Westeros

We’ve a special feature today courtesy of a fan, Christine, who attended the Game of Thrones exhibit in Chicago the weekend before last (there’s one more coming to Los Angeles on December 9th and 10th), with a look at all the neat stuff HBO has put together in celebration of the release of the Season 6 Blu-Ray... as well as an exclusive new interview with Finn Jones, who portrayed the late, great Knight of Flowers… and is now due to star in the Netflix Marvel series, Iron Fist. Read on to learn what Christine saw, and what Finn had to say about Game of Thrones and what he’s been up to since filming wrapped on the previous season!

One does not simply… NOT say hi to Kristian Nairn!

Hodor may not have the most interesting story arc. He is not even a knight (can you hear it? It’s Finn Jones and Daniel Portman screaming: “kniiiiiights FTW, yo!”) He does not plot unfathomable schemes we then remember for the ages (or does he?), nor does he have a sharp, clever tongue ready to outwit or charm at whim. He doesn’t even own a monster-pet like Dany or a pet-pet like Tommen. Up until recently, he was just the bulky simpleton pushing the Bran-mobile around. Now he also kicks skeleton asses while possessed, which qualifies for some awesomeness, but still the question remains…

You are so NOT finding it out here!

Woot. Not what I expected. Yeah, the “H-word”. Yeah, “hi” is an “H-word”; I meant the other one. The one with “Ho”. Hehe. “Ho”.

MARINO: Kristian, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us.

There are a number of more or less obvious differences between Ms. Kate Dickie and Lady Lysa Arryn. Firstly, Kate is blonde. Yeah, I know. And it makes you look twice, as in “am I in the right queue?” Another major difference has to do with her mouth. Kate’s mouth only knows about smiling; a mirthful, joyous laughter that can be heard at quite some distance emerging from it. Lysa, she was not too much into the “being happy” attitude. Finally, Kate Dickie is not a jealous, tortured soul full of regret who breastfeeds her eight-year-old son. At least not that day, as far as I know.

Since my back was already pretty mauled, I chose to kneel opposite the Lady Lysa, much to her surprise. While she greeted me and I prepared my recording thingies we engaged in some small talk, mostly my going all “OMG YOUR SCOTTISH ACCENT IS SO CUTE!” and Kate going “OMG I NEVER REALIZE I HAVE AN ACCENT!” We were kind of shouting, yes.

MARINO: Hi Kate, thank you for being here (wherever here is now!) There is this famous sentence which Jaime Lannister utters, “the things I do for love”, to justify his actions. Does Lysa feel the same?

It occurred to me that being thrown down the Moon Door is no laughing matter, but since I have no actual experience, I chose not to press the matter further. I know nothing!

After dealing with a knight and a dead almost-king, with all their courtly eccentricities, I decided it was high time for a dose of less noble chatting; hence, Podrick Payne. Squire extraordinaire, brothel cruising legend and so-so horse rider, Daniel Portman’s Pod has won the favor of the fans thanks to his humility, devotion and courage, traits which make him a most rare Westerosi bird indeed. Even non-squires such as you and I can empathize with him at some level (not necessarily about the brothels.)

Daniel Portman may share some traits with young Payne. As opposed to Finn Jones and Gethin Anthony’s more openly extrovert demeanor, the Glasgowite looks more serious and contained. Ultimately, he is a most polite and straightforward lad who just seems a bit overwhelmed by the magnitude of the Con. Welcome to my world, Pod!

MARINO: Hi Daniel, thank you for taking these questions.

Gethin sounded like Renly but looked like a normal guy. A normal, very handsome, guy, that is. His hairstyle was way cooler than in the series, IMHO, and the many girls queuing in front of me seemed to agree and approve the whole package, judging by the pretty heavy swooning and giggling. Such was the presence of the late Renly Baratheon, First (and Last) of His Name!

The man did seem to be having a good time: he smiled and laughed profusely, shook hands a-plenty, spoke cheerfully and had nice words for all and each fan, all while deftly personalizing the items people offered him. And he still found the time for posing for more selfies per minute than the World Health Organization would recommend.

When my turn was about to come, I felt I might squee a little, but I managed to contain any inadmissible sounds within my vocal apparatus. Gethin stood up to greeted me (so nice of him; 100 points to House Baratheon) after washing his hands clean with some sort of magickal elixir. His grip was strong, as one would expect from a king wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Interview

Marino: Hello Gethin!

