TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - No One

Spoilers...

One of the interesting things about Game of Thrones as a show is its ability to laugh at your story expectations like Syrio Forel laughs at death. There were certain elements that were always going to happen like we imagined, for example Arya's victory against the waif, despite the "shock ending" of her being stabbed in the gut. But several things happened this week that are either going to surprise people or/and make them a bit angry.

In terms of the latter, it's doing away with two widely rumoured events in the blink of an eye. Firstly, Lady Stoneheart - while it was always a slim chance, the show played around with her book iconography by showing the hanging men, but immediately brought back Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr, both ready to head north to fight the real battle. Joining them temporarily was the Hound, who managed to get bloody vengeance on the killers of Lovejoy as well as taking our what I assume were four other BWB members. And in King's Landing, Tommen decided to dampen his mother's excitement at the possibility of having Ser Gregor win her freedom by banning trial by combat. I always thought the little king wouldn't survive the season, but it may end up being at the hand of his own mother. So no Stoneheart and no Cleganebowl. Hmph.

While Cersei no longer holds sway on her son, she certainly still casts a spell over Jaime, who spelled out his intentions to a captured Edmure Tully, namely that he just wanted to win so he could go home to her. And he did, thanks to Edmure first coming home to Riverrun and then convincing his men to surrender, despite the Blackfish's protestations that it was all a Lannister plot. Sadly, the Blackfish died off-screen, but not before sending Brienne and Pod off on a boat. Jaime's relationship with Brienne is interesting, he actually comes across something off less of a knob than he is, but unfortunately he is still nowhere near the redemption we thought he might be approaching. Maybe next season?

For once Tyrion's plans went awry, as the masters decided to take back Mereen via a whole fleet of ships, only for Dany to come and rescue them. Strangely this all very downplayed, with her landing on the roof and only a fleeting background shot of Drogon. But with her back there this hopefully sets in action her journey to Westeros with the iron fleet. Arya's arc - and fate - was a bit awkwardly resolved, but it was a nice touch to have her cut out the flame before beating the waif, before proclaiming to Jaqen triumphantly that she is "Arya Stark of Winterfell!". Given the big battle to come next week, maybe they don't want us to get fatigued.

It was a fine episode really, nice and thoughtful and a bit of a breather before next week's giant battle between Jon and Ramsay. The horror nut in me was happy to see a nice bit of gore from both Cleganes, notably the bit where The Mountain just ripped that dude's face clear off, and I imagine we're going to get a bit more with the Wildlings and the Boltons together, two groups that don't know the meaning of the word restraint. With any luck, this episode will be brought to us by the letters N and C and the number 17.

- Charlie

You can read Charlie's look at the previous episode, The Broken Man, here.

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - The Door

Spoilers...

With the eventual denouement seemingly edging closer, it seems all bets are off concerning character survival, something which was underlined this week with the heartbreaking death of a fan favourite. It was a powerful ending to the episode, and the ripples will be felt in more ways than one.

But first, an important meeting between Sansa and Littlefinger (with Brienne in tow), where Sansa beautifully called him out for selling her to Ramsay and her making it explicitly clear what he did to her - "he knew he needed my face so he left that, but he committed horrors to the rest of me" (a paraphrase, but you get the idea). Baelish was in begging mode, but Sansa would not accept his please to allow her to have the army of the Vale, but cleverly keeping information from him for her own use. It turns out Brynden the Blackfish (hooray!) has been gathering forces to rally to the Stark cause, and with many other houses joining Bolton, they need all the help they can get.

Arya's story continues to make me sad, with her being given an assignment to assassinate an actress. No ordinary actress however; she is actually playing Cersei in a comedy dramatisation of the first couple of seasons, with Richard E. Grant as Robert Baratheon and the amazing Kevin Eldon as a supremely dimwitted Ned Stark. Arya is forced to watch this while in recon mode, and it's a heartwrenching moment, not least because she's seeing these events replayed but because it reminds her of her family in a time where she's trying to forget to be Arya Stark. And she may not be her, but I still want her to be, to fight with her sister and brother (half-brother).

In Mereen, Tyrion and Varys met up with Kinvana, another red priestess who believes Dany is the promised one. She agreed to help spread the word of Dany's involvement in the current state of peace, but had a lovely spar with Varys, who brought up Melisandre's role in Stannis' downfall. But it turns out she knows a lot, especially about Varys, and he seemed surprisingly unnerved considering his usual constitution. In Vaes Dothrak we saw a probable farewell to another character, as Jorah revealed his greyscale to a distraught Dany. She ordered him to find a cure and return when he did, but it felt more like an excuse for not saying goodbye, almost like an honourable discharge. Will we ever see Jorah again?

The Greyjoy story took an interesting turn at the Kingsmoot, where Euron won the salt throne thanks to a plan to meet up with Dany and offer her support and his fleet. Yara wasn't too happy about this, so scarpered with all the good ships, probably a good idea since Euron's post coronation words were "Where are my niece and nephew? Let's go murder them."

