It just wouldn’t be Game of Thrones without a morally ambiguous royal playing, well, the game of thrones — and Olivia Cooke is here to reassure us that’s what we’ll see in the upcoming Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon.
Cooke will play Alicent Hightower, second wife of Viserys I and a key player in the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons — the conflict at the center of HoTD. She recently spoke with Collider about her new film Naked Singularity, and while she kept details about the highly anticipated spinoff series to a minimum, she did say that Alicent is “very complex and I think people are gonna want to see the worst in her.”
The tantalizing bit about wanting to “see the worst” in Alicent aside, Cooke elaborated on how richly layered the characters are in the world of Westeros:
“What’s amazing about Game of Thrones, like we saw in the past series, is that one season, you hate a character, and the next, you absolutely love them and will go to the ends of the earth for them. You just don’t know what you’re gonna get with these characters. They’re so well-written. Such is the human condition, you can do some horrendous things, but then you can also do some wonderful things as well. It’s very complex, and it’s not black and white at all.”
Cooke also spoke about the relationship to the original Game of Thrones and an audience’s expectations, noting that “it does help that the story is of a hundred years prior. We’re in the world of Game of Thrones, but you can also put yourself in a different headspace as well and know that, for an actor, you don’t have to necessarily follow on from what anyone else is doing.”
Personally, I’ve been excited about Cooke’s casting since day one (especially after seeing her performance in Sound of Metal) and this interview does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. Keep following Watchers as we bring you all the news and happenings about HoTD!
💚
Yay Alicent! Looking forward to it! 😀
Pretty sure I like her already.
”You just don’t know what you’re gonna get with these characters…It’s very complex, and it’s not black and white at all.”
Not black and white at all. Hmmm… So, we’ll have to wait to see her true colors shining through.
”You just don’t know what you’re gonna get with these characters. They’re so well-written.”
I hope she is commenting on the quality of the writing in HotD.
[Samantha]: “Personally, I’ve been excited about Cooke’s casting since day one (especially after seeing her performance in Sound of Metal) and this interview does nothing to dampen my enthusiasm.”
I have not seen “Sound of Metal.” I saw Olivia Cooke in a few scenes from “Ready Player One” [great American accent by the way] and she was really good. Tron79 said she was excellent in the 2015 movie, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.”
This is too easy…
Nope, not black and white….Green and Black!
Yes, she was fantastic in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. That was released in 2015 and she played a convincing teenager when she was 21 at the time. I couldn’t get into her role in the 2020 Pixie. Do we know who is writing the script for HotD?
I thought she was convincing in Vanity Fair. This role may be closer to HotD. It’s a period piece with a character who manipulates.
I particularly liked her when she was younger in the TV mini series “The Secret of Crickley Hall”. She played a young school teacher at a haunted orphanage.
Tron79,
”I particularly liked her [Olivia Cooke] when she was younger in the TV mini series “The Secret of Crickley Hall”. She played a young school teacher at a haunted orphanage.”
⚠️🧵 🚂 OC was in “The Secret of Crickley Hall” (2012)? Hmmm. That title sounded familiar. Sure enough,
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294227/fullcredits
… demonstrating yet again that All Roads Lead to Arya.
Tron79,
”Yes, she was fantastic in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. That was released in 2015 and she played a convincing teenager when she was 21 at the time. I couldn’t get into her role in the 2020 Pixie. Do we know who is writing the script for HotD?”
Based on your recommendation I’ve been searching for that movie on my cable lineup. No luck so far. The last time I checked YouTube there were some outtakes and interviews, but no lengthy scenes. I’ll have to recruit my tech savvy nephew to find it for me on Netflix or wherever.
As for scripting HotD, I recall that a few articles a couple of months ago mentioned HotD had retained writers to join the showrunners. Offhand I don’t remember who they are, though at least
In any event, OC’s comments give me renewed optimism that HotD won’t just be the More Dragons! Bigger Dragons! CGI Spectacular! Show.
I always thought this character has a lot of potential and I hope showrunners Condal and Sapochnik will use it.
There is always danger that she will be seen just as Cersei 2.0 so I hope they are aware of that.
Cersei in the show was an improvement over her book version so I hope Alicent will be as well.
This is another queen using her son for her political ambitions, it sounds similar to Cersei but I hope they find a way to make it original and fresh.
I haven’t read the books, but this sounds similar to Nero’s mother, Agrippina. If so, that’s pretty good dramatic material to work with.
“Olivia Cooke teases a ‘complex’ Alicent Hightower on ‘House of the Dragon”… oh boy…
Welcome to the GoT/ASOIAF fandom Olivia, we live for grey characters 🙂 You will fit in nicely!
I think that’s how I found Crickley Hall because ARLTA.
And it just so happened that Olivia Cooke was in it too!
Mr Derp,
It sounds similar to Livia too, wife of Augustus and formidable mother of Tiberius. And yes, this sort of thing can be great inspiration for drama — the show “Domina” that I mentioned a few weeks ago focuses on this, especially Livia’s ruthless strategic plotting and string-pulling.
Jai,
”It sounds similar to Livia too, wife of Augustus and formidable mother of Tiberius. And yes, this sort of thing can be great inspiration for drama — the show “Domina” that I mentioned a few weeks ago focuses on this, especially Livia’s ruthless strategic plotting and string-pulling.”
It sounds similar to Livia too, wife of Johnny Boy Soprano and formidable mother of Tony. And yes, this sort of thing can be great inspiration for drama — the show “The Sopranos” focused on this, especially Livia’s ruthless strategic plotting and string-pulling.
Tron79,
”You just don’t know what you’re gonna get with these characters…It’s very complex, and it’s not black and white at all.”
TB: “Not black and white at all. Hmmm… So, we’ll have to wait to see her true colors shining through.”
Tron79: “This is too easy…
Nope, not black and white….Green and Black!”
—————————-
⚠️🎶 Musical Interlude
“🎶You see black and white
and I see red.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uCkK0Eoudw
music video, at 0:36
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XyTK6y5wLE
at 1:29
P.S. Shout out to Mr. Derp…😉
Here is some Peter Gabriel…music to ponder our existence to and the days we have in this world…
*farts*
loco73,
The Peter Gabriel link you tried to embed left an error message: “Video unavailable.” What song was it? You described it as “music to ponder our existence to and the days we have in this world…”
Here’s some Genesis-era Peter Gabriel for you…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yUN6CsuVPw
“Carpet Crawlers”
Ten Bears,
So, I’ll have to jump into the musical interlude thread. So perhaps here’s the new theme song for Team Green vs. Team Black.
Overkill’s Green and Black. You will need to speed up to at least 1:30 minutes before they start…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6W3w8JntOA
I have no idea what they are singing about, but here’s a cool line that could fit the show…
“Filthy little secrets, Hide inside your head, right behind your values, kept until you’re dead…….. GREEN AND BLACK….YELLLL…”
The video is also all in green and black with some red thrown in there from time to time…
Tron79,
oh wow, when he screams in the song he screams “FLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
so great for dragons…
Ten Bears,
https://youtu.be/PkNtBuwWq_o
Let me know if it worked this time…
Ten Bears,
Sorry…it was the song “My Body Is A Cage”…
Tron79,
”So, I’ll have to jump into the musical interlude thread…
The video is also all in green and black with some red thrown in there from time to time…”
Thanks for that entry.
You know, it’s hard to find music videos with “green” in the lyrics or with green visuals, e.g., hairstyles🧑🏻🎤 or costuming👗.
[To be continued…]
It didn’t work. It said “This video not available.” Perhaps YouTube videos accessible in some countries aren’t available in others?
Anyway, I plugged in a YouTube search for “My Body is a Cage” by Peter Gabriel and came up with this (viable) link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTZQ2IB_x7c
I listened to the song. I’d never heard it before. It sounds a lot like Leonard Cohen.
loco73,
Saturday Aug. 7, 9:15 am: Reply stuck in Moderation.
Ten Bears,
Sorry about that. Pretty weird. I tried both links posted prior and they seem to work…on my side anyways…I guess “technical difficulties” are to be expected…LOL… Thanks for the reply.
I’ve already said I don’t recall having seen our future Alicent in anything but sometimes when a series/serial becomes popular I become aware of actors in said series/serial playing bit parts in other shows so it’s possible I might have seen her and not realised. I remember after watching the first series of ‘Desperate Housewives’ I watched some re-runs of one of the CSI franchises and the husband of one of the housewives played a smaller part in one episode. I also remember watching a crime feature film on TV where David Caruso played the driver (a baddy) and it rankled at first because I was used to seeing him as Horatio who wore his sunglasses indoors. Crumbs, that Florida sunlight must be bright!!!
