No, I’ve not turned my hand to weather forecasting – although based on recent weeks, the white stuff IS a possibility!
I am of course talking about this chap…
After many months of soul searching, deliberating, hair-watching and lie detecting, he’s about to be back on our screens as Season 6 of the GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH premieres! (Slight, ‘can’t believe you’ve not heard this plot point’, S5 spoiler ahead!) Read more
By now, you all must have a fair idea of how much I LOVE Game of Thrones! This is more than a fad, this is borderline obsessive. But until I enter into the fandom realms of changing my surname to Stormborn, tattooing the sigils of each house on my inner thigh and sleeping next to a vial of Kit Harington’s sweat (that I paid an extortionate amount for on eBay), I think I’m safe from intervention!
I did, however, request that we tour around Northern Ireland this summer, in an attempt to stalk some cast members visit filming locations for the show! Therefore, today’s photographic post is a small collection of a few castles and landscapes featured in the HBO series. The title? Well, apparently this hashtag is totally ‘a thing’ if you’re a tweeter, something I only discovered recently, jumped on and then created my own (#TargaryenTuesdays) – I’m taking compete credit for this because surely no other fan in the world could have thought of this alliterative link… 😉
BEWARE: This post contains spoilers for Game of Thrones, S05 – especially the finale! (Oh and maybe a little from the last book…)
Not for a long time have I felt so annoyed, incredulous and well, fairly devastated after watching a TV show. In the final moments, my hands clenched, slowly creeping towards my face to hide me from the horror of what looked inevitable. As the credits rolled, I sat, shaking my head, refusing to process what my eyes had just seen, willing anyone to tell me it wasn’t so. I took to the internet – it was a hoax right? There was an unprecedented eleventh episode that would cut to a rescue, a dream sequence or a warning in the flames that could be averted in reality. But no, my plot theories thwarted, the newest Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch was no more. Jon Snow lie bleeding out in some bizarre new version of the joke, ‘What’s black, white and red all over?’
However, this cliffhanger ending holds out some hope – and I’m willing to jump on any conspiracy theory bandwagon if it means we can keep the Snow from falling. I’ll even be happy with him shacking up with Elvis, singing karaoke on some Caribbean island if it means he’s not dead!
Having not read past A Clash of Kings, I was not aware this was part of the book plot. I’d like to think that if I do read the rest, Snow’s probable (big Egyptian river, I know) demise would make sense. However, from how the TV show has portrayed him, it’s utter bobbins! Perhaps my judgement is clouded because I like the character so much, but it has always seemed that he was ‘The One’, having some higher importance and reason for rising past his bastard roots. Perhaps this higher importance will still play out, but as it stands, I can’t see him swooping off into the sunset with Danearys, to rule side by side.
One conspiracy is that Jon will warg into another body and escape death in this way – you remember Bran…the other Stark brother who developed this ability to travel with his mind? The one who warged his way to a tree then seemingly roosted there for an entire season, possibly never to be seen again? Yeah, that ability.
This comes about because in the book, Snow’s last words are ‘Ghost‘, suggesting he calls his direwolf and flits off in its conscience. I hope this isn’t the case because I feel one warg is enough and I’m not sure how exciting it would be depicted on TV.
Another idea is that Melisandre will resurrect him. Yet another deviance from the books, as unlike the TV finale, she doesn’t abandon Stannis in his final hours. Yet she is seen to enter Castle Black, apparently in deep shock. As Snow questions her about Stannis and Davos about Shireen, she wanders past in a daze. We all know her love of royal blood, so I expect she’ll have perked right up by now and season six will begin with her face down in the snow, devouring a bloody slushy through a straw…
It’s all her fault anyway: ‘The Lord of Light has been merciful your Grace, he’s removed the snow.’ (Or whatever she said) Wrong snow love, wrong snow 😦
And what about Team Undead? The parting shot of Hardhome (E8) was one of Jon being eyeballed by the White Walker leader. He seemed to know Jon was something more too…could he return to raise Jon? Will he (we) get to see this Lady Stoneheart?
Kit Harington who plays Snow has said he will not return next season and (horror of horrors) cut his hair. But that doesn’t mean he won’t skip six and return in the seventh run – remember Bran?! Or it could be a massive ruse. Clinging to any shred of hope, Harington apparently recieved no special memento from the set upon leaving, unlike Rose Leslie who portrayed Ygritte. That’s because HE’S COMING BACK!!
Devastation aside, there were some other great moments in the finale;
– Stannis had a very bad day. A very, very bad day.
– Theon came through to save Sansa, only to take a massive leap of faith with her to safety. Let’s hope the snow is deep!
– Brienne, thanks to Pod, had a comedy timing moment, then avenged her Rainbow King’s death.
– Jaime finally admitted what everyone knew, his daughter accepted him and then promptly died.
– Varys returned (yay!) and now it seems after weeks of wanting Tyrion to meet Daenerys, he’s staying put to rule Mereen with Varys as ‘Hand of the Hand’ and she’s stuck in a circle pit of Dothraki whilst her ailing flight home sits in a pit of charred leftovers.
