Showing posts with label Game of Thrones Related. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game of Thrones Related. Show all posts

19 September 2019

"Game Of Thrones" Star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Travels To The Amazon With United Nations Development Programme To Discover The Real Story Behind The Fires

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"Game of Thrones" star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau during his fact-finding journey to Peru
"Game of Thrones" star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau during his fact-finding journey to Peru (image via UNDP)
Game of Thrones star and United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has just returned from a fact-finding journey to Peru, where he traveled deep into the jungles of the Amazon with the UN agency to get to the bottom of the causes – and the impacts – of the fires. 

His mission also offered insights into the effects of climate change on the hard-to-reach communities living in the Amazon.

"When I saw those images of the Amazon on fire, like everyone else, I felt shocked, powerless and angry. It didn't make sense to me," Coster-Waldau said. "Which is why I wanted to come to Peru and find out why the Amazon is on fire."

What Coster-Waldau discovered was that the deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon, to which the fires are attributed, can be traced back to economic and social inequalities facing the communities living in this region.

Indigenous and local communities play a key role in safeguarding the Amazon rainforest, which covers more than 60 percent of Peru and is critical for our planet because it holds about 20 percent of the river water on Earth.

But in the Peruvian Amazon, many of these communities also face high levels of poverty and inequality and lack basic infrastructure and resources. Most are small farming or fishing villages whose residents live off the forest and often rely on deforesting their plots to grow food and earn a living.
"What I found when I traveled to Peru is that the burning of the Amazon, the deforestation is incredibly complex. But at the core is social inequality," Coster-Waldau said.

"I met indigenous communities, and they explained the awful dilemma they face: They are farmers. They need to farm, not for great profit but simply to feed their familiesThese communities are often living in extreme poverty and have an impossible choice: they are the guardians of the Amazon, but they also have little choice but to clear sections of it in order to plant crops just to survive.

The problems indigenous communities face in the Amazon are a window into not just the impacts of climate change, which have intensified over the past 20 years, but one of its biggest causes: inequality.

If we don't address inequality on a global scale, then we won't be able to fix climate change. It's complex, but there's hope. We have the resources, we have the technology. We just need to do it. We need to come together as individuals, as communities, as nations. And if we do that, we can solve the problem."
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in "A Second Chance"
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in "A Second Chance" (image via Wikipedia - CC BY 3.0)
 "Development challenges are complex, and in Peru, home to the second largest portion of Amazon forest, we have to pursue integrated solutions that ensure that vulnerable communities can accelerate progress towards equality and resilience to climate change," said Maria del Carmen Sacasa, Resident Representative of UNDP in Peru.

About United Nations Development Programme

UNDP is supporting government, private sector and communities in their efforts to reduce deforestation and address climate change in the Peruvian Amazon. Aligned with Peru's national policy framework, UNDP and partners address the root causes of environmental degradation through supporting inclusive governance, by providing technical assistance to stimulate sustainable economic growth and climate proof livelihoods, and through facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships to align public and private finance in support of sustainable development.

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, 
UNDP offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

SOURCE: United Nations Development Programme

11 April 2019

Winter Is Here … 'Game Of Thrones: The Touring Exhibition' Arrives in Belfast with Exclusive Additions

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Michele Clapton at 'Game Of Thrones: The Touring Exhibition' at TEC in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Michele Clapton at 'Game Of Thrones: The Touring Exhibition' at TEC in Belfast, Northern Ireland
To celebrate, 'Game Of Thrones' actors, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Ian Beattie and Liam Cunningham, alongside award-winning costume designer Michele Clapton, were the first to experience the dramatic exhibition, which features costumes, authentic props and majestic settings from all seven seasons, as well as the Winterfell Crypt and Dragon Skull Pit, which have been exclusively added for Northern Ireland.

Designed specially by GES Events in collaboration with HBO Licensing and Retail, the must-see exhibition is the largest public display to date and offers fans an interactive and immersive Game Of Thrones experience like no other.

From 11th April through to 1st September 2019, fans can have an up-close and personal look at the ancient dragon skulls, ranging in size from about that of an apple to the one belonging to Balerion the Dread, which decorated the throne room in the Red Keep until King Robert Baratheon had them hidden away in the catacombs.


