The Wild Blog in the West

I'm not going to swear an oath I can't uphold. When enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies. - Jon Snow (GoT, Season 7, "The Dragon and the Wolf")  Countless takes have been written about Game of Throne 's final season, Season 8, since the final episode aired on May 19, 2019.  That said, my outrage is still fresh, and I have a perspective that I have not seen entirely covered elsewhere. As any fan of A Song of Ice and Fire knows, George RR Martin was and is still working on the sixth novel in the series , The Winds of Winter .  There is no official ending to the series, and there may not ever be.  Therefore, many fans of the novels took solace in the fact that Martin's intended ending would appear, in some form, in Season 8.  Flash forward to May 19, 2019, and the collective riot nearly took down the Internet (though actually the riot began the week before, after the episode, ...

Okay, that was a bad play on words, I admit.  Telltale's Game of Thrones is definitely not boring, even if at times it feels one note. For those who haven't played the game yet, there be spoilers below! What is Telltale's Game of Thrones ?  For the uninitiated, Telltale Games is a gaming company that produces graphic adventure series, many in multiple chapters.  Its Game of Thrones Season One follows House Forrester, bannermen to House Glover and Stark family loyalists.  In the books, House Forrester is mentioned in passing, little more than a hill clan.  In the episodic series, which follows the show, House Forrester is a minor noble house with the motto: "Iron from Ice." The story begins on the night of the Red Wedding, where the Forrester patriarch, Gregor the Good, is slain by deceitful Freys.  Before he succumbs, he gives his squire, Gared Tuttle, a mysterious message: "The North Grove must never be lost."  Gared returns to the Fo...

Spoilers for anyone who has not read A Feast for Crows or A Dance With Dragons, or the released chapters of The Winds of Winter. By now, viewers of Game of Thrones  can see that the show's creators are beginning to shift the story toward its end game, toward the final Ice Zombie Apocalypse and One Who Wins the Iron Throne.  The outcome of most characters is highly uncertain.  Will Daenerys Targaryen fly her way back to the Throne on dragon wings?  Or will Jon Snow forge his way to the Iron Throne through a phalanx of ice zombies?  Or will it be stoic, meticulous Stannis Baratheon?  Or (f)Aegon?  Or Sansa Stark?  Maybe some combination of the above, like Jon and Daenerys, or even Jon and Sansa.* Who do I think it will be?  Daenerys. She seems like the obvious choice, which in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe usually means she is marked for death.  And I would not at all put it past Martin or the show's producers to kill her off...

Needless to say, this post contains a few spoilers. By now, Game of Thrones  the HBO series has completed its portrayal of the third -- and arguably the best -- book of the  A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords .  It even dipped into A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons  story lines. As both a reader and a viewer, I can now sit back and make a measured assessment of each medium's strength and weakness.  Whereas before, I did a post comparing the book characters to their show versions, here I will look at which medium does a better job portraying important story moments. 1.  Ned Stark's Death Setting the Scene: Eddard "Ned" Stark, Hand of King Robert and primary POV of A Game of Thrones , has accused Queen Cersei of conceiving her children (including heir-to-the-throne Joffrey) through incest.  He is then locked up and informed that if he repents his claim, his only punishment will be banishment to the Wall.  Fear...

For those who have only watched the television show or those who have not read A Dance With Dragons , spoilers for the series are below!!! After Season Four, Game of Thrones  the television series will have a tough task: making A Feast for Crows  and A Dance With Dragons  into a compelling viewing experience.  While A Feast for Crows is criticized for focusing too much on side characters and subplots, A Dance With Dragons  may be more frustrating -- it promises series progression and largely fails to deliver. In Dance  we are finally reunited with Daenerys and Tyrion Lannister -- the former of whom is trying to rule Meereen, a conquered slave city, and the latter of whom is traveling to serve her.  Readers know that after 1,000 or so pages, Tyrion never actually meets Daenerys.  However, the biggest source of disappointment may be Daenerys herself. The Situation Many critics believe that Daenerys is simply a poor ruler.  During her ...