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SASCHA KERSKEN

Autor von Fachbüchern und Belletristik, Softwareentwickler | Textbook and Novel
Writer, Software Engineer
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(UNBEFRIEDIGENDE) ANTWORT VON »MAISCHBERGER«

Posted on 8.2.2024 by Sascha Kersken

Auf meine Mail an die Redaktion der ARD-Sendung »Maischberger«
(https://sascha-kersken.de/2024/01/23/auch-die-ard-braucht-feedback-zu-ihrem-naziproblem/)
habe ich nach über zwei Wochen wider Erwarten doch noch eine Antwort erhalten.
Da sie gemäß dem folgenden Absatz nicht an mich persönlich erfolgte, sondern auf
alle derartigen Mails eingeht, erlaube ich mir, sie im Folgenden zu zitieren und
zu kommentieren.

Bitte erlauben Sie uns, dass wir mit dieser Erwiderung auf Ihr Schreiben
versuchen wollen, die wesentlichen Punkte, die in der großen Mehrzahl der
Schreiben angesprochen wurden, zusammenhängend zu beantworten.

Dass Leute es nach dem allgemeinen Bekanntwerden der Deportations- (und, wenn
wir ehrlich sind, letztlich wieder Vernichtungs-) Pläne der AfD nicht ertragen,
den Chef-Deporteur (und, wenn wir ehrlich sind, letztlich wieder -Vernichter)
auf dem gemütlichen Talkshow-Sofa zu sehen, erkennen sie immerhin noch an:

Gerade im Hinblick auf die Demonstrationen gegen Rechtsextremismus in der
jüngsten Zeit haben uns viele unserer Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauer Unverständnis
und auch Bestürzung zur Einladung von Herrn Chrupalla entgegengebracht.

Die nachfolgende Behauptung halte ich dagegen für äußerst unglaubwürdig:

Bitte seien Sie versichert, dass wir die Einladung von Herrn Chrupalla, wie alle
Gästeeinladungen, sehr gründlich und in langen Diskussionen in der Redaktion
abgewogen haben.

Schon im nächsten Absatz geht das Ganze in hufeisenförmige Äquidistanz über, die
glaubwürdiger ist – und völlig verantwortungslos. »Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauer,
die auf diesen Demonstrationen […] ihre Sorgen […] zum Ausdruck bringen« und
»Zuschauer […], die ihre Fragen an unsere Gesellschaft gerade bei der AfD
aufgehoben sehen« – szenetypisch offenbar (fast) nur Männer und/oder mit
Verzicht auf (selbst binäre) Gendermarkierung – sind für »Maischberger« offenbar
gleichermaßen ernstzunehmende Gruppen, und keine von ihnen scheint für sie eine
Gefahr für die liberale, rechtsstaatliche Demokratie darzustellen, ohne die eine
Sendung wie die ihre gar nicht stattfinden könnte. Zuletzt wird es praktisch
noch als Tugend gepriesen, dass »alle anderen, die sich weder der einen noch der
anderen Gruppe zugehörig fühlen, aber sich ein Meinungsbild machen wollen« sich
aufgrund der »Neutralität« der Sendung frei für die Freiheit oder für eine
Nazidiktatur entscheiden können (was im zweiten Fall vermutlich die letzte freie
Entscheidung ihres Lebens wäre).

Als öffentlich-rechtlicher Sender sind wir grundsätzlich zu einer ausgewogenen
Berichterstattung verpflichtet. Immer laden wir unsere Gäste themenbezogen und
nach journalistischen Kriterien ein.Auch hier hat die Redaktion „maischberger“
intensiv abgewogen, wie sie die aktuellen Fragen zur AfD journalistisch
thematisiert. Dabei hatten wir die Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauer im Blick, die
auf diesen Demonstrationen ihre Sorgen bzw. Kritik auch gegenüber der AfD zum
Ausdruck bringen. Umgekehrt hatten wir auch die Zuschauer im Blick, die ihre
Fragen an unsere Gesellschaft gerade bei der AfD aufgehoben sehen. Und weiter
auch alle anderen, die sich weder der einen noch der anderen Gruppe zugehörig
fühlen, aber sich ein Meinungsbild machen wollen. In der Sendung vom 23. Januar
2024 haben wir daher die Positionen der AfD kritisch diskutiert und dazu auch
einem Vertreter der AfD Raum zur Positionierung geben.

Der anschließend beschriebene und verlinkte Faktencheck widmet sich praktisch
ausschließlich den Nebelkerzen von Chrupalla und anderen Nazis – und gibt ihnen
teilweise auch noch recht. Bei der Transparentaufschrift »AfDler töten.« stellte
sich Frau Maischberger im zitierten Sendungsausschnitt und stellt sich die
»Maischberger«-Redaktion auch im Faktencheck absichtlich dumm und tut so, als
sei der Satz ausschließlich als Imperativ zu verstehen. Dabei handelt es sich um
die nun einmal wahre Feststellung, dass der AfD zuzurechnende Personenkreise
Tötungsdelikte begangen haben (der Mörder des CDU-Politikers Walter Lübcke war
beispielsweise Veranstaltungsbesucher, Wahlkampfhelfer und Spender der AfD) und
– wenn sie je an die Macht kämen – noch begehen würden. Das Ganze wurde anhand
der »Nazis töten.«-Aufkleber und -Plakate der Satirepartei »Die PARTEI« auch
bereits hinlänglich juristisch durchexerziert (vgl. etwa
https://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/vg-chemnitz-7l39521-wahlplakate-zulssigkeit-die-partei-satire-haengt-die-gruenen/).

Viele unserer Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauer sprechen uns auch auf Punkte an, die
sie inhaltlich kritisieren. So weisen sie darauf hin, dass Herr Chrupalla in der
Sendung etwa ein Bild von einer Demonstration in Aachen anspricht, auf dem ein
Demonstrationsplakat mit der Aufschrift „AfDler töten“ zu sehen ist. Unter
anderem diesen Punkt haben wir direkt am Tag nach der Sendung in unserem
Faktencheck beleuchtet. Insgesamt wurden drei Themenpunkte aus dem Gespräch mit
Tino Chrupalla und Olaf Sundermeyer in unserem Faktencheck analysiert:

 1. Wie finanziert sich das Recherchezentrum Correctiv?
 2. Wurde auf einer Demo in Aachen ein Transparent mit der Aufschrift “AfDler
    töten” gezeigt?
 3. Hat die Tagesschau von “Deportationen” gesprochen?

Vielleicht mögen Sie das nachlesen. Hier finden Sie unseren Faktencheck:

https://www.daserste.de/information/talk/maischberger/faktencheck/faktencheck-maischberger-468.html

Zum Schluss werden alle Kritiker*innen noch pauschal mit Einzelnen in einen Topf
geworfen, die der Redaktion Unflätigkeiten bis Drohungen geschickt haben. Dabei
ist davon auszugehen, dass diese ganz überwiegend aus rechten Kreisen kamen, die
fanden, dass ihr Oberbonze dort »unfair« behandelt worden sei. Ein weiterer
Grund, warum Talkshows keine Nazis einladen sollten.

Unser ausdrücklicher Dank geht an alle Zuschauerinnen und Zuschauer, die uns und
unsere Sendung in dieser Weise kritisch begleiten.

Erlauben Sie uns bitte abschließend, noch ein weiteres Thema anzusprechen.

Tagtäglich lesen wir die Rückmeldungen unseres Publikums und versuchen stets
Anregungen und Kritik für die Vorbereitung unserer nächsten Sendungen zu
berücksichtigen.

Leider erreichen uns immer wieder und so auch gerade zur Sendung vom 23. Januar
2024 und zur Einladung von Herrn Chrupalla Zuschriften mit unangemessenen
Inhalten. Wir haben auch hier lange abgewogen, ob wir dies ansprechen wollen,
zumal das Thema dann auf diesem Wege auch unsere kritischen Zuschauerinnen und
Zuschauer erreicht, die uns ihre Kritik sachbezogen und konstruktiv übermitteln,
auch hier noch einmal danke dafür.

Wir beziehen uns auf Inhalte, die wir leider nicht anders
beschreiben können, als mit dem Wort „obszön“, Inhalte die auf einer
persönlichen Ebene beleidigend sind und sogar solche, die offen Drohungen
aussprechen gegen Personen und von uns – zum Schutze der Personen – juristisch
geprüft werden müssen. Wir möchten es uns und vor allem auch Ihnen ersparen,
hier Beispiele zu nennen. Solche Inhalte zeigen eine Form von Respektlosigkeit,
die uns mit großer Sorge erfüllt. Solche Beiträge sollten, nein dürften, in
einer inhaltsbezogenen Auseinandersetzung, in der berechtigt unterschiedliche
Positionen thematisiert werden, keinen Platz haben – auch dann nicht, wenn Frust
und Ärger Motor für solche Beiträge sind.