Isaac Hempstead Wright
Isaac Hempstead Wright
Visitors can also see publicly for the first time the vast and sacred crypt of Winterfell, guarded by stone direwolves, to pay their respects to six of the Stark ancestors as well as explore the settings and view authentic artefacts from:

  • The wintry landscapes of the North
  • The tree-lined pathway of the Kingsroad
  • The regal settings of King's Landing
  • The conquered city of Meereen with its garrisons of Unsullied warriors and the loyalists of House Targaryen
  • Iconic settings like the House of Black and White
  • The home of the Night's Watch --- Castle Black
  • The frozen lands Beyond the Wall
  • The show stopping centerpiece of the exhibition, the Iron Throne Room
Ian Beattie
Ian Beattie

Venue
TEC Belfast
17 Queen's Road
Belfast
County Antrim
BT3 9DU


Hours of Operation
April, May
Monday – Sunday 10am – 7pm

June, July, August
Monday – Sunday 9am – 8pm


Ticket Prices
April and May
Monday – Thursday
Adult (13+) £15
Carer Free

Friday – Sunday
Adult (13+) £17.50
Carer Free

June, July, August
Monday – Sunday
Adult (13+) £17.50
Carer Free

Liam Cunningham
SOURCE: GES Events

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1 April 2019

Game of Thrones Takes Over The Fountains of Bellagio [Video Included]

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HBO, MGM Resorts and WET Design Debut Exclusive Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio, Running Twice Nightly at 8 and 9:30 p.m. Through April 13
HBO, MGM Resorts and WET Design Debut Exclusive Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio, Running Twice Nightly at 8 and 9:30 p.m. Through April 13
With the world counting down to the final season premiere of the global blockbuster Game of Thrones, fans can experience the on-screen fantasy realm with a first-of-its-kind, immersive production in Las Vegas at the iconic Fountains of Bellagio.

HBO, MGM Resorts and WET Design last night debuted a show that brings to life the epic intrigue, unforgettable music and spectacular imagery of Game of Thrones with a new, limited-run event. 

The production runs twice nightly at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. through April 13, priming fans for the series season finale premiere, April 14.
This is not any ordinary version of The Fountains show: blizzards rage, dragons fly, and for the first time the lake is set ablaze. 

Exclusive Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio - Dragon
Exclusive Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio - Dragon
The collaboration between major entertainment brands MGM Resorts and HBO is a spectacular visual symphony that showcases Game of Thrones and The Fountains of Bellagio as never before through incredible music, pyrotechnics and video projections on a wall of water. 

Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
WET Design, the Fountain's original creators, worked with Game of Thrones' composer Ramin Djawadi to design a custom score that incorporates the show's iconic theme song, while developing a theatrical production that captures its drama and suspense to match.

Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
The production design marries the precise choreography of nearly 800 fountains overlaid with advanced pyrotechnics and special effects, including motion picture theater-quality projections. 

Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
From the green glow of Wildfire and falling snow, to the undead dragon soaring above Lake Bellagio breathing vibrant blue flames that set the waters ablaze, and the crashing fall of The Wall, The Fountains interpret some of the most memorable visuals of Game of Thrones in entirely new ways. 

Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
Game of Thrones Production on The Fountains of Bellagio
Viewers can see the series' emblems come to life in water, including the crown, as illuminated water jets perfectly articulate the arches of a headpiece, and the throne, as intricate cannon sprays crisscross. 

Dynamic visuals interpreting HBO's awe-inspiring graphics include projections of Viserion and the Night King, whose silhouettes culminate the show and provide a dramatic tease to the final season.

The Video:


SOURCE: MGM Resorts

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19 March 2019

The Burden of Secret Keeping in HBO's Game of Thrones

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Game of Thrones - Varys and Tyrion Lannister
Game of Thrones - Varys and Tyrion Lannister
Game of Thrones is full of secrets. Characters keep secrets, exploit secrets, and reveal secrets to build alliances. New research by Columbia Business School Professor Michael Slepian reveals the extent that Varys and other characters in Game of Thrones are encumbered by secrets—both their own and others'. 

