Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Fair Warning:  Major Book/Movie Spoilers Ahead.

I originally saw this in the theater and recently rewatched it.

It's a great movie ... if you've read the books.  Most people that saw it complained about the camping and that it was a big snooze fest.  And some people were horribly confused when Harry and Co. were fleeing the Ministry. Even though Hermione explained what she did and why she did it after they Apparated to a forest in the middle of nowhere, some people just did not catch this due to Ron's Splinched arm.  They had no understanding of what was going on.

I can see where that was confusing.  Whole-heartedly I did not like how their escape was handled because I think it was incorrect from the book.  I don't remember, it's been nearly a year since I read Deathly Hallows, but I remember being irked by that scene because they had to modify it for the big screen.

However, during this rewatch, I noticed something that has, in many ways, stirred up a ton of discussion.  After destroying Salazar Slytherin's locket, Ron says the following.  "Just think.  Only 3 more to go!"

Two thoughts occurred to me when I heard this:  Does Harry and Co. only think there are 6 Horcruxes at this point in the books, unaware that there are 7, or is this an actual error in the script?

I've been doing a ton of research the last couple days trying to determine when/where/by whom Harry, Hermione, and Ron determine how many Horcruxes there are and what they are.

I know for a fact now that in Half-Blood Prince, we see a memory of Slughorn's when he is talking to a young Voldemort, at the time known as his birth name of Tom Riddle.  Riddle asks Slughorn about creating Horcruxes, which shows two things:  1.) Riddle was helpless from day one.  The boy was evil out of the womb.  And 2.) he was already attempting a state of immortality.

I don't remember if in the book he already made the Ring, but I'm fairly certain that before he even asked Slughorn, he had already made the Diary.  Hermione nearly confirms this in Deathly Hallows near the beginning.

However, he still asks Slughorn if it's possible to split the soul 7 ways.  Here's part of the problem.  We know for a fact, as the reader, that there are 7 Horcruxes.  The question is whether or not the group knows this, and if they do, when did they find this out.

However, I found a line from the 7th book that indicates Voldemort's original intentions with these Horcruxes.  Hermione remembers the memory that Harry described of Riddle speaking with Slughorn, asking if it was possible to have the soul split in to 7 pieces.  She then states, due to how painful and dangerous it would be to reconnect these pieces of souls, that Voldemort wouldn't risk making six Horcuxes:

" 'And the more I've read about them,' said Hermione, 'the more horrible they seem, and the less I can believe that he actually made six.  It warns in this book how unstable you make the rest of your soul by ripping it, and that's just by making one Horcrux!' "

So Harry and Co. think Voldemort only made 6.  Which means the line in the movie is correct.  And the only reason I've confused Luke and myself is because I know there was actually 7 Horcruxes.  I don't even think at this point in the book the reader knew there was 7.  I don't remember though, I'd have to reread the books again to make sure.

So ol' Voldy's original idea was to have 7 pieces of his soul, six Horcruxes and then the seventh piece within his physical body.  That way, if his physical body was ever destroyed (i.e. backfiring Killing Curse, lol), he could come back using any of the six Horcruxes.  And there would only ever be 7 pieces of his soul, the six Horcruxes and his recreated soul in a physical body.  I had to come to the conclusion that once you use one of the Horcuxes to regain a soul in a physical body, it does not consume the Horcux.  Basically, Horcruxes are lich phylacteries, which is very fitting of an evil undead dark wizard.  In cannon, specifically D&D, liches typically only have 1 phylactery, but I've read of some super powerful liches *cough* Vecna *cough* that have more than 1.

The number 7 is important because in Numerology, certain cultures, and in the magical world of Harry Potter, it's powerful.  Originally, Voldemort was going to create the sixth Horcrux, the last one, with the death of Harry and his parents.  But that backfired on him two-fold.  It destroyed his body when he only had 5 Horcruxes made, and it also actually created the 6th Horcrux he intended to make, but not with the object he wanted, and he was completely unaware of this.  Harry became that 6th Horcrux.

Later, Voldemort made a 7th Horcrux (Nagini), but that was after Harry destroyed the Diary in Chamber of Secrets.  So, at any given moment in the books, the greatest number of pieces in which Voldemorts soul was split was always 7.  Not 8.  (Sure, he eventually starts losing Horcruxes once the group starts offing them).

So the statement by Ron is correct because they have no idea Harry is a Horcrux, just as Voldemort has no idea Harry is a Horcrux, just as the reader has no idea that Harry is a Horcrux.  (Unless you guessed it before the book came out ... ).

Mystery solved.  That one line from Deathly Hallows helped it all make sense.

The Horcruxes are created (and destroyed) in this order

1. Diary -- Created while Riddle/Voldy was at Hogwarts, 1944.  Destroyed first by Harry in Chamber of Secrets.  Wasn't actually confirmed a Horcrux until Half-Blood Prince.
2. The Ring -- Created 1944.  Left in the the Gaunt home and cursed.  Dumbledore found it and destroyed it, but only after being cursed by it, during the summer between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince.
3. The Locket -- Created in 1946, also stolen from Hepzibah Smith, but someone else's death created it. We learned of it in Order of the Phoenix but were not aware it was a Horcrux until Half-Blood Prince.  Destroyed by Ron in Deathly Hallows.
4. The Cup -- Created in 1946, stolen from Hepzibah Smith, descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, created with Hepzibah's death as well.  He stashed it in Lestrange's vault in Gringott's.  It is learned of in Half-Blood Prince, but is not destroyed until very near the end of Deathly Hallows by Hermione.
5. The Diadem -- Created around 1947, when Riddle found it after hearing of the tale of Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter, who fell in love with the Bloody Baron and stole the diadem, stashing it in a tree (I think in the forests of Albania).  Riddle created the Horcrux with the death of a tramp, and stashed it in the Room of Requirement (a.k.a. the Room of Hidden Things).  Harry inadvertently found it, not know what it was, when he was stashing the potions book of Severus' mother in the room during Half-Blood Prince (the movie did a super-suck job by omitting this.  Yes, Harry hides the book, but Ginny accompanies him.  They don't even show the diadem).  When he attempts to retrieve the diadem after remembering this in Deathly Hallows, he's chased by Crabbe and Goyle.  Crabbe's Fiend Fyre spell destroys the diadem.
6. Harry Potter -- Created in 1981 on October 31st.  Hidden under Voldy's nose for 16 years (Harry was 1 year old at the time), until Harry learned of this through deduction of all the clues Dumbledore left behind, as well as seeing the last memories of Snape after his untimely death.  Voldemort, still unaware that he created 7 Horcruxes by this time, kills Harry and inadvertently destroys the 6th Horcrux.
7. Nagini the Snake -- Created 1994 during the first chapters of Goblet of Fire when Voldemort killed the house caretaker.  Destroyed by Neville Longbottom in Deathly Hallows with the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

