Game of Thrones Episode 2: Stormborn


SPOILERS AHEAD!

Lots to talk about this episode!

First, Daenerys gave off a distinct “mad king” vibe when she started going after Varys out of no where. It sure looked to me like everyone in the room was pretty surprised by her doing this, and I can’t remember even a hint of her being worried about this, at least recently. The only reason I can see that she talked about this at this point was that sometime before the end of the season Varys will either 1) really betray her trust or 2) do something to make Daenerys think that he betrayed her trust. If Tyrion isn’t around to talk her out of it, Varys won’t make it to next season. If that happens, Daenerys will definitely be on the path to be the “mad queen”.

Speaking of crazy people, Sam’s got to be one of the bravest (or stupidest) people on the show. Trying to help Jorah get a cure for grayscale? Something that contagious – well, one slip of the knife and a splat of that goo onto Sam, and that’d be it. Sam sure seems to be doing all the wrong things: Stealing books from the gated section of the library, trying to cure Jorah when it’s been forbidden because of the danger. Sure seems like he’s going to get kicked out quick, or he’ll be the new celebrated figure at The Citadel. I’m guessing the former, because Maesters seem to be the “by the book” (if you’ll excuse the expression) types.

Arya’s headed back to Winterfell, and will end up missing Jon, because he’s headed to see Daenerys. The interaction with the direwolf was a set up for something that’ll happen later in the season. Arya’s words, “That’s not you”, with a little smile while she said it makes me think Arya believes Nymeria’s acting out of character. Anyway, it seems likely to me that Nymeria won’t be by Arya’s side while she travels up north, at least initially, but will be trailing Arya (with the rest of the wolf pack) to make sure she’s safe.

The whole battle at sea with Euron and Yara, and yes, Theon, surprised me… I hadn’t expected that. I was under the impression at first the Euron was just out to get Yara. Turns out that was a bonus, because he was really after Ellaria, who was in the hold below. That’s the prize that Euron promised Cersei last episode. Last week I expected it would be Tyrion. How the heck did Euron know that fleet carried Ellaria?

Theon jumping overboard was a surprise, but after thinking it over, it was really his only move if he wanted to stand a chance against Euron at some point in the future. If he’d have tried to kill Euron on that boat, I’m pretty sure Theon knew he would have died. I’m sure that Euron thinks he could take out Theon with no problem. He wouldn’t have needed Yara to entice Theon to fight. If Euron wanted Yara dead, he’d have killed her on the spot. Likely another prize for Cersei.

Speaking of which… Did Nymeria Sand die? Or was she the one down in the hold with Ellaria? You did know that Arya named her dire wolf after her, right?

Edit: Yup. Nymeria Sand, died. She was the one with the bullwhip.

Game of Thrones: The Problem with Bran Stark

Spoilers ahead

I rewatched season 6 of Game of Thrones in preparation for the season 7 premiere tonight, and it just occurred to me The Wall has a big problem: Bran Stark.

As Benjen was leaving, he explained to that since he was partially dead, he couldn’t travel with Bran to go past The Wall. There are all kinds of enchantments built into the foundation of The Wall itself which makes it impossible for the Night King and his army to pass. These are the same enchantments that prevent Benjen from going past the wall.

The Three-Eyed Raven was surrounded by similar enchantments, but was able to break through those because Bran had been “marked” when he was on a vision quest. Remember that burn on Bran’s arm when the Night King grabbed him?

This is probably blatantly obvious to some of you since last season, but I think that as soon as Bran gets past The Wall, it’ll give The Night King a free pass to go right through. There will be a big fight, sure, but the Night King and his army will make it through – all because of Bran.

A Short Set of Season 7 of Game of Thrones Theories


SPOILERS AHEAD… Don’t read this theory until you’re all caught up…

Some brief theories about what I think we’ll see in Season 7:

One thing I think will happen for sure: One of Daenerys’ dragons is going to be killed, and the Night King will raise that thing for his own army. And the Wall? If that falls to a dragon’s breath, that’s a whole lot of water that’ll suddenly flood everything in sight.

Sometime… maybe we’ll have to wait until Season 8… Jaime is going to try to kill Cersei. Whether or not he succeeds or not is a different question. I really don’t see either of them surviving until the end.

Who do I think will sit on the Iron Throne at the end? Tyrion.

What do I hope we don’t see? An Undead Hodor. That would be terrible.

No “24” summaries this season


Hi folks,

For those of you who might wander over here to my blog to see the “24” summaries I usually write, I just wanted to let you know what’s going on during “24: Legacy”.

Now that Jack Bauer is no longer part of the show, there’s not going to be any live blog over on Dave Barry’s blog. Since that’s the case, I’ve decided it’s probably best for me to discontinue the summaries as well, and devote that time to other projects.

I hope you enjoyed the summaries that I did for previous seasons, and thanks for reading them.

Steve