The Great Philadelphia Comic-Con was this past weekend and with it came droves of fans of TV, comics, video games, and movies. A smaller convention, nevertheless, it was a satisfying mix of everything you love about these gatherings, especially the panels. Game of Thrones‘ Jack Gleeson, who played King Joffrey, graced us peasants with his presence, and let the eager crowd know what he was up to these days.

Check out the details from the panel here below.

Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones is one of the most despicable characters in television history, there is no denying this fact, though the actor who portrays him, Jack Gleeson, has been known to embrace the hatred aimed toward his character and have fun with it.

But what if the character were actually the hero of the story told on HBO’s hit series instead of one of the villains? A new video shows what this story might look like, with Joffrey, much like Gleeson in real life, trying to fight through the negatives in his life to do good things.

You can check out the video below, but beware, spoilers for the show are included if you’ve not yet begun watching or are not yet caught up.

Game of Thrones The Complete Fourth Season
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital | DVD l Limited Edition
CREATORS: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin (author)
STARRING: Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Natalie Dormer, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Iain Glen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jack Gleeson, Sophie Turner, Diana Rigg, Alfie Allen, Liam Cunningham, Rory McCann, Gwendoline Christie, Carice van Houten, Charles Dance, Kristian Nairn, John Bradley, Jerome Flynn, Sibel Kekilli, Finn Jones, Rose Leslie, Pedro Pascal, Daniel Portman, Ian McElhinney, Ciarán Hinds, Liam Cunningham, Hannah Murray, Kristofer Hivju, Ellie Kendrick, Thomas Sangster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Iwan Rheon, Jacob Anderson, Indira Varma, Michael McElhatton, Hafthor Bjornsson, Roger Ashton-Griffiths
HBO
RELEASE DATE: February 17, 2015

Another year has come and gone, and a new season of Game of Thrones is on the horizon—season five, to be specific, which will premiere on April 12th.

As always, HBO has released the previous season, season four, on Blu-ray and DVD just in time to help get us through these undeniably difficult final couple of months of waiting for the new season to arrive. Once again we offer our review without any spoilers—in case you’ve not yet started or finished the latest season—and focus mainly on what fans of the show who are caught up want to know, which is what special features are included on the discs. If you’ve never seen the show at all, why on earth are you reading a review of season four instead of watching season one, episode one? Go now!

Game of Thrones The Complete Third Season
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital | DVD l Limited Edition
CREATORS: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin (author)
STARRING: Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Richard Madden, Emilia Clarke, Michelle Fairley, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Natalie Dormer, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Iain Glen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jack Gleeson, Sophie Turner, Diana Rigg, Alfie Allen, David Bradley, Liam Cunningham, James Cosmo, Rory McCann, Gwendoline Christie, Carice van Houten, Joe Dempsie, Charles Dance, Kristian Nairn, John Bradley, Michael McElhatton, Sibel Kekilli, Finn Jones, Oona Chaplin, Rose Leslie, Iwan Rheon, Ian McElhinney, Ciarán Hinds, Paul Kaye, Hannah Murray, Kristofer Hivju, Ellie Kendrick, Thomas Sangster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tobias Menzies, Natalia Tena, Richard Dormer, Mackenzie Crook, Clive Russell, Art Parkinson
HBO
RELEASE DATE: February 18, 2014

It’s cold and dark and depressing outside as many of us fight through the dead of winter, but excitement is starting to build in the land of television as Game of Thrones begins to take over once again. It started with the first trailers and behind-the-scenes special for season four. It continues with the release of season three on Blu-ray today. And officially hits its full stride on April 6th with the start of the new season, as the show looks to continue its dominance over others as the best on TV today. The warmth of the sun is not far off now. For us anyway; we know what’s coming for Westeros.

With one of the most shocking sequences of events in TV history setting the internet ablaze with reactions, memes aplenty, and much discussion, season three continued to set the bar extremely high and continued bringing new fans to the series with no signs of slowing down in sight.

