Some interesting news to share about this line...I had talked to the manager of our local TRU about these recently and when I walked into the store yesterday he saw me and told me they had a case in the back, but they weren't supposed to put them out for some reason. I had him check the computer and apparently these were marked to be put out by a non-TRU rep (??). I guess apparently they aren't always allowed to stock their own stuff?

Anyway, after a few minutes he confirmed they rang up fine and there was no technical contraint to selling them, so I walked out with a brand new Cherno Alpha. 

Best part was I had a $5 Rewards coupon that was about to expire so I got it for $17. First figure I have ever opened from this line (this is an extra, still have a boxed one too) and it is really nice. Makes a hell of a paperweight!

Interesting developments in light of the discovery of the Hydra cabal within SHIELD.  I got the sense that Coulson was fairly senior within SHIELD.  But for him to be one of the most senior agents remaining in the organization?  It sounds like Garrett and his cohorts may have done far more damage than was first thought.

True to form, Talbot seemed like a tremendous prick.  And it seems like he's gunning to take SHIELD apart.  But I wonder if he's involved if we may eventually see "Thunderbolt" Ross work his way into the show, too?  I think William Hurt did a great job with Ross in The Incredible Hulk, but I know that he's currently working on a Broadway play.

Ward's turn is seeming more and more legit as thing progress.  I had initially thought that he was attempting to go into deep cover in an effort to infiltrate Hydra.  But now I'm not so sure about that theory.

The one thing that I got a real kick from in last night's episode?  It was actually a callback to the first Captain America & Falcon comic I ever got.  In the comic Cap & Falcon went into a barber shop and got into chairs.  From there, the chairs lowered into a secret SHIELD facility.  And when "Flowers" got lowered into the Hydra base the same way I just loved it!

She's the heir in the sense that her father (right?) was the mad king, but that was a popular uprising was it not?  So isn't there some equal POV that Robert's bastard is the rightful heir here?

I'd say he and Stannis hold more ground than Khalisi in that regard...  Of course, I lean to what you say though, Ed.  I prefer Khalisi at this point because she's not insane, seems like a good leader, etc.  But in that world her family was kicked out by everyone, more or less.

I love this show.

In the breakdown of the episode they really did want people to feel something for Joffrey, but for me it was purely good riddance...  He was a monster, and horrific.  His mother's one of the few equally horrible people, to me.  Kid or no...  I felt no sympathy.

I feel sympathy for the actor...  Poor kid gets ragged on by people he meets, and that sucks.  I sometimes just don't get fandom.

Nick sums up everything above this post nicely.  With the mad king, Jamie breaks his oath and kills the king which allows Robert to usurp the throne.  If Robert doesn't manage to kill Raehgar I'm not sure if the kingdom would have gone along with the change in leadership.  I think it was more of a situation of to the victor goes the spoils coupled with a particular hatred for the mad king because of his deeds.  If it was just a choice of Raehgar versus Robert, I'm not sure if tradition would be throne aside to anoint Robert.

As for any of Robert's bastards, they don't hold any claims in Westeros.  The are given names like Snow, Sand, etc. because they are not considered to be part of the family.  This is one of the factors that lead Jon Snow to join the watch since he could never be Ned's heir.  The importance of Robert's bastards was the genetics.  All of his bastards had dark hair, regardless of the hair color of the mother while all his "legitimate" children had blonde hair.  That is what lead Jon Arryn to figure out that Jamie was the real father.

As for who should truly be the king or queen, it all boils down to the opinion on Robert's reign.  If he had managed to wipe out all the Targaryens (which we know at the beginning of the series, there were at least two alive) then he could have made a legitimate claim to take over the Iron Throne, much the same way the Targaryens of old united all the kingdoms under one king.  This would leave Stannis as the legitimate heir since Robert had no legitimate children.  Renly was also a usurper since Stannis would have to die first for Renly to have had a true claim.  However, Robert left legitimate heirs alive to the traditional roles of succession.  Since Danaerys is the last Targaryen (that we know of for sure at this point), she really has the strongest claim to the throne, but does not quite have the power to take it.

In essence it comes down to power, which the Lannisters have at this point by money and winning the war.  They currently control the throne, but really they don't have any legitimate claim to it.

A new figure is up for pre-order now.

It's the Argurts Infantry:

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu.aspx?menu=3318

Awesome looking figure...

That's the mini-gun Hasbro should've put out with the Clones too. 

Danaerys is indeed the last surviving child of the Mad King.  But that same Mad King was killed by Jaime Lannister during Robert Baratheon's Rebellion.  Interesting thing there is that Robert actually had some Targaryen blood in his family line, and that's part of why his claim to the Iron Throne was recognized following the rebellion.  The fact that he was also fighting for the return of his bride-to-be, Lyanna Stark, Ned's sister, from Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was at the heart of the rebellion.  Robert killed Raehgar, and Ned managed to save a dying Lyanna.  The rest of the surviving Targaryens were driven into exile.  Viserys and Danaerys wound up in Pentos with Illyrio.  But nobody really knows what happened to their mother.

Clearly, the children that are being passed off as Robert's children: the deceased Joffrey, Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella are actually all the product of incest between Cersei and Jaime Lannister.  But as long as the Lannisters are the power and money behind the Iron Throne, the prospect of removing these Lannisters posing as Baratheons from the throne is going to be problematic.

The person with the most legitimate claim to the Iron Throne, at least according to Westerosi customs, is Stannis Baratheon.  But Stannis had been shunned by Robert following the rebellion, and given the island of Dragonstone as more of a place of exile than anything else.  Stannis is aware of some of Robert's bastard children.  And his brother Renly was a more appealing option.  But well, we saw what happened to Renly in season 2.

I think a lot of people are wondering what's going to happen if/when Danaerys returns to Westeros.  What then?  The series seems to be indicating that Danaerys is building towards that, as are the books.  I think the conflict that will draw in Danaerys is for the survival of Westeros itself.  The Iron Throne seems to be a secondary issue.