Nihilism Had NO Place in the Game of Thrones Series Finale

Before I begin this review, I would like to urge you to pick up the A Song of Ice and Fire book series. Published by Bantam Books, it is currently on sale and under $30 for the five novel set and includes:

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings (a personal favorite)

A Storm of Swords

A Feast for Crows

A Dance with Dragons

I own a leather-cloth bound box set of the series, along with The World of Ice & Fire lore book that I purchased years ago on sale with a hefty coupon from Barnes & Noble. I’m not just shilling the books, I own them and seriously the story is night and day from the adaptation. Here is a link to the ASOIAF set, and even a link for a Free 30 Day Trial of Amazon Prime for free shipping in case you’d like to pick them up.

Seriously, it is worth the investment.

If I could describe my feelings after the series finale of Game of Thrones, it very well may be disappointment. All anticipations for beloved character’s burnt, ashes flowing in the wind. To be quite honest, when Drogon burned the Iron Throne I thought to myself – “that is the perfect summation of my feelings right now.”

There were discrepancies I observed while watching, one of the more glaring things Dany’s increased Dothraki and Unsullied forces, coupled with Tyrion being “small enough” to fit through the hole in Maegor’s Holdfast. Never mind him strolling through the space that seemed immense last episode, but he just happens upon his dead siblings – golden hand gleaming in the dimly lit room apparently.

Never mind Drogon not killing Jon, but rather – (after it is established that dragons are no smarter than dogs) – has the sentience to burn down the Iron Throne, grab Dany and presumably sail to Essos or something to bury her there. Yes, I said bury since this dragon apparently is smart enough to know she is deceased, but not smart enough to take down ballista’s on its own volition episodes earlier.

There were so many things – like doesn’t wildfire burn longer than normal fire? Why was Arya still in KL? Why was the horse necessary (or alive) when Tyrion finds the charred remains of those special extras from last week and he only walked one block? Why is the same bell that was destroyed when the Sept of Baelor was blown up in this episode as well? What gives Grey Worm the authority to continue ruling the city? How is the population of King’s Landing not decimated? Why did the other lords mock Samwell Tarly when he suggested they end Feudalism? When did Sam have enough knowledge under his belt to become Grand Maester of KL? Had he even received his first chain yet before he left the Citadel?

And then we had the nameless Dornish Prince, some random guys who I presume were with the other lords, fucking Bronn of the Blackwater and a GROWN UP, non-sickly Lord Robin Arryn!

Sweet Robin Arryn is all grown up and dapper to boot!
Sweet Robin Arryn is all grown up and dapper to boot!

Why on earth didn’t we get to see the little lording get to grow up on screen with the rest of the cast? It would have been great! I just realized how much I would have loved to see the rest of the seven kingdoms again. Where is the new Dornish Prince from? Which branch of the Martell family? Is he a lord from a lesser house made Prince? Is he a descendant of Nymeria?

So Sweet Robin was cool with his cousin borrowing his forces for half the series? Why did Sansa tell Lord Edmure Tully to sit down? It was kind of rude. I wanted to hear his speech, because that is what Lords in this show used to do…give (slightly) pompous speeches that were informative and just awesome.

An insight into the internalized narrative on display with colorful words and pomp and circumstance. I wanted to hear that so badly, it made me sad when he stupidly sat down and almost missed his seat.

I know captivity can age a person, but when did Edmure get so old? Are they trying to say he is out of touch? He never was. He cared about his people and was innovative, that’s why he was captured.

And what the hell was that with Bran saying “why do you think I came back” in reference to being King of the six kingdoms? I’m sorry – so is he implying he knew he would come out on top and everything had to happen, people like Theon Greyjoy had to die, Daenerys Targaryen had to die – because it “brought them where they are today?”

Get the fuck out of here. Bran the Broken, ruler of the six kingdoms. Sansa is Queen in the North, and honestly I am fine with that. I am a Sansa Stark loyalist and apologist. She is my favorite show and book character, so I wanted her to have her comeuppance and prosper. After all, Sansa was the only one who really cared for The North and a Stark must always be in Winterfell – because reasons.

And you know what? I’m not even going to talk about Dany’s arc, or Jon’s because it was massacred. Did she really not sit on the damn chair in the time it took him to mope through the ashes of KL? I am just so depressed over that, and Tyrion trying to justify why she had to die while listing her SELFLESS, and NOBLE past achievements across Planetos

Also, screw Tyrion’s speech about good writing – D&D we all saw through that.

Now, for some positive.

The Bittersweet moments of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 6 Series Finale:

Grey Worm deciding to still sail to Naath. I’m still so sorry Missandei had to die. Also, her translating skills would have been useful this episode since Tyrion nor Jon knew what the hell Dany was saying before she was assassinated.

They deserved to be happy together, and frolic with the butterflies.

Arya Stark seems to have taken Elissa Farman’s storyline from the Fire & Blood ASOIAF Targaryen anthology book. While dying of a fatal stab wound, Arya mentioned in passing to Lady Crane “What’s west of Westeros?” so, that’s not all that shocking that she would leave. A more shocking scene would be Arya not taking moon tea off screen and having a whelp from Gendry Baratheon.

Ser Bronn of the fucking Blackwater got…Highgarden? And they made him Master of Coin? Bronn? The selfish foreign sellsword? Richest lands in the kingdom? Oh that reminds me – Davos told Grey Worm and the Unsullied to go live in The Reach, take their likeness as a sigil and start families? Umm did we forget they are fucking eunuchs? Like geez did no one do a quick fact check? You could have even googled it or read the wiki entry. Man…

Ser Brienne completing Jaime’s pages in The Book of Brothers. I kind of wish she told the lesser-known truth of why he killed King Aerys, but it was enough. In the end, Jaime Lannister had about two pages in The White Book, although I vaguely remember some (like Ser Duncan the Tall) or Ser Arthur Dane having four? Please correct me if I’m wrong. I just remember he felt badly about not achieving enough. Maybe now it is enough. I guess Brienne drank some moon tea off screen, and hid her sadness over his death with a stiff upper lip.

Bittersweet indeed. (not sarcasm)

I wonder if we’ll ever get more in the books on whether or not Ser Brienne is related to Ser Duncan the Tall. I hope so, it would be a great addition to her story.

The last high note I will leave this on is the small council meeting. I’m not going to lie, after my initial shock that the room was still intact (I mean time is very loosey-goosey here), my shock at seeing the hand’s chair was palpable.

When was the last time we saw any scheming in Game of Thrones? The political intrigue? The dueling ideologies? Cultural clashes from North and South? Foreign guests from other kingdoms?

By the Seven, it all just feels so hollow. I hate it.

Sam presenting A Song of Ice and Fire was a very nice touch, I truly enjoyed that scene. I think that’s the memory I’d like to hold for this show. (possible jab at Peter Dinklage aside…)

All those years I spent collecting Westeros maps, reading the books, the wiki’s, lurking in the r/ASOIAF and r/Freefolk subreddits…ultimately amounted to nothing in the show adaptation. I don’t think this was George RR Martin’s vision, or his outline.

Bronn is not important in the books, lineage still matters so no way they would put a cripple Stark on the throne, Sam isn’t qualified to be Grand Maester…none of that should have been.

But it was, and it was what we are left with.

Honestly, I don’t agree with much of the writing from mid-season five on, but it is what we were left with. I thank the actors and actresses for caring enough about their characters that they felt real all of these years. I imagine their faces and voices as I read and re-read the novels in anticipation for The Winds of Winter.

Thank you to the production crew, who worked tirelessly to create an absolute visual masterpiece. There will probably never be another Game of Thrones-level-production in my lifetime. And that’s okay, it was truly a delight to watch. These are memories I will always hold dear, and I know the cast & crew will go on to have bright futures. Thank you for all of your hard work – truly. Thank you for bringing this fandom, this world of Ice and Fire to life. It was marvelous, and I loved every minute of it.

Again, I don’t agree with the writing, and going forth I see just how important character-driven narrative really is in a revolving door world full of houses, titles, and misandry. I think a lot can be learned in this regard. How to put the writing, the characters, the core of your plot before all else. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it looks cool, but thematically makes no sense. That’s not what your audience will remember.

They will remember the stories they sympathized with. What made them laugh, what made them cry. Who they saw themselves as, how they envisioned their friend’s journey ending. It is that deep when it comes to fandom. As I mentioned before, I like Sansa. She is my favorite character and I am happy with her character arc in the end. It makes sense she was rewarded.

I am not happy with Bran presiding over all, smugly from a wheelchair and flitting off to go to Three-Eyed-Raven stuff whenever he pleases.

That was not earned. And Hodor did not deserve to die. Jojen Reed did not deserve to die. Summer did not deserve to die. Meera Reed did not deserve to be cast aside. If Bran knew the outcome, there was no point for this suffering, and I don’t care how many times he exposits “it was necessary” for the outcome when he knew the outcome would benefit only him. That is selfish, and not the boy who went beyond the wall.

Brandon Stark really went beyond the wall a prince, did nothing, and came back a king – and that utterly disgusts me.

I don’t like this new person. I never got a chance to know him or his motives, therefore I do not care.

This is how writing shapes a story, shapes a reaction, and shapes a dynasty.

Game of Thrones will make television history, but at its peak it will be remembered for all the wrong reasons – leaving a sour taste in our mouths at the disservice done to our friends, our family – these beloved characters and actors we quite literally saw grow up in front of our faces.

