Showing posts with label Nerd TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nerd TV. Show all posts
The BBC Version of Gormenghast
What you get instead is a giant fantastical castle, the size of a large city, and one of the best villains you will ever see in any books: Steerpike.
Steerpike is arguably the perfect villain. He has motivations. He is ambitious. He is in love. He is Machiavellian in his schemes.
The BBC version of Gormenghast only covers the first two books of the series, ignoring the third book "Titus Alone", in which the character Titus Groan journeys beyond the valley of Gormenghast, gets lost and people don't even believe him when he describes the castle of Gormenghast.
The good news is that you can watch the BBC version of Gormenghast on YouTube. See the videos further below.
Alternatively you can easily get copies of the books (or ebooks or audiobooks) from your local libraries because Gormenghast is considered to be a classic.
When is Season Two of the Witcher Coming?
Coming
AUGUST 17TH 2021
That is the official release date of season 2 of The Witcher.
So if you've been waiting patiently (or impatiently) now at least you know how long you have to wait.
Sooner would have been nice, but with the Coronavirus going on everything has been delayed significantly.
Also if you haven't read the books yet... I definitely recommend reading the Witcher book series.
The Witcher Music / Complete Tunes
The music from The Witcher TV series is very catchy. However there is more to listen to. Below is the most popular song from The Witcher TV series ("Toss a Coin to Your Witcher"), and the Full Soundtracks for the TV show, as well as all three games from The Witcher video game series.
Cannot get enough of the Witcher? I recommend reading the books too.
Also earlier today I found out they are also making an animated Witcher movie that will take place during the timeline of the TV series.
Especially the following one:
Toss a Coin to Your Witcher
Netflix's The Witcher - Full Soundtrack
The Witcher 3 - Full Soundtrack from the Game
The Witcher 2 - Full Soundtrack from the Game
The Witcher (1) - Full Soundtrack from the Game
Cannot get enough of the Witcher? I recommend reading the books too.
Also earlier today I found out they are also making an animated Witcher movie that will take place during the timeline of the TV series.
Especially the following one:
Netflix's The Witcher - Full Soundtrack
The Witcher 3 - Full Soundtrack from the Game
The Witcher 2 - Full Soundtrack from the Game
The Witcher (1) - Full Soundtrack from the Game
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Maps
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Maps
I am going to have to post more Witcher maps in the near future. "The Witcher" TV show is coming out on Netflix in just 7 days, so expect a lot more Witcher maps and stuff about the Witcher in general.
My wife plays the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and has two of Andrzej Sapkowski's books. I am waiting to read the books eventually after she finishes reading them. (I have a giant stack of other fantasy books I am reading and hope to review someday.)
We are both looking forwards to watching the new Witcher TV show.
The first map below doesn't include place names, but the other maps further below are clearly labeled.
I am going to have to post more Witcher maps in the near future. "The Witcher" TV show is coming out on Netflix in just 7 days, so expect a lot more Witcher maps and stuff about the Witcher in general.
My wife plays the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and has two of Andrzej Sapkowski's books. I am waiting to read the books eventually after she finishes reading them. (I have a giant stack of other fantasy books I am reading and hope to review someday.)
We are both looking forwards to watching the new Witcher TV show.
The first map below doesn't include place names, but the other maps further below are clearly labeled.
Witcher Teaser Trailer
I am very much looking forward to this TV series. I need to read the books sometime too.
My wife plays The Witcher 3 and I have enjoyed watching her play the game.
Harry Potter vs Game of Thrones
And he was partially right.
Except he miscalculated something.
You see J. K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, had known for quite some time she was going to write 7 Harry Potter books in order to complete the storyline. Some, not all, of the books got progressively bigger. But the length of the books were reasonable and everything was plotted out ahead of time, and thus she was able to release books on a schedule that matched and suited the film schedule.
George R. R. Martin however, who is very long winded and has difficulty sticking to any kind of publishing schedule, probably will not publish the 6th and 7th books until 2018 and 2024 respectively. It is currently taking him about 5-6 years to publish 1 book.
Is he a chronic procrastinator? Maybe.
Maybe his ego is the problem. As a white male American, ego can be a huge problem. (It certainly is a problem for Donald Trump. Totally off topic.)
Perhaps he was looking at J. K. Rowling, a white female British author, and thought "If she can do it, I can do better." And he didn't have a clue how long it would take him to write books.