Off topic, in the UK we are supposed to be getting back to ‘normal’ after the pandemic quarantine but we’ve had marches by some of the Freedumb people. This week some people marched on the BBC – only they went to the OLD BBC centre which was vacated in 2013 and now occupied by flats and a few commercial TV studios. As someone on Twitter said – ‘they need to do their own research’.* I hope people in the USA/Australia/New Zealand/Canada/continental Europe (and anywhere I’ve forgotten to mention) aren’t suffering from too much nuttiness post-pandemic (though it isn’t really over is it?)
Dame of Mercia,
thank you for the no-music interlude. this keeps me checking threads where on-topic comments are the real interlude. sorry, guys, i know i also did this…
let me find a way to combine your words about nutjobs with HotD, if anyone has ever heard of this upcoming pandemic.
i read the news about anti-vaxxers being too dumb to google an adress this morning. if they were just flat-earthers or chemtrail-tubbies: i would have pissed my pants. full load, high pressure, no shame, just max fun!
just, these morons are keeping the virus alive and kicking. they do it, no one else as far as it is about the “first world”. and they are ready to fight for their right to be smarties. (no beastie boys interlude allowed here!)
i cannot wait for the end of the pandemic and see them switch. either back to panicking about 5G, or even conquering new territory like gravitation-denialism, petitions to ban dihydrogenmonoxide and all this. “gravitation is a lie the government wants you to eat. they put all the rock and concrete down there to make your landing really hard, so you can’t enjoy your freedom of jumping out of your 5th floor window.”
go, please just go if you happen to survive all your freedumb-days without being vaccinated, just effing go!
yes, i read about these morons. i “enjoyed” reading about screams “they are coming for our effing babies”.
wait what, you imbecile doucheburgers? your babies can already fuck? pretty premature. or did you mean they suck? is that why you heartless pricks don’t want to protect them from diseases? why the hell did you lice even reproduce?
let’s say: the babies can already fuck, and these idiots can – still not google an adress. baby 1, parents 0.
of course this is still better than the other nonsense i read about today. the bronx woman who really believes she’d be turned into a zombie because she once watched “i am legend”. or the disinformation campaign taken down by bloody facebook which had banners telling people the vaccines would turn them into chimps. christ on a bike!!
reminds me of the creationist weirdos, who countered the millions-of-years long evolution of ape-like humanoids to homo sapiens with “fuck, no ape gets a million years old”.
with all respect to people of belief, but most people don’t have the intellectual tools at hand they’d need to not get dumbed down the sink by their belief.
my intention of connecting your OT with HotD is still in mind. so here i try.
every thoughtful person is trying to get the uninformed, the fearful and even the stubborn to get the fuck vaccinated because it helps. current state of things is it might help children to stay out of hospital. how can anyone deny this to… ah, see all four-letter-words above and add about 200 more!
governments outside texas, florida or brasil as wells as businesses and whatdoiknow are trying to bait people to do what not even 40 years ago would have been common sense: protect those next to you, protect yourselves, protect everyone’s future. some try it “ain’t no party, ain’t no disco, ain’t no fooling around” (no talking heads interlude permitted here). others try it by offering sausages (thüringen, germany. they just made the bill without the sausage-sceptics.)
i prefer the restrictive line. and i don’t reduce it to party or stuff like this. because there’s one vaccination even most fanatic anti-vaxxers get refreshed every five years i think: tetanus.
so, my idea is this:
patient: doctor, i’ve been bitten by a dog. i need my tetanus vax refreshed.
doctor: show me your covid-vaccination certificate!
patient: uh!
doctor: yeah, uh! gtfo!
on the other hand i also have the sausage way on my mind. HotD will soon produce teasers. spoilers. secretly shot set pictures. all this.
what about “enter the code of your vaccination certificate to see three more minutes of the teaser”? or “persuade your friends to get the shot. if they confirm their code results from your educative work, your in the lottery for a vip-place at the premiere.”
and on and on… do you see them run for the jab like i do? it is sad, right? entertainment and sausage for free are worth more than the feeling of having done the right thing for anyone around us.
don’t take these words too serious, Marburg. please, don’t!
—
soundless musical interwhat: guess my favorite Shannon-Wright-song!
death by chickenfire,
Oh on the Freedumb marches there have been people trying to promote satanic panic (which I think is an affinity scam in disguise), people railing against 5G, folks suggesting Ivermectin. Yes, people really are suggesting a dewormer for horses might work in an anti-viral way. I’ve even wondered at times if folk were trying to sow dissent and then I think I’m being a daft old trout and getting conspiracy-minded myself. I miss the days when conspiracy theories were things like wondering if the Loch Ness monster was real. It’s tempting to write these people off as folk who are cuckoo and maybe some of them are but there’s a case in the British press (which case is still in part subject to reportinng restrictions) where a group of people were busted by the police kidnapping a kid to get him away from ‘satanists’. I don’t want to see a repeat of what happened in the Land of the Free on January 6th this year in Old England if people take things to extremes. I mentioned about a year ago a young girl was a bit odd with me when I was wearing a mask but I took the position (paraphrasing an old bit of doggerel) that she who doesn’t fight and runs away lives to not fight another day. But I don’t want to bring too much about strange ongoings to this site – in ASOIAF I remember there was the Pale Mare and greyscale so maybe reference to those fictional pandemics can bring the thread back around to the world of HOD/ASOIAF.
death by chickenfire,
A comment of mine went into moderation purgatory. Apart from mentioning goofiness that has been in the UK I said that in ASOIAF the Pale Mare and the Greystone were serious illnesses but of course I don’t know if they were mentioned in the source material for HOD.
There’s one school of thought that the old children’s rhyme ‘Ring a ring a roses’ is based on symptoms of the Black Death but of course with these ideas you can sometimes find someone disputing it.
death by chickenfire,
“thank you for the no-music interlude. this keeps me checking threads where on-topic comments are the real interlude. sorry, guys, i know i also did this…”
…
“just, these morons are keeping the virus alive and kicking. they do it, no one else as far as it is about the “first world”. and they are ready to fight for their right to be smarties. (no beastie boys interlude allowed here!)”
…
“some try it “ain’t no party, ain’t no disco, ain’t no fooling around” (no talking heads interlude permitted here)…”
—-
“soundless musical interwhat: guess my favorite Shannon-Wright-song!”
Hmmm…Lots of musical interlude references for an anti-musical interlude commentary. 😉
August 14
Hello? Hello? Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
I’m always lurking about but have been quite busy so I’m not minding the quiet 🙂
Adrianacandle,
Yeah, me too.
My last post (at 10:16 am) was actually a sneaky, back door intro to a musical interlude.
Ten Bears,
not too much HotD news. I did see they shut down filming for COVID for awhile, but they were back to it. I haven’t seen much else.
We need a few more clandestine filming photos.
oh man, a no-sound musical interlude from the album i loved back then as a kid. who could have known that so many people would make the most popular line in the lyrics their guideline for life?
nice answer to my rant about people who definitely need education. thanks!
that other thing: you should know by now that every posting of mine is full of mistakes. be it grammarity, punctationalism, vocabulizing or just all the spellions. feel free to remove any letter or punctation mark in order to find out what i tried to express 🙂
her name is Shannon Wright.
the Greystone thing got under control. people simply avoided contact with the infected. most people. a love-sick sir did not (TV). a lord who wanted his castle back also did not (book). i forgot how Shireen Baratheon got the bug in the show, i think it was explained in a short sequence but i’m not sure.
imagine people avoiding contact to infectious people these days… FREEDUMB!! anyway, being such an old disease i give Valyrian Acne all chances to be mentioned in the upcoming TV-pandemic 😉
the Pale Mare… i should have payed more attention when reading ASOIAF the second time during the first wave. were there any protective measures around to stop it? except for using slaves to do the necessary work?
in the posting i answered to first, you expressed your hope that as many of us as possible should have a life without dumb, uneducated and virus-spitting shitnoodles around them.
be disappointed! we are all stuck in the same shit, with the same breed of weapon-grade morons around.
in northern germany, right where i was born and spent my toddler years with my grandparents, a nurse at a vaccination centre injected saline solution instead of the vaccine into some up to 10 000 people. who then thought they’d be protected from suffering of covid-19. instead, this angel of enlightenment protected them from being remote-controlled by Bill Gates. her postings on social media say so.
here in switzerland, our very successful right-wing populist party has announced to campaign against the law that defines government competence in this very special situation. every cent given to people who suffer economically at the hands of this disease is legalized by this very law, but since when do right-wing populists really care about the needy? they care about the cheering ones, no matter if they are needy or not.
all over the world, dumbists talk shit and help the virus survive. that fascist asshole on a bike in Brazil. Shitrand Shitpaul. Maggot Traitor-Greed. hell, i’m so glad i lost the interest in “Dr.” Oz’s and the Food Babe’s flatulences years ago. and cutting the list right here makes me even happier.
meanwhile, half of the planet is burning. the other half is washed away by floods. and maybe this year was just a trailer hiding the real highlights of the armageddon show.
we should have time to deal with these really important issues. instead we defend the lives of people against dumbness.
oh, did i mention that some misogynic nutjobs with weapons and a weakness for hanging and flogging have just crowned 20 years of “enduring freedom” by taking Kabul?