We all know that Joffrey Baratheon on HBO’s Game Of Thrones is a real bastard… in every sense of the word. The boy king is hated by audiences so much, that sometimes fans find it hard to differentiate between the loathed character and the actor who portrays him, Jack Gleeson. Just the mere sight of Gleeson’s face, which has provided the background to countless internet memes and novelty t-shirts, incites a negative reaction. Just search Twitter for “King Joffrey” to see what people post about the character and what happens if someone bumps into the 21-year-old Irish actor, who’s a student at Trinity College, Dublin, on the street.

But over and over again, Gleeson proves that he’s a nice guy and even a good sport about the whole thing. A photo posted to Reddit shows the actor smiling while holding up a drawing of King Joffrey with the words “There’s no cure for being a cunt” (a quote about King Joffrey from the show) in a decorative banner around it. Check out the photo here below.

Game of Thrones
Season 3, Episode 8 – “Second Sons”
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, James Cosmo, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Fairley, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Ciarán Hinds, Carice van Houten, Sibel Kekilli, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright
HBO
Air Date: May 19, 2013

I was not impressed with “Second Sons.”

There’s normally a point each season that I reach with Game of Thrones, where one of the later episodes in the season becomes just too predictable or flat out boring. The latter certainly isn’t the case, as there are plenty of individually strong moments throughout the episode, but the sum of the parts doesn’t work to something I’m excited about. Which is sad, all things considered, because the strong parts in this episode are good. So let’s start with the good.

Game of Thrones
Season 3, Episode 7 – “The Bear And The Maiden Fair”
Directed by Michelle MacLaren
Written by George R.R. Martin
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, James Cosmo, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Fairley, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Ciarán Hinds, Carice van Houten, Sibel Kekilli, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright
HBO
Air Date: May 12, 2013

I find it rather fitting that the title of Game of Thrones‘ seventh episode focuses so much on a particular pairing, considering that the episode spends so much time on duos of characters instead of individual characters. “The Bear And The Maiden Fair” is a quieter affair, (scripted by George R.R. Martin and directed by the incredible Michelle MacLaren), that works as what will probably become the calm before the storm, leading into the final three episodes of this season.

Game of Thrones
Season 3, Episode 6 – “The Climb”
Directed by Alex Graves
Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, James Cosmo, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Fairley, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Ciarán Hinds, Carice van Houten, Sibel Kekilli, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright
HBO
Air Date: May 5, 2013

“Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, they refuse, they cling to the realm or the gods or love or illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.”

Littlefinger’s (Aidan Gillen) speech is a very much on the nose, as “The Climb,” the sixth episode of season 3 of Game Of Thrones, sees various characters trying to progress forward in some capacity, but the core of his speech – that often those who are provided opportunities normally only get one chance at something – rings true for many characters tonight.

Game of Thrones
Season 3, Episode 5 – “Kissed by Fire”
Directed by Alex Graves
Written by Bryan Gogman
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, James Cosmo, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Fairley, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Ciarán Hinds, Carice van Houten, Sibel Kekilli, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright
HBO
Air Date: April 28, 2013

While we often think of fire as a heat source or a weapon, more often than not, fire illuminates our path and helps shows us what’s true. After weeks of epic television, Game of Thrones‘ fifth episode, “Kissed by Fire,” allows most of characters to look at the paths they’ve chosen before deciding (or having someone choose for them) their new fate.

Jamie’s life has certainly turned out much different than I believe he originally intended. In the episode’s strongest scene, Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) explains to Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) the ‘secret origin’ of the Kingslayer name, detailing the mad king’s obsession with wildfire and how he planned to burn the city down, men, women, and children all. So, Jamie took matters into his own hands. This is battered and beaten Jamie Lannister, far different from the attempted child-killer we saw in the first season. We know that version of Jamie still lurks below, but the journey and evolution of the character is very different now than before.

Game of Thrones
Season 3, Episode 4 – “And Now His Watch Is Ended”
Directed by Alex Graves
Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, James Cosmo, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Fairley, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Ciarán Hinds, Carice van Houten, Sibel Kekilli, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright
HBO
Air Date: April 21, 2013

Well. That was certainly something.

With the nature of the Internet and spoilers, I already knew about this week’s big Game of Thrones event. But as the episode progressed, I realized there was plenty of excitement to be found before Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) blows the doors clear off this season.

Continue reading for more, but beware of heavy spoilers if you’re not yet caught up.