And it is true that Game of Thrones is stylistically and plot-wise better. Harry Potter has the more likeable characters, but suffers from a repetitive good wizards vs dark wizards trope.
As a financial success it is questionable which series has made more money... Harry Potter has toy sales... a huge abundance of toy sales and paraphernalia. Lets just check which series has made more so far.
...
"All told, Rowling created a $15 billion brand. While her net worth is a fraction of that, as it is estimated to be just less than $1 billion, that's still enough to make her the world's richest author. While Rowling's last Harry Potter book was released in 2007, she continues to earn royalties from book sales."
In contrast Game of Thrones popularity earns about $1.1+ billion per year. So when it is done it will have earned approx. $8.8+ billion in revenue. So that much money is certainly a lot, but it is nowhere near what the Harry Potter franchise has made.
And with more films coming out, the new Magical Creatures series, the Harry Potter franchise will continue to make money. The newest film made $812 million at the box office alone.
Game of Thrones meanwhile is working on five possible spinoff series. Which, if successful, could make HBO another $5.5 billion. Maybe. Hard to predict success rates and profits.
So HBO might eventually make $14.3 billion. Maybe. If. No guarantees.
By the time it does Harry Potter/Magical Creatures might be in the $16 to $20+ billion range.
So it is not a contest, but if it was then J. K. Rowling is definitely winning.
Notes
The 8th and final season of Game of Thrones is expected to be released in Summer 2018, after which fans will have to wait for the prequel spinoffs.
Star Trek Discovery the Most Pirated TV Show in Canada
The reason why I am making this prediction is because last night my wife and I visited my mother-in-law and we watched the first two episodes of Star Trek Discovery on the Space network. My wife and I don't have that channel at our place so whenever we want to watch Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Westworld, etc - it is during our weekly Sunday visits to my mother-in-law's place.
Which is great for multiple reasons.
#1. My mother-in-law is really nice.
#2. She is a great cook.
#3. It allows my wife and I to relax a bit as we bring our son with us and "Grandma" gets to see her favourite grandson.
Also before we get to why I think it will be pirated so much lets first talk about my impressions of this new Star Trek television series.
- It felt like we were watching a movie. Except with commercials. Stupid annoying commercials.
- The level of quality is what you would likewise expect from Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.
- Why do the Klingons in this version of Star Trek look so different from all previous versions? I assume they are going to explain that somehow in the future (genetic manipulation???). While it is clear they have a bigger budget for makeup, this is a huge difference in Klingon appearance and I have to wonder if genetic manipulation is going to be a major part of the plot.
- I cannot wait to see the third episode. Oh wait, I cannot... see further below.
- Stellar cast. No complaints.
- The people who do complain about the "racial diversity" of the cast are clearly not familiar with the history of Star Trek, wherein a black woman and a Japanese man were major cast members of The Original Series (Star Trek: TOS). See the image on the right to see what I talking about.
- I really find that one alien guy with the weird head annoying. Lt. Saru, shown below.
 |
| I really hope Lt. Saru dies eventually. He annoys me so much. He is like Joffrey or Ramsay Bolton. |
- ABC All Access is not available in Canada.
- The first two debut episodes were watched by 9.6 million people in North America. That is HUGE for a new TV show.
- The Space network is only showing the first two episodes of Star Trek Discovery. If Canadians want to watch more then they need to get Crave TV. That is the only source of Star Trek Discovery.
- Crave TV is this horrible thing in Canada that is only available from Bell. If you use Rogers, Cogeco, or any other cable provider - you cannot get Crave TV.
- Netflix International did make a deal to have Star Trek Discovery, but only in countries like the UK and Australia. Netflix Canada is not getting Star Trek Discovery at all.
- People who live in rural places in Canada cannot even get cable, let alone Bell cable. So they cannot get Crave TV, ergo they cannot get Star Trek Discovery.
Basically what it comes down to is that most Canadians don't even have Crave TV, cannot even get Crave TV, or have zero interest in paying for Crave TV.
Which means that the only way they can watch future episodes of Star Trek Discovery is if they pirate it. Just like many Canadians already do for Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, etc.
I am fortunate enough that I have access to these shows, one day a week. Sometimes more if somehow manage to visit my mother-in-law twice in the same week.
But will I see be able to see the 3rd episode of Star Trek Discovery and other future episodes?
