Films and TV (Untagged spoilers)

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQY3iNOiSN0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWsTcsAK4yU

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

"GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS FIRST REACTIONS TWITTER ROUNDUP"

"First ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ Reactions Tease a Massive Kaiju Collision"

"First Godzilla King of the Monsters Reviews Are VERY Positive"

"Godzilla King Of The Monsters FIRST REVIEWS Hugely Positive"

[Dragaros]

So. Game of Thrones.

► Show Spoiler

Varys was executed for his betrayal.

Dany went into full psycho crazy mode. She had secured victory, with little damage to the city or the civilians, the enemy army had yielded, bells sounded to signify unconditional surrender… and then she produced to burn everything in sight in a vengeful, nihilistic rampage. Jon is horrified.

King's Landing is torched to hell and back. That vision Danny had in season 2 of King's Landing in ruins and in the snow? Turns out it was really ash, not snow. Ash from dragonfire she unleashed.

Cleganebowl finally happened. The Mountain proved to be insanely tough, to supernatural levels, to ridiculous levels even. He shrugged off stabs to the stomach, the neck, and the head. He's like a super undead Frankenstein's Monster on steroids. It took the Hound knocking him off the tower, sacrificing himself in the process, and landing in a sea of dragonfire to finally kill him. Sandor Clegane got his revenge, at the cost of his own life. Before challenging his brother, he convinced Arya to leave. Arya lives to fight another day.

Jaime ended up being just that hopelessly addicted to Cersei. He killed Euron, and then he and Cersei died in each other's arms when the roof collapsed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W8j6wOvxuo

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyBPzUe3hNI

[TheodoricFriede]

So. Game of Thrones.

► Show Spoiler

Varys was executed for his betrayal.

Dany went into full psycho crazy mode. She had secured victory, with little damage to the city or the civilians, the enemy army had yielded, bells sounded to signify unconditional surrender… and then she produced to burn everything in sight in a vengeful, nihilistic rampage. Jon is horrified.

King's Landing is torched to hell and back. That vision Danny had in season 2 of King's Landing in ruins and in the snow? Turns out it was really ash, not snow. Ash from dragonfire she unleashed.

I stopped watching years ago because the show got stupid in its grimdark predictability.

But this is the first thing I have heard in YEARS that has ever gotten me excited about that show.

[Vol]

Nigga wut? That's the outcomes of all those characters arcs?

► Show Spoiler

Dany's, yeah, that makes sense. She's a tragic villain, her inability to rule and her lineage naturally culminate to that. Full circle.

[Raga]

I've always thought the Daenerys fan thing was weird. Literally in book 1 she's okay with unleashing her prophesied son, who is supposed to be the leader of the biggest murder pillage rape horde in the history of the world, on everybody. And everyone is just bizarrely okay with this. I was always happy that lamb woman witch murdered the piss out of her unborn child.

[Sinekein]

This episode was very good, but is undermined by how fucking horrible the previous one was.

► Show Spoiler

Among the things that would have made it better for me:

- Jaime going back to Cersei - fantastic moment. Jaime sleeping with Brienne right before - totally unnecessary for his development. You don't need to complete like a total piece of shit to go back to an abusive, self-destructive relationship. His treatment of Brienne reeked of manicheism, "we need to show that he is really a bastard, so we're gonna have him break the heart of an innocent woman". Spoiler alert: considering their relationships, if he had just left, Brienne's heart would still have been broken.

- Dany (and Grey Worm to a far lesser degree) going full villain, in retrospect, makes sense. But Dany got really shafted when it comes to writing. In the span of two episodes, everything she has done before is forgotten. Jorah got a great death, but Missandei's was completely tone-deaf - entirely a plot device related to Dany, which means that if you look at her character, she is the one black woman on the show, a former slave, and she dies in a public execution without having had at any point any control about her final fate.

- At the very least they could have spread out Dany's various losses. In the same episode, one of her children and her best friend die, and unlike Jorah they don't get the privilege of a glorious ending. It's just so clumsy. Now I have complained that GOT was slow, but it didn't mean that every single character arc needed to be rushed. Especially not for the character who has developed and changed over 7 seasons and a half already.