That's it!  Voldemort is not a Horcrux.  They don't think he's a Horcrux.  They just think there's 6 because everyone alive (excluding Snape at this point in the movies) is unaware that Harry was an unintentional 6th Horcrux, and since Voldy didn't know of it, he went and created what he thought was the 6th Horcrux, but what was really the 7th Horcrux.  And to make it even more confusing, when Nagini was made a Horcrux, she was one of 6 at that time.  This is because the Diary had been destroyed two years prior to her becoming a Horcrux.

And now I can't explain this to Luke because it will give away everything in the last movie.  I'll have to explain it then anyway because none of this will make sense by the end of that movie either.

This wasn't really intended to be a movie review at all.  It was more so my gripe about things they did poorly in this movie and the last movie.  And I also wanted to bring up this confusion caused by that single line from Ron, which eventually turned out to be correct anyway.  And since Half-Blood Prince REALLY screwed the pooch on all the important details they omitted and the emphasis they put on all the bullshit teenage drama romance crap, at this point in the movies, Harry and Co. don't know about the cup or the diadem.  They definitely think there are 6 Horcruxes, they just don't know what the last 3 existing are.  I'm not sure how they'd know about Nagini either (in the movie only).  I'm suspicious of how they're going to work this out.  From the trailers, it is obvious they develop the necessity to go to Gringott's, but the only reason they do so in the book is because they learn that Bellatrix has had the cup stashed in her vault for ages.  They've known about the cup since Half-Blood Prince, when Hermione figured it out.  And Harry was to have found the diadem in the Room of Requirement in Half-Blood Prince when he was stashing Snape's mother's old potions book there.  He didn't know it was a Horcrux, but he later remembers it when he puts the dots together near the end of Deathly Hallows.  At this point in the movies, they have ABSOLUTELY KNOW IDEA WHAT THE FUCK THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.

Thor (3D)

I highly recommend seeing Thor in 3D.  It was well worth it.

The beginning felt a slight bit rushed, but after they played the catch-up game for the non-comic book kids that know nothing about Thor, the movie settled in to a very nice flow.  Everything made sense.  I know only a little about the comic, but what I do know is that the movie stuck very well to the Norse deities.

Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins) was very well done as was Thor himself (played by Chris Hemsworth).  I'm not much for big-muscled, super cut, pecs-bigger-than-by-boobs type guys but Mr. Hemsworth was pleasing to look upon without a shirt.

Loki, Thor's brother, was portrayed quite well by Tom Hiddleston.  I would say he could have been a bit more on the chaotic side, but it was still a great act nonetheless.

Thor's best buds were Hogun (played by Tadanobu Asano), Volstagg (played by Ray Steveson), Sif (played by Jaimie Alexander), and Fandral (played by Josh Dallas).  These names all are part of the Norse pantheon, worshiped by vikings many centuries ago.  I really enjoyed that they stuck true to Norse cannon.  Frigg is also in the movie, played by Rene Russo.

Top notch performances.  Excellent special effects and nothing felt overdone or trite.  They definitely relied on the intelligence of the audience to connect the dots with a few things.

This movie is part of a set of marvel movies that is gearing up for an Avengers movie (which is already filming).  Iconic comic book characters Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Captain America, Thor, Loki, Hawkeye, Incredible Hulk, and possibly more are going to be filling this movie.  I'm not sure how this will be handled since a lot of big actors are going to be vying for screen time.

I will see it simply because my old-man crush, Robert Downey, Jr., is in it.  (Okay, he's not THAT old but he's old enough to be my dad, albeit a young dad).

All that aside, Thor was excellent.  Precise, to the point, no bullshit.  Good action.  Good story.  Oh and Natalie Portman is hot.  I'm just glad she can act now *cough* unlike Star Wars I, II, and III *cough*.

I'm Too Effing Busy

So I'm super busy as Minnesota Brass has gone in to full swing and work has taken a major turn.  I've learned a lot of new SQL tricks in the last two weeks.

Brass is going well.  We had an exhibition today at the Hilton in Minneapolis.  Great fun.

I have yet to receive my corset.  I contacted the vendor and she's unsure of what the issue is.  I have a sneaky suspicion that someone has a present in the present mail box and hasn't checked their mail in two weeks.  (I live in a town-house area and the mailboxes are grouped up.  And when someone gets a package delivered via USPS, it goes in the present box.  Anything else, UPS or FedEx, comes to the front door).  The reason I think someone has a present in the present mailbox is because the key for both present mailboxes (box 1 and 2) haven't been in there for two effing weeks.

Good news is that my dress was finished and I picked it up yesterday.  I tried it on at the tailor's and it fits PERFECTLY.  The seamstress did a phenomenal job on taking the dress in.  It was really just 1 or 2 dress sizes too big.  The armpits are up in the armpits now, and the bust is where my bust is.  The hood is a bit smaller now, since she had to take some cloth out of that to make up for the shoulders being too wide as well (which were also taken in a bit).  So it fits ever so snug without the corset, and I think it'll be very comfortable with the corset.  Won't know until I get the damn thing though.

I've also started reading a different book while in the middle of Game of Thrones.  It's on the list of my books to review at this time, but I'm not going to do this one chapter by chapter.  It's non-fiction, so I don't see there being a point to do a chapter by chapter review.

I also saw Thor last night in 3D.  I'll post a review on that.  And I also bought L.A. Noire for PS3.  And I've been playing a lot of Dragon Age II again.  So I'm going to do reviews on those as well in the Tech Corner.

Again, not a true Tech Post, just a general life update. :)

Sansa is a Git

We'll jump straight to it ...

