An ongoing exploration of the dark and gritty reboot
The internet loves a good fan theory. The trouble is, the phrase "fan theory" has started to go the way of words like content or hipster or artisan or any of the other words whose definitions are so vague, so all encompassing, that they have very little meaning at this point. "Fan theory" is currently …
Continue reading Why That Game of Thrones Fan Theory Is Not a Game of Thrones Fan Theory
Game of Thrones is Not Sacred. It’s Grateful Dead Fan Fiction The first episode of the seventh season of HBO’s Game of Thrones sparked a multitude of reactions, but perhaps none more virulent and hysterical than how certain GOT fans responded when Ed Sheeran appeared onscreen. The response was so rabid that some speculated Sheeran …
Continue reading Ed Sheeran Didn’t Ruin Anything. Game of Thrones is Rooted in Popular Music
In a previous blog post, I investigated the possibility that George R.R. Martin took inspiration for Arya Stark's storyline from the song "Dire Wolf," by the Grateful Dead. I'm far from the first person to make connections between Martin's words and the Dead's lyrics, as this has been a topic of speculation and deduction for years. But …
Continue reading Is There a Connection Between Bran Stark and “Uncle John’s Band”?
Exploring the connections between the Grateful Dead and A Song of Ice and Fire It's no secret that the Grateful Dead's music has influenced George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books. He first acknowledged it during a 2014 interview with 927 Plus, including indirectly admitting that the spiritual Weirwoods in the world …
Continue reading Did a Grateful Dead Song Inspire Arya Stark and Her Story?
In a post published on this blog earlier today, I discussed why I "stopped feeling the Bern," i.e. why Bernie Sanders is a troubling, disappointed candidate, in my opinion. This is a follow-up, companion to that article. As I pondered Senator Bernard "Bernie" Sanders, he began to remind me of another disappointing character: Lord Eddard "Ned" …
Continue reading Is Bernie Sanders the Ned Stark of the 2016 Election?
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post called The Maramduke Fart Paradox, in which I discussed the strange search engine terms that lead people to this website. Among them was "keanu reeves girlfriend 2011," "mob bosses with sunglasses," and a wide variety of questions about the '90s film Blank Check. Well, the search terms …
Note: The following contains aggressive spoilers for both the first three seasons of The Wire, and for the five existing seasons of Game of Thrones. You remember when Omar Little and Brother Mouzone teamed up to take down Stringer Bell. For each of them, it was an act of retribution. Stringer had first murdered Omar's …
Continue reading Dead Men of Westeros and The Stringer Bell Paradox
In a previous post, I published a dialogue between a relative and me, regarding Dorne and the wild Sand Snakes. We asked a number of questions, the main one being whether there is anyway that the Sand Snakes can be compelling on the show, or if they are doomed to begin with. After last night's …
The following is a conversation regarding both the A Song of Ice and Fire books and the Game of Thrones television show. It contains spoilers for the five ASOIAF books and the show through Season Five, Episode Four. DF: Did you watch last night? TEB: I did. It felt like it was just a murder …
Continue reading Brief Interviews of Ice and Fire: The Sand Snake Seven
Note: this assumes you have seen every episode of Game of Thrones, through Episode One of Season Five. I do not assume that you have read the books, but this does contain spoilers for one plot point in Book Five, A Dance with Dragons. It is possible that we saw, in the season premiere, the …