As HBO's blockbuster series airs its final season this spring, Slepian's scholarship suggests that one of the greatest burdens its characters have carried through the eight-season mega-drama is not physical, but the mental weight of secrecy.

Slepian, who has used examples from Game of Thrones to illustrate negotiation principles in the classroom, says this scene of Varys promising to keep a secret for Tyrion Lannister underscores the upside and the downside of keeping others' secrets:
"Secrets are worth more than silver or sapphires," says the character Varys, who trades in secrets as the official "master of whisperers."

"Rest easy my lord," Varys says to Tyrion Lannister in an early episode, "I am very good at keeping secrets."

"Your discretion is legendary, where your friends are concerned," responds Tyrion, realizing that he is trapped under a burden of secrecy with Varys.
On the one hand, says Slepian, Varys is taking on a burden because he will have to think about, and conceal, Tyrion's secret. But Varys is also creating a bond of confidence and trust, which is something in short supply among the dueling personalities of Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones - Lord Varys
Game of Thrones - Lord Varys  (image via Zimbio)
Slepian's research shows that secrets are not all equaling taxing. Across four different studies, Slepian, along with co-authors James Kirby of the University of Queensland and Elise Kalokerinosof the University of Newcastle, reviewed 1,000 participants keeping more than 6,000 secrets and found that we think more about secrets that cause us shame than those that cause us guilt.

In one study, nearly 200 participants were asked to recall a secret as well as the associated feelings of either shame or guilt on a rating of 1 to 7. Participants then reported the number of times over 30 days they spontaneously thought about the secret or felt the need to conceal the secret.

"When a secret evoked feelings of shame, the secret was more likely to intrude upon one's thinking in irrelevant moments," according to the paper. This consuming nature of shameful secrets might give new context to season five of Game of Thrones, when a humiliated Queen Cersei—who has long hidden a shameful secret of infidelity—must walk through the streets of King's Landing while a clergywoman cries "Shame! Shame! Shame!"

Game of Thrones - Queen Cersei
Game of Thrones - Queen Cersei (image via Wrath Of The Geek)
Secrecy can have an upside, however. In a separate paper, Slepian and Katharine Greenaway of the University of Melbourne measured the burdens of keeping our own secrets versus others' secrets—and the potential benefits to intimacy.
According to the research, at any given time, we are each keeping an average of 15 secrets for other people. Across three studies with more than 600 participants holding more than 10,000 secrets, the researchers found that the burdensomeness of others' secrets is a function of how often one must actively conceal the secret on their behalf due to an overlap in social circles.

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27 November 2018

Wrebbit Meets Westeros: New Line Of Game of Thrones 3D Puzzles Is Coming...

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Wrebbit 3D Game of Thrones - RedKeep 3D Puzzle
Wrebbit 3D Game of Thrones - RedKeep 3D Puzzle (CNW Group/Wrebbit Puzzles Inc)
Wrebbit Puzzles Inc. is proud to announce a new two-year, worldwide licensing agreement with HBO Licencing and Retail to produce and market puzzles of some of the most beloved landmarks from the blockbuster Game of Thrones television series.
Internationally renowned for their Wrebbit 3D puzzles based on the Wizarding World (Harry Potter) franchise, this new deal brings exciting new business to Wrebbit's already-booming production facility in eastern Montreal
All Wrebbit 3D puzzles are 100% designed and made in Quebec, with the Game of Thrones agreement expected to further bolster business with the company's annual sales and international market penetration. 
Additional economic benefits are also slated to effect Wrebbit's suppliers, 90 percent of which are also locally based in Canada.
"We've always enjoyed a significant presence on the international market, especially in Europe. Now with the CETA agreement and our logistics hub in Antwerp, Belgium, this will ensure a wider and even timelier distribution of Wrebbit 3D Game of Thrones puzzles worldwide, prior to upcoming Season 8 of the series", explains Jean ThĆ©berge, President of Wrebbit Puzzles Inc.
Wrebbit is in the design process for the first two Game of Thrones puzzle models of Winterfell and Red Keep, slated for market in early 2019, just in time for the lead-up to the much-anticipated final season of the series later in the year in April. 
These models will include Wrebbit's trademark high definition graphics, featuring the striking realism that has become the new standard for visual quality, within the company's acclaimed tongue-and-groove technology that allows the pieces to interlock and assemble effortlessly.
Game of Thrones - "Winter is Coming"
Game of Thrones - "Winter is Coming" (Via LoupDargent.info)
About "Game of Thrones": 
(Via Wikipedia)
"Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, the first of which is A Game of Thrones. 

