I suppose it was inevitable. Given the popularity of the franchise and the massive hit that was the MMORPG, which pretty much put them on the map and made all major franchises want to follow (like Star Wars and Elder Scrolls), it was only a matter of time before someone got the bright idea to do a live action movie of Warcraft.
As you can see from the trailer, the movie tells the story of the Orcs falling upon the Azeroth and laying siege to it. But in a twist, we learn that the Orcs are waging war not only because of their warlike culture, but for their survival. Seems that their home realm, Draernor, is becoming inhospitable out or something.
I have to say, this is not the plot of the Warcraft I knew and loved. That game was morally unambiguous and didn’t contain all this “we have to come together for the sake of all of our survival” crap! Then again, the movie may not be a total suckfest. But I’m sure the folks at Comic-Con will be complaining bitterly!
With all the publicity New Zealand has been getting from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit franchises, both of which use the scenic land as the setting of Middle Earth, it was only a matter of time before the country’s air carrier began pimping it for all it was worth! Entitled “An Unexpected Briefing”, this safety briefing video is being used by New Zealand Air to both entertain and inform their passengers.
I’ve been spending entirely too much time over at Youtube lately. Have you seen those comments sections? If there was ever a reason for misanthropy, that would be it! But one can always find plenty of nuggets of awesomeness while navigating through that sea of virulence, and Honest Trailers is often the source. Below is the video for Game of Thrones they released a few months back to coincide with the release of Season Four.
Another pointless change that was clumsily resolved was Jon Snow’s mission to Craster’s Keep to kill the mutineers. In the novel, Jon only real concern at this point was the Wildling army riding to the Wall, not to mention the Wildling raiding party that was making its way towards Castle Black. The mutineers were all suspected of being dead, which made sense since Mance’s army was practically upon the Wall at this point.
In the novels, the representatives came to Stannis only after he had come to the Wall and routed Mance’s army. The reason being, Lord Tywin was dead, Cersei was in charge of King’s Landing, and she had made it clear that they would not be making payments to the bank just yet. Ergo, the Iron Bank was backing her enemies to ensure that whoever won would make good on the Thrones massive debts. So basically, they took material that happened later, changed it, and moved it forward to keep Stannis’ story going.
Tired of being brought back from the dead, he decided he would let the magic which had resurrected him many times bring her back. Ser Beric died on that riverbank, and Lady Catelyn came back – albeit in a scarred, muted form. Not only did she have a hideous scar on her throat and a bloated face, she was also functionally mute. And she was some pissed, and sought revenge against the Freys for their betrayal. As such, she now led the Brothers through the Riverlands to find all those who had betrayed her family and execute them.
The episode opens with Jon Snow meeting Mance Rayder in his camp beyond the Wall. Inside Mance’s tent, they drink to fallen comrades and discuss a possible negotiated settlement. However, their talks are interrupted when riders begin pouring in, bearing the standard of House Baratheon. Stannis and Davos ride up to Mance, who surrenders, and Jon Snow introduces himself. He advises that Stannis take Mance prisoner and burn the dead before long.
In Mereen, Daenerys is troubled by two developments. First, she learns that former slaves are returning to their old professions because they have no means to support themselves otherwise. She is then made aware of the fact that Drogon, who escaped her care, has escalated and murdered a small child. She has Aggo and Jhogo chained up in the catacombs for the time being to prevent any further incidents, though it tears her apart to do so.
In the Vale, Brienne and Pod come upon Arya practicing her sword dance. When they approach, the Hound presents himself, and some difficult introductions are made. The Hound believes she is there to collect the bounty on him, but she insists she is there to bring Arya home. A fight brutal fight ensues, and Sandor is pushed from a cliff and falls below. Arya slips away to come to his side, and denies him when he begs her for a merciful death.
On the night before his execution, Jaime sneaks into Tyrion’s cell and frees him, telling him to meet with Varys. However, Tyrion instead goes to the Hand of the King’s room and finds Shae sleeping in his father’s bed. They fight and he strangles her with her necklace, then fetches a crossbow from the wall and finds his father in the privy. After speaking briefly, Tyrion shoots him in the chest with two bolts, and escapes to find Varys. He takes him to the docks, where a ship is waiting to take him to Essos.
In the backstory to ASOIAF, it is said that Bran the Builder, the Northern King who built the Wall and Winterhold, used the Horn of Winter (aka. the Horn of Joramun) to erect the Wall of ice that separated the Wildlings from the “knee-benders”. By using it again, Mance believed he could melt the Wall in one swift move, thus rendering the Black Brother’s only real defense against him moot. It was then that Stannis’ men attacked, and Mance was taken prisoner.
Third, Brienne and Pod never caught up to Arya and the Hound in the books. Rather, the Hound supposedly died from wounds he sustained in the fight at the Inn with the Lannister men. It was in the Riverlands that Arya left him to die, and then rode to the nearest port to go to Braavos. The closest Brienne ever came to her was learning from various sources that he was seen with a Stark girl, who she initially thought was Sansa. She later learned that it was Arya, and that the Hound had apparently died.
This, like many other elements left out, was a very important part of the story’s rich background. Tyrion’s attraction to ladies of the evening, coupled with a deep-seated mistrust of them, all grows from this romance that ended in heartbreak for him. The story of the Horn of Winter is also one of the more mythical and fantasy-based elements of the ASOIAF universe, so I was sad to see it left out.
It washed up downstream where the Brothers Without Banners found it. And it was there that Ser Beric Dondarion, asked Thoros of Myr to resurrect her as he had done for him so many times. However, tired of playing God, Thoros refused, and Dondarion, himself sick of life, passed his life force to Catelyn with a kiss. You may recall these characters from Season Two, where Arya spent time amongst them before being kidnapped by the Hound.
And the fight scene between the Hound and Brienne, while it didn’t happen in the novel and was much like other unpleasant changes, it made for some good watching. While it didn’t effect any changes in the plot, it wasn’t useless like Yara’s attempted rescue of Theon or Jon’s and Bran’s near-reunion at Craster’s Keep. And the way they handled the Hound’s death scene was not only faithful to the books, but really well done!
This he does, which kills most of the Wildlings and sends the mammoth running. One of the two giants is then killed by a Scorpion up on the Wall, sending the other into a rage and leading him to begin prying the gate open with his bare hands. Jon arrives below and tells Grenn and the others to get to the gate an hold it at all costs. He then has Sam unlock Ghost from his cage and begins fighting his way through the Wildlings.
Cersei follows, and tells them of the threats Tyrion made to her and her son before the Battle of Blackwater Bay. Varys is next, who claims that Tyrion not only threatened Joffrey at a meeting of the Small Council, but that he openly expressed sympathy towards the northern cause and Robb Stark’s death due to his marriage to Sansa. Tyrion tries to sway him, reminding him of how Varys told him he saved the city, but to no avail.
What they did in the show, by comparison, was completely superfluous and insipid. One, this never happened in the books. Like just about everything else they are doing this season with Stannis and Jon Snow, it’s just to keep the characters involved and off script. Two, the Dreadfort is an inland place on the other side of northern Westeros – which would make it unreachable to Yara (Asha) unless she had been at sea for months and sailed all the way around the south and back up (see the map at right).
Stories by Williams 