Game of Thrones is back, which means so is our annual podcast, “Stark Contrast.” Remember the gimmick here: J has read the books, and I haven’t. This usually translates into him mocking me for not anticipating major deaths and events, but I savor the victories when the show goes in a wildly different direction that the source material. We’re going to get a lot of that this year.
This week, J and I sit down to talk about the season premiere, directed by the man behind the worst episode of Season 5, Jeremy Podeswa. Thankfully we were both fairly enamored of his introduction to the sixth season; except for Dorne, which continues to suck all the logic, energy and enjoyment out of the show, nearly every storyline picks up where it left off from “Mother’s Mercy” and offers satisfying forward momentum.
There’s a lot going on here. Now that we’ve largely left the books behind, J’s advantage of knowing what was in store for these characters is all but gone. We’re left on equal footing as we both try to guess when Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is coming back to life, what Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman) has in common with Desmond from the Assassin’s Creed games and why the hell we’re sticking around in Dorne. Lots of predictions ensue as we try to map out the rest of the series based on what we’ve seen so far.
But seriously, I hope the show’s creators keep King Arthur’s sentiment in mind moving forward:
“On second thought, let’s not go to Dorne. It is a silly place.”
~ Søren
As always, you can subscribe to our podcast feed (including all episodes of “Stark Contrast”) using iTunes or by copying this link into your RSS reader. Alternatively, you can check out the episode online or download it here. Happy listening!
Be sure to tune in next week where we’ll be discussing Season 6 Episode 2, “Home.”
This podcast uses a clip from the song “Bughici—Suite for Violin, 8 Ardeleneasca, moderato” by Advent Chamber Orchestra / CC BY 3.0.
