Game of Thrones Season 8 Teaser: The Starks' Final Stand?

The teaser trailer of the penultimate season finally dropped and so are our jaws. But first,


Starring the Stark children (apart from Bran, who I suspect is in his room doing Bran stuff), this teaser may just be a teaser to Game of Thrones fans, but to some of us careful watchers, there are many clues and imagery that can foreshadow the end of the series (or at least the next few decades after the show)

1. Jon's true heritage revealed (and ignored)

Jon is seen walking through the crypts and he passes Lyanna's statue while the tropical bird feather falls to the ground. Jon glances back, as if to listen to his true heritage being revealed, and he turns away to continue head on to his destination (could imply him ignoring his duty to the throne).

Why do I say that? Jon has always been about fighting throughout this series, battle after battle, like what Davos would say:



I suspect Jon would accept the truth of his heritage but wouldn't dwell too much on it as he would focus on being the torchbearer, or Lightbringer? As prophesied to probably be the Azor Ahai, Jon could be a likely candidate as a hint of imagery is used as he is walking through the crypts with a torch in hand, hence Lightbringer.

Now, you might argue, THEY NEED LIGHT DOWN THERE ANYWAY ITS DARK. Well, what about Sansa and Arya? They seem to have candles already lighted for them. That could symbolize their paths already lighted for them as throughout the seasons Sansa had been groomed by Cersei, Tyrion and Cersei while Arya had her training by Syrio Forel, The Hound and Jaqen H'ghar. Just a touch of homage to our characters' story lines.
And that leads to my second prediction.


2. Jon and Arya reunion might not happen (at least not in the way we would want)

Subtle, but there was a detail I couldn't help noticing. When Jon walks towards the Stark girls, he moves to Sansa's side and walks head on instead of in between them, barely acknowledging Arya. I believe, rather sadly, that we might not get the reunion that we have all been waiting for since the pilot episode. But then, when has Arya ever gotten a truly happy reunion?

3. Jon survives but Arya and Sansa do not.

OK, this is a huge detail that many viewers could notice too. As the Stark children face their crypt statues, Arya's and Sansa's look rather similar, almost perfect. However, Jon's doesn't. Jon's statue looks slightly older, with a much longer, well-trimmed beard.

Could Sansa and Arya have perished and Jon was the only one who knew their faces well enough to build their statues for them? Jon's poorly done statue says a lot without words, Jon would eventually die, but there won't be anyone familiar to him that do him homage. Valar morghulis.

4. Arya will go to King's Landing

I'm sure you will have heard by now from other articles or Youtube theories that Arya will be the one to take out Cersei. This trailer makes me so sure of this theory will come to fruition. Arya is seen walking through a narrow corridor, apart from Jon and Sansa who were walking in the crypts of Winterfell. This narrow corridor could be a hint of imagery to Arya's challenging path. The candles could symbolize Cersei's newfound love of fire/wildfire, or should I say the Targaryen's favourite toy.

Arya faces the opposite angle compared to Jon and Sansa, hinting at the children's different pathways in the near future. This leads to my final words of this teaser.

5. Homage to the Stark words: "The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives"

Lyanna's feather consumed by winter
"The lone wolf dies,...

Stark children faces winter
"...but the pack survives"

Here's a bonus tin-foil hat theory, #FORTHETHRONE marketing is really something, isn't it?
Have you ever wondered why they kept mentioning for the throne when actually it may be the other way around? There has been some talk in the tin foil hat community that the Iron Throne, the one that every lord and lady, king and queen has been has been fighting and dying for could actually be what saves the Seven Kingdoms?

Balerion the Dread melted those swords that made the Iron Throne, Valyrian steel is forged by dragon fire, and what kills White Walkers?

Something to think about? Maybe.

Here's the teaser, do leave a comment down below about what you thought of this teaser and put your tin foil hats on and speculate!