– Arya went badass, was punished for it and went blind. I hold out hopes she will be GoT’s version of Daredevil…
– Cersei. Poor Cersei. As much as I hate the character and think she is in desperate need of comeuppance, the scene that brought a whole new meaning to ‘Walk of Shame’ was uncomfortable to watch, and long, which made it worse. But credit to her keeping that steel jaw together until she reached the Red Keep. Where the Mountain is back up and running. So people CAN be resurrected…
All in all, Tyrion’s first view of a dragon, seeing Old Valyria, the incredible viewing pleasure that was Hardhome, Jorah being loved again, the controversial rape scene that I’d predicted, so never found to be that horrifying, the verbal sparring of Margeary and Cersei (and Tyrion and Daenerys), Arya getting rid of Needle, saying goodbye to Maester Aemon and anything else I’ve forgotten have made it another season of Game of Thrones that I’ve loved – Bring on next March!!
Don’t know about Dorne though. Apparently that was a thing…
(Images from HBO’s Game of Thrones.)
Allegedly. Fokelore threatens its existence about this time each year if you live in Britain. And sadly, hearing the words also means it’s time to prepare ourselves to say farewell to Game of Thrones for another year 😦
Tomorrow I’ll be watching E9 Season 5 of GoT, the penultimate one that is usually hailed as THE episode of the season. Although, following season 4’s E8 and last week’s stunning, mouth open, what have I just watched offering, it seems 8 is the new 9, Orange is the New Black (another fabulous series!).
I’m sooo excited to watch it. I’ve loved every minute of the series, even in its times of controversy or boring meanderings, with its myriad of often confusing characters (to me at least, it doesn’t take much for me to be confused!).
I’m still fervently Team Daenerys, and want an ending that includes marriage to Jon (which will be totally legit based on historical evidence should his heritage be as suspected), Tyrion being godfather to their children, alongside his duties as Hand to the Queen, Varys being Hand of the Hand (just because I love the interaction between Dinklage and Hill) and Arya becoming some badass knight like Brienne. 
These are all musings as I’ve no idea what will happen. You see, I have little book knowledge. If I was the third member of the GoT themed podcast A Cast of Kings, the introduction would go something like this:
“I’m David Chen and I’ve read NO books in George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. ”
“I’m Joanna Robinson and I’ve read ALL the books in George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. ”
“I’m Haylee and I’ve read one and three quarter books in George R. R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ then found them a little heavy going so moved on to something else…”
As I always do. I’ll finish A Clash of Kings, honestly, even probably before Season 6 starts…
I rarely read books AFTER watching the film / TV adaptation, preferring to conjure my own actors by reading first. And maybe that’s why I’ve not found the books as fascinating. What they have helped with is my understanding of character motives and clarified the many subtle plot points that I may have missed on screen.
However, by all accounts, seeing as a) it apparently goes downhill after book 3 and b) the TV version is now pretty much ‘off-book’ it’s likely I’ll only embark on the next instalment and stop. I need something to fill the hiatus between seasons!
Ooh, I forgot Meagery. I need a place in my finale for her. LOVE Natalie Dormer, ever since The Tudors and besides, she needs to be queen of somewhere, poor lass has manipulated so well but to no avail it seems. Plus, in your face Cersei, she was still fairest of them all even covered in filth!
So…tomorrow! How on earth will they follow last week? Can’t wait 😀
Probably a slightly odd thing to let the world know as a first post, but as I knocked into her the other day and apologised to the Mother of Dragons, I realised that I, myself, was slightly odd. I was apologising to a PLANT.
Why is she called Khaleesi? Because she’s a dragon palm of course! Plus, I have a healthy obsession with all things Game of Thrones – but I’ll leave that for another post.
I began thinking of all the other plants I’ve named in (and outside) the house and discovered there’s a fictional character / celebrity theme running amok. There’s Bob, the rubber tree plant, after Bob Hope. Mistakenly, I thought he sang ‘High hopes’, with the line, “…oops there goes another rubber tree plant!” But apparently it was ol’ blue eyes, Frank Sinatra. Maybe Frank can be the plant’s middle name…
Then there’s Cotton, after Fearne, UK TV and radio presenter, funny lady and creator of fashion loveliness. (Yes, it’s a fern, I’m nothing if not original!).
Padme – A ‘Princess Amalia’ (sounds like AmiDALA right?), Faulty, a lovely bit of basil, Tyrell, a healthy marjoram bush (‘Throners’ will get this) and Lion (no, not another GoT reference, this is for ‘Parsley the___ ‘ as in children’s 70s/ 80s tv show The Herbs).
Oh, and an area of the garden referred to as Desperate Housewives corner, where the wisteria grows…
But there are many other, nameless beauties, because, like with everything else, naming them was probably a fad! Which makes me quite sad, as I think everything has feelings and I worry I’ve upset them by preventing them monikers. Told you I was a bit strange!
So do you name your plants, aside from the common / latin names they’re given? Or anything else unusual you feel necessary to personify? Do share if you do, so I don’t feel quite as bonkers!
Haylee x
