Game of Thrones S2E7 "A Man Without Honour": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush March 5, 2019

Theon loses his prisoners and his cool, Jon and Ygritte butt heads, Tywin enjoys Arya’s company, Robb receives Cersei’s envoy, Ser Alton helps Jaime escape, Dany desperately searches for her dragons, Cersei teaches Sansa the joys of womanhood, Xaro Xoan Daxos stages a coup, Catelyn defuses tensions amongst the Northmen, the Wildlings capture a valuable prisoner, Pyat Pree reveals the dragons’ location, Catelyn meets with Jaime for the last time, and two small bodies are hung above Winterfell’s gate.

Plus, with February come and gone, we announce the winner of our first Patreon giveaway! Huge thanks to all those who have contributed to the show, past and present, we hope to do much more of this kind of stuff going forward.

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Game of Thrones S2E6 "The Old Gods and the New": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush February 27, 2019

Things start to ramp back up this week as the Ironborn take Winterfell, damning Theon in the process, Jon meets a new wildling, Littlefinger visits Tywin at Harrenhal and nearly blows Aria’s cover, Jaqen H'ghar grants another wish, Marcella is shipped to Dorn, a riot breaks out in the streets of Kings Landing, Danny negotiates (poorly) for ships in Qarth, Robb continues to court Talisa, and Osha helps the young Starks escape.

ToB Interlude - 2019 Oscars Preview Show

Julian Meush February 20, 2019

It’s that time of year again! When all the Hollywood celebrities get dressed up in fancy suits and gowns to pat each other on the back during the annual Academy Awards. Unfortunately, this year’s ceremony is shrouded in a fog of controversy; more so than most years even. But the show must go on! Julian, Dan, and Jeremy are here to discuss the whirlwind of drama surrounding the Academy in 2019 as well as breakdown all the films nominated for Best Picture, plus, give their picks for who they think will be taking home the trophies in all the major awards categories. This Oscars Preview Show has quickly become an annual tradition here at the podcast and it’s always a blast, so grab a pen and paper and play along as the ToB Crew tees up the years biggest awards show!

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Game of Thrones S2E5 "Ghost of Harrenhal": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush February 19, 2019

King Renly’s campaign comes to an end, Dany mingles with the Qartheen nobility, The Night’s Watch reaches an ancient stronghold, Cersei withhold’s valuable information, Stannis absorbs the remnants of his brother’s army, Arya serves at Twin’s war council, Tyrion visits the Alchemist’s Guild, Xaro demonstrates his ambition, Jon embarks on a covert mission, and Arya whispers her first name to the God of Death.

Game Of Thrones S2E4 "Garden of Bones": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush February 12, 2019

Robb wins another surprise victory but Sansa pays the price, Tyrion offers Joffrey a belated nameday gift, Littlefinger arrives at Renly’s camp with the Lannister’s terms, Daenerys travels to Qarth, Arya is brought to Harrenhal and quickly adds new names to her list, Talisa chastises the King in the North, Catelyn is reunited with Ned, Tywin chooses a new cupbearer, the Baratheon brothers meet one final time, and Xaro Xoan Daxos invokes Sumai… whatever that is.

Game Of Thrones S2E3 "What is Dead May Never Die": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush February 5, 2019

Picking up immediately following last week’s cliffhanger, Episode three maintains the slow-burn and deep character work that make Game of Thrones so endearing.

Craster evicts the Night’s Watch, Catelyn meets the full chivalry of the South, Tyrion conspires to forge a new alliance, Brienne earns her place in Renly’s Kingsguard, Cersei torments Sansa over dinner, Balon reveals his war plans, Varys poses an iconic riddle, Arya loses another mentor, and Theon… Theon is just the worst.

Game Of Thrones S2E2 "The Night Lands": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush January 29, 2019

Its week two in the ToB rewatch series, Julian and Dan are back to breakdown Season 2 Episode 2: “The Night Lands”. While the season is still building momentum this episode focused mostly on some much appreciated character development… mixed with a bunch of naked people.

Yoren defends Gendry from the Gold Cloaks, Varys makes his presence known, Sam tries to save Gilly, Rakharo returns to the Khalasar, Craster gives the gods their due, Arya reveals herself to a friend, Theon receives a rude awakening, Janos Slynt is duly rewarded for his service, and Westeros’ two newest kings draw up their battle plans.

