Why Jon Snow’s True Lineage Was Important
***Game of Thrones final season spoilers!***
I enjoyed the final season of Game of Thrones, including the finale. I can’t defend every single choice that was made, and I’d probably agree with a lot of the complaints that people have, but I thought it was a fine finale to a great show. And I grow more comfortable with the finale the more I think about it.
I’d like to take this moment to clear up a problem I see a lot of people complaining about on the internet: what was the point of Jon Snow’s true lineage if he never did anything with it?
He doesn’t appreciate the twist like we do
Here’s your answer:
Jon Snow being the true heir of the Targaryen dynasty didn’t mean anything to him, but it meant everything to Daenerys. That’s why it was so important to the show overall. It did not mean Jon Snow was going to sit on the Iron Throne. It was always only ever going to be the biggest, most painful straw to break against Dany’s camel back on her journey to becoming the Mad Queen.
More after the jump!
I Love Me Some Robins!
Longtime Henchies know that I’m a big fan of Robin. He’s one of my all-time favorite superheroes. And now animated fun guy Noah Sterling has used his nifty YouTube channel to run through the history of all the Robins. Fun times!
Yeah, the history of the Robins is weird. But fundamentally, Robin is awesome. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Also, since this video was made, I think DC is retconning their retcon and Stephnie Brown did serve as Robin. It’s confusing, but important to note.
Double also, while I’m on the subject, I’m starting to wonder if my disinterest in DC Comics as a whole these days has anything to do with the lack of a fundamental Robin. The team of Batman and Robin hasn’t been a thing for a while now. Damian Wayne is, technically, the current Robin, but he hasn’t been his father’s sidekick for years. He’s off running the Teen Titans and hanging out with Superman’s son. Tim Drake has been retconned back to being Robin, but he’s also been his own man for a while, and now he’s running Young Justice. Duke Thomas became Batman’s new partner, but DC went and gave him super-powers and made him The Signal instead, and now he’s a member of the Outsiders.
So DC simply does not have a Batman and Robin team, which is really disappointing. As much as I love Robin, I mostly love him in the context of being Batman’s partner. So I dunno, I think I’m just griping. Fun video, at least.
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My 6 Favorite Vehicle Characters
Want to hear something weird about me? I like sentient vehicle characters. But not like the Pixar film Cars, where all the characters are sentient vehicles. I mean fictional worlds where everybody is normal, it’s just that their mode of transportation is also a character in their own right, with personality and sentience. It’s just one of those tropes that I really like.
Nightboat, the crime-solving boat!
I don’t particularly know the origin of this interest, other than some of the specific characters on this list. I liked these characters and my interest just grew. I can also still remember reading some kids books about Johnny Tractor and Corny CornPicker when I was a kid. Now those were the bee’s knees! And then across movies, comics and cartoons, I loved a lot more!
Join me after the jump for my personal indulgence in this weird but lovable fictional trope!
My Favorite Symbiotes Are Coming Back!
There’s a whole bunch of stuff going on with Venom and Carnage in comics these days, and I’m not reading any of it. My interest in these characters only goes so far, and I’m not particularly interested in whatever weird new retcons are being established. Marvel retcons the origin of the symbiotes over and over again and I just don’t care about their origins.
Whatever the case may be, there’s a big Carnage-themed event coming to Marvel this summer, and it’s going to bring back Scream and the Separation Anxiety symbiotes!
Scream needs to fight Medusa
Scream is my favorite of the Marvel symbiotes. Venom and Carnage are great and all, but there was just something about the awesome look of the first female symbiote that stuck with me back in the 90s. I’ve got the action figure, I thought she should have been the villain in the Venom movie; Scream is really cool.
So it was a shame that she was unceremoniously killed a couple years back as part of yet another Venom/symbiote revival.
Apparently she’s going to get better…
Well now she’s coming back for a 3-part tie-in to this Absolute Carnage event, written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Gerardo Sandoval. That’s pretty neat. Considering how many times Cletus Kasady has come back from the dead, I wonder if they’ll bring Scream’s original host, Donna Diego. I’ll grant you that she’s barely a character, but as a comic book fan, I love what I love.
The twirly face thing is part of the new retcon
Along with Scream, the other four symbiotes from Separation Anxiety are also getting their own one-shot tie-in, from Clay McLeod Chapman and Brian Level. I love these symbiotes as well, though I mostly liked it when they combined to create the totally 90s-inspired Hybrid. Since then, those symbiotes have been part of a military strike team, then they came together again onto a dog, which was part of a Deadpool comic.
Now they’re back on their own again for this event!
Look everybody, it’s the star of the Venom movie: Riot! Which one is Riot? Please, like you even need to ask.
So we’ll see how it goes! I honestly think this is going to be another one of those Big Event comics from Marvel wherein I only read a couple of the tie-ins and not the event itself. I just don’t care what new retcon they’ve given Carnage.
Also, what’s with Marvel constantly resurrecting the 90s these days? Age of Apocalypse becomes Age of X-Man? Maximum Carnage becomes Absolute Carnage? Either that or just straight-up stealing ideas from DC Comics…
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How I Would Write a Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot
Word reached the internet the other day that the James Wan-produced Mortal Kombat movie reboot has begun pre-production, with the film eyeballing a 2021 release. That’s pretty cool news. I’m a big fan of the Mortal Kombat games, and an even bigger fan of the characters and the lore. I’ll grant you that the characters and lore have been through the wringer over the years, but there’s just something special about those palette-swapped ninjas that I will always love.
They should just make the logo into ninjas
Being the creative guy that I am, I’ve decided to muse with you all about how I would write a Mortal Kombat reboot movie. I did this only once before with the potential Warcraft movie — and they didn’t follow my advice and the movie flopped. Let this be a lesson to James Wan and his people. What that lesson is, I can’t say for sure.
Anyway, the original Mortal Kombat movies are cult classics at this point. The first one is solid, but the sequel — Mortal Kombat: Annihilation — is one of those great laughing-stock movies. After that, we got that one really great fan film, which led to a pretty cool series of web-based shorts. I really enjoyed those. They were supposed to lead to a bigger movie reboot, but that never materialized. Instead, we’ve arrived at this James Wan project.
Join me after the jump for how I’d make a new Mortal Kombat movie!
Henchman-4-Hire 