And that is a damn shame.

I do hope George finds it within himself to finish his novel series, I would love to read it. If he doesn’t, que sera sera.

At this point, the story is over for me. The novels remain in an endless loop, suspended storylines that hang in the balance – the gap filled with our imagination. But that is the nature of fantasy, the deepest recesses of our mind coming out to mingle with the fragile reality that surrounds us. Sometimes it is amazing, and sometimes you are hurt. And sometimes, you feel both of these emotions simultaneously, like that of the series finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Thank you for reading my reviews, all of them can be viewed here. If you enjoy sci-fi, stick around and bookmark the website. I’m doing reviews of The CW’s The 100 on Tuesdays, and will be doing sporadic Netflix and television show reviews.

This is also my author site for my Solarpunk novellas, so I will begin talking about those soon. The site will be fixed of any optimization and overall readability issues soon.

Thank you again, and I’ll see you all again on Tuesday after The 100 airs!

⊙ Remember, This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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Daenerys Targaryen, Queen of the Ashes Game of Thrones S8 Episode 5 Review

If you haven’t already, be sure to read last week’s review of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 4 here.

Before I begin this review, I would like to urge you to pick up the A Song of Ice and Fire book series. Published by Bantam Books, it is currently on sale and under $30 for the five novel set and includes:

A Game of Thrones

A Clash of Kings (a personal favorite)

A Storm of Swords

A Feast for Crows

A Dance with Dragons

I own a leather-cloth bound box set of the series, along with The World of Ice & Fire lore book that I purchased years ago on sale with a hefty coupon from Barnes & Noble. I’m not just shilling the books, I own them and seriously the story is night and day from the adaptation. Here is a link to the ASOIAF set, and even a link for a Free 30 Day Trial of Amazon Prime for free shipping in case you’d like to pick them up.

Seriously, it is worth the investment.

You know, in all honestly after episode 5 of Game of Thrones finished airing, I thought I knew what I would write. I got caught up laughing at memes on Twitter and Reddit, but later decided to sit down and write. I planned on talking about how two or three days prior, I decided to just bite the bullet and read the GoT leaks. Saving myself some disappointment, I fully internalized my feelings and while viewing the latest episode subconsciously said to myself “okay, this is going to happen now. Oh, “she goes crazy after hearing the bells” okay this is what they meant, alright that is how he died…” and so on.

I made my peace with the state of the show, and how it would end. I came to terms with that grief, and decided to re-read the books while I waited for George RR Martin to possibly release The Winds of Winter before his death. Not to be morbid, but the man is in his seventies. On top of his age, he takes extra care with his writing, utilizing the “gardening” method where the story unfolds organically before his eyes, rather than forcing an outline and becoming frustrated when it does not come to fruition.

I’ve made peace with that as well.

But then, all of these interviews – real and false – began to flood my social media. Barristan Selmy’s actor stated at some Russian convention that George had finished the books, and made this super-secret deal with D&D concerning the release date. I’m not going to lie, even though it could have been false – it gave me hope.

Then, George makes an angry and seemingly frustrated post on his “Not a Blog” website where he (paraphrasing) states it was a lie, we are all idiots, and people make millions on his novels – including himself. Why on earth would he stall when the show and books actively cross-promote one another?

Broken hearted, I laced up my clown shoes and decided to head to the Freefolk subreddit to console myself with spicy memes. Except, over there, the memes had turned into serious debate and discussions. Revelations that HBO would have given showrunners the necessary budget and episodes to finish the series outright, but Dan and Dave refused.

Which means, the “Jon couldn’t pet Ghost cause of the budget” was a goddamn lie. An intelligence insulting lie after eight years of watching this damn show.

I mean the condescending remarks about the audience being too dumb to “tune their TVs correctly” to enjoy the show by Sapochnik were enough, but this – this is deeply insulting.

I got depressed, and decided to head over to another sub. There were talks that Davos would have been a more interesting POV character during the King’s Landing escape sequence than Arya. I couldn’t agree more.

Then The Onion Knight could even reminisce on losing his sons in Blackwater. And then, you know, remember it was Tyrion’s idea for a chain and wildfire…and then remember that Tyrion never discussed the wildfire caches he found under the city with Queen Daenerys….and then you’ll remember that Jaime could have mentioned it to Tyrion in an effort to dissuade Dany from unleashing dragonfire on the kingdom of 500,000 people….that constantly gets buffed to 1 million whenever the show writers needs it to be…so half the residents can come back after last week’s events…just like the Unsullied did in the series last episode…and how despite seeing the Dothraki screamers dying in the Battle of Winterfell and The (Short) Night…only half the forces died because…plot…same way the Unsullied and the Greyjoy Fleets were destroyed taking Casterly Rock…only for the forces not to be diminished……

Wow, I’m putting too much logic and thought into this. Same way as those bringing up that they never knew the KL bells to mean surrender, rather “they ring for horror. A dead king. A city under siege….”

Maybe that’s why Tyrion was really adamant on letting everyone within earshot know that the bells meant surrender.

Gosh, I’ll start the actual attempt at a review now. I just feel so broken thinking about all of the cast and crews hard work being thrown down the drain. Or the fact that no one was even notified beforehand that their characters were killed – no dinners, no phone calls, nothing – just the script shoved in their faces and huge F-you from the greatest writers in the world –

There are no better writers in television than Dan Weiss and David Benioff
There are no better writers in television than Dan Weiss and David Benioff

OR NCW literally fighting with the head writers for Jaime Lannister’s continued character development. Joe Dempsie not being okay with Gendry becoming a track star in addition to world-class rower. Joe obviously “won’t be in Star Wars”.

Lena Headey was also confused by Cersei giving in to Capt. Crack Sparrow’s requests for coital relations, despite seasons earlier Euron Greyjoy proclaimed he would give The Dragon Queen his “big cock”. I guess it doesn’t matter which queen he gives his big cock to, as long as it’s a queen. For…reasons?

Hell, even Euron Greyjoy’s actor, and book fan, Pilou Asbaek was kind of confused.

But I digress…let’s start with the positive first.

Jaime & Cersei’s Deaths

Given the regression of Jaime Lannister’s character arc, in a poorly-written, barely common sense way – it made sense that he would want to die with his twin sister. In the books, the Lannister twins believe they would die with one another. Although Jaime pulls away from her in the novel arc, in the show he never changed at all. Given his ill-written motives for terrorizing the realm to “get back to Cersei” it makes sense if we ignore the reason he killed the Mad King, the reason he wanted to honor his deal with Catelyn Stark, the reason he and Brienne bonded during their time together.

If you just turn your brain off and allow D&D to subvert your expectations, you can almost buy it. Almost.

Then Cersei suddenly caring about the incest babe (?) she is carrying, it makes perfect sense. Oh, for readability purposes, (?) = extremely inconsistent plot point that can’t even be explained away by possibly happening off screen.

In all honestly, Lena Headey and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau acted their behinds off and that is what sold this scene to me. Especially when she said (paraphrasing) “Jaime, I don’t want our baby to die” and Ramin Djawadi really kicks up the score in the background – it was incredibly effective. The Rains of Castamere playing during the credits was an especially nice touch.

Euron Greyjoy’s Death(?)

Credit to the actor convincing the writers to end his disappointing arc by leaving it intentionally vague – a la Euron just smiling on a rock like an idiot. Perfect surmise to a consistently poorly-written character by an actor portraying him the best he could. Kudos to Pilou Asbaek.

The Hound’s Suicide /Cleganebowl(?)

If you ignore The Hound’s iconic “fuck the king” line, his Gravedigger arc from the books that was glazed over in one episode, his remorse returning to the isolated home in S7 with the brotherhood where he killed the father in S4 while traveling with Arya, him talking Arya out of vengeance, and The Mountain being a literal zombie abomination that was only sentient when he came to cracking skulls for Cersei and raping Septa Unella, it makes complete sense Sandor committed suicide by fire trying to kill him.

It makes complete sense that Sandor left Cersei to her fate after telling the highly skilled (?) Faceless Man (??) Assassin(-) who never completed their training and proclaimed she was Arya Stark of Winterfell and was going home, only to leave home and decide to never come back, that Cersei would die of rubble and go home even though she said she would never return.

IF you just subvert your fucking expectations, it makes perfect sense. I’m sure this portion was part of George’s original outline, but it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as it could have been. Qyburn’s death, however, subverted my expectations and even made me chuckle in disbelief. A clear cause and effect death? On Gam3 0F ThR0nEs? With THIS writing? Expectations fully subverted.

(By the way, did Septa Unella also die under rubble like Jaime and Cersei? Did Ellaria sand finally perish from grief, or had she been kept alive to watch her daughter’s corpse, only to be crushed by rubble like Jaime and Cersei? Who is the new Prince of Dorne, since Arianne and Quentyn Martell don’t exist in the show? Is Sweet Robin Arryn, the sickly boy, still alive? Did he consent to Sansa taking his Vale forces despite Littlefinger, his protector’s, death? Did Edmure ever get released from captivity? Does the Riverlands not care about their family in Winterfell? Family, Duty, Honor – anyone? Are the Frey women still alive and thriving? What is the north going to do with all the empty castles? Who is going to teach legitimized bastard Gendry Baratheon how to rule a fiefdom and be Lord Paramount of the Stormlands? Does Edric Storm even exist in the adaptation?)