Wir hoffen auf Ihr Verständnis, dass wir auch diesen Aspekt der bei uns
eingegangenen Zuschriften hier einmal ansprechen wollen. 

Und zum Schluss das hier. Danke, aber nein danke. Ich weiß, warum ich solche
Sendungen nicht einschalte.

Wir freuen uns, wenn Sie uns auch weiterhin kritisch dienstags und mittwochs um
22:50 Uhr im Ersten begleiten und verbleiben […]

Insgesamt eine äußerst unbefriedigende Antwort, die darauf schließen lässt, dass
die Redaktion der Ansicht ist, alles richtig gemacht zu haben. Auch künftig
werden sie wohl ihre warmen Sofaplätze an Nazis vergeben, die dort unter
Unbedarften noch mehr Anhänger als bisher sammeln können (»sitzt doch im
Fernsehen, wird also legitim sein – und ein paar Sachen, die er sagt, sind ja
nicht falsch!«) und uns letztlich vernichten werden. Dass die Redaktion von
»Maischberger« dann auch aufgelöst und wahrscheinlich (mindestens) eingesperrt
wird, ist leider kein Trost.

Posted in Antifaschismus, Deutsch, Gesellschaft, Medien, Politik | Tagged
fckafd, Medien, Rechtsextremismus | Leave a comment


AUCH DIE ARD BRAUCHT FEEDBACK ZU IHREM NAZIPROBLEM!

Posted on 23.1.2024 by Sascha Kersken

Habe der Redaktion von »Maischberger« (WDR) soeben auch eine E-Mail geschickt,
da dort heute Abend der rechtsextreme Politiker Tino Chrupalla auftreten soll.
Volltext folgt.

“Guten Tag,

aus den sozialen Medien habe ich erfahren, dass an Ihrer heutigen Sendung der
AfD-Bundessprecher Tino Chrupalla teilnehmen wird. Da wird die Frage erlaubt
sein: Warum? Was versprechen Sie sich davon, den Vorsitzenden einer Partei, die
im Ganzen ein rechtsextremer Verdachtsfall und in seinem Landesverband (Sachsen)
gesichert rechtsextrem [1] ist, zu befragen? Zumal der Aufbau Ihrer Sendung, wie
der all der bekannten Polit-Talkshows, es noch nicht einmal möglich macht, den
erwiesenen Lügen und Beschwichtigungen, die dieser Herr wie üblich äußern wird,
mit der gebotenen Schärfe zu widersprechen und die von ihm verdrehten Fakten
gerade zu rücken.

Ich halte ich die weitere Normalisierung der Positionen dieser Partei schon seit
Jahren für völlig verantwortungslos. Nun, da auch einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit
die Pläne der AfD bekannt geworden sind, und da große Mengen von Menschen
endlich offen sagen, dass sie damit nicht einverstanden sind, sollte auch in den
demokratischen Parteien und den (nicht nur, aber insbesondere)
öffentlich-rechtlichen Medien ein Umdenken stattfinden: Viel zu lange haben
diese Parteien und Medien sich die Themen (insbesondere Migration und Asyl) als
vermeintlich besonders wichtig von den Rechtsextremen diktieren lassen, und oft
genug werden sogar die vermeintlichen Lösungsvorschläge übernommen (Scholz:
„endlich in großem Stil abschieben“), solange sie im Gegensatz zu den noch
extremeren Plänen der AfD gerade noch verfassungskonform sind (wobei sogar das
vom Bundesverfassungsgericht überprüft werden müsste). Es sollte endlich zu viel
drängenderen Problemen (Klimakatastrophe, Wohnungsnot, für Normalverdiendende
immer unbezahlbarere Mieten und Lebenshaltungskosten) und möglichen Lösungen
dafür übergegangen werden.

Jedenfalls fordere ich Sie als Beitragszahler auf, Herrn Chrupalla für die
heutige Sendung kurzfristig auszuladen und auch künftig sicherzustellen, dass
keine AfD-Politiker*innen mehr dort auftreten. Es ist gut, dass viele Menschen
sich auf den Straßen und online für den Erhalt unserer liberalen Demokratie
einsetzen. Aber wir können das nicht allein stemmen, wenn die gemeinschaftlich
von uns finanzierten Medien in diesem Punkt beinahe systematisch gegen uns
arbeiten.

Seit spätestens 2014 (Pegida-Gründung) heißt es allenthalben, rechtsextreme
Demonstrant*innen seien „besorgte Bürger“, deren Sorgen man ernst nehmen müsse.
Dies geschieht auch in Form einer Ayslrechtsverschärfung nach der anderen und in
Form von Grausamkeiten gegen Arme (vollständiger Entzug des Bürgergeldes für
vermeintliche „Faulpelze“). Mittel- und Unterschicht werden mit anderen Worten
fragmentiert und gegeneinander aufgehetzt, während die Gewinne der Großkonzerne
und ihrer Aktionär*innen astronomische Steigerungen erfahren. Wer nimmt endlich
die Sorgen aller Menschen ernst, die nicht rechtsextrem sind, sondern im
Gegenteil in Würde leben und leben lassen wollen?

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Sascha Kersken

[1] https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/verfassungsschutz-afd-sachsen-rechtsextremistisch-100.html“

Posted in Antifaschismus, Deutsch, Gesellschaft, Politik, Television | Tagged
fckafd, Medien, Rechtsextremismus | 1 Comment


DIE ÖFFENTLICH-RECHTLICHEN MEDIEN UND DIE RECHTSEXTREME AFD

Posted on 22.1.2024 by Sascha Kersken

Habe eben eine E-Mail an den Zuschauerservice des ZDF geschrieben, weil ich
denke, dass nicht nur die – zurzeit Demos in eindrucksvoller Größe
organisierende – Bevölkerung eine Verpflichtung hat, dem drohenden Faschismus
entgegenzutreten, sondern auch und vor allem die – insbesondere
öffentlich-rechtlichen – Medien. Gerade sie sollten wissen, was eine
faschistische Machtübernahme für die Pressefreiheit bedeuten würde.

Es folgt der Volltext.

“Guten Morgen,

in Ihrer Sendung „Morgenmagazin“ wurde heute Morgen der beginnende Vorwahlkampf
in drei östlichen Bundesländern thematisiert. Dabei wurden Georg Maier (SPD) aus
Thüringen und ein AfD-Politiker aus Brandenburg mit der Kamera begleitet, als
sei der AfD-Mann ebenso wie Maier ein demokratischer Bewerber um ein Mandat. Und
obwohl im gezeigten AfD-Büroflur ein Plakat für sogenannte „Remigration“
(Deportation und/oder – wie wir aus der Geschichte wissen – letztlich Ermordung
aller, die den Rechtsextremen nicht passen) warb, durfte er unwidersprochen
behaupten, das sei doch gar nicht Programm seiner Partei.

Dies ist nur ein aktuelles Beispiel eines aktuellen, aus mehreren
problematischen Komponenten bestehenden Trends in den (nicht nur
öffentlich-rechtlichen) Medien:

1. Die AfD wird immer wieder zu verschiedensten Sachthemen befragt, als sei sie
eine demokratische Partei, die mit den anderen demokratischen Parteien um die
beste politische Lösung für Probleme wetteifert. Dies geschieht sogar in den
Bundesländern, in denen die dortigen Verfassungsschutzbehörden die Partei als
gesichert rechtsextrem eingestuft haben.

2. Bei AfD-Politiker*innen (und nicht nur bei denen) wird in Interviews nur
selten kritisch nachgehakt. Bei einer schwammigen, ablenkenden oder gar nicht
erfolgten Antwort wird einfach zur nächsten Frage weitergesprungen.
(Nicht-AfD-Beispiel: Frau Hayali fragte Herrn Söder nach dessen Vize Aiwanger,
der die großen, aus allen Teilen der Bevölkerung getragenen Anti-AfD-Demos der
letzten Tage ohne Beleg als „linksextrem unterwandert“ bezeichnete, Söder ging
nicht darauf ein, es ging einfach mit einer anderen Frage weiter.) Dabei gibt es
gerade in Ihrem Haus Journalist*innen, die wissen, wie es geht: Legendär, wie
Theo Koll den damals neu gewählten AfD-Bundessprecher Chrupalla vorführte. Oder
das Interview, das Höcke empört abbrach. Oder die vielen harten, aber fairen (no
pun intended) Interviews von Marietta Slomka im heute-journal.

3. Besonders in Textmeldungen besteht die „Nachricht“ allzu oft darin, die
wörtliche Rede einer Person aus Politik oder Wirtschaft mit ein paar „sagte
er/sie“ garniert oder als indirekte Rede wiederzugeben. Ohne Einordnung und
Kontext. Das ist mit Verlaub kein Journalismus, sondern PR.

