Fulminant Cadenza I

"Thunderbolt and Lightning"

[This is one post in a series about my music mixes.  The series list has links to all posts in the series and also definitions of many of the terms I use.  You may wish to read the introduction for more background.

Like all my series, it is not necessarily contiguous—that is, I don’t guarantee that the next post in the series will be next week.  Just that I will eventually finish it, someday.  Unless I get hit by a bus.]

My eldest child and I have wondered what the music of the post-2000s is.  If psychedelia is the 60s, and disco is the 70s, and new wave and alternative is the 80s, and grunge and emo is the 90s ... what comes next?  I proposed two possible trends.  The first is large, folky/neoclassical bands full of non-traditional (for rock, anyway) instruments: banjos and cellos and trumpets.  Examples would be the Decemberists, the Lumineers, Arcade Fire, and of course Of Monsters and Men.  The second is a tendency towards the melodramatic, the bombastic—the operatic.

Now, I just said in our last installment that I don’t care for opera.  But there’s a difference between opera music and operatic music.  In fact, they don’t sound much alike, really.  What makes a tune operatic is more a sense of style vs the actual melodies or instrumentation.  It’s a chance for the music to swell and burst forth in unexpected ways, for vocalists to show off their emotional range, for the song to attempt to stir the listener—forcibly, if need be.  A “cadenza,” says Wikipedia, is an ornamental passage that often allows virtuosic display.  There’s certainly a lot of that going on here.  Wikipedia further tells us that “fulminant” means something that occurs suddenly and escalates quickly; from the Latin fulmināre: to strike with lightning.  I think you’ll find that an appropos descriptor as well.

Because of my perception of this as a trend for the music of the last two decades or so, only 4 of the 20 tracks here are older than 20 years old (which is fairly unusual for this series).  But of course we could never make a mix like this without including the original operatic rock song, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Released way back in 1975 on A Night at the Opera, Freddie Mercury referred to it as “mock opera” and famously introduced it to his bandmates by playing the opening melody and then stopping and saying “And this is where the opera section comes in!” The faux-Italian nonsense section in the middle (“Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?” and so forth) only emphasizes the operatic connections, and yet the song is undeniably (and indelibly) a rock classic: #1 in the UK, top 10 in the US, nominated for two Grammys, spawned one of the earliest music videos, re-immortalized in Wayne’s World, and its name was used for last year’s biopic of Mercury.  Our volume title is an obvious lift from its lyrics (“thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening”¹).  And, above and beyond all its importance and relevance to the theme, it’s just an amazing, fantastic song.

It was frankly amazing that I restrained myself from opening the mix with it, really.  But I felt like an even better opener would be the theme from The Shannara Chronicles: “Until We Go Down,” by Ruelle.  Like “You’ve Got Time” from Orange Is the New Black² and “If I Had a Heart” from Vikings,³ the non-abbreviated version from Ruelle’s EP is even better than what you get on TV.  It’s the perfect opening for the first section, and for the second section I use Muse to introduce Queen—which is ironic, since the first time I ever heard Muse on the radio, I immediately thought they reminded me of Queen.  Not in a musical sense, particularly, but in their sense of scope and grandeur, which is why I knew they had to appear here.

Other obvious choices were Kate Bush (almost any of her hits would have worked, but I felt like “Cloudbusting” fit here the best), and Pat Benatar, who actually trained as an opera singer before switching to rock (and here the obvious choice was Benatar’s cover of Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”): that’s 2 more of the 4 selections from the 80s or prior.  Emilie Autumn is another no-brainer; Fight Like a Girl has been called “an operatic feminist treatise set inside an insane asylum,” and, while I don’t think it always works, “If I Burn” is a shining example of her at her best.  My Morning Jacket, who I first heard on Stephen Colbert’s show, are sometimes described as alt-country, but I find their album The Waterfall to be way more operatic than twangy.

Closing out the “no duh” list would be MILCK’s dramatic tune that came to epitomize the Women’s March in 2017, “Quiet,” and “Conqueror,” by Aurora, a Norwegian artist sometimes characterized as baroque pop.  For introduction to the former, I have to thank Samantha Bee; for the second, I have absolutely no recollection of where I first heard it,⁴ but I fell immediately in love and knew it had to land here.  “Conqueror” is one of those songs that just fills you with a sort of joy despite all attempts to resist it.  The early 2000s offers me multiple candidates here, but some of them—such as Evanescence, Rag’n'Bone Man, and Hundred Waters—will just have to wait for volume II.

Of course, not everything here is only about the melodrama.  Several songs are cherry-picked from adjacent subgenres.  For instance, representing the oldest song here post-80s, and representing the tendency of a decade’s music to start slightly before the decade itself,⁵ we have Incubus, with the title track from their amazing 1999 album Make Yourself.  Theoretically, Incubus was nu-metal, in the vein of Linkin Park or Korn.  But they managed to break out of that mold in many ways, primarily with a flair for the dramatic.  “Make Yourself” is not a song for you if you’re bothered by the F-bomb, but, assuming you can get past that, it’s pretty amazing.  I can also draw a straight line (in my mind, anyway) from Incubus to the Struts—a line that has to stretch from Southern California to East Midlands, England, granted—whose lead singer has said he was pretending to be Freddie Mercury and Bon Scott when singing in the mirror as a child, so that pretty much nails the æsthetic in my book.  Plus the similar styles mean they pair very nicely as we move to close down the volume, and “Could Have Been Me,” with its pulsing drum-driven call-and-response, is just a natural fit here.

Another genre with some major similarities is goth.  You may recall that back on Penumbral Phosphorescence I talked about how goth wasn’t technically about death and darkness; its original meaning was more about drama and spectacle.  Which is also the aspects of “operatic” that I’m talking about here.  So I threw in a little goth: first of all and most obviously, “Garden of Delight” by the Mission, who are probably the most operatic of the proper goth bands, and then “Ancient Delirium,” the title track off the odd collaboration between Angels of Venice’s Carol Tatum and Seraphim Shock’s Charles Edward.⁶  Finally “The Woman of the Snow” by goth/industrial/darkwave duo Faith and the Muse is one of those layered, voice-as-instrument affairs that can often be found in works by Beth Quist⁷ or (especially) Julianna Barwick;⁸ here’s it’s a bit of a bridge between the powerful, raw emotion of “Quiet” and the subtler but also soaring vocals of “Home.”

This latter tune, by the way, is from an undeservedly obscure artist called Glasser.  I only discovered her while idly looking up what the members of Human Sexual Response⁹ were up to now and finding that their only female member went on to mother a musician herself.  So I had to check that out, right?  Glasser is hard to pin down: she’s a bit electronica, a bit indie, a bit experimental ... and, yes, a bit operatic.  “Home” is, in my opinion, the most emblematic of that off her excellent Ring.

Which nicely transitions to other female vocals that only occasionally drift in operatic territory.  Iiris is an Estonian singer who has thrice come in the top 5 in the Eurovision Song Contest but is not europop in any meaningful sense; she’s more of an indie voice who’s more likely to show up on Sirenexiv Cola.  But “Curaga” is actually sort of a sister tune to “Conqueror” and flows beautifully from it.  It’s a bit more mellow than the latter, but has its moments of bursting forth (“to wake up is to light up all the nightmares by your side”).  Lucius is a beautiful melding of two female vocalists, and we’ll no doubt also see them eventually on Sirenexiv Cola, but also probably on Smokelit Flashback, which gives you some idea of their range.  “How Loud Your Heart Gets” has many moments of upswelling beauty (“we were children now we’ve grown” and, later, “the things we know we just don’t know”) and also fades out with an interesting discordant section that jumps from left speaker to right and back again.  Definitely a great track.