Anyway…

Tyrion’s Final Goodbye to Jaime

Peter Dinklage mourning the death of his character Tyrion Lannister, his backstory, and portrayal to a senile Nikolaj Coster-Waldau after he remarks he never cared about the innocents made perfect sense. It was a surreal, beautifully eloquent, performance. I expected no less from the amazing cast of GoT who has been with these characters for over eight years. Of course they understand their motives, desires, hopes and wishes. And George RR Martin told them something about their character only they knew, which drove certain scenes with that in mind. Fabulous acting, top-notch production, terrible writing.

A complete tragedy.

Varys’ Death

The Spider, the Spy Master of Westeros who stopped utilizing his little bird network and having intellectual spars with his nemesis, Littlefinger. Varys, who kind of forgot about poison being the weapon of choice for women and eunuchs, deciding to kill the Mad Queen on little to no developed foreshadowing.

The little birds, tongues not cute out, openly talking about treason with the queen a few castle rooms way. Varys, who had secret hideouts and employed various disguises because he is a goddamn mummer.

 Varys, for the realm, who never laid out his plans until now.

Who smuggled Tyrion out of Westeros and into Essos after murdering his father and lover, is betrayed by Tyrion, who was smuggled out of Westeros and into Essos after murdering his father and lover by Varys, who had a clandestine meeting with Ned Stark in the dungeons before his death in season 1. Only the dragon would know the tunnels, a Blackfyre that shaved his head and powdered his skin to hide pale white hair.

Varys,  who was accused of treason by Tyrion who only moments later, commits treason and frees his ungrateful brother to ride hard to King’s Landing, get his incest sisterwife, and hop on a dingy and survive the harsh waves that break lesser ships in order to sail all the way to Pentos in the east.

A map of Planetos
A map of Planetos

Tyrion, who despite spending a season in the east is still too stupid to speak Valyrian, or Dothraki,  whatever other cool languages the show forgot about until Dany needed to be mysterious and foreign talking to Grey Worm in front of Jon Snow, her nephew who she is madly in love with (?) and is really distraught over because he won’t bang her anymore.

Tyrion, who talks the Unsullied loyal to Commander Grey Worm into believing he outranks whoever gave the orders to guard his brother, the Kingslayer, from warning his sister, Queen Cersei, whom they are at war with because – screw patrilineal succession and believe incest babes! Screw the smallfolk. Screw plot continuity.

Then Dany kind of forgot her history of preserving the innocent and being a champion, queen, and mother to the common folk. Arya kind of forgot that just because she has Valyrian steel plot armour, it doesn’t mean the mother & child extra’s do as well. Jon says she is my queen, I don’t want it, screams at some Northern soldiers and the episode kind of ends there.

I kind of forgot what else happened, might have been a fever dream. Someone call the maester and bring me milk of the poppy so I can rest easy tonight.

I’ll leave this review off with a mini compilation of Kit Harrington not giving a damn.  

Were your expectations subverted in the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones? Largest Television production in history that single-handedly saved HBO from becoming obsolete? Loved by millions of fans globally whose outrage is being mocked by edgy MSM outlets and websites as “expecting too much”?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to bookmark this page and come back next Sunday for another Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode recap and review!

(Also The 100 episode 2 and 3 reviews will be up soon! I haven’t forgotten about the show! I’d never turn my back on a well-written narrative story that doesn’t insult my intelligence each time I watch!)

⊙ Remember, This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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Sansa Stark is Playing the Game of Thrones and WINNING

If you haven’t already, be sure to read last week’s review of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3 here.

I’m actually really pissed that Missandei died. At first, I was mildly upset. Then I went online, and it was pointed out that she died in chains. Like a slave. Her death has been irking me since. To the point that I am laughing at Ghost memes and wondering what I am doing with my life on a Sunday before midnight.

So, let’s begin this Game of Thrones season 8 episode 4 review, shall we?

I enjoyed the callback to the original plot sporadically sprinkled in this episode. Character motives were back and understandable; drinking games were played in a way that furthered the plot and lead insight unto unsaid words. Jaime and Brienne felt realistic until the clunky writing got in the way. You could see George RR Martin’s original outline shining through, only for Dan & Dave to squeeze the life out of it in an attempt to be edgy.

Jaime and Brienne built the foundation for a friendship in Season 2. Season 3 is where the relationship grew in the bathhouse, the two forming this strange bond through vulnerability while opening up and allowing each other to be seen the way they truly wished. It was a fantasy – yes – but the relationship had substance. Jaime had lingering, dormant feelings for the knight – and acted on them before Tormund Giantsbane even had a chance. As Tormund is crying in his cups, two knights of the Seven Kingdoms consummate their relationship.

Brienne’s mannerisms leading up to the encounter did not feel out of place, nor did Jaime’s awkward attempts at seduction. That is how their interactions had always been – Jaime wanting something and Brienne keeps her distance until she figures out what exactly he desires. Then Jaime’s twincest instinct began tingling after Sansa Stark’s news and Brienne decides to come out in her bathrobe in the middle of winter in the Winterfell courtyard to beg and plead through tears for him to not leave?

That’s not Ser Brienne of Tarth. That has never been her; that was the writers failing to progress her character after a heartache. Sure, she cried when Renly died and she accused of his murder – but Brienne grew stronger. I would think Brienne would hit the kingslayer before acting like a scorned wife whose husband has been out past 3 am and came home drunk yet again for the third time when she made pot roast that is growing cold over the hearth.

Seriously, what the hell was that?

I also thought Jaime had…I don’t know…turned over a new leaf? He seemed intent on staying in Winterfell with Brienne and leaving Cersei to her fate – despite knowing how much The North (and pretty much everyone else to be honest) hated him. When Tyrion asks “how it was” he tells his brother to stop before Bronn bursts down the door to remind us he still has a plotline.

I read theories on Jaime is going back to King’s Landing to kill Cersei, but I highly doubt that. His speech was one of remorse that he could not change who he was, not that he decided to end their codependency.

I think I realized what is wrong with Tyrion these past seasons – he gave up his old character traits. Whoring, drinking, thinking…those are all gone, although the drinking is slowly making a comeback. He’s back in Westeros now, if Cersei dies he can grow a vineyard to make his wine, Imp’s Delight, while overlooking the veranda and admiring what an absolute shit city KL really is.

Before I get to Dany, I can’t miss the opportunity to rip one on Jon Snow.

I don’t even know where to begin, but the Godswood is a good place. Jon Snow, (former) King in da Norf, (former) Commander of the Nights Watch, (former) Intelligent, and likeable character couldn’t even tell his sisters the truth of his parentage himself? And then when he makes emotionless Bran do it, it fades to black? Really? I wanted to see the reveal, not the aftermath where I can only speculate what was said and why the characters are reacting as they are.

Seriously, Stannis Baratheon died off screen. The Blackfish died off screen. The Waif died off screen. I’m tired of loose interpretations, I want to see these events transpiring! It is so cheap to continually do this to your audience, D&D.

Then as the final slap in the face, he abandons Ghost and tells Tormund to take him beyond the wall? Ghost, who had been with him since the beginning, before he made friends in the Nights Watch. Before he was a king, a commander, a “war hero”. And for what, his cool new pet dragon Rhaegal who proceeded to die like literally an hour later?

I understand the symbolism of Jon letting go of his Stark heritage, but the proud symbol of his Targaryen heritage just sunk 50 ft below the ocean so…what is he going to do about that? What does this foreshadow?

An additional gripe I have with the writing is the purposeful dumbing down of Daenerys Targaryen in an effort to prolong and pad out the series’ story. Why on earth did Daenerys not scout ahead on her dragons? In the after show segment, one of the showrunners said she “forgot about the Greyjoy fleet” – I’m sorry, what? How did she forget she was at war? Before leaving Winterfell, despite Sansa Stark’s best efforts to talk some sense into her and their depleted troops, she wanted to leave and destroy her enemies.

How did you forget about your enemies on the way to destroy your enemies? Did you think the castle would be empty again just because you remembered Storm’s End was empty and needed a Baratheon? Which was hilarious seeing Jaime’s face while realizing the Gold Cloaks didn’t get them all.

Also how do they conveniently have half of their armies left? The Dothraki all charged and their lights went out – how are half of the armorless screamers still alive? The Vale army is still alive? All Twenty Goodmen of The Unsullied that accompanied Daenerys to KL do not equate to half of their original forces. I know some got destroyed by Euron’s fleet (again), but they only had like five boats to begin with and even then – hadn’t Yara’s fleet been destroyed? Whose ships were they riding on?

While I’m on the subject of the Baratheon’s, very quickly I want to mention it was no surprise Arya Stark didn’t want to be a lady and settle down in a big castle. That isn’t her. She’s wild now, like her wolf Nymeria. I love that her and The Hound are setting off again, although I’m wondering if she plans on dying in King’s Landing, or staying by Jon’s side in whatever off-screen plan the Stark siblings cooked up that will be lazily revealed in coming episodes.

I love the set up for Varys’ death predicted by Melisandre, and the simple fact that he was finally doing something. I have no clue how he knew Missandei had been taken, as the little bird network of spies has been long forgotten by the show. In a similar fashion, I wonder if Euron is putting two and two together and realizing Cersei was pregnant before he came along. Then again, Euron isn’t too bright and plot doesn’t seem to matter. I thought it was implied Cersei miscarried, but I guess that is retconned because you know…plot convenience.

