A (Late) Breakdown of the GAME OF THRONES Season 5 Trailer

Almost two weeks ago now Game of Thrones hit IMAX theaters in the states with epic feature-length showings of the final two episodes of Season 4. Alongside watching two fantastic and visually delicious episodes in glorious IMAX, the first trailer for the upcoming Season 5 was promised. As ever, it was inevitable that people would film the trailer on their phone or camera and leak it, and on Friday morning I woke up to watch the recorded version of the trailer (it was actually fairly decent quality).

Later in the day the trailer was released, and since then loyal fans (such as myself) have been endlessly picking apart the trailer in hope of gleaming some plot details for Season 5, as diversions from the books have become so prominent by this point that half the story in this season will likely be original.

Last week my friend Oscar – a show watcher who has begun reading the books – suggested that me, him and our friend Matt – my ASOIAF buddy – break down the trailer in a video for my channel. It sounded like a great idea and on Saturday we filmed it.

Batman and Robin

I like days like these.

When I say that, I’m referring to non-school uniform days. Not just because you don’t have to wear uniform but because with my school they’re usually themed. Today was Dress up as a Superhero Day.

In truth, I only remembered it was on Monday, so I didn’t have time to plan. Last year myself and a friend came in as Batman and Robin. Here’s a photo of us both with the caption, “you can’t outrun justice”.

ASOIAF Theory Time: Aemon the Dragonknight and Jaime’s Fate

Part of the fun of A Song of Ice and Fire is all the little clues and repetition hidden in the narrative. George R.R. Martin consciously makes certain events “rhyme” with previous ones, and certain characters are reminiscent of those long dead. Not only is this interesting from a trivia perspective, it also allows us to guess and discover hints towards the future plot developments of the main characters.

In my opinion, the most notable character comparisons one can make within the context of ASOIAF are the following: Aegon IV/Robert Baratheon and Aemon the Dragonknight/Jaime Lannister. These characters are not identical to one another, however there are strong similarities and events and characteristics are twisted or flipped around for their modern counterparts.

ASOIAF Theory Time: Davos and Storm’s End in The Winds of Winter

I know that most of you are already formulating snarky responses to the title, but hear me out.

We know that in The Winds of Winter, Davos will arrive in Skagos to retrieve Rickon Stark and return him to Winterfell. That was the cliffhanger during A Dance with Dragons, and as there is still a considerable amount of the book left after Davos’ last chapter, it’s easy to assume that his TWOW storyline will take place concurrent with events during ADWD. i.e: by the time Davos is out of Skagos with Rickon, the Battle of Winterfell is likely shaping up.

I don’t think there’s any option that he won’t return Rickon. It makes narrative sense – to send Davos to Skagos and have him return empty-handed or die there would be utterly pointless and a waste of valuable pages. This would mean that Davos reunites with Stannis early on in the story. Job done, right?

ASOIAF Theory Time: There is no Azor Ahai, the Nature of Magic and the Pointlessness of War

Welcome back folks.

So, I did promise that ‘ASOIAF Theory Time’ would be a video series from now on, however there are some theories which are so big and would take so long to explain that they’re better suited to a blog post, and here we are. As with every article, this is going to contain major spoilers for all the books in the epic fantasy saga and heavy assumptions and theories for future instalments, so if you’re an Unsullied show watcher or haven’t finished the books yet then turn away now.

Just to warn you, this analysis/essay/theory/thing is very long and is separated into three key parts; the first relates to prophecy, the second to magic and gods and the third to the nature of war in A Song of Ice and Fire, however they all relate and interlink. The first part is going to be talking about some famous prophecised heroes in the saga, namely Azor Ahai. Let’s get started…

ASOIAF Theory Time: Petyr Baelish and Oliver Cromwell

Welcome to the first of a series here on the blog: ASOIAF Theory Time. For those of you unaware of what that is, it’s A Song of Ice and Fire; George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy saga of which the hit HBO series Game of Thrones is based on. In this series I’ll be discussing and laying out my own theories for upcoming plot events, characters etc, but also taking the time to analyse other popular theories around the net. Just so you’re aware, these articles are going to contain heavy spoilers for all books. We’re going to get started with one of my own.

Stannis The Mannis – #GETHYPE

I don’t think I’ve said on this blog before, but I’m a MASSIVE Game of Thrones fan. I know all the character names, histories, trivia, titles, lands, castles etc, have read all the books and am in the process of getting the prequel novellas. Unfortunately I only have a handful of friends who share my unhealthy obsession for all things A Song of Ice and Fire-related, but one of them showed me this video relating to a one STANNIS THE MANNIokay calm down jasper

Watch it if, like me, you are an utter Westeros nut.

The Book of Genisys

I don’t understand.

Why?

So, in case you didn’t know the new Terminator movie has just wrapped filming. I’m not a big fan of the franchise, but I really enjoyed the first two movies and the cast/crew for this reboot were really exciting; Emilia Clarke, Matt Smith, Jason Clarke, J.K. Simmons, all from fantastic movies and TV shows like Spider-Man, Doctor Who and Game of Thrones. The guy sitting in the director’s chair is Alan Taylor, who made the abysmal Thor: The Dark World last year, but that didn’t phase me. It was well-documented on how Marvel meddled so much in that project to the point where the finished product was ruined, and they paid the price for that in bad word of mouth/reviews and a lower box office count than it could have got.

Taylor handed in some of the most visceral and epic episodes of GoT, so it’ll be interesting to see whether his talent does shine through this time around. Early on in production the title was called Terminator: Genesis by numerous outlets, so basically another bland stereotypical blockbuster title. More recently it was apparently just called Terminator (original), but now star Arnold Schwarzenegger has released a photo on Instagram of the real title of the movie…