Fulminant Cadenza I
[ Thunderbolt and Lightning ]

“Until We Go Down” by Ruelle, off Up in Flames [EP]
“Quiet” by MILCK [Single]
“The Woman of the Snow” by Faith and the Muse, off :ankoku butoh:
“Home” by Glasser, off Ring
“Il Pirata” by Ugress, off Cinematronics
“Resistance” by Muse, off The Resistance
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, off Greatest Hits [Compilation]
“In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)” by My Morning Jacket, off The Waterfall
“Garden of Delight (Hereafter)” by the Mission, off Godʼs Own Medicine
“Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush, off The Whole Story [Compilation]
“Wuthering Heights” by Pat Benatar, off Crimes of Passion
“Conqueror” by AURORA, off All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
“Curaga” by Iiris, off The Magic Gift Box
“If I Burn” by Emilie Autumn, off Fight Like a Girl
“Ancient Delirium” by Carol Tatum, off Ancient Delirium
“Peel” by Jade Leary, off The Lost Art of Human Kindness
“Make Yourself” by Incubus, off Make Yourself
“Could Have Been Me” by the Struts, off Everybody Wants
“How Loud Your Heart Gets” by Lucius, off Wildewoman
“Ban the Game” by Men Without Hats, off Rhythm of Youth

Total:  20 tracks,  76:49

For bridges, I was first off drawn to a weird little track by Jade Leary: “Peel.” Featuring an airy flute counterpointed by some strings which somehow convey the impression that you’re late for something dark and foreboding, and whispered, distorted vocals, it’s certainly got melodrama in spades.  And the bridge between our all-female opening quartet into the more male-dominated stretch of the next 4 tracks is 48 perfect seconds from Norwegian electronica artist Ugress.¹⁰  “Il Pirata” sounds like an old 78rpm record that would be played as the soundtrack for a silent movie (probably during the scene where the train is about to run over the heroine tied to the tracks), but set to a drum machine beat.  Definitely an attention-getter.

Our closer has similar DNA, but lives at the other end of the spectrum.  “Ban the Game” is a slower, piano-driven track, about as far away from “Safety Dance” as you can get and still be Men Without Hats.  But somehow it still feels like the soundtrack to an old movie, only this scene is the one where the heroine is walking off into the sunset, leaving the hero to wonder how he’s going to live without her.  Which leaves us in precisely the proper mood to say goodbye to a set of tunes that is properly operatic without sounding anything like opera.¹¹

Next time, we’ll mix a little magic into our music.

__________

1 Also quite fulminant.

2 Which is our closer on Sirenexiv Cola I.

3 Which we haven’t seen yet, but we probably will sooner or later.

4 Although I note that she was also on The Late Show, in July of 2016, so that’s a good guess.

5 For instance, one of the most iconic songs of the 80s is “My Sharona” ... released in 1979.

6 More discussion of both those bands and albums can be found in Penumbral Phosphorescence I.

7 We’ve heard from Quist many times: Shadowfall Equinox IV and V, Numeric Driftwood III, Paradoxically Sized World IV, and Sirenexiv Cola I.

8 Who we shall hear from in the fullness of time.

9 I talked a bit about this somewhat odd Boston classic new wave band back on Totally Different Head.

10 Ugress is one my favorite musical discoveries from LittleBigPlanet, as we discussed back in Paradoxically Sized World II.

11 Thank goodness.

Pleasant Ēostre

This weekend has been a double hit for me: yesterday I had some sort of stomach flu—I wasn’t barfing, but I spent all day almost wishing I could—and then today was, of course, Easter.  Not a big religious day for us, but we have our egg hunting traditions to uphold.  Long story short: no proper blog post for you today.  Next week, something more substantial.

Game of Thrones Rewatch: the "Short" Version (Part 3)

Here’s the final two seasons of my Game of Thrones rewatch.  A reminder of the rules of my rewatch commentary:

• THERE ARE METRIC SHIT-TONS OF SPOILERS HERE. One wouldn’t think I would have to point this out, as it’s a rewatch, but people will complain.  If you haven’t already watched all the seasons of GoT up till the last one, DON’T READ THIS. Perhaps you can come back when you’re all caught up.  (To be crystal clear: just because the comment is in season 3 doesn’t mean that it won’t contain spoilers for season 4 ... or season 7.  Obviously there are no spoilers for season 8 yet.)
• (Speaking of “shit-tons” ...)  I curse.  Anyone who’s read any of my other blog posts will already know this, but perhaps you got here via some link or other and don’t know what you’re in for.  Although the previous bullet point should have been a giveaway.
• My opnions are just that: opinions.  I present them here in case you find them interesting, but I’m not trying to convince you to believe as I do.  I ask that you show me the same courtesy should you choose to leave a comment—that is, feel free to share your own opinions, but don’t try to tell me I’m “wrong.”
• Likewise, whatever moments I found worthy of comment are also my opinions.  If I left out one of your favorites, sorry about that.  Feel free to remind me of it in the blog post comments.
• My comments are always super-quick.  If I want to expand on a particular thing, I do it as a pseudo-footnote.  In this case, “pseudo-footnote” means “formatted almost exactly like a footnote, but way more obvious.” These “footnotes” are designed to be less ignorable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ignore them if you want to.  They’re just topics I wanted to explore a bit further.  Sometimes only a sentence or two more, sometimes whole paragraphs.  Read ’em or not: your call.
• There’s not a comment on every episode.  Especially in the early episodes: sometimes there’s just nothing that jumped out at me that hour.
• I am watching the “Inside the Episode” shorts after the shows, for every show.  Occasionally that will inform my commentary (but usually not).
• Once I’m done with the rewatch, I may keep some commentary on the final season.  Or I may not; no promises.

Season 6

• Episode 1: Well, I guess after you’ve jumped off a 50-foot castle wall, walking through a frozen river and wandering around in a blizzard is nothing.
• Aaaand there goes Doran.  And Trystane.
• Aaaand there goes Melisandre’s glamour.
• Episode 2: Finally! the return of Bran.  I mean, it’s only been 12 episodes ...
• I just caught this one too: what Ned says to Benjen in Bran’s flashback is the exact same line Jon says to Olly when he’s training him.^[S5E1]
• I’ll give Tyrion this: he’s got big balls.  Huge, even.
• “Next time I have an idea like that, punch me in the face.” —Tyrion
• Aaaand there goes Roose.  Good riddance to him too.
• And his wife.  And his newborn son.  That part was sad at least.
• Aaaand there goes Balon.  No tears for that one either.
• “I’m not a devout man ... obviously.” —Davos
• Aaaand here comes Jon!  He’s back! [1]
• Episode 3: “Hold off on burning my body for now.” —Jon
• Aaaand there goes Ser Alliser.  And Olly.
• Episode 4: Aaaand there goes Osha.  Totally pointless death. [2]
• Aaaand there goes all the remaining Khals. [3]
• Episode 5: “You freed me from the monsters that murdered my family.  And you gave me to other monsters that murdered my family.” —Sansa (A well-deserved slap in the face for Littlefinger.)
• “Where are my neice and nephew?  Let’s go murder them.” —Euron
• Tormund’s keen interest in Brienne is another thing I’d forgotten.  It’s quite cute.
• Another White Walker goes down to dragonglass.  I guess Meera made some spearheads out of what Sam gave her ... ?^[S3E10]
• Aaaand there goes the remaining Children of the Forest.  And Bran’s wolf.
• And Hodor, of course.  I think his death may be more affecting than even Shireen’s, somehow. [4]
• Episode 6: Finally: the return of Benjen. [5]
• Wow ... Sam’s dad is a real dick.  And, in this show, that’s saying something.
• It takes a massive amount of work to make Joffrey look like the tragic hero.
• And even more to make Cersei look sympathetic.
• I think Tommen thinks he’s growing a pair (finally).  I’m not sure I agree.
• Episode 7: “And you’ve got one hand.  My money’s on the old boy.” —Bronn
• I fucking love Lady Mormont! [6]
• “Fuck justice, then: we’ll get revenge.  Drink.” —Yara
• Aaaand there goes guy-we-just-met.  Don’t worry: by this point, we knew perfectly well not to get too attached.
• Episode 8: “I choose violence.” —Cersei
• I really try not to blame Tommen too much, but this is clearly a case of foolishly underestimating his mother.  He knows perfectly well what she’s capable of.
• Aaaand there goes the Blackfish.  Pisses me off that he wouldn’t go with Brienne.  He was a very cool character who got shafted out of his deserved amount of screentime.
• Aaaand there goes Lady Crane.  Not a huge surprise, but a bit of a bummer.
• Aaaand there goes “the Waif” (that’s how she’s credited).  A.K.A. Arya’s arch-nemesis.  Oh, and: Arya kill #8.
• “A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell.  And I’m going home.” —Arya (Bam!)
• Episode 9: “Tell your people what happened here.  Tell them you live by the grace of Her Majesty.  When they come forward with notions of retribution or ideas about returning the slave cities to their former glory, remind them what happened when Daenerys Stormborn and her dragons came to Meereen.” —Tyrion [7]
• “No one can protect me.  No one can protect anyone.” —Sansa
• “I never demand, but I’m up for anything, really.” —Yara (I love how Yara is like: sure, I’ll marry you, if that’s what it takes.)
• Aaaand there goes Rickon.  This too was inevitable, from the moment he was delivered to Ramsay.  (As Sansa predicted mere moments ago, actually ...)
• Don’t do what he wants you to do, Jon!
• Idiot. [8]
• Aaaand there goes the last giant on the planet.  That’s quite sad.
• Hey, don’t stop beating the shit out of Ramsay on Sansa’a account! [9]
• Aaaand there goes Ramsay.  That’s quite joyous.
• Episode 10: The whole “trial” business is hard to watch knowing how pointless the whole thing is going to end up being.
• Aaaand there goes Pycelle.  Finally.
• Aaaand there goes Margaery.  And Loras, and Lancel, and Mace, and Kevan.  Oh, and the High Sparrow, of course.  But mainly Margaery. [10]
• Aaaand there goes Tommen.  Inevitable, that.
• Very satisfying for Davos.
• What? Winter’s not coming any more??
• Aaaand there goes Walder.  Arya kills #9, #10, and #11. [11]
• Baby Jon: dragonwolf.  Or wolfdragon.  Or ... something. [12]
• God damn I love Lady Mormont!
• A particularly bloody episode, even not counting the death of Lyanna, who is both not quite an important enough character to count and also has actually been dead for like 20 years so really shouldn’t count anyway. [13]

