Any true hero worth his salt will tell you that you have to play the game to win the game, but it doesn't mean you have to win every battle to win the war. Likewise, a hero doesn't do what he does for personal glory and acclaim, he does what he does because that's what the world needs at that moment and for future moments. Is this relevant at all to Game of Thrones? Probably? It's a medieval, sword 'em up fantasy and that's all general enough to fit, right? Let's find out!Who is the hero of Game of Thrones, anyway? There are several candidates, but the show keeps you on your toes wondering who is on the level and who is not. Clearly Cersei is out. She is pure evil and will, at some point, die the most gruesome death the show has ever seen and it will be so, so great. But most other characters are more complicated. Her brother, while he did have sex with her and kill a small child, is also kind of a good dude? And last night we saw him swashbuckling one-handed while still showing skill enough to make do and not get killed.Then there are the Stark girls. The young one is obsessed with revenge, while the elder is starting to get too comfortable with that snake Littlefinger if you ask me. There's time for them to see the light, but they are in the Not Heroes column for now. Stannis? Stannis is interesting. He likes and respects Jon Snow (who is clearly a Hero candidate) and that whole speech about loving his daughter despite her freakish appearance was touching, but there is the matter of the crazy Sex and Fire Religion lady he keeps around. He feels like a modern day politician you just sort of look the other way on certain things because you want to like him.Dragon Lady, another obvious choice for a hero. She's also surrounded herself with several characters with hero-like qualities, which is intriguing. And one more, the Dwarf, is on his way. Literally all of her guardsmen have been stand-up dudes and ladies. Jorah's on his way back because he basically loves her and believes in her. Her main security guard is both an unrivaled soldier and incredibly likable when not killing people. Even the robotic, testicle-less leader of her robotic, testicle-less army seems like a good dude. And then there is the Old Dude.A storyline has been brewing with the Dragon Lady's reign and an upstart group trying to unseat her. They're going around killing her soldiers and set a trap where they so outnumbered her people that the leader of the testicle-less was the only one left to fight them. He did really well of course, but he definitely needed help. We knew where the help was going to come from, and what it would cost, because the episode spent a significant time reminding us that the Old Dude was also a pretty good dude.Old Dude went storming into battle against the younger, stronger soldiers and wrecked shit. For a time, anyway. The fight waged on and he surely saved the leader of the testicle-less from a certain death and it looked like for all the world they were going to pull it off, but then hero A-Rod fell, striking out for a youngster's first Major League appearance. Filling him with confidence… But will he be too confident? Will retribution be swift?
Piling on in a meaningless game in May, even against a hated rival, just doesn't carry much reward. The Yankees were going to win anyway, and even if they somehow lost, they still won the series on the road. Not much to gain with a laser show home run for A-Rod. But excessive pride? False confidence? These are things Alex Rodriguez can exploit in September. And when he steps to the plate against young Dalier Hinojosa on a cool fall night in the Bronx he will whisper to his bat cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war right before hitting his 89th home run of the season.[MLB]
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