Sansa

I hate Sansa.  And not because I'm jealous of her like Arya.  But because she's just a stupid little girl filled with all the prim and properness that would befit a princess.  I guess she sort of is a princess, and in this world of medieval accuracy, she doesn't get to learn much of the realities of life.

I'm not going to go in to detail on this chapter.  In fact, I don't think I'm going to be doing much of these super detailed summaries of each chapter anymore.  I'm going to hit on the highs and lows, and then give my afterthoughts.

Sansa, Arya and Septa Mordane (the babysitter) are to be riding with Princess Myrcella today, as they continue to venture towards King's Landing.  Arya is missing.

Through this chapter it's repeated at how wonderful Sansa always looks.  She already looks her best.  She brushed her hair out until it shone.

The girl only cares about looks.  And her head is filled with nonsense.  If she marries Joffery, and by some turn of events Joff becomes King and she ends up Queen, she'll simply be a puppet, as will Joff, while his mother, Cersei pulls at his strings.

Septa excuses Sansa and she goes out to find Arya.  She down by the banks of the river.  After arguing about Arya coming back to the wheelhouse, Sansa says about the dumbest thing she could:

"Gods be true, Arya, sometimes you act like such a child".

... she is a child.  And so are you, you fucking twat.

Sansa is merely eleven years old and Arya is only nine.  She should be running about outside getting dirty and playing with her direwolf (or poorly attempting to clean it).

Sansa leaves.  We get some more insight on the relationship between Sansa and Arya from Sansa's perspective, which really isn't all that different from Arya's.  They both dislike each other, not to the level of hate, but they are like night and day.  Very different children while only 2 years apart.

Sansa returns to the inn.  Some royal escort shows up from King's Landing to ride with them the rest of the way.  Sandor Clegane scares the crap out of Sansa because he has an ugly burned face and he's somewhat rude to her.  And then the gallant Prince Joffery stands up for her and treats her all lady like (as though she is a fragile porcelain doll and can't help herself ... because she can't since she's so stupid).

Joff offers that her and Sansa go riding after Cersei tells them to go off since she has to entertain guests.

Sansa loves riding.  (And she's also a big fat liar face because about 5 minutes ago, she just told Arya she hates riding).

They go off riding and leave their "dogs" behind (Layd and Clegane) and while riding they hear wood smacking against wood in the forest.  They ride up to a small clearing to find Arya sparring with a young boy.

Joffrey show off his true git-ness here.  He challenges the boy, Mycah from the butcher, with real steal against his wooden broomstick sword.

Things go poorly.  Arya intervenes by nailing Joff on the head with her broom stick, Mycah takes off, Arya attempts to defend herself, but doesn't do well.  Nymeria jumps in to save the day, nearly tears off Joff's arm (too bad she didn't succeed in doing so) and then runs off.  Arya throws Joff's sword into the river, and runs away.  Sansa is screaming the whole time to stop, and then tries to comfor Joff after this happens, but he is disgusted with her.  She leaves to get help and that's that.

Sansa = Twat
I hate Sansa's character and I hope she dies.  That's about it.  I have nothing much else to say about her.  She's very one-dimensional, full of fairytale fluff and prim properness that makes me want to vomit.

I'm pretty sure she won't last the entirety of this book.

The Fighter

Last night in an attempt to relax, Luke and I decided to watch The Fighter.  After about an hour or so, the DVD took a crap and we were unable to finish it.

What we have seen so far was great.  I knew Christian Bale was a little on the weird side, but he took the role of passed-his-prime-now-coke-addict-athlete to the extreme.  I wonder what he did to get in to that role ... *sarcasm*

I know nothing of this true story that the movie is based on.  So I'm drawing some conclusions here from what I've seen in the movie so far.  This takes place in a suburb of New York, most likely Queens.  Why Queens?  Because Mark Wahlberg is in the movie and also produced the movie.  He has this ... thing about Queens.  And I think it stems from his HBO t.v. show Entourage.

In Entourage, the main character Eric (a.k.a E, and yes he is the main character, not Vince), his best friend Vince, Vince's brother Johnny (a.k.a. Drama) and Turtle are all from Queens.  There's a shot in Season 5 (I think), at the end of the season, where the group goes back to Queens and Vince stays at his mother's house.  The shot is of Vince and E arguing out on the street over issues that have come up since Medellin tanked, and Vince inadvertently got fired from Smoke Jumpers (because the director was psycho).  Vince fires E since he cannot land Vince a shot in a Gus Van Sant movie, and E flies back to L.A.  However, at the end of the season, if I remember correctly, Vince gets a call from Martin Scorsese's office who wants Vince in Scorsese's new adaptation of The Great Gatsby, because E did some extra leg work to get Vince's reel in to  Van Sant who forwarded it to Scorsese.


Vince accepts the roll and the camera pans out to show the street Vince grew up on.  This street looks extremely familiar to a shot in The Fighter where the camera pans to show a street where, I think, Micky lives.

I can't find screen shots to save my life at this time, but I think I still have Season 5 of Entourage on DVD, so I'll have to do some comparison of the scenes I'm thinking of on my computer tonight.

And when we get a working copy of The Fighter, I'll finish the review ...

Assassin

Bran is still in a coma and Catelyn is by his bed ever minute of every day, awake or asleep.

Catelyn

Maester Luwin enters Bran's rooms to speak with Catelyn on matters of "state".  There are treasury issues and political dealings that have come up in Ned's absence that must be handled.

Catelyn has turned in to a single thing: a grieving mother.  She has abandoned all responsibility to her people and her land, refusing to deal with anything besides her son.

Robb enters and says he will handle it all, giving Luwin some instructions.  Luwin leaves and Robb then speaks with his mother.  While talking, Catelyn walks to the window and looks out to the city, surveying the land.  After some time, she sees a fire has started in the library wing.

Astonished, she relaxes once Robb points out the fire will never reach her and Bran.  Robb leaves to take care of the fire.  Shortly after his departure, the door to Bran's room creaks open behind Catelyn and she  turns to find a man she does not recognize holding a wicked looking dagger in his hand.

He admits that she was not supposed to be there, and she realizes that the man has come to kill Bran.  In a fit of rage, Catelyn goes after the man and grabs at his dagger with her bare hands.

