A Man Without Honor

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Theon Greyjoy. In speaking with some friends about the overall reality of the show, one of the biggest complaints is that of time, they have a hard time showing the passage of time in this show. With Theon I think it’s even more so then with others, because many will look at his turn as being sudden. But in talking with some friends one of the big points that was brought up is the importance of names in this series. In the books as well it seems your Name is more important then your life, it is what defines you. In almost every episode including this one, someone spouts off someone else’s lineage. Theon Greyjoy’s journey over the past couple episodes have been over a couple of months at least and in that time his name has been in serious question. He lived nobly with the Starks, a family who tore him away from his parentage and when they trusted him the most they sent him back to his family, a family which called him a Stark and not a Greyjoy. Theon wants the love of his father more then he cares about the love of the Starks and this yearning has driven the boy into a madman. In the past two to three episodes we’ve seen how cruel he must become to please his father and in this episode was saw him go even a step further. This show tends to show some of the best stuff in it’s closing scene, and Theon Greyjoy closed out this episode with one of the more brutal moments of the whole series. I haven’t read the books so I don’t know anything ahead of this point but that final moment was stellar. I’m loving where they’ve taken Theon.

In preparation for the second season starting I did a marathon of the first season. I remember that throughout the first season the storyline I cared about the least was Daenerys Targaryen and the Dothraki. Right up until the final episode and the final moments of the first season. When Daenerys rose from the ashes with her dragons I yelped, out loud. I was so excited at where they could be taking this storyline and now this storyline is one of my favorites. I’m glad that there isn’t as much Dothraki mythology going on and instead a fierce battle is going on in Qarth. Also the final moments of this one, Daenerys in the hall of the Thirteen, I was floored. I am loving Pyat Pree and his House of the Undying, he is severely creepy and is likely to do a lot of damage.

I had mentioned before that I haven’t read the books, but there was one character that I was too stressed out about and I ended up reading some spoilers about her, that person being Arya Stark. So I won’t say too much about her storyline, just that anytime she is one screen with Tywin I love the acting between the two of them.

In an interview the actor who plays Jaime Lannister said a scene in this episode was his favorite moment in the series. They gave some good time to Jaime and his deviousness shone through.

Jon Snow had some fun north of the wall, a little sexual banter was nice. A tender moment was shared between Tyrion and Cersei. Sansa became a woman and The Hound showed his teeth.

Now you can correct me if I’m wrong, but thinking back through out that episode and I may have to see it again, but I don’t think there was any female nudity, which may be a first for the series. There was one male who’s ass was showing in Qarth and I think that may be the only nudity of the episode.

What did you think of this episode?

GONK catches up on last week’s Free Comic Book Day Star Wars / Serenity double feature.
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The best stuff for kids is all ages stuff that doesn’t talk down to kids.

-Chris Sims
WarRocket Ajax, Episode 108

Echo’s Revenge: The Ultimate Game is the first in a series by Sean Austin and published through AAA Reality Games (AAARG). The target audience for the novel is 10-18 year old boys who like video games. If that doesn’t describe you, thats no reason not to read the book. It’s been at least 13 years since I fit the demographic, but it brought back me back to the appropriate mindset very quickly.

To summarize, Reggie and Jeremy have a tough home life. Their dad lives in Pasadena, while they’re stuck in Meadowbrook, WA with their mostly absent mother and her boyfriend, Asa. The pseudo-stepfather is a hard drinker with a quick and often violent temper. For the boys, online video games are their only escape – a hobby that only serves to further enrage Asa. After being invited to join a focus group for their favorite game, Echo-6, things reach a breaking point for Reggie. He runs away with his younger brother to find their father.

While the boys find some interesting allies along their journey, the story has only just begun. The line between game and reality has become very blurred. Not only are the two boys faced with grave danger of their own, many of their online friends have fallen victim to a serial kidnapper.

Altogether the story becomes much darker than you’d expect for the target demographic. But, ultimately, this is one of its greatest successes. It’s really easy to screw up young adult fiction. Adults tend to forget how kids think and act. Orson Scott Card was often criticized for the children’s “voices” in Ender’s Game. But those criticisms come from adults who don’t think kids talk like that. They do, just not in front of their parents. Card should actually be criticized for being a horrible human being, not his writing talent. Thankfully, Sean Austin seems to be a much better person.

