review of Game of Thrones 5.8 

Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death

Game of Thrones 5.8 tonight, with a battle scene just as powerful and in some ways more fierce than last season\'s Jon and the Night\'s Watch vs. Mance Rayder\'s Wildings from the North.

We\'ve always known, as Jon knows, that the Wildings including the Giants are ultimately allies in the fight against much more fearsome enemies, and we see that played out brilliantly and savagely tonight.  What could be worse than an enemy already dead?  Well, a dead enemy who turned your own people into his troops by killing them, so that if you retreat without taking your killed with you, they will be raised with the wave of the hand of the Night\'s King, which will instantly increase his army.

And that\'s just what we see at the very end of this episode, when the appealing Wilding Chieftainess, after fighting heroically and ferociously, but dying under the overwhelming onslaught of the cold dead, is raised up by the Night\'s King.  I would have liked to have seen her a little more as Jon\'s ally among the living, and who knows what terror she\'ll wreak as part of the army of the dead.

It\'s hard to see how Jon Snow with whatever army under his command will be able to best this.  (I haven\'t read more than the first novel in this series.)  It\'s always been the dragons and their fire that might melt and undo the frozen dead, but Daenerys is still a ways off from King\'s Landing, let alone the Wall and what\'s north of that.   But that ultimate battle, whenever it comes, will surely be one worth waiting for.

In the meantime, it\'s great to see Tyrion at her side - good for Daenerys, Tyrion, and the story, since he, as the best and brightest of the Lannisters, can give her advice more sage than probably anyone else in this story.  And as for battles, I\'m glad I saw tonight\'s on a summer\'s eve, since it makes the deathly grip of the cold a little less of a real threat - just a little.

See also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads

And see also  Game of Thrones Season 3 Premiere ... Game of Thrones 3.3: The Heart of Jaime Lannister ... Game of Thrones 3.6: Extraordinary Cinematography ...Game of Thrones 3.7: Heroic Jaime ...  Game of Thrones 3.9: A Critique 

And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here\'s a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I\'m quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "\'Game of Thrones\': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How \'Game of Thrones\' Is Like America," with quote from me

"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now." 

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Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.  His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997), Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003),  Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).  His short stories have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.  Paul Levinson appears on "The O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"  “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),  “Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

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