- It would have been nice if someone, anyone (Tyrion ffs) had mentioned at any point what Daenerys had done before that episode. To put things in perspective. Her turning mad is fine, but it would have been far more heartwrenching if we were reminded that she came from the other side of the world and sacrificed everything she earned to help save humanity and got absolutely nothing from it.

- The scene where it's implied that Dany wouldn't have gone cray-cray had Jon boned her...urk. Again, I feel like all those bad writing choices make the moment when she goes crazy far less powerful. It could have been so much more.

- Holy crap, Euron was a bad character. Then again, I think he utterly sucked in the books too, like he really did not belong to that kind of universe. The Greyjoy parts without Theon are about the worst things GRRM wrote, it looks like he watched some pirate movie after having already written book 1 and decided that he wanted badass pirates too. Buuut, as someone put it, we can thank D&D for a last episode without him. That's something.

- Drogon turning everything to ash - that's badass. But just one episode after Rhaegal died in an absolutely pathetic way...again, pacing. Explanations. Show more of Dany's overconfidence in her dragons. Show more of the Iron Fleet's preparations. Show how Dany goes with a plan the second time around. I don't know. Write it better

Still, there was some great stuff.

► Show Spoiler

Varys' end looked rushed, but the actor is so good that he did not need more, the looks he exchanged with Tyrion were perfect as they were. Sandor Clegane also got a glorious exit. And the Lannisters going down together. Qyburn's demise - hilarious. Ditto with the Golden Company. And the cinematography, holy crap, many big budget movies would kill to look that good.

That could have been the greatest episode in the entire show, if episode 4 had not been such a wreck.

[Sinekein]

And to talk about another TV show whose most recent season is superior to the previous ones: Lucifer.

The new Netflix format suits the show incredibly well, mainly for two reasons:

- since it is shorter (10 episodes), there is absolutely no padding/timewasting anymore, and while it still alternates between police procedural and supernatural story, the latter part feels much better with no character getting away from the spotlight for entire episodes because their personal arc is too stretched.

- now there is no more restriction on, let's say "adult topics" overall. Nudity, violence or swearing is not necessary and can easily be overplayed, but for a show about the titular Devil, there is a base requirement which is now very well fulfilled without even being that "in your face". So basically, it's sexier, bloodier and has a fouler mouth, but in a good way.

As for spoiler things:

► Show Spoiler

No characters felt left on the side, and Maze in particular got some great development. The expectation we have for the main antagonist's identity are very well played with, and the show manages to give a logical, entertaining, and bittersweet-as-needed finale which will hopefully leaf to more but can be seen as somewhat satisfactory if the show isn't renewed (I hope it will be). The CGI is top notch now, and we get far more of it, along with several fantastic musical numbers (best Wonderwall cover I've heard). Eve's character I was wary of after the trailer, but she actually fits the show extremely well. It helps that the actress is absolutely stunning - between Tom Ellis, Aimee Garcia, Lesley-Ann Brand and now Inbar Lavi, it's by far the hottest TV show there is casting-wise IMO (even Lucy & Amenadiel's new sister we discover is stunning). It remains consistently funny, whether it is lame puns, Lucifer's shenanigans, Lucifer's therapy session and Linda now being fully aware of how he will do the opposite of what she just suggested, Ella having a hilarious moment being on molly and coke...it's great entertainment. Solid 8/10.

[Vol]

I've always thought the Daenerys fan thing was weird. Literally in book 1 she's okay with unleashing her prophesied son, who is supposed to be the leader of the biggest murder pillage rape horde in the history of the world, on everybody. And everyone is just bizarrely okay with this. I was always happy that lamb woman witch murdered the piss out of her unborn child.

