The Bard of Banefort

I've been re-watching bits and pieces of the first season, and I was surprised by how darkly funny this show is as well. It went over my head the first time through, but there's a lot of dry humor in there. I think they did a really good job at establishing the 70s aesthetic, not just in decor but also in the way the characters behave. There's also something very relevant in the psychology. The reasoning behind why these men become serial killers (a deep-set hatred of women, a response to drastic cultural and political changes, etc.) is something that I think is reflected in the acts of violence we see today.

I'm considering making a post about this, but how exactly did Aemon the Dragonknight survive in that cage in Dorne for so long? We're told that Baelor was in King's Landing when his brother died, which would mean that news would have to travel from Dorne to King's Landing, Baelor would have to make a barefoot trek to Dorne to negotiate with the Martells, then he would have to travel to where Aemon was being held captive. This would presumably take several months. For that period of time, Aemon was being held in a cage over a viper pit in the desert without any clothing. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the Dornish weren't feeding him either. The only reason why I'm asking about this here instead of on the general page is because I'm not sure if this is one of those "don't overthink it" situations where there isn't actually a logical explanation. Did I miss something here?

The first season of Mindhunter was one of the best seasons of television that I've ever watched, and season two is right around the corner. I'm interested in hearing what others have thought of the show so far, and if you're looking forward to what comes next. For those who haven't seen them yet, here are the newest trailers:

We don't know that Viserra didn't mourn Alyssa's death. It's implied that Viserra tried to seduce Baelon right before she was to be sent to White Harbor, which was in in 87 AC. Alyssa had died three years earlier, in 84 AC. I also don't really understand Alysanne's argument that Viserra was scheming to be queen. Aemon was still alive at this point, as was his daughter, Rhaenys. Unless Alysanne thought Viserra was going to kill her brother and niece, then there was no way Viserra was going to be queen (unless George messed up the timeline and intended for Viserra to die after Aemon).

I would love it to be Dunk and Egg or Fire and Blood pt. 2, but I don't want to get my hopes up.

Although she wasn't featured prominently, I'd say Viserra, since she really got a raw deal. She's described as "sly" and "vain," but she never really did anything wrong. We're told that her and some boys tried to play a game of chicken in the dragonpit, but she's one of about a dozen Targaryens who broke into the dragonpit in Fire and Blood (and unlike the others, she seemed to have learned her lesson). Her drunken attempt at seducing Baelon was framed more as a desperate attempt to avoid marrying an old man than as a play for power. We're told that she spent a lot of times around boys but was never intimate with any of them. Her best friend was a Butterwell, who is randomly smeared in F&B as "empty-headed" for no particular reason. So despite the fact that Viserra never actually did anything wrong, her mother was certain she was Cersei-in-training, and decided to marry her off to an obese elderly man who had already outlived four wives. Viserra's beauty was painted as an omen of doom (despite it never being held against any of the other Targaryens), and whereas all of her other sisters had some say in who they were going to marry, Viserra was never consulted about her betrothal. Perhaps she was just more compliant than Daella and Saera; the night Viserra died, she wasn't running away, but rather throwing herself a kind of "going away party" before she was shipped North. Alysanne's treatment of Viserra doesn't make any sense. I've seen it suggested that Alysanne was subconsciously jealous of her daughter (Alysanne wasn't considered particularly beautiful, and neither were Alyssa or Maegelle. Daella was extremely fragile, and Saera was Saera). That could be true, although F&B didn't really do much in clarifying that. Either way, #ViserraDeservedBetter

This is the post: George was so insistent that TWOW would be announced on notablog, though. . . Elio and Linda retweeted it, and I'd like to think that they wouldn't mess with our emotions like that, but I'm very reluctant to get my hopes up.

After re-reading the Dance, I do wish that George had kept Jace around longer. He was a really interesting character, and was a kind of Rhaegar-Robb character, the prodigal son who had the potential to save the realm. I've pondered what the turning point for Rhaenyra's downfall was, and it seems to have been when she called for the dragonseeds to be imprisoned. Aside from losing Nettles and (mostly) Addam as dragonriders, it also cost her the Velaryon fleet and set in motion Daemon's death. The way that GRRM describes Mysaria in the scene where she tells Rhaenyra that Nettles is a traitor is particularly menacing--and rather Bloodraven-esque--so I'm inclined to believe she was working against the Blacks at this point.

