was clear enough: under the seemingly calm demeanor there’s a ruthless man.
Up to Season 4, the character remained mostly loyal to the source material, but the road diverged in the finale (“The Children”), when Varys decided to join Tyrion and travel with him to Essos. This was a consequence of a not insignificant number of characters from A Dance with Dragons getting the axe, most notably Jon Connington and “Young Griff”. By the end of said book we discover Varys has always been a Targaryen loyalist and is actively working to undermine the Lannister rule in order to pave the road for Aegon. And even before that, wanting to remove Robert Baratheon (despite the relative peace Westeros had under his reign) makes sense because he was a wasteful king who indebted the crown, and whenever he died illegitimate heirs would ascend, allowing House Lannister to seize control of the Iron Throne.
The book version of Varys is also responsible for the deaths of Kevan Lannister and Grand Maester Pycelle, whereas in the show they died in different circumstances and at the hands of other people. In the novel, their deaths are meant to further destabilize an already messy situation for the Lannisters, and in the TV series it was a matter of removing all opposition to Cersei in one fell swoop.
How Daenerys fits in Varys’ plans is anyone’s guess for now. It’s a bit weird to be betting on two different Targaryen claimants at the same time, considering they were expecting Khal Drogo to make a move and help Viserys. Episode 2 of the seventh season (“Stormborn”) implies Varys (and his co-conspirators to an extent) didn’t take Dany into consideration at the time, since she was supposed to be married off to Khal Drogo and be little more than a trophy wife.
The show wisely took a simpler path that’s easier to follow than the many moving pieces from the literary version.
More than being a Targaryen loyalist, Varys’ support for Daenerys seems to stem from his belief that she’ll be a good ruler who’ll put an end to all the bloodshed and suffering caused by the war that is still raging, even if her worst impulses need to be reined in from time to time.
Given that he’s not one of the main characters nor a fighter (as he bluntly told Ned Stark, “When you look at me, do you see a hero?”) I wouldn’t expect him to have a big role in what is likely going to be a very battle-centric final season. I have trouble even picturing him as a character who would sacrifice himself or stay behind in order to give others a chance to escape, since it’d be a waste. Unlike Brynden “The Blackfish” Tully or Syrio Forel, Varys wouldn’t be able to hold off armed enemies (unless there’s some trickery involved and Varys acts merely as bait?).
There are some interesting possibilities, regardless, even if Varys doesn’t get to have a lot of screen time.
The voice from the flames: The night a sorcerer castrated Varys and threw his parts to the fire, he heard a voice calling from the flames. That memory still haunts his dreams: not the blade, not the mutilation he suffered, but the words he heard. He has hated magic and all those who practice it ever since.
In the fifth episode of Season 6 (“The Door”), Varys and Tyrion meet with a high-ranking red priestess named Kinvara to seek her help in support of Daenerys Targaryen. Varys does little, if anything, to hide his disdain for red priests, pretty much calling Kinvara a fanatic to her face.
Instead of losing her temper, she gave an ominous reply, asking Varys if he’d like to remember what the voice said, or if she should tell him the name of the one who spoke. Varys seems disquiet and remains silent.
Ever since the “sorcerer in a box” scene I wondered if we’d ever know the details of the conversation Varys heard, but time passed and I assumed it’d remain a vague piece of backstory until Kinvara brought the subject back three seasons later. Alas, no new information was provided, but the question remains: will we ever find out?
A part of me very much wants to and even believes it’s inevitable, since the shows keeps very few secrets. Unlike the books, which are full of prophecies and a high number of as-of-yet unsolved mysteries, most of the questions have been answered, from the origin of the White Walkers to Jon Snow’s true name and parentage.
On the other hand, it’d be cool if no answer is given, in a similar fashion to Tyrion’s “honeycomb and a jackass” joke. There are few surviving characters and none of them really fits the bill for the voice’s true identity, so it can’t possibly be a huge revelation. Besides, it’s nice to keep one or two mysteries alive for fans to keep discussing once the show is over.
Dying in a strange country: This may or may not be related to the “voice from the flames”. In a brief conversation Varys had with Melisandre in the third episode of Season 7 (“The Queen’s Justice”), the red priestess told Varys of her intentions to travel to Volantis. The Master of Whisperers is apparently pleased about this, but then Melisandre says: “I will return, dear Spider, one last time. I have to die in this strange country, just like you”. As it happened with Kinvara, the rug is once again pulled from under his feet and he’s rendered speechless.
