Game of Thrones – ‘The Ghost of Harrenhal’ Review

NOTE: Full Spoilers Ahead!

Now we are starting to get the ball rolling, last weeks episode kicked this season up a notch and this episode has done the same, beefing up the other characters who didn’t get done last week like Jon Snow and Daenarys.

Just as I thought would happen, this weeks episode picks up where last weeks leaves off, with Catelyn Stark coming to terms with Renly Baratheon about an alliance with Robb Stark, however this doesn’t last long, for just as they are coming to terms, the shadow demon that was birthed at the end of the last episode completes its mission, killing Renly, it was a well done scene, with good special effects, however I thought they should have stuck to the book and had Ser Loras attack Brienne because he thought she killed Renly, rather than two random guards.

Read the rest of the review after the break.

Supernatural: ‘The Girl With The Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo’ Review

This weeks episode was a bit mediocre I thought, saved by a few scenes that brought it up from being not so good.

This episode was touted on the internet because of the guest appearance of Felicia Day, but to be honest I thought she was more annoying than anything else, her only saving grace being the flirt scene with Dean on the other end of the phone, I laughed out loud at that scene and even that was more for Dean’s part than hers.

We returned to the Leviathans this week, with Sam and Dean needing to go into the “Death Star” as Dean put it, to recover a hard drive of Frank’s that the Leviathans were trying to hack. The hard drive had information about the brothers false identities and even where they stashed the Impala, Dean didn’t like that at all. So the brother’s head towards Roman Enterprises to do their mission, bringing in Day’s character, Charlie, who is the one hacking the drive, she agrees to help Sam and Dean after she sees her boss eaten by a Leviathan. This brings us to the mission of the episode, with Sam and Dean sitting this one out and letting Charlie infiltrate the office and get the information they need.

Game Of Thrones – Garden of Bones Review

Now that is what I am talking about. This episode of Game of Thrones was great, I like the additions the show runners are adding to the show that weren’t really in the books or merely touched upon in the books.

NOTE: Full episode spoilers inside.

I found myself with a disgusted look on my face pretty much every time Joffrey was on-screen, he just keeps on getting worse and worse and Jack Gleeson is doing a great job of making Joffrey a character that is very easy to hate. He starts off by having Sansa beaten in the middle of the throne room, only to be saved by Tyrion. He then has a pair of prostitutes who Tyrion hires to try to make him soften a bit, beat eachother into a bloody mess with his belt and scepter whilst at Arrow-point. God knows where the creators will go next with Joffrey, I’m not sure he can get much worse.

Supernatural – Of Grave Importance Review

Ah, it’s good to have Supernatural back on TV, it seems to go on long breaks way to much.

To begin the review I need to say, thank god they can finally see Bobby, been way to long since they got to interact with him. With that out of the way, lets begin at the beginning.

The episode kicks off with an all to familiar setting, teenagers hooking up in a haunted house, this is only going to end one way right?! So as was expected, the kids get butchered. The house they are in just so happens to be the job that one of Bobby’s old flames is working a job at, Annie enters the house to find the kids dead, before getting attacked herself. When she doesn’t show up to meet with Sam and Dean the next day, the boys go looking for her.

Doing a bit of research, Sam and Dean find the job where Annie was working and begin to snoop around, you know something isn’t right, generally when some disappears in Supernatural they are dead. No difference here, the boys find Annie’s phone, whilst Ghost Bobby finds Annie, who is now a ghost herself.

Game of Thrones – What Is Dead, May Never Die Review

There are a few things in Game of Thrones that really irritate me, to the point of being annoyed for them simply being on the screen. Theon Greyjoy is number 1 on this list.

For those who haven’t read the book, you will know what I mean soon enough and from this episode probably have a pretty good idea anyway. With Theon heading back to Pyke in the last episode to try to gain his fathers fleet to back Robb Stark in his war with the Lannisters, he gets there and finds that he is not wanted, nor loved by his father. In his haste to win his fathers love, Theon completely betrays Robb, his friend for the past 10 years, the man to whom he pledged his loyalty to at the beginning of the war. Theon even contemplates telling Robb about his fathers plans to attack the North while he was away, but decides to burn the letter and betray his friend. I really dislike Theon…a lot.

