Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 3 "High Sparrow" Review

We’re in officially new territory with a whole host of storylines now. Sansa and Littlefinger, Jaime and Bronn, the whole northern storyline and soon enough the Watch as well – so far, the season proves that it can stand on its own, a feat many doubted it was capable of given the mixed track record it enjoys in those areas. But let’s see for ourselves as things stand this week, shall we? At the Wall, Jon has to treat with Stannis again. It’s a nice touch that he keeps his own steward around, one has to say. Stannis appreciates it, at least more than Jon’s refusal to become Jon Stark. The encounter plays out a bit formal, like both men know what the other is going to say already which is basically what this is. Stannis gives the wildlings to Jon, simplifying the politics in the book, namedropping Tormund, and leaves, not without advising Jon to send Thorne elsewhere, which is sensible. He is then offered “just one man’s opinion”, as Davos plants the seed of Jon’s (book-)downfall by stirring him up against the Boltons.

A Flight of Links

- This. 
- The Making Of Warcraft, part 1 
- For German readers: my review of "Fury" for my history blog 
- Venus and Jupiter 
- AV Review of episode 2 GOT Season 5
- And Steven Attewell's political analysis of episode 1 and episode 2
- Looks stupid but fun
- Why Star Wars won the trailer war against Dawn of Justice
- Can't argue with that assessment
- Yeah, well, wants to win an Oscar
- Star Wars photo essay
- The most stupid article I ever read about GOT is this review of episode 3. German, unfortunately. Gist of it: Jon beheads someone. ISIS beheads people. The show is inconsiderate of the victims of ISIS. 
- The politics of videogames

Boiled Leather Audio Hour Episode 38

The Alayne Game: Discussing the New “The Winds of Winter” Sample Chapter and the Start of “Game of Thrones” Season Five

BLAH is back with two, count ‘em, two topics! This go-round, Stefan & Sean tackle the new “Alayne” sample chapter from The Winds of Winter and the first two episodes of Game of Thrones Season Five. What’s in store for Sansa in book six? What’s our read on GoTs05e01-02′s plotlines and performances? Listen and learn, ladies and gents! And while you do, you’ll discover some very happy news from House Sasse, as well as musical surprise or two. Enjoy!

Download Episode 38

Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 2 "Black and White" review

Did anyone else have the feeling during this episode that they accidentally hit the "forward" button on their remote? Boy, the plot moved along fast. The Night's Watch is going to have an election and oh by the way all hail Jon! Arya has to prove herself to gain entrance to the House of Bland and White and hey look the door's opening now. Somehow I expected this to move a tad slower. But was it bad? Let's have a detailed look at storylines and stuff.

Prince Doran deals with the new queen bee in Dorne.

A Flight of Links

- Reviews of GOT 5.1: Sean T. Collins, A.V. Club, Alan Sepinwall, io9, Film School Project, Mary Sue
- The Messenger mission comes to an end
- How Rome made GOT possible
- Wertzone's season 5 primer
- Good idea, worth to keep in mind 
- Full Ant-Man trailer
- We finally have proof that hundreds died in the Avengers
- How Marvel wants to reboot Spiderman
- Leia is not enough
- Yep
-This guy is fucking awesome
- How did pink become the girl color
- Inside the battle of Hoth
- The four worst types of TV critics
- Gamergate booth shut downon Calgary Expo because they tried to harass it
- Ayn Rand reviews child movies
- 31 American patriots who overdosed on their patriotism
- The HUGO awards silliness
- Why we need Game of Thrones

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 74

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 74 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Manu Mishra, a member of the community.

Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 1 "The Wars to Come" Review

Game of Thrones is back! How great. And just to start this new series of reviews off, let’s remind everyone that we are now going deep into unchartered territory. Several plotlines of this season (most notably Brienne/Pod, Sansa/Littlefinger, Jon/Sam and Jaime/Bronn) will almost certainly go in different directions than the book versions, so there will be quite a lot of talking about changes, about new ideas and new directions and of course comparisons to how the books are sooooo much better (just kidding, I’m expecting some gratifying decisions along the way). That being said, let’s delve at it in the already accustomed way of going through the several plot locations of each episode instead of simply recapping them. 

In the North, Thorne and Slynt reversed roles, a development only sensible given how much the audience knows those two. Thorne is the most likely candidate to win the election of Lord Commander, while Slynt is just his slivering crony. This change was a long time coming and really, really makes sense on a lot of levels. If they avoid the mistake they made with Locke, this will be a really good setup for the Wall storyline this season. 

A Flight of Links

- Sansa III
- GOT intro set in Washington, D.C. 
- Alan Sepinwall is for Hodor. 
- How the death of Sim City allowed Cities: Skylines
-  Speculation on what will be in GOT season 5
- Sadly, this is true and I don't see the trend ending
- MovieBob reviews F&F7
- On point on Cersei
- Games hurt by trying to be movies
- Why mixing gamestyles doesn't work
- Those numbers are wow
- New Deus Ex game announced
- Summer's children, winter's fury - good essay
- Yathzee reviews Bloodborne
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Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 73

Thursday is court day! And we're not on time, in what seems an evolving pattern. Sorry for this.

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 72 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Ryan Hodges. He goes by Kinglayer on Tower of the Hand and sardonicsmirk on reddit and the Nerdstream.

Nameday

Rejoice! Our Queen of Love and Beauty, Lyanna Sasse, was born on March 10th. You may use the comment thread to do her hommage. 

 

Hope she stays clear of princes with silver hair and harps.

A Flight of Links

- Feminist Frequency resumes the series on Tropes vs. Women after nine months with a rather underwhelming entry. 
-I so want to see this. 
- Sean T. Collins ranks the best 20 GOT episodes which, to be fair, means half of them. 
- Who's Westeros' greatest military commander?
-  A new age for trailers
- Why it's good that Downton Abbey ends now 
- In case you wanted some background info on BSG from 2008, here you go. 
- Wolf Hall seems interesting
- Damon Lindelof explains how Blockbusters get shitty
- Bayesian analysis of GOT
- How Mad Men chronicled one revolution and was part of one other
- 50 comic books that explain comic books
- Why the Jaws beach scene is so good
- The Mad Men effect: Economics of the golden age of TV
- How GOT gets written
- Can Marxist theory predict the ending of GOT?
- The Washington Post tracked every death in GOT in its database

Thoughts on the new TWOW sample chapter, Alayne

George R. R. Martin released a new sample chapter for "The Winds of Winter" today, called "Alayne". I have some uncollected thoughts.

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 72

Thursday is court day!

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 72 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Bobby Westfall, a library sciences master’s student in Baltimore, Maryland. He writes about A Song of Ice and Fire and other similar stuff at his blog Whereoldgodsrule.com.