All in all, the core plot GRRM outlined tried its best to shine through, but Dan & Dave extinguished every single ember they could find with a grossly fierce aggression. This episode could have been great, but failed at each turn. It doesn’t help that the season’s ending has leaked and apparently it is a complete waste. I won’t look up the spoilers, as I’ve already paid for this HBO subscription and I am determined to get my money’s worth.

Missandei was right, burn them all. Dany’s father the Mad King would have approved.

You tell 'em, Syrio!
You tell ’em, Syrio!

Sigh, it has to be better than this next week – right? Right? Am I the only one who could see the sweat on Dan and Dave trying to explain their narrative choices after the credits in the documentary segment?

Would Tormund have left Brienne cold, alone, and in a bathrobe in Winterfell’s courtyard? Was Sansa Stark right, yet again?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to bookmark this page and come back next Sunday for another Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode recap and review!

⊙ Remember, This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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We Are The Aliens Now

We’re back, bitches!

Welcome to my The 100 Season 6 Episode 1 Review!

Before I begin, I would just like to say that I am so happy this show is back. A couple of years ago I found The 100 on Netflix and became hooked! The past two years I’ve watched the series on TV live as it aired and I got the same giddy feeling watching this episode as I experienced in the past.

So, without further ado – let’s begin.

I love the tone of this season so far. I had read interviews from Jason Rothenberg that stated this would be a time of healing for Skaikru, Onekru, and everyone in between. The visuals were an almost impeccable juxtaposition to season one when the delinquents arrived on Earth. It was humorous that they poked fun at Octavia’s “we’re back, bitches” proclamation before members of Skaikru set foot on the ground for the first time in a century.

There were other nods and call backs as well, from Murphy jumping into the water to the crew thinking they were safe until something horrible unfolded. In which case, was Shaw’s unnecessary death. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that since Shaw and Jordan were the only pilots the risk of losing both was too great – but I mean really come on now. We were barely halfway through episode one of the season and yet again Raven Reyes has to suffer.

I don’t know who in the writer’s room hates Lindsey Morgan but at this point it’s blatantly obvious somebody does. Raven loses the shred of happiness she’s received, but Abby gets to have her Kane and eat it too?

I should explain, I am not a fan of Kane nor Abby. I may be crucified for this, but I’m not keen on Clarke either. It’s hard to survive in the fandom if you are not shilling for #Bellarke to happen, hating Echo for existing and angrily sharpening pitchforks each time Octavia breathes. Not all of the fans are like this, but the vocal shippers happen to always put down others who just would like to enjoy the show without fail. The same thing happened in the Tumblr fandom, and since I use Twitter as a form of social media for this website the hashtags are already filled with walls of text that just say bellarke.

Clarke Griffin is rarely held accountable for her horrible actions in the online fandom, so I was pleasantly surprised when the rest of the characters roasted her every chance they could get. I especially liked Murphy’s one-liners. At the end of the last season, it was mentioned that cryosleep would bridge the gap between time and it would feel as if nothing had changed at all – and I was surprised at how well that worked.

Blodreina letting these pretenders know!
Blodreina letting these pretenders know!

Octavia was put under crying, and woke up with a tear in her eye. It was a very nice detail. An even nicer scene was the Red Queen lighting into Kane over his Jesus complex and not giving a damn when his heart decided to give out after a risky operation. Say what you will about Octavia, but she stands firm in her convictions.

Then again, I may be biased. Octavia Blake, Jasper Jordan, and Raven Reyes are my favorite characters. Jasper and Octavia were the most innocent members of the ark, the pair who failed to adapt to the constant killings and war since landing on the ground. Monty and Harper couldn’t handle it as well, and I didn’t understand Raven’s anger at the couple “leaving them behind”.  Last season these two were prepared to live in the bunker where it was safe but gloomy in an effort to restore normalcy to their lives.

Either way, I think I’ll end my review here. This episode was mainly set up for the red sun illness, hence Emori stabbing Murphy and the spaceship getting stolen to strand them there without a radio. I am wondering how long it will take the rest of the crew to notice they might be in trouble, and whether or not the inhabitants of Planet Alpha will try to dock in the Eligius mothership.

Do you think Becca pramheda has a cult on Planet Alpha? Will Abby go back to popping pills? Why does Raven Reyes always have to suffer? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to bookmark this page and come back next tuesday for more The 100 Season 6 Recaps and Reviews!

⊙ Remember, This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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Where Winter Fell in Game of Thrones S8 Episode 3

If you haven’t already, be sure to read last week’s review of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 2 here.

To start, I would just like to say that even with the brightness turned up on my TV – I couldn’t see much. Therefore despite asking questions on the whereabouts of certain characters on Twitter and message boards after the show, I have no clue if Ghost, Gilly, and a few others are still alive. I am assuming because D & D have made Game of Thrones into a Hollywood-like production, the main cast is still alive.

I do know that Ser Jorah Mormont, Lady Lyanna Mormont, Theon Greyjoy, Melisandre from Asshai and Lord Beric Dondarrion are deceased.

In season 4, Melisandre met with Arya while she was traveling with the Brotherhood without Banners. She gave the young girl a cryptic “prophecy” concerning a darkness swirling inside the girl, and whom she would kill. To paraphrase, Arya would shut “brown, blue and green eyes” forever. We all know how season 5 went, what with Arya joining a death cult in Braavos and forgoing her training to simply waltz back to Westeros. She even became a changed woman on the journey home, as she displayed characteristics previously not had while away in Essos. Then again, that could just be poor writing.

Either way, I saw many people mentioning Arya killing Walder Frey, The Night King and foretelling her murder of Queen Cersei. I would like to remind those people that Meryn Trant also had eyes, as did the stable boy Arya killed and most likely the guards while escaping Harrenhal with Hot Pie and Gendry. I understand the hype train, but fans seem to be forgetting that Arya has killed, and the “important” characters are not the only ones that count.

That being said, is all prophecy simply folly? Arya went on to exploit a cleverly placed chink in the NK’s armour, immediately killing him and ending the eight years of buildup surrounding the long night in one swoop.

So the Azor Ahai prophecy (in the show at least) was nonsense, but what about the valonqar prophecy? I’d be hard pressed if the cast survived the Battle of Winterfell against literal death in their best plot armour, but couldn’t take on Cersei, Euron Greyjoy and his measly little ironborn fleet. I forgot to mention this last review, but I still don’t understand how Queen Cersei found money to pay for the Golden Company. I distinctly remember Daenerys burning all of the money and grain looted from Highgarden during the Field of Fire 2.0. Unless of course, it somehow got through and safely to Kingslanding in the time it took Dany to roast anything within her peripheral on Drogon’s back.

The A Song of Ice and Fire book series seems to be leaning towards all prophecy being folly, but maybe prophecies are self-fulfilling? I know the show is not the books, but Rhaegar Targaryen did not take up a sword until he read something that changed it all for him. It could be argued that Rhaegar himself decided his own fate, along with the strife caused by his (canon) wedding to Lyanna Stark that started Robert’s Rebellion.

Or, I am just looking too far into things.

Bran handed Arya the catspaw valyrian steel dagger last season and in reference to murdering the NK mentions that “no one has done it before”. I surely hope the show isn’t trying to say Arya is no one, when she quite literally says “a girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell” and that she was going home.

The NK decided not to protect his one vulnerability, after all. Waltzing into the Winterfell Godswood with his posse without a care in the world. If Arya killed one person that episode, I was sure it would have been Mel as she was on her list at one point.

Moving on from Arya and her superhuman feats, I’d like to discuss Melisandre. Last season, she decreed that she herself, as well as Varys the Spider were “destined to die in this strange land” of Westeros. Mel took death into her own hands.

After waning faith in the Lord of Light R’hllor, his power allowed her to bring Jon Snow back. After Mel’s banishment by said bastard turned king, she retreated to Volantis before giving Varys the aforementioned cryptic warning. She felt her death near, which is why we were shown her taking her necklace off that glamour’s a youthful appearance. Did she go to Volantis and study ancient texts? or remain in communion with the fire god in order to perform the amazing feats of The Battle of Winterfell? Because without her, the world would have been lost.

Beric Dondarrion also served a final role, his spirit finally allowed to rest. In the books, there are hints at the Lord of Light and The Others fighting an eternal battle – the living vs the dead. Hell, George RR Martin even hinted that Jon is a fire wight as opposed to Coldhands/Uncle Benjen.  

I didn’t enjoy that Beric was shanked in a doorway by a bunch of ornery wights, but at least he finally found peace.

Which reminds me, what level of sentience do wights have? If memory serves correct, at Hard Home they simply ran at Jon, wildlings & company. But in this battle, some wielded swords, others daggers, others acting as if this were a horror film and dragging victims to their death off-screen. In the crypt sequence, one woman was straight up eaten as a zombie would. In the after the show interviews with D & D one of them even calls the wights “zombies” – which they weren’t in the books.

Again, I know the show is not the books but the Others had their own language that sounded like icicles and a society. They were not just these undead monsters who wanted a long night for the sake of being evil. As a matter of fact, one of the Stark descendants is believed to have taken an Other woman for his wife and sacrificed babies along the wall. Another Stark, Bran the Builder, built the wall.