Austin actually does a very good job of riding a very vague line. Kids do suffer physical and mental abuse. If you aren’t/weren’t one of those kids, you know/knew one. By not shying away from domestic violence, but not expressing it too grotesquely, he manages to address a pertinent topic without veering into after school special territory.

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the video game is not just a plot device, but a thematic constant. Understanding how important the game is to the boys is a key to understanding their personal language – even the way they shape their thoughts. Their pseudo-military jargon mixed with online abbreviations highlights the way a modern kid learns to communicate. Will it make sense to a typical adult? Possibly. But an adult gamer probably won’t recognize the online chatter without the rampant racism and homophobia we expect during online matches. Does this detract from the realism? Yes, but to include the typical online hate speech would undermine the positive storytelling young boys need.

Not only would I encourage any 10-18 year old gaming boys to read the book, I’d encourage their families to read it with them. There’s just enough suspense and solid story-telling for parents to enjoy the time. Young girls in the family may be disappointed by the lack of a female-focused love triangle (a la The Hunger Games and Twilight), but you can’t have a coming of age story without the beginnings of feelings a 13 year old boy can’t explain. Admittedly, I just like the idea of families reading together like mine did years ago. But it’s also important for families to talk about their children’s hobbies and to introduce tough topics, like domestic abuse, that kids and parents both might be inclined to avoid.

All of this has managed to skip one of the most important elements of the story. The book is not entirely self-contained. The hunt for Echo continues online at www.echohunt.com. I confess to being a little lost with the online component. It seems unfocused at best, but it’s an intriguing concept. How will AAARG continue the story online and in print? Will the novels themselves hold up without the online component? Can the online component hold up without the novels? Time will tell. But you can be certain I’ll be checking the site regularly – and eagerly awaiting volume two. I don’t do star ratings, but that should be recommendation enough. The book has a few flaws, particularly involving an item I thought was left behind until the very end, but none of them break the immersion. The only thing I would hold against it is that it seems like the adult world gives up much too quickly on dozens, maybe hundreds, of children disappearing along the west coast. Most kids probably won’t think twice since they feel like adults ignore them anyway.

Recommended for fans of Ender’s Game, kids not quite ready for Lord of the Flies, and anyone who would like to see James Luceno’s Web Warriors in a more realistic setting.

Echo’s Revenge is currently available in digital ($2.99) or print ($11.99) form from Amazon and other major retailers.

AAA Reality Games is a company dedicated to exploring the art of reality games through robotic engineering. AAARG is producing a series of game-related experiences, and is currently releasing the novel series Echo’s Revenge: The Ultimate Game as an ongoing investigation of Echo-7 through novels and website echohunt.com. Echohunt.com also provides STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering & Math) opportunities for 10-18 year-olds who are interested in STEM related areas of study. The Echo’s Revenge series is written specifically for video gamers ages 10+.

Bobot Fett is out this week exploring the canyons in south eastern Utah so you’re stuck with me.

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Theon Greyjoy is a punk ass bitch. We knew that already but the first ten minutes of this episode really show it to us. Instead of warning Robb as he’d planned to do earlier on he goes and takes a defenseless Winterfell from Bran Stark. All the bannermen are off fighting or helping to protect their homes with what few men they have so Theon takes the weakest way in and captures his former home and betrays every person that helped raise him and even kills Ser Rodrik. Punk Ass Bitch. When he does kill Ser Rodrik he can’t even do it right. The continuation of his stupidity made for a very strong opening for the week.

Jon Snow is one of my favorite stories from the books just because The North is so far away from everyone and his experience is so different. After being relegated to a steward it’s nice to see him off on a Ranger mission with Quorin Halfhand. The scenery lately in The North is amazing, I can’t even imagine them filming up there. Of course he’s screwing up once again, after capturing the sexy Wildling Ygritte he’s failed to kill her and after recapturing her hes got her tied up and is spooning her. Seriously Jon? Quorin is not going to be impressed, there isn’t a happy ending here.

Jon Snow is a favorite but Arya is the favorite. Her stuck being the cup bearer of of Tywin Lannister is such a wholly different life than any Stark would ever face and she’s using it to her advantage so well. Watching her try to hide from Baelish who may or may not recognize her got me a bit stressed out. He knows her but would he ever realize that Arya Stark is pouring wine for a Lannister at Harrenhal? She may have brought more attention to her self trying to hide. She also has 2 names left to give to Jaqan, her second friend from across the Narrow Sea. She may be in a shitty situation but she seems to be doing better than her sister Sansa even though she makes a mistake by embarrassing Amory Loch. Of course he gets back at her because of course no man like that is going to allow a cup bearer make him look stupid. She forces Jaqan to kill him quickly and sadly that is all we get of the coolest guy in Westeros this episode.