Only seconds in to the struggle, Bran's nameless wolf bounds in to the room and attacks the assassin, ripping out his throat.  The wolf then cleans off Catelyn's hands of the blood from wrestling the dagger away from the assassin, and then jumps up on the bed, curling up beside Bran.

Catelyn laughs hysterically.

Maester Luwin, Robb, and several Winterfell guards find them like this hours later, and they take Catelyn away to her rooms.  After a scalding bath and dressing of wounds, Maester Luwing gives Catelyn some milk of the poppy to sleep.

She sleeps for four days.

Upon awaking, Catelyn is clear-headed once again.  Thank god.  I was getting sick of listening to her crap.

She calls for Robb and Theon Greyjoy, Hallis Mollen, and Ser Rodrik, as well as Maester Luwin.  Once they were all present she begins asking after the assassin.

They found his hiding place in the stables, and amongst his things was a pouch of ninety silver stags.  Someone paid him well to kill Bran.

After some talk, decision-making, and the conclusion that Bran was to be killed because he knows something, Ser Rodrik asks if Catelyn had a chance to see the dagger.  Catelyn is somewhat sarcastic about this, saying that she didn't have the chance, but she can vouch for it's edge.

Ouch.

Rodrik informs Catelyn of the dagger, that it was made from Valyrian steel, and has a dragonbone handle.  Too fine a weapon for the likes of that man to carry.

Catelyn decides it is time to tell these men of the suspicions of Lysa, her sister.  She informs them that Lysa believes the Lannisters killed Jon for some reason, and that Jaime did not join the hunt the afternoon Bran had fallen.  Jaime had stayed behind.  She believes Bran was pushed from a tower.

Rodrik expresses his feelings that Jaime wouldn't harm a child, Kingslayer though he may be.  Theon Greyjoy, however, has a different opinion, seeing the deed not beyond Jaime.

In a fit of rage, Robb declares Jaime's head is his, and draws his sword to brandish it in the air as he swears to kill Jaime.

Rodrik chastises him for drawing his weapon and having no one near to use it on.  Catelyn notes Robb is wearing steel now; Rodrik notes that he felt it was time.

Catelyn agrees, saying that it was even passed time for Robb to grow up.  She then decides that someone must go to King's Landing to investigate the source of the dagger.  She determines that she must go alone.

Robb insists that she have an escort on the kingsroad.  Catelyn disagrees, saying that she will not go this way and that she must go alone.  Ser Rodrik insists that she at least let him go with her.  She agrees to this; they are to ride down the White Knife to White Harbor, and hire a ship to take them to King's Landing.  They'll get there long before Eddard.

More Murder

Jaime is trying to frame someone.  Who, I don't know yet.  But the little ponce is up to no good.  He very well wouldn't give the assassin his own dagger so everyone could put two and two together straight away and figure out he orchestrated this.  That dagger does not belong to him.  I believe we'll find out soon who it does belong to though.

A Book is to the Mind as the Whetstone is to the Sword

On the road again ...

Tyrion

Tyrion is traveling north with Benjen Stark and Jon Snow to The Wall.  Form Tyrion's PoV we see a lot of the happenings occurring about the crew as they travel the kingsroad; we learn it's extremely cold, well below freezing, and the wind makes it worse.

But there isn't much else we learn until Jon Snow and Tyrion have their conversation in this chapter.  Since Tyrion often gets in the way of making camp or breaking one, he goes off to the woods.  We get a little insight on the history of dragons as Tyrion dug through the cellars of Red Keep after his sister wed Robert Baratheon, who had the dragon skulls removed from the great hall after he had taken the throne.

The smallest skulls were no bigger than mastifs, and only a century and a half old.  They would be the last of the Targaryen dragons, possibly the last dragons to ever have lived.  The other skulls were massive, big enough to stand inside the gaping jaws, one big enough to ride a horse through.  There were three of them, named Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhaghar.

After some pondering of dragons, Jon shows up and asks Tyrion what he's reading.  Tyrion tells him, and Jon wonders why would anyone want to read about dragons.  And then Tyrion points out the obvious that I had called out a couple chapters ago before he left for The Wall.

Tyrion reads to keep his wits sharp.  A book is to the mind as the whetstone is to the sword.  Since Tyrion's physical stature and appearance cause others to think poorly of him, he must prove himself with his wit, intellect, and perception.  What he lacks in strength and appearance he must make up in intelligence.

After Jon mentions the uselessness of reading about dragons, Tyrion gives up one of his darker secrets from when he was a boy and he used to light fires in the bowels of Casterly Rock, imagining it to be dragon's fire, burning his father or his sister.

He then says Jon must think the same way, to which Jon vehemently disagrees.  Tyrion makes some sarcastic remarks about how wonderful the Stark's must treat him, and Catelyn must care for him as if he were her own son, and that Robb is heir to Winterfell while Jon is shipped off to the Wall.

Jon is furious.  He screams at Tyrion to shut up, and that going to be a part of the Night's Watch is a noble venture.  Tyrion puts the truth to the lie, saying that the Night's Watch is made up of all the misfits in the world and he knows Jon hates this.

Jon screams again, and then Ghost attacks Tyrion.  Since the wolf is mute, he never him the thing coming and it tackles Tyrion down to the snow.  He asks Jon to call the wolf off and help him up.  Jon makes him "ask nicely".

Jon is kind of annoying.

Tyrion asks nicely, Jon tells Ghost to sit and then helps Tyrion to his feet.  He asks why Ghost attacked him, and Jon jokes that maybe he thought Tyrion was a "grumkin".  And Tyrion laughs heartily at this, asking what he does to snarks.  Jon responds that he doesn't want to know.

Maybe if I knew what a grumkin or snark was, I'd have laughed at this too, but I was more so confused than anything else.

Jon hands Tyrion back his wineskin, and he drinks from it.  He hands it back to Jon who tries some, and then he asks Tyrion if what he said about the Night Watch is true.

Duh?  Did you not see Yoren and his men?  They're all criminals of one sort or another ...

Tyrion admits it and Jon understands, admitting that "it is what it is".  Tyrion finds Jon's ability to acknowledge a hard truth, rather than run away from it, an admirable quality.

They venture back to camp and Ben berates Jon for going off on his own.  Camp settles down after some food, and they all go off to sleep.

What was the point of this chapter?
Seems more or less filler again.  It gave us a little information on the developing relationship between Jon and Tyrion, but not much else.