You see there is a problem. While my mother-in-law does have cable, HBO, On Demand, etc... she does not have Crave TV.
And I am not about to convince my wife to get Crave just so we can get one TV show. Nor will I be recommending my mother-in-law to get Crave either.
Crave... frankly sucks. It is horrible. Netflix is so much better.
Six months ago it was rumoured that Bell was planning on scrapping Crave TV. They had sunk a lot of money into it and it was not paying off. Canadians have zero interest in subscribing to Crave when they could just get Netflix instead.
And that is the same thing I expect to happen here. Nobody is going to get Crave TV (largely because many people cannot get Crave TV because they use Rogers, Cogeco, live in the countryside, etc).
If people decide to get any kind of streaming service, they will get Netflix.
So eventually if CBS is smart they will release Star Trek Discovery on Netflix in Canada. And/or release it on a television network that is more broadly available in Canada.
Because if they don't the vast majority of Canadians will just watch a pirated version instead. Which means zero profits for CBS from all those pirated copies floating around on the internet.
Update, October 2017
Okay so apparently CBS has realized their folly in Canada and has decided to release Star Trek Discovery on the "Space" channel in Canada - a premium channel that people get order individually or as part of a larger package deal.
Thus there will still be a fair number of Canadians who do not get that premium channel, but it isn't as bad as before when it was basically not even available in Canada.
Five Predictions for Season 7 of Game of Thrones
SPOILER ALERT!
The new season of Game of Thrones started last night and like any diehard Thrones fan, it is now a good time to speculate on what is going to happen during this season.
#1. The Wall is Coming Down
The Wall is magical, we know this because Benjen Stark cannot pass beyond the Wall due to the Wall's magical properties.
According to legend the Wall cannot be destroyed except by the Horn of Winter, which is also a magical object. When the horn is blown it is supposed to cause vibrations within the ice that will cause the ice within the Wall to shatter. (This is similar to the Biblical story of horns being used to cause an earthquake in the city of Jericho - Joshua 6:20.)
Sam Tarly way back in second season found a horn along with a stash of dragonglass. Hint hint. The horn is likely currently at Castle Black.
#2. Jon Snow is going to Dragonstone and will meet Dany and Tyrion
It will not be the first time Jon Snow and Tyrion have hung out together. Both shared a friendship during Tyrion's visit to the Wall in Season 1. But it will be the first time Jon has met Dany, and this grouping of all three together will put all three Targaryen's on the same island together at the same time.
Jon Snow will go to Dragonstone after he receives a raven from Sam Tarly, telling him that there is a giant amoung of dragonglass on the island of Dragonstone. If he is smart, Jon will also try to convince Dany that the real threat is in the north and that the White Walkers are coming.
And if we are lucky, Jon will get attacked by fire or dragonfire, and we will learn that he (and possibly Tyrion too) are all immune to fire. Dany will then realize that all three of them are Targaryens.
The end game of this will be Dany, Tyrion and Jon all riding dragons together.
#3. Cersei will ally herself with the Starks, but secretly plot to kill them
In the ever-shifting alliances of Game of Thrones, Cersei needs more allies. Jon Snow / Sansa Stark will offer her a deal to end the war in an effort to get more people to help fight the White Walkers. But Sansa will know that Cersei is not to be trusted.
During this Cersei will take her army north, including her beast-zombie the Mountain.
When Cersei does strike and betray them, Jaime will have to choose between letting her kill thousands of people - or killing Cersei. But the Mountain will stop him...
Cersei could eventually get captured by the Night King and become a White Walker - the Night Queen.
#4. Brienne and the Hound killing Wights and White Walkers
The Hound (Sandor Clegane) is heading north and now knows the Fire God is real. He has also seen a vision of the undead wights in the north, and knows they are heading south. Clegane vs Wights? Bring on the wights because Clegane is going to be awesome at killing them.
There is only one problem, Clegane doesn't have a Valyrian steel sword and will break any weapon he currently has when fighting a White Walker.
Enter Brienne - who does have a Valyrian steel sword, Oathkeeper. And she is equally awesome in combat as the Hound.
Now put those two together, fighting back to back vs a horde of White Walkers and wights. That is a fight worth watching!
#5. Sam Tarly will become a Wizard
Magical learning is one of the things maesters sometimes get into while at the Citadel. In the books Sam meets other students at the Citadel who have learned that magic has come back into the world with the birth of dragons, that dragons essentially emanate magical power that can be tapped into. Sam will realize that what Jon Snow and everyone else really needs is not a maester, but a wizard.
