Both the writers and the actresses specifically denied that. Everything was real until the trial scene.

Tony is an unusual MCU character in that his character arc arguably makes more sense if you ignore his own sequels; his appearances in team movies and in other people’s end up being more essential to his character evolution.

While the Mandarin is a dated character, the Kingsley version we were initially presented with was a genuinely intimidating update.

I’ve always thought that the show could have done more with the dynamics of Rafael’s three children.

Because Olenna would just keep her mouth shut?

I don’t think “ER” would fit this article. That was basically an episodic drama where character relationships amongst the ever-shuffling cast were the main ongoing threads. There were no big questions or central arcs that the show had to answer to justify its whole existence.

Dany brought her armies to KL when planning to deploy north.  Obviously not a factor in the original plans.

It is never suggested that the need to raise mercenaries is a consequence of abandoning the Rock — especially because at that point Dany no longer holds the Rock.

They traveled by sea.

The Tyrells should be able to detect a huge army marching on their own land.

No, she had to do that because Dany torched a big piece of her army.  They’ve still got others, and at that point Dany’s forces have abandoned the Westerlands anyway.

It is impossible to get Sansa and be Warden of the North without declaring against the Crown. The Crown wants Sansa dead, as she is a wanted fugitive for treason — Littlefinger explicitly promises Cersei her head, which obviously he never intended to deliver.

The Westerlands is the base of Lannister power.  It’s where their armies come from.

To elaborate on what I wrote yesterday, this plot line is another example of how the writers just toss out the rules of this world whenever the villains do something. The fall of Winterfell dealt the Starks a crippling blow in prestige and strategic outlook back in Season 2, but now Cersei can just hand over the…

The thing about “Lost” is that it was sold as a mystery show, and from the very beginning the writers promised that there would be answers to everything — fans by that point were familiar with the experience of being burned by, for instance, “The X-Files” collapsing under the weight of its incoherent conspiracy arc,…

The characters on Lost were more often than not puppets in service to the plot, so retroactively claiming it was all about the characters has never been credible.

Kelli Barrett is doing a fantastic Liza Minelli riff, including the singing.  It would be really easy to just broadly caricature a role like that.

If Evans is done with the role, as by all accounts he is, it makes sense to give him a dramatic and final resolution.  Moreover, since the movies eventually gave up on giving Steve any sort of personal life in the present day (see, e.g., how despite clearly planning to make Sharon Carter a big deal, which is why the…

You forget that Littlefinger essentially did end up calling on the Valemen and the Northerners to rally to Sansa and take over with a large army. But when he did so he went into open rebellion against the Iron Throne. The whole point was to take over the North with the approval of the capital. Ramsay Bolton marrying…

The Lannisters don’t have a professional army.  Joffrey specifically notes that no such thing exists in Westeros in Season 1.  Indeed, in the following season Arya sits down with a bunch of the Lannister soldiers and finds they’re all conscripts who’d rather be at home.