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Our Predictions for Game of Thrones Season 7

Tue Jun 28, 2016 12:00pm 46 comments 1 Favorite [+]

Winter is Here! The winds of winter are blowing! Season 6 of Game of Thrones is over and now the long wait for Season 7 has begun. FireandLunch has had a blast discussing this season via the lens of book-readers with you all at Tor and we’re here again to help you endure the wait for Season 7.

We’re scrying into our fires and scouring the books to present our predictions for HBO’s Game of Thrones Season 7. As always, tons of book spoilers will be found below. Tell us your own predictions in the comments!

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

A Guide to Bastards in A Song of Ice and Fire

Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:30pm 15 comments 1 Favorite [+]

Bastards hold a significant place in the pages of A Song of Ice and Fire. Many plotlines revolve around their actions and status, and they’re significant enough in Westeros that George R. R. Martin identifies them by special surnames based on the region of their birth: Snow (The North), Storm (The Stormlands), Rivers (The Riverlands), Hill (Westerlands), Pyke (Iron Islands), Stone (The Vale), Flowers (The Reach), Waters (The Crownlands), and Sand (Dorne).

While recovering from “Battle of the Bastards” FireandLunch started debating the finer points of Bastardry in ASOIAF. Who is the worst bastard? The most honorable? Who should be legitimized? George R. R. Martin really loves writing about these compelling bastards and it turns out we love reading about them and watching them on HBO. So grab a chair above the salt and learn about our favorite bastards in ASOIAF. We’re rating them on a scale of Jon Snow (probably not a bastard) to Ramsay Snow* (not even his dogs like him).

*Let’s all agree to never call him Ramsay Bolton. He hates it.

Spoilers from the wrong side of the sheets ahead.

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

The Seven ASOIAF Theories Every Game of Thrones Fan Should Know

Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:00am 27 comments Favorite This

There are only two episodes left in Season 6 of HBO’s Game of Thrones, and it’s a big deal. This was the first season that the showrunners went largely “beyond book” and the implications for book fans are mounting.

Most show-watchers know at least one book-reader that is constantly referencing character arcs (often of characters not even on the show) or sagely repeating a prophecy as if that piece of theory is the key to predicting what direction the show will go. We’re theory-hounds ourselves and if you aren’t (yet!) then settle in as we present to you the key Book Theories still relevant to the show!

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

The Best and Worst Vacation Spots in A Song of Ice and Fire

Wed Jun 8, 2016 10:00am 9 comments Favorite This

The sun is out, the birds are singing, and travel agents everywhere are gearing up for the busy season. That’s right, folks, it’s time to pack up your things and get on the Kingsroad!

If you’re anything like us, gentle readers, you have imagined yourself in the beautifully described locations of some of your favorite novels. As a general rule, we think Westeros would NOT be the place to play this particular game. (That is, unless you like wide spread oppression to the common man.) However, Westeros does offer a variety of gorgeous options. You could explore the bitter cold of the Wall, all the way down to the desert landscape of Dorne. Here we offer some tips on some prominent places to take your imaginary literary vacation.

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Series: A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Sads: 10 Tragic Origin Stories from A Song of Ice and Fire

Wed Jun 1, 2016 10:00am 10 comments Favorite This

The current season of Game of Thrones is really putting us through the emotional ringer, and we’re pretty sure everyone else feels the same way. As a coping mechanism we’ve been reminding ourselves that we’re not new to ASoIaF-induced Feelings—George R. R. Martin has been torturing his readers with tragedy for 20 years. The patented FireandLunch cure for the Sads is to wallow in the muck, so here’s a list of some of the most tragic character origins we can remember. We’re absolutely positive that we’ll be able to add to this list as the seasons and books progress. Yay. *cries*

Major spoilers for all published books and through the current season of HBO’s Game of Thrones after the cut.

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Series: A Song of Ice and Fire

12 Scenes from HBO’s Game of Thrones We Wish Were in the Books

Wed May 25, 2016 10:00am 14 comments 1 Favorite [+]

Last week we talked about all the dumbest things that we were upset didn’t make it to the small screen, but HBO’s Game of Thrones has legions of fans and an army of Emmys for a reason—we would be lying if we told you there weren’t a few things the show actually does better than the books. Before the book purists come for us, we remind you of the budding romance between Tormund and Brienne, AKA Tormienne. The show has once again delivered to us something we never knew we wanted but love all the same.

With the show firmly beyond the books and the plot lines beginning their advance to conclusion, we want to acknowledge our favorite scenes from the show that were never in the books. And because we had so many, we’re giving you twelve! Beware of spoilers through Season 6.

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

Nitpicking HBO’s Game of Thrones: 10 Book Details the Show Got Wrong

Wed May 18, 2016 10:00am 61 comments 2 Favorites [+]

We admit we were a bit annoyed that the awesome Arthur Dayne needed two swords in the Tower of Joy flashback that aired in Season 6 Episode 3 of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, does not need TWO swords. He is perfect with just his one amazing sword (Jaime would totally agree with us). We know we are not alone in our rage over this admittedly very trivial matter.