It seems to be a result of the way the show portrays her and Cersei, "yaaaas slay queen!" I remember being very confused during the earlier seasons when people weren't grasping that Cersei was a monster. In the books, Dany's a naive child, who knows nothing but the shit Viserys was telling her, and the various nobles who strung them along, and that brief moment of happiness living in Braavos in the house with the red door. So it made sense that when given a taste of power and a kind of love from Drogos, she embraced it. Yeah, she was gonna give birth to Essos Genghis Khan, but in context, it's portrayed as her blossoming into a real person while her brother descends into a beast, so the literal implications are not emphasized. We get a taste with the Lamb people and how the dothraki are, in fact, horrible, but then there's Dany, being the voice of morality to try and turn them away. Then it's all about her and her struggle with losing Drogo and how tragic her fate is going to be, then the old lady being "ungrateful" to her savior, then the first hint of Dany's madness when she burns her alive. Keeping in mind she's barely had her first period when we meet her.

I don't remember quite how the show portrayed all that, but I'm going to assume it was with an even gentler brush.

@Sine: The loss of Dany's POV and the time to watch her work through her life didn't help.

► Show Spoiler

If we take Aerys II as an example, he was slightly unhinged until the Defiance of Duskendale, then he lost his shit. Dany so far in the books has been fairly benevolent, but not hesitant to go fire and blood on people even slightly related to those she sees as her enemy. She tries to make peace, but it doesn't work. And then we leave her, alone and shitting herself half to death, having hallucinations, wandering outside Mereene, and then finally deciding she needs to be _more_ vicious, right as a dothraki horde shows up and the black dragon comes back to her. That would be the moment of extreme stress to begin to turn her into a more overtly mad Targyrean, and it would make sense after all the shit that game before and has yet to come. If a lot of the losses she suffers in the show then happen, it'll make total sense by the time she gets to King's Landing that she's ready to burn it all down. Though I don't imagine she'll make it to Winterfell with the dothraki, my guess is that Aegon will depose Cersei first, so we can get a proper repeat of history.

I like book Euron. He represents the borders of the "known" world, where magic and monsters and weirdness exist, but we never really see. Against the asshole Ironborn, he doesn't fit in at all, he's some sort of warlock who walked Valyria and has a ridiculous ship and crew and a magic horn, and it's all so unlike a bunch of rapist vikings that it's charming.

[Raga]

I remember being very confused during the earlier seasons when people weren't grasping that Cersei was a monster.

This was a thing? By the end of episode one of season one she's already established as a brother fucker willing to condone the murder of children to cover up her perversions. I don't understand people.

@ Dany stuff

► Show Spoiler

There's partially a slippery slope into Targaryen madness going down, which arguably hasn't been paced well in the show. (I've read all the books but I'm still in Season 5 on the show, but by marathoning I expect to be caught up by the final episode). However, one thing is unmistakable since Season 1 and that is that she is imperious as fuck. This is what she learned from Drogo and Viserys - brash imperious machismo. Her mistreatment at the hands of Viserys also happens to have created a strong empathy streak in her for the abused and downtrodden. But even the way she deals with that is imperious. "I demand slavery magically end and everybody get over it now or be crucified in their own entrails because...Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, titles, titles, blah, blah, blah." Dany has literally 1 mode of dealing with any problem: imperiously decree that such and such will be so and expect everybody to make it so. And she's never seriously had this impulse checked because she's always had the trump card of either Drogo or her dragons. The only time it really was checked, at the death of Drogo when the khalasar rode away and abandoned her, she immediately received dragons to make up for it after burning somebody alive. Hardly a great precedent setting moment for future enlightened monarch status.

This is the ugly truth about the Targaryens. They weren't especially clever, or noble, or gallant or whatever. They fucking had dragons! She's a highly entitled teenage girl, whose family has a history of derangement, who has been nurtured to be imperious and has dragons to fall back on when she doesn't immediately get her way by decree. A bit of empathy for underdogs is just not a levy that can hold back that flood.

She is to use a term I called her a long time ago "polite Cersei" but now that thin veneer is falling away.

Yea, yea, I hate Daenerys' guts and always have done, if that wasn't obvious. I can somewhat concede that given her past she can't really help what she is, but then neither can her dragons. And her dragons are still what they are, dangerous magical monsters, and you have to respond to them accordingly.