4. Spätestens seit Amtsantritt der Ampel-Koalition wird das Thema Migration und
Asyl für viel zu wichtig und problematisch erklärt. Medien und demokratische
Parteien übernehmen damit das Themen-Setting der Rechtsextremen – und oft genug
sogar deren vermeintliche Lösungen oder zumindest den (wahrscheinlich) gerade
noch verfassungskonformen Teil derselben. Das nützt ausschließlich den
Rechtsextremen, denn es ist ihr Thema – wer die Rechtsextremen bekämpfen will,
darf es nicht künstlich wichtiger machen, als es ist. Zumal Einwanderung
dringend gebraucht wird, und wenn Deutschland sich nicht als weltoffenes,
sondern als rassistisches Land präsentiert, kommen keine freiwilligen
Arbeitsmigrant*innen. Umso eher sollte man dann Geflüchtete willkommen heißen,
die oft Mut und Zähigkeit bei ihrer Flucht bewiesen haben, sehr ehrgeizig sind –
aber aufgrund veralteter Gesetze nicht arbeiten dürfen.

5. Auch in Medien wird immer noch allzu oft die „Hufeisentheorie“ bemüht, nach
der es eine „gute Mitte“ und „schlechte Ränder“ gebe. Nun ist jedoch selbst die
demokratische Linke in diesem Land weitgehend marginalisiert, während die
Rechtsextremen einen Umfragerekord nach dem anderen einfahren und bereits erste
Landrats- und Bürgermeisterämter erobert haben. Ebenso ist es unverantwortlich,
als wie „kriminell“ Klimaaktivist*innen dargestellt werden, während
„Ungeimpft“-Judensterne tragende Quer“denker“ und mit „Ampel-Galgen“
demonstrierende Bauern als „besorgte Bürger“ in Ruhe gelassen bis angefeuert
werden.

Zu diesem gefährlichen Zeitpunkt der Weltgeschichte, zu dem sich etwa Donald
Trump anschickt, erneut Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten zu werden, müssen
wenigstens wir unsere liberale Demokratie verteidigen. Die Medien tragen dabei
eine entscheidende Mitverantwortung. Als Beitragszahler für den
öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk erwarte ich, dass zumindest er dieser
Verantwortung gerecht wird.

Schöne Grüße
Sascha Kersken

P.S.: Dies ist ein offener Brief, den ich in meinen Social-Media-Accounts
(Facebook, BlueSky und Threads) veröffentlichen werde.”

Posted in Deutsch, Gesellschaft, Politik | Tagged fckafd, Medien,
Rechtsextremismus | Leave a comment


BLAUSCHWARZES SACHSEN, SCHWARZBLAUES BAYERN?

Posted on 10.9.2018 by Sascha Kersken

Nennt mich von mir aus paranoid — auch ich selbst hasse es, bei politischen
Prognosen Recht zu haben. Aber das Verhalten von Kretschmer deute ich so, dass
er die sächsische CDU für die nächste Wahl schon mal prophylaktisch als
Juniorpartner der AfD positioniert. Die CDU wird dann “notgedrungen, aus
landespolitischer Verantwortung” in diese Koalition eintreten, “um Schlimmeres
zu verhindern”. Denn Kretschmer mag ebenso ineffizient sein wie seine drei
Amtsvorgänger, wenn es darum geht, auch nur das Geringste gegen die gewachsenen
rechtsradikalen Strukturen in seinem Bundesland zu tun — aber dumm ist er nicht.
Er weiß, dass die AfD in den neuen Bundesländern, und davon insbesondere in
seinem, mittlerweile stärkste Kraft ist und dort vermutlich auch die
Landtagswahl gewinnen wird (was natürlich nicht zuletzt durch sein inkompetentes
Herumgehampel verursacht wird). Vermutlich wird die CDU der AfD in 3-4 Punkten
“Abmilderungen” im insgesamt absolut widerwärtigen (und, wie sich nach dem
üblichen viel zu langsamen Mahlen der juristischen Mühlen der juristischen
Mühlen herausstellen wird, auch in wesentlichen Teilen verfassungswidrigen)
Koalitionsvertrag abtrotzen.

Noch davor befürchte ich Schwarzblau in Bayern. Die CSU gibt sich exorbitant
viel Mühe, alle anderen infrage kommenden Koalitionspartner zu verprellen, dass
sie ebenfalls “notgedrungen” mit der AfD wird koalieren “müssen”.

Im Moment bin ich noch für Hierbleiben und Kämpfen (zumal die Liste möglicher
Auswanderungsziele angesichts des beinahe globalen Rechtsrucks immer kürzer
wird), aber man wird sehen müssen. Jedenfalls müssen die Parteien links von der
Union und die nicht rechtsrandigen Teile der CDU endlich ausdrücklich Farbe
gegen die unsäglichen rechtsradikalen Umtriebe in dieser Republik bekennen, wenn
Demokratie und Zivilisation gerettet werden sollen. Ich befürchte allerdings,
dass das nicht geschehen wird, weil Wirtschaftsverbände schon seit Jahren immer
deutlicher sagen, dass Demokratie beim effizienten Ausbeuten störe.

Posted in Deutsch, Gesellschaft, Politik | Leave a comment


DER LANGE WEG NACH UNTEN

Posted on 27.11.2017 by Sascha Kersken

Allzu viele Nachrichten, die man liest, machen eines klar: vor gut 16 Jahren,
mit 9/11 und den Reaktionen der Regierungen Bush und Blair darauf, begann eine
Kettenreaktion zivilisatorischer Rückschritte, die man so nicht für möglich
gehalten hätte und die jeden, der an Demokratie und universellen Menschenrechten
interessiert bleibt, mehr als beschämen muss. Die allgegenwärtige Abschaffung
von Bürgerrechten zugunsten des “Supergrundrechts Sicherheit”, der Aufstieg
Rechtsautoritärer wie Putin, Orban, Duterte, Trump, Erdogan oder der AfD, die
absolute Verachtung und Aushungerung Armer bei gleichzeitigen Rekordgewinnen von
Unternehmen und -einnahmen von Staaten, das Abtun des Klimawandels wider
besseres Wissen, die systematische Verdummung durch Bildungs”reformen”, die vor
allem kein Geld mehr für öffentliche Bildung ausgeben wollen — das alles und
noch mehr sind Symptome für diese Abwärtsspirale. Um sie zu stoppen und
umzukehren, wären ein entsprechendes Wissen in der Weltbevölkerung und ein
energischer Mehrheitswille erforderlich. Jeden Tag in der realen Welt und in
sozialen Medien dagegen anzurennen und zu -schreien, explizit nicht mitzumachen
in der Gewalt- und Verdummungsmaschinerie und das laut und deutlich zu sagen
sowie das kleine Bisschen gegen die Ungerechtigkeit zu tun, das man als
Mittelschichtsmensch, der auf das nächste Monatseinkommen angewiesen ist, eben
tun kann, das ist alles gut und schön und richtig und wichtig, genügt aber
wahrscheinlich ebensowenig, als würde man einen Eiswürfel in einen Vulkankrater
werfen, um diesen am Ausbruch zu hindern.

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WAS MAN MIT DER AFD HÄTTE MACHEN SOLLEN, SOLANGE ES NOCH GING

Posted on 21.9.2017 by Sascha Kersken

In den Rechtsaußen-Bezirken der Politik ist seit jeher shady business zu
beobachten, in direkter Kontinuität von Tätern der NS-Diktatur zu ihren
geistigen und manchmal sogar leiblichen Nachkommen sowie interessierten
kapitalistischen Kreisen, die schon die ursprünglichen Nazis finanziert haben,
unter anderem weil es nützlich ist, unzufriedenen Arbeitern sagen zu können:
“Da, der Jude/Ausländer/Flüchtling ist schuld!!!!!!1!!!11!!”. Dieser lesenswerte
Artikel geht ein paar Spuren der fragwürdigen und möglicherweise in Teilen
illegalen Finanzierung der AfD nach. Und hier werden ein paar ihrer
Bundestagskandidaten mit ihren widerwärtigen politischen Positionen vorgestellt.

