In October 2014 I tried to up the amount of content on my blog to become a “power blogger”, but it ultimately fell short because I don’t post consistently on a daily basis. I’m not upset about it, but I understand what I was missing now: passion.
It dawned on me yesterday as I started to try and play Iron Maiden ‘ “Hallowed Be Thy Name” on piano and it made me remember why piano was my favorite instrument to play; it makes me feel alive. I realized that if I turn my hobbies into chores then I was going to hate those hobbies.
I am very prolific with how much content I post on Facebook, so I may attempt to post more of my FB statuses on this blog to bring up the content. If not then I’m just going to keep doing my own thing and write (and play) things that make me feel alive.
*Spoiler warning and disclaimer: additional trigger warning also has a spoiler inside of it. I take no responsibility for spoiled plot points if you read beyond this point. I will be getting preachy in this review as well about the ending of the episode.*
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Trigger warning: discussions of rape and sexual violence.
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Content warning: swearing
Sorry aboot the seriousness of my warnings up there, I have a bad habit of committing a cardinal sin of social media: I have posted Walking Dead and Game of Thrones spoilers on Facebook. Some of my childhood friends still hold it over my head. I understand they’re angry, but it comes with the territory of me being an entertainment writer.
I enjoyed seeing how most of the events of this episode unfolded. Namely it was nice to see Theon recover his sanity a small bit and for Sansa to finally stand up for herself in that (not too) fanservicey bath scene. I enjoyed seeing the Boltons plot against Stannis, and it was interesting to see how Cersei’s continuing to spin her web of power by getting Ser Loras and Margarey imprisoned. It was funny how quickly the “rescue/kidnapping” subplot in Dorne got resolved (thus paving way to a much greater rebellion subplot). Lastly, I enjoyed seeing Tyrion and Jorrah outsmart their captive slavers (for now).
I didn’t like seeing Loras and Margarey get imprisoned, I hated knowing that Sansa is in grave danger, and I really hated that last scene in the bedroom and here’s why:
I knew bad things would be happening to Sansa because of Ramsay, but I didn’t expect Ramsay to rape Sansa right in front of Theon like that at the end of the episode. I respect the simplistic nature of how evil Ramsay really is, but I heavily despise his character for these stunts that he pulls. At this point even The Joker would take one look at what Ramsay did and say “Damn, that’s fucked up”. The only villain more evil than Ramsay that I’ve encountered is the comic book version of The Governor from The Walking Dead (though they might be equal at this point).
Feminist media is ready to boycott the TV version of Game of Thrones over this mess, and I don’t blame them for not wanting to watch it. I can’t believe that there are people who said that Sansa “deserved it due to her own stupidity”. The only stupidity I see here are the people (mostly men) who constantly support the victim blaming portion of rape culture. This might have been in character for Ramsay and historically accurate of the time period, but it was still in poor taste. I don’t know where things will go from here, but I bet you all the gold that’s owed to the Iron Bank that Jon Snow would go off the deep end about what Ramsay did.
I’m going to keep watching GOT until the series ends, but I’ve pretty much left my hopes of any happy plot resolutions happening behind at the door. This show doesn’t fuck around, even though many of the GOT characters do. And with that, I will post a song made by Iwan Rheon (Ramsay) to erase the bad images left in my head from this episode:
I just found out today Rheon (which ironically rhymes with Theon) is actually a pretty damn good singer song writer. I hate Ramsay, but I still know to separate my emotions on the character from the actor.
*Spoiler warning: Abandon hope for happy plot resolutions all who enter here*
So I previously stated that I have yet to read the books, but I will admit that I’ve been cheating and reading plot spoilers on Wikipedia. I won’t spoil anything in the books that I read, vicariously. I will say that some of things I’ve read have been causing me great amounts of distress though. For now, the show is providing me with enough headaches. On the plus side, reading the graphic novels has taught me to love comic books again.
Anyways, this last episode was awesome in how awkward and intense the moments were between Ramsay, Sansa, and Reek. The dining room scene was especially true of how awkward the interaction was between Ramsay and Reek, but I tip my hat to all of the actors. I especially tip my hat to Alfie Allen for his portrayal of someone struggling with their identity. I enjoyed seeing Tyrion and Jorrah interact with one another finally, especially when they were reciting poetry on old Valeryia and how Tyrion loves his wine. Lastly, I enjoyed seeing Stannis talk to Samuel Tarley about how to kill the white walkers.
Speaking of Staniss, I do hope that he’s not making a tactical mistake bringing his wife and daughter along with him onto the battle field. I don’t put anything past the Boltons at this point, even flaying a young child living. I didn’t like knowing that Ser Jorrah has grey scale, that’s going to be an interesting subplot later on though. It’s unsettling to think of what can go wrong next for the remaining protagonists. I know better than to expect happy endings from GOT though.
No music video today since I wrote this review on my phone. I’ll try and post the next review on time tomorrow though.
*Spoiler warning: warnings of spoilers that are now two weeks old. Game of Thrones latest episode will be on in less than an hour, and I did a good job in keeping up with those deadlines…*
Self criticizing sarcasm aside, these latest episodes have had amazing writing with incredibly dissapointing plot points for the protagonists of story. GRRM is skilled at creating great characters and then making them falter in incredibly dissapointing ways (other than just killing them off, that is).
As always, I see no point in plot sumarries given that these episodes have been out a while. I may start plot summaries again once I find the time to write weekly reviews rather than bi-weekly reviews though. Anyways, here’s what I enjoyed and didn’t enjoy.
What I enjoyed: It was very nice to see the two things Ramsay fears; men more powerful than him and the prospect of marriage to end his little play world. It was also nice to see Tyrion returning to his oldself while he spoke to that prostitute treating her like an actual human being rather than a tissue. I’m fond of seeing Jaime Lannister trying to do right by his children and rescue his daughter from the serious danger she’s in. Lastly, I think Staniss is a better character now than he was in all of the previous seasons with how he’s trying to liberate the north.
What I didn’t like: Seeing Sansa being married to Ramsay would give me menstrual cramps if I were a woman. Like seriously, it’s stressing me out to think of how bad things have been for Sansa and how much worse they could be being married to the biggest sociopath in all of Westeros. I believe Ramsay to be the literary incarnation of George RR Martin’s hatred of his fans demands for more happy endings. I also hate how fucking evil Cersei has become since I was hoping that the High Sparrow subplot would be used to redeem Cersei, instead she just used the Faith Militant to further her goals for power. I don’t think Cersei’s daughter should be hurt, but I wouldn’t mind seeing the Dornish overthrow her rule. Lastly, I’m unsure if Ser Barristen is actually dead, but I won’t hold my breath given how many characters die in this show.
I’m often told people have a love/hate relationship with Game of Thrones, and I can see why. GOT is a great show, but not for those who love happy endings. I like happy endings, but I also like something different. Game of Thrones is one of those different shows that I will keep watching, always.
Here’s hoping Theon regains his something of his sannity, but I think he’s also better off being disconnected from reality the way he has been lately as well. Time (and book spoilers) shall tell.
Kevin Card 