Carice van Houten said in an interview with Elle that she personally thinks death is coming for Varys in Season 8, and though he may try to run from it, he won’t be able to escape.
He made it clear to Dany that she can’t expect blind loyalty from him, and Tyrion is well-aware that the Spider won’t risk his neck for his friends. Varys didn’t help Ned and testified against Tyrion, and though he did help the latter to escape King’s Landing, that was mostly because of Jaime. The books made it clear:
Tyrion: You never told me why you set me free.
Varys: Your brother asked me to.
Tyrion: Could’ve said no.
Varys: Refuse the Kingslayer? A dangerous proposition.
The show, however, took a somewhat different approach, with Jaime telling his little brother “you have more friends than you thought”, which suggests the plan was cooked by both Jaime and Varys, instead of the latter being coerced into helping Tyrion.
I think it’s very unlikely Varys would betray Daenerys. He has burned all his other bridges. Qyburn has his little birds and Cersei wouldn’t have him back for the role he played in Tyrion’s escape and the murder of Tywin. I feel safe in betting that his demise won’t be caused by a dragon or the blade of an unsullied soldier.
Should he die in Season 8, I don’t feel it’d be a momentous event. He’s a very important character to be sure, and one that’s beloved by fans, but no hero material or even a character whose death would elicit tears from the audience, like Hodor. As Varys himself said, “Who would mourn poor Varys then? North or South, they sing no songs for spiders”.
My guess is that he’ll live to continue serving as an advisor and Master of Whisperers, if either Daenerys or Jon (or both of them) becomes the ruler of Westeros. Melisandre’s prediction is vague enough, and she’d still be right if Varys dies of old age in Westeros, never having returned to Lys.
These are admittedly not very exciting predictions, but Varys’s importance lies precisely in all the political maneuvering that happens behind the scenes. Other characters will have all the glory of going out with a bang, but the Spider will remain to help rebuild once the dust settles.
MELISANDRE
Lady Melisandre of Asshai, known as the Red woman, is also a character who whispers in the ears of kings and has an agenda of her own, but her methods and the mystery behind her persona are wholly different than those of Varys’s.
Carice van Houten masterfully brought to life a very difficult character to portray in live action, since in my opinion there was a big risk of turning Melisandre into one big ham, considering her fanatic devotion to both Stannis and R’hllor, and also the human sacrifices she was responsible for.
Some of the character’s characteristics from the book were toned down for the adaptation, such as her red eyes or her bright red hair, most likely to avoid them looking unnecessarily distracting.
Although there have been some alterations in her storyline, the screenwriters remained close to the source material for the most part. Some things that were only implied in the books, such as the “shadow baby” being the result of Stannis and Melisandre having sexual intercourse, are explicitly shown. And long-standing theories like the red priestess being much older than she looks, were confirmed in the sixth season’s premiere (“The Red Woman”).
Whether if there’s really a Lord of Light or not is still a matter of debate, but It’s interesting to note that the magic involved with this particular religion is real. Melisandre is not only unnaturally long-lived, but the novels also show that she can go for days without eating since R’hllor “provides her with all the nourishment her body needs”. When maester Cressen attempts to poison her with wine, she’s unaffected -whereas the maester dies. And there’s also the fact red priests are able to revive people -though both Thoros and Melisandre acknowledge it’s “the lord’s will” if someone comes back from the dead or not.
Arya observes that Beric Dondarrion never eats and doesn’t need to sleep. But is Melisandre “dead” too? While I doubt it, A Dance with Dragons hints at a backstory that remains vague, when Melisandre recalls her past as a slave girl named Melony, sold to the great red temple. We don’t get to explore a great deal of her past beyond that.
And curiously enough, the show has made it clear that even non-believers (such as Stannis or Sandor) are able to see visions in the fire.
I expect the R’hllor-related magic to remain unexplained nonetheless, since magic is always a tricky subject in the fantasy genre, hard to pin down. Even fantasy sagas that revolve around magic, like Harry Potter, are inevitably riddled with holes in their own explanations and rules. So it’s better to let the sleeping dogs lie, indeed.
