Is Game of Thrones heading for a happy ending?

Warning: Spoilers for the latest episode of Game of Thrones

Don’t Boycott Episode VII: An Open Letter to all the Prequel/Saga Fans

With the release of Star Wars Episode VII, the media is all ablaze about how it would fix the preceived problems of the Prequels.  This is even as some Saga fans vow to boycott this movie under the belief that Disney has done them a disservice.  But what is this disservice? 

Ways To Watch Star Wars(And show them to newbies)

With two days until Episode VII, some people may want to watch Star Wars.  However, what many people do not agree on is how Star Wars should be viewed. People have various opinions on what order the films should be watched and there has been no consensus.  These opinions are often based on the quality of the films presented.   I will go over the key methods, and the pros and cons of each.  This is not meant to make a statement but rather, to assess each side   

Please note that for the most part, with the exception of the last two film orders, I have not included the EU, the last two orders focus on EU as it is relevant to the films.

Author's Intent AKA Chronological Order

1. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
2. Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones
3. Star Wars: Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
4. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
5. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
6. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi


This is the viewing order that George Lucas regards as the closest to his vision. Here we approach Star Wars as the story of Anakin Skywalker’s destiny to bring balance to the Force over a period of two generations of the Skywalker family.  We see his fall to the dark side and his eventual redemption, all while the Republic is turned into the Empire, but liberated again.  The upcoming sequel trilogy will undoubtedly act as a continuation or epilogue to this saga.


Personally, I have no problem with this order, with no grudges against the Prequels myself or against Lucas, but some have argued that it ruins so much twists in Episode V if we know Anakin is Vader beforehand and I know some people tend to want things to be a surprise.  And then there are trilogy fans who worry about People getting exposed to the Prequels first..... 


Production Order

1. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
2. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
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4. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
5. Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones
6. Star Wars: Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith

Another order is to watch the Star Wars Saga in production order.  That way key plot twists, namely Vader being Luke's father, would be preserved and this method focuses on the narrative of Star Wars as an epic adventure about a Rebel Alliance battling an evil despotic Empire.  To trilogy fans, the so-called "good stuff" can be taken care of first and I feel if you want to promote a narrative critical of the Prequels with how you expose Star Wars to your friends, this is the most open order, because I feel it can let people decide on their own if the Prequels were good or not and I feel that simply blocking people from seeing the Prequels would not allow for fair debate over it's merits.  Rather, people would wonder why people complain about a specific movie if they are not allowed to see it.  Putting the Prequels on can let people decide for themselves wheather these movies are really that bad or not(personally I don't take sides in this debate).

A key problem I feel is that if the movies are shown this way it might perpetuate the image of Star Wars as two trilogies and not one saga.  This order I feel is often created to incite specific tensions or specific images of Star Wars as a "good" and "bad" Saga over one saga.    

Trilogy Order

(NOTHING HAPPENED BEFORE HERE, IGNORE THE THREE TERRIBLE MOVIES THAT AREN'T REALLY STAR WARS)
1. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
2. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

But what if you don't particularly like the Prequels?  People who watch Star Wars this way angrily dismiss the Prequels as a slap in the face to the “good trilogy”, often citing RedLetterMedia or some Youtube reviewer, or celerity icons like Simon Pegg.  They tend to only focus on the Original Trilogy and it's moments, and how the Prequels tend to "pale" in contrast to the Originals.  There are two branches of thought regarding Original-only viewing.  This school of thought implies at least indifference to the Special Edition changes, or not caring about them as long as you get to watch ONLY the Originals.  For the other one, see the "Purist" Order

OR
  

1(or 1+2, or 1+2+3): Any decent fanedit of the Prequels(or series of fanedits)
4. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
5. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
6. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Those more leinant torwards the Prequels from the perspective of ideas tend to grab either a fan-edit or a condensed version of all three movies, most of these editions tend to take out specific "glaring" points in the movies or focus them on one single theme.  Many of these edits are on youtube for those that want to find them.

Purist Order:

 

(NOTHING HAPPENED BEFORE HERE, IGNORE THE THREE TERRIBLE MOVIES THAT AREN'T REALLY STAR WARS as well as the "SPECIAL EDITIONS" THAT AREN'T STAR WARS AT ALL)
1. Star Wars (1977 edition)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980 edition)
3. Return of the Jedi (1983 edition)

Ah yes, the most hardcore trilogy fan worldview and the last of the three perspectives reccomended by the media.  The Special Editions have caused controversy with Han shooting last not first, the use of CGI or "too much stuff", or Vader shouting NOOOOOOOOOOOO, the list goes on and on and on.  In a sense, some would perceive Lucas to have "tainted" the Special Editions and long for the good old days. 

A negative for this order is if people are trying to show this to their friends, most people don't care about the changes I feel outside those that grew up with them.  They might even find specific effects dated.  At the very least, it should be that the original versions be shown alongside the special editions, that way even if there is a plan to completely reject the Prequels, at least there would be a debate about the merits of the Special Editions themselves.