Bevor man endgültig Normen verändernde Fakten schafft, indem man zulässt, dass
die gefährliche faschistische Partei AfD nach dem Einzug in etliche Landtage
auch noch in den Deutschen Bundestag gewählt wird, hätte eigentlich folgendes
Verfahren angewendet werden müssen:

 1. Die AfD wird per Einstweiliger Verfügung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts
    vorläufig verboten. Die dadurch eben nicht mehr “irrelevante” NPD auch.
 2. Die Bundestagswahl wird um so viele Wochen verschoben, wie es nötig ist,
    neue Wahlzettel zu drucken, auf denen AfD und NPD nicht mehr vorkommen.
 3. Alle Indizien gegen AfD und NPD werden gründlich geprüft – es ist davon
    auszugehen, dass ein endgültiges Verbot gerechtfertigt ist. Wenn man den
    lächerlichen Popanz des “Kampfs gegen links”, den de Maizière und zum Teil
    sogar Maas betreiben, aufgibt, ergeben sich auch genügend freie Ressourcen,
    um das Ganze zügig und gründlich zu bearbeiten.
 4. Nach dem endgültigen Verbot dieser faschistischen Organisationen werden ihre
    Vermögen eingezogen und an die zahlreichen Opfer rechtsextremer Gewalt
    ausgezahlt.
 5. Individuelle PolitikerInnen dieser Parteien werden nach Maßgabe ihres
    individuellen Beitrags zu Volksverhetzung, Aufstachelung zu Straftaten,
    Beleidigung etc. strafrechtlich verfolgt, vor Gericht gestellt und bei
    Feststellung einer entsprechenden Schuld rechtsstaatlich korrekt verurteilt.
 6. Sollten einige der radikaleren Neonazis und/oder Pegida-Anhänger das Verbot
    ihres politischen Arms zum Anlass nehmen, einen vermeintlichen “Bürgerkrieg”
    anzuzetteln, ist ebenfalls der Rechtsstaat gefragt, sie im Zaum zu halten.
    Das könnte zumindest der Versuch einer Wiedergutmachung für die Versäumnisse
    beim Pogrom von Rostock-Lichtenhagen und ähnlichen Vorfällen vor 25 Jahren
    sein: wären die Behörden damals konsequent gegen die Täter und ihr
    johlendes, hitlergrüßendes und sich in die Hose pissendes Publikum
    eingeschritten, gäbe es heute vielleicht überhaupt keine AfD oder Pegida.
 7. Die künftige Bundesregierung – wie auch immer sie zusammengesetzt ist –
    muss, um glaubwürdig zu sein, eine konsequent antinationalistische,
    antichauvinistische, antirassistische, feministische und LGBT-freundliche,
    mithin antifaschistische, Politik betreiben. Zu guter Letzt muss diese
    Politik auch antikapitalistisch oder zumindest stark reformorientiert sein,
    denn Kapitalismus und Faschismus bestärken einander in einem endlosen
    Teufelskreis.

Natürlich ist das alles nur ein schöner Traum, denn man scheint ja bis weit in
die Mitte der Sozialdemokratie hinein immer noch den alten Glaubenssatz
herunterzubeten: “Der Feind steht links.” Insofern: genießen wir die letzten
drei Tage in Freiheit, bevor erstmals seit Gründung der Bundesrepublik eine zu
überwiegenden Teilen offen rassistische, nationalistische, chauvinistische,
homophobe und frauenfeindliche, also kurz gesagt faschistische, Partei in den
Bundestag einzieht und nachhaltig das politische Klima vergiftet. Und schaut
euren Abgeordneten auf die Finger, insbesondere denen von CxU und FDP: nicht den
geringsten Versuch des Fraternisierens mit der AfD-Fraktion darf man ihnen
unwidersprochen durchgehen lassen!

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INCOMPETENT LEADERS REFUSING TO FIGHT FORCES OF NATURE?

Posted on 6.9.2017 by Sascha Kersken

We’ve seen it both in the real world and, recently, in the Seven Kingdoms. Some
leaders think that climate change (global warming in our world, global cooling
in Westeros) is just a hoax made up by their foes. Some of them even tweet about
it:



Posted in English, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, Politics, Reading, Society,
Television | Leave a comment


YOU CAN WIN A “GAME OF THRONES” SEASON 7 BLU RAY/DVD BOX!

Posted on 3.9.2017 by Sascha Kersken

Now that Season 7 has come and gone and I have covered each episode in a recap
blog post, you can enter a little giveaway reading these posts. Here’s how it
works:

There’s a Harry Potter reference in each of the seven blog posts (starting
here). Write an email to contest@sascha-kersken.de and write down a list
containing all seven of these references, in the following format:

“Episode 1: [Quote]
Episode 2: [Quote]…”

Out of all participants who answer correctly until September 30, 2017, one lucky
person will win a Blu Ray or DVD box of “Game of Thrones”, Season 7 (similar to
the image below) that will probably come out in December 2017. Please include in
your mail whether you would like Blu Rays or DVDs.

To be eligible to win, you must reside in a country that Amazon delivers to. I
will choose the localised version of the box from the Amazon that is closest to
your country.

If you should spoil the solution in the comments to this post or to my social
media posts about the contest, I will delete said comment, and you will be
excluded from a chance to win. Recourse to the courts is not permitted.

Have fun, and good luck everyone!



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comment


GAME OF THRONES SEASON 7 RECAPS: EPISODE 7, “THE DRAGON AND THE WOLF”

Posted on 1.9.2017 by Sascha Kersken

Hi everyone and welcome to the seventh of the weekly episode recaps I’m doing
for the new season of my favourite television series, „Game of Thrones“. These
recaps contain MASSIVE SPOILERS, so please proceed with caution: DO NOT READ if
you haven’t seen the episode yet and intend to do so later.

 * Episode 1: „Dragonstone“
 * Episode 2: „Stormborn“
 * Episode 3: „The Queen’s Justice“
 * Episode 4: „The Spoils of War“
 * Episode 5: „Eastwatch“
 * Episode 6: „Beyond the Wall“
 * Episode 7: “The Dragon and the Wolf”