Season 7

• Episode 1: You know, if I’d remembered this opening scene, I wouldn’t have bothered counting Arya kills up until this point. [14]
• I love how there’s no significant difference in either color or consistency between the bedpan contents and what passes for food in the Citadel.
• “No need to sieze the last word, Lord Baelish.  I’ll assume it was something clever.” —Sansa [15]
• “It’s my fucking luck I end up with a band of fire worshippers.” —the Hound
• 61 episodes to reach this point: Dany sets foot on Westeros.
• Episode 2: “Are you a sheep?  No.  You’re a dragon.  Be a dragon.” —Olenna
• There have been several times in this show that I have been pissed off at the writers.  But this is the worst of them. [16]
• Aaaand there goes Sand Snake #1.  And Sand Snake #2.
• Episode 3: Here’s another line I’d completely forgotten: “I have to die in this strange country.  Just like you.” (That’s Melisandre, to Varys.)
• Aaaand there goes Sand Snake #3.
• “I can never be Lord of Winterfell.  I can never be lord of anything; I’m the three-eyed raven.” —Bran
• Aaaand there goes Olenna.  Fare thee well, Queen of Thorns. [17]
• Episode 4: “You died in that cave ...” —Meera [18]
• And now Arya has Valyrian steel as well.  That’s her, Jon, Jaime, Brienne, and Sam. [19]
• Bronn vs Daenerys.  No clear winner, surprisingly. [20]
• Episode 5: Yeah, Jaime! May as well just jump back in the river!
• Aaaand there goes Sam’s dad, and his brother.  No great loss, and some small loss.  (But pretty small.)
• Is there going to be any discussion of the fact that Dany just fried all the remaining male family members of the guy who is the best friend of the guy standing beside her and who cured the man kneeling in front of her? [21]
• Yay! Gendry’s back.
• “Yep, nobody mind me.  All I’ve ever done is live to a ripe old age.” —Davos
• Gilly just gave Sam a crucial piece of history there and he never even noticed ... [22]
• “I’m tired of reading about the achievements of better men.” —Sam
• Hey, look: everybody hates everybody! [23]
• Episode 6: “Your lips are moving, and you’re complaining about something.  That’s whinging.  This one’s been killed six times; you don’t hear him bitching about it.” —the Hound
• Watching this scene between Sansa and Arya ... how much of that anger is just for show?
• Third White Walker killed.  That should leave just 3 more ... but we see 5 a bit later. [24]
• Aaaand there goes Thoros.
• Aaaand there goes ... one of the only three dragons on the planet!!
• Aaaand there goes Benjen. [25]
• Another scene between Sansa and Arya that doesn’t feel like an actual conversation between real people, given what we know is coming.  Feels more like a cheesy plot device.
• Oh, wait ... dragon’s back.  Shiver.
• Episode 7: Talk about your uncomfortable meetings ... [26]
• Qyburn is like the only person on the planet who sees a dead man running at him at full speed and goes “Cool!”
• I love Tyrion’s sigh of relif when Cersei decides not to kill him: he didn’t really know if it was going to work or not. [27]
• “I respect what you did.  Wish you hadn’t done it, but I respect it.” —Dany
• It is very uncharacteristic of Littlefinger to underestimate people, but he’s vastly underestimating the Starks here.
• I can’t believe that the writers are trying to covince us that having been castrated is actually an advantage for Theon here ...
• Aaaand there goes Littlefinger.  Arya kill #12 + F.
• And Jaime calls Cersei’s bluff!  How far he’s come ...
• Incest: consummated. [28]
• Aaaand there goes the Wall.  Double shiver. [29]

[1] I would just like to say that I called this, even the first time through, even without getting anywhere near this far in the books.  (In fact, I really don’t know if this even happens in the books or not.)  I just extrapolated from knowing that, while George R. R. Martin may piss me off at times, he’s still a competent writer.  Thoros of Myr exists for exactly one reason: to bring Beric Dondarrion back from the dead.  And bringing Beric back from the dead only happens for one reason: to let us know that this is possible, so that when we see a high cleric of the same faith in the same place as someone who is well and truly dead that we know is important to the story, we’ll understand that there’s some possibility that things can be reversed.

Interesting to note that the showrunners seem to be trying to get some extra use of Beric by bringing him back late in S6.  I would actually be somewhat surprised if GRRM does the same in the books.  I feel that, as far as he’s concerned, Beric has now fulfilled his duty and can just fade into obscurity.

[2] I don’t mind a senseless death ... well, I mind it, obviously.  But at least I understand it.  A senseless death still has a point to it (otherwise it would be a pointless death).  Take the death of Shireen, for example.  Senseless and tragic, yes, but not pointless.  It signals the downfall of Stannis, and that’s important for the story.  But the death of Osha is entirely pointless, and that I object to.  What was even the point of bringing her character back for that tiny bit of screen time and then poof! she’s dead?  May as well have killed her offscreen.

[3] This is the third great “fuck yeah!” moment for Dany (of four—so far), and the only one that doesn’t involve dragons.  In that respect, it’s probably my favorite.  This is the moment that Dany proves she can kick ass all on her own.  Dragons?  We don’t need no steenking dragons!

[4] It’s not as tragic, and definitely not senseless.  But the circularity of it all, and realzing how many years he’s been locked into waiting for this exact moment ... it’s certainly one of the most effective moments of the series.

[5] I always said there were 3 characters that had disappeared that I refused to believe were gone forever: Benjen, Nymeria (Arya’s wolf), and Syrio Forel.  I think I may end up being wrong about Syrio, and I was extremely disappointed in the “return” of Nymeria.  But the return of Benjen, at least, was totally worth it.

[6] If you can’t get enough Bella Ramsey from her appearances in Game of Thrones (and who could?), check her out in The Worst Witch on Netflix.  My littlest one and I love that show too.

[7] This of course is the fourth and final (so far) great “fuck yeah!” Dany moment.  It’s not just the dragons which are awesome (although of course they fucking well are), but Grey Worm and Tyrion are both pretty awesome too ... even Missandei gets a bit of a chin lift.  Also, that annoying shit from way back in S3 gets slaughtered, so that’s always a bonus.

[8] At least you can see in his eyes that he knows he fucked up.  Right before shit gets really insane.

[9] During the “Inside the Episode” for this one, the showrunners suggest that Jon stops because he realizes upon seeing Sansa that Ramsay is not his to kill.  I have to say, however, that Kit Harrington’s performance didn’t convey that to me.  What I got was more being embarrassed about knowing his sister sees him reduced to that state of mindless bestiality.  But I suppose I must have misread it.  Or maybe Kit was going for a mix of both, and I only caught the one.

[10] This is probably the largest named-character body count in a single event for the entire series.  Quite a few of those are not a big deal: Mace and Kevan are hardly going to be missed, and the High Sparrow is certainly no great loss.  But Loras is a slight bummer, and Margaery is a huge loss.  Much of the remaining tragedy to come is, in my opinion, a direct result of this “triumph” of Cersei over Margaery.

