Pic: ABC of character deaths in ASOIAF

My stance on various ASOIAF conspiracy theories, Part 9

Thursday is theory day now. 

This is the ninth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 9. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously.

The Walking Dead, Season 3, Episode 7 "When the Dead come knocking" Recap

Poor, poor Glenn. He just gets beaten the shit out of him, but to see the once so reckless runner stand through it so tough is worthy some cheers. We get a little remainder on just what a fucking, disgusting asshole Merle really is. A bully if there ever was one. But Glenn suffered through all of the beating, while Maggie, seperated only by a thin tin wall, heard everything that went on and was forced to use her imagination to paint a picture of what was happening exactly. That placement of hers surely wasn't accidental. 

Because nothing shows you're a nice guy more than threatening to cut noses off.

Assassin's Creed 3 Recap, Part 1: The Prologue

I have waited quite some time for Assassin's Creed 3. I like the series very much, despite its flaws in gameplay, because it takes an approach to storytelling that isn't seen very often, providing not only an engaging narrative, but also themes that are worth exploring. Compare it to the Modern Warfare series and you know what I mean: on the one hand, meaningless hurrah-bravado to underline the badassery of what passes as characters, tied together by an awfully constructed plot designed only to tie the sceneries together in which you shoot at generic bad guys. Assassin's Creed tries to give meaning to its story, exploring the old "freedom vs. security" theme in a surprisingly deep way. Of course, one needs to bear in mind that it's still a video game that needs to apply to a certain demographic and not a playable civic lesson, so there are limits. In this article series I will comment on the narrative of Assassin's Creed 3 as I play along. I will write these essays without knowledge of what comes next, so please refrain from spoilers in the comments and try to stick with the present state of the narrative. 

Read my lips: no spoilers!

A Flight of Links

- Race to the Iron Throne gives us Jon III. 
- Yahtzee complains about the story of Assassin's Creed 3. More on that later.
- Moviebob talks about movie release dates and how awesome he is.
- Gaming made me: Fallout 2

Pic: The Name of Thrones

Pic: Davos' Battle Plans

My stance on various ASOIAF conspiracy theories, Part 8

Thursday is theory day now. 

This is the eight article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 8. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

The Walking Dead, Season 3, Episode 6 "Hounded" Recap

Things are speeding up. After we got the new status quo set up in the previous episodes - Andrea in Woodbury, introducing us to the Governor, and the gang in the prison, minus some old and plus some new members - things are heading toward the inevitable confrontation between the group and the Governor. The focus of this episode was on Rick's state of mind, thankfully going back to normal, and on Michonne/Andrea. Since both storylines still are largely independent from each other, let's talk the prison first. 

There and back again

A Flight of Links

- Blizzard announced StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and Werthead is enraged by the price policy.
- Get rid of the dang arrows, Yahtzee demands.
- MovieBob talks about Disney and Star Wars.
- Paradox produces Europa Universalis 4 and an combat-oriented offshot. Although heavily bugged almost per default, I like their games. They are really different.
- Wind of Winter release asks if all open plots can be closed within two books and lists them. I'd say yes, without a problem. Most of them could even be wrapped up in Winds of Winter alone.
- 9 Reasons to be grateful for Twilight. 
- Early draft of "Prometheus" was leakes. io9 has the changes summed up, which is pretty interesting.
- I got the link to this extensive look into space combat after my article. I understand only half the techno-babble, but  that guy has a better grasp on the physiques than I do for sure!
- The first Podcast to Flight of Sorrows is up!
-  Venture Village has the first part of being German in 20 steps, which is as hillarious as it's true.
- Tom Hiddleston (Loki in Thor and Avengers) would like to be in the new Star Wars. Good news, everyone!
- I'm excited about the new Star Trek for a number of reasons (being a Trekkie not among them, since I'm not), and Benedict Cumberbatch surely is one.
- The six most brutal murders conducted by Batman.

Pic: ASOIAF Children's book

Pic: Lannister/Snow-Ticket

My stance on various ASOIAF conspiracy theories, Part 7

Thursday is theory day now. 

This is the seventh article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 7. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

Random thoughts on space combat

It is always interesting to see how science-fiction-franchises depict space combat. In the end, it has to provide something familiar to viewers so they can connect, cope with the special challenges the nature of space provides and do something interesting with it. Let's give you two examples for this. Star Wars essentially went for the approach of recreating World-War-II dog-fights. Space combat is almost exclusively restricted to fighters (X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, etc.) and bombers (the Millenium Falcon). There are big battle ships like the Star Destroyers, but we seldom see them fight. Their primary use is as targets for the fighters and bombers. Wing Commander, on the other hand, does the exact opposite. They recreate naval warfare, relying heavily on nautical terms for "destroyers", "frigates" and "carriers". The battles between the big ships resemble the big man-of-wars of the 18th and 19th century engaging in broadsides, while the carriers start fighters and bombers that engage conflict in eerie resemblance to the aircraft carriers of World War II. 

See? Blends right in.

The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 5 "Say the Word" Recap

Woah. They turned up the gore and violence, for sure. After the last episode, "Killer within", we just continue this way and see Terminator Rick dismember the zombies some more. But let's go through this step by step. The episode picked off just where we left the last time: Rick crushed on the floor in agony, Carl with a baby in his arms, Michonne and Andrea still at grips over whether to leave or to stay. The first reaction of the gang in the prison is one we can all relate to: after something so devestating, take your mind off it and do something useful. 