It is filmed in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Scotland, Spain, and the United States. 

The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and its seventh season ended on August 27, 2017. The series will conclude with its eighth season premiering in April 2019.

Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones has several plot lines and a large ensemble cast but centers on three primary story arcs. 
  • The first story arc centers on the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms and follows a web of alliances and conflicts among the dynastic noble families either vying to claim the throne or fighting for independence from the throne. 
  • The second story arc focuses on the last descendant of the realm's deposed ruling dynasty, exiled and plotting a return to the throne. 
  • The third story arc centers on the longstanding brotherhood charged with defending the realm against the ancient threats of the fierce peoples and legendary creatures that lie far north, and an impending winter that threatens the realm."

Harry Potter Hogwarts Collection
Harry Potter Hogwarts Collection
About Wrebbit Puzzles Inc:
Montreal-based Wrebbit Puzzles Inc., one of the jewels of the Canadian toys and games industry, designs, manufactures and markets Wrebbit 3D puzzles.  
With the expansion of its Harry Potter Hogwarts Collection in 2018 and the release of a Diagon Alley Collection, now coupled with the upcoming new Wrebbit 3D Game of Thrones puzzles, the company will have 30+ different models on its list by the end of 2019, including fan favourites like Wrebbit's ClassicNew York and Urbania collections.
Wrebbit 3D puzzles are available in over 40 countries around the world, and can be found in department and bookstore chains as well as independent bookstores, arts and crafts stores, specialty toy stores, mom-and-pop, game and hobby shops, and they are also offered by numerous online retailers.
Game of Thrones Related Stories:

Wrebbit Related Video:



22 October 2018

Game of Thrones: imagined World Combines Romantic and Grotesque Visions of Middle Ages

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Winter's coming
Winter's coming (HBO)
Take the dragons and the zombies away from the television adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire novels and you are left with the seemingly authentic portrayal of a pseudo-medieval world. Indeed, Martin was inspired by historical events such as the Wars of the Roses, the Crusades and the Hundred Years’ War.

It is no surprise that Game of Thrones is being used to stimulate interest in medieval studies. Westeros is replete with medieval staples such as knights, queens, broadswords and castles. It’s packed with recognisable medieval characters, including Machiavellian schemers, brutal warriors, noble heroes, paternalistic lords and power-hungry aristocrats.

Of course Game of Thrones is fundamentally ahistorical, taking inspiration from popular myths about many different periods and places. But while it illuminates little about the past, it reveals much about how we imagine that past.

The grotesque
Medieval scholar David Matthews suggests that modern views of the Middle Ages can be categorised as either romantic or grotesque. Game of Thrones features both elements in spades.

The likes of vicious, spoiled king Joffrey Baratheon, his scheming mother Cersei Lannister and psychopathic warlord Ramsey Bolton signify the grotesque. They represent the idea of the Middle Ages as a violent and lawless era. That notion was created by the literati of Renaissance Italy as they sought to rediscover the learning and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Such views were reinforced by the Reformation, which equated Catholicism with medieval folly.

These attitudes were strengthened during the 18th-century Enlightenment. The “light” of modern reason and objectivity was contrasted against the superstitious “darkness” that had supposedly characterised the medieval period. In this way, the Middle Ages became a foil against which to measure the achievements of modernity.

If the Middle Ages have become a shorthand for brutality, they can also highlight the supposed inadequacies of non-Western societies. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, it has become routine among Western officials and journalists to label Islamic extremists as “medieval”. In 2015, US Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina even claimed that her degree in medieval history would help her fight Islamic State.

Such attitudes can be identified in Game of Thrones. The brown-skinned slave-trading Dothraki are portrayed as a Mongol-esque horde whose primary characteristic is primitive savagery. Daenerys Targaryen, a claimant to the throne of Westeros who liberates thousands from servitude in the neighbouring continent of Essos, is portrayed as a white saviour bringing freedom to oriental slaves.