I will further admit that while I prefer Darth Vader to not yell NOOOOOO and Han shooting first, I feel that some of the changes were necessary and frankly, after seeing the Clone Wars, I believe it justified to change Anakin's force ghost at the end.   Through to be fair, Lucas should have kept the original copies intact.

Furthermore, outside from torrenting or getting a "despecialized" edition dubiously, it's pretty damn hard to get the O-OT.

Machete/Flashback Order

1. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
2. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
4. Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones
5. Star Wars: Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
6. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

OR

1. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
2. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
(THERE IS NO FLASHBACK BEFORE THIS BECAUSE IT WAS CRAP or IRREVERENT)
3. Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones
4. Star Wars: Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
5. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

For those who don't want to ruin the twist, this method, proposed by Rod Hilton, is the best way to watch the movies.  Especially if it is believed that the Originals do more to establish the tone of the Saga.

At the end of Empire we get the startling revelation that Darth Vader is none other than Luke’s father. However, in this method, before we unveil the climactic finale, we shall take a look back at Anakin Skywalker as a young man being trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi before his eventual turn to the Dark Side. In a shocking flashback sequence we see the truth that Darth Vader is indeed Luke’s father as well as Leia’s. We see the origins of the Empire, the fall of the Republic, and the apparent annihilation of the Jedi Order.

After this dark revelation we witness the triumphant conclusion of good over evil.

Some trilogy fans(including Rod Hilton) or PT fans who don't like Episode I tend to omit that film from the order due to either it being "bad" or "irrevelent".  Make of this what you will because again, I don't take sides in the debate over the quality of the trilogies.


NOTE: The following two are not meant for showing if you want to finish everything by the 18th.


The Star Wars Grand Canonical Saga

1. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
2. Star Wars: Episode II: The Attack of the Clones
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars(Seasons 1-6)
4. Star Wars: Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
5. Star Wars: Rebels
6. Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope
7. Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
8. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

This is, in my opinion, the best way to view Star Wars for new fans.  We connect all the key material of the Star Wars canon and form them into one saga.

The Clone Wars is important because it, along with Rebels, tend to fill up key gaps in the plotline.  We see some of the character motivations left out in the movies and the worldbuilding in both series is great.  We see the inner workings of the Jedi, as well as the foundation of the Rebel Alliance. 

Admittedly, the Clone Wars starts off weak at first.  Yet, it picks up right in season 2.  A lot of characters are fleashed out by themselves or through original characters.

A key problem through is that if someone wants to catch up on Star Wars with this model before the 18th...it's gonna be tough.  But not as tough as the next one.... 

The Star Wars Grand Historical Saga:

1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
3. Star Wars: The Old Republic
4. Star Wars: Darth Bane Trilogy
5. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
6. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
7. Star Wars Episode II: The Attack of the Clones
8. Star Wars: Clone Wars 2003 micoseries (up to episode 21)
9. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Everything Seasons 1-6)
10. Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir
11. Star Wars: Dark Disciple
12. Star Wars: Clone Wars (episodes 22-25)
13. Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith
14. Star Wars: Kanan: the Last Padawan
15. Star Wars: Rebels
16. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
17. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
18. Star Wars (2015 Marvel Comics) + Darth Vader Comics
19: Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
20. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
21. Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
22. Star Wars: Aftermath

This is by far my favorite model as a fan.  This method incorporates every element of the Star Wars canon, and even re-canonizes some of the old canon that could be "safely incorporated" into the new canon. The viewer lets it play out in chronological order seeing the amazing wealth of history in the Star Wars Galaxy.  It also answers a lot of the questions that are left over after most of the old Canon got destroyed by incorporating choice elements.

For instance? Why can there be only two Sith? We learn from the SWTOR games that the original Sith Empire, and from the Darth Bane novels that his generation of Sith, are all prone to infighting.  Darth Bane thus formed the Rule of Two.  Likewise, who the hell were the characters of General Grevious and Asajj Ventress since Anakin and Obi-Wan knew them beforehand?  We learn that they appeared in the 2003 series.  Furthermore through novels such as the Darth Plagueis novel give insight on characters such as Palpatine, and side stories set in the Galactic Civil War era gives insight to the various battles fought between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire.  And that's not getting into new and fresh interpretations of the Prophecy of the Chosen One(ie: Maybe both the Jedi and the Sith had to be destroyed so something could start anew.....) as gained through observing morally ambigious characters such as Kreia and Revan as well as the morally dubious actions of the Jedi as a whole.....

A problem however is that a lot of these things are video games and books, as well as two television series, of which one had 100+ episodes, combined with bonus content, as well as an MMO.  A good chunk of this list is also, no longer canon.  Not to mention that some of the books are varying quality and as the new canon may gradually change, this headcanon appears to be a temporary solution at most(in particular, The Force Unleashed, as Rebels is bound to contradict Force Unleashed, and thus  at the moment the Force Unleashed reincorporated into any canon is shaky at best).

And if you are planning on blitzing this thing before the 18th.......good luck.

And there you have it. Choose which of these methods work best for you depending on your preferences, and enjoy. May the Force (with or without Midi-Chlorians) be with you on the 18th!

