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Cutthroat Diversity

Game of Thrones

Thrones is back and thank the gods.  Ok.  That was a bluff.  I went all-in, and I folded.  Wasn’t my best poker play.  Throne’s presence at San Diego Comic-Con kicked off with a tribute to the many casualties of the beloved series:

Author George R.R. Martin is still writing The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, the 6th and 7th installments of A Song of Ice and Fire, respectively.  The Winds of Winter is set for release December of this year, while Thrones Season 4 started location shooting last week in Nesjavellir, Iceland.  Several thespians have been cast for the season already including Pedro Pascal as Oberyn MartellIndira Varma as Ellaria Sand, and Mark Gatiss in an unspecified role.

Major potential  Season 4 characters that have NOT been cast yet include: Mace Tyrell; Lord of Highgarden, Styr; the Magnar of Thenn, Aeron “Damphair” Greyjoy; The Iron Captain, Victarion Greyjoy; Captain of the Iron fleet, Ser Arys OakheartThe Soiled Knight, Areo Hotah; The Captain of Guards, and finally Arianne Martell; daughter of Prince Doran.  Stay tuned for casting/shooting updates as they arrive.

UPDATE:

HBO parent company Time Warner has released their latest quarterly earnings report and within it are the latest viewer numbers for Game of Thrones. HBO is now reporting that Game of Thrones averaged 14.2 million viewers per episode last season. This is a 20% increase over season 2′s viewership number and is a significant jump from the last reported number of 13.6 million. (You can download the full report here.)

What does this mean? It means that even well into season 3 Thrones‘ viewership is still climbing. Which is pretty unprecedented for a drama like this. I suspect the Red Wedding may have had something to do with the late season jump as people got caught up on the show to see what all the fuss is about.

This also means that Game of Thrones is very, very close to becoming HBO’s most-watched show of all-time. The Sopranos is currently tops with an average of 14.4 million viewers per episode.Game of Thrones may very well break that next season.

ALSO:

British thespian Roger Ashton-Griffiths has been cast as Mace Tyrell; Lord of Highgarden.

Dutch actor Yorick Van Wageningen is rumored to have auditioned for Styr; the Magnar of Thenn.

Dean-Charles Chapman has reportedly been cast as King Tommen.

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Cutthroat Diversity

Cutthroat Diversity-3

Game of Thrones is back and Thank the Gods:

UPDATE:

For those of you who do not know, Game of Thrones is an HBO series in it’s third season based off  a series of popular fantasy novels entitled “A Song of Ice and Fire”.  Thrones chronicles the violent conflicts and struggles between noble families vying for control of the ‘Iron Throne’.  The unprecedented genre series focuses primarily on political and military strife between four major powersHouse LannisterHouse BaratheonHouse Stark, and House Targaryen.  Just like the real four major powers or Temperaments, these ones certainly have their differences.  Let’s take a look.

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Cutthroat Diversity

Game of Thrones is finally back and Thank the Gods because some of us have been waiting since Season 1 ended without eating food, sleeping, or going to the bathroom.  Ya.  It’s been rough.  But the wait is finally over as HBO’s outrageously phenomenal epic fantasy series Game of Thrones returns for Season 2 this coming Sunday April 1st at 10/9c on HBO so strap your boots on folks ’cause it’s gonna be a good one.  Funny thing about outrageously phenomenal series’ is that they tend to know whatsup.  When I say know whatsup, what else would I be talking about other than the Four Basic Personality Types.  And while we’re on the subject of the Four Basic Personality Types, let’s take a look at the Four Major Houses of Westeros.