Mother of dragons, liberator of slaves: Daenerys Targaryen. (HBO)
Meanwhile in Westeros, where the central story unfolds, slavery was outlawed centuries ago. The underlying assumption here is that societies progress towards civilisation over time. The imagined land of Westeros borrows much from an earlier period in Western development. But the eastern continent of Essos is home to societies bearing cultural hallmarks aligning them with the Middle and Far East. Some of them are presented as more refined than their Western counterparts, but also more amoral, thus echoing Western views of the east that have been powerful in our own world since the Crusades.

The romantic
There is also much to admire in the protagonists we root for. Daenerys, the heroic Jon Snow and the honourable and doomed Ned Stark are examples of the “romantic” Middle Ages. They are brave, honourable, noble and just, sitting within a vision of the medieval past informed by ideas about chivalry and morality.

Such figures hark back to older views of the Middle Ages as a heroic age in which individuals could make their own moral choices. Think of T. H. White’s Arthur, Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, and the numerous retellings of the Robin Hood legend. Looking further back, we see these same tropes in Thomas Mallory’s Arthurian romances, themselves composed at the very end of the medieval era.

In all cases the main characters champion the oppressed and challenge established authorities which lack moral legitimacy, just like our heroes in Game of Thrones.

But the aristocratic status of the Starks and Targaryens also represents social order and cohesion. These rival families do not seek to tear down the existing hierarchy in Westeros, but rather to remodel it along more just and benevolent lines. This tallies with an image of the Middle Ages as a golden era of stability, when everyone knew their role and had clearly defined responsibilities towards one another. For 19th-century thinkers, including John Ruskin and William Morris, the medieval period was a model through which humanity might from escape from the cruel vicissitudes of industrial capitalism.

Character development: Arya Stark. (HBO)
Yet the powerful women in Game of Thrones are indisputably modern. Daenerys, Cersei Lannister and Arya Stark, who has grown from tomboyish daughter to deadly assassin, are symbols of feminist empowerment, taking on roles traditionally reserved for men. Interestingly, the only character truly adhering to knightly ideals is Brienne of Tarth, who dresses and behaves like a knight but cannot actually be one, because of her gender.

That said, the degradation and abuse that many female characters endure – which sparked accusations of misogyny – is of course grotesque rather than romantic.

Achieving balance
What Game of Thrones does so well is balance these elements. Too much violence and many fans would turn off in disgust. Too much high-minded moralising and the show would feel sanitised and lacking a genuine sense of peril. Perhaps that is why the adventures of characters such as Arya, Cersei’s brother Jaime Lannister, their enforcer Sandor Clegane and above all the charming and Machiavellian Tyrion Lannister make for such compelling viewing. They operate in the borderlands between the “grotesque” and the “romantic”, making them admirable and repugnant in equal measure.

Tyrion Lannister: scheming, charming, charismatic. (HBO)
More broadly, the series tells us something about how its audience may feel about society today. Most of us are glad to have advanced beyond the barbarism we associate with the Middle Ages. But many also feel that values of duty and social responsibility have been lost along the way.

How we conceptualise the present is inevitably influenced by how we imagine the past. In terms of selling a story, therefore, the accuracy or otherwise of the medieval vision that Game of Thrones presents is irrelevant.The Conversation

About Today's Contributor:
Richard Marsden, Lecturer in History, The Open University


This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.


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25 August 2017

Forget Jon Snow, Watch The Young Women To Find Out How Game Of Thrones Ends

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Game of Thrones
Sky Atlantic/©2017 Home Box Office, Inc
By  Raluca Radulescu, Bangor University


For Game of Thrones fans, the current series has been a bit of a mystery. As the television writers have picked up the storyline where author George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice novels ended, there is, for the first time, no original text to refer back to.

Much virtual ink has been spilled recently over the role of the female characters in the political struggle, yet one of the most crucial themes of this series is going largely undiscussed: the role of children, particularly young girls.

Arya Stark
Arya Stark. Sky Atlantic/©2015 Home Box Office, Inc.