It’s a shame we never got an answer or concise conclusion to why Craster was sacrificing his sons to the Others, and what the Others were using the children for. Yes, Craster didn’t want any competition for his incestuous relationships with his daughters, but he also made a deal with these creatures in exchange for safety while living beyond the wall.

If they were just mindless beings, how would they fully understand the babies were offerings? And does his crow blood contribute to the knowledge of offering acceptance?

I digress, I don’t need to wrack my brain for answers that will never come. At least in visual form.

And then…ugh.

Okay, so let me be real with all of you. It is currently 5:55 pm on Tuesday afternoon. At this point in time, I’ve already tried to write this article four separate times. It is NOT that I am lacking content to speak of, simply I’m not sure what to say.

This Sunday, I attended a Cherry Blossom festival and thankfully got back home before the episode aired but despite this, I didn’t begin watching it until maybe an hour or two later around 11 pm. I haven’t mentioned this yet here, but I have another website. I decided to do review two seasonal shows, which are currently late because I can’t get this Game of Thrones episode 3 review together.

In my excitement this past weekend to watch the show, I didn’t realize it was an hour plus until forty minutes later when I got curious of the slow pace and paused to check the episode timer. Decidedly tired from the days activities along with my brain swimming from the Long Night, I wrote two pages of notes of topics to discuss.

I started my review, but each time I brought up one point I would reflect upon a point earlier in the story seasons ago and discover a plot hole. The first being Gilly and the babe, then Arya’s meeting with the red woman. I would then fall down a rabbit hole, scouring Wiki pages and fan websites to make sure my facts were intact. Then I would write out paragraphs only for it to sound like I was ranting, and proceed to strike the whole argument.

I hated that I couldn’t get the effortless stream of thought flow my last two reviews had achieved.

So I took a break and decided to watch YouTubers and other reviewers – something I usually don’t do until my own is finished as to not influence my thoughts. Luckily they felt the same way, but their arguments brought to mind additional arguments.

The Dance of Dragons had happened? I couldn’t see anything on my tv. I wasn’t even sure if certain characters died, and I hoped others would. Don’t get me wrong, I am attached to these characters but the plot armor bothers me.

Jaime should have drowned when he fell into a lake in full plate armour during the field of fire last season. Brienne should have died earlier this episode when the first wave of wights mobbed her. GreyWorm should have died on the front lines. Jon Snow should have died as per usual, but his plot armor is made of valyrian steel. Tyrion should have died in the crypts. Samwell was literally just chilling in a mountain of wights, no one decided to shank him as they did Beric in Winterfell’s halls.

Why?

The more I thought about it, the more it started to piss me off.

This brings us to the current: me washing dishes while listening to a Jenny of Oldstones hour loop on YouTube, slowly getting annoyed at the slap in the face that ending to a focal plot point in the series had been.

I hopped on a forum I frequent to get away from the story – it is one of the trending threads. People arguing over how rushed the ending was, and pointing out plotlines seemingly erased in D & D’s haste to make things look cool, rather than remembering the existing core story of A Song of Ice and Fire. I pop into Reddit and in the writing sub of all things, Game of Thrones is being discussed and techniques on writing successful cause and effect scenarios. I decided to sit down and watch the news with my mom, and even they are running a story (again) on how some fans couldn’t make out the action due to the lack of lighting.

I’ve decided to re-watch the episode again, gather my thoughts, and post a proper episode review later. Think of this as version 1.0 of the intended article, where I am just venting at my frustration of the story’s direction. It’s not that the episode wasn’t cinematically beautiful and the character portrayals unbelievable – the actors have been knocking it out of the park thus far.

When at the core of it, what bothers me is that this may very well be the only conclusion we get to this story. If George never finishes the books, we are left with the imagery of Arya Stark – a girl who failed her faceless man training, became a completely different character off-screen between seasons – falconing her way past a wall of others to assassinate the big baddie of the series when she struggled to get past a Resident Evil-esque library full of wights.

The NK had been this methodical planner, strategically killing Viserion, amassing an army of the dead, utilizing Crastor’s sacrifices only to get one-shotted by a little girl who had spent the episode in mortal peril to the Night King’s lesser.

Just please, somebody make that make sense to me.

I like Arya, considerably less since season 5, but I like her all the same. What I don’t like is the Azor Ahai prophecy being completely thrown out the window just to achieve an edgy shot of Arya tricking a primordial being with a dagger sleight of hand.

The more I think, the less enthused I am about that conclusion.

So again, I will be back with a concise, elaboration of my thoughts concerning this episode. I don’t think it was bad in the context of D & D’s GOT world, but it was bad in conjunction with past season’s buildup. I have time this weekend, hopefully Saturday night I can write out the review I imagined and not get stuck in plot hole paradoxes.

Did you enjoy the Battle of Winterfell? What would you have changed about this episode? Which characters do you think should have perished?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to bookmark this page and come back next Sunday for another Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode recap and review!

⊙ Remember, This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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Blooming Relationships Despite the Darkness

If you haven’t already, be sure to read last week’s review of Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 1 here.

Wow, there was so much to unpack concerning this episode. I truly wasn’t even sure where to start, because after the credits when the Jenny of Oldstones song began to play it hit me – this really might be it. If George RR Martin is not able to finish the A Song of Ice and Fire series in his lifetime, and Dan & Dave have his outline for certain character’s endgame…this really was our last night with everyone.

These characters have grown on me. Sure, I may have hated some of them in the beginning, or despised their past choices but I actually don’t want anyone to die. And the episode was so…happy? In a bittersweet way. I remember reading that GRRM wanted the ending to be bittersweet, that is if he hadn’t decided to murder everyone in a fit of anti-war rage. We got the closure of a plethora of storylines that we had been following since season one, Bran and Jaime being in the forefront.

The way Bran spoke, it seems he has come to terms fully with his identity as the Three-Eyed Raven. He has really internalized the cause and effect of this world, his universe of Westeros. If he hadn’t been pushed, he never would have gone beyond the wall to become the powerful greenseer he is today. Ser Jaime would have remained a self-absorbed twat, pretending not to be in love with an absolute monster and allowing himself to be continually manipulated.  So in a way, it was necessary for this outcome, this timeline he resides in. In the same sick way Hodor had to have his mind warped.

I really liked Arya this episode. Her conversation with the Hound brought a miniscule, but powerful closure. The Hound seemed uncomfortable that she was quiet, remarking that before she did nothing but yap her mouth. Arya simply stated that she had changed. I think had Beric Dondarrion not come to tell us all about his lord and savior R’hllor the conversation would have continued. But Arya realized that things have changed, and the past is the past. She called the Hound (and Dondarrion) pathetic old men before leaving. So, it’s safe to say they are no longer on her list.

Arya then went to practice with her bow, and Gendry is standing in the doorway like a creep. He gives her the new weapon, a dragonglass staff with a retractable feature. She then leads the conversation in a direction we all knew it was heading and even so…I closed my eyes during that sex scene. Maisie Williams is 22 years old but Arya Stark is still just a little kid to me. Be damned even if she has been aged up to 18 years old in Season 8…it was just weird. It doesn’t help that Joe Dempsie (Gendry) looks so much older than her, despite their characters only sharing a five year difference in the books.

Moving on to Sansa, I believe we’ve yet to see her interactions with the Hound. He was in love with her in the books…in the show he came off as simply a creep. I wonder why they haven’t had any scenes together? I saw on twitter a lot of people have suddenly jumped on team Sansa Stark while I’ve been calling her my Queen in the North since season 1. It’s okay though, Sansa is a great character who truly cares about the North. And she also may care about Theon…who still has no cock.

Just as Greyworm and Missandei made plans to return to her homeland of Naath, I believe Theon will stay with Sansa if he survives the last battle. Their interactions were incredibly raw despite their lack of dialogue. It was also hilarious seeing Dany speechless that Theon didn’t come back for her, but out of loyalty to Sansa.

I want Sansa to be happy, but she does not need another broken man. Tyrion was clever, sure – but he was broken. He drank out of heartbreak for Tysha, wondering where whores go. He killed Shae and then his father soon after, and in the books he goes down a very dark route. He is a smart man, but he is lonely and still searching for his place in the world. Joffrey was a monster, Ramsay was psychotic and Littlefinger used Sansa as a proxy for her dead mother, Catelyn.  I would hope she could find someone without such extreme baggage as Theon (who doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going some days) but they did both live through and survive Ramsay Bolton’s torment. In that sense, I can understand that bond blossoming into something more.

Does anyone else wonder where Sweet Robin Arryn of the Vale is, and how he’s doing? Sickly and alone in the Eyrie while his cousin has his troops in Winterfell to fight a literal horde of death and prevent the long night once more? No one else? Just me? Okay.

Oh before I forget, we got Ghost! All of seven seconds…in the background…unacknowledged, just chilling. So, he’s still alive I guess.

Just as Ghost has been neglected and left off screen for us to assume he is fine, I feel like that is an analogy for the Jon-Dany relationship. Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington have zero chemistry between them. As such, their characters have none as well and the relationship came out of left field. They met, suddenly fell in love while she was holding him hostage in her ancestral home and then went dragon riding together amidst some extremely cringy dialogue.

So it was no surprise to me that she was (rightfully) pissed that Jon inherited all of his Northern genes in relation to timing and honesty. The rest of the motley crew was living their last moments, reflecting on how they got there and the battles they survived. Drinking, fucking, singing…and Jon decides to get his newfound identity secret off his chest. I’m not upset he told her, but honestly he has the absolute worst timing.