And then it came to Bran, the most consistently interesting story that here took an even more intriguing turn, with lots to unpack. Vision questing all over the place, he discovered that the children of the forest created the white walkers to protect their world against man, and went on a solo warg only to find himself in front of the Night's King. Unfortunately, he grabbed Bran and left his mark on him, allowing him to lead his army straight to the raven's lair, resulting in a fantastic action sequence reminiscent of Aliens, with a child of the forest doing a straight Vasquez to save an escaping Bran, Meera, and Hodor.

Hodor. Hodor. Poor Hodor. What a tragedy. In order to grab Bran to escape, Hodor needed a helping hand, but Bran was deep in a vision at Winterfell, seeing Ned sent to the Vale. But while Meera was able to get through to Bran, he didn't wake up, so warged into Hodor while being back in the past. While this was happening, we saw past Hodor drop to the ground in warg mode, and when they got out of the tree, Hodor needed to stop the remaining wight horde. Meera's words "hold the door" echoed through time, and were repeated by past Hodor to a point where they stopped being the phrase and simply became "Hodor". Thus we had an origin story and a death scene simoultaneously, but a heroic yet tragic ending for Hodor.

Bran's actions introduce a new dimension, something only hinted at previously, namely being able to affect the future through the past. It remains to be seen just exactly how this will come in to play from here on, but it was a fascinating cap to a great episode. There was excellent action, with a wonderful display of actual magic of a kind, with the children of the forest versus the white walkers (fire versus ice), as well as character moments like Sansa standing up to Littlefinger. But still no Lyanna - hopefully with the season at the halfway point they won't wait until the end to return to the Tower of Joy, but there's one question - will Bran be able to have the visions without the Raven?

Hodor, Hodor. Hodor.

- Charlie

You can read Charlie's look at previous episode, Book of the Stranger, here.

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TV REVIEW: Game of Thrones - Book of the Stranger

Spoilers...

Well, Dany doesn't call herself "The Unburnt" for fun, something the Khals of Dothraki found out this week in an episode dominated by women in power. To be fair to our white-haired dragonrider, she was given three options: stay in Vaes Dothrak as part of the Dosh Kahleen, be traded to slave masters for a bunch of horses (ten thousand, admittedly), or continually raped by the Khals, their bloodriders, and their horses. Dany went for door number four - flaming death - and burned her male captors alive in their hut, herself emerging from the fire to the rest of the Khalasar, who immediately and familiary bowed to her. I can't wait to see the face on the slavers in Mereen when she shows up with a Dothraki horde.

This episode could have been billed as a family reunion special, with many reconnections both joyous (Sansa and Jon), awkward (Yara and Theon), and pitiful (Margaery and Loras). But the truth is that all of the ladies had the upper hand in terms of strength here, with the boys putting in a pretty poor showing. It was wonderful to see Sansa turn up at Castle Black to see Jon, but there is still something very wrong with him, mainly due to him being haunted of his betrayal. It's not difficult to sympathise, there's something terribly existenstial about being obsessed with the moment that killed you. But after a threatening note from Ramsay saying he wants Sansa back or he'll pretty much do everything evil you can imagine, it was her taking charge and convincing Jon that they need to go and take Winterfell back.

Meanwhile, Margaery finally had a meeting with the High Sparrow who fed her the same junk he's fed others, and she was briefly allowed to see a broken Loras, who was ready to give in. But Margaery is a schemer, and she knows the Sparrow is up to something, as does her mother and Cersei, who along with the small council (i.e. Kevan and Jaime) are planning to make sure her walk of atonement doesn't happen, and the Sparrow and his, um, sparrowlings end up very dead. This sounds like a very stupid plan and confirms that after Tywin's passing they all together have the tactical nuance of Hot Pie.

Poor Theon returned home emasculated (literally) and was immediately and understandably torn down by Yara, who eventually went a bit easier on him when she figured out he wasn't there to get in her way of leadership. About the only men who went unscathed was Tyrion, who admittedly got a rollicking from Missandei and Grey Worm after agreeing to bring back slavery for seven years, and Littlefinger, who told brave Ser Robin that they should pledge the knights of the Vale to Sansa's fight. Considering Jon only has two thousand wildlings, this may be a much needed boost, although obviously Littlefinger is not to be trusted. There's also the question of if the Karstarks etc are actually on the side of the Direwolf or the Flayed Man.

The only thing that was really missed was Bran's vision quest, although I imagine that's been slowed down a bit considering how close they are to revealing R + L = J. But everything else is poised well; Sansa and Jon off to take on Ramsay, the Lannisters about to see if they can stop the High Sparrow, and Dany, who should really start to actually make it westward now she has the Dothraki behind her. Sorry Khal Bongo, but you just happened to be in an episode where the girls rule and the boys drool. Long may that continue.

- Charlie

You can read Charlie's review of the previous episode, Oathbreaker, here.