Back in the Seven Kingdoms, we have Catelyn Stark arriving at Renly Baratheon’s camp in the middle of a tournament. It is here that was are introduced to the Maiden Brienne of Tarth, who defeats the Knight of Flowers in single combat to become part of Renly’s Kingsguard. I think they got the perfect actress to play Brienne, she is absolutely huge when standing next to Catelyn Stark and very man like, matching the description in the book, good casting here. Meanwhile, Renly is shown to find it impossible to pleasure his wife Margaery Tyrell, who comes clean that she knows that Renly is gay and sleeping with Ser Loras, however she doesn’t react the way you might think, telling Renly she will do what it takes for him to impregnate her and keep their enemies at bay.

‘Game of Thrones’ Showrunners Detail Plans For Season 3 and Beyond

With the renewal of Game of Thrones for a 3rd season, the shows producers have outlined their vision for how the show will continue in the future.

“Well… “A Storm of Swords” is too long to fit in a single season. And as readers know, “A Feast for Crows” and “A Dance with Dragons” takes place during roughly the same time frame, so we’ll have to fold those together. The plan, if we’re lucky enough to be given the opportunity to see it through, is to use as many seasons as we need to tell the story as a whole, to do justice to George’s entire opus”.

About how they would deal with adapting from the source material they continued with;

“We’re not looking at our series as a book-by-book adaptation so much as an adaptation of George’s entire saga. In other words, in our minds season two is not “A Clash of Kings.” It is the second season of our adaptation of “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

So it seems as though the team is looking at focusing on telling the entire story rather than trying to force massive novels into a 10 episode TV season. This is a good strategy, not only will the quality be better as they will be able to put more of Martin’s story into the show, rather than cutting it out for time sake. It will also give Martin the time to finish the final 2 books in his series before the show catches up.

Kaz Hirai Reveals His ‘One Sony’ Vision

Sony boss, Kaz Hirai has today outlined his vision for Sony moving forward, the base of his idea is “Sony is positioning digital imaging, game and mobile as the three main focus areas of its electronics business and plans to concentrate investment and technology development resources in these areas,” stated Hirai in a press release.

Riding on the back of the PS3 and Vita which are generating a steady profit for Sony, Hirai stated “By growing these three businesses, Sony aims to generate approximately 70 per cent of total sales and 85 per cent of operating income for the entire electronics business from these categories by FY14 [2013/2014].”

In order to keep Sony generating a profit, the bad news is that Sony will be laying off 10000 employees across all divisions.

George R.R. Martin Dishes Info on Game of Thrones Season 3

After the announcement that Game of Thrones will indeed be back for a 3rd season, the series author George R.R. Martin has updated his blog about the renewal.

Martin states that “Like the first two seasons, it will be ten episodes long.  This one will cover (roughly) the first half or thereabouts of A STORM OF SWORDS, the third novel in the series. I’ll be writing the seventh episode, with the working title “Autumn Storms.”

So there you have it, from the man himself, the season will cover the first half or so of A Storm of Swords, this would most likely be the first book if you own the 2 part version of A Storm of Swords, so readers will know what to expect. It’s also exciting that Martin will once again scribe an episode this season as he did for Seasons 1 & 2.

Game of Thrones Renewed for Season 3

You Win or You Die!

File this under not a surprise, on the back of a great premiere and viewer numbers, as well as a level of hype that was through the roof, HBO has announced that the show has been officially renewed.

Depending on what happens in this season and the changes made to the continuity of the book, season 3 should deal with the book A Storm of Swords, widely held as the best book in the series. Even if some of the events of A Storm of Swords have been moved up into season 2 of the show, season 3 should still deal with the majority of the book, meaning it should be a great season!

Game of Thrones – The Night Lands Review

Thank god for HBO Go is all I can say, after our first taste of Game of Thrones season 2 last night, we have episode 2 already.

‘The Night Lands’ is a much smoother flowing episode than “The North Remembers”, focusing on a smaller group of characters and not jumping around as much as there is no need to introduce all the new player in the Game of Thrones this episode.

We kick off this episode on the Kingsroad with Arya as she and we are first introduced to Jaqan H’Ghar, one of the 3 prisoners locked up in Yoren’s cart. I won’t spoil his identity or role in the story for those who haven’t read the book but it is good to finally see the man who will be very important in Arya’s life in the future. We also see a pair of Gold Cloaks arrive at the camp searching for Gendry, however they are sent packing by some quick thinking on Yoren’s part.