The burning of Shireen Baratheon remains a controversial topic. David Benioff and Dan Weiss said they took this story bit from George RR Martin himself, but with the sixth book of the series being still in the works, we can’t compare. And the logistics (based in the current character locations and developing events) are complicated. Nevertheless, it’s the defeat of Stannis what makes Melisandre have a crisis of faith, especially after realizing she sacrificed Shireen for nothing.
After Davos discovers the truth, and once the battle against Ramsay is won, she’s expelled from Winterfell and is warned to never return, since she’d be facing execution. The red priestess departs the North, but still manages to reunite Daenerys and Jon before leaving Westeros -but not for good, as she told Varys.
Knowing that she’s slated for a return in Season 8, though her story could’ve easily ended with her departure, it’s safe to assume she has a rendezvous with death. But how will it happen?
Executed by Arya: Melisandre briefly made it to Arya’s kill list, after she took Gendry away in Season 3. And though she’s apparently no longer a part of said list (and Gendry made it out alive, which would render Melisandre’s inclusion moot), she looked into Arya’s eyes and told her they’d meet again one day.
It remains to be seen how (and when) that meeting will happen. Four seasons have passed since that ominous prediction, and the parts involved don’t seem to be looking forward to it (or dreading it). Maybe plans changed behind the scenes or perhaps the dialogue (or the vagueness of it) made it seem like a bigger deal than it really is, but currently I don’t see a lot of motivation for Arya to kill Mel. Other than crossing a name off her list, it wouldn’t be really satisfactory.
Surely they’ll meet again. The consequences of it may not be so deadly, however.
Executed by Davos: As opposed to Arya, Davos does have plenty of reason and motivation to kill Melisandre. In fact, he told her that if he ever saw her again, he’d execute her himself.
The loss of someone who was like a daughter to him surely still hurts Davos, and he’s unlikely to ever forgive the red priestess despite her important role in retaking Winterfell from House Bolton.
Davos already tried to impulsively kill Melisandre, and paid the price for it. They were always uneasy allies at best. And now there’s a huge chasm between the two.
Though it makes more narrative sense than having Arya executing her, and it’d be a way to end the feud between the two, I personally wouldn’t like this outcome. Davos has a forgiving and gentle nature, as evidenced by the fact he never harbored resentment towards Stannis for chopping his fingers off, or for dooming himself and his entire family (and army) by listening to Melisandre. Tyrion was directly responsible for the death of his son Matthos (and Davos does remember. “Last time I was here you killed my son with wildfire”), but there’s no bad blood between the two.
Much as he’s justified, I’d be sad to see him killing the red priestess.
Melisandre is Nissa Nissa: This may sound a bit crazy or far-fetched, but please bear with me. Although the show has been really low on prophecies and references to mythical figures, there have been some tiny details sprinkled here and there.
In the Season 2 premiere (“The North Remembers”) Stannis’s sword is named Lightbringer, like the sword of legend that belonged to Azor Ahai.
Azor Ahai is a legendary hero (according to the stories of the followers of R’hllor anyway) who forged a sword to drive the darkness away and defeat the Others (or the White Walkers). But the power of this sword came with a heavy price: Azor Ahai had to sacrifice the life of his wife, Nissa Nissa. He pierced her heart with the blade, and her soul combined with the steel, creating a hero’s sword that wouldn’t break.
Legend says that Azor Ahai will come back to fight the Others once more, as a champion reborn, sent by the Lord of Light himself.
The White Walkers have already breached the Wall and began their invasion of Westeros, and Jon has been resurrected by Melisandre (or by R’hllor through her). Fans have theorized dozens of possibilities for the identity of Azor Ahai, from Daenerys Targaryen to Jaime Lannister, but Jon is the one that makes the most sense for me. And considering Melisandre’s longevity and her obsession with this legend, including her affinity to fire, I think it makes her a plausible candidate for Nissa Nissa’s role.
Melisandre wants to help in the Great War, and possibly seek to make amends for the damage she has caused. She’s aware that her fate is to die in Westeros, but we don’t know how it’ll happen -maybe she doesn’t know the details herself. Perhaps the realization will hit her during the trip to Volantis, and she’ll come back to fulfill her role, as told in the legend.
It wouldn’t be as much of an execution but more of a willing sacrifice. Giving her life in order to save others, instead of burning people for naught, would be one hell of a way for the Red Woman to redeem herself.
The main problem I see with this theory is precisely that the show has shied away from these elements from the books, possibly to keep things mostly grounded and realistic, but then again, it’s a series with dragons, magic and ice zombies. An ancient hero reborn would be hardly the most bonkers thing that has happened so far.