2021, the summer of fun.
Here’s a musical interlude for you:
The “Padmé Amidala” Suite. Music for Natalie Portman’s character in “Star Wars”.
Hopefully this works…
loco73,
Good choice! I had “Red Rain” on my list of potential candidates for a Tywin Lannister dedication.
“Rains of Castamere” – Tywin L. (I also briefly considered but rejected another Peter Gabriel tune for a Meryn F*cking Trant S5e10 dedication from Arya Stark…)
…and the award for dumpster fire thread of the year goes to…
Mr Derp,
… and dethroning perennial winner Cumsprite, this year’s award for thread derailments giving literal meaning to “Words are Wind” goes to…
A little OT – I’m rewatching GOT, in many early scenes you see a roomful of lead characters and know that every one of them will die before S8E6.
Ten Bears,
This remains my favourite song used in any of the GOT trailers…it seems soo perfect for the show. Especially now years later.
Well, if some folks like Mr Derp are thinking the thread is taking the long and winding road away from its original premise here is a link (NOT for the Beatles singing ‘The Long and Winding Road’) but to a more recent interview with Olivia Cooke in Collider. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Olivia+Cooke&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:w&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNvrWIp73yAhXeRUEAHX6OAiQQpwV6BAgBECc&biw=1330&bih=620
Dame of Mercia,
Mr Derp I hope my previous comment didn’t come off as snarky because it’s not meant that way.
Dame of Mercia,
I really don’t care what your intentions were. I find the music interludes obnoxious and I know others have voiced similar objections to it.
If the musical interludes are going to continue then I will continue to voice my displeasure for it. Take it or leave it, Dame.
August 20, I’m here, just not in proper mood to write. I’ve kind of gone quiet here since I came home from Bosnia at the end of July.
Since it seems to be a trend to post music videos, I guess I can post something of my own (amateurish) creation from years ago 😂
I think the musical interludes are just a symptom of what happens when there isn’t much news left to talk about, so they don’t bug me. I can’t say I always listen to them, so sorry Ten Bears and others. But I did enjoy finding the Green and Black metal band video!
I found these 23 filming photos from tHotD location. I couldn’t find these photos in past WotW articles, but perhaps a past article just linked to this article already. I do recall seeing some of these. If you haven’t seen them, here you go.
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/g36289047/game-of-thrones-prequel-set-photos-house-of-the-dragon/?slide=13
Slide 9 and 13 shows the castle up on a hill that looks pretty amazing. Other photos catch the cast walking around. Not much action, but fun to see them.
Mr Derp,
I was just trying to bring the thread back to HoD by linking to a Collider article featuring Olivia Cooke where she discussed HoD among her projects.
Well since musical interludes seem to cause a lot of indigestion and farting around here (maybe a visit to the doctor is in order to take care of that problem), here is some GOT related stuff with “The Cast Remembers” with Tyrion in mind …”gasp”…I know…the dreaded “Season Eight” is mentioned….uhhhh the horror…
And here is an interview with Olivia Cooke from earlier this year…
loco73,
Going by her (Olivia Cooke’s) natural northern English accent, she could play a Stark. She has the looks for a (show i.e. brown-eyed) not book, Lyanna – though I did like Aisling Franciosi.
Indeed. Was wondering about that.
Same here. For me, I like them and though I don’t watch all of them, I appreciate they are another way to engage when news is slow. I understand they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea though.
I know that this isn’t the original point of this thread, but now that the LOTR prequel series (doesn’t yet have an official title) over on Amazon has an actual air date…September 2, 2022 (who knows if that will hold) and a $465 million dollar budget for its first season…I’m curious how or if that will have an impact on “House Of The Dragon.
Not only that but Amazon is moving production of the show from New Zealand to the UK for the second season which starts filming next year and will be apparently headquartered there going forward.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/amazon-to-film-next-lord-of-the-rings-series-in-uk-not-new-zealand.html
Now, having large scale productions going on at the same time, even in the same place (more or less) is nothing new. But having these two particular IPs and productions so close to one another, the timelines, locations, etc, is I’d say quite eye opening to say the least. Anybody has more information or thoughts on this?
Tron79,
”I think the musical interludes are just a symptom of what happens when there isn’t much news left to talk about, so they don’t bug me. I can’t say I always listen to them, so sorry Ten Bears and others.”
Right. There has been a lull in HotD reporting, and we’ve beaten so many horses over the years that there’s not much left to talk about. (KotV concealment anyone?) I didn’t grouse about long subthreads about Brienne smudging/not smudging ink on the page of the White Book and other minutiae, because it’s all in good fun.
In addition, during the Long Night – I mean the year-long enforced pandemic seclusion – going down YouTube musical rabbit holes became a pleasant distraction.
I will say this: (1) I do try to cover musical interludes with spoiler coding so those who aren’t interested can just scroll past them; (2) I make a conscious effort to select music videos with lyrics, titles or imagery with connections to GoT/HotD, their themes or their characters; and (3) I try to keep an open mind, and listen to the songs recommended by fellow commenters.
”But I did enjoy finding the Green and Black metal band video!”
Yes you did! As I noted previously, it’s not easy finding music videos with green imagery.
🧑🏻🎤
Ok but movie trailer interlude – I haven’t kept up with the glut of Marvel content that encompasses our planet, but I AM getting excited about Eternals. We have Richard Madden, Kit Harrington, music by Ramin, and the ridiculously good looking Angelina and Salma.
loco73,
Do you think moving the LOTR prequel might be due to financial considerations? For some reason fantasy series since GoT have had many (though it’s not exclusively so) characters speaking with English accents and therefore many of the actors/actresses* involved have been British. Shooting the show in the UK might be cheaper than flying people (who maybe live in the UK) to the southern hemisphere. I’ve never been to New Zealand but I believe it’s a beautiful country. Even rich companies may be a bit less rich after the pandemic. (Though I guess maybe Amazon has made abundant online sales in what Reddit calls the “global situation”.
* I know the tendency nowadays is to use ‘actor’ for both males and females but I’m oldd-fashioned and don’t know if I can de-program myself to use just ‘actor’. Though when I looked up the origin of the word it seemed it was initially gender neutral. I hate being called a ‘guy’ but someone told me that was originally gender neutral and another pet peeve ‘Dude’ (for me as a woman) comes from Mrs Dudders who I think was female!!
Pigeon,
Pigeon, it’s good to see a mixture of ages in the Marvel trailer. Quite often even nowadays the leading ladies are played by ladies somewhat younger than their male counterparts. I’m not saying Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie are ancient by the way and I know there are some younger actresses in the film but it’s nice to see some ladies with gravitas cast.
It is probably is due at least in part because of financial constraints/reasons. Perhaps the UK is offering more attractive tax breaks and credits. But as I was reading in the article (see attached in my previous posting) another reason, an important one at that, is the fact that some of the cast and crew have been stuck in New Zealand for over two years now. It wasn’t just the overly long time they spent on pricinpal photography. Once the pandemic hit, New Zealand closed its borders so they couldn’t leave. Some people haven’t been their families in almost three years. Some have lost family members, parents, siblings and close friends because of COVID-19 and they couldn’t visit them while sick or attend their funerals. Now because of the so-called “zero COVID” approach New Zealand has taken again, aka lockdowns, curfews, border closures, travel restrictions etc., Amazon I think decided that it was too honerous to continue their production in New Zealand. The cast and crew cannot travel and move around. A lot of the big wigs in charge of the production haven’t been able to travel and visit the set to get an idea of how everything is going. In short too many obstacles, restrictions and headaches to overcome. It will be interesting to see because New Zealand really is the aesthetic which informs and inspires the looks and feel of Middle-earth. I don’t know how the UK will match that.
Dame of Mercia,
It is probably is due at least in part because of financial constraints/reasons. Perhaps the UK is offering more attractive tax breaks and credits. But as I was reading in the article (see attached in my previous posting) another reason, an important one at that, is the fact that some of the cast and crew have been stuck in New Zealand for over two years now.