Marino: Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me.

Just like his alter ego, the Knight of Flowers, Finn Jones is a very passionate, energetic individual.

Understandably, the fans are really pleased with his enthusiasm; he does get carried away while chatting, and I could hear him utter the “F-word” more than once (tee-hee!) His slender frame and that mop of quasi-alive curly blondish hair are quite striking, even more so with him sitting close to the mighty Kristian Nairn.

When my turn comes, Finn’s hand darts towards mine and shakes it effusively. A quick smile. Bright eyes. It shows today’s just the first day of the Con. I check my recording device (or “Phone”, as I am fond of calling it), like this:

Interview

Marino: OK, let’s try this… Hello?

Finn stretches his body from the other side of the table and with the grace of a shadowcat starts throwing words at the device.

“Man, he speaks fast,” I find myself thinking. I wish the few thousand people around would lowered their voices a few decibels, but since it seems unlikely, I ready my ears and buckle up to fight Ser Loras Tyrell in the merciless arena of light-speed-interviewing.

Marino: Finn, thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions. We didn’t get to see much of you last season, but Loras is in a difficult place right now with his wedding looming on the horizon and all the politicking. How is he faring?

Well-met, fellow ASOIAFers and AGOTers! This is Marino Santirso-Dayne, the Pale Dornishman, straight from Northern Spain. Pleased to meet you all!

It has been my pleasure and distinct privilege to attend the London Film and Comic Con 2014 in, well, London, as a proud herald of this most excellent site in order to have a chat with some of the many Game of Thrones guests invited this year. I wish I had more time to properly

... I mean, to properly engage in intimate and revealing one-to-ones while sipping Earl Grey, but imagine if you would an event with thousands upon thousands of attendees all looking forward to meeting their idols; it turns out it’s quite an ordeal to secure a few minutes with the guests, and once at the venue, the prospect of carrying a bone china tea set, however tempting, became much less appealing and practical than when I was daydreaming in my couch.

Or: Adaptation Morghulis - This One’s Dead Already

Varys would’ve been a hell of a TV critic. Think about it:

“Adaptation is a trick, a shadow on the wall. And sometimes a very dense source material can cast a very pale shadow.”

With such a statement, the best informed eunuch in the history of fiction would probably shed some much needed light on heated discussions over the second season of Game of Thrones. Yes, adapting a story from one medium to another is quite a tricky business, and also pretty abstract one, especially if you’re adapting something from the non-visual medium to the screen, as it’s almost always the case. No rules are carved in stone there.

Well, some rules are, in fact. For example, the rule that touches not only adaptations, but also the very nature of motion pictures: don’t move them too fast. Pictures, that is. Don’t move them faster than human eye can catch them, or you’ll get strange, rapid action that is bound to look both clumsy and cheap on screen. In short, don’t do what Game of Thrones did in episodes 5 and 15.

Call me schizophrenic – I’m a guy of several different foci, usually in focus simultaneously.  While mostly covering the gaming industry for several different sites (Gamasutra, IGN, Nintendojo, TotalPlayStation), I also write about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort for Orlando Informer and found-footage films for Corona’s Coming Attractions and, but of course, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire for Tower of the Hand.

With season two of HBO’s Game of Thrones quickly approaching (in two weeks!), it’s been mostly the last that has consumed my every waking thought.  In between re-watching season one episodes, rereading chapters of A Clash of Kings, and publishing ebooks on the subject, I thought it might be fun – and, just possibly, instructive – to gather a chorus of experts to chat away on a slightly different perspective on Martin’s multimedia creation.  The subject?  Why, that one fundamental element absolutely crucial to each and every type of imagined world, whether it be physical or literary or, yes, digital:  verisimilitude.

Via our friends at MTV Geek, we’re pleased to be able to provide the first in a series of articles that take a close look at George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series from the perspective of a Ph.D. in Medieval history and literature.  Each book in the series will be analyzed against actual historical events in the Dark and Middle Ages along with literature, factual or fictional, from that time.  This is the first time the author is reading the novels, so keep in mind that she’s unaware of major spoilers but that spoilers will be revealed as she progresses through the material.