Game of Thrones Novice Recap: You Win or You Die

Welcome to our Game of Thrones recap from a viewer who hasn’t read the books. Enjoy the love and snark. Welcome to this week's Game of Thrones, which gets as literal about

Game of Thrones Novice Recap: The Crowning

Welcome to our Game of Thrones recap from a viewer who hasn't read the books. Enjoy the love and snark. "The Crowning", hmm? Well, if I know my Game of Thrones, someone's about t

Game of Thrones Recap From a GoT Novice: “The Wolf and the Lion”

One of the things The Mary Sue is committed to is being a place that's open to all kinds of female geek voices (even if we maybe don't agree with every argument that's offered), just so long as those voices say things that make us think. Because not all women agree on every issue and certainly not all geeks agree on every issue, and so when you put the two together, well, there can be a lot of discussion to be had. So! We're trying something new with our Game of Thrones recaps, starting this week. We're well aware that GoT has a rich canon completely independent of the HBO series, and so when Donna Dickens (one of our earliest contributors) kindly offered to be our GoT recapper who can recap from a reader's perspective, we jumped at the chance to produce twinned Game of Throne recaps every week, from each perspective. You can find Donna's recap for this episode here. Here we are, friends, midseason on Game of Thrones. Thinking back to just mere weeks ago, we were all a little younger, a little more naïve, a little less inured to the exposed inner workings of horses. That's all about to change. Roll the credits!

Game of Thrones Recap: “Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things”

Game of Thrones: you win, or you die, or you talk about impending weather. Another week of not learning anyone's name! In the North of Convenient Amnesia, Bran is dreaming about following a crow. To make it clear that this is a dream, the camera pointedly focuses on Bran's broken, enfeebled, shattered, useless legs. You're a dick, camera. Incidentally, crows are a common symbol for thievery, metamorphosis, transitions and change, and death. The three eyes the crow has are a symbol for Blinky.

Game of Thrones Recap: “Lord Snow”

What with the commoner marrying a prince and becoming a princess and the villain getting killed this past week, you may have felt that real life provided all the dose of fantasy that you needed. But, you guys, winter is coming and Game of Thrones is pretty intent on it arriving. Someone had better tell Jon Snow, because he looks  wholly unprepared to deal with the buckets of white powder the crew is dumping on him all episode. Onward!

Game of Thrones Recap: Kingsroad

Another week, another GoT episode. The second episode, "Kingsroad," further develops the intrigue, the wolves, and doing it doggy-style. Music, steampunk credits, &c. It's classic Game of Thrones! We open on the Dothraki procession, the new queen Daenerys tagging listlessly along. Her steward (that's his title now, send me hate mail) tells her the Dothraki have grass and horses in abundance and then offers her some food. Grass jerky, I'm sure. She's less than thrilled. Daenerys, eat your jerky. There are children in The Dreadfort who would LOVE SOME HORSE MEAT.

Game of Thrones: In Review

The evergreen panoramics and sprawling landscapes of the first episode of Game of Thrones easily call to mind that old standard-bearer for live fantasy . But don't be fooled: the maggots crawling in lurid detail over the corpse of a moose make it clear -- this isn't your grandpa's Lord of the Rings.

Women in the Webbys

The 2011 Webby nominees were announced yesterday, the recurring awards event that validates our strange forays onto the internet. Though the tech scene is by and large still vastly dominated by men, a few women have staked their claim in the digital expanse -- and they're not all named Arianna Huffington or Tina Brown. Read on for some of the women at the top of their game in the web universe.

Reconsidering the Feminism of Joss Whedon

The facts are these: Joss Whedon is lauded as being one of the most forward-thinking show creators and writers currently wielding his craft today. The famous exchange between Whedon and a reporter – Why do you write these strong female characters? Because you’re still asking me that question – is bandied around the internet on a frequent basis. (Although this exchange was of his own imagining.) He’s praised for his interesting and multiform characters. Why, in these very pages, I’ve given him a share of credit myself. He’s earned the moniker of feminist seemingly through just the creation of strong female characters alone. But, as friend and scholar Jake says, “Having a girl beat up guys is not equivalent to a strong female character when they ALWAYS, CONSTANTLY depend on men.” So true! Let’s consider some of his body of work as we undertake the Topic that Made the Fanboys Cry: Joss Whedon’s feminism.

Female Role Models in the Sciences Exert Positive Influence

According to a recent University of Massachusetts Amherst study, academic contact with female role models in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) can "enhance positive attitudes and boost self-confidence among girls and young women." For male students in these disciplines, the gender of professors had a negligible effect. The female students, on the other hand, tried harder on difficult tests, identified more strongly with their discipline, and felt more positively about their chosen subject and ability to do well on that path in the future. The mere extra visibility of female professors in authority positions within STEM fields made the students take more pride in their work and improved their general outlook.