KINGS LANDING

The army of the Unsullied is standing in front of the city walls of Kings
Landing. On top of the battlements, Bronn and Jaime are supervising the
Lannister army’s preparations. In other words, both sides have taken certain
precautions just in case something should go wrong with the negotiations. Bronn
wonders what motivates the Unsullied, as eunuchs, to fight in the first place.
He also notices that Tyrion has sided with them, to which Jaime replies that he
“has always been a champion of the downtrodden”. A war horn sounds, and the
Unsullied are joined by an enormous horde of Dothraki on horseback. “I think
we’re about to be the downtrodden”, Bronn remarks drily.
Jon, Tyrion, Davos, Missandei, Varys, Theon and many others arrive on a ship
with Targaryen sails. Jon learns that there are a million people living in the
city — more than in the entire North — and wonders why anyone would choose to
live that way. “There’s more work in the city”, Tyrion explains, “and the
brothels are far superior”. The Hound climbs below-deck and knocks on a heavy
crate. It shakes heavily and a primal scream can be heard — the wight they
captured during last week’s episode must be in there.
Meanwhile, Jaime has returned to the Red Keep where Cersei is talking to Qyburn.
She wonders why Daenerys is not with all the other visitors and whether Tyrion
is with them, which her Hand confirms. “If anything goes wrong”, the Queen
commands the Mountain, “kill the silver-haired bitch first, then our brother,
then the bastard who calls himself King”.
Jon’s group is on the foot march to the Dragon Pit, and they talk about how it
came to be, protecting the city from the dragons the Targaryens could not allow
to roam free. Tyrion thinks that it must have been a sad joke with the last few
dragons, sickly creatures smaller than dogs, but “the most dangerous place in
the world” in the day and age of Balerion the Dread. “Maybe it still is”, Davos
jokes because a Lannister group is approaching from the other side. Brienne and
Podrick are with them; Bronn, who is leading the soldiers, explains that they
arrived earlier.
Tyrion and Podrick happily greet each other until Bronn urges them to walk on:
“Come on. You can suck his magic cock later.” Then, the Hound and Brienne meet
again; she last saw him when she left him for dead after defeating him in a
duel. When he learns that Arya is alive at Winterfell, he asks who is protecting
her when Brienne is so far away. “The only one that needs protecting is the one
that gets in her way”, she answers. “It won’t be me”, the Hound decides.
Tyrion renews his offer to Bronn, to pay double of whatever the other side pays
him. He also thinks that Bronn put himself at risk by arranging the meeting, but
the former sellsword corrects him: he actually put Tyrion at risk and delivered
two traitors right to Cersei’s door; she can chop their heads off if the meeting
doesn’t go too well, “all thanks to Ser Bronn of the fucking Blackwater”.
When they arrive at the Dragon Pit, Sandor warns the soldiers about the crate
with the wight, which is being pulled on a donkey cart: “Anyone touches it, I’ll
kill you first.”
Everyone enters the ruins of the Dragon Pit. Jaime and Cersei arrive, too, with
the Mountain, several other Frankensoldiers Qyburn has obviously created, as
well as regular Lannister soldiers. Qyburn and Euron Greyjoy are with them.
Sandor confronts his zombie brother and promises that he’ll be coming for him.
“Where is she?” Cersei asks impatiently. A moment later, Dany arrives on
Drogon’s back, accompanied by Rhaegal. She dismounts, and the dragons take off
to the air again. When Tyrion wants to start the formal meeting, he’s
interrupted by Euron who reminds his nephew Theon that his sister Yara is his
prisoner. “I think we ought to begin with larger concerns”, Tyrion takes up the
original conversation again. “Then why are you talking?” the pirate asks.
“You’re the smallest concern here.”
“We are a group of people who do not like each other”, Tyrion euphemistically
takes up his speech for the third time. He explains that they’re perfectly
capable of waging war on each other without meeting face to face. The gathering
is about something much more important, Jon explains. “The same thing is coming
for all of us: a general you can’t negotiate with, an army that doesn’t leave
corpses on the battlefield. Lord Tyrion tells me a million people live in this
city. They’re about to become a million more soldiers in the army of the dead.”
— “I imagine for most of them it will be an improvement”, Cersei jokes. She
realises that Jon and Daenerys are asking for a truce during which the other
armies can defeat the White Walkers. She fears that it’s all a trick and that if
she agrees, the joint Targaryen/Stark armies will come back to conquer the
capital. Daenerys promises that they won’t, but Cersei scornfully says: “The
word of a would-be usurper.”
Instead of arguing any longer, Tyrion says that they have something to show
Cersei, and the Hound brings in the crate with the wight. He opens it, but for
quite a while, nothing happens. It almost looks like the things slowly cease to
be animated in the South, and a smirking Cersei seems to think that they’re all
taking her for an idiot. Sandor violently kicks at the crate, makes it tumble,
and now the wight comes out, screaming, and lunges at Cersei, yanked back only
by a heavy chain around its neck. The Hound cuts it in half with his sword, but
both head/torso and hips/legs continue to move independently. Now even Cersei
looks a bit worried, while Qyburn stands up and walks toward the wight with a
fascinated look on his face. He picks up the thing’s moving hand that Sandor has
cut off next. Jon takes it from him and sets it ablaze, demonstrating that they
can be defeated by burning them or using dragonglass, which he uses to kill the
wight for good. “If we don’t win the fight”, he explains, “that is the fate of
any person in the world”.
Euron walks up to the ex-wight and asks: “Can they swim?” When Jon denies that,
the pirate decides that he will take the Iron Fleet back to the Iron Islands:
“I’ve been around the world, but this […] is the only thing I’ve ever seen that
terrifies me.” And off he walks. “The crown accepts your truce”, Cersei
declares, “until the dead are defeated. They are the true enemy”. In return she
demands that Jon remains in the North and won’t take sides in the
Lannister/Targaryen conflict: “I know Ned Stark’s son will be true to his word.”
He replies: “I am true to my word, or I try to be.” Meaning exactly what he just
said, he explains that he has already pledged himself to Daenerys. His true
Stark heritage shines through; his allies must think that he shows exactly the
same traits that got Ned killed, and Cersei walks off with all of her court,
saying: “Then there is nothing left to discuss.” Brienne tries to sway Jaime:
“Fuck loyalty. This goes beyond Houses and honour and oaths. Talk to the Queen.”
When the Lannisters are gone, Daenerys and Tyrion both tell Jon that they’re
disappointed; Tyrion thinks that Jon should have learned to lie, while the King
in the North insists that stacking lie upon lie will never build anything
stable. Tyrion makes a very brave decision: he will go to the Red Keep alone and
try to talk to his sister (who probably still wants him dead for murdering their
father).
When he arrives, Jaime has just left her chambers because she kicked him out
after not listening. “I think we should just say goodbye”, he concludes, “one
idiot to another”.
“I shouldn’t be surprised”, his sister greets him in her unique style. “She’s
your kind of woman: a foreign whore who doesn’t know her place.” They argue
about Tyrion killing Tywin, especially because Cersei thinks that his death was
what got her two remaining children killed. Tyrion lists all the thing he did
that she would consider crimes and challenges her to have the Mountain kill him
immediately. Interestingly enough, she won’t. Tyrion helps himself to some wine.
He slowly realises that she, unlike usually, doesn’t drink any. And when she
holds her belly during the ongoing conversation, he understands: “You’re
pregnant.”
Jon and Dany talk about the decline of her family, for which locking up the
dragons in the very place they’re standing in was just a symptom. She also
repeats that she can’t have children, but he thinks that “the witch who murdered
[her] husband” might not be the most reliable source of information. In any
case, they conclude: “We’re fucked” because of Cersei’s decision. But right
then, Tyrion comes back, and Cersei, Jaime, Qyburn and several Frankensoldiers
follow him. Apparently, Tyrion has managed the unimaginable: Cersei has decided
to send her armies north and to fight the dead alongside the other armies. “Call
our banners”, she commands, “all of them”.

At a later day, Jaime is discussing the march north with his generals. Cersei
comes in and wants a word alone with him. “I always knew you were the stupidest
Lannister”, she tells him. She says that she had never planned to cooperate with
the Targaryens and the Starks, but to betray them. “This isn’t about Noble
Houses”, Jaime tries to argue, “this is about the living and the dead.” His
sister says that she intends to stay amongst the living. “I made a promise”,
Jaime says. “Let the monsters kill each other”, Cersei counters. “And then we
rule.” The Queen finally reveals to her brother that Euron didn’t really run
away from the fight, but he’s sailing the Iron Fleet to Essos to pick up the
Golden Company. “No one walks away from me”, she concludes. A moment later,
Jaime intends to do exactly that. Ser Gregor gets in his way, and just like
Tyrion, he tells her to give the order if she really intends to have him killed.
She doesn’t, and Jaime gets the hell out of Kings Landing on horseback to ride
north and to honour his pledge. As soon as he has left the city, the first
snowflakes fall. Winter has come even to the South.


WINTERFELL

Littlefinger is playing his favourite game: make Sansa suspicious of her family.
This time about Jon and his motivation to bend the knee to Daenerys, and
possibly to marry her. “He was named King in the North”, Baelish whispers to
Sansa, “he can be unnamed”. When she argues that Arya would never agree to it
and murder everyone who betrays her family, he once again tries to play Sansa
against her sister, too: “Sometimes when I try to understand a person’s motives,
I play a little game: I assume the worst.” The worst reason for Arya to come
back to Winterfell could be to murder Sansa, she muses in front of Petyr.

Many days later, Sansa walks the battlements of Winterfell in a black cloak and
hood and tells a guard: “Have my sister brought to the Great Hall.” There, she
and Bran are sitting at the High Table when Arya is led into the Hall. Many
Lords and knights are are gathered, including Littlefinger. It must look to
everyone like Arya is standing trial. Baelish is smirking, and Arya asks Sansa:
“Are you sure you want to do this?” — “It’s not what I want”, her sister
answers. “It’s what honour demands.”
“You stand accused of murder”, Sansa continues, “you stand accused of treason.
How do you answer these charges…” She takes a long break during which Petyr’s
smirk intensifies. And then Sansa finishes the sentence: “Lord Baelish?” His
look is surprised, shocked even, while Arya looks quite pleased and adds: “My
sister asked you a question.”
Sansa clarifies that she accuses him of murdering her aunt, Lysa Arryn, as well
as having conspired to poison her husband, Jon Arryn, with Lysa’s help before
that. He tries to tell the Starks that Lysa was “a troubled woman”. Sansa,
however, paints the whole picture of how he singlehandedly created the whole
Lannister/Stark conflict, had their father murdered, and so on. “None of you was
there”, he tries to tell them, but Bran tells him: “You held a knife to his
[Ned’s] throat. You said, ‘I did warn you not to trust me’.” Arya goes on about
the knife which was not Tyrion’s, like Baelish claimed, but his own.
Littlefinger clearly starts to feel desperate and tells Sansa that he could
easily explain everything if only he could talk to her alone. She just coldly
repeats his own words about assuming the worst to him. “That’s what you do”, she
concludes, “turn family against family, turn sister against sister”. Baelish
then tries to command Lord Yohn Royce to escort him back to the Vale, but of
course the old knight just replies: “I think not.” So Petyr finally falls to his
knees and begs Sansa for forgiveness. “I loved your mother since I was a boy”,
he practically cries. “And yet you betrayed her”, the Lady of Winter fell
answers. “I loved you!” — “And yet you betrayed me.”
With this implicit sentence, Arya steps forward and slits Littlefinger’s throat
with the Valyrian Steel dagger that he once gave to the assassin he sent for
Bran. He tries to say a final sentence, but then he collapses on the floor of
the Great Hall.