I agree that Cole's rage at Rhaenyra's wedding is indication enough that she was the one who spurned him. I wasn't sure about the teenage affair with Daemon, but it's true that Viserys would have probably separated Rhaenyra and Criston Cole had she tried to seduce him when she was fourteen. This then begs the question of why Cole wasn't discouraged at all by Rhaenyra's affair with Daemon, but I suppose he may have attributed that to Daemon wickedly taking advantage of his niece, and that Rhaenyra was young and didn't know any better. (For what it's worth, that Rhaenyra married Daemon so quickly after their spouses' deaths makes me inclined to believe that she had been infatuated with him for quite some time). If I had to guess, Rhaenyra probably had a childhood crush on Cole that she eventually outgrew, but that she still remained fond of him as her sworn shield. Cole, on the other hand, was enamored with her, and couldn't see that she wasn't in love with him. The bigger mystery for me is Harwin Strong. I do believe she loved him, because if their relationship was purely about being satisfied sexually, then Rhaenyra could have easily found a lover who more resembled Laenor, therefore dismissing paternity rumors. But she stuck with Harwin long enough to conceive three children, so I find it more likely than not that she did love him. How and when their relationship started, on the other hand, is something I'm unsure of.

You bring up a valid point, and perhaps Westworld will be able to convey this in a compelling way. But frankly, I'm not holding my breath. I don't have faith in Hollywood--which Westworld is a part of, even if the show is critical of it--to pull that off at this point.

I completely forgot that El met her mother and aunt last season. Whatever happened to them? The more I stew on it, the more I'm starting to think that Stranger Things has begun morphing into a different show than what it started as. Season one, and parts of season two, were a mystery thriller with some humor thrown in. Now ST feels more like a comedy with monsters. It's still a really enjoyable show, but it does feel different to me. Assuming that season three is set in 1986, what song do you think they'll use for the trailer? I'm sure someone will be able to guess it correctly lol.

I recently watched season two and was surprised by how much I liked it. I've seen a number of complaints about the show being pretentious, but with the exception of perhaps the final episode, I didn't get that vibe. The interviews with the cast and showrunners, on the other hand. . . But I honestly just deflated when I watched the season three trailer. I am so tired of Hollywood Hitler-porn. It reminded me of a really fascinating analysis that I watched recently on the omnipresence of Hitler in pop culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm8qm5e-mcg&t=3s

Yeah, a lot of the characters were just kind of given new personalities. Lucas used to be the logical, serious one, but without Dustin around, they turned him into the comedic relief this season instead. It's a better use of the actor's talents, but there was no natural progression there. Hopper also was dumbed down, although that was more season two than season three.

I can see this. There definitely is a certain fetishization of lesbianism in our culture that makes some men more accepting of them than they are of gay men. That would actually be a really interesting hurdle to see in Steve and Robin's friendship going forward, but I seriously doubt Stranger Things would ever go there, especially since so much of their marketing depends on "babysitter Steve." They're not going to anything at this point that might affect his likability. On that note, while I agree that Steve had some good development in the first two seasons, I'm not really sure if I agree with the narrative that he's still showing character development. He's lost about thirty IQ points since season one. Steve was never a genius, and he's a lot more fun this way, but he's basically a different character at this point.

To be honest, I don't think a lot of people out there think of asexuality as anything more than a phase, aside from psychologists, people well-versed in sexuality and, of course, asexuals themselves. It's probably going to be a very long time before we see more awareness grow on that front. I would consider myself pretty young (like I said earlier, I was in college when the first two seasons dropped), but I can still remember how coming out was a big deal even ten years ago. This show isn't very strict with having it's characters behave in a way that matches the times (which was one of the big criticisms I've seen of this series), but I have a hard time picturing anyone in 1980s rural Indiana coming out prior to 30. I've seen a lot of people (most of whom are probably younger than I am) saying how badly they want to see Will get a boyfriend, and I don't think they realize just how truly dangerous that would be for a teenage boy as recently as a decade ago, let alone three. On another front, even if this season (allegedly) got higher viewership ratings than the last two, it doesn't seem to have taken over the media in quite the same way as the last time. When season two dropped, every website was putting out pieces ranking the characters and episodes, dissecting Easter eggs, making season three predictions, etc. Now it's mostly just Buzzfeed and Screen Rant recycling click bait. I don't mind the decreased coverage--as we saw with GOT, sometimes a show getting so big can make it less fun, not more--but I guess this does say something about the longevity of our new binge-watch routine.