Another step closer for this website also becoming a video game blog, Cyanide is in the process of making an RPG based on the universe created in A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s available for pre-order now. I’ve tried to dig up what it’s about, but I’ve only come up with the Wikipedia article that claimed it to be the journey of a either a Red Priest or man of the Night’s Watch as the events of the book series unfolds. The website below is the official website. But it’s actually a game itself where you can journey and complete quests. It’s pretty high end, slowing my poor laptop with it’s space age technology.
Thank god this gallery isn’t close to being a pain in the ass as yesterday’s image gallery. Anyway here are [hopefully] all the trailers that HBO has released so far for season 2. My favorite 7 Devils trailer is above. See the rest below. In addition, I’ve included a 20 minute special about some key actors/producers talking about what to expect this season. Be sure to visit the GameOfThrones Youtube page and click around for more interesting stuff.
Earlier today, I posted a bracket that included my favorite character as a winner in a winner against other Game of Thrones character. Robert Baratheon, King of Westeros claimed the title of favorite character. In the book, he’s constantly described as a fat, drunkard, lustfull, but the characters in the book also described him as once a fierce and fit warrior who’s warhammer could kill a man in full clad armor in one swing. And that’s the Robert Baratheon I wish I saw. And based on the series and the book, he’s was always the most infectious with his deep laughter and sense of humor. And despite his flaws as a ruler, he tried to see that his bastards were taken care of and always made sure his friends were taken care of.
Which brings me to an interesting topic: who do you root for in Game of Thrones? A Song of Ice and Fire is known for making the grey in a black and white world. Truth, there are people we hate and love, but author George R. R. Martin gives them good reasons to do things we might particularly like and can sometimes make characters we love do things we wish they didn’t. Most of the houses have their black sheep that are difficult to root for, and when everyone is cutting corners to get on top, people begin to get more and more unlikable as they bring out the ugly out of each other. Read below about which house you want to be standing when all the dust settles.
Spoilers are maintained for season 1/A Game of Thrones book.
This is a good lead in to what today’s main article will be about. At noon today [EST], I plan on talking about how to decide on what family/character to root for. And that’s kind of what this image here represents. In the heat of March Madness, a Game of Thrones versions of a bracket floated around, and I decided to fill one out. My top eight were Cersei Lannister, Khal Drogo, Tyrion Lannister, Renly Baratheon, Eddard Stark, Robert Baratheon, Daenerys Targaryen, and Sandor Clegane. Obviously you see that Robert Baratheon won. More justification in today’s later post.
Here are the images that HBO has released officially for character so far. There contains no season 2 spoilers, only spoilers from season 1, as I’ll only post the names and affiliates of each character. There are 43 images, so I’ve divided it into a couple of pages to accommodate such a number.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post debating the serious issue of whether or not I should read the Song of Ice and Fire series after watching Game of Thrones. A large consensus had the notion of definitely reading A Game of Thrones [book one] was a good idea after watching the series to pick up on hidden motives and other subplots. And after crushing the book in two weeks, I came to the real dilemma of spoiling the entire season 2 series by reading the second book.
There was a larger amount of debate than I would’ve imagined, specially mentioning Bryan Christiansen who wrote quite a moving argument against spoiling the show, him being a veteran Song of Ice and Fire reader, I took it into deep consideration as well as the other comment [you can read the whole comment on the post in the link above]. There were pros and cons to both sides. Reading the book first would allow me to be immersed in a more detailed universe, but disappointment to the TV show is almost guaranteed. Watching the series first would allow every ounce of excitement I felt in Season 1, but it would’ve required me to wait as long as an entire month or more. Decisions, decisions. But let me tell you what I did instead below.
My friend gave me a link to a board game based on Game of Thrones. From the description I’ve read and included below, it seem as though you try and take over Westeros in a Risk like fashion. It’s about 37 bucks…and I will likely buy it. NERD CORE.
King Robert Baratheon is dead, and the lands of Westeros brace for battle.
In the second edition of A Game of Thrones: The Board Game, three to six players take on the roles of the great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, as they vie for control of the Iron Throne through the use of diplomacy and warfare. Based on the best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones is an epic board game in which it will take more than military might to win. Will you take power through force, use honeyed words to coerce your way onto the throne, or rally the townsfolk to your side? Through strategic planning, masterful diplomacy, and clever card play, spread your influence over Westeros!