Which will fulfill what Sam said back in Season 1: "I always wanted to be a wizard." to which the other guys laughed, because at the time it was a silly idea.
And there is a line in a later season in which Gilly says to him: "You are like a wizard."
Bonus Prediction #1. Gendry will forge a Valyrian steel sword for Arya
The smith who taught Gendry is the same smith who made Oathkeeper and Widow's Wail by melting down Ned Stark's huge sword Ice. This means that smith knows how to melt down and reforge Valyrian steel.
Which means Gendry probably knows how to reforge Valyrian steel.
Add dragonfire to this mixture, and Gendry might someday be able to make new Valyrian steel blades, without the need to melt down old Valyrian steel blades.
Eventually Arya is going to realize the real threat is also in the north, and her sword Needle will end up breaking if she tries to use it against a White Walker. At some point she and Gendry will meet up, and Gendry will make her a new sword which will be useful against White Walkers.
Bonus Prediction #2. The Reappearance of Dark Sister
There is a Valyrian steel sword which Arya mentions in an earlier season while talking to Tywin. The sword she mentions is "Dark Sister", a Valyrian steel sword which had once belonged to a Targaryen woman. The sword was small and slimmer - like Needle is - and designed for the hand of a woman.
It is possible that Arya could end up with the sword Dark Sister instead of Gendry forging her a new sword, or it is possible Dany could end up with the sword instead, as it makes sense that at some point Dany should start wearing armour and learning how to defend herself. She won't always have her dragons handy so she really should have a sword to defend herself with.
Either way, someone will end up getting Dark Sister and Arya and Dany are the two most likely candidates.
Bonus Prediction #3. When Arya heads north, she will reunite with her dire wolf Nymeria
And Nymeria will be big enough that Arya can now ride on her wolf.
But first she needs to head south to King's Landing.
Bonus Prediction #4. Cyrio is not dead and neither is King Stannis
Cyrio is alive. Somewhere. Stannis is alive too, but now missing a leg.
My prediction is Cyrio will pop up in the north east, roughly west of Braavos.
I predict Stannis will pop up during a plot twist involving Brienne, in which she explains that she realized Stannis was the rightful king, that he was only doing his duty as king, yada yada, and that she realized she needed to punish him but not kill him.
Bonus Prediction #5. Podrick Payne is one of King Robert's bastards
While everyone knows Gendry is one of King Robert's bastards, I have a hunch Podrick Payne is also one of King Robert's offspring.
The revelation probably won't be revealed until after Gendry and Podrick meet, and they will only learn they are half-brothers thanks to Bran.
This will become important because it will mean that they are the rightful heirs of the Baratheon family, which is why keeping Stannis alive for now becomes important.
It also should be noted that the Baratheon family are relatives of the Targaryens. So both Gendry and Podrick do have a bit of Targaryen blood in them.
The new season of Game of Thrones started last night and like any diehard Thrones fan, it is now a good time to speculate on what is going to happen during this season.
#1. The Wall is Coming Down
According to legend the Wall cannot be destroyed except by the Horn of Winter, which is also a magical object. When the horn is blown it is supposed to cause vibrations within the ice that will cause the ice within the Wall to shatter. (This is similar to the Biblical story of horns being used to cause an earthquake in the city of Jericho - Joshua 6:20.)
Sam Tarly way back in second season found a horn along with a stash of dragonglass. Hint hint. The horn is likely currently at Castle Black.
#2. Jon Snow is going to Dragonstone and will meet Dany and Tyrion
Jon Snow will go to Dragonstone after he receives a raven from Sam Tarly, telling him that there is a giant amoung of dragonglass on the island of Dragonstone. If he is smart, Jon will also try to convince Dany that the real threat is in the north and that the White Walkers are coming.
And if we are lucky, Jon will get attacked by fire or dragonfire, and we will learn that he (and possibly Tyrion too) are all immune to fire. Dany will then realize that all three of them are Targaryens.
The end game of this will be Dany, Tyrion and Jon all riding dragons together.
#3. Cersei will ally herself with the Starks, but secretly plot to kill them
In the ever-shifting alliances of Game of Thrones, Cersei needs more allies. Jon Snow / Sansa Stark will offer her a deal to end the war in an effort to get more people to help fight the White Walkers. But Sansa will know that Cersei is not to be trusted.