[11] The advantage of the rewatch is that I actually worked out that Arya is recreating the story of the Rat Cook, which Old Nan told to the Stark children, and which Bran relates to Meera and Jojen while they’re at the Nightfort [S3E10].  At the time, it just seems like a bit of Westeros flavor: their version of a ghost story, which sets the mood nicely for everyone being extremely spooked when they hear Sam and Gilly coming up the ladder.  But now I can see it was to prepare us for a fuller appreciation of the (ultra-well-deserved) fate of Walder Frey.  “It wasn’t for murder the gods cursed the Rat Cook, or for serving the king’s son in a pie.  He killed a guest beneath his roof.  That’s something the gods can’t forgive.”

Fun fact: the showrunners want us to believe this is a worrisome development for Arya’s character.  Fuck that.  I’m not worried that Arya can smile as she slits a man’s throat and watch him bleed out, ’cause I’m smiling right along with her.  Go Team Arya!

[12] You know the implications of this are staggering.  The obvious ones are the ones that get repeated the most often: Dany is Jon’s aunt, which certainly means a bit of incest ... but then again Targaryens commonly wed sisters to brothers (as Cersei is constantly reminding us, and as did our own ancient Egyptians, for that matter), so what’s a little aunt-nephew wedding among royalty?  But let’s dive a bit deeper.  If one considers the Targaryens the rightful rulers of Westeros—and of course we could easily dispute that, noting that they just came along a few centuries ago with their dragons and ate all the really properly rightful rulers—but, assuming we grant that, that means that Aerys, mad or not, was the rightful king, and therefore his eldest son would inherit the throne, which is Rhaegar, who has exactly one (surviving) son, who is Jon.  Therefore, friggin’ Jon is the goddamn rightful king of Westeros ... he has a stronger claim on the throne than Dany does, really, even throwing the question of gender out the window.  And, because he is actually older than any of Ned’s children, he has exactly the same amount of claim to King in the North as Dany does to the Iron Throne—that is, he’s the oldest surviving Stark, and he’s not, in fact, a bastard.

[13] Since the body count from just the explosion at the Sept of Baelor equalled our previous record for an entire episode, this episode easily surpasses that and becomes the new standard to beat: 9 named character deaths, all told.

[14] As Arya is technically responsible for the death of every living Frey (or at least all the male ones), and as Walder was notoriously prolific, I don’t know that we can really assign a number to how many kills she has at this point.  Let’s call the number of post-Walder Freys killed “F,” just for purposes of further counting.

Another interesting point: at the Red Wedding, Walder Frey somewhat ironically plays “The Rains of Castamere.” If you didn’t catch the story behind this song (which Cersei tells to Margaery just before the Red Wedding [S3E8]), it’s this: House Reyne rebelled against Tywin Lannister, who not only defeated them, but slaughtered them all—men, women, and children.  The Reynes of Castamere no longer exist in Westeros.  And, now, no longer do the Freys.  Poetic justice don’t begin to cover it.

[15] This may be my favorite line of Sansa’s.  Granted, that’s not saying much, but still: this is one of the few moments where I actually kinda like her.  Not too many people get to say they had the upper hand in a conversational gambit with Littlefinger ... not even Varys, really.

[16] What I’m talking about here is the “return” of Nymeria, Arya’s wolf.  Been looking forward to it for 61 episodes and this is what I get?  Bullshit.  Too cheap to pay for the CGI, I suppose.

[17] Note that, even in death, Olenna gets her last digs in.  Whereas Cersei is scary in a disturbing, psychotic way, Olenna is disturbing in a way that makes you kinda smile for her.

[18] Meera leaves Bran.  Another thing I hadn’t remembered.

[19] The Game of Thrones wiki says there’s also one in the Vale—specifically, the guy in Littlefinger’s trial who isn’t Lord Royce and isn’t a woman.  Since he was only on-screen for like 20 seconds, I’m not sure if that’s really going to be the case in the show; apparently, it is the case in the books, so the wiki is just extrapolating.

[20] I didn’t include this as one of Dany’s four great “fuck yeah!” moments.  Perhaps I should have, but I felt this was more of a sprawling battle than a personal triumph for Dany.  Drogon’s performance is certainly impressive, and there is a certain sense of personal accomplishment for Dany, because this is the point where she stops listening to everyone else and fights the way she wants to fight.  And that’s good.  But of course there’s a certain amount of sense in what Tyrion (and Varys?) is telling her, and so she actually is playing into Cersei’s hands just a bit by delivering on those “foreign boogymen are coming to get you” tales that Cersei was spouting.  I dunno; I still could be wrong, of course, and it is a great scene, but I still think the previous four sum it up for me.  To recap:

1. Burning that dick in Astapor and freeing Missandei and Grey Worm and the rest of the Unsullied.
2. Burning all those dick Sons of the Harpy at the fighting pit in Meereen.
3. Burning all the dick khals in Vaes Dothrak.
4. Burning all the ships beseiging Meereen and then having Grey Worm just slice up some Good Ol’ Wise Ol’ Masters.  Who were both total dicks.

Interesting that, while they don’t all involve dragons, they do all involve fire.  “Fire and Blood,” indeed.

[21] Nope.

[22] In case you too missed it, she just read him story of the annulment of Rhaegar Targaryen’s marriage to Elia Martell.

[23] I found this quite amusing.  Jon hates the Hound because he served the Lannisters, who murdered quite a chunk of his family.  Gendry hates Beric and Thoros, who sold him to Melisandre.  Tormund hates Jorah, whose father murdered a metric shit-ton of his kinsmen.  Meanwhile, Jorah’s not fond of Thoros, who is a reminder of his time before (remember: Thoros fought in the same tournament that Jorah won, thus attracting his ill-fated wife, whose golddigging is what led him to sell people into slavery, which is why Ned Stark banished him and his father disowned him); the Hound’s not fond of Beric or Thoros (remember: fire worshippers, plus Beric did try to kill him that once); Jorah’s not fond of Tormund (remember: Northman, wildling) ... it’s just a fantastic stew of distrust and buried enmity, which Jon finally puts an end to by pointing out that they’re all on the same side because they’re all breathing.  It’s a great scene.

[24] There are several points where you can count the White Walkers, but it never seems to make much difference.  There’s always more of them in the next shot.  I thought I knew how many there were after the attack on the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven, but now there’s more.  Maybe they’re constantly minting new ones.

[25] This is another scene I’d totally forgotten.  It’s a pretty good death scene.

[26] Lots of fun banter here: Brienne and the Hound, Tyrion and Bronn, the Hound and the Mountain.  Also plenty of just plain dirty looks: Theon and Euron, Cersei and Tyrion.

[27] Another question that occurs: is Cersei actually pregnant?  Obviously she wanted Jaime to know, because she told him outright.  In this scene, Tyrion “figures it out” ... but does he really?  Cersei is sneaky, and subtle, and I’m not sure I"m buying that she doesn’t realize that’s she’s “accidentally” giving away this secret.  She touches her belly, she goes on and on about saving loved ones and all that: I say she knows damned well what message she’s putting out there.  Because Jaime thinks she’s pregnant, he’s willing to do what she wants; because Tyrion thinks she’s pregnant, he’s willing to believe that she’ll make sane choices.  What if the whole thing is a way for Cersei to manipulate her brothers?

[28] I can’t quite figure out if we’re supposed to feel icky about this.  ‘Cause I don’t, really.  Compared to the Cersei-Jaime thing, this is very low on the incest scale.  And they have zero familial connection—just a genealogical one.  A sexual relationship with someone with whom you grew up but had absolutely no blood relation to would feel more incestuous than this.  But maybe I’m supposed to feel disgusted ... maybe the writers are going to have Jon and Dany feel disgusted when they learn about it.  But I would be disappointed by that, somehow.

[29] Technically, Tormund and/or Beric could be dead as of this scene.  But I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.

Birthdays are done for a while

Another March birthday season is in the books.  The little empress didn’t demand too much: take-out from Panda Express, and eat-in at Chez McDonald’s, avec Play Place.  I was required to cook my world famous potato soup,^* and also to take out a second mortgage to be able to afford heating the pool for the first real swimming of the year.  Happily, we live in Southern California, so the water temp as of the last weekend in March was only 61 ... a mere 20° lift.  I’m sure it was only a several hundred dollar windfall for SoCalGas.  But, hey: when your baby girl says “heat the pool” ... whatchagonnado?