When winter comes…
You’ll hear no lions roar…
No stags grazing the fields…
No roses growing in the meadows…
No snakes in the sand…
The krakens will freeze where they swim…
The flayed men will rot and wither…
No trouts swimming in the river and no falcons flying in the air…
Not even the dragon’s breath will warm you in your halls.
You shall hear only the wolves howl… 
And then you will know. Winter has come.

Bumblebee: Why Do I Love The Movie So F***ing Much?

Hi, I just watched the movie this afternoon. Spoilers ahead!

Here's a summarized review: [pls read the rest ;( ]

Pros: Great casting (big props to Hailee) and music, nostalgic, G1 fans are gonna love it, family friendly (yes even the human-killing part), enjoyable 2 hours, tear-jerking, emotional

Cons: cliche story line (can't fault them 100%), cringy at times.

Overall, its a feel-good movie. Deep breath....phew

I’m trying to put my finger onto something about that movie that makes me go on and on in my head, like “its really good”. Like it actually took me half an hour to suddenly realize that hey, that 20 bucks was actually worth it. I actually enjoyed this movie. Thoroughly. But the thing that bugged me was...why?

I had no expectations for it really, other than a hope that it doesn’t disappoint me with a bad story line. Like I actually wanted to enjoy a movie rather than use my head and think in a Christopher Nolan movie or analyzing a deep scene. Ps: I studied film analysis for a bit and I couldn’t really enjoy a movie from then on. “Ooh what does that mean? Why is the goddamn sky blue?”

Here’s a bit of background to my history with the Transformers movies by Michael Bay.
The first three were great. With a ranking of best to worst is probably: 1-3-2 (The villain in 2 was so trash man please)

👏👏👏seriously what a great villain Transformers 2👏👏👏

And let’s forget about the next two movies that came out that just absolutely destroyed the series that was already failing. Let’s just not put more oil to the fire.

The Bumblebee movie. Well fuck, it wasn’t amazing. Nor was it perfect. It didn’t ruin anything much for me. The movie was just...well..refreshing.

Even while typing out this review, I’m still stuck finding a word to describe how I felt or rather (feeling) of that movie. Just a quick overview...Sure, it’s a family movie, it has corny jokes and there were times when I just covered my face cringing whispering “please...don’t do what I think you’re gonna do”. And thankfully it didn’t. Props to you Travis Knight.

And yes, I’m talking about the “romance” scenes between Charlie and Memo. Great casting btw. I’m not done with you yet Hailee don’t worry :p

It’s funny at times, it’s really emotional at times, especially with Charlie and her dad and Bumblebee. Seriously if you ask me, I think this movie should be named Bumblebee & Charlie. Or hell, Charlie & Bumblebee. Honestly, I actually liked, even enjoyed the human characters in a Transformers movie!

what the poster should be like

Pros: Heart-warming, feel-good, great casting,  action-partially-packed, definitely-not-a-blockbuster

Cons: cliche story (but to be expected), cringy at times, really bad bully characters

My probably biggest flaw with this movie is actually the bullies in this movie. It’s so cliche. Three “pretty” and “glamorous” and overly mean girls just walking up to the main character (Charlie) with just sneers and taunts. It’s just...why not give the characters some character. Instead of just having 2D villains like some action-packed movies (looking at you MCU).

OR maybe it’s a thing with ‘80s movies with that kind of cliche but for me the script writers should have just subverted that genre just like how they made the protagonist a female character! And it worked!

Huh, while I was typing this I actually realised the 2nd flaw. Memo. Is. Useless. Like why do you need Memo. Now now now, he’s a cool, corny character but I think most of the cringiest moments or maybe just all of them came from Memo!! I’m actually glad though, a good point for Memo...he and Charlie don’t end up making out on the car or somewhere (like one movie COUGH COUGH SHIA COUGH)

Fun fact, despite me being born in 2000 I actually watched Transformers G1. So, for those G1 fans like me who watched the cartoons back at home for half an hour every episode, you're in for a treat for the first 10 minutes. BECAUSE THEY NAILED IT.