During this Cersei will take her army north, including her beast-zombie the Mountain.
When Cersei does strike and betray them, Jaime will have to choose between letting her kill thousands of people - or killing Cersei. But the Mountain will stop him...
Cersei could eventually get captured by the Night King and become a White Walker - the Night Queen.
#4. Brienne and the Hound killing Wights and White Walkers
The Hound (Sandor Clegane) is heading north and now knows the Fire God is real. He has also seen a vision of the undead wights in the north, and knows they are heading south. Clegane vs Wights? Bring on the wights because Clegane is going to be awesome at killing them.
There is only one problem, Clegane doesn't have a Valyrian steel sword and will break any weapon he currently has when fighting a White Walker.
Enter Brienne - who does have a Valyrian steel sword, Oathkeeper. And she is equally awesome in combat as the Hound.
Now put those two together, fighting back to back vs a horde of White Walkers and wights. That is a fight worth watching!
#5. Sam Tarly will become a Wizard
Which will fulfill what Sam said back in Season 1: "I always wanted to be a wizard." to which the other guys laughed, because at the time it was a silly idea.
And there is a line in a later season in which Gilly says to him: "You are like a wizard."
Bonus Prediction #1. Gendry will forge a Valyrian steel sword for Arya
The smith who taught Gendry is the same smith who made Oathkeeper and Widow's Wail by melting down Ned Stark's huge sword Ice. This means that smith knows how to melt down and reforge Valyrian steel.
Which means Gendry probably knows how to reforge Valyrian steel.
Add dragonfire to this mixture, and Gendry might someday be able to make new Valyrian steel blades, without the need to melt down old Valyrian steel blades.
Eventually Arya is going to realize the real threat is also in the north, and her sword Needle will end up breaking if she tries to use it against a White Walker. At some point she and Gendry will meet up, and Gendry will make her a new sword which will be useful against White Walkers.
Bonus Prediction #2. The Reappearance of Dark Sister
There is a Valyrian steel sword which Arya mentions in an earlier season while talking to Tywin. The sword she mentions is "Dark Sister", a Valyrian steel sword which had once belonged to a Targaryen woman. The sword was small and slimmer - like Needle is - and designed for the hand of a woman.
It is possible that Arya could end up with the sword Dark Sister instead of Gendry forging her a new sword, or it is possible Dany could end up with the sword instead, as it makes sense that at some point Dany should start wearing armour and learning how to defend herself. She won't always have her dragons handy so she really should have a sword to defend herself with.
Either way, someone will end up getting Dark Sister and Arya and Dany are the two most likely candidates.
Bonus Prediction #3. When Arya heads north, she will reunite with her dire wolf Nymeria
And Nymeria will be big enough that Arya can now ride on her wolf.
But first she needs to head south to King's Landing.
Bonus Prediction #4. Cyrio is not dead and neither is King Stannis
Cyrio is alive. Somewhere. Stannis is alive too, but now missing a leg.
My prediction is Cyrio will pop up in the north east, roughly west of Braavos.
I predict Stannis will pop up during a plot twist involving Brienne, in which she explains that she realized Stannis was the rightful king, that he was only doing his duty as king, yada yada, and that she realized she needed to punish him but not kill him.
Bonus Prediction #5. Podrick Payne is one of King Robert's bastards
While everyone knows Gendry is one of King Robert's bastards, I have a hunch Podrick Payne is also one of King Robert's offspring.
The revelation probably won't be revealed until after Gendry and Podrick meet, and they will only learn they are half-brothers thanks to Bran.
This will become important because it will mean that they are the rightful heirs of the Baratheon family, which is why keeping Stannis alive for now becomes important.
It also should be noted that the Baratheon family are relatives of the Targaryens. So both Gendry and Podrick do have a bit of Targaryen blood in them.
The Beginning of the End for The Walking Dead
Spoiler Alert
Seasons 4, 5 and 6 were the best seasons of the hit TV show "The Walking Dead".
The problem however was that in season 6 they kept teasing the death of fan favourite, Glenn.
And then the season 6 finale in which it was clear someone had died, but we didn't know who.
Speaking for myself and my wife, we were really annoyed with the season 6 finale. It was super annoying.
So when the season 7 premiere aired on October 23rd we were basically just waiting to see who had died. In the comic books it was supposed to be Glenn. They had teased killing off Glenn during season 6.