Now the second coolest guy in Westeros is having an awful time. Tyrion is obviously the smartest man in his family. He’s shipping his niece off to Dorn to protect her, make an alliance, and piss of his insane sister who vows revenge. While it seems a smart play things turn real bad real fast after she’s sent off. The people are sick of Joffrey and let him know so by pelting him in the face with cow shit. He of course goes completely insane and orders death to them all. His Kingsguard starts stabbing and the peasants start grabbing and there is a riot. A man gets his limbs torn off and Sansa seems to have her father’s luck in King’s Landing and gets chased after beaten and almost raped before The Hound saves her. Sometimes he’s a really hard character to hate. Joffrey’s easy, you love to see Tyrion slap him for being a psycho and a moron and almost getting the entire family killed. The Hound is a whole different guy, he randomly does something that makes you like him just a little bit and saving Sansa is one of those things. Did he do it because he knows what she’s worth like Tyrion or did he do it for another reason?

We only get a little bit of Robb this episode and it’s mostly him hitting on the girl from Volantis. Awkward flirting and getting his game stepped on by his mother just seems a little bit out of place for me. Catelyn has to remind her son that he has no choice who he marries. He is stuck marrying a Frey whether he likes it or not. After their reunion they get the news that Theon has taken Winterfell. Robb wants revenge but he is stuck in the middle of a war. There is no way he can march north and try to retake the castle without basically abandoning the war. Lord Bolton promises that his son will go to Winterfell and take it back, and you don’t mess with a Bolton. Their sigil is a flayed man. That is disgusting. Krakens, lions, direwolves sure those are a bit intimidating, but a man with is his skin peeled away? Yeah not messing with that guy. Theon is hopefully getting what he deserves. Catelyn is slowly losing her entire family and their is no word about Bran or Rickon. She has no idea where Arya is, Sansa is in the hands of the kingdoms highest born psychopath, Robb is leading a war, and her husband is dead. Being Catelyn Stark sucks. Luckily we know that Bran and Rickon are in good hands. Osha uses her Wildling ways and the stupidity of Theon to sneak the Stark boys out of Winterfell. There wasn’t a ton of focus on it but the fact that no Stark remains in Winterfell is sad to me. They once ruled the North from that castle and now they’ve all had to leave and its been taken by a traitor that they helped raise.

Lastly, the Mother of Dragons is having a hell of a time begging for ships and an army to go retake the Iron Throne, or take if you listen to the grammar lesson from the Spice Trading Douche. She’s trying not to whore herself out for ships but Xaro Xhoan Daxos keeps pushing that if she marries him she’ll have it all but of course she doesn’t want to do that again, or lose her dragons. Which is exactly what happens. While she’s out begging for boats someone kills everyone in the palace and steals her dragons. Leaving us to wonder what she’ll do next.

In Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Marvel Animation’s X-Men Anime, recently released on DVD, the X-men must put their grief aside as they reunite to embark upon a mission that takes them to Japan to search for a missing girl.

Their travels reveal that far more is going on than a simple missing person case.  Mutants have been disappearing all over the area, and this knowledge leads the X-Men to the not-so-imaginatively-named U-Men, a group of lunatics intent on creating its own army.

I can’t compare this series to the comics, since I think the only time I picked up an X-Men comic was to read about Jean Grey and Scott Summers’ wedding, but I feel like I know the characters pretty well through watching the movies and the Saturday morning cartoon that aired years and years ago.  (That was when I realized how much I loved Mr. Sinister.  His sense of fashion is unparalleled).

So, I’m not an expert by any means, but I’m also not an X-Men newbie.  And I think the characterizations of Wolverine and Cyclops were great.  Beast, too, I’d say.  Wolverine (Logan) has a few great one-liners, and he’s sarcastic and has an attitude.  This is in line with how I perceive the character.  He’s always such a bad-ass.  Cyclops (Scott), in comparison, is the serious one, the leader of the group.  And as bland as a cupcake without frosting.