As opposed to other characters I’ve talked about in previous “Endgame” articles, Varys and Melisandre posed a bit of a riddle for me. It’s not that the others are “predictable”, but their paths are a bit more clear: they have enemies and scores to settle, goals they want to accomplish, ambitions they have expressed. Not the same case with Varys and Mel, since they’ve kept things ambiguous and they don’t even have foes (Davos hates Melisandre, but the feeling isn’t mutual. And Varys didn’t seem to feel annoyed by Qyburn taking command of the little birds).
As with all my predictions, what the screenwriters have in store could be something completely out of left field, and I expect no less. I’m fully expecting Varys to be one of the few who live to see the end of the Great War, but if he dies I’ll sure be surprised. On the other hand, Melisandre is a safe bet when it comes to characters who are going to kick the bucket in the final season, but the how remains a mystery.
Nonetheless, I’m really glad both Conleth Hill and Carice van Houten will grace our screens as their GoT characters one last time when Season 8 finally arrives next year. It still feels far away, but we’re getting closer each day. 2019 can’t come soon enough!
The post From the Maester’s Desk – Endgame: The Spider and the Red Woman appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
Via http://watchersonthewall.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Candidate wants to march corrupt politicians through the streets, “Game of Thrones-style”
Monday, June 18, 2018
Outlander author talks about George R.R. Martin’s struggles writing The Winds of Winter
Matt Shakman explains how being a director on Game of Thrones is like summer camp
Sunday, June 17, 2018
WiC Weekly: June 9-15
The post WiC Weekly: June 9-15 appeared first on Winter is Coming.
Via https://winteriscoming.net/2018/06/17/wic-weekly-june-9-15/
Westworld Season 2, Episode 9 live stream (“Vanishing Point”): Watch online
Saturday, June 16, 2018
We review every commentary on the Game of Thrones season 7 Blu-ray boxset
Season 8 filming: Bella Ramsey (Lyanna Mormont) filming scenes in Belfast
Take the Black Live: Our hopes and fears for HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel show
Friday, June 15, 2018
Win a date with Kit Harington, take a gander at Jason Momoa in Aquaman, and other celeb things
Lady Lyanna Mormont returns in Season 8 & Well-known location recreated in ruins!
We bring you an update on the latest filming news for Game of Thrones season eight, including a furtive look into a curious new set which may result in much speculation. But more importantly: rejoice, for the Lady Mormont of Bear Island has returned!
Our sources inform us that Bella Ramsey, the prodigious young actress who first blew us away in season six, has been filming this week in Belfast. She wasn’t the only one, as Emilia Clarke was seen in Belfast, though we don’t know whether they filmed together or not… but I do know I would pay to see that! Can you imagine a conversation between two forces of nature as thunderous as Lyanna Mormont and Daenerys Targaryen?
Ramsey appeared most prominently in “The Broken Man”, when we first met Lyanna, and in “The Winds of Winter”, when she scolded the other lords and advanced Jon as king. We were delighted to have her back in season seven, even though she didn’t have such a prominent role and wasn’t present after the first few episodes. We don’t know how much Lyanna will appear this time, but now we know for sure she will have a role to play “in the wars to come”, at least. Here’s hoping for a few more showstopping scenes!
Now, onto news that are still cool but can’t quite reach the magnificent badassery of Our Lady of Bear Island: earlier in the week, GOTlike Locations found a new Paint Hall set!
Photo: GOTlike Locations
Photo: GOTlike Locations
Photo: GOTlike Locations
Though we can’t see most of this multi-story set from the front-facing side, the few parts we do show the Red Keep’s characteristic stonework (though it is and has always been more of a salmon pink, really). The windows are also consistent with the keep.
Perhaps more importantly, another detail you may have noticed is that most of the building appears to be in ruins, at least at the top. Is Daenerys’s vision at the House of the Undying—of the throne room with a burnt down roof during winter—coming true? (No, it couldn’t have been all ash; there were icicles!). Whether that’s what this is or not, it certainly is set somewhere in the spacious Targaryen keep—and it’s seen better days.
What do you think is going on here? And how hyped are you for Lady Mormont’s return?
The post Lady Lyanna Mormont returns in Season 8 & Well-known location recreated in ruins! appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
Via http://watchersonthewall.com
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