Dany suddenly is no longer in love because she realized that there is a new obstacle besides Cersei in her way to the Iron Throne. I actually laughed out loud that she didn’t care they were related, only that he was the last male Targaryen alive and therefore, had a stronger claim than her. From her perspective, this is the ultimate betrayal.

She lived in poverty on the streets of a strange land with her brother Viserys hearing stories of her family and their gallant brother, Rhaegar. Dany watched as Viserys slowly descended into madness after selling their mother’s crown for food, began to resent and abuse her, sold her to a Dothraki warlord, and then Dany was forced to murder her brother. She found new supporters, heard stories from Barristan Selmy of how Rhaegar was a melancholy book nerd who sang and made girls weep before reading a prophecy and deciding to take up a sword. She hatches the first dragons seen in centuries, becomes a queen in her own right and finally returns to Westeros.

Due to some bad council, she is left at a disadvantage but still has hope to sit on (what she views as her birthright) – the Iron Throne. She meets a man she kind of likes and after losing one of her dragon children remains committed to helping him and then taking back her realm only to find out that he’s her older brother’s son and has the better claim. The older brother she idolized who became a god figure in her mind screwed her over, and she was screwing his son.

So she is back where she started, forced to kneel to an incompetent man simply because she was born a woman.

It’s got to be quite the mind-trip.

As I said in last week’s episode review, I don’t care much for Show Dany but I adore Book Dany. And it has been quite painful watching Show Dany struggle. Almost as painful as watching Jorah “in love” with Daenerys while softly whispering “Khaleesi” under bated breaths.

I wonder if Jon Snow- er, Aegon Targaryen (the third?) will end up relinquishing the Iron Throne to his aunt. Unless his aunt organizes her nephew to have an “accident” on the battlefield to get him out of the way.

I do know, that the Jenny of Oldstones song holds weight in Jon and Dany’s fate. If memory serves right, the Ghost of High Heart requests the song as payment from the Brotherhood without Banners during Arya’s Riverlands arc. It is based on the wife of Duncan Targaryen, who married the common woman and relinquished his crown to do it. Jon enjoys giving up crowns, as he gave up the North with ease so it could be foreshadowing.

The last scene I would like to talk about is the knighting of Ser Brienne of Tarth. It had been a long time coming for Brienne, especially after the devastation of losing Renly and being blamed for his death. She had been in his Kingsguard, serving and protecting the man she loved. Brienne then protects Jaime and is knighted by a man she may indeed be very much in love with. She will never admit it, and neither would Jaime but they have something. The timing of Tyrion and Jaime speaking on the battlements and Jaime leaving to look at Brienne down below while Tyrion talks of killing Cersei was absolutely intentional. Jaime may not go back to Cersei, and for that I am glad. Cersei was probably sipping wine enjoying the sun in Kings Landing while everyone else is freezing their butts off in Winterfell. I guess the cold from the dead cancels out the natural hot springs underneath the castle.

This had to be my second favorite Jaime-Brienne scene. The first being in the Riverlands at the Tully Castle when they waved goodbye to each other, thinking they would never meet again.

I enjoyed this episode, despite how long it felt at times. I kept checking the timer and being surprised at its pacing. Next week is the big battle we’ve all been waiting for, and apparently the longest of the short season. I look forward to it wholeheartedly.

Before I end this review, can we all just appreciate Podrick Payne and his existence? Not only is Pod a sex god, but he’s got the voice of an angel! And I appreciate that the writers threw in Tormund’s origin story of how he got his name. I remember cracking up when I read that explanation scene in the books, and it was great seeing it come to life in the show.

What do you think the Jenny of Oldstones song foreshadows? Will Tyrion kill Cersei and fulfil the valonqar prophecy? How do you feel about the emerging relationships of the show? Do you think (Arya x Gendry) (Brienne x Jaime) (Sansa x Theon) could last?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to bookmark this page and come back next Sunday for another Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode recap and review!

⊙ Remember, This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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Rethinking Indentured Servitude in America

Happy Black History Month!

Well, it’s actually April now, though. I planned on writing this weeks ago but for whatever reason, I’d been under the weather.

This website is all about sharing my truths, dreams, and visions of the future in an artistic way and otherwise through poetic expressions. As such, I have a yearning to share these ideals even if they are deemed unwise or ‘controversial’. I’ve been struggling back and forth within myself.

“Do I share this story idea?”

“Is it too weird?”

“What if I get a ton of hate from it?”

“What if no one understands what I was going for?”

Then another voice overpowers the doubt (figuratively, not literally of course) and answers these nagging doubts.

“Yes, share it.”

“No, every story is weird at its core once you give it more thought”

“There will always be internet trolls and agendas to control unharmful freedom of speech and its expression”

“Then keep explaining it until its better and more palpable. Refine your writing, hone your skills, and become the best version of yourself you can muster.”

So, here we are.

Today, I will talk about Indentured Servitude in America. It will not be anything like your 6th grade textbooks that show one illustration of the trans-Atlantic slave trade your grandparents never heard of, one (seemingly photoshopped) “negro auction” poster, or the stunning lack of artifacts cementing this time period – salve an ‘enslaved’ person in a white family’s photo album or two.

And no, we are not going the “slavery was a choice” Kanye route in this exploration. Although on some miniscule level I do see where he was getting at. This is not a denial of slavery, generational inequalities, racism that upholds the capitalistic system, the prison to pipeline, wealth gaps and other societal issues that plague a plethora of melanated people around the globe.

I am not minimizing or erasing any one body’s struggle. I simply don’t think it happened the way it did.

It always interests me, how many of our families came from the South. Most even have stories from the older generation about certain tribes they belonged to – which are written off by the younger generation as “self-hating”.

But then it stops there.

There is no research on the other parties’ vocative concerning the “Out of Africa” Theory. Which at its core, argues that since those with melanin oftentimes share the same features (darker skin, darker textured hair, wider noses) that they all came from Africa so they are indeed African. There is no account for cultural differences, aesthetic differences, even jumbled languages between a people – which all falls under the umbrella of Pan-Africanism.

Again, if you are African by no means this is not an offense.

I’m mainly speaking to the Black Americans who call themselves ADOS (A Descendant of Slaves) proudly without even searching their genealogy.

“Well I descend from a slave, there are no records. I don’t want to read about the family that owned me-“

They’d say, to which I’d reply “the information is there”.

Yes, there were a few choice records that were burned which is unfortunate, but there are things that can tell you if your ancestors arrived on a boat, or otherwise. I will go much deeper into this in later posts, as I am also in the process of researching my roots.

My grandparents always proudly claimed they were indigenous, so that is the knowledge I grew up with.

Despite saying this in during grade school ages and getting teased because I (and to quote) didn’t “look like the Indians in the textbooks”.

Which now that I am older, I’ve learned a lot of those on the reservation are of mixed European/white bloodlines that admit tribal citizenship on phenotype, or the color of your skin or the looser texture of your hair. Then again, the five major tribes were deemed ‘civilized’ because they interbred with the invading colonizers.

I then learned that there are still thousands of tribes that remain federally unrecognized, or state recognized only – that we never hear about.

I know this is not related, but it reminds me of the first time I learned that only one or two varieties of fruit are sold in the supermarket. I went my whole life thinking that there was only one type, to realize that I had been mistaken and just because I was constantly shown one singular fruit, it did not mean that it was the only breed left of its kind.

You’d be surprised what is really out there.

Anyway, before I go on to the core of this article, I would also like to caution against those who would seek DNA tests such as Ancestry, 23andMe, and the like. Those are mainly used for “entertainment purposes” and the companies make a fat check selling your DNA to private companies once it’s done.

Also just think about this: as I have just mentioned, the major five civilized tribes are intermixed with Europeans. The companies are not digging up ancient bones from ‘cursed’ burial sites and gathering data. So that ethnic group would be tested against those now claiming that identity. If there is a sizeable amount of European ancestry, it is not surprising that on the commercials there is always an old white lady claiming she is “30% Native American”.

This is not a conspiracy people, its critical thinking. Just think about that for a second.

But on to my original goal.

So by now, I’m sure you’ve heard Governor Ralph Northam’s comments, right?

During an interview with Gayle King (CBS), the Virginia man stated “Well, it has been a difficult week… If you look at Virginia’s history, we’re now at the 400-year anniversary – just 90 miles from here, in 1619, the first indentured servants from Africa landed on our shores in Old Point Comfort what we call now Fort Monroe and while—”

Keep in mind, the state of Virginia does not have its original boundaries and names of places have been changed over the years. Did a handful of indentured servants from Africa arrive on the shores of Virginia? Probably.

“But Stories From the New World, you just said that slavery was a choice and there were no Africans. Now there were Africans? This is fake news!”

Slow your roll, it’s not. I never denied that Africans did come to this land under whatever sort of contract, and that some of the Black American population today is descended from these individuals. There is nothing wrong with that. My issue is the propagation of the ADOS term (originally found in the depths of hell, otherwise known as ‘the underground’  forum on Lipstick Alley) without any research into your family’s history. The reliance on textbooks from middle and high school when we know that information is false and Eurocentric.

There are even running jokes about the lie that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. We know that isn’t true, (you can’t discover a continent full of people) yet it is still being taught this very day. Hell, the Columbus statue in Central Park is routinely vandalized with red paint symbolizing blood.