[magnuskn]

So. Saw the episode. It's masterfully directed, that's for sure and looks visually impressive as hell. There are a lot of good character moments for the Hound. If I ever write my novel, I'll likely try to incorporate a villain as joyfully evil about whatever he does as Euron.

HowEVER.

Dany gets completely character assassinated. So does Grey Worm. So does Tyrion. So does Jaime. So does Jon. So does Varys. So does Arya. But, of course, the worst is done to Dany. This is an "Anakin Skywalker falls to the dark side in an instant in Revenge of the Sith and immediately starts murdering younglings" next level of shit writing. She went from a 10 to a 100 and there was no justification for this.

Yeah, there was a drop in plot consistency and characterization after the writers got completely done with GRRM's source material. But this is some next level of shit writing and will haunt the series legacy forever. Man, oh man, did I not want another Mass Effect 3 situation to occur, but here we are. Again.

[Vol]

@ Dany stuff

► Show Spoiler

There's partially a slippery slope into Targaryen madness going down, which arguably hasn't been paced well in the show. (I've read all the books but I'm still in Season 5 on the show, but by marathoning I expect to be caught up by the final episode). However, one thing is unmistakable since Season 1 and that is that she is imperious as fuck. This is what she learned from Drogo and Viserys - brash imperious machismo. Her mistreatment at the hands of Viserys also happens to have created a strong empathy streak in her for the abused and downtrodden. But even the way she deals with that is imperious. "I demand slavery magically end and everybody get over it now or be crucified in their own entrails because...Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, titles, titles, blah, blah, blah." Dany has literally 1 mode of dealing with any problem: imperiously decree that such and such will be so and expect everybody to make it so. And she's never seriously had this impulse checked because she's always had the trump card of either Drogo or her dragons. The only time it really was checked, at the death of Drogo when the khalasar rode away and abandoned her, she immediately received dragons to make up for it after burning somebody alive. Hardly a great precedent setting moment for future enlightened monarch status.

This is the ugly truth about the Targaryens. They weren't especially clever, or noble, or gallant or whatever. They fucking had dragons! She's a highly entitled teenage girl, whose family has a history of derangement, who has been nurtured to be imperious and has dragons to fall back on when she doesn't immediately get her way by decree. A bit of empathy for underdogs is just not a levy that can hold back that flood.

She is to use a term I called her a long time ago "polite Cersei" but now that thin veneer is falling away.

Yea, yea, I hate Daenerys' guts and always have done, if that wasn't obvious. I can somewhat concede that given her past she can't really help what she is, but then neither can her dragons. And her dragons are still what they are, dangerous magical monsters, and you have to respond to them accordingly.

I never hated her per se, I disliked the disconnect between my interpretation and the popular one. But around the time that we get an update on how Astapor is going after Dany "breaks the chains" was when I became fairly sure of how her arc was going to go. Not the particulars, but where she would or not be at the end. Then Meereen reinforces it.

► Show Spoiler

Her dad was the first truly mad Targ we know of. The others had specific moments of insanity, drinking wildfire, starving themselves to death, eating themselves to death, but Aerys II was total off-the-wall bonkers. Targ madness appears to be, as you say, a result of delusions of grandeur unchecked sometimes overflowing. Her branch of the tree might well be the most unstable one, genetically, and moments of great stress break the glass.

Aegon Blackfyre, he seems fine. I like him. Root for him. No way he's going to sit the throne at the end, because Kings Landing has had Chekov's Gun pointed at it since the first book. Little brash, but a good young man, well educated, knows the plight of the commons, knows history and chivalry, bit politically naive. Dany will probably kill him if he manages to depose Cersei, but the show timeline is so radically different from the books that it's real hard to assume how much of anything beyond the broadest strokes will occur.

Aegon the Conqueror was clever. He subdued 6 of the 7 kingdoms with minimal cost, founded a city, got outfoxed by Dorne, and was otherwise a fair and good ruler given he'd just united 6 independent kingdoms under his absolute control and didn't massacre civilians or refuse to accept surrenders. He had dragons and sister-wives and enough magic to hatch more, so, he was at least worthy of founding the dynasty.