There was also a strawberry cake with strawberry icing and a metric shit-ton of sprinkles—which was way too sweet for me—and birthday donuts, and way too much Barbie spewage.  But she had a lovely weekend, and that’s all that really matters.

As with last year, there was a little bit of “birthday weekend hangover”: at 7 years old, it’s tough to have that amount of power for 2½ days and then lose it all just ’cause you went to bed and woke up again.  But she’s worked through it this past week and I’m pretty sure she’s back to Norman now.  Next year, we do it all again.

__________

* To be fair, it is only world famous because this blog post is visible worldwide, and I just talked about it here.

Game of Thrones Rewatch: the "Short" Version (Part 2)

Here’s the next two seasons of my Game of Thrones rewatch.  A reminder of the rules of my rewatch commentary:

• THERE ARE METRIC SHIT-TONS OF SPOILERS HERE. One wouldn’t think I would have to point this out, as it’s a rewatch, but people will complain.  If you haven’t already watched all the seasons of GoT up till the last one, DON’T READ THIS. Perhaps you can come back when you’re all caught up.  (To be crystal clear: just because the comment is in season 3 doesn’t mean that it won’t contain spoilers for season 4 ... or season 7.  Obviously there are no spoilers for season 8 yet.)
• (Speaking of “shit-tons” ...)  I curse.  Anyone who’s read any of my other blog posts will already know this, but perhaps you got here via some link or other and don’t know what you’re in for.  Although the previous bullet point should have been a giveaway.
• My opnions are just that: opinions.  I present them here in case you find them interesting, but I’m not trying to convince you to believe as I do.  I ask that you show me the same courtesy should you choose to leave a comment—that is, feel free to share your own opinions, but don’t try to tell me I’m “wrong.”
• Likewise, whatever moments I found worthy of comment are also my opinions.  If I left out one of your favorites, sorry about that.  Feel free to remind me of it in the blog post comments.
• My comments are always super-quick.  If I want to expand on a particular thing, I do it as a pseudo-footnote.  In this case, “pseudo-footnote” means “formatted almost exactly like a footnote, but way more obvious.” These “footnotes” are designed to be less ignorable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ignore them if you want to.  They’re just topics I wanted to explore a bit further.  Sometimes only a sentence or two more, sometimes whole paragraphs.  Read ’em or not: your call.
• There’s not a comment on every episode.  Especially in the early episodes: sometimes there’s just nothing that jumped out at me that hour.
• I am watching the “Inside the Episode” shorts after the shows, for every show.  Occasionally that will inform my commentary (but usually not).
• Once I’m done with the rewatch, I may keep some commentary on the final season.  Or I may not; no promises.

Season 4

• Episode 1: Arya kill #3, and #4.  (And, with that, the return of Needle!)
• Episode 2: This “Lord of Light” is a pretty sadistic god ... and, in this world, that’s really saying something.
• “War is war, but killing a man at a wedding ... horrid.  What sort of monster would do such a thing?” —Olenna (Oh, the irony ...) [1]
• Aaaand there goes Joffrey.  I have never been so happy to see a character die. [2]
• Episode 3: And, just like that, Tywin deftly (and literally) takes Tommen away from Cersei.
• “Your father lacks an appreciation of the finer points of bad behavior.” —Davos (What an apt description of Stannis this is ...)
• Episode 4: Oh, yeah ... Jamie gives Brienne his sword.  She can use that Valyrian steel where she’s going to end up.
• Episode 5: Littlefinger, you dog! [3]
• Aaaand there goes Locke.  Once again, no great loss.
• Episode 6: Why do I feel like Tywin set up this entire faux trial just so he could manipulate Jaime into doing what he wanted?
• Episode 7: “Nothing isn’t better or worse than anything.  Nothing is just nothing.” —Arya
• Arya kill #5.
• Aaaand there goes Lyssa.
• Episode 8: Damn ... I think Grey Worm just told Missandei that it was worth being castrated in order to meet her.  Kinda romantic, in a weird way.
• Sansa continues to make horrible decisions.
• Dany, on the other hand, doesn’t make very many bad decisions.  But I think this is one. [4]
• The look on the Hound’s face, and Arya cackling like a madwoman ... another of my favorite moments.
• “Today is not the day I die.” —Oberyn
• Aaaand there goes Oberyn.
• Episode 9: I do believe Sam Tarly is the only person in this whole stupid show to promise someone he won’t die and then keep that promise.
• Aaaand there goes Pyp.  And Grenn.  And Ygritte, with one final “you know nothing, Jon Snow ...”
• “You’re right.  It’s a bad plan.  What’s your plan?” —Jon
• Episode 10: Aaaand there goes Jojen.
• The Hound vs Brienne: one of the best swordfights in the whole show.
• Aaaand there goes Shae.  I’ve decided I completely don’t understand her motivations.  At all. [5]
• Aaaand there goes Tywin.  Never been more happy to see someone die since Joffrey.

Season 5

• Episode 1: This whole thing with putting rocks on corpses’ eyes with eyeballs drawn on them is so disturbing.
• “Who said anything about ‘him’?” —Varys
• Aaaand there goes the King Beyond the Wall.
• Episode 2: Sansa makes a terrible choice yet again.  Good thing this is only like the fifth time, otherwise I’d worry there was some sort of pattern here. [6]
• I think Shireen is going to teach everyone in Westeros to read.
• Episode 3: This scene between Margaery and Cersei feels like watching someone poke a grizzly bear ...
• Aaaand there goes “I commanded the City Watch in King’s Landing!” Enh, I was getting tired of listening to him whinge on about it anyway.
• Making a deal with a crazy religious fanatic is not quite making a deal with the devil, but I still feel like this is a rare misstep for Cersei.
• “I’ll never hurt her.  You have my word.” —Ramsay (Hah!)
• Episode 4: And this scene feels like Cersei is setting loose a maneating tiger and hoping that only the people she doesn’t like will get eaten.
• Ohhh ... hello!  One last “you know nothing, Jon Snow” ... from Melisandre! [7]
• This exchange between Stannis and Shireen is heart-wrenching when viewed with the foreknowledge of the betrayal to come.
• Aaaand there goes Ser Barristan.
• Episode 5: Yet another “I promise” that will never happen ... [8]
• Most ... shocking ... marriage proposal ... ever.
• Episode 6: Arya kill #6 (sort of).
• “We both peddle fantasies, Brother Lancel.  Mine just happen to be entertaining.” —Littlefinger
• Tommen, you idiot!  That’s twice now you should have just had your big, strong knights slice up these angry little sparrows.  You’ve got a date with a window and you’re just rushing headlong towards it ...
• Episode 7: Aaaand there goes Maester Aemon.
• Not entirely sure why the Sand Snake decides to save Bronn, but I’m glad she does.
• Tyrion finally hooks up with Dany ... this is the first moment through the entire series where I felt like we might be heading towards a conclusion of some sort.
• Cersei is often despicable, but this is probably the first moment when I felt she was being idiotic. [10]
• Episode 8: “I’m not going to stop the wheel.  I’m going to break the wheel.” —Daenerys
• Somehow I feel like Sam’s words to Olly are not being interpreted in the way he’d hoped ...
• “I"m right behind you, I promise.” Yep, never heard that one before ...
• Aaaand there goes the first White Walker to die from Valyrian steel in a thousand years.  But definitely not the last.
• Aaaand there goes about half the remaining Free Folk in the world.
• Episode 9: Aaaand there goes Shireen.  In a parade of tragic, senseless deaths, I think this may be the most tragic and senseless one of all.
• Aaaand there goes what’s-his-name that Dany made marry her.  No great loss. [11]
• Do.  Not.  Fuck.  With Drogon. [12]
• Episode 10: Aaaand there goes Shireen’s mother.  Good riddance. [13]
• You know, for all Melisandre’s later complaining about being wrong, she’s not wrong about the Boltons being defeated ... she’s just wrong that it’s going to be Stannis doing it. [14]
• It’s just occurred to me that this is the second time Stannis disappointed Sansa.  Without ever meeting her.
• Aaaand there goes Stannis.  Not particularly happy to see him gone ... but not really sad about it either.
• Aaaand there goes Ramsay’s psycho girlfriend.  Extra no great loss there.
• I STILL SAY YOU CANNOT JUMP OFF A 50-FOOT CASTLE WALL AND LIVE!!!  And I don’t care how deep the snow supposedly was. [15]
• Aaaand there goes Ser Meryn Trant.  Arya kill #7. [16]
• Aaaand there goes Arya’s eyesight.
• Aaaand there goes Myrcella.  Weirdly, not that sad to see her go, but it’s quite sad for Jaime.
• These crazy sparrows don’t know who they’re messing with ...
• Aaaand there goes Jon. [17]
• Vicious body count this episode, if we’re looking at named, human characters.  Six: that’s the most so far for a single episode.