If you know that isn’t true, or that the Mercator projection of the world map is upside-down nonsense, or the basis for 1900s census reports – why do you prescribe to other bold faced lies? Maybe it’s just me, but certain things in this country’s given history have never sat well within me – thus I never internalized them.

I would also like to touch on one other incident similar to Northam’s comments, a ‘Freudian slip’ if you will.

Also keep in mind regarding Indian citizenship, in the 1900s census reports generally the rule was that unless you lived on a reservation you could not be classified as Indian. The taker was also given authority to use their own judgment during classification. So let’s say your family moved off the reservation to settle elsewhere. The census taker could see your darker skin and classify you as ‘Negro’, or Black. Is your wife of lighter skin? Maybe she would be classified Mulatto. But then the one drop rule kicks in, so your children would all most likely be black.

This is called reclassification.

There was a video clip I watched years ago on YouTube that showed government officials in a closed courtroom speaking. One of the men speaking referred to Black Americans as ‘aboriginals’. I could not remember the name of the video so I did a quick google search and stumbled upon this.

PBS screenshot of Rawls article in question

In 2011, Alabama senator Scott Beason came under fire for referring to “African Americans” as “aborigines”.  Of course, when you do a quick google search of the term ‘aborigine’ the native Australians come up as they have heavily been associated with it. But for humor’s sake, the definition is as follows: “a person, animal, or plant that has been in a country or region from earliest times.”

Beason on his comments and recantation

What is interesting, is that I cannot locate the original source article on BusinessWeek or the AP site. The single most interesting thing, is that when you search the ‘Phillip Rawls’ credited with the “Senator in Ala. probe called blacks ‘aborigines’”, the first article you would find is the Alabama political reporters retirement. 

“Senator in Ala. probe called blacks ‘aborigines'”

And that’s it. Of 38 results, only his name is listed once. The rest are others with either the ‘Phillips’ or ‘Phillip’ surname.

This is not what I was originally looking for, but regardless – where is this article other outlets sourced? Why can I not find it indexed on AP’s website when searching the author’s name and the title of the screenshot article as per the PBS video?

I did, however, find an article by Phillip Rawls where he covers the forced recantation of Beason’s statement. Rawls references the transcripts from the incident caught on a wire in question, but does not allude to the supposed groundbreaking article where he broke the story – the one that is continually quoted and referenced despite not being indexed. There is also no internal link to this infamous article.

Rawls’ recantation article on Beason’s Aborigines comment

I would think the journalist would go to his local or state papers, not the San Diego Union Tribune. Maybe I am missing something, but I will examine this further another day. The fact that another website linking to this phantom article returns a dead 404 page in the age of archiving is enough of a mystery unto its own.

BET decides to cover the ‘issue’ of Black American Aborigines

 I don’t put a lot of stock into this organization, but BET also has the same BusinessWeek link in their 2011 article that does not work.

There was a documentary I watched long ago that focused on the “heritage, not hate” argument for confederate flags and a movement lobbying for re-writing the history books in favor of the Confederacy. Along with the closed courtroom video I mentioned, I would like to locate these pieces of media and expand what was written in this article in a new article at a later date.

The last point of interest I would like to bring up.

It concerns an old book by Zora Neale Hurston. The anthropologist and folklorist went around 1930s Florida and Louisiana capturing and transcribing stories in the person’s native dialect. In Mules and Men, there is a story on page 89- 90 titled “Member Youse a Nigger”.

Ole John the ‘slave’ and Ole Massa save an overturned boat of children because Ole Missy (Ole Massa’s wife) expressed it would be sad to lose them because she’s never going to have more children.

John and Massa take the children into the house and Massa tells his ‘slave’ that if he “make a good crop dat year and fill up de barn” and lay the crops for the following year, he would “set him free”.

So the next year John upholds his end of the bargain, and Massa lets him go despite not wanting to “git rid of a good nigger lak you.”

“So he went in de house and give John one of his old suits of clothes to put on. So John put it on and come in to shake hands and tell ‘em goodbye. De children they cry, and Ole Missy she cry…”

They didn’t want to see John leave. John then has his suit on and assembles a bag of provisions. Ole John starts down the road and Massa tells him that the children love him, he loves him and even his wife likes him. But despite all this – remember “youse a nigger”.

The further John got, the shouts from Massa screaming his love never faded, along with the adage of remembering he was still a nigger.

“Ole Massa kept callin’ ‘im and his voice was pitiful. But John kept right on steppin’ to Canada. He answered Ole Massa every time he called ‘im, but he consumed on wid his bag.”

The first time I read this story, my mind was blown. Given all American children are taught about slavery, being born into slavery, etc. – why would the plantation “master” give a negro slave his best suit, free him and send him on his way with supplies?

Which brings us back full circle to another good ole Southern Freudian slip, this time concerning Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and his recent comments that suggested slaves were indentured servants. Regaling the same main stream media outrage and cries of apology from…the main stream media.

Maybe in our old age our subconscious begins to slip further and further into telling the truth?

Who knows, but either way this is something of note and I wouldn’t be surprised if they try and get this man to retire. This is the second time he has essentially spilled the proverbial beans. But this is my truth, something I prescribe to. I invite you to do your own research on subjects of interest, and to never blindly accept anything you see or hear without your due diligence.

 I’d just like to put this out there, in the hopes that it sparks a chain reaction of research and morally, factual, and socially constructive dialogue on truths long hidden in this country of America.

Is there a difference between indentured servants and slaves? What do you make of these comments concerning the ancestry of Black Americans? Do you remember the stories your grandparents or the older generation told you as a child?

Leave your thoughts in the comment section, I’d love to hear from you! Also, be sure to bookmark this webpage and check back for more content soon! We’ve got some episode reviews coming up in April and the exploration of the Solarpunk theme as well as more Stories From the New World!

⊙ Remember, this world is a shadow of the real one.

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The King Who Was Not Promised

Whew, this Game of Thrones episode was definitely a strong one!

I don’t even know the title of the first season 8 episode, so either HBO really kept things under wraps or I was that successful at avoiding pre-season spoilers. As I type this I fondly think back to the terrible spoilers that leaked and a horrid, fan-fiction riddled season 7 that came into fruition. But I have high hopes for this one; and it is especially bittersweet that this may be the only end to A Song of Ice and Fire we receive, given George RR Martin’s current writing pace.

But enough of that, let’s get into the episode review. Shall we begin?

A few years ago, I had a YouTube channel. It was not very successful, but I had a lot of fun with it. On this channel, I covered many things and I made a video that has since been deleted. It raged on Jon Snow and his absolute and utter stupidity in The Battle of the Bastards. I am sorry to any Jon Snow fans, but I still dislike his character. Heck, after Season 5 of the HBO show I hate a fair amount of characters I love in the books. Arya used to be my favorite show character, until she decided to completely forget herself and take a stroll to smell the sweet Braavosi air with a death cult hunting her. I guess getting a haircut and holding her sword with the wrong hand was more important than living.

I digress.

Sansa Stark still remains my favorite book and show character and I will forever be a Sansa Stark apologist. Say what you will, but that girl survived and has prospered despite hardship. She killed Littlefinger, who pretty much started the War of the Five Kings. Even Daenerys, who I loathe in the show but love in the books is tolerable in the adaptation despite Emilia Clarke’s best efforts to… ’emote’.

But Jon Snow, King in da Norf, Lord Commander, Bastard of Winterfell, then the True Ruler of the Iron Throne, The Seven Kingdoms, etc. I just cannot condone. The show has forgone various Westerosi customs in an effort to pacify the dumbed down masses (or at least that is how they treat their audience) but I simply cannot understand why The Northerners would place a bastard on the throne or make him even Lord of anything when Sansa is the rightful heir. Brandon Stark has decided to become a psychic tree, Rickon is dead (and no one still cares, poor thing), Arya doesn’t want Winterfell anyway and Robb is gone so by birthright it should be Sansa’s. Now Aegon gets the entire realm too?

So with these feelings in consideration, seeing Jon and Dany have a “How to Train Your Dragon” moment where he just hops on Rhaegal had me rolling my eyes. I wanted to die of cringe when the two are randomly dropped off near a cave and Drogon seems to egg on the incest. I can understand the symbolism of the caves in relation to Jon’s past relationship with Ygritte,  and that he rode on Rhaegal which was named for his father, Rhaegar – but C’mon!

Dany (at least in the books) grew up hearing stories from Viserys before he inherited the Targaryen madness. Surely he would have told his sweet sister that only the bloodline could “wake the dragon” or get near one.

Dany even brings up these stories in the teaser for episode 2 when Jaime is seemingly put on trial for his crimes. Unless, this is being retconned now that Tyrion had contact with the dragons while in Meereen. Or, Tyrion is a secret Targaryen, and Varys a Blackfyre as theories suggest. Either way, I hated that sequence.

I also remain unsure of what exactly Euron Greyjoy’s endgame is. Euron told Yara he wanted to “fuck the Queen” and he somehow manipulated Cersei into bed. Cersei then strategically strokes his ego by implying he was a great lover, much better than her twin brother. The illegitimate Queen then tasks Bronn the sellsword with killing Tyrion and his new best friend, Jaime Lannister.

The terrible thing is, I think Bronn might actually do it.