It wasn’t just the overly long time they spent on pricinpal photography. Once the pandemic hit, New Zealand closed its borders so they couldn’t leave. Some people haven’t been their families in almost three years. Some have lost family members, parents, siblings and close friends because of COVID-19 and they couldn’t visit them while sick or attend their funerals.
Now because of the so-called “zero COVID” approach New Zealand has taken again, aka lockdowns, curfews, border closures, travel restrictions etc., Amazon I think decided that it was too honerous to continue their production in New Zealand. The cast and crew cannot travel and move around. A lot of the big wigs in charge of the production haven’t been able to travel and visit the set to get an idea of how everything is going. In short too many obstacles, restrictions and headaches to overcome. It will be interesting to see because New Zealand really is the aesthetic which informs and inspires the looks and feel of Middle-earth. I don’t know how the UK will match that.
Dame of Mercia,
”…but it’s nice to see some ladies with gravitas cast.”
Speaking of casting leading ladies, has anyone seen Hannah Waddingham (GoT’s Septa Unella) in the Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso”?
I’ve been hearing great things about this series. (Since it is on a streaming service to which I am not subscribed, I have not seen a single episode.)
I just read a nice write-up of Hannah Waddingham and her character Rebecca in “Ted Lasso.” I will try to link the article, from pastemagazine.com, in a followup comment in a few minutes.
What really piqued my interest was that according to the article’s writer, “Ted Lasso” addresses one of my pet peeves about the stereotypical portrayal of female-female relationships on TV: sniping, undermining, cat-fighting, mean-girl cruelty, back-stabbing, or – ugh – fighting over a guy.
I’ve always hoped that TV shows would more realistically portray the female equivalent of male-male bromances and bonding.
I really thought the show was setting up Dany & Arya for some mutual fangirling scenes, but instead we got uncharacteristically xenophobic Arya whining to Jon, “I don’t like your new girlfriend even though I’ve never met her.”
(And of course, we also got Sansa giving Dany the stink eye instead of using her supposed charm and courtesy to befriend her or ingratiate herself with her. I’m not saying this wasn’t necessitated by the savior-turned-tyrant Daenerys story line; merely that there seemed to be a disproportionate focus on antagonism between the women compared to the men.)
After the S2 setup of Arya expressing to Tywin her admiration of a dragon-riding Targaryen heroine, and the teaser trailer clip (from S8e1) showing her looking up with awe at a dragon flying overhead, I really thought we were in for a treat of Dany taking Arya for a dragon joyride. That would’ve been fun. (Sorry. The Jon + Dany dragon riding date didn’t do much for me.)
Likewise, I figured the S7e4 Brienne-Arya sparring match would be the beginning of a dynamic duo of kindred nonconformists: adversaries-turned-allies, and warriors with complementary skill sets, who’d team up for some action scenes if not some rich interpersonal moments. Nope. The S7e4 scene was a one-and-done. (I don’t think they interacted at all after that, did they?) The show could’ve easily thrown in a little Lyanna Mormont-Arya Stark fan service as well; that didn’t happen either.
Oops. I apologize for the digression. Back to Hannah Waddingham in a moment.
🔔🔔🔔
To be continued…
Ten Bears,
It was very much in character for Arya to be wary of strangers, considering all she’s been through, and after what Daenerys ended up doing, she had every right to be wary. As for Sansa, Daenerys had just taken her kingdom away from her, so having her become buddies with the dragon queen would have been pure fan service and would have went against her character.
Continued from 9:34 am
Here’s the link to the “Ted Lasso”/Hannah Waddingham article I was referring to which appeared on pastemagazine.com yesterday, August 20, 2021, followed by some excerpts from that article.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/apple-tv-plus/ted-lasso-rebecca-friendship-keeley-ted/
Title:
By Zofia Wijaszka | August 20, 2021
https://cdn.pastemagazine.com/www/articles/2021/08/17/ted-lasso-rebecca-main2.jpg
(Since the article contains plot and character story line spoilers for those who haven’t watched “Ted Lasso,” I’ve covered the title and some of the following excerpts in spoiler coding.)
***
“She’s standing tall and stoically, altering the atmosphere of the new office. While she’s at it, she casually fires a misogynistic football coach, who doesn’t hesitate to throw envious words her way. But she’s gotten used to it. She is, after all, a powerful woman in a masculine world.”
“But the creators of Ted Lasso thoroughly surprise viewers by giving Rebecca a role that breaks the stereotype of the Boss Bitch trope. With the second season of Apple TV+ original, Rebecca evolves and learns to open her mind and heart to new experiences. But how exactly does this well-written character deviate from the stereotypical and toxic metaphor that we’ve seen in films and television for years?”
“The greatest element of Rebecca’s character is that she catches the audience off-guard as the series advances. When we are introduced to the club’s owner in the first season, we automatically assume that she will continue her mission of driving the football team to ruin by hiring an American coach—the ever-kind Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis). The reason for being suspicious about Rebecca is quite simple, and even if we are aware of this phenomenon, we can still fall into its trap. It comes from years and years of films and TV shows exhibiting the same patriarchal, stereotypical depiction of women in positions of power. She usually doesn’t have a personal life, often “living and breathing” her professional work. The female character of the Boss Bitch trope possesses no qualms about achieving her goals, even if it means hurting people in the process. But here the writers have bestowed upon us a new version of this rather worn-out and old-fashioned idea.”
“Rebecca Welton is constantly evolving and changing due to her environment and the people around her. As the first season concludes and the second begins, the audience gets to see more of her other features, not just the “working side,” as is often the case with this particular trope. The newly single woman reveals herself to be a tender person who is very supportive and uplifting, and that is most visible through the lens of her relationships with Keeley and Ted.”
“Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) is Rebecca’s true confidante, her ride-or-die best friend. They grow even closer in Season 2 when Keeley takes over the Public Relations department, supporting each other during difficult times. The pair is also an excellent example of breaking damaging stereotypes about female friendships on television; Ted Lasso presents a new perspective through Rebecca and Keeley’s beautiful connection, rather than pitting them against each other as is more often the case between female characters. Another key to transformation is learning from one’s mistakes, and thanks to the former model, Rebecca recognizes her previous errors and wishes to correct them all—including coming clean to Ted about the real reason she hired him in the first place. The coach’s gentle attitude and forgiving nature then show Rebecca that there are people in this world who are good, and who deserve good things in life.”
***
“Hannah Waddingham and the brilliantly crafted character of Rebecca Welton present a new and refreshing take on female bosses in television. It’s time to put an end to the cold-hearted, often selfish, and perpetually lonely portrayals of powerful women. We deserve complex representations that are uplifting, empowering, kind, and inspiring, like our biscuits-loving Rebecca in Ted Lasso.”
P.S. I’ve got to commend the writer, Zofia Wijaszja, for the skillfully structured article, especially
Young Dragon,
• Fair enough. Good points. Coincidentally, about your observation that ”It was very much in character for Arya to be wary of strangers, considering all she’s been through…”
as I was rewatching the last segment of S4e10 (Brienne & Pod encounter Arya & Sandor), I found myself wondering why Arya alerted Sandor “there are people coming; you can sh*t later,” instead of bolting as soon as the distraction presented itself.
I suppose her wariness of strangers kicked in, and she instinctively felt safer with the brute she knew.
• Now that you’re back, I’m reminded that I still owe you a musical interlude from our exchange back on June 6 – June 8, in which (as I recall) you graciously acknowledged misconstruing one of my comments. Lemme find that 🎶 and tee it up…😁
Dame of Mercia,
It is probably is due at least in part because of financial constraints/reasons. Perhaps the UK is offering more attractive tax breaks and credits. But as I was reading in the article (see attached in my previous posting) another reason, an important one at that, is the fact that some of the cast and crew have been stuck in New Zealand for over two years now.
It wasn’t just the overly long time they spent on pricinpal photography. Once the pandemic hit, New Zealand closed its borders so they couldn’t leave. Some people haven’t been their families in almost three years. Some have lost family members, parents, siblings and close friends because of COVID-19 and they couldn’t visit them while sick or attend their funerals.
Now because of the so-called “zero COVID” approach New Zealand has taken again, aka lockdowns, curfews, border closures, travel restrictions etc., Amazon I think decided that it was too honerous to continue their production in New Zealand. The cast and crew cannot travel and move around. A lot of the big wigs in charge of the production haven’t been able to travel and visit the set to get an idea of how everything is going. In short too many obstacles, restrictions and headaches to overcome. It will be interesting to see because New Zealand really is the aesthetic which informs and inspires the looks and feel of Middle-earth. I don’t know how the UK will match that.