OH. Soundwave and Shockwave were absolutely perfectly voice-casted. The chills ran through me when I heard the familiar robotic "Decepticons, attack" and the generic transforming audio.

“Transformers~, more than meets the eye~“. Ooh the NoStaLGIA. 

One disappointment though, they didn’t show the big baddie.

MEGATRON. Like WHAT. WHY.

Ironhide was there in red and black, Arcee, Wheeljack, Ratchet in the classic red and white, Starscream, The trio fighter jet Decepticons whose names I keep forgetting. It was amazing, just seeing your old characters on the big screen. Optimus, Optimus of course. 

Optimus looks so good~

"Ravage, eject"

"Decepticons, attack"

Now, onto the next big reason why I love this movie, Hailee Steinfield as Charlie Watson was just a splendid performance. 

The talent of her acting in this movie actually brought tears to my grown man's eyes (not saying guys can't cry it's just I hardly cry). Hailee was just so expressive and so immersed in her role as Charlie as a human character and it's just simply amazing. At the end of the movie, I just wanted to give Charlie a hug. Her emotions and the pain in her voice was so compelling and genuine it was tear-jerking. I could go on  Partly due to the fact that she's somewhat relatable to most of us teenagers. She was perfect for this role. And I totally ship Bumblebee and Charlie not with Sam.



Yes. F*** Sam.

The fight scenes were acceptable, enjoyable at some points, especially the final battle with Bumblebee finally taking on Dropkick and Shatter. Great Easter eggs. That semi-truck at the end was too hard to not miss. Also, to my surprise, John Cena actually brought a fresh perspective of soldiers in Transformers movies. Thankfully, Cena kept the cool, corny attitude without being exaggerated throughout the movie which I enjoyed. Especially with that salute to Bumblebee brought a chuckle to my lips.

So, a point taken off for Memo and the cliche girls and the cliche plot. A point taken off for no big baddie. Like, even one shot would have made my day. Come on, give us that deleted scene please.

An added bonus mark for the nostalgic G1 comeback style with the Transformers.
All in all, a 8.5/10. 4/5. Splendid, fresh and emotional reboot.


And here's a happy photo~


Also, RIP Cliffjumper.

How Ned Stark's Betrayal can be Predicted

To my dear summer child,

Let me get this straight:  I. Am. Obsessed. With.  Game of Thrones.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the books, A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF to the fandom) that inspired one of, and probably THE most watched and famed TV show of this decade.

However, I must say that the show has collected and compiled thousands of pages and George R.R. Martin’s sweat and blood to translate into television rather successfully for those couch potatoes that would rather stare glazed-eyed at the telly than combing through the yellow-paged novels.

(God, I live for that musty smell, Samwell Tarly most of all)

One of the main reasons I absolutely adore this TV-series (which my dear friend forced me to watch before I became a hardcore fan compared to her) is due to the clever cinematography to symbolize meaning in a scene which readers may just miss while skimming through GRRM’s endless descriptions of the landscape and culture of King’s Landing.

*whispers* thats probably why the last published book was seven years ago

A particular scene was from the very first season, after the death of dear Bobby B.

ALL HAIL KING ROBERT BARATHEON

 

ok back to the point I was making...

We all knew how that scene ended

"I did warn you not to trust me"-Littlefinger

"Bran please see this"-Ned

...when we all had hope that Ned might triumph over the Queen and the little glorious twat Prince Joffrey. 

I mean, he had Varys and Littlefinger along with the City Watch of two-thousand strong!. But, let’s take a step (or a few more) back and observe carefully how Ned’s betrayal by Littlefinger could have been expected.

Camera shots 

Good ol' Ned strollin into the throne room

Props to the directors D&D for using clever camera shots and angles to foreshadow the theme of betrayal throughout the whole scene:

• A tracking shot: where the camera moves alongside Ned as he walks towards the Iron Throne. The tracking shot was lowered as we, the viewers were at the edge of our seat with the death of King Robert (long may he reign). The throne room was lined with the City Watch and Ned looks left and right at them (possibly acknowledging them or in wariness?)