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DIGITAL REVIEW: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

As we know from all kinds of art, themes and images resonate through time like reflections, and this is especially true when it comes to Star Wars. The idealism, the psychology, the conflicts internal and external; these are things that George Lucas played with like they were prisms and mirrors, giving a greater sense of depth and iconography to what on the surface was a simple fantasy story. JJ Abrams' The Force Awakens (Released April 11th on digital, April 18th on Blu-ray) follows this as did the three prequel chapters, albeit with an actual sense of emotional connection this time.

Episodes I and VII have a similar concept - both go back to a desert planet similar to Luke Skywalker; in The Phantom Menace it was still Tatooine, in Awakens, its analogue world Jakku. Both seek to emulate the pattern of the original film, although considering the "it's just a remake" cries from critics of the new film, Lucas' first prequel is just as guilty if more, right down to the victory parade that makes up the finale. But again, it's the re-occurance of images and themes, which in this case can easily be twisted to fit the narrative of whomever wants to either praise or criticise the given work.

But fuck that. Even with its flaws, Awakens is an experience great enough to make you forget that it was preceded by a middle trilogy. The basic parts are well-constructed; Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams' script is strong enough to provide a backbone for the huge task the film has to not only remind you of Star Wars but to reinvent it, and trusts the viewer enough to fill in the gaps without explicitly stating things, something which in this era of blockbusters is not at all a sure thing. The combination of practical effects and ILM's usual knockout CGI is a lovely thing and Dan Mindel's (film, not digital) cinematography has a somewhat rough texture to it that puts it firmly in a different generation than the glossiness of the prequels and the even rawer original trilogy.

But what will draw you in are the characters. Daisy Ridley's Rey is an instant classic, interestingly the opposite of Luke circa 1977 as all she wants to do is get back home, until the pull of adventure and making a real difference is too much. John Boyega's Finn also wants to get away from it all, especially as he has a First Order-full of stormtroopers on his tail, but again knows what he should be doing rather than what he's been told to do. And then there's Oscar Isaac's Poe, the Han Solo-esque rogue with a sense of adventure and cockiness as well as loyalty, an archetype very much missing from recent adventures.

And of course Han Solo is there himself, as well as Princess (General) Leia and Chewbacca, and we're all glad to see them, with a somewhat reluctant Solo in the mentor role. But again the new generation is what makes this movie, and we not only have BB-8 - an immediate fan favourite from his debut in that trailer so many moons ago and a wonderful combination of character and effects technology - and Adam Driver's Kylo Ren. What's interesting is how young Driver's villain is, and through his story, we learn not only what positions him as a somewhat tragic figure but also how it informs his terrifyingly unpredictable nature, driven by Driver's performance. It took three movies to see Darth Vader's real face but we see his acolyte's true visage early on, and Driver's fiery eyes and mix of arrogance and self-doubt gives a real dimension to the character.

There are some parts that seem perfunctory; the Rathtar scene is not terribly interesting and some of the pilot dialogue just seems to be there again as a callback to IV (same as the even worse pilot chat scenes in I), along with a couple of comedy moments that fall flat (Chewbacca's nurse is pretty irritating), but it's so much fun that you don't really care. So many images stand out as searing into the mind; the opening twist on the standard spaceship post-crawl shot as the gigantic monstrous new Star Destroyer blocks out the light of Jakku; the distant shot of Kylo Ren's shuttle landing amongst the flames where you see the true scale; Rey sliding down an embankment, clearly having fun, behind capital ship wreckage; the lightsaber flashback; the battle in the snow forest; and that final image of Luke Skywalker, clearly haunted and conflicted by seeing his weapon brought back to him.

Accompanying the film is a feature-length documentary, The Secrets of The Force Awakens, that charts the production from genesis to release. It's an essential companion to the film, not only with fantastic looks at the development of the film and the creation of the sets and effects and such, but also conversations with the cast and crew in different stages of production (at one point Ridley and Boyega are in a room together almost interviewing each other), and not only do you understand the incredible craft that produced this film but the love and dedication behind it. Gwendoline Christie tells us how she always loved Star Wars because she felt she fit in the world, Lupita Nyong'o hums the Imperial March as she films her motion-capture scenes, and we have all sorts of family members of those who worked on the original trilogy, along with ILM vet Dennis Muren who had a big hand in every episode so far.

Along with this are several deleted scenes, including one ('Maz's Tunnel') that is exclusive to the digital version. They're all pretty cool, but none of them add anything to the film and were rightly cut. We also have featurettes on the effects, the lightsaber battle in the snow (which incredibly was a set), the creature effects, and John Williams' wonderful score. So fairly substantial, although it does feel like a bigger set is probably in the offing, perhaps for when VIII comes out - hopefully in the vein of the huge Lord of the Rings sets.

But the biggest special feature is the film. As a fan since birth, it's been a painful journey full of mid-highs and depressing lows to have more filmic Star Wars that matches the original trilogy, and I guess it's maybe ironic that it finally happened without Lucas, but we all know of the collaborative nature on 77-83 that wasn't really the case on 99-05. Anyway, enough said - I'm off to watch it again.

- Charlie

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