The wife and I looked at the camera angle. There was no hair in the eyes of the person who died, and based on that combination of factors we determined it could be Glenn. Glenn was too far to the side and he had hair dangling down in his eyes. The only character that made sense was Abraham.
So when the season 7 premiere came our theory was vindicated. Abraham was killed off.
And then the baddie Negan killed Glenn too. You know, just for kicks. Two characters gone.
That was the last episode the wife and I watched together.
We stopped watching The Walking Dead, which had been our Sunday ritual. Some people go to church, we went to my mother-in-law's and watched The Walking Dead as a family.
We started watching West World and other TV shows instead. Or playing video games on the PS4. Watching movies. Waiting for Game of Thrones to be on, a show where we are okay with characters dying regularly, because sometimes they come back to life or are revealed to have never died at all.
For example, Stannis isn't dead. Brienne did swing a sword at him, but they never showed him dying. Stannis is now missing a leg, but he is still alive.
Anywho, back to the topic of The Walking Dead.
The viewership of The Walking Dead has dropped dramatically during season 7. The wife and I are not the only people who went cold turkey on watching the show.
During seasons 4, 5 and 6 the show had consistent double digit viewership in the millions.
The average viewership for episodes for those 3 seasons were typically 12, 13 or 14 million viewers.
And now season 7...
Season 7 opened strong with 17.03 million viewers, mostly because many people wanted to know who had died.
Episode 2 dropped to 12.46 million.
Episode 3 dropped to 11.72 million.
And a steady decline. The lowest being 10.40 million for episode 6. The first 6 episodes of season 7 only pulled in an average of 11.05 million viewers in the USA.
The mid-season finale only had 10.58 million viewers.
Last week's mid-season premiere on February 12th should have had good numbers, but instead only had 12.00 million viewers.
Now these are still technically good numbers compared to seasons 1 and 2, back when the show was barely talked about and only "zombie nerds" like myself were watching it. (Back when I hadn't even met my future wife and I was a lonely bachelor.)
Now I am not the only person to notice the loss of fans for The Walking Dead. The ratings for season 7 are also down.
Translation. Fans are pissed that they killed off Glenn.
HBO is publicly bragging about the 12 million viewers they had for the mid-season premiere last Sunday. However that is actually lower than the average season 4 episode, and is therefore nothing to be bragging about.
HBO knows that The Walking Dead is now on the downward slope of its popularity. They knew it when they saw the viewership for the first five episodes of season 7, as shown below.
And they know they made a mistake killing off Glenn as a character.
He had been there since episode 1, even if he was only the voice in the tank speaking to Rick on the radio.
But it is too late now. No backsies. This isn't Dallas where you can pretend an entire season of a TV show was just Pamela's bad dream.
Now the only thing they can do for the show to revive it is to start thinking radically.
Can they win back the fans who left because they were pissed over Glenn's death? Maybe.
Or maybe this is truly the Beginning of the End for The Walking Dead. Maybe the show is dying and cannot be revived. Maybe it will limp downwards in viewership and ratings, but stay alive - just barely - and become undead.
At which point maybe it will be time to shoot it in the head and just end it.
Seasons 4, 5 and 6 were the best seasons of the hit TV show "The Walking Dead".
The problem however was that in season 6 they kept teasing the death of fan favourite, Glenn.
And then the season 6 finale in which it was clear someone had died, but we didn't know who.
Speaking for myself and my wife, we were really annoyed with the season 6 finale. It was super annoying.
So when the season 7 premiere aired on October 23rd we were basically just waiting to see who had died. In the comic books it was supposed to be Glenn. They had teased killing off Glenn during season 6.
The wife and I looked at the camera angle. There was no hair in the eyes of the person who died, and based on that combination of factors we determined it could be Glenn. Glenn was too far to the side and he had hair dangling down in his eyes. The only character that made sense was Abraham.
And then the baddie Negan killed Glenn too. You know, just for kicks. Two characters gone.
That was the last episode the wife and I watched together.
We stopped watching The Walking Dead, which had been our Sunday ritual. Some people go to church, we went to my mother-in-law's and watched The Walking Dead as a family.
We started watching West World and other TV shows instead. Or playing video games on the PS4. Watching movies. Waiting for Game of Thrones to be on, a show where we are okay with characters dying regularly, because sometimes they come back to life or are revealed to have never died at all.
