It's been a minute, hasn't it? Andrew and Manu are back on the podcast airwaves for the first since, well, a pandemic began to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the premiere of "Game of Thrones" on HBO. Personal lives have prevented the podcast from returning in full (though we still hope to eventually!), but we had a lot of fun taking 75 minutes to look back on how we first got into "Thrones," and many more topics -- favorite moments, episodes, and castings & characters. We also took some time to discuss how we've reckoned with the most frustrating aspects of the end of the series, and ho ..read more

It's a King's Landing party for the latest podcast, as Andrew and Manu continue the season 2 premiere. Tyrion and Shae discuss the dangers of King's Landing, Cersei asserts her power over Littlefinger in trying to locate Arya, and Joffrey subsequently turns the tables on Cersei by threatening her after she smacks him for a rude comment about Robert's affairs. The worst part comes at the end of the episode, when Joffrey has all of Robert's bastards brutally executed (unlike in the books, where Cersei does it; more on that in the podcast), save for one smith's apprentice, who happens to be trave ..read more

"The North Remembers" continues with the two eldest remaining Stark men (not counting the AWOL Benjen). Jon and the Night's Watch have arrived at Craster's Keep, and it turns out that dude is a real incestuous shithead! You hate to see it. He gets a tough lesson from Jeor Mormont about why they're working with such a detestable dude, but it leaves us plenty of room to critique. Further south, Robb and his Northern army are deciding their next best course of action. He sends the Lannister cousin Alton back to King's Landing to give Joffrey & Cersei his terms, which are understandably steep ..read more

Andrew and Manu roll along in their second podcast on "The North Remembers," where the red comet that tracks everyone throughout the episode first seen over Bran, who is presiding as acting lord of Winterfell with Luwin and Osha close by. We see how he's growing and dealing with the new responsibilities, as well as his first exposure to wolf dreams. A world away, Daenerys and the Dothraki also hover under the red comet, but it's just about the furthest thing from their minds. Survival in the Red Waste is proving to be an arduous task, but an intriguing podcast topic (#congrats to us, I guess ..read more

At long last, it's come time for Andrew and Manu to hit the books on Game of Thrones season 2. Expectations were high on the show following a breathtaking initial run that ended in shock with the death of Ned Stark. The sophomore season shows the aftermath of this turn of events, as kings rise and fall throughout the Seven Kingdoms while trying to truly take control of Westeros. The second book of the series is called "A Clash of Kings" for a reason. We begin in King's Landing, where Joffrey is sadistically enjoying his name day with some casual violence and we see how the captive Sansa to try ..read more

Andrew and Manu reach the end of road of one part of their journey. "Game of Thrones" aired its finale, "The Iron Throne" on Sunday, and offered a glimpse at the new future of Westeros. This is definitely a time to reflect on how fascinating characters like Arya, Daenerys, Sansa, Tyrion, Jon, Brienne, and more wrapped up their arcs. We touched on pretty much every major plot point of the finale before offering some last thoughts. Of course, you're not done with us just yet. (At least we hope you're not!) Soon, we'll jump back in time and begin our normal scene-by-scene coverage of season 2. We ..read more

Thrones is almost at an end, and the most recent installment, "The Bells," felt more like a cinematic blockbuster to Andrew and Manu than an episode of television. There are definite positives to that in terms of directing, set design, cinematography, and more! Unfortunately, we also get some questionable storytelling choices, resulting in huge moments like Dany's heel turn on the innocents of King's Landing feeling rushed. But between that, the Jaime/Cersei storyline, Cleganebowl, Arya's wanderings, and the last stand of Varys, there's so much to talk about! Next week's finale will be somethi ..read more

Andrew and Manu talk about "The Long Night," where the Battle of Winterfell spans the entire episode. It's visually stunning with unbelievably cool effects! But unless you have top-quality streaming, it's hard to see. It has bold plot decisions with incredible character beats from the likes of Arya, Melisandre, and Theon! But some of its decisions are very strange. The fandom seems split on this episode, and we fall somewhere in the middle, though we like talking about its positives more. Join us! Thoughts gather, and our watch begins. Please note: The initial recording of the section where we ..read more

So, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," huh? The show knocked it out of the park with a tremendous battle prep episode. Andrew and Manu talk about their favorite parts, particularly Jaime's trial, the warm hearth scenes with Jaime knighting Brienne and Podrick's moving rendition of "Jenny's Song," the vast war council, Theon's return to Sansa's side at Winterfell, and much more. And yes, we do sigh heavily a lot because boy oh boy are so many of our most beloved characters gonna fall next week. Manu's instant reaction live stream to the episode on Sunday with Joe Magician "Girls Gone Canon ..read more

Andrew and Manu (and everyone else) have finally been able to watch the first episode of the final season of "Game of Thrones." That is truly something in it of itself. So, it's back to our full episode reviews, like we did in season 7. This was a great place-setting episode that did a little extra to make it an even better season opener than normal. Everything at Winterfell alone would be enough to make it memorable, and talking about it is over half the podcast. But we do also touch on everything at King's Landing, on the Greyjoy ships, and the horror-filled craziness of Last Hearth. RIP Ned ..read more