But I’m biased.  I’ve never liked Cyclops.  And at least for part of this series he’s like a depressed teenage boy, with  hair falling over his eyes and tantrums and deep silences.  In one scene, he stares up into a sky filled with stars, their light reflecting in his visor.  He has a flashback accompanied by the sound of the ocean, drenched in romance and nostalgia.  The ocean and music, along with the bluish tint of the scene reminded me of a scene between Yuna and Tidus in Final Fantasy X.  Maybe that seems completely random, but it’s what flashed through my mind.

Overall, I liked this series, but I think if I had to choose between it and Iron Man, I’d choose the latter.  Plus, I ended up watching it in English rather than in Japanese.  I kept hearing the word “mutant” in Japanese but it wasn’t written in the subtitles.  This annoyed me too much, and I wondered what else was being left out of the translation, so I had to switch.

In the English version, actor Scott Porter portrays Cyclops (The Good Wife, Friday Night Lights, Caprica). Bonus features include:

·      Re-Examining The X-Men takes viewers behind-the-scenes of creating X-Men’s mutant tales.

·      X-Men: A Team of Outsiders provides an in-depth exploration of Marvel’s most heroic and infamous mutants.

·      Special Talk Session round table discussion with the creators of Marvel anime’sX-Men and Blade.

If you’re an X-Men fan, you’ll probably like this series.  Even a casual fan like myself can easily enjoy it, at least a little, but if you go into it without any knowledge of the characters, then you probably won’t get much out of it.

This first appeared on The Huffington Post…

The Avengers is going to be the biggest movie of the summer. There’s really no question about that. Sequels always do better than their predecessors (assuming the initial movie was well-liked), but never has a movie served as the simultaneous sequel to not one, not two, not three, not four, but five summer blockbusters.

The groundwork was laid in The Avengers by two Iron Man films, a Hulk film, and last years Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. None of those films grossed less than $100 million at the box office. Two, the Iron Man films, both broke the $300 million ceiling.

There’s very clearly different audiences that will be seeing this film, each from a different flavor of fandom.

Add to that the masses looking for a fun action movie, and you’ve got a recipe for success, at least on paper.

But what about the script and the filmmakers? Studio meddling? There are a thousand things that could go wrong on a picture of this magnitude.

I’m happy to report that we’ve averted disaster and Joss Whedon’s Avengers film is a home run. It’s been almost a full week since I’ve seen it and I’ve been going through withdrawals. I need to see it again.

The thing this film has going for it, more than anything, is that it doesn’t have to stop and take time to introduce each of the characters and tell us how they all got here. Marvel has done such a thorough job establishing the mechanics of this universe that you’re giddily anticipating the arrival of each of your favorite characters and they each get a welcome to the film worthy of their stature.

The plot is basic, but it’s exactly what it needs to be. If you’ve seen a trailer you know the plot. If you know anything about Loki or saw Thor, you know why he’d be trying to subjugate the Earth. That’s it. That’s the movie.

The devil is in the details, though. This movie is about how the team comes together, overcomes their egos, and beats the odds to save the Earth.

And every moment is entertaining.

If you’re lucky, the superhero film you’re watching has at least one moment that I like to call a “Hell Yeah!” moment. Actually, I call them something else, but I self-censored just a little bit. In Spider-Man 2, you’ve got those “Hell Yeah!” moments on the subway, fighting against Doc Ock, and that moment in the boathouse when Mary Jane finally discovers Peter’s secret identity. Spider-Man 2 had more than most superhero films and it’s one of my favorites.

The Avengers gives each member of the team at least THREE of these “Hell Yeah” moments. Each.

This movie raises the bar so high for summer blockbusters that I feel awful for all the films that must follow (except for Prometheus, that movie will do fine.)

More than anything, though, is that this movie delivers on a dream we had as children, hoping one day we’d see a movie that brings all of our favorite characters together from our favorite comics on screen, fighting together. With the way Hollywood works, that never seemed like a possibility, but the stars have aligned and we’ve finally been given exactly what we wanted. Watching each character get added to the story, slowly and carefully, one at a time, we are able to get more and more excited with the thrill that A-list characters like this have never shared the screen together.

At no time does any character unbalance the film. (Though Hulk, played to perfection by Mark Ruffalo, steals the show with the best moments.) Each is in the story for a purpose and each fulfills it with flying colors. Each of the actors playing these iconic characters work in harmony to give us a movie we barely deserve. In this wasteland of horrible summer movies (*cough*Pirates of the Caribbean*cough*Transformers*cough*) we’re given a mature, well-told tale of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

It’s something to be grateful for.