For example, Stannis isn't dead. Brienne did swing a sword at him, but they never showed him dying. Stannis is now missing a leg, but he is still alive.
Anywho, back to the topic of The Walking Dead.
The viewership of The Walking Dead has dropped dramatically during season 7. The wife and I are not the only people who went cold turkey on watching the show.
During seasons 4, 5 and 6 the show had consistent double digit viewership in the millions.
- Season 4 had viewership of 11.29 million to 16.11 million viewers in the USA.
- Season 5 had viewership of 12.27 million to 17.29 million viewers in the USA.
- Season 6 had viewership of 12.18 million to 14.63 million viewers in the USA.
The average viewership for episodes for those 3 seasons were typically 12, 13 or 14 million viewers.
And now season 7...
Season 7 opened strong with 17.03 million viewers, mostly because many people wanted to know who had died.
Episode 2 dropped to 12.46 million.
Episode 3 dropped to 11.72 million.
And a steady decline. The lowest being 10.40 million for episode 6. The first 6 episodes of season 7 only pulled in an average of 11.05 million viewers in the USA.
The mid-season finale only had 10.58 million viewers.
Last week's mid-season premiere on February 12th should have had good numbers, but instead only had 12.00 million viewers.
Now these are still technically good numbers compared to seasons 1 and 2, back when the show was barely talked about and only "zombie nerds" like myself were watching it. (Back when I hadn't even met my future wife and I was a lonely bachelor.)
Now I am not the only person to notice the loss of fans for The Walking Dead. The ratings for season 7 are also down.
Translation. Fans are pissed that they killed off Glenn.
HBO is publicly bragging about the 12 million viewers they had for the mid-season premiere last Sunday. However that is actually lower than the average season 4 episode, and is therefore nothing to be bragging about.
HBO knows that The Walking Dead is now on the downward slope of its popularity. They knew it when they saw the viewership for the first five episodes of season 7, as shown below.
And they know they made a mistake killing off Glenn as a character.
He had been there since episode 1, even if he was only the voice in the tank speaking to Rick on the radio.
But it is too late now. No backsies. This isn't Dallas where you can pretend an entire season of a TV show was just Pamela's bad dream.
Now the only thing they can do for the show to revive it is to start thinking radically.
Do they kill off more characters, especially the ones fan's don't like very much?
Do they bring in big name actors who will draw a crowd? Could you imagine if they got Tom Hanks or a similar brand name actor to do a season or half of a season on the show? Truly that would be a gamble.
Do they do something controversial that will get people talking about the show on social media?
Or should they just keep to what they were doing, knowing that they might be screwed anyway?
Perhaps it is time they start thinking about the end game? A cure for the disease. Or maybe they find someone who is immune to it.
Perhaps crossovers with Fear the Walking Dead (the spinoff show) might revitalize the franchise?
Can they win back the fans who left because they were pissed over Glenn's death? Maybe.
Or maybe this is truly the Beginning of the End for The Walking Dead. Maybe the show is dying and cannot be revived. Maybe it will limp downwards in viewership and ratings, but stay alive - just barely - and become undead.
At which point maybe it will be time to shoot it in the head and just end it.
Maps of the Cities of Westeros / Game of Thrones
Above and Below, Two maps of King's Landing
Below, Map of Winterfell
Not every map shown here is from Westeros. The ones below are from Essos.
Below, Map of Astapor
Below, Map of Meereen
Below, 3 Maps of Braavos
Ser Davos, what is dead may never die
Game of Thrones Spoiler Alert
Ser Davos drowned in Blackwater Bay but he was brought back to life by the Drowned God. What is dead may never die.
King's Landing on Fire and Sandor Clegane
SPOILER ALERT, THE FOLLOWING IS A GAME OF THRONES PREDICTION.
Sandor Clegane has a healthy fear of fire. Thus his courage will truly be tested as King's Landing burns to the ground whilst Sandor fights his arch-nemesis, his brother, aka "the Mountain that Rides". So he won't just be fighting Frankenstein's Mountain, he will be fighting his own fear while the entire city burns.
Oh and King Tommen will die, Cersei will escape alive, the High Sparrow will be revealed to be an old friend of Ned Stark's who is bent on revenge, and wildfire will play a major role in the burning of King's Landing.