The children of Game of Thrones might form the thick-woven fabric of the tapestry we have been watching, but they have not really taken centre stage. There were little nods in past episodes towards the vital importance of the children in Game of Thrones: take the little orphans of King’s Landing, for example, who killed Grand Maester Pycelle of the Citadel – a rather more unusual turn of the plot. Later episodes have been more obvious about the power of children, but it is only now that the series is being so explicit about it.

The latest episode to air, episode six, lays the central role of children and young people on a little more thickly. Without giving too much away, the struggle between Sansa and Arya, the Stark sisters, seemingly comes to a head, while a shocking event involving Daenerys Targaryen causes her once more to tearfully utter the phrase “they are my children”, while telling Jon Snow that she is unable to bear a child of her own. We have also recently heard that current queen of the Seven Kingdoms Cersei is pregnant once more with a new heir to the Lannister line.

Seen but not heard
From the start of the series, and indeed Martin’s novels, the struggle over dictating the future of the Seven Kingdoms has been very similar to that during the real-life Wars of the Roses. Cersei’s naked ambition and her son Joffrey’s stark cruelty (puns intended) remind of Margaret of Anjou. She was the 15th century French queen to the mentally unstable Lancastrian king Henry VI, whose son – allegedly begotten in adultery, though not incest as in Game of Thrones – was Prince Edward.

Like Margaret of Anjou, Cersei uses her reputation – and children – to her advantage. She takes charge of the family fortunes and boldly looks at the future as an opportunity for herself. There’s every chance she’ll don armour at some point, as Queen Margaret herself was rumoured to have done during the Wars of the Roses.

Unlike Margaret, however, Cersei faces a battle with the upcoming dynasties of women. Cersei still believes that she is the most important woman in Westeros, but the younger females we first saw as children have come more into the limelight during this and the last series. Cersei’s power is waning, while other prominent women such as Daenerys, or indeed the young lady Lyanna Mormont – the head of one of the great families of the North – are unafraid to ride into battle. Even Sansa, who Cersei once tried to humiliate and oppress, is now standing in as ruler of the North while her half-brother Jon Snow seemingly prefers his place in the heart of the action.

Jon Snow rides to fight
Jon Snow rides to fight. Sky Atlantic/©2017 Home Box Office, Inc.

Since the first episodes, we have been watching these young women grow and change – but only now is their true significance being made clear. Where once they were shown in the more expected, traditional roles of a medieval female, now they are warriors in their own right. A feisty young Arya has transformed from the lively girl with her sword “needle” to an assassin, a “Faceless Man” trained in the dark arts and haunting Winterfell. Sansa meanwhile has become a different kind of fighter, going from dreams of being a princess to overcoming years of abuse and ultimately emulating her own strong mother, Lady Catlin Stark.

Valar Morghulis: All men must die
Yet Cersei is not that “old” – and potentially still has decades ahead of her to sit on the Iron Throne. If there’s one lesson that can be learned from Lady Olenna of House Tyrell – the wise older woman who tells Daenerys she has survived many powerful men – it is that even when women are no longer young and the focus of attention, they still have some influence to wield. Cersei may have lost her first three children – and the control she had in using them as pawns to her game – but her new pregnancy could very well serve to change that once more.

Ultimately lineages are the most important factor in winning the game of thrones – and it could very well be that Cersei’s new child grows to fight a ruling Daenerys, who, as of episode seven, had not yet named an heir to her throne.

The ConversationAs the battle focuses between the two – or three, if you count Sansa – queens, it has never been more clear that the young female combatants are now far more relevant than the adult male leaders – most of whom have been killed off. As children these women signalled change in dynastic struggles – but now they are grown up, they are heralding a second echelon of much wiser, perhaps untainted rulers: theirs is the future of Westeros.

About Today's Contributor:
Raluca Radulescu, Professor of Medieval Literature and English Literature, Bangor University


This article was originally published on The Conversation


Bonus Image:
You know nothing Jon Snow (gif)

1 June 2016

'What Is Dead May Never Die': The Secrets Of Resurrection In The Bible And Game Of Thrones

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Resurrection, by Andrea Mantegna, 15th Century. The Louvre
By Meredith J C Warren, University of Sheffield

Warning: this article contains spoilers for those not up to date with Game of Thrones series six.