Guess that makes me old-fashioned too, even though I’m only 25, because I also use actor & actress… then again, I’m likely additionally influenced by my native language which is very genderized in terms of words, including pretty much all the professions/occupations.
Erik, formerly Lord Parramandas,
i stay with one of my favorite actors, Cate Blanchett: she wants to be called “actor”.
in a previous comment you mentioned being back from Bosnia. that sounds interesting to me. may i ask what you did there? i have some sort of strange bond to the Balkan region and it’s history.
being so OT in my 2:29 comment, let me also say that i did like some of the musical interthings. but i hated to waste the scrolling-wheel of my mouse (alerta, alerta grammartista!) for endless cascades of comments of “when we were young and listened to the top ten”…
this said, let me hide a musical interlude from you. maybe you have already discussed it before i joined. maybe you have not. it took me just some six years or so, maybe some days less, to get a glimpse of the genius of a singer and songwriter named Iwan Rheon. i recommend him all over the place. maybe you have to be capable to create such beauty if you want to play a Ramsey-sized asshole.
what i’ve seen and listened to is a fully Jeff-Buckley-sized singer and songwriter. i would have loved more interludes from that corner.
Carice van Houten is also in a band, right?
meanwhile, afghans give no shit about our topics. i wish they could.
loco73,
”Well since musical interludes seem to cause a lot of indigestion…here is some GOT related stuff with “The Cast Remembers” with Tyrion in mind …”gasp”…I know…the dreaded “Season Eight” is mentioned….uhhhh the horror…”
⚠️ Well, how about the best of both worlds: a Peter Dinklage musical interlude?
– Peter Dinklage (as “Jonathan Comet”), featuring Gwen Stefani.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwpmqMnngRk
I was visiting my girlfriend who is from Bosnia… spent a week there in July. I’m from Slovenia btw.
Geeesh…sorry for the multiple comments …on the same topic, which appear above! The first two versions were put into moderation and I thought them gone, even requested a deletion…so I posted a third time, just to make sure it appears, and boy did it ever! 😳🙄
Ten Bears,
I haven’t seen much of the comic side of Peter Dinklage before – though I should add a caveat . I quite enjoyed the clip. I saw him as an Irish gypsy type with a puppet show in the 2005 version of ‘Lassie’ where he had the line “Winter is coming”.
death by chickenfire, other than say I’ve watched it with horror, I’m not going to go deeper into events happening in the Middle East at present because I think any comment I put forward might come over as banal and tawdry.
About gender neutral (or not) nouns and adjectives, I don’t jump on younger people to whom saying “you guys” and “dude” naturally (well I might have said “I’m not a dude” once). I think of Damon Runyon and ‘Guys and Dolls’. A comic I used to read when I was a tween had a story called ‘Dixie of Dude Ranch’ so I tend to also think of ‘dudes’ as American poshos (as well as being a term for males). Sorry I know there was someone who said they tended to scroll past posts about memories so I’ve been a naughty lass and mentioned memories!!
I haven’t been back through all my previous comments so sorry if I’ve touched on this before (though I only saw the clips from the film today) but I managed to find a few clips of ‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’ and Ms Cooke seems a competent thespian. (Did you see what I did there – avoidance tactics).
Typing this rather later in the day than my previous comment. I’ve had a phone call this afternoon and just my luck one of the people I met up with on Thursday (we socially distanced too) had tested positive for Covid-19. I’ve had an email from the National Health Service saying to self-isolate for 10 days from the meeting and sign into track and trace. I make it a week today so I’ll have to try and get a food delivery from one of the supermarkets. It doesn’t mean that I have the virus of course – I’ve been jabbed twice but so has the person who has tested positive for it. It’s unfortunate because he and his wife were going to see their grown-up children and the grandchildren
Dame of Mercia,
I’m so sorry, Dame — and for the person who tested positive. It’s both so scary and frustrating. Stay safe 🙁
Dame of Mercia,
The caveat I DIDN’T add about the Peter Dinklage funny interval was that of course his character of Tyrion was witty.
Ariana, thanks for your good wishes. Of course, the fact that someone I interacted with has the Covid-19 virus doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll get it. I can’t remember exactly how long it takes to develop. I feel alright at the moment as I say.
That’s good to hear!! 🙂
Adrianacandle,
I tried to contact the NHS Track and Trace but when I clicked the link to set a password something went wrong; there’s a default button to request another password which I duly did – there are instructions saying send again if you don’t hear after 15 mins – which I did, still no luck. I doubt I’ll hear anything now – it’s 21:38 hrs here now.
Last night I was a bit late getting my washing in off the line and by 9.30 pm it’s darkish now in late August. I thought I’d dropped a small garment and went to pick it up – I didn’t actually pick it up but it turned out to be a hedgehog. Ouch! Hodge has sharp prickles. Did the settlerstake hedgehogs to the north American sub-continent or is there a native American/Canadian hedgehog? I saw a David Attenborough programme a long time ago and it was mentioned that some hedgehogs were taken to Australia or New Zealand at one time (in the days when it was all boat travel). Apparently Hodge is prone to fleas but the hedgehogs that were taken to the southern hemisphere were in transit so long that their fleas died off. (And if that’s wrong – don’t blame me, blame David Attenborough).
Sorry my concerns about Covid-19 and encounters with Hodge have nothing to do with Alicent Hightower….
The Long Night is going to last a generation, isn’t it. 👿
Dame of Mercia,
Adrianacandle,
I’m posting Covid rants in the Comments Section under the immediately preceding article titled ‘House of the Dragon’ pauses UK filming due to positive COVID-19 case
Ten Bears,
Thanks. I always welcome your musical offerings!
Adriana, the Track & Trace people called me. The chap I spoke to wanted to know my NHS number and dates of vaccinations. He said as I’ve had two vaccinations and am asymatic I don’t need to isolate unless I start showing symptoms. A local(ish) pharmacy is offering free Covid tests so I might mask up and go there and ask about it. (We still have a halfway decent health system albeit over-stretched and under funded in the UK). I didn’t sleep very well last night though (in the UK we are 5 hours ahead of New York time and 8 hours ahead of Pacific time I believe).
Trying to reinforce my Spanish (reading comprehension okay(ish) – aural comprehension a bit ropey) I’ve been looking at the lossietereinos website. This feature from last year said GRRM was planning to (re)start his individual podcast. Does anyone know if that plan has come to fruition? https://lossietereinos.com/george-r-r-martin-retomara-su-podcast-personal-15-anos-despues/
Dame of Mercia,
”This feature from last year said GRRM was planning to (re)start his individual podcast. Does anyone know if that plan has come to fruition?”uh
Of course the podcast plan has not come to fruition. GRRM had been devoting all of his time and energy, his.of his waking hours, to TWOW.
Haven’t you heard?
[Just kidding…]
death by chickenfire,
“Oh man, a no-sound musical interlude from the album I loved back then as a kid. Who could have known that so many people would make the most popular line in the lyrics their guideline for life?
Nice answer to my rant about people who definitely need education. Thanks!”
[*5th attempt to post response follows. The Lord of Light has intercepted prior attempts. I’m going to try separating it into two or three parts.*]
“We don’t need no education“
– To be continued –
Part 2 (continued from 3:36 pm)
You said you were born and spent your early years in Germany.
(To be continued, if YouTube link isn’t what’s offending the Lord of Light.)
Part 3 (continued from 4:05 pm)*
🚩 Mr. Derp Trigger Warning 🤯
* Edit/Update: It does appear that embedding that particular YouTube link is what caused my prior posts to vanish into the ether. How odd.
Sorry about that. You may be able to access that video directly on YouTube with a quick term search.
And now back to House of the Dragon and Queen Alicent and the Greens. 🔰
Aww, thanks! And I welcome yours too!
Especially since there’s been a lull in HotD/GoT news, I figured it’d be harmless fun to share song recommendations, particularly when songs’ lyrics or themes had a connection to the shows or their characters.
And by the way,
As you know, I’ve tried to use alerts (⚠️) and spoiler coding generously, so anyone who’s irked by musical interludes can scroll right by them.
Any thoughts?
You’re just instigating at this point. Don’t be a jackass.
Mr Derp,
You’re probably right. I’m sorry. Had I reviewed what I’d typed before pressing “Post Comment” I would’ve told myself, “Don’t be a jackass.” While I intended it in jest, it didn’t come out that way. And it wasn’t funny.
Mr Derp,
“A man can only admit when he was wrong, and ask forgiveness.”
