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The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”

By Alison Herman on

In case you missed “The Rains of Castamere” playing over the closing credits, “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” shared an author with “Blackwater,” the extraordinary hour of television that concluded with The National’s mournful power ballad. That author happens to be George R.R. Martin, the man behind the magic — or rather, the original book series. Unfortunately, “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” is everything “Blackwater” was not: routine, uneventful, and worst of all, slowing down a season that just hit its stride after the sluggish pace of its early episodes. … Read More

Television

The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “The Climb”

By Alison Herman on

When watching Game of Thrones, it’s all too easy to get caught up in each character’s strategies and fail to ask ourselves why they’re playing in the first place. The high point of “The Climb,” however, threw the motivations of the show’s many protagonists into sharp relief. Varys and Littlefinger’s conversation in front of the Iron Throne isn’t just another verbal tennis match; it’s a contrast that makes one of the central questions of Game of Thrones explicit. And because this is a show that ultimately deals with people in all their complexity, not quests or dragons or even kingdoms, it’s a question that applies to all of us: Why do we do what we do? … Read More

Television

The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “Kissed by Fire”

By Alison Herman on

We’ve officially reached the halfway point of Game of Thrones Season 3, and “Kissed by Fire” takes the breakneck pace established by last week’s blockbuster episode and runs with it. The bulk of the action here was more emotional than practical — lots of friendships evolving, romances developing, and kids growing up way too fast — but this week saw major developments for many characters who haven’t had nearly the screen time they deserve. … Read More

Pop Culture

The Most Amazing ‘Game of Thrones’ Tattoos

By Alison Nastasi on

We’re always on the lookout for impressive tattoo art, as you probably noticed. When we spotted this wonderful fantasy-inspired ink that combines imagery and text from Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we couldn’t help but feel like something was missing: Game of Thrones. The third season is upon us, and we’re ridiculously excited to see what happens next. With dragons and other mythical madness on the brain, we went searching for the most stunning Game of Thrones-inspired tattoos we could find. See what George R. R. Martin nerds and fans of the HBO series are inking their bodies with, and feel free to brag about your own Game of Thrones tattoo in the comments. … Read More

Television

The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “And Now His Watch Is Ended”

By Alison Herman on

It’s become a trope at this point to praise Game of Thrones for its female empowerment — Slate has a weekly power ranking of the show’s leading ladies, and BuzzFeed recently posted about the series’ feminist additions to its source material. But last night’s episode may have been the most overtly feminist yet, with the women of Westeros taking charge, or at least trying to, in all kinds of ways. Ransacking a city with a dragon was certainly the most visible power play, but the showiest scene of “And Now His Watch Is Ended” was far from its most interesting. … Read More

Celebrity

Celebrities Praising Celebrities: The Best Tributes From the Annual “Time 100″ List

By Jason Bailey on

Time magazine released its annual “Time 100” this week — a list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The list is, as usual, light on shock; it pretty much features the political figures, artists, athletes, and philanthropists you’d expect. What makes the feature compelling is the deployment of similarly well-known folks to write testimonials about the influential people they admire. Since we love hearing about the actors our favorite actors love, it warms our hearts to read, for example, Jon Hamm’s fan letter to his fellow AMC star Bryan Cranston. “Over the past five seasons,” Hamm writes, “I’ve marveled at Bryan’s ability to turn Breaking Bad’s Walter White from a feckless, terrified father and husband to a ruthless, terrifying father, husband and crime lord. The transformation is mesmerizing. The performance is fearless. Bryan is that good.” These stunt tributes don’t always work (particularly in the political realm — the only thing we want to read less than Sarah Palin’s tribute to Glenn Beck is Ted Nugent’s tribute to Sarah Palin), but when they do, they’re a joy to read. See our favorite celeb-penned tributes from the past five years of “Time 100″ below. … Read More

Television

The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “Walk of Punishment”

By Alison Herman on

Remember those midseason shockers I mentioned in my first review? The ones that we pay for in boring premieres and endless conversations about motherhood and/or cheese? Last night’s Game of Thrones left fans with plenty to talk about, but it’s safe to say that upwards of 90 percent of today’s water cooler conversations will have to do with that final, incredible minute. … Read More

Television

The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “Dark Wings, Dark Words”

By Alison Herman on

This season, Flavorwire is recapping Game of Thrones with its geekiest fans in mind — those who have already read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. Everyone else, be warned: you may find some spoilers below.

Game of Thrones has always had a serious problem with explaining itself. Television, while a fantastic medium for sympathetic characters and dynamic plot, has at least one major disadvantage when compared to thousand-page books: it simply can’t provide the context and scope needed to fully flesh out a world as huge and shaded in gray as George R.R. Martin’s. At its best, Game of Thrones allows us to forget this essential shortcoming with clear, snappy dialogue and well-choreographed scenes that trim the books’ narrative fat down to its basic core. But at its weakest, the show is forced to rely on background information it’s only lightly touched on — or worse, condense chapters worth of plot into lengthy exposition scenes that are a chore to watch. Needless to say, “Dark Wings, Dark Words” was Game of Thrones at its weakest. … Read More

Television

The Geekiest ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 3 Recap: “Valar Dohaeris”

By Alison Herman on

This season, Flavorwire is recapping Game of Thrones with its geekiest fans in mind — those who have already read George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books. Everyone else, be warned: you may find some spoilers below.

After sitting in rapt silence for an hour as we watched the first episode of Game of Thrones Season 3, my friend pointed out the basic problem with “Valar Dohaeris”: “It didn’t feel like a premiere.” The show’s narrative structure is a double-edged sword; season finales and premieres function as anticlimactic setup episodes instead of predictably spectacular payoffs, and in return, viewers get genuinely surprising midseason game changers like Ned Stark’s execution or Renly’s brutal death by demon shadow. All of which is to say that I wasn’t expecting much from last night’s third season premiere, and in terms of plot, I didn’t get much. What the audience did get was a status check on each of our antiheroes, helped along by a bit of smart dialogue and a lot of character work. … Read More

Television

A ‘Game of Thrones’ Bestiary

By Alison Nastasi on

“You can’t tame a wild thing. You can’t trust a wild thing… Wild creatures have their own rules, their own reasons, and you’ll never know them,” Kit Harington’s Jon Snow learns in season two of Game of Thrones. The HBO series is filled with wild things — mythical beasts and shadowy creatures that live in the ancient woodland of Westeros. We’ve been introduced to some of those species, many which bear a close resemblance to real-world animals and folkloric beings. Others have yet to be revealed, their presence teased in the season three trailer fans have been replaying for weeks. In anticipation of this Sunday’s premiere, we’ve compiled a Game of Thrones bestiary that collects the fascinating details about many of the animals and creatures from the George R. R. Martin books and the show. We’ve tried to avoid sharing too many plot details, but there could be spoilers. Bookmark this creature compendium for future reference, and add your own entries in the comments section. … Read More