[1] I actually saw her palm the jewel off Sansa’s necklace this time around.  I’d never caught that before.

[2] If you watch the special features after the episode, the show runners seem to believe that, despite how terrible Joffrey and Cersei are, that we’re going to feel sorry for them in this death scene.  One of them says: “They bring out the underlying humanity in these characters, that I think in the hands of lesser actors could so easily turn into just evil stereotypes, and could make Joffrey’s death a purely triumphal moment for the audience, and I really don’t think it is ...” Well, bad news guys: you have woefully underestimated how much these actors have made us positively hate their characters.  The first time we watched it in my house, we actually cheered.  Then, when it was properly over, we rewound and watched it again.  It really was one of the top moments I was looking forward to in the rewatch.

[3] This is the moment when we finally realize the depth of Littlefinger’s schemes.  On first watch, this was pretty shocking.  That Lyssa was crazy was obviously never in doubt.  That she was evil was still a bit unexpected.  But it’s her interaction with Sansa that shows just how deep it runs—and also that Lyssa is perfectly capable of being crazy and evil all at once.

[4] When she does make bad decisions, they tend to be rash ones more than anything else.  She’s a very passionate person, and sometimes she doesn’t think things through.  Her decision to crucify a random sampling of the masters of Mereen, for instance: that one is particularly egregious, because Barristan out-and-out tells her she’ll regret it ... and she does, eventually.

This is her next-to-last bad decision.  There’s really only one more to come: the chaining up of the dragons.  That one is more considered, although still the wrong call in the end.  This one, though—sending Jorah away—I feel like is made in the heat of passion, fresh from the raw pain of the betrayal, and perhaps she would have reconsidered it if she’d thought it through.  As we know, she does reconsider her feelings about Jorah eventually.  Maybe there was no way she could have seen the other side of it at this time, no matter how long she took to evaluate it.  But I don’t know—she knows Barristan served her enemies but converted to her cause, and Jorah is really no different.  On top of that, she has to be aware that Barristan has his own agenda here: Barristan is an extremely noble personage (one of the few in this story), but the friction between him and Jorah is never far from the surface, and he knows that he’s never going to get closer to Dany’s good graces with Jorah in the way.  I can’t believe this is not obvious to everyone—neither Barristan nor Jorah is going to any lengths to hide it.  So Dany has got to realize that sending Jorah away is playing directly into Barristan’s strategy.  Or at least she would, if she could take a moment to analyze the situation thoroughly.

On the other hand, Jorah did endanger her baby, which Barristan never did.  So I suppose it’s understandable.  Still, not one of my favorite Dany moments.

[5] The character of Shae is perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the entire show.  Her character in the books is a bit of a simpleton: one of the few women in the story who is weak and more-or-less useless.  Her character in the show is much smarter, and more mysterious, and comes with hints of an intriguing backstory ... which we never learn.  At first she seems honestly devoted to Tyrion, and I understand if she’s wounded by his attempts to drive her away.  But she seems like she sees through this (as do we all: it’s not like he’s particularly subtle about it).  So can she really be upset enough to want to see him dead?  She shows up at Tyrion’s trial and not only testifies against him, but puts the nail in his coffin with out-and-out lies, knowing that this is going to sentence him to death.  So, while I understand that she’s pissed off, I can’t understand being pissed off enough to want to kill the guy she was supposedly in love with just days or weeks ago.

Maybe she never actually loved him?  Then I didn’t understand her even as much as I thought I did.  Maybe there’s something in her personality that would make sense of her going into a murderous rage after being rejected.  If so, that wasn’t communicated in her story as presented to us.  And why then cozy up to Tywin?  Is she playing him and doing an amazing job?  If so, why do such a shitty job of playing Tyrion when she sees him last?  Don’t forget: Tyrion doesn’t kill her because she slept with his father.  Tyrion kills her because she’s actively trying to kill him at the time.  (And I’m sure having slept with his father doesn’t help.)  If she was a master manipulator, she should have tried to manipulate Tyrion in that moment ... maybe it wouldn’t have worked, but I bet that, even then, he still had a huge soft spot for her.  In many ways, she was his greatest weakness.  But the point is, she should have tried.  Instead, she picks up a knife and attacks.  This is silly.  And even worse for being perhaps the only stupid move she makes in the entire storyline.

So, overall, I can’t fathom Shae.  I don’t know who she really is, I don’t know who the showrunners want me to think she is, and I can’t make any logical sense of her actions, even if I assume she’s not a logical person.

[6] Think I’m exaggerating?  Fine: she chooses Joffrey over Arya, Stannis over the Hound, Loras over Dontos, Littlefinger over Royce, and Littlefinger again over Brienne.  Now, obviously not all of those would have worked out for her: the Hound may not have been any more successful getting Sansa to a living Stark than he was with Arya, and Dontos was just delivering her to Littlefinger anyway.  And Stannis and Loras were more hopeful dreams than actual offers, but that’s what made them bad choices: choosing an actual Stannis in the castle over running off with the Hound in the middle of the night would be a no-brainer.  But she threw away a real, present chance to escape the nightmare she was trapped in on the hope that Stannis might win the battle.  Really, the only one of these choices I don’t fault her for was the pipe dream of marrying Loras: giving that up to sail off with Littlefinger (whether or not facilitated by Dontos, who she already knew was a drunkard) wasn’t a great option, granted.  But it’s still a remarkable string of bad choices, and I don’t think I even remembered them all.

[7] I’d forgotten that line as well.

[8] In this case, it’s Shireen’s promise to Davos about the upcoming battle, which she will never live to see.

[9] In the behind-the-scenes short, the showrunners postulate that this is the first time in the entire show’s run—comprising dozens, if not hundreds, of deaths—where we see someone die of old age.

[10] It apparently wasn’t enough to set the maneating tiger loose; now she’s tracked it back to its lair and is trying to pet it for eating all the people she didn’t like.  And then seems surprised when it bites her arm off.

[11] I completely didn’t understand this death.  The Sons of the Harpy are supposedly representatives of the Great Masters, who are obviously resentful of Dany, who freed all their slaves.  But, in this scene, the Sons of the Harpy are killing more of the rich people than the former slaves.  That seems rather counterproductive.  As for Hizdahr (a.k.a. “what’s-his-name”), he enters the scene with apologies for being late, saying he was just taking care of some last minute preparations, which is as obvious a clue that he was in on the whole attack as it could possibly be.  Yet he too is killed by the bad guys.  Now, you might say that this was just a red herring planted by the writers to throw us off, except that that doesn’t make any sense.  On first viewing, we have no clue that an attack is coming: it’s a huge shock when it breaks out.  So there’s nothing to throw us off from.  On repeat viewing, on the other hand, we already know that Hizdahr gets killed during this scene, strongly implying that Daario is wrong in his insistence about Hizdahr being aligned with the Sons of the Harpy, so what’s the point in trying to mislead us?  No, the whole “red herring” theory doesn’t make any sense.  And yet Chekhov’s gun implies that there must be some point to the line.  So I don’t understand which side Hizdahr is on, I don’t understand which side the Sons of the Harpy are on (other than that they’re certainly not on Dany’s side), and I’m still entirely sure whether I’m supposed to be sad that what’s-his-name is dead now.

So, as I said: no great loss.

[12] This is Dany’s second great “fuck yeah!” moment.  I dunno; there’s just something vicariously awesome about watching a big dragon show up and turn your enemies into crispy critters.

[13] Don’t forget: this is the woman who had to work up to burning her daughter alive by burning several other members of her family alive, including her brother(S4E2).  And she was a shitty mother, even before taking this rather drastic turn for the shittier.  So I shan’t be shedding any tears.

