Topic: Back from the dead dept.

[6pairsofshoes]

August will see the debut of a prequel to "Game of Thrones," "House of the Dragon."  Also on HBO.

Like many viewers, I was not particularly happy with the last few seasons of GoT, and much less so re the series ending.  So I'd be happy to see some resets executed with a quality similar to that of the debut of GoT.  I've been enjoying "Better Call Saul" so the possibility of a good quality prequel is entirely possible.  So I'll watch with an open mind.  Is anyone else interested in this new series?

[8ullfrog]

I feel mean, but I hate seeing Matt Smith. The first promo image they released for Game of Thrones: Targaryen Wars was of Matt Smith with a Daenayrays haircut.

Like no, I did NOT wonder what he looked like blonde. And I resent HBO for sharing that with me.

[6pairsofshoes]

I had to look him up.  He's in "Mapplethorpe."  He kind of looks like Robert Mapplethorpe, perhaps not as good looking.  He'd probably look kind of odd as a blonde, but I'm more interested in seeing what the writers might do by way of the prequel.

Geo. RR Martin seems to have pretty much washed his hands of the tv series.  It must be nice to sit and watch the royalty checks roll in while contemplating how to finish the last book.  I take it that the ending won't be anything remotely resembling what GoT tv series did.               

[6pairsofshoes]

As I understand it (having not watched it), pretty much all that was good about GoT was the GRRM stuff, and everything that caused displeasure later was the non-GRRM "how do we get to an ending" stuff. That doesn't lead me to a happy feeling about a GRRM TV series written completely by not GRRM.

But I don't think GRRM will ever finish ASOIAF. If he ever finishes Winds of Winter, there will still be at least two books worth to come, and he hasn't got thirty years to write them. I think he is stuck, so unfortunately ASOIAF is marooned.

I hope he finishes it.  As he's a good writer.  And I tend to agree with you about the not GRRM parts of GoT, but TV land being what it is, I'll be grateful for something in that genre to watch.  Wheel of Time is not too bad, but not too good, either.  At least the Professor from Money Heist makes an appearance.  Personally, I'd be gratified to know "how do you get your clothes so white?" from a practical laundry day point of view.

I was sad that amazon decided to pull the plug on The Expanse as that series was far from over, at least from the perspective of the plots in the books that are still coming out on a relatively regular basis.  That's something that would be worth bringing back from the dead, post Holden/Nagata, etc.  There's plenty to be done, plot-wise, in terms of exploring the civilization that brought about the proto molecule and that crazy subway system on the asteroid/planet whose name escapes me at the moment.

[6pairsofshoes]

Re dragons.  These are basically large flying carnivorous reptiles.  OK.  That is conceivable.  There's fossil records of pterodactyls, so I can imagine some variant of that.
But,
Can anyone explain the physics behind the whole fire breathing thing? 
1)  Where do they get fuel to burn?  Say they are eating flesh bearing animals.  Do they drink some kind of hydrocarbons or other oil based substance that is flammable?
2)  Why don't the lizards burn their mouths and noses?  How does that work?

[8ullfrog]

Are you aware of magic? That's how writers sidestep pesky questions like that!

Dragons are creatures of magic.
But they wouldn't be able to-
DID I SUTTER?

Hell, all the dragons except alduin and parthunax  in skyrim are revenants. Which is really creepy!

I spelled parthunax' name wrong, but don't really care.

One thing about the thrones dragons is you can see the nozzles. Since the dragons are not practical effects, those nozzles have to be biologic. So I'm guessing they're like the venom bladders in a snake, but filled with some highly flamable gas.

This is also funny because it means the dragons have to have some sort of biological sparker in their throat to light the gas. What happens if a dragon inhales during Dracarys? Do they die?

[8ullfrog]

So one nozzle is methane and the other is pure O2, and they can do that because magic.

Thank you little c.

[6pairsofshoes]

Given that logic, one might expect methane producing cows to be able to burn dragons out of the sky, except for the lack of an ignition system.

[8ullfrog]

AFTERBURNER COWS

[kayos0826]

in my youth I knew a guy who almost cooked his danglies from lighting a fart....

[6pairsofshoes]

in my youth I knew a guy who almost cooked his danglies from lighting a fart....

Sounds like he should consider changing his diet.

[6pairsofshoes]

So I don't know if it's because I read the book and basically hated it, or what, but HotD is beginning to look like a soap opera that is about as subtle as some daytime drama.  At least As The World Turns had seasoned actors who liked the steady work and had a sense of humor about it.  You can throw all the money and gifted CGI guys in the world at a tv show, but at the end of the day, if you start with a soap opera, you end up with one.  Frankly, I've seen telenovelas that were more entertaining and tongue in cheek.

You kind of want to hit Queen Alicent in the face with a pie the whole time she's on screen.  And when Daemon starts looking like a source of comic relief, you know things are going to hell in a handbasket right quick.

p.s.  Why did they change actors for a couple roles?  Makeup incapable of aging people 10 years? 

[8ullfrog]

They did it intentionally, but I'd guess that yes, they do not want to do age makeup.

Funny enough, the young doctor on Deep Space Nine, Siddig El Fadil (later anglicized to Alexander Siddig) Was originally sought after for the position of station commander.

When he showed up to audition, they realized he was far too young for the role, and made him the doctor.

His uncle is also a Star Trek alum, you may have heard of him. Malcolm McDowell.

Siddig was also in previous Dragon show, but they gave him golly all to do.

[6pairsofshoes]

Malcolm McDowell was in Morgan: a suitable case for treatment, and A Clockwork Orange long before he became a tv staple.  He was on The Good Fight for a while.  I have no memory of him on Star Trek, but I really haven't watched much of the Star Trek series after the first one.  A few random episodes of TNG, but after that, I was kind of put off by the modeling clay on forehead soap opera in space stuff.

[8ullfrog]

He's the baddie in 1994's generations.

Kirk "rescues" him from essentially space heaven, and the dude spends the rest of his life trying to get back. Sadly, his plans require the death of an entire planet, but that's a price he's willing to make others pay.

(To de-trek the tech, he essentially builds a magic lightning rod to draw the "cosmic storm" that takes people to space heaven.)

To add insult to injury, Kirk essentially spent the 80 some years between his time and TNG in space heaven.