Oh well, on to the next chapter.

Damned Targaryens!

Robert very much hates the Targaryens.  And it is quite the simple basis for hatred.  Rhaegar, Viserys and Dany's older brother, had some how captured Lyanna, Eddard's younger sister and Robert's betrothed, and raped her hundreds of times.  And though Robert killed Rhaegar some 15 years ago, it hasn't helped at all.

Eddard/Ned

Eddard and crew, including Robert, are on their way to the southron court.  Robert wakes Ned early and they go out riding at the behest of Robert to avoid listening ears.

They babble a bit, Robert complains about the axle that keeps breaking on the wagon hauling Cersei and her children.  He even threatens to burn it and force Cersei to walk the rest of the way, and leave her behind while she does so.  Ned laughs half-heartedly.  Robert continues the farce, talking of the two of them, vagabond knights on the kingsroad, swords at the hip and gods know what in front of them, and maybe a farmer's daughter or a tavern wench to warm their beds.

Ned says he would if he could but that they have duties now, to realm, to children, and him to his wife, and Robert to his queen.  Duh.  "We are not the boys we were."

Robert scoffs, and admits that Ned was never the boy he once was; and then he does something very stupid and brings up Jon's mother, trying to get the name from Ned again.

Ned tells him her name was Wylla, and that is the end of the story.  He's very irritated when this comes up.  He admits his fault, knows he shamed himself and Catelyn, and is sorry for his actions.  Robert claims there was nothing wrong with it because Ned barely knew Catelyn.

Catelyn was pregnant with one of Ned's children.

Robert says that Ned is too hard on himself.

I hope Robert dies or is killed by the end of this book.  I hate him, too.  His disregard for faithfulness to one's wife is sickening.

After stumbling upon a graveyard, Robert eventually hands Ned a folded piece of paper; Ned reads it and wants to know the source of the information.  We do not learn what the message contains until later.  Robert informs Ned that Ser Jorah Mormont provided it to Lord Varys in King's Landing.

Ah.  Now we have a current connection of the Starks/Baratheons/Lannisters to the Targaryens, as opposed to the old connection concerning the war and usurping of the Iron Throne.

We learn that Mormont tried selling some poachers to Tyroshi slavers, and since this is a crime, it put shame on the Stark name as well as the Mormonts because Bear Island is within Stark's lands.  Ned traveled to Bear Island in the west to deal out justice with Ice, but Jorah had skipped town on a ship.

Now Lord Varys wants to bring Jorah back to the Seven Kingdoms and abolish Jorah's exile.  Ned thinks this is a terrible idea and wants to kill the man.  Robert asks what else he thinks of the report.  He notes that Dany has wedded the Dothraki horselord.  Robert admits he'd like to send her a knife and a bold man to wield it as a gift.

Ned does a quick /eyeroll; Robert's hatred for the Targaryen's is a fiery pit of surging fury.  Robert wants to kill Viserys and Dany to prevent them from making more dragonspawn to cause trouble.  Ned notes how unspeakable it would be to kill mere children.

And then Robert brings up Lyanna again and how Rhaegar raped her hundreds of times.

Robert, she died 15 years ago.  Get over it.

He also admits that he doesn't like the marraige and notes that there are still houses in the Seven Kingdoms that call him Usurper.  Most likely, when Viserys returns, they will side with him.

Ned assures they will be fine and once Robert names a Warden of the East ... he never finishes the thought because Robert interrupts him and askes Ned to lay off the Warden of the East and that he won't put a sickly boy on the throne.  Ned suggests that he foster the boy unless Robert promised him elsewhere.  Robert confesses that he submitted to Jaime Lannister's idea.

But this brings the problem of Warden of the West in to the mix.  Jaime already holds that position and cannot hold both east and west effectively.

Ned and Robert continue to bicker when Ned gives up the truth of what happened in the castle of Red Keep the day Robert took over as king.  Jaime Lannister took his house to Red Keep and duped the enemy into thinking they were coming to support the Targaryens.  Lannister's army single-handedly took over the keep, and Jaime, sworn to Aerys Targaryen, had slain the man and he lay on the floor.

Jaime is a prick.  And yet Robert trusts the man because he believes that Jaime played the same game of treachery the Targaryen's played.  Ned told Robert that Jaime was sitting on the throne in Red Keep while they awaited his arrival.  Jaime then laughed and left the seat saying it was much too uncomfortable.

Robert agrees, laughing all the while, and absolves Jaime of his sins.  He then urges Ned to ride with him, to feel the wind in his hair again.  He gallops off.

Ned doesn't follow immediately and begins to think of the work ahead of him.  He knew he would not be able to change Robert's mind concerning much of anything, and that he belonged in Winterfell with Catelyn in her grief, and with Bran.

He admits that a man cannot always be where he belongs, so he gallops off after the king.

Ser Jorah and the Targaryen's

We know a little more history of the relationship between the Starks/Baratheons/Lannisters and the Targaryen's.  And we know just how deep Robert's hatred is for the Targaryen's altogether.  He feels as though he should have killed Viserys and Dany long ago when they were babes.

All because of Rhaegar and Lyanna.  I know Lyanna ended up sick, but how?  Did she contract a disease from Rhaegar?  I wonder if that's why Robert hated the man so much and not even killing Rhaegar sated Robert's hatred of him.

We're a little bit closer to the connection between the current Targaryen's, Viserys and Dany, and Robert and Ned.  Robert seems them only as vermin, but Ned only sees children.  Hopefully things don't turn out poorly for Ned because the children were left alive.

A Wedding of Sorts

This chapter scared the living daylights out of me when I started it.  I was fully prepared for Dany to be in the worst hands.  But by the end of the chapter I was crying because of the pure sincerity in everything Khal Drogo does.

Daenerys

We find that Jorah Mormont has sworn himself to Viserys and Dany, and has been at their side since.  The two are staying on the khal's estate until the wedding takes place.  Viserys is his usual egotistical, one-dimensional self, and wants to know when he will have his army from Khal Drogo.  Mormont insists that everything will go as planned as long as the Dothraki omens don't turn out poorly.

Viserys has some choice words for Dothraki omens, and via roundabout conversation, Daenerys reminisces about the dream she had the previous night.  Viserys was beating her, screaming that she woke the dragon, and he transforms in to a dragon.  She awoke then as the dragon looked her in the eye and had never been so afraid until her wedding day came.