[14] Honestly, I think she broke him.  I think maybe there was some chance he might have been the chosen one, before she talked him into killing his own daughter.  Not that that would have been a particularly happy outcome.  So I suppose it’s all for the best.

[15] How deep could it have been anyway?  There was a weird thaw going on: it’s a major plot point of the episode.

[16] This is undoubtedly the best Arya kill ever.  Not the most satisfying, to be sure (that’s still to come), but bloody and drawn out and reduces a total dick to whimpering jelly ... just great.

[17] I’m a bit surprised Jon falls for this bit of trickery.  It seems over-obvious, especially in retrospect.  Olly was very clearly not on board with this whole wildling thing, and he was just a bit too enthusiastic in delivering that news about Benjen.

I do like the callback to Julius Caesar here though.  Everyone has to stab him once so that the killing blow can’t be ascribed to any one person.

⇐ Part 1

Part 3 ⇒

The midst of March

Well, we survived one birthday, and another one is a’coming.  Plus the kids’ grandma is here for a few weeks ... lots going on!  No time to talk; check in next week.

Game of Thrones Rewatch: the "Short" Version (Part 1)

In honor of the final season of Game of Thrones, I’ve decided to rewatch the entire series, finishing up just in time to watch the upcoming season 8 in real time.  As I went through it, I decided to make little notes to myself: at first, it was just a note of when every major (or semi-major, in some cases) character dies, and maybe some of the best quotes.  As I got deeper into it, I made more and more notes, little questions, or revelations (“oh, that’s what that meant!”), or snide comments on dramatic ironies (“yeah, sure you’ll talk about it ‘when you get back’ ...”), or just observations of my outlook or feelings on a particular happenstance.  Eventually, it involved into the pseudo-outline you see below.

When I first began, I had 72 days to watch 67 episodes.  As of this writing, I have 29 days left to watch 31 episodes, so I’ve fallen a bit behind, but definitely not enough to make me worried that I won’t be able to hit the goal.  Obviously I’m not done yet; what you’re getting today is only the first 3 seasons.  But it worked out that that’s about the right length for a blog post.  Since my commentary is picking up (and going deeper) the longer I go on, it’s likely that the next 4 seasons may turn into 2 blog posts; we’ll just have to see.

Here are the rules of my rewatch commentary:

• THERE ARE METRIC SHIT-TONS OF SPOILERS HERE.  One wouldn’t think I would have to point this out, as it’s a rewatch, but people will complain.  If you haven’t already watched all the seasons of GoT up till the last one, DON’T READ THIS.  Perhaps you can come back when you’re all caught up.  (To be crystal clear: just because the comment is in season 3 doesn’t mean that it won’t contain spoilers for season 4 ... or season 7.  Obviously there are no spoilers for season 8 yet.)
• (Speaking of “shit-tons” ...)  I curse.  Anyone who’s read any of my other blog posts will already know this, but perhaps you got here via some link or other and don’t know what you’re in for.  Although the previous bullet point should have been a giveaway.
• My opnions are just that: opinions.  I present them here in case you find them interesting, but I’m not trying to convince you to believe as I do.  I ask that you show me the same courtesy should you choose to leave a comment—that is, feel free to share your own opinions, but don’t try to tell me I’m “wrong.”
• Likewise, whatever moments I found worthy of comment are also my opinions.  If I left out one of your favorites, sorry about that.  Feel free to remind me of it in the blog post comments.
• My comments are always super-quick.  If I want to expand on a particular thing, I do it as a pseudo-footnote.  In this case, “pseudo-footnote” means “formatted almost exactly like a footnote, but way more obvious.”  These “footnotes” are designed to be less ignorable, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ignore them if you want to.  They’re just topics I wanted to explore a bit further.  Sometimes only a sentence or two more, sometimes whole paragraphs.  Read ’em or not: your call.
• There’s not a comment on every episode.  Especially in the early episodes: sometimes there’s just nothing that jumped out at me that hour.
• I am watching the “Inside the Episode” shorts after the shows, for every show.  Occasionally that will inform my commentary (but usually not).
• Once I’m done with the rewatch, I may keep some commentary on the final season.  Or I may not; no promises.

Season 1

• Episode 2: I never liked Sansa.
• Episode 6: I continue to dislike Sansa.  In fact, I may like her even less at this point.
• Aaaand there goes Viserys.  “He was no dragon.  Fire cannot kill a dragon.” —Daenerys
• Episode 7: Aaaand there goes Robert.
• “I did warn you not to trust me ...” —Littlefinger
• Episode 8: Arya kill #1.  (Many more to come.)
• Episode 9: “Surely there are ways to have me killed that are less detrimental to the war effort.” —Tyrion
• Aaaand there goes Ned.
• Episode 10: “There are no men like me.  Only me.” —Jaime

Season 2

• Episode 3: Man, I really dislike Sansa.
• Tyrion is really good at all this political maneuvering stuff.  Theon is really bad at it.
• Ah, Brienne: so young and innocent back then.
• Episode 4: Joffrey is a sick fuck.
• Episode 5: Aaaand there goes Renly.
• I wish Theon didn’t suck so bad. [1]
• “No, my lord.  Anyone can be killed.” —Arya
• Episode 6: “You’re brave.  Stupid, but brave.” —Ygritte
• Episode 7: This Ironborn schmuck that keeps egging Theon on ... I’m starting to wonder if he works for Theon’s sister.
• Ah! there it is: the very first “You know nothing, Jon Snow.”  First of many.
• “It’s better to be cruel than weak.” —Theon  (Dumber words were never spoken.)
• From the perspective of later-seasons-Jaime, it is sometimes difficult to remember what an awful shit he is.
• Episode 8: How much easier would it have been if Arya had just named Cersei as one of her 3 deaths?
• Episode 9: Sansa should’ve gone with the Hound.  Another in a long string of bad decisions.
• Episode 10: “My father is dead.  And the only parent I have left has no right to call anyone reckless.” —Robb  (Zing!)
• Aaaand there goes Maester Luwin.
• Aaaand there goes the first person to die from dragonfire in a thousand years.  But definitely not the last.
• I’m still not entirely sure why the White Walkers didn’t just kill Sam ...

Season 3

• Episode 1: Holy shit! it’s Qyburn!!  I had no recollection of him showing up this early.
• Tywin continues to demonstrate that he richly deserves his ultimate fate.
• Nobody listens to Davos.  Sigh.
• Episode 2: Margaery appears to be the only person on the planet capable of controlling Joffrey.
• Episode 3: Aaaand there goes Jaime’s hand.
• Episode 4: There is but one person in the seven kingdoms who can give Joffrey a run for his money in the sick fuck department.  Poor Theon.  Still a jerk, but nobody deserves Ramsay.
• Aaaand there goes Lord Commander Mormont.  (And Craster, too, but that’s no great loss.)
• Only the second person on the planet to die from dragonfire, but undoubtedly the most deserving. [2]
• Episode 5: Aaaand there goes Beric.  No, wait ... never mind.
• Aaaand there goes Jon’s virginity.
• And this is the place where Jaime changes from mostly-bad-guy to sorta-kinda-hero. [3]
• Episode 6: Melisandre to Arya: “We’ll meet again.”  Looking forward to that shit! [4]
• Aaaand there goes Ros.
• Episode 7: “I’m stupid.  A stupid little girl with stupid dreams who never learns.” —Sansa  (Hey: she said it, not me.)
• Man, people in this show make a lot of promises they’re not going to be able to keep ...
• Episode 8: “If you ever call me sister again I’ll have you strangled in your sleep.” —Cersei [5]
• I can’t decide whether Tyrion really is that drunk, or if he’s just faking it. [6]
• Aaaand there goes the first White Walker to die from dragonglass in a thousand years.  But definitely not the last.
• Episode 9: Eek ... another wedding.  This never ends well ... [7]
• Aaaand there goes Robb.  And his wife.   And their unborn child.  And his wolf.
• And Catelyn.
• Episode 10: Tywin sending Joffrey to bed in the middle of the day is one of my favorite moments.
• Sam gives Meera some dragonglass arrowheads.  I hadn’t remembered that.
• “It’s not easy being drunk all the time.  Everyone would do it if it were easy.” —Tyrion
• Arya kill #2.

[1] Our culture has what I’ve always considered a curious custom: we do not speak ill of the dead.  No matter how shitty a person is in life, once they’re dead, we’re supposed to pretend they were a saint.  I’ve never really bought into it.  An asshole is an asshole, alive or dead.