Of course, the second Dany's dragons were big enough to ride, she'd won the arms race. Ridiculous ballistas aside, she had a force multiplier that no one else could hope to touch, she's no longer an underdog.

[Alienmorph]

Look at the bright side. At least none of you named their daughters Daenerys... unlike a weird amount of GoT fans who got waaay too much into her did.

[Raga]

The one that always got me was "Khaleesi." Which to start with is just an ugly sounding word that makes for an unfortunate name.

But even leaving that aside for meaning, the meaning is...the brood mare for Attila the Hun who deigns to have sex with you only by pushing your face into the dirt first. Yea...totally want to name my daughter that.

[Alienmorph]

It's probably the same kind of people who saw Edward "watching Bella while she sleeps" as romantic. Only that now, instead of fucking an emo vampire, they dream of becoming the breeding bitch of a barbarian king.

I mean... to each their own, I know guys who have that fantasy too for that matter lol

But calling your daughter after something that reminds you of that? Yeah, that's kinda weird at best and messed-up at worst... it'd be like if I wanted to call my first daughter Zone-Tan, or something...

[Sinekein]

@Dany stuff: I think what happened made perfect sense from a Doylist point of view, knowing Martin's personality.

His main decisions since the series started have been to go against every trope and cliché of medieval fantasy literature. As such, he could not have Dany actually be "The Chosen Onee who will bring peace to the realm". Just like (I bet) Jon is not going to be it either, because the heroic bastard with a royal secret has also been done to death. He couldn't have supreme assassin Arya complete her training by getting the realm rid of Cersei. He couldn't have Jaime completing his redemption arc and dying in heroic fashion in a selfless act, or finding healthy love.

I assume that Tyrion is going to get the axe too, if only because of the poetic justice of having the House whose ruthlessness and ability to eradicate its foes was put into song, being eradicated itself. Plus the "cliché" ending would be him and his newfound wisdom being a benevolent Hand of the King to whoever is on the throne.

Also, I assume that the books' title refers to that finale. Except that while people expected it to mean something about Jon and Dany being the two leads, it might represent the battle against the WW, and the sacking of King's Landing.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ9QQMXTftY

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn5wloyBHnA

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K7c0jXkaGc

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaGM8SJRc5k

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olzmzobJpDI

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEkuBSyG8u0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbI3VBLxOno

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuXHuWYQTxs

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MwW1NAsnR8

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ylWDygEaD4

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BvuyAruoqE

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEU8AvPNDAY

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f28CzL6WUw

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yndRSqA69Kc

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vnghdsjmd0

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqnD-khr2y0

[Sinekein]

Something that occurred to me in light of the most recent GOT episode is that there seems to be a trend that characters who order executions for "justice" don't end well.

► Show Spoiler

We just had Dany going off the deep end (and IMO she probably won't make it to the end of the finale). Dany committed probably the highest number of "executions for justice" - the masters, or the Tarlys, had not directly wronged her, but she either directly killed them or condoned their deaths.

The series opened with Ned's execution of the Night Watch's deserter, who had violated the Watch's code, but did not directly wrong Ned.

Robb executed Rickard Karstark because he got revenge and did not follow his own orders - but he never attacked or threatened him directly.

Stannis, aside from the various gratuitous burnings, killed Mance Rayder, the leader of a defeated army (like Randyll Tarly).

And we have of course Jaime, who executed the Mad King to protect King's Landing (I'm gonna take the book interpretation here where it's really his motivation. I won't mention the various gratuitous executions ordered by Joffrey or Cersei because there is no argument those are evil.

In contrast, Arya, Sansa and Jon all ordered executions, but those only ever targeted direct threats to them or their family. Arya is starting to have a decent hit-list, but on it AFAIK you only have people who abused/attacked her or her sister, or got her father or brother(s) killed. Jon only got his murderers executed AFAIK (although I might be mistaken) - I think he killed the ranger with missing fingers but that's what he was ordered to do, not his own decision, and it was a duel, not an execution.