Not an option he enjoys.

A Flight of Links

- Wired has "Top 10 Fictional Characters We’d Like as U.S. President". I'm for Edmure on spot #9.
- MovieBob talks straight about the alleged racism in "Cloud Atlas".
- This article is so good - Butterfly's problem with Rhaegar.
- Cracked has 5 Awesome Movie Roptots with Inexplicable Design Flaws. 
- I feel this prediction is worth linking.
- Lincoln seems to be pretty good.
- Alyssa has a more balanced and detailled review. 
 - Skyfall too. Not sure whether I should be happy by a return to the "old Bond style", since I actually loved the grim, more grounded Bond of the last two movies.
- Race to the Iron Throne has an almost ridiculously well written and thoughtful analysis about Varys and Littlefinger.
- When TV characters should kiss.
 - Ridley Scott is to produce six small-budget-genre-movies.
- Alyssa talks about Arrow's unique treatment of superhero trauma.

Pic: Arya costume

This is so evil.

Pic: Eye of the Tiger

Via Memecenter

My stance on various ASOIAF conspiracy theories, Part 6

Thursday is theory day now. 

This is the fourth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right.

Prepare for part 6. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously. 

The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 2 "Sick" Recap

Episode 1 left us with a big cliffhanger after the emergency amputation of Hershel's leg. Episode 2 picks up exactly where the first one left and leaves Rick, Glenn, Daryl and Maggie at gunpoint with some inmates of the prison who clearly can't believe what they just saw. There's not much time for chit-chat, however, as Rick commands Hershel to be brought back immediately before he bleeds out. The inmates, of course, follow them. They are more afraid of the group than the group is of them. That's a clear sign how times have changed; in season 2, guys like these would have scared the shit out of Rick and the others. Now, they are more a nuisance. 

Can't really take them seriously.

The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 4 "Killer Within" Recap

Woah, that was an episode tonight. I haven't seen such sadness since the fourth season of "Mad Men", and if you think that comparison is off, brace yourselfs for this episode, because "Killer within" really delivers on the promise in three ways and really is the motif of this episode. Unlike the previous two episodes, we get both character arcs this time around: the Andrea/Michonne/Merle/Governor-square and the gang in the prison. I'm not quite sure whether this works out so well, because the Woodbury-parts drag on and don't reveal anything new. Yeah, Merle wants to search Daryll, big surprose, who didn't see that one coming? Andrea still falls in love with every abusive nazi she happens to find, the Governor has a crush on her and Mishonne walks around, swaggering hips, looking badass and raising concerns without doing anything because she loves Andrea. It feels like we didn't really need these parts, but perhaps we get a payoff in episode 5. 

Honestly, Andrea, your taste in men sucks.

A Flight of Links

- A reader hinted at this article at Overthinker, debating the economics of Star Wars. I'm always a bit reluctant to put too much thought into Star Wars. It's very important to pop culture, sure, but Lucas didn't think past his own nose when he created it, so overthinking it always makes stuff up out of thin air.
- David Graeber, author of the notorious and highly recommendable book "Debt", wrote about super heroes and the constitutency of power, thus affirming my initial post that pop culture is creeping into mainstream more and more.
- Just found a site with extensive reviews and information on TV (and fashion and celebrities, if you're interested in this stuff). I'd bookmark it for your favorite series if I were you.
- Alyssa poses a great question: where do governments go in all these post-apocalyptic stories?  
- Yahtzee talks about where Dishonered falls short in terms of ambience.  
- Yet another example that "classic" literature doesn't appeal universally.
- At Alyssa's there's a discussion about the meaning of freedom in Cloud Atlas.
- Alyssa, again, talking about what Episode VII could be about.
- Every movie sporting color-coded Ninjas in it gets a chance.  
- The guys from "Assassin's Creed meets Parcour" did another video, themed for Assassin's Creed 3 this time.

Pic: USS Harry Truman

This German guy really built the USS Harry Truman from Lego bricks. You have to admire the dedication. I would have loved that thing as a child. Never'd find the patience to build it, though. Now I wanna know what's inside and how the parts work. See here for more details.

The Walking Dead Season 3, Episode 1 "Seed" Recap

The second season of "The Walking Dead" was not as good as the first one, that is a common sentiment. There's a lot of hatred out there for it, especially since the characters tend to do pretty stupid stuff all the time eating up a lot of the time, but I for one didn't regard it as such an utter failure as many others. But whoever wasn't happy with how things got in season 2 should be more than happy with the first episode of the newly launched season 3, in which the show throws in an entirely different gear. We meet the group after their flight from the herde in the last episode of season 2 still on the run, visibly more professional than before. They routinely kill off walkers and are tougher than ever, but also gaunt and haunted, weary and worn down. From their dialogue we learn that there is a seven-month-gap between season 2 and season 3, but other than that they survived the winter, we don't know much. 

Would you have imagined here doing something useful for a change? Welcome to season 3.

My stance on various ASOIAF conspiracy theories, Part 5

Thursday is theory day now. 

This is the fourth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to shut up, because you are right. 

Prepare for part 4. Spoilers for "A Song of Ice and Fire", obviously.