How Anime Went Right: 4 Reasons to Watch Attack on Titan(Part 1)

Warning: Spoilers abound for MANY details of the series

Anime has often had a sketchy relationship with its American fans.  Despite Anime such as Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon Indigo League, Digimon, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, among many others being a key part of nostalgia; in today's society you are just as likely to find just as much detractors than fans of anime.  A key reason for this is that newer anime has been criticized for either overusing traits that made the anime of our youth great in an attempt to "cash-in" without doing anything new, along with an over-saturation of tropes that while popular in Japan Westerners either care little about or even blame for the preceived declining quality of anime(ie: Moe). There were also external factors for this preceived decline such as the lack of professional anime critics, a preceived bias to the Otaku community, the use of internet streaming and piracy allowing for anime of less quality to be circulated online, thereby putting the perception of anime into more scrutiny.

This has led to people claiming that anime is dead, or at the very least, it would not return to the prominence it had achieved in the late 90s and early 2000s.  Yet however, there has been momentum that could possibly restore the image of anime or gain it a new audience outside of Japan.  One of the major aspects of this change is the return of Toonami to Cartoon Network, an anime and action block whose efforts lead to the last anime boom.  Another significant shift towards a possible return to form for Anime outside of Japan is the introduction of new Anime that is seen as not recycling tropes that made the anime of old great or using tropes that are preceived to be contributing to the declining quality of anime.  And among them, is the anime Attack on Titan.

For those who don't know, Attack on Titan is essentially Neon Genesis Evangelion, but without the mecha.  The plot revolves around the  the last remnants of humanity living for a hundred years inside a fortified city designed to protect them from a powerful race of man-eating giants known as Titans.  The city is protected by three layers of walls these being Wall Maria, Wall Sina, and Wall Rose. The two races have locked one another into a stalemate: the Titans cannot breach the walls of the city, and humanity cannot make war with the Titans without risking extinction.    

That is until the reappearence of the Titans in year 845; when a colossal destroyed the the perimeter wall of the village of Zhiganshina, and allowed lesser Titans to invade from Wall Maria.  Three children escaped from the ensuing massacre: Eren Yeager, an aggressive adolescent boy who lost his mother in the; Mikasa Ackerman, his quiet adoptive sister; and Armin Arlert, Eren's bookish best friend. Years later, the trio decide to join the Survey Corps, a military branch dedicated to making excursions into the outside world to fight the Titans and research ways to defeat them once and for all — and Eren, with vengeful and murderous intent in his heart, vows to kill every last Titan on Earth.  Little do they know however, exactly the full consequences of the Human-Titan war and just what sort of problem they have got themselves in....

Attack on Titan‘s success has grown exponentially in the latest months that it’s become the most sold manga in the first half of 2014. This is the first time that a manga actually unseats One Piece in years with more than 8 million copies sold.  And the franchise’s popularity doesn’t only come from Japan either, it is a worldwide phenomena with fans from all over the world.  But what makes it so awesome?  And what problems does it have?  Part 1 of my review of Attack on Titan gives 4 reasons why it is so awesome and one of the better anime.  But at the same time the manga has a large hidden problem within it's themes that, if not addressed properly, or at least the implications of such could be twisted and interpreted in ways that might be not what the author wants, could make Attack on Titan an example of how Anime could go wrong, which I will cover hopefully in Part 2 of this review.   

My thoughts on Racebending in Popular Culture

Why Star Wars "Saga Fans" should not celebrate the end of the Legends Era Expanded Universe

NOTE: For the purposes of this article, I will assume to bring balance to the force is to destroy the Sith.  This is the assumption if one takes an extreme purist interpretation of the films and TCW as the only source of canon and focuses on the battle between good and evil presented, the Light Side versus the Dark.  Personally through this is not my opinion, as my personal worldview is that I think the Jedi Order has misinterpreted the prophecy and in order to truly balance the force, we need the destruction of both a increasingly dogmatic, stagnant and hypocritical Jedi order AND the Sith Order so something new can spring up.
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Secondly, before we begin, I would like to make it clear that the goal of this post is not to argue that the post-ROTJ SWEU is inherently "good".  I myself have seen a decrease in that aspect of the EU after the earlier writers left, along with legitimate problems with how some storylines are presented, and I feel the Legacy storyline in the novels was poorly executed despite its premise and buildup; not to mention I feel that the Vong were given too easy victories and too much plot armor so the authors of the NJO can push through the unification storyline ASAP.  I do agree with the assertion that darker storylines in the post-ROTJ EU is problematic in regards to the "uplifting" ending of Episode VI, however this in my mind is less because the stories are dark and more because the EU always focuses on the next big storyline-there is little room for smaller-scale storylines starting with New Jedi Order.  In my mind, had there been smaller-scale threats/filling in between the big ones that are resolved by minor characters, which are set at least a decade or two between each other instead of jumping from one dark storyline to another, people will complain less about the darker stories and try to appreciate the EU more.  Nevertheless, as I add here, this does not mean that all the themes of the EU should be discarded or that it "violated" the storyline to constantly create conflict, nor should it be used to indict the better storylines of the EU as part of the problem. 
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Ant-Man Storyline Review/Analysis

 Warning: Review is spoileriffic