A great ceremony took place under the open sky, with feasting and dance.  And while women danced, some men, Dothraki warriors, took them and "mounted" them right there on the dance floor.  Two men grabbed at one woman and ended up fighting until one killed the other.  Dany was shocked by the entire thing.  Magister Illyrio informs her that if at least 3 deaths do not occurr at a wedding, it is deemed a dull affair.  Dany notes that their wedding must have been spectacular because a dozen men had died by the end of the event.

Those traditions seem odd.  I'm not sure I've heard of much like it in medieval Europe, let alone any ancient civilization.

Khal Drogo doesn't pay much attention to Dany the entire event, and Viserys was irritated with being seated below her and served from portions after Dany.  That guy is a little prick and needs an attitude adjustment.  She repeated her montage that she is the blood of the dragon to giver her strength.

Eventually, gifts for the bride were presented.  Some were weapons and she was to pass them on to her husband as is custom, so he too received gifts.  She was quite pleased with what she received, not having expected much of anything.  And then it was time for Khal Drogo's gift to her.

The crowed splits to permit Khal Drogo and a horse, a young filly.  Daenerys thinks of her colors as "grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke."

The khal says something to Illyrio who translates it to Dany.  "Silver for the silver of your hair."

The khal said that?  Khal Drogo, the Dothraki leader with the longest braid of all Dothraki?  Odd to hear poetry come from such an intimidating man ... /melt.

Dany had no clue what to do with the horse, so Khal Drogo picked her up at the waist with ease, and seated her atop the filly.

Mormont insists she take the horse for a quick ride, and not stray to far.  Dany gathers the reins and takes off.  With little effort, she urges the filly to take off.

"And for the first time in hours, she forgot to be afraid.  Or perhaps it was for the first time ever."

The horse runs about, Dany guiding with ease.  Excited with the speed of the run, she urges the horse into a gallop, and Dothraki cheer her on.  She then runs the horse headlong towards the firepit, and as though she had wings, the filly leaped over them.

She returns and stops near Khal Drogo and Illyrio.  She tells Illyrio to translate this to the khal for her:  "Tell Khal Drogo that he has given me the wind."  And for the first time she saw Khal Drogo smile.

/melt again

He demands his horse then as the last rays of sun slip behind the walls of Pentos.  Viserys takes this opportune moment to threaten his sister to please the khal or she will see the dragon wake as it has never woken before.

Her fear returns.  She reverts to the mindset of the short thirteen years bestowed upon her, and knows what she is about to be subjected to.  Repeating her montage as they ride off under the stars, she insists that the dragon is never afraid.

They come to a stop near a grassy place beside a stream.

At this point my stomach is in knots and I'm really worried the book is about to take a turn that will make me not want to read it anymore.

Khal Drogo dismounts and lifts Dany from her horse as well.  As he secures the horses, Dany begins to cry.

All Khal Drogo says is, "No".

Dany is awed that Khal can speak the Common Tongue.  But she quickly learns that he only knows the one word, "No".  However, this comforts her a bit.

Drogo begins touching her hair as he murmured in Dothraki, and though Dany could not understand him, she knew the warmth and tenderness in his tone.

/melt more

He then picks her up and sets her on a large rock next to the stream.  He then sits on the ground, crosses his legs, and again, says "No".  Dany asks if that's the only word he knows, but he doesn't reply.  Instead he begins removing the bells one by one from his braid.  Dany leans forward to help, and once they were done, Drogo gestures for her to undo his braid.

This is my reaction:  o.o

Once Dany finished, she knew it was her turn.  Drogo began to undress her.  She feels how deft and oddly tender his hands are, and he removed her silks slowly, one by one.  Once her breasts were bared, she looked away, ashamed, and covered herself.

Drogo says, "No," and softly takes her hands away, and lifts her face to look at him.  He repeats, "No".  Dany responds with a "No" of her own.  He then pulls her close to remove the last of her garments, and she shivers in the cool night air.

Fearing the worst, she stood their silent.  But what she feared did not come to pass, not for a long while.  Drogo stared at her for a bit, taking her shape in, and then began to touch her, softly at first, and then harder.  He never hurt her.

/puddle

He held her hand, brushing her fingers one by one.  He gently touched her leg from hip to feet.  He caressed her face, following the curve of her ear, gently running a finger about her lips.  He combed through her hair with both hands, and then turned her around to massage her shoulders, sliding a soft knuckle down the path of her spine.

Dany feels as though hours have passed when his hands finally reached her breast.  He touches them softly, circling the nipples, and then lightly pinches them between thumb and forefinger, pulling ever so slightly until they hardened.

This man is a genius.  Not because he has magical hands or something silly like that.  He knew that Daenerys was scared out of her mind to be wedded to him, a man of his stature, at such a young age.  He wanted Daenerys to be comfortable with him, to understand he means her no harm and only wishes to consummate their marriage in a loving and tender fashion.

He stops, brings Dany down into his lap.  She is "flushed and breathless, her heart fluttering in her chest."  He asks her this time, "No?" as though if she were to say "No, I don't want to" he would be okay with that and not continue.

Without hesitation, she takes his hand down "to the wetness between her thighs" and whispers "Yes" as "she put his fingers inside her."

/cry

Whew!

I, for sure, thought Dany was done for.  All the hype built up around Khal Drogo's appearance, and always getting to see Drogo from Dany's perspective made me think he was an evil man.  He is not.  He is incredibly intelligent and caring.

What I think is going to happen is that Dany and Drogo will have a son, a "rightful" heir to the Iron Throne.  And I have a feeling Drogo may decide to not help Viserys as he promised.  He doesn't even really need to; Dany hates her brother (at least, I think she does) and I'm pretty sure Dany will fall in love with Drogo in a short matter of time.  She will be able to communicate her dislike of her brother eventually, and maybe they'll do away with the little git.  She may not even want to return to the Seven Kingdoms; just stay in Pentos with Drogo and be his ruling wife of the Dothraki.

I doubt it'll go that way, but it'd be nice to have some fairytale "endings" at this point.  At least this chapter was a refreshing turn of events.

Needle

Truly, the chapter feels like filler.  Not much happens so let's hop right to it.