Yes, he did show loyalty to Jaime during the Field of Fire in season 7 when he forewent his bag of gold to try and kill Drogon with the anti-dragon ballista. The mercenary has shown loyalty to Jaime, but that love was lost on the younger brother Tyrion. He would kill Tyrion as he has nothing more to gain from the Imp. Last season, he made his stance clear on where he stood before the culmination of the silly “let’s show Cersei a wight and maybe she’ll help us” plotline.

It will be interesting to see what his ultimate choice is.

Heading North once more, Jon and Arya’s reunion was not what I expected. Obviously, Jon does not realize that his little sister is a member of a death cult who kept a list of names to kill as a lullaby over the years.

Jon also does not realize that Arya and Sansa are closer now that Littlefinger is dead. Because Jon Snow knows nothing. I did not expect Arya to threaten him in a way reminiscent of Cersei threatening Jaimie if he ever betrayed the family.

Could Arya have it in her to kill her dear brother?

And where is Ghost? Does the budget still not allow the direwolf to show his face?

Arya had two other fateful reunions simultaneously with the Hound and Gendry Rivers. The conversation with the Hound went as expected – there were unsaid emotions that spilled into insults and empty words. That is how those two always communicated, insulting one another while hiding their wounds. I think Sandor is proud of Arya and her survival. I guess we got his real emotions when Brienne informed him last season that Arya found her way home, and that she was strong.

The conversation with Gendry was everything to me. He even called her m’lady, which was a throwback to their time with the Brotherhood without Banners. And Arya…flirted with Gendry? I know the age difference is sizeable in the books, but in the show I desperately want Arya to find happiness even if it’s temporary. Before anyone says it no, she does not need a man to make her happy. But those two had something all those years back, and as Arya wanted Gendry did end up coming to work in Winterfell. Which technically makes her his lady. I think that’s pretty neat.

I do wonder what schematic Arya handed him, as she already has a  Valyrian steel dagger. A dragonglass dagger would never compare. Maybe she has other plans? Did her creepy psychic tree brother whisper something in her ear about possibly needing one without giving a reason?

The shift in Brandon Stark from touching that last weirwood to entering Winterfell was jarring. The Three-Eyed Raven completely took over his personality out of nowhere, although Meera does lend some explanation. Bran died in that cave beyond the wall with Summer, although we didn’t see these effects until he arrived back home. It can also be pointed out that Bran showed emotion while hugging every sibling except Sansa. If I believed in Dan and Dave’s abilities to foreshadow I would think that actually meant something and wouldn’t just chalk it up to bad writing.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this show. I just can’t ignore poor plot points and characterization that apparently changes each episode.

I would like to touch on Sam Tarly and the beginning of dissent in Jon towards Daenerys. Samwell is Jon’s best friend, and Jon’s new woman murdered House Tarly. On top of that, the man formerly known as King in da Norf finds out House Glover has betrayed them and that he’s been banging his Aunt. While I enjoy consequences for his stupid actions, I hate that the others have to suffer because of it. Sansa rightfully pointed out that she does not have enough resources to feed these massive armies, and had Dany not burned those supplies on the Field of Fire last season she could have brought those along to Winterfell.

All of this poor planning is going to bite Jon Snow in the ass, and may result in Arya turning against him. I would like to see Dany’s reaction to this news. I’m sure she doesn’t mind that they are related, after all she was supposed to wed Viserys. Had Viserys been born a girl, he would have wed Rhaegar. The Targaryen’s love keeping it in the family, but Dany does not want a challenge of authority. Rightfully so, despite Sam painting her out to be a heartless villain who would not give up her crown to save the realm.

Jon’s “selflessness” has gotten him killed once, and almost again during the Battle of the Bastards. Jon is reckless and blinded by the same honor that got Ned killed. This was not the excellent argument I’m sure Samwell thought it was. Regents need to be selfish in order to preserve what they already have.

Sacrifices must be made, sure – but when the costs are weighed and correct. If little Lyanna Mormont told Jon she needed to pick an apple he would take off his crown, use it as a lasso, and hand the fruit to her. If Dany were presented the same situation, she would strategize for her subjects to work together and secure all the fruit on the tree. Bad analogy aside, Jon lacks the foresight and tactic necessary for leadership.

That is what got him killed.

No one doubts his love of the people or the passion for his causes, but Jon is so laser-focused on singular goals that he forgets the rest of the world exists. He assumes his honor weighs the same as everyone else’s, and that they will see his point of view naturally.

Sansa tried to tell Jon that the North would not wait for him to return, and they did not.  Even after returning back to Winterfell, Jon fails to see the error of his ways. When Arya points out that Sansa is smart, he laughs it off. Tyrion points out Sansa’s intelligence as well, to which she tells Tyrion that she used to think highly of him.

The power dynamics have changed, the students have become the masters. Jon fails to realize this, he fails to adapt and that is why he does not deserve the Iron Throne.

This was a great first episode back, and I would love to see Bran’s reaction to seeing Jaime again. Well, let’s be honest, he probably has no reaction…but the King Slayer will! It should be glorious.

What was your favorite moment of the episode? Do you think Bronn will kill the Lannister Brothers? In your opinion, where does Jon really stand in Westerosi politics? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you! Also be sure to bookmark this page and return next Sunday for another Game of Thrones Season 8 episode review!

This World is a Shadow of the Real One.

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Uneasy Changes to Your Identity Come 2020

In a few days, I will have a birthday coming up. With my license due to expire, I recently took a trip to the DMV for a renewal. There I learned about new NYS IDs that will be federally mandated come next year in 2020.

So, taken from the New York State website, here is information about the Real and Enhanced IDs.

ENHANCED

An Enhanced license, permit, or non-driver ID can be used

  • to board a domestic flight (within the U.S.)
  • to enter a federal building or military base
  • to cross a U.S. border coming from Canada, Mexico, and some Caribbean countries (it is not acceptable for air travel between these countries)
  • for photo identification purposes

REAL ID

A REAL ID license, permit, or non-driver ID can be used

  • to board a domestic flight (within the U.S.)
  • to enter a federal building or military base
  • for photo identification purposes 

The older identification cards are being phased out in accordance to new state mandates. I remember thinking it was odd that Enhanced IDs specifically aid in the crossing of the U.S. border, but didn’t put much stock in it at the time. The DMV was extremely crowded and even though I made an appointment online, things were moving at a snail’s pace.

I plan on getting my passport within the next two months due to an upcoming planned trip abroad. I figured an extra $30 for this specific ID would be helpful during road travels. Since the standard license, permits, and non-driver cards would no longer be valid to board a domestic flight or enter government buildings.

Nothing else was mentioned about the identification after my barrage of questions to the staff, so just assumed it was the same card with an added American flag icon.

I was required to take a new photo (which I had to pay for even though I didn’t make the request), and two additional photos were taken of me. I don’t know where these went, but I assume into some sort of shady database that thrives on non-transparency.

Today the new document arrived in the mail and surprise, it has an RFID chip inside of it! The same monitoring equipment used on DVDs and electronics in stores to prevent theft.

The document even came with a flimsy RFID blocker.

The card is noticeably heavier and has a jumble of numbers on the backside along with my full name. I tried searching online but not much information popped up save articles from 2015 speculating the program’s implementation.

I’ve read that one reason for the chip is to expedite the work of Homeland Border Security agents but I honestly feel like that is bullshit. I understand that field is particularly difficult (given recent years and a rise in terrorism-domestic or otherwise -) but I don’t enjoy having something in my pocket that can ping, store, and record my information or location.

The simple fact that I now have to be wary of remote skimming techniques not only on what I spend through credit cards, but now my actual being really infuriates me. I will also now have to invest in RFID blockers for a new wallet because that flimsy piece of paper given by the gov isn’t doing jack.

If RFID hackers are able to easily acquire credit card information, how does that translate to my literal identity? Any why is something like this mandatory? Why will it suddenly be more difficult to enter and leave the country in 2020?

If you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comment section below – I’d love to hear from you!

Let me know if your state plans on rolling this new “feature” out, and if so is it optional or mandatory.

Stories From the New World

Remember, This world is a shadow of the real one.

Previous Post: Welcome to the New World

Fun reading for you kitties: Build your own Universal RFID Key

Welcome to Stories From the New World

What do you see when you envision this world’s future?

Is it all gloom and doom, of the dystopian lot? Or is it something much, much greater?

I envision the future as green, with great trees that snake their way into the heavens high above. I dream of streams that run clear and air that tastes as crisp as the sun’s rays on your flesh during a warm, summer day.

I dream of hiking over mountains that come alive with breath at night. Entrances into this world’s secrets filled with hidden occult knowledge of the eons.

I dream of space and its inhabitants, lumbering but sage.

I’ve walked amongst biometric gardens on the moon and felt the warm rays of the sun. The radiation sending the hairs on my skin into a satisfying frenzy.

I’ve flown through time and space and back beyond once more.

I’ve become immortal, in tune with the primordial beings of this earth.

I am free because I have been released of my earthly body’s constraints.

And I love in harmony.

And I live on harmony.

And I live in harmony.

I don’t envision the gloom and doom of dystopian science fiction in our collective nonlinear timelines.

 I see hope, growth and prosperity.

Ancient wonders run about, mingling with our prospective realities.

So this will be what this website is about, and this is the purpose of Stories from the New World.

To bring an alternative solution to the climate situation, while offering elucidation for a new beginning.

Welcome to Stories from the New World!

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