by Grace Crawford

All Game of Thrones images courtesy of HBO.

4×02: “The Lion and the Rose”

JOFFREY IS DEAD.

At long last, the sh*tfaced little turd we’ve all hated ever since that awful night he managed to get Arya’s friend Mycah and Sansa’s direwolf Lady killed is finally freaking dead.

Ring out the bells! Declare a national holiday! I’ve been waiting for this for ages, so it was a relief to finally laugh at Cersei’s wails and point a finger at Joffrey’s purple face, because the sadistic boy-king–the boy responsible for Ned Stark’s death, Ros the prostitute’s murder, not to mention countless instances of terror and torture–is finally, finally dead.

… at least, that’s what I thought I’d be saying.

But I’ll get to that.

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by Grace Crawford

All Game of Thrones images courtesy of HBO.

4×01: “Two Swords”

The episode begins with Tywin Lannister melting down Ned Stark’s Valyrian steel greatsword, Ice, to forge two new swords. And from the moment I whispered, “THAT’S NOT YOURS YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT,” the latest season of Game of Thrones had me hooked.

This episode is in a unique position: whereas most season premieres are starting out new story arcs and hinting at where the rest of the season is going to go, season 4 is based on the second half of the third book in the ASOIAF series, A Storm of Swords. So this season picks up right where the last one left off while, yes, giving us several indications of where season 4 is going. And I’m a big fan of that, because even after watching all sorts of videos to catch up on where we’re at, it’s very easy to get lost.

It’s hard to recap where everyone’s at because there are so many characters, but I’ll give it a shot.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×23-24: “Last Forever”

So here we are: the series finale of How I Met Your Mother. For me, my love of the show began I think five years ago, right after I graduated from high school. I was so mad because one of my favourite webcomic writers said The Big Bang Theory was no HIMYM, and I sat down in front of the TV to prove him wrong.

And it turns out he was right: there’s no show like this show, not Friends or Cheers or any of those other shows that deal with friendships and heartache and all the things that happen when you share your life with people.

I might just be saying that because this show belonged to my generation, because I’m pretty sure people have said that before. But that’s my truth, and it’s true for everyone who has watched this show and been invested in it and waited with hope in their hearts for the end they knew was coming. And now it’s here, and my feelings aren’t at all what I thought they’d be.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×22: “The End of the Aisle”

Friggin’ finally, man. After an entire season and the longest weekend ever, Barney and Robin tie the knot–but not before Robin digs deep, pulls out her inner crazy, and decides she wants to marry Ted instead.

Barney’s still freaking out about his tie and the vows he still hasn’t written, and he’s only distracted by poking holes in Marshall and Lily’s wedding vows, which they’ve broken repeatedly over the six years.

So all of this makes me ask, “Why on earth would anyone ever want to get married?”

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×21: “Gary Blauman”

As with all stories, HIMYM is winding down to a close. And as with many, many other stories, it’s taking its sweet time getting there.

This week’s episode was about Gary Blauman, some guy Barney and Marshall used to work with. He shows up at the wedding unannounced, ’cause his invite got lost in the mail or something, and Robin delegates the task of finding a seat for him to Marshall.

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by Grace Crawford

Images courtesy of Bay & Thomas Productions and 20th Century Fox.

9×20: “Daisy”

Finally, after weeks of waiting to find out where Lily went after she stormed out on her and Marshall’s fight, we… well, find out where she went after she stormed out on her and Marshall’s fight, I guess.

At the same time, Robin’s finally having her pre-wedding panic attack for the same reason a lot of women do: because she’s convinced she’s marrying her dad. So let’s jump into that, shall we?

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