So overall, it seems that causing death in ASOIAF is fine only when it is direct or familial revenge or protection. Killing for justice or the greater good seems to be the best way to meet your maker. In Jaime and Dany's cases, those "justice killings" were also the prelude to more heinous actions.

I know that it's not a requirement to die on the show or books, but I can't think of a character that's alive now after having ordered executions because "the law said so" or "you betrayed me". I wonder if it's tied to the author's own opinion on the death penalty or if it's just something that randomly emerged from the way the story unfolded.

[magnuskn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdBC1lEVGDo

Totally called it first!

[Raga]

Something that occurred to me in light of the most recent GOT episode is that there seems to be a trend that characters who order executions for "justice" don't end well.

► Show Spoiler

We just had Dany going off the deep end (and IMO she probably won't make it to the end of the finale). Dany committed probably the highest number of "executions for justice" - the masters, or the Tarlys, had not directly wronged her, but she either directly killed them or condoned their deaths.

The series opened with Ned's execution of the Night Watch's deserter, who had violated the Watch's code, but did not directly wrong Ned.

Robb executed Rickard Karstark because he got revenge and did not follow his own orders - but he never attacked or threatened him directly.

Stannis, aside from the various gratuitous burnings, killed Mance Rayder, the leader of a defeated army (like Randyll Tarly).

And we have of course Jaime, who executed the Mad King to protect King's Landing (I'm gonna take the book interpretation here where it's really his motivation. I won't mention the various gratuitous executions ordered by Joffrey or Cersei because there is no argument those are evil.

In contrast, Arya, Sansa and Jon all ordered executions, but those only ever targeted direct threats to them or their family. Arya is starting to have a decent hit-list, but on it AFAIK you only have people who abused/attacked her or her sister, or got her father or brother(s) killed. Jon only got his murderers executed AFAIK (although I might be mistaken) - I think he killed the ranger with missing fingers but that's what he was ordered to do, not his own decision, and it was a duel, not an execution.

So overall, it seems that causing death in ASOIAF is fine only when it is direct or familial revenge or protection. Killing for justice or the greater good seems to be the best way to meet your maker. In Jaime and Dany's cases, those "justice killings" were also the prelude to more heinous actions.

I know that it's not a requirement to die on the show or books, but I can't think of a character that's alive now after having ordered executions because "the law said so" or "you betrayed me". I wonder if it's tied to the author's own opinion on the death penalty or if it's just something that randomly emerged from the way the story unfolded.

I doubt it's a direct intention on the part of the author, and more a trend driven by the fact that characters more likely to execute "for justice" are more likely to care about justice in general, and thus, more likely to meddle or otherwise insist on telling the truth or whatever. If the Cersei's of the world can't bribe, blackmail, or intimidate the do-gooders into compliance, they resort to murder.

The other group who consistently die are the "mad dog" characters who are motivated by love of carnage or some mania or other, the ones who love mayhem for the sake of mayhem. Sometimes they last a season/book or two, but they pretty much inevitably end up pushing up daisies.

► Show Spoiler

Joffrey, Ramsay, Gregor Clegane (his non zombie manifestation anyway), the Sparrows, the collective Ironborn, the craziest wildlings, and so on

Basically, the ones who die are the ones who refuse to play the Game for whatever reason, who consider themselves above it for reasons of principle or who think they can resist it through sheer strength of arms or willpower.

There's a few lucky ones (Sansa, Jon Snow), but most of the ones still alive are alive because they play.

*Edit*

additional thought on Dany stuff

► Show Spoiler

She's also terrible at seeing nuance in her enemies. Her gut reaction for dealing with people who oppose her is "burn them all." It's only with constant prodding form advisers that she deals with enemies with anything like nuance. Her gut reactions are: crucify 163 "masters" because of the child crucifixions, nevermind if the 163 chosen had anything to do with that decision or not. Or bring all the masters and threaten to burn them if the Sons of the Harpy attacks don't stop, including burning one random guy who may have nothing to do with it; she needs his death for an example. Burn all the khals, even the ones who just sort of sat around in the back not saying anything. Tell the Unsullied to kill every master in the city as soon as she buys them. Inasmuch as King's Landing had entered into "enemy" status, there was definitely a preexisting trend in her behavior to not just defeat but utterly and completely subjugate her enemies.