Our prayers to God for a movie like this have been answered.

And our God’s name is Thor.

(Also: stay for the end-credits sequence. A lot of you won’t know what the final scenes portend, but get to your comic book store (Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!) and ask them to get you some books about the character you saw. It will be worth it.)

Bryan Young is the editor in chief of the geek news site Big Shiny Robot! and the author of the upcoming sci-fi, pulp novel Operation: Montauk.

Our good friends Jeff Vice and Jimmy Martin from The Big Movie Mouth-Off have their review of The Avengers!

Is it as good as we’re hearing? I think maybe it was. Watch their review to find out!

Game of Thrones S02E05 “The Ghost of Harrenhal”

By Bobot Fett

Warning! Spoilers for S02E05 and Book #2 (A Clash of Kings) included!

Season 2 reaches its midway point with another epic episode as the game of thrones loses a potential king but adds a potential queen!

It has been a hard year for the House Baratheon. The battle between brothers comes to a close as Stannis’ demon spawn stabs (no pun intended) Renly. The moment is over quickly but the repercussions promise to echo through the remainder of the season and beyond. With Stannis’ war fleet approaching Storm’s End new alliances are formed in the wake of Renly’s death. Stannis gets Renly’s army, Catelyn gets Bri, and Baelish gets the Tullys. Margery, played by Natalie Dormer, continues to steal every scene she is in. Her sheepish cry of not wanting to be a queen is immediately devoured by her appetite to be “The Queen”. It’s a brilliant and subtle delivery and you immediately believe her capable of doing whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Renly’s death is also a very strong scene for Brienne. Her refusal to leave his side is as painful as her vows of revenge and her fealty to Catelyn is obvious. Though I enjoy the character, if I was not a hardened Westeros veteran I might wonder at her motivation. We as a TV audience have been given little to no back story on the Beauty of Tarth, leaving her almost religious loyalty to Renly unexplained. With such a massive story and so many characters HBO has done a masterful job balancing the show but a huge amount of emotional weight is lost if we don’t understand why the characters make the decisions they do.

Though the infighting amongst the Baratheon family is over, the Lannisters and Greyjoys keep up the good fight. Tyrion (demon monkey) and Cersei’s (incestuous whore) weekly spar puts Tyrion on the trail of wildfire, the original source of the Targaeryan’s power. Soon enough in classic Tyrion style those working for Cersei are working for him and her plans are his. On the Iron Isles, Theon continues his quest for respect. On a reeking dock (see what I did there) Theon is dominated not only by his sister but by his own crew. But soon, with a little help Theon hatches a plan that could flood the winter in blood.

Arya continues to bear the cup for Tywin Lannister leaving her trapped and vulnerable, but old debts must be paid and she soon gains a deadly ally. Here the rapid fire nature of the show, in comparison to the book, fails the series. Arya’s request for the death of the Tickler might seems crazy when Joffrey and Cersei still live only because the TV audience has not seen her suffer at his hands like the readers have. The remaining living Starks don’t have much to do this episode. Jon continues to wander north of the wall in search of Mance Rayder. The sweeping arctic vistas, coupled with shots like Stannis’ approaching fleet, begin to build the epic scope the series often lacks. Bran continues to excel as Lord of Winterfell but his dreams foreshadow the storm of swords to come.

We close with Daenerys quartered in Qarth. A visit from the Warlocks leaves Dany with an invitation to the House of the Undying. Later Dany receives an invitation of a different sort when a marriage is proposed and a kingdom is offered. In a quiet scene with her bear Mormont we see Danerys the conqueror step out of the shade of the evening and into the fire of her destiny.

Hey everybody! April’s Girlcast is chock full of shiny goodness and ready for your listening pleasure!

On this month’s podcast, we love Hunger Games, can’t wait for The Avengers and really want to help Nintendo! Also, Bizzarobot returns to the ‘cast this month! Yay!

Head on over to the Big Shiny Robot iTunes page or download here. On this month’s podcast: Miss Mecha (Jessie), Scarlette Robotica (Kelly), Bizzarobot (Erin), and Darcy (from The Geekiest Girls You Know blog).

Send us your questions and comments here or over on our Facebook or Twitter (@BSRGirlcast). Thanks for listening!

The first thing you need to know about the Walking Dead game, is that it’s less of a game and more of an interactive narrative experience. This isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, but if you’re looking for a new Left 4 Dead you’re in the wrong place. (more…)