There’s a parallel situation with Sansa and Theon.  Terrible things happen to them—truly horrible, awful things.  Do I feel sympathy for them?  Of course I do!  I’m not a monster.

But that doesn’t change the fact that they make some truly idiotic choices.  And that’s compounded by the fact that neither of them is particularly an idiot.  At least if they were stupid, you could understand it.  But they both have opportunities to make the right choices ... good choices.  And they both flub it.  Over and over.  I easily remembered Sansa’s first worst choice: it’s right in episode #2, where she chooses Joffrey over her family.  Raised to value honor over everything else, to value family over everyone else, she rejects both for a fantasy of a golden prince.  We can argue that she’s only a little girl at the time, but both Arya and Bran are younger, and they consistently make better choices than Sansa.  And, to make it worse, even after Cersei demonstrates to Sansa what terrible people she wants to marry into in a very painful way (remember: Sansa is the first to lose her wolf), Sansa continues to wail on about how much she loves Joffrey.  Puh-lease.

I didn’t even remember the corresponding scene for Theon until this rewatch, but it comes in S2E3.  Theon was so looking forward to this grand homecoming and it goes so badly.  And, sure, his father is a crushing asshole, and his sister is an even bigger dick than he is, and he brings a lot of it on himself with his bad decisions.  But he knows what the right course of action is.  He actually writes a letter to Robb (this is the part I’d forgotten), and he’s ready to ... I don’t know, exactly—send it? run away and deliver it himself?  But either way he’s going to warn Robb about his crazy father’s plans.  He’s all set to go ... and then he burns the letter.  Epically bad choice.  And, again, not the last one.

So, while I do sympathize with Sansa, and with Theon, that doesn’t mean I have to like them.  They do stupid things, despite not being stupid, they choose dishonorable paths, despite being raised by what is essentially the only honorable family on the continent, and they choose to go along instead of running away over and over even though it always works out badly for them.  I will never claim that they deserve the awfulness that is visited upon them.  But I’m also not going to pretend they’re anything other than terrible people.


[2] I’m still not sure how I feel about this scene.  Daenerys is a serious bad-ass, and there’s a lot of “fuck yeah!” going on here.  But, at the same time, Dany is always an honourable person, and this transaction feels like cheating.  I can’t find any statement she made that was an actual lie, but it certainly is breaking the spirit of the agreement to pay for an army with something that will murder the seller.  She’s getting something for nothing here.  And, yes, I know: she’s freeing an entire city full of slaves, and the guy had no right to be selling people in the first place.  But it still feels wrong, somehow.

On the other hand, I was looking forward to this scene the entire season.  One of my all-time favorites.  Fuck yeah!


[3] To be clear, I realize that Jaime was never completely evil (certainly not in the way that Joffrey is, or Ramsay), and I also realize that he never really becomes noble (the way that Jon and Dany do).  But Jaime is the closest to what I would refer to as a “heel turn”.  Technically (as that link will tell you), a heel turn is only when someone goes from being a good guy to being a bad guy.  But I’m happy enough to use it for the opposite situation as well.  Some ongoing stories (be they novels or TV shows) radically overuse the heel turn; my favorite example is Heroes, where, if you watch for enough seasons (hint: don’t do that), pretty much every single character undergoes at least one heel turn, and several characters (the most obvious one being Sylar, although Claire’s father Noah is nearly as bad) flip-flop back and forth so much it makes your head spin trying to keep up.  GoT has surprisingly few heel turns for a show that eschews black and white this hard (and, for more pointless meandering on that topic, see my post on shades of gray in fantasy.)  You could try to argue Tyrion, but he was never that bad a guy: his worst sins were decadence and a touch of laziness.  You could try to argue Varys, but he was never a bad guy either: you just couldn’t tell which side he was on.  Maybe the Hound?  Well, he may undergo some sort of redemptive arc before the story’s done, but I doubt we’ll ever think of him as an actual good guy.

No, I think Jaime is actually the only character who starts out as unquestionably bad (e.g. pushing Bran out the window, right in S1E1), and then then ends up, I would argue, unquestionably good.  First, he performs his little deception to keep Brienne from being raped, then he takes a bit more active role by going back to save her life after he was already free, then he sends her off to track down Sansa and Arya to try to fulfill his oath to poor, dead Catelyn, then his kindness to Tyrion in the dungeons, then the whole trip to Dorn to rescue Myrcella, and I honestly think that, at the end, he will be the only thing keeping Cersei from destroying the whole world, much the same way he kept the Mad King from destroying all of King’s Landing (the story of which was the impetus for my comment, which led to this long digression).  I hate to make predictions about a show which works so very very hard to be unpredictable, but let’s just say that, if Jaime dies while killing Cersei to keep her from carrying out some devastating scheme, I’ll be busy patting myself on the back.

So I think Jaime’s arc is a proper heel turn, and I think it may well be the only one in the whole story.  Which I’m fine with, and I’m mostly on board with it.  It is really hard to forget that image of him pushing Bran (and the whole smirk, and the little quip—“The things we do for love!”—certainly don’t help any), and I definitely don’t claim we should forgive him for that.  But I do think we have to recognize that not only is there a core of goodness in him, even in the beginning, when it’s buried pretty deep, but also that he’s actively changing over the course of the story.  I think that’s very different from a character like Tyrion, or even Arya, where what’s changing is not so much their fundamental natures, but rather our understanding of them.


[4] I’d completely forgotten this line.  One of several times during the rewatch that I was surprised by something I hadn’t remembered.  Which is, of course, really the whole point of the exercise.


[5] The way that Cersei looks at Margaery when Margaery takes her arm is utterly brilliant.  The amount of scorn that Lena Headey can invest in a single look is astonishing: it’s more than you would think humanly possible.  While Cersei is one of my least favorite characters, I postively adore Headey.  If you want to see her in something where you’ll hate her character a bit less, I recommend The Sarah Connor Chronicles.


[6] This is on his wedding night, to Sansa.  He does seem very drunk.  But he also makes some very canny decisions while supposedly falling over pissed.


[7] Were I dispensing advice, I would suggest 2 rules for common-sense survival in Westeros:

1. If anyone tries to promise you they’ll tell you more about a topic when they see you again, tie them down and do not let them leave until they spill it.
2. Under no circumstances attend any weddings.

Part 2 ⇒

First birthday of the year

Sliding into the March birthday season, it’s the Smaller Animal’s birthday weekend, so it works out nicely that I don’t have to do a long post this week.  You know, I was just looking at what we did last year for the corresponding weekend, and this weekend was mostly the same: Subway and Panda Express, make The Mother cook “Burden spaghetti” (we call it that because it comes from my side of the family, although, since it actually derives from my mother’s family, it should more properly be called “Baird spaghetti,” and the tale of that recipe is probably worthy of its own blog post one day), attend a showing of a CGI movie.  Last year we couldn’t find a place to watch the chosen flick (Early Man, which we saw later when it came out on DVD/streaming, and it was quite excellent); this year we went with the Lego Movie 2, which was easier to find and just as entertaining.  Also, at home we watched Ralph Breaks the Internet, which is yet another CGI movie, and it was also quite fun.  Also, birthday donuts again (pretty much everyone gets that for their birthday), and still more videogames.

The new thing—well, it’s still technically a videogame, so perhaps not entirely new—this year was Nintendo Labo, which is this bizarre concoction of cardboard and string kits that you build, and then play videogames with, most of involves which a lot of moving around.  It’s half craft kit, half videogame, and half exercise machine.  It’s really quite amazing on a lot of levels.  First of all, my kid is, right this very second, jumping around in what is essentially a VR rig made out of carbboard, that he assembled himself without any real tools, and is now using to control a giant robot on the screen that he makes punch and stomp things by, well, punching and stomping.  So that’s pretty impressive right off the bat.  It was also amazing how much time he was willing to put into following the laborious instructions, which are themselves amazing, because instead of being scores of printed pages with indecipherable diagrams and badly translated text, they’re friggin’ movies.  And not just movies, because they use the gaming console, so you can back up, or zoom in, or change the camera angle.  Shit, man: if Ikea ever figures out how to do instrucitons like this, comedians will run out of material.

So it’s been a pretty decent weekend, and I think the kid has had fun.  And in 3 more weeks we get to do it all again, only with a more tyrannical master: our fairy princess will be turning 7.  Joy.