Jon

Jon attempts to see Bran before he is to leave with Ben and Tyrion for The Wall.  When he arrives, he notes that he hadn't visited Bran since the fall because Lady Stark is always with him; she even sleeps on a hard bed in the same room.  But Jon wants to see Bran once before he leaves.

Jon enters and Lady Stark simply glares at him.  He admits that he wanted to see Bran once, to say good bye.

Catelyn's response is cold, telling him that he has already said it, so he can leave.

Jon doesn't take her bullshit attitude, and walks in the room.  Catelyn threatens to call the guards, and Jon tells her to do it, but she doesn't.  Jon gives Bran some encouraging words, gives him a quick kiss, and then attempts to leave.  Catelyn then says this:

"I wanted him to stay here with me ... I prayed for it ... He was my special boy.  I went to the sept and prayed seven times to the seven faces of god that Ned would change his mind and leave him here with me.  Sometimes prayers are answered."

Jon, out of true sincerity says "It's not your fault."

Catelyn, the bitch that she is, says "I need none of your absolution, bastard."

He shrugs and attempts to leave again.  Catelyn calls out to him, actually using his name, and Jon is surprised. But then she allows this defecation to dribble from her mouth:

"It should have been you."  Then she starts crying.

I don't like Catelyn much.  The only person she should be mad at is Ned for the resulting existence of Jon, and even then, she shouldn't be that mad anymore because it was nine years ago (I think) and they have moved on.  But she takes out more of the frustration she gets from Ned's unfaithfulness on Jon than anybody else.  And this is not fair for Jon at all.

Jon leaves after that, with a short good bye.  He runs in to Robb, they have a quick chat, and Jon then heads for Arya's room.  Arya is repacking her things since she had packed them improperly the first time, much to the Septa Mordane's dislike.  Jon says he came to see her to give her a present before he left.

He gives her a small long sword, much thinner and shorter than a regular longsword.  Arya is overly pleased, and takes it out to swing it about.  Jon jokes with her a bit, and then insists that she not tell Sansa, which she says in unison with him.  Jon is about to leave when Arya asks if the sword has a name, like her father's sword Ice.  Jon smiles and says "Can't you guess? ... Your very favorite thing."

In unison again, as Arya smiles, they both say "Needle!"

Needle

I liked Jon and Arya's sibling relationship.  It's sad to see them be separated now.  And I like the fact that Arya has a sword.  I'm hoping she becomes a formidable foe to someone, e.g. Joffrey ... maybe even Sansa.

Not much else to say about this chapter except that I dislike Catelyn.  She's so mean to Jon for little reason but that he's her husband's bastard.  Really immature; granted I don't blame her for disliking Jon, but that doesn't mean she has to treat him poorly.  Oh well, on to the next chapter.

Breaking Fast and Slapping Faces

Tyrion Lannister is my favorite character.  This is why:

Tyrion

Tyrion is disturbed in his night-readings when a wolf continuously howls out in the darkness.  He leaves the library, thinking of eating breakfast, but only after waking the septon to replace the books and scrolls.

On his way out, he see Clegane and Joffrey down in the yard.  As he nears, he can hear Joffrey and Clegane talking about Bran and how he has been slow to dying.

Joffrey hands Clegane a longsword as he complains that the wolf is giving Joff the creeps.  Clegane suggests he kill the animal.  Joff makes a cute comment about sending a dog to kill a dog.  And how the Starks don't notice how Winterfell is so infested with wolves, they won't miss one.

Tyrion comes down from the last step and takes a jab at Joff.  Clegane does his typical "Who's that, the spirits?!" bit when Tyrion shows up, who happens to be in no mood for jokes.

After some words, and a couple slaps to the face, Tyrion send Joff packing to go speak with Lord and Lady Stark to offer his deepest apologize at the unfortunate events in regards to Bran.

Clegane tries to intimidate Tyrion, and he just laughs, asking where his brother is.  Clegane tells him he is having breakfast with his sister.

Tyrion takes his leave, shortly finding Jamie and Cersei.  Who I want to punch in the face.  The both of them.

They speak of Bran's condition as though it brings them great sorrow but I can see straight through that charade.  Tyrion orders up some tasty food,  (I want bacon now) and through Tommen entering the scene, Tyrion makes it known that Bran might live.  Maester Luwin thinks so at least.

Thank the fantasy writing gods that Martin had heart enough not to kill off another character, especially one so fun as Bran.

When Tyrion says this, however, he watches the reactions of Jamie and Cersei as opposed to the happy delight of the children.  A look, lasting no more than a second, passed between the two of them, and Tyrion saw it.

Tyrion definitely knows what's up.  I think he actually knows everything and Jamie and Cersei are dumb enough to think Tyrion an idiot due to his stature and physical appearance that they don't suspect him at all.

And after some prude comments that cause Cersei and the children to leave, Jamie points out how preverse Tyrion is.  Tyrion agrees, and then points out how he would be interested in Bran living to hear what he has to say.  Jamie accuses Tyrion of treason by simply stating his wonder at who's side Tyrion is on, and then Tyrion makes what I can only think is a sarcastic comment in regards to the fact that he loves his family dearly.

Joffrey is a jit and Tyrion rocks

At first, I thought Tyrion was a character Martin wrote as a form of distraction.  It is evident that Tyrion is way more important than that.  I'm fairly certain that Tyrion knows of Jamie and Cersei's relationship, as well as the parentage of Joffrey.

What baffles me is that Jamie and Cersei think nothing of Tyrion; if I had a twin and then a younger sibling who was deformed to a level of dwarfism that caused him to be constantly shunned, I'd fear him more than any of my own enemies.  Tyrion has had to make up what he lacks in stature in intellect and investigation; the man is so smart, but Cersei and Jamie are so incredibly stupid they don't even recognize what Tyrion's physical form has forced him to overdevelop mentally.

I'm keeping an eye on you, Tyrion.  While you're my favorite character, I trust you not.  I have a inkling that Tyrion is out for the Iron Throne himself.  And what better way to accomplish that by watching the competition eliminate themselves while he waits in the shadows for the perfect moment to strike.

I Never Fall

Incest and murder all wrapped up in to one cute little chapter.  Okay, maybe not quite so cute, but definitely a plot-filled chapter.