[Vol]

Funny thing is, book Euron is the hard opposite of chaos. He's into politics and diplomacy and not a swaggering pirate with a magical scorpion. Plus from a Winds of Winter released bit

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he has a full suit of Valyrian steel plate.

So that replacement with show Euron, who I enjoy on the level, makes me wonder what his actual role is meant to be. We leave him sending his half-retard brother to go pick up Dany and bind a dragon with his magic Valyrian horn, and bring them all back to Westoros. That seems the most likely way for her to get out of Meereen with whatever forces she has left after the siege finishes.

But that doesn't work with the show, since he pledges to Cersei there, and has his teleporting fleet. The theory I buy is that Aegon (Blackfyre) is going to depose Cersei, since logistics and politics are roughly kept into account in the books. Then Dany rolls in, Euron is her navy, and that in turn reinforces what just happened in the show, since she's coming in with a horde of Huns, vikings, eunuchs, and flying artillery. She'll also not need to go to Winterfell, since that place is under a dozen plus feet of snow as of Stannis' siege, and a cavalry army would be useless. Whereas Aegon seems like he's an earnest, well trained young man who's biggest flaw is bravado and valuing loyalty over realpolitik. Varys would never link up with her as a result as well, he's all in on Aegon.

This is fun, trying to piece together what aught happen to hit the same beats, given totally variant situations.

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5uR-GNiSPA

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SCW-MRYxss

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZp-o9BxOWw

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJWB01bt9x8

"This is not an official licensed product. This independent non-profit short film is entirely self-funded and was made in Brazil as a tribute to the great artist Hayao Miyazaki, who has always been an inspiration to me. We are not a large company. Rather, we are a group of friends who have been working on this project for almost four years, fueled only by our love of the art. We are proud to finally release our first teaser trailer. We will release the film online free of charge, as our only aim is to pay homage to Mr. Miyazaki and the entire wonderful team at Studio Ghibli. Our dream is to donate all of our costumes and props (such as the glider, gun, etc) to the Ghibli Museum (in Tokyo, Japan), as a token of appreciation and also as a testament to the great influence Miyazaki has on Brazilian fans and artists who share his passion for fantastical story-telling."

[Dragaros]

"StarTrek: Picard will stream exclusively on @CBSAllAccess in the United States, on Amazon #PrimeVideo in more than 200 countries and territories and in Canada on Bell Media’s @SpaceChannel and OTT service @CraveCanada."

[Dragaros]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Yn-qCb6aw

???

[TTTX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y7eDFDLqBg

Well looks like there trouble behind the scenes of the new bond movie.

[Azint]

The John Wick team have their act together, because once again they knocked it out of the park. The movie ends with a very blatant sequel hook, and some people were not okay with that, that they wanted this to be a trilogy. When I saw the sequel hook, my only thought is that I feel blessed that cinema is going to get at least one more entry of this masterclass action series.

They were crazy enough to get alumni from The Raid, an Indonesian martial arts film series, and unlike in The Force Awakens, they were not wasted in this film. Parabellum was on high-octane, and it's not a bad thing at all when the action and cinematography is this well-done. There was some critique about Chapter 2's gunfights being too similar, and while I understand the grievance, I didn't feel like it was a problem. Parabellum absolutely had a much greater variety in its fight scenes, with a lot more attention given to hand-to-hand, and it gets deliciously grizzly. The setpieces are quite-varied, and only the final big-shootout is the most like the gunfights we've come to expect from the series. I also appreciate that John isn't the only assassin in the movie that really delivers a good fight, Halle Berry and Mark Dacascos both did stellar fight scenes.

I am happy for this series, and it's popularity should be a lesson on how to do a better action film.

[Dragaros]

[Dragaros]