House of Dragons

Not read any of this as it's not shown over here until this evening.

One thing that pisses me off is that Martin still hasn't finished The Winds of Winter which is the penultimate novels in the Fire and Ice series.

That should have been his priority, not the countless vanity projects he's been involved in since.

Not saying this shouldn't have happened, and I won't be seeing it, but there are other Martin works that could have waited.

And the Targaryans are Melniboneans. Seroiusly.

Paddy Considine was in the Death of Stalin and Peaky Blinders, he's very good.

First episode is always a bit dull, introducing new characters etc. Hard to see Matt Smith as a baddie.

I'm reminded more of Christopher Isherwood than Dr Who.

Rhys Ifans was the one in his pants in Notting Hill.

He was also very good as Rasputin in Kingsman.

I saw Peaky Blinders and didn’t place Considine. Thought I knew Rhys Ifans, but didn’t recognize him, either. What a departure from the usual comedic roles I’m used to him occupying.

I loved the look of the episode, also enjoyed the background music borrowing from GOT.

Matt Smith was devilish!! And I believed him. I enjoyed his work in The Crown.

I’m not sold, but I’ll watch again.

Considine was the creepy paedophile priest.

I never saw The Crown.

I notice the great buildings occupied by the royal Targaryen family seem to be the same ones to be later occupied by the Lannisters in King’s Landing. In an opening scene, Rhaenyra and her Hightower friend appear to be walking through what will later be Cersei’s map room—but these buildings (including the Iron Throne room where the pointy seat sits) seem war-torn.

This is making me want to pick up the books. Wanting a little historical context.

There is a book about it.

I've read it, but forgotten most.

It's called Fire and Blood.

There's also another one called The World of Ice and Fire.

You see what I mean? He's got time to write those two massive tomes but he's still not finished The Song of Ice and Fire.

Have you seen any of the Last Kingdom?

It's not fantasy, it's historical, Vikings and Saxons, but it's very good, similar in many ways to GOT, no dragons or whitewalkers but treachery intrigue and lots of fighting.

In all honesty the period that I would be interested in is Valeria before the fall, before the Targaryans moved to Westeros.

That sounds the most interesting, probably because it's only been hinted at.

Yes. I’d love to immerse into that era—Old Valeria. That’s one of the mysteries that piqued my interest during GOT.

I just picked up Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom, but I don’t think I’ll be satisfied until I find the Martin book that covers that period.

I had actually looked at a few episodes of the Last Kingdom, but I was so into the mood of Viking shows etc, I must have been watching 3 or 4. Just stopped abruptly.

I’ll have to go back.

Hah. I see why you’re mad.

https://winteriscoming.net/2022/08/03/will-george-r-r-martin-ever-write-about-old-valyria-if-i-live-forever/

Will George R.R. Martin ever write about Old Valyria? “If I live forever”

by Daniel Roman 3 weeks ago

Few parts of the fantastical world George R.R. Martin created in A Song of Ice and Fire are as mysterious as Old Valyria. Once the seat of a vast republic led by families of dragonriders, the Valyrian Freehold was swallowed by a natural disaster that wiped the civilization off the map. Only the Targaryens and their retainers escaped.

I’m not sure how much of this I can count on to have originated from Stevens’ books, but it was intriguing!

The Rise and Fall of the Targaryens.
https://youtu.be/9wN03USUmH0

I found another narrative to clear up lore. It’s a bit fast, but this one touches on all the major families.
https://youtu.be/f_rx98WVaPY

I haven't seen it yet, but I've just finished watching Dark.

It's a really good drama about time travel, it centres round a German town and nuclear power plant.

A lot of the characters are played by three different actors, youth, middle aged and elderly.

It's a really intelligent series, but it requires a bit of concentration.

It is in German I used subtitles to watch it and it's on netflix.

I think you might like it.

You must have seen Bill Patterson before, he's been in everything, check out his imdb page.

Very grateful for something cool and inventive! Thanks.

Don't read if you've not seen episode 2 spoilers.















The other day I was listening to the radio and there was a discussion about the Disney film Moana, who is a very different type of heroine.

The conversation moved to Beauty and the Beast. Apparently this fa8ry tale was aimed at middle and upper class girls.

Like Beauty their father arranges their marriage often to an older man, and the tale was a piece of propagada.

Your husband may be a repulsive old man, a beast, but you will grow to love him.
I heard it was Martin's favourite fairy tale, and I know he wrote for the TV series of the same name.

It's a theme, Brienna and Jaime, Arya and the Hound and again tonight's episode.

I’m hoping to regain my HOD mojo. I definitely lost it for a couple of weeks.

Ultimately, despite my sincere appreciation for the compelling skills and presence of Matt Smith, I was unable to care about House of Dragons.

Binned!

The Last Kingdom remains pretty good, although I've still not seen all of it.

Destiny is all.