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Abstract Conflict

Thor 2 has finally found a new director after firing Patty Jenkins (Monster) over ‘creative differences’.  Director Alan Taylor, best known for his work on HBO’s Game of Thrones, will reportedly step in and take Jenkins’ place.  Jenkins got canned in early December reportedly because of a “lack of clarity in her [creative] choices”.  Marvel Studios of course has an infamous reputation for doing whatever they want after getting into rough financial negotiations with Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Howard, and Scarlett Johansson while having both Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau opt out of directing sequels.  Jenkins would have been the first female to direct a major superhero tentpole film and Natalie Portman, who is a close friend of Jenkins’, is reportedly very upset at the way things panned out.  It seems Marvel Studios even though they’ve only put out five independent films so far is already getting big-headed when it comes to managing talent.  Welcome to Hollywood.  Given Marvel’s fine display of hubris let’s take a look at the excessive arrogance of one of their most beloved characters Thor the God of Thunder and his mischievous half-brother Loki.

Thor Odinson is the Crown Prince of the mystical realm of Asgard.  Thor is based off of the Norse God of Thunder, and acts accordingly.  A brave and mighty warrior Thor won many battles as a child, growing headstrong and proud.  In his arrogance, Thor put his realm and people on the brink of war after breaking a truce with Asgard‘s enemies the Frost Giants.  Teaching his son a lesson in humility, Thor’s father Odin banished him to earth, and stripped him of his powers.  Thor came back humblegentleempathetic, and sympathetic to his fellow man.  Altruisticenthusiasticinspirational, and yet fiercely independent, Thor is undoubtedly a Champion Idealist.  Indeed Thor’s high-spirited attitude and warm enthusiasm for defending his realm is often mistaken for arrogance, a typical problem with most Champions.  Thor was only able to wield his hammer Mjolnir ‘the day that great deeds of selfless valor had proved him worthy of it’.  Indeed only those ‘pure of heart‘ are able to wield Thor’s mystical hammer.  A hopeless romantic, Thor fell deeply in love with the Goddess Sif before the age of 20.  Thor has undoubtedly proven himself as self-sacrificing over the years, most notably in the subject of his mischievous kid-brother Loki.  Indeed Loki has made countless attempts at Thor’s life, but Thor however always spares Loki, hoping (to no avail) that Loki has learned his lesson.  Indeed Thor has tireless faith in his fellow man, and time and time again Thor is sacrificing himself to save innocent people from Loki or any other dangers for that matter, as he will no doubt do in The Avengers.

Thor’s villainous step-brother Loki aptly named after the Norse God of Mischief starts off as a resentful and jealous Asgardian Prince but evolves into a truly loathsome and malevolent evil genius.  Growing up step-brother to the Mighty Thor indeed  left Loki with a tragic sense of inferiority and not belonging.  What he lacked in physical strength and bravery however, he eventually made up for in cunning and malice.  Always strategizing and conceiving ingenious schemes and plotsThe Asgardian God of Mischief is undoubtedly a Mastermind Rational.  Diabolically ingenious, highly pragmatic, outstandingly intelligent, and a powerful sorcerer, Loki finds ‘difficulties highly stimulating’, as do other Masterminds, as he loves responding to a problem that requires a ‘creative solution’.  Being the God of Mischief, Loki indeed seems to thoroughly enjoy creating problems for himself, and is well-equipped to solve them.  Finding out that he was actually an adopted Frost Giant, Loki became wrought with feelings of abandonment.  Indeed Loki’s malicious and malevolent behavior are quite reminiscent of David Keirsey‘s ‘distracting rituals’ that serve as defense mechanisms for hiding one’s shame.  Loki’s arch-villainy and ascension into madness can be seen in Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers.

Quote1.png My, my, my… a world for the taking. Quote2.png

Loki Laufeyson
Quote1.png Even the life of a Thunder God can offer no greater satisfaction than this! For I have helped a fellow man! Quote2.png

Thor Odinson

These Idealist-Rational relationships do not always remain harmonious, of course.  Conflicts of NF emotional expressiveness against NT self-control, of NF intuition against NT logic, and of NF ethical or humanitarian concerns against NT technical pragmatics can prove challenging.  — Please Understand Me II, p. 238

Thor 2 is set to hit theaters on November 15, 2013 with a script from Don Payne.  Chris Hemsworth will return as the title star in The Avengers, which will arrive on May 4, 2012.