– Lord Glover.
Ten Bears,
There’s nothing to forgive.
No worries. Just to be clear, I didn’t start off hating the musical interludes because they were pretty sparse and tended to be sort of on-topic in a tongue-in-cheek way. I believe it was you and myself who started that thread a couple of years ago with the Night King songs. That was great.
It’s gotten to the point where it’s just random songs being posted and usually has nothing to do with anything. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t come to Watchers on the Wall to hear Padme’s song, Cyndi Lauper, Miley Freaking Cyrus, or have regurgitated songs that have been around forever being presented here as if someone just stumbled upon for the first time and thinks everyone else hasn’t heard them before. FFS, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd have been around forever. I hear them all the time. They’re great, but I think everyone knows about these songs already.
…and if someone wants to post off-topic comments then fine, but you better be prepared to understand that not everyone will like it nor should they. Especially when this has already been discussed in the past. Others have objected to the musical interludes…not just me. You can’t post off-topic comments and then suddenly act offended when someone calls you out on it. I’ve actually stayed very quiet when it comes to your constant Arya thread derailments.
I will personally try not to get annoyed at the musical interludes because I don’t want to inject more negativity into the thread, but for the love of god, it would go a long way to stop being so self indulgent with the off-topic stuff.
Mr Derp,
If the forums were working the tangential stuff could be posted there and not risk derailing threads – that said I haven’t tried to post anything in the forums for a while but the last time I tried it wasn’t working.
Dame of Mercia,
I understand how you feel. Like I said, I didn’t mind it at first. It was kind of fun. However, it’s gotten a bit overly self-indulgent at this point, IMO. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the lack of HOTD news.
If you guys want to discuss tangential stuff then that’s great. You could always get each other’s contact information, email addresses, go to an instant messenger chat site, etc. There’s limitless options other than doing it here nearly every day.
I love talking about music. It’s one of my favorite topics. It’s just that there’s really limitless options on social media avenues you could explore that would be more appropriate for such discussions. I don’t know why it’s either here or nowhere for some people.
Let’s just say that reading GRRM’s latest series of blog posts about his recent activities and new projects is…interesting. At this point you just shrug, laugh, and shake your head yet again.
Meanwhile, Steve Erikson has already published another (apparently brilliantly-written) 500-page Malazon book, starting a new trilogy.
If people are looking for something new to watch while we wait for HotD, I recommend “Britannia”. I was skeptical at first, but (as often happens) it becomes pretty good from Season 2 and goes in very interesting directions. The show is basically about the main Roman conquest of Britain and very broadly based on real events, but it takes a semi-fictionalised and semi-fantasy approach. It’s quite…er…weird, something you particularly notice in Season 1, given the overt psychedelic 60s vibe and the fact that most of the British druids in the show are clearly based on 60s notions of Indian “yogis” and “maharishis”. Give it a shot and have some patience. Cinematography is often beautiful and there is some very good acting. And yes, I suspect the red-haired girl on the druidic quest with definitely-not-Sandor is obviously the future Boudicca. And yes, the Roman officer who speared Jesus on the cross and (on this show) is later part of the invasion’s leadership is also superbly acted, in another significant role. You’ll also notice Mr “Walder Frey” in a fairly major role later on.
Other recommendations are “Domina” and “Black Sails”, as I’ve mentioned previously. “ZeroZeroZero” and “Gangs of London” are obviously set in the present day, but they’re excellent epic stories too.
well… around that time, Pink Floyd and other stars were not the stuff that could have dragged me out of any hole. from some ’85 to right now i had, and still have a superstar allergy. so, i maybe recognized their berlin appearance (i must have as my two best mates were fans all over), but my musical focus then was on the losers, not on the winners.
the world famous David Grubbs of the world famous band Bastro once said: 50 Phil Ochs fans can’t be wrong.
this is were i am looking for music. all hail the losers!
Jai,
What’s that old saying? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Or is it the song lyrics “Once bitten, twice shy”?
Either way, thanks to Big G I’m inclined to consider watching only a completed TV series
and reading only a finished set of books.
Thanks for the recommendations though. If those TV shows you mentioned have concluded, and “stuck the landing” instead of crashing and burning on the runway, I’ll add them to my To Watch List.
Jai,
A French TV station put out a show called ‘Kaamelott’ in the early 2000s which was a French language sort of steampunk (only maybe without steampunk machines) version of the King Arthur legend. I haven’t watched all of it but there are some excerpts on YouTube. I liked young Audrey Fleurot – with purple hair – as the Lady of the Lake (I’m aware of her from the French crime series ‘Engrenages/Spiral’). Is Britannica in that vein?
BTW folks my Covid test result was negative fortunately. They don’t say you definitely haven’t got it (if there can be false positives I suppose there can be false negatives). I don’t have to isolate. Anyway, stay safe and well everybody.
Good to hear! 👍👍I hope you are alright! Around my parts there is already talk of a booster shot. They’ll be dolled out in order of people’s vaccination dates. Still no decision from the government or public health department whether they’ll consider the first dose or second dose as the marker.
Since I’ve seen that some people mentioned some shows to watch while waiting for “House Of The Dragon”, here are some other suggestions (are we allowed to do that or will it cause nervous breakdowns all around?😳🙄), some may have already been made before, nothing new here…”Peaky Blinders” (with the late great Helen McRory), “The Expanse”, “Mindhunter”, “The Alienist” (which now includes a second season based on the “Angel Of Darkness” novel) “The Pillars Of The Earth” miniseries based on Ken Follet’s excellent novel, “CB Strike” based on the crime novels from one Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling, “The Last Kingdom” also based on a series of novels, “The Capture” and “The Killing” (itself based on a Danish series), the new version of “Perry Mason” and “Bosch”. There surely are other great series outhere to spend time on, but this is what came to mind.
RIP Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones) ..oh no….I forgot, we shall not mention music here because wah, wah, wah…
loco73,
I think it’s okay to say RIP about someone like Charlie Watts.
Thanks for the good wishes, Adriana. I wonder how things are going with shooting HoD – if it’s on hiatus still because of the case of Covid-19 that might explain the dearth of news at present.
Now, I have listened/read the books but only once. Are black clothes customary in Westerosi funerals – I wondered if that might explain the dark costumes the actors were wearing in the leaked photographs.
Yeah, good ole George with these same posts over and over again. Didn’t actually read them, but I figure content is about 95% the same.
He gotta watch out though; his franchise has been losing some serious steam over the last 18-24 months & while he seems to be betting on his TV side-projects to revive them (purely speculative), the upcoming *Dune* may kill that part of the franchise for good.
flintstonewielder,
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, you gotta strike while the iron is hot, but I feel like the hunger for more GoT content will always be there.
I just hope GoT’s legacy stays well intact and doesn’t turn into what Stars Wars has become. I do think the controversial ending to GoT will have somewhat of a negative affect, but not much. Ending aside, the popularity of GoT has pretty much been unmatched.
LOL…I know…was just kidding. Once again, glad you are alright. I wanted to ask you, do you speak Spanish? I know someone once replied to me in Spanish here…or was it Adriana?
Pues no me recuerdo. Pero sería un placer de vez en cuando hablar un poquito en español…
loco73,
Aprendo espanol – but my listening comprehension isn’t awfully good. I’ve been doing a bit of revision from the Language Tutor YT channel. Actually the leader of the U3A (for senior citizens) Spanish group I belong to is the person who contracted Covid-19. I emailed to say I was clear and he replied that his wife and all the people he’s been in contact with have tested negative so far. We’re on a 3 week break from the Spanish class anyway. We have been meeting via Zoom through the pandemic but we are supposed to be going back to in person meetings after the break.
I came here to say that I came across a video by YouTuber Rawrist about some new castings in HoD but the sound was low (on my computer at least) so I didn’t catch everything she said – but that could be down to my computer as I say. https://youtu.be/tjnepUE_ZF8
Damn! Were King Stannis and his Hand, Davos Seaworth…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRKU4-ZhHl8
… ripped off by Orange Walder and his White Walker right hand man?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E9KdhzZWUAMZkCu?format=jpg&name=small
#Fewer
Apologies for the late replies everyone.
Ten Bears,
+ The original Malazon books saga finished and landed safely.
+ “Britannia” has just started Season 3 in the UK. Fine so far, although going down some very dark roads — more than GoT, in some ways.
+ “Domina” has only had one season so far, although it was just a few months ago. A decision has not yet been taken on whether it will be renewed for Season 2 (but it has definitely not been cancelled either).