Bran

Bran is left behind in the castle as the men go out to hunt for the last feast before King Baratheon and his entourage, including several Stark children and Eddard, leave south for King's Landing.

Since he's so upset he wasn't allowed to go with, Bran leaves the castle for the city of Winterfell and does what he does best: climbs the walls of the city.  From the godswood, he climbs a wall, leaving his unnamed direwolf behind.  While climbing, he does some reminiscing of his climbing adventures and all the attempts at scaring him out of the act by his mother and Maester Luwin.  Maester Luwin even crafted a clay model of a boy and put some of Bran's old clothes on him, then threw the model from the roof of a building to crash on the bricks of the road below.  Bran's response:  "I'm not made of clay.  And anyhow, I never fall."

Guess what happens in this chapter.

Bran climbs to the roof tops and adventures through the city.  The young boy is capable of noting the contour of the land is evident from the rooftops, while it isn't very apparent from the streets of the city.  He makes it up to the First Keep, which is empty, when he begins to hear voices as he swings from gargoyle to gargoyle.

He hears a man and a woman talking, discussing who should really be the Hand of the King, instead of Eddarrd Stark.

I sense a bit of dissension in the ranks.

But the man even admits he would not want the job.  Too much work.  Regardless of that, the woman points out how dangerous the situation is now, and that Robert will actually listen to Eddard; they're closer than Robert is to his brothers.  The woman makes a note of having to keep an eye on Eddard, but the man turns the line into an inuendo and insists the woman come closer to him.

Bran doesn't know what's going on except that they're talking about his father and that he cannot swing by the window lest the man and woman see his feet.  The woman notes that Eddard has never taken interest in happenings of the south before, why now?  She feels he's planning a move against them (them being this woman and man).

The man insists that Eddard might just want to get away from his wife, or make a name for himself in the history books, or both.  Maybe he even just wants to be warm for once in his life.

The woman then says this:  "His wife is Lady Arryn's sister.  It's a wonder Lysa was not here to greet us with her accusations."

Confirmed:  The woman speaking is Cersei Lannister, the queen.  Lysa sent the letter a two chapters back to her sister, Catelyn, Eddard's wife, with the accusation that Cersei had Jon Arryn murdered.

And because Cersei refers to the man she is speaking to as "us", the man cannot be any other than her brother Jaime.  House Lannister is under scrutiny and she knows it.

It is later confirmed as Bran attempts to get down a ledge to get a view into the room.  Cersei and the man continue to talk; Lysa is growing bold and may come forward without proof of the murder.  And Robert may believe her simply because he hates Cersei.  The man then says "And whose fault is that, sweet sister?"

Yup.  That's definitely Jaime.  And I have half a mind to believe he has some incestuous relations with his sister.

Some more talk continues and though Bran is scared out of his wits, he manages to drop down to a lower ledge, and then swing down from a gargoyle head to take a peak in at who's talking.

He sees the man and woman wrestling, as Jaime had pushed Cersei up against a wall.  She was moaning and making feeble attempts at push Jaime to stop, but not physically moving him away.  Bran recognizes her as the queen.

Cersei hears Bran make a noise and screams.  In a fit to escape, Bran makes a grab for the gargoyle's head but slips and falls.  He manages to catch a ledge, hanging by a few fingers.  Cersei and the man look out of the window and comment on how Bran saw them.  Bran then recognizes that the man looks exactly like Cersei.  So it is Jaime.

He pulls Bran up on to the ledge, and asks him how old he is.  Bran says he's seven and Jaime, without a second thought, says "The things I do for love," and then gives Bran an almighty shove out of the window.

He has nothing to grab on to.  The courtyard rushes up from so far away.

I Never Fall

When Bran reminisces of telling Maester Luwin this, I cringed.  It's the ultimate of foreshadowing.  Something had to happen.

But I didn't picture something of this nature happening.  I've put two and two together here from this conversation and discovered a couple things:

• Cersei definitely had Jon murdered; Jaime proved it by asking her if there was proof.  But why?  I'll address that later.
• Cersei and Jaime are incestuous in their relationship.  That was damn obvious.
• Cersi mentions that with Robert dead, Joff would have the throne and this would be a good thing.  And Jaime agrees.
• Per the previous bullet point, the reason Jaime agrees is because, without a doubt, Joff is Jaime's son, not Roberts.
• This would put House Lannister in full control of the Seven Kingdoms.
• And the reason Cersei had Jon murdered?  He was on the verge of discovering Joff's parentage and was going to come forward with proof.

And now Bran his falling to his death.  Does he die?  I'm not sure.  I have half a mind to think he'll die but ... maybe Martin's rep for killing off characters has irritated him enough that he just wants to make us think he's killed another character so early in the book.  We'll see in the ensuing chapters.

Reviews/Criticism

I realized I've been doing more ... synopsis type reviews as opposed to criticism.  And I've figured out that this was more so my intent.  However, as things come up that I find to be poor writing (like in the last Catelyn chapter) I will point it out without hesitation.  But I think this is going to be the format from here on out; little intro, major synopsis review, and then some after thoughts.

The King's Speech

This movie has been on our Netflix list since it was released on DVD and we just recently got it in the mail.  We watched it today and it lived up to all of the awards it was nominated for and won.

Colin Firth was superb.  I've been in plays where I've had to use an accent, as well as use odd methods of speech, dialect, and sentence syntax, but what this actor achieved is beyond that of my comprehension.  I cannot imagine where I would start to learn a stammer.  From what I've read, he listened to King George VI's speeches and copied his stammer as best he could.

And I recognized Michael Gambon (Dumbledore!), Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbosa), and Timothy Spall (Peter Petegrew/Wormtail), amongst other actors (no, I don't like Helena Bonham Carter, so I just ... ignored her).

Wonderful movie, incredibly moving, and oh so pleased with the scene where "Bertie" spoke so eloquently through the F-bombs.

What I loved was in the first 20 minutes of the movie.  Logue pegs Albert with the problem right away.  The only thing holding Albert back is fear.  By preventing Albert from hearing himself speak by forcing him to listen to music on a headset while speaking, Logue proves that Albert's problem isn't mechanical.  It's mental.  And by preventing Albert from fearing the sound of his voice by removing the element altogether, Albert speaks quite well.

Again, excellent movie, well done.  I give it a 5/5.