Peter Dinklage is once again great as Tyrion in this episode, his back and fourth with Varys is a nice touch, as he warns him that he is not Ned Stark and knows how to play the game. As we move to a small council meeting, Cersei once again shows her simplemindedness as she disregards a request from the Night’s Watch for more men, despite Tyrion’s claim that Mormont is no liar.

Game of Thrones Season 2 Premiere – The North Remembers Review

You Win or You Die!

It is so good to have Game of Thrones back, it’s been a long wait.

The opening episode is a slow one, introducing the new players in the War of the Five Kings, as well as re-introducing our favourites from season 1.

The episode begins with The Hound beating down some no name knight during the games on Joffrey’s name day. After the knight is brutally smashed over the head by the hound and thrown over the balcony to his death below, the story introduces Sir Dontos. Sir Dontos plays a major part in the story of Sansa and he is introduced here as a fat, drunk. Before he can be put to death by Joffrey for being drunk on his name day, Sansa stops Joffrey and suggest Dontos becomes his new fool, a humiliation, something that Joffrey loves to do.

It is here that we get to see Tyrion return to King’s Landing. Tyrion shows some compassion for Sansa, seeing straight through her programmed lies of love and loyalty to Joffrey. Once he is done baiting his nephew to anger, he moves to the Small Council meeting with the news he has been named the Hand of the King by his father in his stead. As you might imagine Cersei is not happy about this and quickly put Tyrion in his place in regards to his role as Hand.

Back in the North it would seem that Bran is having his first dreams about inhabiting his direwolves body, seeing the wolf walking through the godswood at Winterfell and seeing his face in the pond as he sleeps, this is another seed planted for future storylines involving Bran, for fans of the books, something that is very important and exciting.

Mod Tech Top 10 – Game of Thrones Season 1 Moments

With the season 2 premiere of Game of Thrones just 1 day away I thought I would go through my Top 10 moments from season 1.

10. Opening Scene: Episode 1

The show kicked off with a great introduction to the men of the Night’s Watch, out on a ranging tracking wildlings, only to find themselves being hunted by the White Walkers. The blue eyes of the White Walkers were exactly as creepy as they should’ve been and set these supernatural beings up as a threat as the story goes on.

Spartacus: Vengeance Finale – Wrath of the Gods Review

All I can say it WOW! What a finale that was, it had everything!

Lets begin at the beginning, the episode begins with Nemetes and his band doing a rogue ambush of a Roman outpost at the bottom of the mountain, when Spartacus finds out he gives aid, which leads to our first death of the episode, it was a shocking one I thought, Mira taking an axe to the chest and dying before they can make it back to the top of the mountain. Spartacus takes his rage out by beating Nemetes down before regaining sense. It was a sad moment, Spartacus already losing his wife and now Mira, she was a strong leader and will be missed next season.

From here the episode begins its secondary story, with Illythia and Lucretia making their way to the encampment to meet with Glaber. Lucretia seeks to have her promise to Ashur stopped, which Illythia makes happen by providing Glaber with the bracelet of Seppius and telling a tale of Ashur seeking to move up with Varinius. Glaber also tells Illythia that she must kill Lucretia as she has outlived her purpose. At this point I was getting very excited at the notion of the end of Ashur, he is a villain you love to hate and for his death to come I was very happy. However, as Ashur has a way of doing, he somehow talks his way out of it, only to be given a task to deliver a message to Spartacus.

6 New Game of Thrones Clips, Thanks HBO

It is starting to become unbearable, the wait for the premiere of Game of Thrones season 2, especially after HBO has just released 6 new clips from the opening episode “The North Remembers”. The clips feature mostly Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow but we also get glimpses of Daenerys and Robb Stark, and yes there is Dragons!

See Tyrion join the Small Council after the break.

Games of Thrones – Nowhere to Hide Promo

You Win or You Die!

The train just keeps on rolling, less than a week out from the Season 2 premiere of Game of Thrones, yet another short teaser has been released. Showing fast cuts of action and narrated by Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister, the overarching theme of the video seems to be coping with what has happened to you and paying for the sins you have committed.