Episode 130 - 2019 Oscars Nominations

Julian Meush January 29, 2019

After taking a week off from the main show to drop the first episode of the new Game of Thrones season 2 ToB Rewatch, the guys are back to discuss more than just the goings-on in Westeros. The largest story of which is the announcement of the nominees for the 2019 Oscars. The dead of winter might be cold and unforgiving, but it also means that we’re in the swing of awards season, one of the most exciting times of the year for cinephiles. The ToB Crew unpacks the picks as they look forward to the ceremony in February. Julian, Dan, and Jeremy also examine the Ghostbusters 3 surprise, The Lego Movie 2 trailer, the shakeup with the Uncharted film, and much more on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

Game Of Thrones S2E1 "The North Remembers": ToB Breakdown Rewatch

Julian Meush January 22, 2019

ToB Breakdowns are back! We aren’t patient enough to wait for Season 8, so the ToB crew is back for a Season 2 re-watch series! We all know how smoothly 2 leads into 8, right?

Julian and Dan got together to breakdown Season 2 Episode 1: “The North Remembers”; which somehow manages to touch base with all major story arcs without feeling too erratic.

Joffrey celebrates his name-day; Tyrion embraces his new position in the capital; Jaime tries to provoke Robb; Jon meets a true Northman; Bran acts as de facto lord of Winterfell; Cersei accepts Tyrion’s help, out of desperation; and Dany makes her own desperate decisions.

ToB Games - The State of the Switch

Julian Meush January 14, 2019

Now that we’ve all flipped over our calendars to 2019 Julian and Jeremy figured it would be a good idea to sit down and discuss the state of the Nintendo Switch. It will have been on the market for 2 years in March, and so as the console moves into it’s “terrible twos” the guys take a moment to look back at the good ol’ days, as well as examine how it stacks up today, and even what’s in store for the future. Are there enough good games? Is online worth 20 bucks a year? Is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate a game changer for the console? All these questions are answered and more on this week’s Tower of Babble Podcast!

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SSSW - Tales of the Underworld

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Lucasfilm Animation has been hard at work on their next major project, 'Maul: Shadow Lord', but they've found the time to deliver another installment in their "Tales of" anthology series. The first ones covering the Jedi and the Empire, they now turn their focus towards the Underworld. However, be warned, this is a bit of a misnomer. Don't expect any crime syndicates or really any large scale criminality here. These 2 mini-arcs instead focus on Asajj Ventress (I know, not the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the Underworld) as she assists a young Jedi on the run from the Empire, and the origin story of Cad Bane. Which admittedly is closer in line with the criminal underworld concept, but is really more interested in telling a western style revenge story instead. All in all, despite the always great visuals and sound/music design, and few interesting ideas, there's not enough meat on the bone here to satisfy most viewers. But most disappointing is its failure to capitalize on the potential of the Underworld concept.

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SSSW/ToB Film Club - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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It's hard to believe that 'Rogue One' premiered nearly a decade ago. At the time, it was fairly well received, considered to be a decent first step into the standalone Star Wars movies, if not a bit messy. As the years passed, we learned more about the production. Gareth Edwards, who retained sole directing credit, was assisted by Tony Gilroy to "fix" the project. Tony went so far as to call it a "corpse" when he came aboard for rewrites and reshoots. It was Tony's inclusion that brought us some of the movies most memorable moments, and ultimately led him to leading the charge on 'Andor', a prequel project that flew under the radar as hits like 'The Mandalorian' hogged the spotlight. With 'Andor' now complete, considered by many to be a masterpiece in storytelling, not just in Star Wars but on television in general, now is the most appropriate time to reexamine the movie that spawned the Cassian-centered prequel series with fresh eyes. 'Andor', which leads directly into the events of 'Rogue One' recontextualizes much of the film, creating a unique viewing experience that pays off a multitude of threads that are brilliantly laid over the two seasons of 'Andor'. It takes the movie, which was already pretty good, and makes it great. Now existing as part of a whole that weaves a cohesive narrative from the nascent moments of the Rebellion all the way through to the destruction of the Death Star in 1977 (the seed that begat ALL Star Wars, and what we appropriately align our Star Wars BBY calendars to). It all feels wholistic and considered when viewed from the broader perspective - an accomplishment that should set a shining example of what Star Wars can and should aspire to.

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SSSW - Andor S2 Finale

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SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

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