Another few days later, Samwell, Gilly and Sam jr. arrive at Winterfell. Sam
proceeds to talk to Bran immediately. He tells him that he came back to help Jon
in the fight against the Night King’s army, and Bran replies that Jon is on his
way back to Winterfell with Daenerys. “You saw this in a vision?” Sam asks, but
Bran shows him a raven scroll. And then Sam learns the truth about Jon’s real
parents: Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Since he was born in Dorne, Bran
concludes that his last name should really be Sand, not Snow. But Sam remembers
the information about Rhaegar’s annulment and remarriage in Dorne that Gilly
found, and he concludes that Jon isn’t a bastard, but the true born heir to the
Iron Throne.
Bran goes back to their wedding in a vision (we see that Rhaegar looks somewhat
similar to his siblings, especially Viserys), and he confirms: “Robert’s
Rebellion was built on a lie. Rhaegar didn’t kidnap my aunt or rape her. He
loved her…” (cut to Jon who reluctantly knocks at Daenerys’s cabin door on the
ship) “…and she loved him” (Daenerys opens the door). We also get full audio on
Ned’s last encounter with his sister: “His real name is Aegon Targaryen. You
need to protect him. Promise me, Ned. Promise me.” Meanwhile, in the here and
now, said Aegon and his aunt Daenerys are consummating their alliance and their
love. For some reason, Tyrion is walking up and down the corridor in front of
the Queen’s cabin, looking very worried.
Arya and Sansa are standing on the battlements and discuss the aftermath of
Littlefinger’s death. Arya tells Sansa that she did the right thing by passing
the sentence on him. They have truly started to forgive and to understand each
other. “When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but
the pack survives”, Sansa quotes her father’s words. “I miss him”, Arya says.
“Me too”, Sansa answers.


DRAGONSTONE

Back from Kings Landing, Daenerys plans her next moves with her allies and
advisors at her castle. She agrees to Jon’s suggestion to sail to White Harbour
together instead of heeding Jorah’s advice to fly there on her own for safety
reasons: “I’ve not come to conquer the North. I’m coming to save the North.”
After that, Theon talks to Jon; he thinks that back when they were young, Jon
was the only one who always knew what was the right thing to do. Theon argues
that choosing between Stark and Greyjoy was impossible for him, which made it
hard for him to try and do the right thing. Jon says that Ned was more of a
father to Theon than his own father Balon ever was, and that Ned will always be
a part of him despite the fact that Theon betrayed him. “It’s not my place to
forgive all of it”, Jon says, “but what I can forgive I do”. Theon then decides
to go and save his sister, just like she once tried to save him when he was
Ramsay’s prisoner.
When he comes down to the beach and tells the remaining Ironborn of his plan,
the commander who fished him out of the water weeks ago says that “she’s dead”.
They want to leave and find their own island, just like Euron said he would
leave. He spits into Theon’s face and insults him once more before he starts to
seriously beat him up. But he hasn’t taken two factors into account: that Theon
has a remarkable tolerance for pain (from his horrible experiences at Ramsay’s
hands), and that a kick in the groin won’t fell him like it does to men with
intact genitals. And so Theon wins the upper hand against all odds, leaves the
commander for dead and tells everyone else to set sail for Yara’s rescue.


EASTWATCH

Bran watches what is happening at the eastern end of the wall, warging into a
flock of ravens as usual. Tormund, Beric and some other rangers are on top of
the Wall when the army of the dead steps out of the frozen forest. They come to
a halt in front of the Wall, but suddenly, the Night King appears on Zombie
Viserion, flies over the Wall, and the beast breathes blue fire against it. The
Wall starts to crumble and to fall. The rangers run down the stairs as fast as
they can, but more and more fall to their death when part of the Wall comes
down. The Night King’s army marches over the ruins and invades the Seven
Kingdoms.


TAKEAWAYS

 * Did anyone really think that Cersei would agree to fight alongside her
   enemies? Of course she betrayed everyone and plans to conquer all of Westeros
   while they’re distracted fighting the zombie army. What she fails to
   understand, of course, is that each and every fallen Stark or Lannister
   soldier and any civilian who has the misfortune to cross their path will be
   added to the Night King’s forces. By the time they reach Kings Landing, they
   will crush the city like an avalanche.
 * Kudos to Theon for standing up to the commander and for his brave decision to
   try and save his sister.
 * Even greater kudos to Jaime for finally realising what his sister has become
   and for walking away from their toxic relationship.
 * Jon/Aegon’s true origins have now been fully revealed, and it will be
   interesting to see how he and his aunt/lover/Queen will react to the news.
   Since Targaryens used to wed brother to sister for centuries, a relationship
   between aunt and nephew wouldn’t even seem incestuous to Daenerys, but what
   would Jon think? And how does Dany feel about only being second in the line
   of succession? (Not that it really matters: Jon has pledged fealty to her and
   will stay true to his word even under the changed circumstances, and besides
   it looks like they will get married and be King and Queen anyway.)
 * One thing that has been pretty obvious for some time will now definitely
   happen: Jon will ride Rhaegal, the dragon named for his deceased father.
 * Littlefinger’s death was the most satisfying since Joffrey’s, even more so
   than Ramsay’s. He took the phrase “overstaying one’s welcome” to a whole new
   level. It’s also remarkable how masterfully the three remaining Stark
   siblings staged the whole event. A nice plot twist, too — not quite of
   “Prisoner of Azkaban” proportions, but still great.
 * Now the army of the dead is truly upon the Seven Kingdoms, and upon the
   living. It will take Jon’s and Daenerys’s full attention to try and defeat
   them. This may have been the main reason for Tyrion’s concerned look after
   Jon went into Dany’s cabin: how can they celebrate their young love when
   everyone is doomed and needs to fight for their lives?
 * Have Tormund, Beric or any others stayed alive through the collapse of the
   Eastwatch part of the Wall? I guess Tormund will (we need to see these
   monster babies who will conquer the world, or him joining Ser Jorah’s friend
   zone club if Brienne should end up with Jaime or no one), but Beric was
   warned by the Hound that he was on his last life, which now looks like
   foreshadowing.
 * Speaking of the Hound: Cleganebowl was teased this season, but hasn’t
   happened yet. There’s still hope that it will.
 * Will Arya travel to Kings Landing, wear Littlefinger’s face and give Queen
   Cersei the gift (preferably after Sandor has killed his big, bad brother, for
   he might be too much even for Arya)? After all, we don’t have the valonqar
   part of the prophecy on the show, and so the showrunners could go for it. In
   the books, my money is still on Jaime as the Queenslayer.
 * Speaking of which: What will come out first? Season 8 or “The Winds of
   Winter”? I’m not sure.


CONCLUSION

A solid finale to an overall good season, this episode deserves another five out
of five Gold Dragons. And now the Long Night comes, in which we have to wait for
the last season. Reports say that they will start shooting in October and that
it may take up to 10 months, so I guess the release date will be late autumn of
2018 or even winter 2018/19.

The episode also fulfilled two of my predictions from last week: 1. The dagger
which was passed around between the Stark siblings was indeed used to kill
Littlefinger, and of course by the person everyone would have expected to do it
(a nice story arc for Arya this season: she started it killing the remaining
Freys and ended it removing one of the most dangerous players from the board, by
her sister’s command). 2. The Night King has indeed both flown over the Wall on
Viserion’s back and brought part of it down.

That’s it for the recaps, but I’ll be back next season with more of them. There
will be one more followup article with conclusions for the current and
predictions for the upcoming season. During the Long Night, I also plan to
rewatch all seven seasons that have been released so far, and there will be
posts about them, too.

Posted in English, Game of Thrones, Review, Television | 5 Comments


GAME OF THRONES SEASON 7 RECAPS: EPISODE 6, “BEYOND THE WALL”

Posted on 26.8.2017 by Sascha Kersken

Hi everyone and welcome to the sixth of the weekly episode recaps I’m doing for
the new season of my favourite television series, „Game of Thrones“. These
recaps contain MASSIVE SPOILERS, so please proceed with caution: DO NOT READ if
you haven’t seen the episode yet and intend to do so later.