To begin the game, each player receives an army of Footman, Knight, Siege Engine, and Ship units, as well as a set of Order tokens and other necessary components. Each player also receives a deck of unique House Cards, which are used as leaders in battles against rival Houses.
Each round in the game is made up of three phases: the Westeros Phase, the Planning Phase, and the Action Phase. The Westeros Phase represents special events and day-to-day activities in Westeros. There are three different Westeros Decks, and each denotes a different global action, potentially affecting all players.
The Planning Phase is perhaps the most important. Here you secretly assign orders to all of your units by placing one order token face down on each area you control that contains at least one unit (Knight, Footman, Ship, or Siege Engine). This portion of the game emphasizes diplomacy and deduction. Can you trust the alliance that you made? Will you betray your ally and march upon him? Players may make promises to each other (for aid or peace, for example), but these promises are never binding. The result is tense and compelling negotiations, often ending in backstabbing worthy of Westeros!
During the Action Phase, the orders are resolved and battle is entered! When armies meet in combat, they secretly choose one of their House cards to add strength to the battle. Finally, the Houses can consolidate their power in the areas they control and use that power in future turns to influence their position in the court of the Iron Throne and to stand against the wildling Hordes.
In addition to featuring updated graphics and a clarified ruleset, this second edition of A Game of Thrones includes elements from the A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords expansions, including ports, garrisons, Wildling cards, and Siege engines, while introducing welcome new innovations like player screens and Tides of Battle cards.
Tides of Battle cards are an optional mechanism that brings an element of unpredictability to combat, representing erratic shifts in the momentum of war due to factors such as weather, morale, and tactical opportunity. During each combat, both players draw one Tides of Battle card from a communal deck, and its value modifies the strength of his chosen House card. What’s more, such a card may also contain icons that can affect the outcome of the battle…all of which delivers a new level of intensity to your military engagements.
There is one week from Game of Thrones Season 2, what I believe is likely to be the BIGGEST thing to hit television this year. If you haven’t gotten your hands on this fantastic HBO series, you’re missing out on something as expansive [if not more, but an argument for another day] as Lord of the Rings and as deep as the 5 book 700+ novel series that acts as the source material. As you know, there will be no drawings or Universidaze this week, and I plan on committing EVERY post from Monday-Friday this week to be about Game of Thrones. We’re talking Game of Thrones Week people [GOTW for short]. From morning links to the afternoon quips three times a day, it will all be Game of Thrones related. If you’re not into the series, this website will likely not cater to your interests, but I highly suggest you buy the DVD series, pirate it, or even reading the book series will bring you to a world you won’t likley regret.
Here’s a summary of the universe at the beginning of the first book and season, Game of Thrones. It doesn’t even begin to touch the complexity, but hopefully my writing can at least peak your interest.
The land of Westeros. Also known as the 7 Kingdoms, ruled by the man who sits on the Iron Throne, King Robert Baratheon. After his high consultant John Arryn, Hand of the King, dies mysteriously, King Robert Baratheon goes to an old friend and war buddy, Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark, Lord of Winterfell, to proclaim him as his new Hand of the King bidding him to travel hundred miles south of his homeland. Ned Stark, a family man who is tired of war and politics is hesitant to leave his family and go, but Robert persuades him to take leave. A tale of corruption, lust, and deception unfolds as Ned Stark and his family leave their home and get woven into war over family, duties, and honor. Robert Baratheon’s cunning wife plots against Ned, old family rivalries escalate into full blown wars, and more even war stirs in the east and north that threatens the land of Westeros. And as Ned Stark gets tangled into multiple people trying to grab the Iron Throne for themselves, he learns one important rule: when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.
Here’s all the related posts to Game of Thrones in the past:
[edit] I’m late with the video commentary, but here it is none the less. This is a clip from Life’s Too Short, a BBC turned HBO show, that I wrote about a couple of weeks back. It’s a hilarious cameo by Liam Neeson who goes to British comedic geniuses Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as he tries to tell them he wants to get into comedy. Naturally Liam Neeson has no comedic chops, but his deadpan delivery of taboo topics ironically makes him hilarious in this clip.
