Game of thrones
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Finally a way for Sesh to be useful. Pop down there and give us a report.ROTH ARMY MILITIA
Originally posted by EAT MY ASSHOLE
Sharky sometimes needs things spelled out for him in explicit, specific detail. I used to think it was a lawyer thing, but over time it became more and more evident that he's merely someone's idiot twin.Comment
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Finally?
You fucker!
I'll be over there next month but it's unlikely I'll notice the little guy.
I've read a couple of interviews where he came across as a vain asshole so if I'm stuck at that fucking airport again in the bar and he's there I may have a story for you...Comment
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Director Jeremy Podeswa takes you behind the scenes.
by
Joanna Robinson
This post contains frank discussion of Season 6, Episode 1 of Game of Thrones, titled “The Red Woman.” If you haven’t watched yet, now is your chance to leave.
So was that 39-year-old Dutch actress Carice van Houten playing the aged Melisandre in the final moments of Sunday’s Game of Thrones? As director Jeremy Podeswa has revealed, it was and it wasn’t. Much like they did with Cersei during the Walk of Shame last season, the Game of Thrones special-effects teams laid Van Houten’s face over a body double. Van Houten wore “prosthetic makeup for her face and hair”—that’s why the eyes matched—but the body was someone else entirely.
Podeswa doesn’t name (or age) the body double in question, but he did tell Entertainment Weekly, “I think the performance of both actresses helps making her look ageless. There was a question of whether we should add more effects to make [the body double] look older, but I think anything we could have done would have made them look less real. When doing a fantasy show—or a show with fantasy elements—the more you can anchor an effect to reality the stronger the illusion is.”
There’s a lingering debate over Melisandre’s real age (100? 400?) and Podeswa says Melisandre’s extended lifespan made the effect uniquely challenging. “The idea is there’s an indefinite indeterminate quality that she could be ancient,” Podeswa says. “We were limited by choosing to use a real person rather than a complete CG creation. Because what does a 400-year-old person look like? We don’t know. So if you try to create that, then you’re creating something that looks beyond our known reality. Here you feel like she’s very old without putting a number on it.”
What’s intriguing about comparing this transformation to the body doubling of Lena Headey in Season 5 of Game of Thrones is the sexual politics involved. There was some fan pushback when an actress over a decade younger than Headey, with a runway-ready figure, took on the harrowing walk last year. In doubling, the show didn’t push any of the boundaries the naked body of Cersei—a mother of three whose diet consists mostly of red wine—might have had had they used a body more similar to the one described in the books. (Though that scene pushed plenty on its own.)
But Game of Thrones blew right past those boundaries Sunday night by displaying something very rare: a naked elderly women. As Podeswa puts it, “At that moment, it’s a telling gestural thing to do. She’s questioning her power and ability to proselytize. She’s at her lowest point, looking at the mirror and her true self. It’s a sign of her frailty. You’re seeing her at her most vulnerable moment.”
Van Houten herself echoes Podeswa, saying, “It’s changing and I really like it. We see her from a really different side of her now. We see somebody whose whole belief system is tumbling down. She’s completely confused, and I really like to play that. After all the security and strength and pride, now we see something completely different. I’ve been really waiting for this moment.”
Will Melisandre stay the old version of herself? Season 6 promotional photos indicate that she won’t.Comment
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How significant was the necklace?
Yes, we all know accessorising is important – but was Melisandre’s ruby necklace really the key to her “charm”?
Because of the way the scene played out on screen – and the fact that the character’s metamorphosis took place directly after she removed her jewellery – many viewers initially assumed that Melisandre’s necklace must be the source of her youth-spell. We’ve also previously seen the jewels glow when she performs magic, again suggesting that the necklace is linked to the character’s ability to maintain her glamour.
Some viewers, however – especially those with a good memory for van Houten’s nude scenes – have pointed out that, back in season four, we saw Melisandre in a bath, not wearing the necklace, holding a conversation with Stannis’s wife Selyse (Tara Fitzgerald).
On the face of it, this suggests that wearing the rubies isn’t an intrinsic part of the enchantment.
But a year ago, one fan posted an irresistibly intriguing theory about the scene – suggesting that, during it, Stannis’s wife Selyse may have been seeing Melisandre’s true self.
“Selyse has this strange expression the entire time,” wrote Reddit-user brashendeavours. “Like she cannot look directly at Melisandre yet also cannot look away.
“At first you think it is that of a religious "uptight" person seeing a naked and very sexual woman. But if you rewatch the scene, and "pretend" to yourself that Selyse is seeing Melisandre as she actually appears, it actually fits better. WE still see the seductress, Selyse sees the hag. She is horrified yet fascinated and not at all shocked. She knew all along (just like she knows the true fate of her daughter), Melisandre explains she does not need to use her ‘tricks’ on the true convert (Stannis is NOT a true convert but his wife is).”
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A handy interactive map although since these days all the characters seem to have fucking teleporters and the ravens are faster than email I'm not sure if there is much point.
A map of Westeros and the rest of the known world in Game of Thrones and the Song of Ice & Fire novels. Mark how much of the TV show or novels you've seen to prevent seeing any spoilers. See the path of major characters over time.
It does at least explain how the battle at the end of the last episode happened...Comment
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The big question about S07E03.
Are we meant to think Cersei stuck her finger in during the Jamie blowie? You have the question in the previous scene about whether she likes it, then you see her hand go around and a cutaway to his expression...Comment
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