 * Episode 1: „Dragonstone“
 * Episode 2: „Stormborn“
 * Episode 3: „The Queen’s Justice“
 * Episode 4: „The Spoils of War“
 * Episode 5: „Eastwatch“
 * Episode 6: “Beyond the Wall”
 * Episode 7: “The Dragon and the Wolf”


EASTWATCH AND BEYOND

Jon and Company are on their expedition beyond the Wall. The blizzard we saw at
the end of the previous episode is gone for the moment and they make good
progress while talking about this and that. Gendry who has never been to the
North before is freezing while Tormund likes the fact that you can breathe
there, as opposed to “down South” (Winterfell, from his point of view) where it
stinks like pig shit, or so he claims. He also says that the only way to stay
alive in the cold is to keep moving: “Walking’s good, fighting’s better,
fucking’s best”. When Jon points out that there are no women anywhere near them,
Tormund suggests that “we have to make do with what we’ve got”, getting just
what he wants: a somewhat uncomfortable look on Gendry’s face.
Changing the subject, Tormund asks Jon about Daenerys. When the King in the
North answers that she wants him to bend the knee before she fights with him,
Tormund indirectly advises him to do so, remembering Mance Rayder: “The
King-beyond-the-Wall never bent the knee. How many of his people died for his
pride?”
Next, Gendry confronts the remainder of the Brotherhood without Banners because
they “sold him to a witch” years ago. “A priestess”, Thoros of Myr corrects, and
Beric Dondarrion adds that wars cost money. The Hound points at Beric and says
that he has been killed six times, but “you don’t hear him bitching about it”.
Jorah agrees with Jon that his dead father Jeor was a good man, but he says that
“he deserved a better son”. Both their fathers were honourable men who died in
horrible ways, Jon says. Jorah also remembers that Ned wanted to execute him
many years ago, and rightfully so, but in retrospect they’re both happy that
Jorah escaped. Jon wants to give Longclaw back to Jorah, but Jeor’s son won’t
accept it because he brought shame onto his house and his father was right to
give it to Jon.

Later, there’s a nice little encounter between Tormund and the Hound who are
both “kissed by fire” (Tormund as a redhead and Sandor in the literal sense).
Tormund tells the Hound about the woman he’s in love with and is surprised that
the latter knows her (and was nearly killed by her, which remains unsaid).
Tormund dreams of one day having babies with Brienne: “Great big monsters —
they’ll conquer the world”.
Beric remarks to Jon that they have both been brought back from the dead by the
Lord of Light, and that they’re soldiers in a (supernatural) war. “What are you
fighting for?” Jon asks. “Life”, the six-times-resurrected answers. “Death is
the enemy, the first enemy and the last.”

During the long march, weather conditions worsen again; the blizzard is back
when they see an undead polar bear. Soon enough, it charges, immediately killing
one of the few additional Nights Watch men who accompanied them. It even
continues to fight after Beric and Thoros set it ablaze with their flaming
swords. It takes the whole group to finally defeat it, but Thoros is badly
injured.

Jorah later remembers how Thoros charged through the breach on Pyke during Balon
Greyjoy’s rebellion against the Starks, swinging his flaming sword and scaring
the somewhat superstitious Ironborn. Thoros doesn’t remember it, or so he
claims, because he was too drunk as usual.
From some height, the group sees a few of the walking dead march by, and they
ask themselves where the rest of their army is. After walking down the slope,
they see that it’s a small patrol, led by a single White Walker, and they attack
them immediately. It’s easy enough to defeat the patrol, but it proves quite
hard to capture one of them — well, alive is the wrong term, so let’s say —
moving. Among other inconveniences, the thing screams very loudly, alerting the
whole army of the dead. They finally manage to put a sack over its head and to
bind it with rope. It’s the “gift” they plan to bring to Cersei, should they
make it out of the frozen wilderness alive.
Jon tells Gendry to run back to Eastwatch as fast as he can and to send a raven
to Daenerys. Tormund convinces him to give him the war hammer because he’ll be
even faster without it (the fact that the Hound was seen swinging the hammer in
the episode’s trailer brought some people to the conclusion that something might
have happened to Gendry).
All the others start to run away as well, but they soon reach a frozen lake. The
ice is too thin and cracks under their steps, but when the Night King’s army
arrives behind them, they go on anyway, reaching a tiny island in the middle of
the lake. When the zombie army charges, the ice breaks, and some of them fall
into the frozen water. So they gather around the lake, outnumbering Jon’s men
several hundred to one, but they don’t attack yet. They probably know from
experience that humans cannot stay alive for long in the freezing cold, and so
they can simply wait until their enemies stop breathing and join their ranks.
After a long and tiresome run, Gendry reaches Eastwatch and tells Davos that
they need to send that raven.
Many hours later, the half-frozen, half-unconscious party is still sitting on
the island. During the night, Thoros of Myr has succumbed to his injuries. The
Hound remarks that “it” (freezing to death) is “one of the better ways to go”,
unceremoniously inherits the dead alcoholic’s bag of booze and takes quite a few
slugs while Beric says a prayer to the Lord of Light. “We have to burn his
body”, Jon says, taking the rest of the booze from Sandor and pouring it over
Thoros’s body as fuel. With his flaming sword, Beric sets the corpse ablaze.
Jorah has noticed that nearly all of the patrol fell when Jon killed the White
Walker. Jon thinks that he might have been the one who turned them. Jorah
suggests going after the Walkers to defeat the whole zombie army, but Jon thinks
that they need to take “that thing” (the captured wight) back with them and that
Daenerys is their only chance. Beric suggests that there is another, pointing at
the Night King who is on horseback on the other shore: “Kill him. He turned them
all.” After all, the Lord of Light must have brought Jon and himself back from
the dead for another reason than to freeze to death. “Careful, Beric”, the Hound
warns. “You lost your priest. This is your last life.” A Video Game of Thrones.

Again, lots of hours must have passed, probably a day or more. The Hound throws
a rock at the dead men’s army in frustration, hitting a particularly rotted
skeleton in the jaw. He hurls another rock that doesn’t reach the opposite shore
but hits the ice instead. Now the White Walkers know that the lake has frozen
enough to be crossed again. The skeleton wastes no time and walks over the ice
toward the island. “Oh, fuck”, the Hound regrets his mistake while more wights
follow. They start fighting the approaching corpses, and they fight bravely and
relentlessly, but more and more enemies come closing in, attacking everyone.
Especially Tormund is in serious trouble some time later, being pushed and
pulled toward a hole in the ice and into freezing cold water by several zombies.
With the help of both Jorah and Sandor, he manages to barely avoid his demise.
But they will never be able to make it alive out of the endless onslaught; their
cause looks truly lost.
Then, when it looks like it’s time to abandon all hope, a great beast’s war cry
and an immense firestorm come to their rescue: Daenerys and her dragons have
arrived. Everything looks good for the moment: the dragons set the army of the
dead ablaze and instantly unfreeze the lake once more; zombies sink underwater
by the thousands (but we must of course remember that they’re already dead and
will always be able to come out again as soon as there is no ice).
Daenerys lands on the island with Drogon, and everyone is getting ready to climb
on his back as well. While Jon fights on to allow his friends to do so, one of
the White Walkers hands a very long ice spear to the Night King. The leader of
the dead takes aim and thrusts the spear with all his force and, to Daenerys’s
great demise, hits Viserion right below his wing. The dragon crashes down, lands
on the ice and closes his eyes, dying while he slowly sinks into the lake. Jon’s
men and Dany all look absolutely shocked. When Jon sees that the Night King is
getting another spear ready, he shouts at the others to leave while he holds off
the rest of the dead men’s army. Some wights push him into the lake, while the
others fly off on Drogon’s back. Thankfully, the Night King misses with the
second spear.
While the White Walkers and their army seem to leave, Jon climbs out of the
water again and tries to march off even though he must be half frozen. Someone
arrives on horseback, swinging a fiery mace to charge through the retreating
army of the dead. Once again, Uncle Benjen (or his mortal coil, animated by the
Three-Eyed Raven, in this case Bran) has come to the rescue. He puts Jon on his
horse and makes them ride off, staying behind and dying for good this time,
taking a few final wights with him.
At Eastwatch, Tormund and the Hound load the captured zombie into a boat and say
goodbye to Beric who will stay at the Wall. Daenerys and Jorah are standing on
its top while she has her dragons search for Jon. “It’s time to go, Your Grace”,
Jorah says, convinced that the King in the North is dead. Suddenly, a horn is
sounded. Just once, which traditionally means that rangers are returning. It’s
Jon on horseback.
Everyone embarks on a ship with Targaryen sails where an unconscious Jon is put
to bed and peeled out of his frozen clothes. Daenerys watches and sees his
various injuries, but she looks very relieved that he has come back alive.

Jon regains consciousness, and Daenerys is sitting by his bedside. He profoundly
apologises because he feels guilty of Viserion’s death. The Queen takes his hand
though and still thinks that it was important for her to see the army of the
dead for herself to really believe in it. “We’re going to destroy the Night King
and his army”, she decides, “and we’ll do it together”. “Thank you, Dany”, Jon
replies, but she never liked that nickname since her brother Viserys used to
call her that. So Jon calls her “my Queen” instead and feels ready to bend the
knee. As for the Northern Lords, “they’ll come to see you for what you are”.
They continue to hold hands, and we cannot be sure whether the (for now
metaphorical) bending of knees is meant as an oath of fealty or as a marriage
proposal.

Beyond the Wall, the Night King’s army pulls the dead Viserion out of the ice
with heavy chains. Upon the Night King’s touch, the dragon opens his eyes that
have turned deep blue like a White Walker’s before the end credits roll.


