Rubicante

Ha ha…I was thinking the exact same thing! He even kind of speaks with the cold logic that Data does. It’s interesting to hear everybody’s varying opinions on what movies/shows/scenes people like across the Star Wars franchise. Very little consensus on things…and that’s okay. I’m finding Ahsoka to be pretty mediocre, although I think I would appreciate it more had I watched The Clone Wars and Rebels shows. It’s just so tough to go from Andor to Mandalorian Season 3 and Ahsoka.

I agree with you. I am one of the rare people who really doesn’t have a problem with Jar Jar Binks. He’s supposed to be a stupid comedic side character. He’s so over the top ridiculous and absurd, I actually find him kind of funny. I also don’t really care about midichlorians, which many people find sacrilegious to the franchise. With that being said, TPM is a mediocre movie, but still better than AOTC, and certainly better than any of the garbage in the sequel trilogy.

I’m also a bit confused as to what lesson Anakin was trying to teach Ahsoka. Probably need to think about that more. It’s nice to see Hayden in both this show and the Obi-Wan series. Like many people, I hated (and still do not like) AOTC and found him to be intolerable in that movie. But I later came to realize Lucas just isn’t a great director or writer of dialogue, and is mostly to blame for that (with that being said, I’ll take a Lucas directed and dialogue written Star Wars movie over the overall travesty of the sequel trilogy any day). Episode 3 I thought Hayden was fine in, aside from the first awkward scene between him and Padme in the apartment (“So love has blinded you?”). You can tell Hayden is putting a lot of effort into these appearances. Even when he was just in the Vader suit in Obi-Wan, I thought he did a good job with his overall movements and body language. And he is so damn good with a lightsaber, as is McGregor.

It’s cute that people are discussing potential future plot points in books. I’ve pretty much given up any hope of getting a 6th book. I think it best just to view ASOIAF as a three book trilogy, and aside from season 1, pretend like the show never happened. And it is a damn good three book trilogy at that. EDIT: I suppose it is redundant to say three book trilogy. A trilogy would already imply three.

The Theon chapters in ADWD were absolutely incredible. I was actually skipping over other chapters to read them. But that speaks to the overall book, which really isn’t memorable at all. Davos’ speech at White Harbour was the only other chapter I can think of. Oh, I suppose the Dany chapter where she tames Drogan with the whip. Cersei’s walk? What else is there? The book leads to a lot of major events that just do not happen, which despite it’s size, makes the book feel unfinished. Jon’s stabbing seems like it was thrown in to make it seem like something major happened, even though it doesn’t make any sense chronologically. There is a sample Winds chapter with Theon before the Winterfell battle, but that Pink Letter means that battle has already passed. Is Bran making time non-linear?

There really is no need to be a perfectionist when it comes to finishing this series. In my opinion, he just needs to be better than the tv show…which isn’t much of a standard considering how bad the show sucked seasons 2-8.

A Dream of Spring will never happen. The Winds of Winter will be a small miracle. I would actually be more interested in reading an auto-biography from George explaining what exactly happened after releasing A Dance with Dragons that prevented him from completing The Winds of Winter.

500 pages is an eternity. I will be shocked, absolutely shocked, if we ever get TWOW. And even if by some miracle we do, ADOS is not happening. So really, what is the point? I’ve mentioned this before, but I really wish George would just admit that he doesn’t have it in him to finish the series. And that’s okay. Every time he mentions TWOW, he sounds miserable and stressed. I’d rather have him be happy in his life, instead of him having the dark cloud of TWOW looming over his head. We as fans will survive the series not being finished. There are plenty of other great fantasy series out there.

Sansa is a full on villain. Consider the following things she did 1. She agreed to marry Ramsay Bolton 2. She intentionally withheld the Vale army from helping Jon Snow in the Battle of Bastards, and then allowed them to join at the last second so she could take full credit for the victory. 3. She didn’t stop Ramsay from taking 20 good men and simultaneously lighting various points of Stannis’ camp on fire, destroying all of their siege machinery without being seen, while somehow getting through the worst winter storm the North has ever seen, while Stannis on the other hand was stuck. She should have suggested to Ramsay that he take 20 okay men, that way ensuring they are caught by Stannis. 4. She couldn’t stand Bran being King of Westeros, so she greedily declared herself Queen of the North, even though everyone in the North despises her. Oh wait, that is the fan fiction seasons 5-8 of the GoT tv show. If there is one thing good thing to come from probably never getting Winds of Winter, it’s that I can deny everything happening in Season 5 and on will never happen in the book.

It’s truly sad that we are never going to read the end to either series from Rothfuss or Martin. If you view “Name of the Wind” as the only book in the series, it is fine. Same with ASOIAF. If you view the series ending at A Storm of Swords, it is good enough as most plot elements are resolved. Dany to rule in Mereen, Tyrion and Arya to Essos, Jon new Lord Commander, Stannis to help defend the Wall from the Others, the Lannister reign in disarray, Sansa to learn under Littlefinger, Jaime wanting to earn his place as a Kingsguard. You really don’t need anything else. Just delete AFFC and ADWD, and the series is complete.

I feel like I am being tricked into false hope. Ever so often, I completely give up on Winds ever being released, only for George to come out and say that he is making progress. I am not falling for it anymore. In my opinion, the only reason he is saying this is because he wants die hard fans to watch the new HBO shows. I will not be watching these shows, and will instead spend my money reading books from other fantasy authors. I would prefer to not be so jaded and bitter about this, but it’s infuriating when other fantasy authors, like Sanderson, are not only continuing to release new books, but actually have “secret” books they have written. For the record though, George is a much better writer. Sanderson’s writing is too PG for me.

Does anyone still seriously believe we will ever get The Winds of Winter? I’ve completely given up any hope. I just wish George would come out and say “I don’t have it in me anymore to finish another book in this series”. At least then I could respect him for being honest, and realistic.

I just signed up for the WWE Network within the last week, mainly to watch old PPV's. I have watched the Royal Rumbles from 2001, and then 2004-2007. A few notes. 1. It's really, really hard to watch Chris Benoit. I adored that guy when I watched him during the Attitude Era, as he grew up in the same area that I did, so there was always that hometown pride thing. I just cringe now every time I see him do his diving headbutt, or take a chair shot, or any head shot, knowing now what atrocities he would commit later. I also watched "The Dark Side of Wrestling" episodes on him, and felt sick to my stomach for a day afterwards. 2. I was shocked that one of the Rumbles had HBK and Undertaker as the final two combatants. I heard those two had a couple of phenomenal Wrestlemania matches several years later, so I will definitely need to watch that. 3. I don't get what the WWE was going for in making The Great Khali a monster heel. Can that guy do anything beyond chop, slap, head butt, or do a Power Bomb while standing up? Has he ever been on the receiving end of an actual wrestling move like a suplex? His participation in the 2007 Rumble was sooooo bad.