Sandor Clegane has a healthy fear of fire. Thus his courage will truly be tested as King's Landing burns to the ground whilst Sandor fights his arch-nemesis, his brother, aka "the Mountain that Rides". So he won't just be fighting Frankenstein's Mountain, he will be fighting his own fear while the entire city burns.
Oh and King Tommen will die, Cersei will escape alive, the High Sparrow will be revealed to be an old friend of Ned Stark's who is bent on revenge, and wildfire will play a major role in the burning of King's Landing.
Tyrion and the Blood of the Dragon
Tyrion in the Song of Ice and Fire series (aka "Game of Thrones") is believed to be one of the three heads of the dragon, as per the prophecy of Azor Ahai / etc.
Evidence in support of this is the facts/rumours that:
#2. Tyrion has very little fear of fire - as shown during the Battle of the Blackwater.
#3. Tyrion has never been burnt by fire or scalded by hot water. Instead he prefers to be hot/warm all the time. Nor is he bothered by the cold, as shown by his visit to the wall.
#4. Tyrion admits to having childhood dreams about dragons and flying. During the book Dance of Dragons he has one such dream as he gets closer to his destination, suggesting that his dragon dreams are increasing as he gets closer to the dragons.
#5. Tyrion has the golden hair of a Targaryon, who historically have silver or gold hair - although this is not a guarantee as sometimes Targaryons have been born with black hair.
What I find interesting however is that Tyrion has spent a significant amount of time whoring his way across Westeros, which implies there could be multiple bastards out there who have the Blood of the Dragon in their veins thanks to being sired by Tyrion. So there could be spare "heirs" to the title of being Blood of the Dragon.
Sort of like how King Robert sired lots of bastards and they are floating around out there.
Podrick Paine, Hot Pie and Gendry are probably all bastards of King Robert. They are literally a dime a dozen. Gendry and Podrick may be the more warrior-like of the two bastards, but Hot Pie is the one who most resembles the king.
Thus given the considerable time Tyrion also spent whoring, certainly he has sired quite a few bastards too right?
Food for thought. All Men Must Pie.
HBO deliberately leaked 4 episodes of Game of Thrones
Hey there Game of Thrones fans!
You may have already heard that 4 episodes of Game of Thrones (season 5) were leaked a few days before the airing of the first episode of season 5, but did you know the episodes were deliberately leaked?
HBO deliberately leaked the first 4 episodes of Game of Thrones Season 5 in an effort to do the following:
1. Create buzz around the show by utilizing news media for free advertising.
2. So they could create free buzz for HBO's newest service "HBO Now", a new streaming service.
3. So HBO could track illegal downloaders in the USA for potential lawsuits - which is technically entrapment.
HBO claims the episodes were leaked via people in the media who had received screener copies of episodes for them to review and post reviews in newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc - however that seems more like a cover story - a scapegoat - when their real intent was to deliberately create buzz for both the show and HBO Now, while simultaneously giving them an excuse to entrap Americans who download the show before the release of the first episode.
Fascinating don't you think?
And best of all nobody can prove who really released the first 4 episodes. Without proof it is basically a Schrödinger's Cat situation.
You may have already heard that 4 episodes of Game of Thrones (season 5) were leaked a few days before the airing of the first episode of season 5, but did you know the episodes were deliberately leaked?
HBO deliberately leaked the first 4 episodes of Game of Thrones Season 5 in an effort to do the following:
1. Create buzz around the show by utilizing news media for free advertising.
2. So they could create free buzz for HBO's newest service "HBO Now", a new streaming service.
3. So HBO could track illegal downloaders in the USA for potential lawsuits - which is technically entrapment.
HBO claims the episodes were leaked via people in the media who had received screener copies of episodes for them to review and post reviews in newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc - however that seems more like a cover story - a scapegoat - when their real intent was to deliberately create buzz for both the show and HBO Now, while simultaneously giving them an excuse to entrap Americans who download the show before the release of the first episode.
Fascinating don't you think?
And best of all nobody can prove who really released the first 4 episodes. Without proof it is basically a Schrödinger's Cat situation.
Game of Thrones Season 5 Trailer
Again.
Season 5 of Game of Thrones will soon be here.
The 10 episodes will be airing between April 12th and June 21st 2015.
But in the mean time watch the trailer for season 5 so you can get all excited and wait with bated breath for the new season.
And if you get bored of waiting, go watch The Walking Dead instead.
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