WINTERFELL

Arya and Sansa are on the balcony from which Ned used to watch them when they
were children. Arya remembers how the boys trained to shoot arrows, and then
Bran left his bow lying there, and a single arrow in the target. So Arya started
to train on her own, and when the arrow finally hit the bull’s eye, she heard
clapping and saw her father standing up there, smiling. “I knew what I was doing
was against the rules, but he was smiling, so I knew it wasn’t wrong. The rules
were wrong.” She blames Sansa for helping the Lannisters kill Ned and shows her
the letter she found in Littlefinger’s room. Sansa argues that they forced her
to do it, but Arya replies that she would never have agreed to something like
that, but rather be killed than betray her family. Her sister says that they
told her it was the only way to save her father – “and you were stupid enough to
believe it”, Arya concludes.
She remembers the day of Ned’s execution (of course Sansa had no idea that she
was there), and they somewhat unfairly blame each other for not having done
anything to stop the actual execution (which would not have worked with Sansa
being surrounded by Lannister soldiers and Arya standing at the other end of the
crowded square).
Sansa then says that Arya should actually be grateful to her because it was the
Knights of the Vale who made the difference in the Battle of the Bastards, and
those had come because of her. Their argument goes on, changing the subject with
every sentence. Sansa, for instance, thinks that Arya would never have survived
what she had to suffer, while Arya suggests to her sister that she’s probably
scared the Northern Lords could read the letter and not think too much of her:
“What would little Lyanna Mormont say? She’s younger than you were when you
wrote this. Are you going to say: ‘But I was just a child’?”

Sansa speaks to Petyr Baelish about the letter. She’s worried that the Northern
and Vale Lords and their armies are just looking for an excuse to go home, which
Arya could give them if she chose to show them the message. When Baelish points
out that Jon chose her to rule in his absence and that she has indeed ruled
wisely and ably, which many of the Lords appreciate, she finds the fact that
they might even consider betraying Jon for her even more disturbing.
Littlefinger advises her to talk to Brienne concerning her suspicions about
Arya. (Please note that I’m simply reporting what is said; an attempt at
interpretation will follow below in the “Takeaways” section.)

The next day, Sansa receives a raven scroll, inviting her to Kings Landing.
Apparently, Cersei or someone else from her inner circle wants all of the
remaining Houses of the Seven Kingdoms to be present at the big meeting. Sansa
decides not to go, she will not set foot in Kings Landing while Cersei Lannister
is Queen. “If they want another Stark prisoner, they can come and take me.”
Instead, she decides to send Brienne to the capital to represent her interests.
Brienne, of course, thinks it’s not safe to leave Sansa alone with Littlefinger.
Sansa says that many of her guards would just love to imprison or to behead him
if he should misbehave, and she commands Brienne to be on her way immediately in
order to try and arrive in time: “You won’t be travelling on summer roads.”

An undisclosed time later, Sansa sneaks into Arya’s room and starts to search
through her sister’s stuff, finding a bag with faces, for example Walder Frey’s.
Arya comes in, too, and they start a conversation about who the Faceless Men are
and what they do, and how both of them wanted to be other people when they were
younger: “You wanted to be a Queen”, Arya says, “… I wanted to be a knight”.
With the faces, she explains, she can become someone else, speak with their
voice and live in their skin. “I could even become you”, she says to Sansa,
which sound somewhat threatening as she picks up the famous dagger while saying
it. Then, however, she turns the dagger, hands it over to Sansa, hilt first, and
leaves without another word.


DRAGONSTONE

Daenerys has a talk with her Hand. She says what she likes about him is that he
isn’t a hero because heroes do stupid things and get killed for them. Tyrion
remarks that all the heroes she names (“Drogo, Jorah, Daario, even this — Jon
Snow”) fell in love with her. Dany says that Jon isn’t in love with her, but
Tyrion jokes “I suppose he stares at you longingly because he hopes for a
successful military alliance”. The Queen smiles mildly, then says “he’s too
little for me”, which she instantly regrets when she realises to whom she just
made that careless remark.
Tyrion wants her to be a good Queen who isn’t just respected out of fear, like
all the rulers before her, starting with her ancestor Aegon the Conqueror. After
all, he reminds her, she promised to break the wheel, the very wheel Aegon once
built.
They’re also talking about how they’re going to meet Cersei soon, in the meeting
Tyrion agreed upon with Jaime who promised to hold back the Lannister army,
while his brother vowed to do the same with Daenerys’s various forces. Tyrion
warns her that Cersei will likely say something provocative, to which Dany must
not lose her temper as she has done before — for instance recently when she
executed the Tarlys instead of allowing them to “contemplate their mistakes in
the solitude of a cold cell”. And Tyrion does agree that he does indeed take his
family’s side: “You need to take your enemies’ side if you want to see things
the way they do.”
Tyrion is curious about succession once Daenerys takes the Iron Throne: “You say
you can’t have children.” He suggests other ways of choosing a successor, naming
the Nights Watch and the Ironborn as examples who have an open election or a
Kingsmoot, respectively. But Dany decides that they will discuss succession
after she wears the crown.

When Gendry’s message arrives, Daenerys wastes no time at all — she walks
straight to her dragons to fly off with them and to rescue Jon and company.
Tyrion tries to convince her otherwise: “The most important person in the world
can’t fly off to the most dangerous place in the world.” The Queen asks who else
can, and what she should do. “Nothing”, her Hand suggests. “Sometimes nothing is
the hardest thing to do.” She mounts Drogo and says: “You told me to do nothing
before and I listened to you. I’m not doing nothing again.” And off she flies
with her complete dragon force.


TAKEWAYS

 * The fact that Benjen shows up in the last minute to save Jon proves that Bran
   is really watching over his family and stepping in when necessary. But that
   might also be the reason why the Night King knew that Jon and his friends,
   and later Daenerys and her dragons, were coming. The link to Bran that the
   Night King created when touching him during his vision seems to work much
   like the mutual telepathic connection between Harry Potter and Lord
   Voldemort.
 * What’s up with the whole Arya/Sansa/Littlefinger/Brienne dynamics?
   Superficially, it looks like Arya deeply mistrusts Sansa and might even be
   plotting to kill her sister. But as some people have rightfully pointed out,
   she has not only studied to be an assassin at the House of Black and White,
   but also to be a great actress with Lady Crane. For me, all of this looks
   more like a trap the sisters are setting up for Littlefinger, and the fact
   that Arya hands Sansa the dagger makes it clear to me that she does in fact
   trust her, but it also looks like she has been testing her loyalty before. I
   predict that this very dagger will kill Littlefinger in the season finale —
   you can’t pass around something that screams “I’m Chekhov’s gun, ahem,
   dagger” for a whole season and then not use it.
 * How will the first face-to-face meeting of the two Queens go? According to
   the episode 7 trailer, it will take place in the Dragon Pit of Kings Landing
   where Daenerys’s ancestors used to keep their dragons. A truly symbolic and
   historical place.
 * Jaime and Brienne are going to meet again, too.
 * The last episode of the season will be called “The Dragon and the Wolf”. Do I
   hear wedding bells ringing? Oh, bummer, the bells of Kings Landing were last
   seen crushing people when Cersei blew up the Sept.
 * Speaking of which: is there more wildfire? Will Cersei try to use it to kill
   all her enemies at once? And will Jaime repeat his heroic deed to step in and
   once again kill a Mad Ruler, even if she’s his own twin sister and lover? It
   would at least confirm the version of the valonqar prophecy I’ve been
   believing in for years. On the other hand, they never had that part of the
   prophecy on the show, so they can take certain liberties.
 * My prediction for the last shot of season 7 is that either the Wall will come
   down or that the Night King will fly over it on his new Ice Dragon’s back.
 * Maybe the Night King and Bran will struggle for control over the dragon next
   season. But I don’t really believe the “Bran is the Night King” rumours.


CONCLUSION

Many people have complained about technicalities and logistics concerning the
timing of the events in this episode, claiming that running bastards, ravens and
even full-grown dragons are too slow to make it to the rescue of Jon’s party in
time. But this episode is so incredibly epic that suspension of disbelief will
not really suffer for such petty reasons. After all, we cannot know how many
days Jon’s group stayed on the island. At least long enough for Thoros to freeze
to death, probably because of a major blood loss. And the rest of the patrol
looks half frozen, too, when Daenerys finally arrives.
With everyone except for the Stark sisters heading to Kings Landing, we also
have a great setup for the upcoming season finale.
This episode deserves another five out of five Gold Dragons, or shall we say Ice
Dragons? I think the real reason people were disappointed is because they’ve
come to expect more from a season’s penultimate episode — we’ve had stuff like
the Red Wedding or Blackwater in previous seasons. But what’s not to like about
a major battle of Ice and Fire?

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