The early success of HBO’s Game of Thrones was driven in part by the excited book fans (like us!) that stood in line at the early marketing efforts (remember the Westeros-themed food trucks?). These fans also told all their coworkers to watch this new fantasy show based on these awesome books they had read. Book fans form the backbone of this fandom, but sometimes book fans go bad. Book fans are often (and probably correctly) characterized as overly critical, never happy, and obsessed with inconsequential details (see above re: Arthur Dayne’s ONE sword), and they drive their show-watching friends a little mad. As overly critical fans ourselves, we present to you a list of 10 of the dumbest and most irrational nitpicks we admit to having.

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

Book Characters We Wish Appeared on HBO’s Game of Thrones

Wed May 11, 2016 10:00am 16 comments Favorite This

We fully understand that when adapting novels for television, cuts will be necessary. This is especially true when the work being adapted is a series as sprawling as A Song of Ice and Fire—even George R.R. Martin has a hard time keeping track of his characters. While we agree with some of the changes (using Jaqen H’ghar instead of the Kindly Man) and are grateful for the inclusion of characters we assumed would be cut (Wun Wun!!), there are some personalities that we still miss.

Seemingly unimportant side characters provide so much richness and color to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, something that seems to get lost in the translation from the page to the small screen. Whether they be sellswords with lisps, prophetic fools, or a startlingly prescient raven, they are characters that bring the world to life. Here are just a few that we think would enrich an already colorful adaptation…

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

Is Bran Stark the Hero of Game of Thrones?

Wed May 4, 2016 12:30pm 14 comments 1 Favorite [+]

As they say in pop-culture parlance, “Hang onto your butts”. In only two episodes, Game of Thrones Season 6 has established—for anyone who may have forgotten in the last 5 seasons of letter writing, sword-poking and sexposition—that it is the most magic-filled series on television. This overt acknowledgement of the whole Fantasy part of this fantasy series may point to a new trend for what we can expect on Game of Thrones. It’s got to be hard to downplay all the magic stuff when a main character is performing ongoing feats of hair-based miracle working… But we digress.

While nearly every major character is gifted in some way, there are some characters that are just more magical than others. They function as center points of regional beliefs and as the nexus of converging plot points. While some may focus on the powerful possibilities of the followers of R’hllor or the ingrained abilities of the descendants of Valyria we want to introduce you to the most important character in ASOIAF. Period. The coincidentally-newly-returned-to-the-show…Bran Stark.

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

Scenes We Wish Made It Into HBO’s Game of Thrones

Thu Apr 28, 2016 9:00am 12 comments Favorite This

HBO’s Game of Thrones may only be made up of 70ish hours when all’s said and done, but those hours are full of surprises, tense moments, and a ton of awesome that the show writers worked hard to translate, conceive, and birth into a shadowy dominance of Sunday night television. So it may be hard to imagine the hundreds of hours that never made it to the small screen. Unless you also read the books.

This week, while the show begins to chart unknown waters, Fire and Lunch is looking back, as we choose our favorite book scenes that we wish had made it onto the show—some small moments, witty lines, and characterizations we miss. These are just a few of the scenes we wish we could see with our eyes, but we’ll just have to settle for our imaginations/greensight. Let us know your own picks in the comments.

Beware book spoilers for A Song of Ice and Fire!

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Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

Death, Rebirth, and Vengeance: Game of Thrones Season 6 Predictions

Thu Apr 21, 2016 9:00am 22 comments 2 Favorites [+]

This week FireandLunch wants to help you win your office Iron Throne betting pool with our predictions for which way the winds will blow for Game of Thrones Season 6! First things first, you should watch the latest trailer. Go ahead. It’s right here.

Armed with these prophetic and mysterious images we, the members of FireandLunch that don’t subscribe to show spoilers, will apply our book knowledge to make some educated guesses about major plot points you can look forward to this season. If you are more interested in real life rumor we suggest checking out our Season 6 PieCast Speculation episode featuring the spoiler addicted members of the group.

We’ve broken down our predictions geographically into three regions—The North, The South, and Essos. Have a prediction we didn’t cover? Tell us in the comments!

[Gird yourselves, here we go…]

Series: HBO’s Game of Thrones

Bring Out Your Dead: Game of Thrones S5 Edition

Wed Apr 13, 2016 10:00am 9 comments 1 Favorite [+]

It’s that time of year again! Heads will roll, the people will mourn, and fortunes will change with the last blast of winter winds. And no, we’re not just talking about tax season.

Season 6 of Game of Thrones is invading our screens on Sunday, April 24th. The series, based on George RR Martin’s wild and wildly popular fantasy epic A Song of Ice and Fire, will pick up the threads of a story riddled with tragedy, danger, and some truly epic battles.

The Powers That Be at HBO are marketing this year as the season in which no one is safe… We don’t know about you, but we think it’s going to be hard to top the carnage of Season 5. We’ve assembled and rated the best (worst?) deaths from Season 5, according to our very thorough and completely unbiased analysis. We’ll be rating these on a scale of “mildly upsetting” to “UNJUST”, based primarily on how long it took all six of us collectively to recover. Let us know your ratings in the comments! (Warning: spoilers/speculation through the end of last season.)

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