+ “Black Sails” has concluded with a total of 4 seasons. As I’ve mentioned here before, Season 1 was a bit erratic, but there was a striking jump in quality in Season 2, and from Season 3 onwards the show became something extraordinary. As for the conclusion: Not only did it well and truly “stick the landing”, but the ending was the most ingenious and diabolically brilliant finale I’ve ever seen. The showrunners have confirmed the ambiguity was deliberate — everything hinges on whether you think one of the main characters is fundamentally decent or a villain. Superbly done.
+ Apparently “ZeroZeroZero” was intended as just an 8-episode mini series. The makers are the same people responsible for the acclaimed Italian crime drama “Gomorrah”, so the quality was extremely high. Looks spectacular too — a mixture of Ridley Scott and Michael Mann’s visual styles.
+ “Gangs of London” has had just 1 season so far, but it has definitely been renewed for Season 2. Quite a few familiar faces from GoT, but in very different roles here. Two most significant GoT alumni in major roles are Michelle “Catelyn Stark” Fairley as a ruthless crime family matriarch, and — the most striking performance of all — Lucian “Salladhor Saan” Msamati as the billionaire head of another crime family/organised crime cartel. Some of the story’s most shocking incidents are actually based on real events in London. Without giving away any spoilers, I’ll say that the show also has a global “deep state” angle (as a character later says, “The world’s real criminals don’t go to prison, because they’re the people who build the prisons”).
Dame of Mercia,
I’m not familiar with that French show. But the best way to describe “Britannia” is HBO’s “Rome” + early GoT…if those shows were also full of “counter-culture” themes from the late 1960s, stoned on psychedelic drugs, travelling on the hippie trail across 60s India, and listening to Jimi Hendrix on a continuous loop in the background 😉
flintstonewielder,
The impending LOTR prequel will also draw a lot of comparisons to GoT and HotD, especially if the prequel turns out to be very good, and most of all if it turns out to be significantly *better*.
Will be interesting to see once HotD comes out. Popularity may have been unmatched, but can it be sustained? Re books, interest has subsided significantly, given way to indifference – which must not mean much, necessarily.
I kinda feel that the zeitgeist has moved on – this series was launched during the Clinton years (remember those days when MLewinski hankypanks were the most dramatic news in town?); we are now in the post-Trump years. RL seems WAY crazier than anything George could possibly concoct for us.
Who knows, we shall see.
I’m still trying to forget.
The books were launched during the Clinton years, but the t.v. show itself was only launched during the Obama years, so it’s not really all that old yet. It’s been around for a decade and has only been concluded for 2 years.
This is sort of what I mean though. Star Wars has been around since the Jimmy Carter days and they’re still making more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more Star Wars movies today.
I definitely think it’s possible that HOTD can be successful both commercially and critically, but it’s all about the content. Star Wars’ impeccable legacy has been ruined because the prequels and sequels were hot garbage
From a personal standpoint, I am usually cynical when it comes to prequels/sequels/remakes/reboots, etc… simply because history bares out that they are almost always terrible.
I do believe it’s very possible for HOTD to be great, but history is not on it’s side.
Jai,
Hey thanks! Those were some excellent – and spoiler free – synopses of those shows.
I’ve got to strike unfinished series from consideration. It sounds like “Black Sails” (4 total seasons?) might be worth a binge watch over a free weekend.
By the way, you mentioned that in “Gangs of London” Michelle “Catelyn Stark” Fairley plays “a ruthless crime family matriarch.”
I could swear I saw her in s similar role – maybe the matriarch of a terrorist cell? – in some other show a while back. I’d have to review her acting credits online to see if I can find it.
Ten Bears,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_24_characters#24:_Live_Another_Day
Wasn’t she a drug cartel boss in *Dredd*?
flintstonewielder,
No, that was Lena Heady.
I should clarify that Michelle Fairley’s character isn’t actually the cartel’s boss in Gangs of London. Her son, played by Joe Cole from Peaky Blinders, takes over from her kingpin husband, played by Colm Meaney from Star Trek and Hell on Wheels (in a semi-recurring role). But Michelle’s character does have an ongoing significant role in events, as the kind of person who’d make Tywin think twice before picking a fight with her family.
I’m glad the charismatic Lucian Msamati got such a huge role in Gangs of London. We only saw some of his capabilities in GoT, but in GoL he gets the chance to unleash a full-force performance that blows you away (pun intended). Fantastic stuff.
While I’m recommending mob dramas, the most recent season of “Fargo” was really good too. It started off with some of the usual Coen Brothers quirkiness, but then it developed into an impressive Godfather/Martin Scorsese-style epic. Intelligent and nuanced, frequently with beautiful cinematography too. Most of all, Chris Rock turned out to be an absolute revelation in the deadly-serious lead role.
Something I’ve been meaning to suggest for a while:
We all remember the wonderful performance of “Jenny’s Song” by Florence Welch (from Florence and the Machine). I think Hannah Reid from the acclaimed band London Grammer would be perfect for any similar performances on HotD or the other GoT prequels. Hannah has a very “medieval” voice, and her haunting singing style ranges from quieter stuff to soaring songs. In fact, Hannah’s vocals are often compared to Florence Welch.
I don’t want to turn this into a “musical interlude” so I won’t post any videos here, but you can find plenty of examples online. Just google “Youtube London Grammer” and click the videos tab.
If you’re not familiar with Hannah or her band, you might remember her vocals from one of Charlize Theron’s earlier J’Adore commercials. Not the one you’re probably thinking of — I’m referring to the one where Charlize emerges looking out onto a glittering golden cityscape, while Hannah’s soaring vocals provide the soundtrack.
I hope HotD and 10,000 Ships’ showrunners consider her anyway. More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Grammar#Musical_style .
Well, Amazon Prime has just released the trailer for “The Wheel Of Time”…and if anyone was worried about it being any kind of competition for “House Of The Dragon”… you needn’t worry. It looks cheap, awful and a disservice to the books and established fandom. Full of empty virtue signalling and the same pitfalls that have ruined soo many franchises recently, ass well as adaptations of various IP’s.
And there was no need for any of that. The books were diverse and inclusive already as anyone who has read them already knew. It looks worse than”The Witcher” (and that one is awful) and about as bad as “The Shannara Chronicles”… Such a shame, done right this could have had potential. But I guess this is the lamb to the slaughter since Amazon Prime doesn’t seem to care too much about it. I guess they are more clearly interested in their LOTR prequel series…and have put a helluva lot eggs in that basket.
I’ll spare you the trailer here…poor Robert Jordan, he’ll soon start spinning in his grave once this comes out. Of course Brandon Sanderson, for the right price, will positively gush and squeell in chirpy tones over this upcoming heap of thrash…
Loco, I had a look at the WoT trailer. I’ve only read the first book of that series which I didn’t hate but it didn’t grab me like GoT and ASOIAF (first three books at least) did. I wouldn’t personally dismiss the WoT adaptation out of hand – the trailer only showed very small extracts really so it’s hard to judge. It’s moot whether I’ll be able to watch WoT anyway as I don’t have Amazon – I’d either have to wait until it is aired on a terrestrial TV or find an alternative way of viewing it. The actor playing Roose has a small part so I wouldn’t mind seeing his portrayal of a different character.
I don’t know if anyone reads the novels of Hugh Walpole anymore or if they are in print. His historical Herries Chronicles were popular when I was younger. He wrote a prequel to that series ‘The Bright Pavilions’ which I liked. For a person who is young in the the early 21st century AD it might seem a bit old-fashioned. One sub-plot concerns the Babbington plot (to entrap Mary Queen of Scots). That took place not too far from where I live so that might have helped catch my interest.
Dame of Mercia,
Well I have read almost the entire series of novels…I got stuck around the ninth novel in the cycle, “Winter’s Heart” (at least I think it’s thereabouts…it’s been years since I’ve cracked open any of the novels). Even the bit shown in the trailer, looks awful, cheasy and cheap.
This was always a risk with an adaptation such as this, given how difficult it would be even under the right circumstances to bring Jordan’s extremely intricate world to the screen, the mamoth cast of characters and staggering expanse that is the whole of the story.
But when you have a company that understands nothing of the material they are adapting and leans into it’s weakest and worst aspects…well…even a brief teaser trailer can indicate which direction they are intending to follow. Since I have Amazon Prime…I can definitely say this a big “no” for me.
I shudder to think what they’ll do to Tolkien and his work ..
Some information about HoD castings on WikiofThrones https://wikiofthrones.com/33400/house-of-the-dragon-david-horovitch-joins-cast-of-game-of-thrones-prequel/
Just an FYI:
https://www.fox5vegas.com/more/first-official-game-of-thrones-fan-convention-to-debut-in-las-vegas-in-2022/article_b3fe3cea-0c31-11ec-a0c4-4ff667ef0656.html
loco73,
Thanks for that link.