Events in HBO’s Game of Thrones TV series have got people talking about what it means to return from the dead. But while resurrection appears to be a very real possibility for some of the religions of mythical Westeros – not least Jon Snow’s resurrector, the “red priestess”, Melisandre – what can the Bible add to the discussion?

26 April 2016

The Red Woman: The History Behind Game Of Thrones' Mysterious Mystic

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Helen Sloan / HBO
By Marta Cobb, University of Leeds

Every Game of Thrones season premiere needs its shock reveal – and season six is no different. As the name of the episode – The Red Woman – hints, this one pertains to red priestess Melisandre, to whom, it turns out, there’s much more than meets the eye (don’t worry, no spoilers ensue). Even in a series known for its complex characters and even more complicated morality, Melisandre and her motives remain surprisingly opaque. And it looks as if her story’s only just getting started.

14 March 2016

#RealmToTheRescue - Game Of Thrones Cast Stands Up To Support World's Refugees In New Cause Campaign

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The International Rescue Committee, HBO and Omaze team up on RESCUE HAS NO BOUNDARIES #RealmtotheRescue to raise $1 million dollars in emergency aid for Syrian Refugee Crisis. Donate and win the ultimate Game of Thrones experiences including 2 tickets to the GoT Season 6 Premiere at Omaze.com/GameofThrones. L-R Game of Thrones cast members Maisie Williams, John Bradley, Sophie Turner, and Lena Headey. (PRNewsFoto/International Rescue Committee)
HBO and Game of Thrones Join with the International Rescue Committee to Launch 'RESCUE HAS NO BOUNDARIES'
Tomorrow, as the world marks the 5th anniversary of the Syrian civil war, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) announces it is teaming up with HBO's Game of Thrones to launch the multi-platform RESCUE HAS NO BOUNDARIES campaign to bring attention to the global refugee crisis and raise emergency funds to help rescue the millions of people displaced by conflict and natural disaster. The RESCUE HAS NO BOUNDARIES campaign, led by Emmy-winning actress Lena Headey, along with other Game of Thrones cast members (past and present), includingSophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Liam Cunningham, DeObia Oparei, John Bradley, Tom Wlaschiha, Eugene Simon and Oona Chaplin, urges that the time is now to rescue refugees no matter where they are in the world.

According to the most recent UN figures, there are currently more than 60 million refugees and displaced people throughout the world, and nearly 1 million people per month are on the move due to the fallout of the Syrian civil war alone. The IRC is currently providing support to Syrian refugees in Syria, Jordan,Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Serbia and Greece. Inside Syria, the organization has reached almost 2 million people with medical care, shelter, emergency supplies and cash assistance, and is also providing classrooms, child-friendly spaces and counseling services for survivors of violence.
"We are currently facing the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II," stated David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. "Our partnership with HBO and Game of Thrones—which premiered around the same time the war in Syria began—hopes to galvanize the general public to take action and rise up for refugees."

IRC and HBO are encouraging people to visit www.rescue.org/GameOfThrones to learn about the needs of refugees and how they can help them through PSAs and exclusive behind-the-scenes content from the Game of Thrones cast. The campaign unites Westeros with special appearances by the cast who famously portray the Lannisters and Starks as they voice their commitment for the millions of refugees in need.
"Our longstanding support of the IRC comes from a deep respect for the humanitarian work they do and a fundamental understanding of their mission to get much needed relief to millions of refugees displaced throughout the world," explains Richard Plepler, chairman & CEO of HBO. "On behalf of the HBO employees and talent associated with Game of Thrones who graciously donated their time and resources to this effort, we are honored to join the IRC in this partnership at a time of great need around the world."
International Rescue Committee. (PRNewsFoto/International Rescue Committee)
Joining the IRC and HBO in this mission is Omaze, the experience-driven fundraising platform behind some of the biggest celebrity, influencer and brand experiences for fans, all in support of amazing causes. From March 13th - April 5th, for as little as a $10 donation, Game of Thrones fans from around the world can enter on the Omaze website for the chance to win their dream experience with the cast. One winner selected at random will attend the season six premiere and after party with the cast. All of the donations raised via the Omaze platform will benefit the IRC.

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