I’m personally not a late night host watcher, but I do appreciate some of the awesome things they accomplish. In this video, Jimmy Kimmel seemed to assemble every A-lister known to the industry in this epic mashup called Movie: the Movie, where he pretty much makes fun of movie cliches. The clip itself isn’t THAT hilarious, but more of a crazy achievement in putting this many A-listers into one video. And as always: Kate Beckinsale is mighty fine.
Hit Fix has compiled a very interesting list about 21 actors and directors who of which they claim have his their peaks and are a downward spiral to the Hollywood Industry blackhole. Some of them are very much out the of the industry these days: Eddie Murphy, Lindsay Lohan, etc., but there are a few who are at least pumping out a few decent things here and there and I have faith in: Farrelly Brothers, Keanu Reeves, Uma Thurman etc. Let me know who’s worth saving in the comments.
Ain’t gonna lie, ever since Jean Dujardin did The Artist, he’s proven himself a very charming and talented actor. In this Funny Or Die original, they talk about how European actors doing very famous villain roles after they first make contact with the Hollywood blockbuster and name examples to qualify their statement [Spanish: Javier Bardem, German: Cristolph Waltz, French: Jean Dujardin]. Anywho, the rest of the video shows him casting for upcoming action movies. I love actors who do Funny or Die because all it really does is make fun of who they are, and actors that don’t take themselves seriously enough to do them make them more likable. Anywho, check out the video above to laugh and fall in love with Jean all over again.
Crack showers my morning links again with an oldie that takes on sequels that were imagined and eventually rejected. Among them a sequel to Se7en called Ei8ht, a second Forrest Gump, and another Beetlejuice [which I think is actually still in the cards]. They talk about the potential sequel and also point out how wrong it would’ve been to do with each one. Some of the stories simply don’t make sense, others are way over the top versions, and some even try to bring back characters that are clearly lightyears away or not even from the same world. Well, as usual, Cracked writers have a whole mess of facts and sources that back their statements, and I highly recommend you check it out yourself.
Obvious spoilers duh. But I think it’s hilarious that I stumbled upon this video of Steve Buscemi’s onscreen deaths. What is it with his face and persona that makes people want to kill him off so much lol.
It’s no surprise that the Coen Brothers make some of the most memorable characters in movie history. Each of their movies seem to have a perfect balance between quirky hilarious and downright terrifying. Even their one movie I never seemed to comprehend, A Serious Man, had some decent memorable characters. Here’s the list of my five favorite characters from their very long and impressive resume. Feel free to chime in when you feel as though I’ve forgotten somebody.
Leaved it to cracked.com to come up with another astonishly accurate list regarding the inner mechanisms and natural tendencies the entertainment history makes today. This time around, they’ve picked 5 actors who just seemingly can’t stray from this kind of role.
I love finding other actors in obscure roles before they reach their ‘big break’. The unforgettable Tate Langdon (Evan Peters) paid his dues just one full season earlier at the beginning of Michael Scott’s last season, where he played his nephew. A spoiled brat, Michael Scott was forced to spank him in front of his co-workers. But I bet Michael Scott didn’t know, is that his nephew would then go about mass murdering tons of people a year later.
We’re really not a video gaming website, though it might be a direction I want to take it in the future. But this is a rare case where television meets video games. If you haven’t heard, South Park has returned with its 16th season and the jokes are absurd, crude, and hilarious as ever. News says that creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are now in the progress of making video game about the town of South Park, Colorado. While there have been South Park games in the past, this is the first one including heavy involvement from Parker and Stone. If this game has 10+ years of mythlore of the series in it and there is an RPG element that is rumored, then I’ll want these 9 favorites on my team to take down whatever darkness might incur on the streets of South Park.
This is a pretty cool gallery of a bunch of A-listers ‘paying their dues’ as they play smaller roles in famous movies from a long time ago. Among Bradley Cooper featured in Wet Hot American Summer, you’ll see Ryan Gosling, Seth Rogen, and Michelle Williams
Banana Scoop 