[Excerpt from linked article below]
Well isn’t this interesting, for several reasons…
”LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Convention is coming — The first “Game of Thrones” fan convention will debut in Las Vegas next year.
According to a news release, ahead of the new HBO series “House of the Dragon,” the prequel to “Game of Thrones,” Warner Bros. and Creation Entertainment have teamed up to bring the “Game of Thrones” Official Fan Convention to Las Vegas on Feb. 18-20, 2022.
According to the release, the event, which will mark the first officially licensed fan convention commemorating “Game of Thrones,” will take place at the Rio Hotel & Suites Convention Center in Las Vegas.” ….
——————-
• 1. Does this GoT “officially licensed” fan convention mean Con of Thrones is history? It would sure seem so.
• 2. February 2022? In Las Vegas, Nevada? Five months from now? No way. Unless fans are willing to play Covid Roulette. Count me out.
• 3. The article said “special guests” will be there.
Uhhh… I wouldn’t be so sure actors will be willing or able to fly from Europe to the US on February.
And to crowded Las Vegas NV of all places.
They should’ve chosen Vermont. Highest vax rate and lowest case count in the US, I believe.
• 4. Vegas
unless you like to gamble.
Yeah, especially since covid is still a thing and the waves keep getting bigger and bigger, I think this may be akin to building cons in the sky at this point with a Feb 2022 date.
On that topic here are a few articles, a few months old by now mind you, about how Singapore will transition from treating COVID-19 as a pandemic to an endemic. See what you think. The idea is that eradication is no longer possible so we will have to learn to with it. Like we do with the seasonal flu etc.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3138517/singapore-preparing-live-endemic-covid-19-residents
https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/singapore-covid-roadmap-model-lockdown-b1875483.html
***I know this isn’t a public health notice website I just posted in relation to whether or not any of the planned/upcoming GOT/HOTD conventions could be attended***
I think it’s too early still with the variants, which are stronger and more transmissible than the original virus that has already overwhelmed health care facilities (at least here in Canada). There’s also that covid is also still so new and it’s not nearly as familiar as the seasonal flu, which we have far more information about. Here, at least, we’re heading into the fourth wave with Delta. The Alberta premiere tried to declare an endemic and dropped nearly all health measures. The Calgary Stampede (a large outdoor festival) went on as planned in July, all gatherings were permitted, and now, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are spiking again with fear that the health care system will be overwhelmed again.
Unfortunately, that’s what I think. Covid is just still so new…
Adrianacandle,
”March 2020 mewouldn’t have been able to believe this thing would have lasted so long even by this point but…”
March 2021 me thought this thing would soon be over once everyone got vaxxed. I still can’t believe that
Forests on fire; cities underwater; monster hurricanes;
Every day, a new sh*tshow. It all seems so…apocalyptic.
I almost expect to look out my window tomorrow and see four mounted White Walkers on a ridge.
Adrianacandle,
“Here, at least, we’re heading into the fourth wave with Delta. The Alberta premiere tried to declare an endemic and dropped nearly all health measures. The Calgary Stampede (a large outdoor festival) went on as planned in July, all gatherings were permitted, and now, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are spiking again with fear that the health care system will be overwhelmed again.”
“I know Death. He’s got many faces. I look forward to seeing this one.”
– Alberta Premier
Ten Bears,
Yep! Basically. And now he’s offering the vaccine-hesitant individuals $100 each if they go get vaccinated now. So if you got vaccinated voluntarily and as soon as you were eligible, screw you! Those who refused get $100 if they go get vaccinated now!
(Although, even if I knew this back in May and July when I received doses #1 and #2, it wouldn’t have changed anything for me. It’s still infuriating though.)
Jason Kenney is an absolute mess. Declaring an endemic in June, saying there won’t be a fourth wave, dropping all health measures except for masking, covid positive quarantine, and contact tracing as of July 1st…. and then planning to drop those remaining measures on August 16 until — oh look — it’s a fourth wave and its increase is even more rapid than that of the third wave.
Ahem. Covid rant over!
Yep! And our premiere is pandering to that anti-vaxxer base.
Had measures not been dropped and phased out until enough of the population was vaxxed to reach herd immunity, perhaps there wouldn’t have been enough opportunity for covid to spawn its variants and the vax would have helped make this situation manageable. But that’s a sad what-if now :/
I tried to post on the forums yesterday – no luck. I was going to try and start a musical interlude thread so that musical suggestions need not intrude on the main part of the website. I noticed there had been a couple of posts in 2021 so it doesn’t look as if everybody has the problem. The music with a tangential link to GoT was ‘I Will Find You’ by Clannad – an Irish group whose music I have liked for decades – from the early 1990s version of ‘Last of the Mohicans’. Thinking of that film, Madeleine Stowe who is American did a decent English accent. The GoT link is Jodhi May who played Madeleine Stowe’s younger sister in LoTM and of course featured as Maggy the Frog in season 5 episode 1 of GoT.
Anyway, some House of the Dragon news, a YouTube channel, Talking Thrones, posted about some new leaked set photographs from HoD, and they were new – to me anyway. A link to the video https://youtu.be/3Y2dwPr7Ph4
Dame of Mercia,
Yes, I saw his video as well. Here is a link to another article with the photos up close.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9957319/Graham-McTavish-Olivia-Cooke-pictured-set-Game-Thrones-prequel-House-Dragon.html
Although I think this article is wrong when it says one of the shots is Olivia Cooke. As he says in Talking Thrones, I think it’s really the young Alicent played by Emily Carey. And you see the young Milly Alcock looking like Daenerys’ double. I hope WotW writes an article soon reviewing these photos. I’m looking forward to their take on them.
Dame of Mercia,
I meant to emphasise the ‘were’ in ‘they were new’ as in ‘they WERE new’……
Adriana and Ten Bears, there is lunacy in the UK with Freedumb marches. YouTube seems to act strangely – there was a YouTube channel, Mr Bozohead, who used to make short, satirical videos about some of the odder things on the internet and his video channel was terminated and I can’t imagine why. There have been people tweeting vile things to doctors and nurses. Craziness, absolute craziness. There have been marches against ‘vaccine passports’ (on UK passports there isn’t any information about vaccinations/inoculations the bearer has received). Strictly speaking what they are talking about is (are) certificates of vaccination – which already exist for some countries for, say, yellow fever. It will depend I think on what any foreign country says – if So-and-So Land says you need a Covid-19 vaccine to enter its borders, it’s either get the vaccine or stay home.
Tron79,
I think it’s Milly Alcock too. I put a link upthread to a video by Rawrist about some new (to me) castings. I found the (Rawrist) video sound a bit faint so I’ll have to put my earplugs in and listen again. David Horovitch has been cast in HoD but I don’t know what part he’s playing.
Dame of Mercia,
Tron, sorry, I should have said Emily Carey as young Alicent – the article gets Milly Alcock right.
Yes I agree that it’s Emily Carey. Their scenes look more involved than just a few flashbacks. They have Milly Alcock next to her dragon (blue screen dragon) which is fun. They could be doing a flashback episode like the GOT opener in season 5 with Nell Williams playing teen Cersei. I loved the sequence with them running through the woods in their long dresses on their way to see Maggy the Frog. Perhaps they will get extended screen time beyond a few sequences. I hope so. It would be great to explore their relationship when they were growing up.
Tron79,
I’d been wondering if HotD filming is in progress. I saw these pictures in the 9/4/21 Daily Mail online of Matt Smith (Daemon T.) attending the Venice Film Festival on Saturday for the premiere of his movie, “Last Night in SoHo” with his co-star Anya Taylor-Joy (who incidentally looked like a Targaryen princess).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9958391/amp/Venice-Film-Festival-2021-Anya-Taylor-Joy-25-joins-rumoured-beau-Matt-Smith-premiere.html
Then again, Daily Mail also had pictures of a certain Stark actor in London two days earlier, looking like shecould have been a secret Targaryen.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-9950505/GQ-Men-Year-Awards-2021-Maisie-Williams-makes-statement-red-carpet.html
#ARLTA
Thank you both for these! 😊
Ten Bears,
The first photos are more Anya than Matt. And I did see that Stark girl you mentioned.
I spotted those blonde photos. I almost didn’t recognize her. As always the camera loves her.
I do hope that we get a review of the new HotD photos. I’m curious about some of them, and I’m happy to see filming is happening.
My comment didn’t go through, but thank you Dame of Mercia and Tron79 for the links! 😊