• Use of superior and inferior elements: Here we watch Ned from behind the knees of the castle guards so they are seemingly portrayed as towering over Ned. This could be hinting to us (dear summer children) of Ned’s authority somehow inferior in court (surrounded by enemies).

• Plotline tip: Before this scene, we all know (or at least we expect) Ned’s plan.

1. Ned has the support of Varys and Littlefinger alongside the City Watch.
2. He’s gonna declare his rightful place as Regent as decreed by Bobby B.
3. And if it all fails, he has the two-thousand City Watch to back him up.

Now I’m sure most of us (definitely not me 😀) were shocked at how the plan was completely turned upside down. My dear sweet summer child, if you haven’t realized the point I’m making.... 

WAKE UP.

RULE NUMBER ONE:

Whenever you hear a plan being formed by the characters, especially a detailed one with the odds in our heroes favor,
IT.👏WILL.👏 NEVER.👏 HAPPEN.👏

Remember this?

honestly what happened to tyrion in season 7

Royal prick on a spiky chair

Establishing shot: now this camera work is interesting, this “establishes” the meaning of the scene as the shot lingers from behind Ned’s back as he approaches the throne.

It is a known fact that the King is guarded by the seven white knights of the Kingsguard. However, in this establishing shot, Lannister dominance over the throne is heavily implied as we see Lannister guards clad in black and red armor behind the King, almost implying to us summer children that we should always watch our back. 

And this should alert us to this fact: you know who else needs their back watched?

this boi

Sweet summer child: "Knights are so elegant! They’re so honorable and lovely and handsom-"

me vs all the sweet summer children

*i do not condone slapping kids this is just a joke pls*

Ahem. Anyways, I would like to talk about two hints of symbolism. Guess where I found them.
Go on. Take a guessssss.

Clothing. Yes, I'm really milking this goddammit.  

Firstly, the men of the City Watch are clad in grey chainmail armour. Grey. A colour of neutrality in the world of Game of Thrones where all summer children should know it is not black and white.  The grey could symbolize the irony of the idea that the knights and the men of the City Watch are neutral in nature.  Because men in King’s Landing think of two things:

This irony further explains how the grey neutrality could warn us to be wary of these supposed “knights” that guard us and fight for the righteous. (could also imply to the modern era of how people of power can be influenced by money and greed) Anyways...

The second hint was displayed by none other than Cersei Lannister. We all know she hates her late husband Robert so is it really a surprise that she decided to wear new royal gowns instead of a mournful black?  With her husband’s death, Cersei gains more power in her own right, and suddenly her clothing switches to commanding and authoritative colors.

Just look at her hair. Wasn’t that the first thing you noticed different about her?

Before

After

Her dominating braided hairstyle almost crowns her new status (I AM QUEEN REGENT). She is draped in a bejeweled body chain that signifies her richness and status. Her winged, brocade gown in an eye popping emerald green is queenly and bold in nature, suggesting her confidence in putting her bastard son on the throne and ending Ned’s plot to overthrow them.

(I'm a Cersei fan in case you haven't noticed)

And last but not least,

I have to commend the actor of this guy, I mean the first time I saw him here I just knew, just his smug face trying to keep a neutral look. “We stand behind you Lord Stark”, Janos Slynt.

Hah. Hilarious. Well done D&D. Milking our hope for Ned’s success. From the moment you saw that weasel-face you should have already known he's gonna backstab Ned.

Here, let's all relive this scene again to refresh and see if you can spot the hints and if you want to share your own analysis or thoughts feel free to comment below

Oh, you're still here. Well here's my final say on this matter. If there's one thing you sweet summer children can take back from this article...

That's all from me now folks, till next time.

Regards,
A Man of Winter