#Aegon in the show can still be both a disgusting man and a loving father

[bietrofastimoff23]

tbh, it seems to me that people started talking too early about the fact that aegon allegedly does not love his children, when he didn't have a single scene with them. helaena had only one, and even then she just sat next to them, but everyone agrees that she is a good mother.

considering the book canon, aegon from the show reminds me of my dad: a man who never initiates a pastime with me, but whose love I do not doubt (paradoxically? yes. but child-parent relationships can be ambiguous). he shows his love in a different way. this is one of the reasons why I can't be angry at aegon's failure as a parent, apart from the imposed marriage and fatherhood.

[ophelieverse]

please please please i need you to write something for my man Aegon I love how you write for him😭

➳♡before fire takes it all

Aegon II Targaryen x fem!reader

-summary:normally Aegon would ignore Helaena and her strange behavior but,since his wife Y/n got pregnant,he can’t help but think about the words his sister said the moment he announced the news.

-warnings:set in season 1,pre blood and cheese and luke death,teen pregnancy(both Aegon and reader are sixteen),talk about child death,Aegon being paranoid and keeping secrets,Helaena predictions,classic asoiaf warnings,reader can be of whatever house you want.

-thank you so much for the request and let me know what you guys think,send you all my love🩷

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It hurts.

Love,Aegon thinks.

Love hurts.

His heart bursts,his heart explodes,his heart climbs down his throat and assaults his temples, squeezing and compressing them until his eyes darken,until it scars the tormented irises and pupils.

Loving too much is fatal.Or not?

Isn't that so?

Live well,live badly.Does he lives at all?

“I don't know”,his conscience responds.

Aegon would like to know,but he doesn’t know.He doesn’t even think he knows what the right way to live is anymore,he’s terrified that he doesn’t know what it means to live anymore.

How can he live?How?

How can he pretend that everything is alright?That everything,in the future,is going to be alright?

Normally Aegon wouldn’t think about these sort of things,he used to live day by day dictated by his own selfish desires.But since he had got married two years ago,something in him changed completely.He started to understand what it meant to love and live for someone else,to wake up every morning early to just watch her sleep so soundly next to him,to stay sober at every hour so that he could remember her kind words,her sweet face and calm voice.Wanting to be a different version,a better one,of himself only because she showed him that he deserved happiness and love like everyone else and in return he only wanted to give her the best he could.

But golden necklaces,earrings,beautiful flowers and the most expensive dresses could not fill the hole that was slowly opening under their feet,a hidden tragedy ready to swallow them whole and to break their hearts and souls forever.

Aegon wasn’t one to listen to his family,he longed for his mother love and his father attention,he despised his older half sister,made fun of his younger brothers and mostly ignored his other sister.Only this time,something happened,something made him look in Helaena direction for the first time and his ears had caught every single word that she had whispered to herself.

His wife,Lady Y/n,the most beautiful and kind woman,a innocent young girl with a heart too big for her body,was pregnant.It was true,what they said about expecting women,she was glowing like the most precious diamond and her happiness about becoming a mother,the mother of the lover of her life child,couldn’t be contained by her shiny eyes and big smile.

«The Maester said that signs suggest is going to be a boy.»Aegon had announced one day at the breakfast table.

His mother had smiled kindly and Aemond had nodded giving his shoulder a warm squeeze.It was still too early in the pregnancy to understand whether is was going to be boy or a girl,but still Aegon had hoped that the Maester was right.Having a son was a dream that he never dared to imagine or to say out loud until then,the living proof that he was going to be better than his father ever was for him.

Helaena was sitting next to him,quietly playing with a wooden butterfly,all lost in the secret gardens of her mind when she muttered something: «A son for a son.»without even understanding her own words.

As their mother and brother were talking,Aegon turned slightly toward her.Usually he wouldn’t pay attention to his sister and her strange behavior,he was disgusted by all of those insects that she so lovingly brought everywhere like some pet on a leash and he was so relieved when his father had betrothed him to Y/n instead that her.He wouldn’t even lister or look over her if in the past,her silent words of warning weren’t revealed to be the sour truth.Aemond had lost an eye just like she had said.Maybe if back then he had listened to her,he would have helped his brother and nothing would have happened.

«What does it mean?»Aegon had whispered to her confused.

Helaena wasn’t looking at him,her fingers gracefully tracing the toy«They only want the boy,not the girl.»she said as if she didn’t heard him,nodding to herself.

Aegon left the spoon that he was holding,a sensation of nausea was crawling up his stomach,his heart beating faster«The boy?My boy?Who wants him?»he asked.

His sister stayed quiet,every second felt like an agony for him.His mind became of stone and a part of his was laughing for the fact that he was actually really listening to her,to her crazy words and empty head.But still,something,maybe his father instinct that was already part of him,told him that what she was saying was another dark truth.

A boy and a girl,she had said.He was going to have both,twins.He couldn’t even imagine it,praying that they would take after their mother soft and gentle spirit but also his fierce nature.Y/n would have been delighted to know that they were about to have twice of the love,but what would she said if she knew that someone wanted their son?

«The rats.»Helaena answered then,her eyes bore holes in his as she turned to look at her older brother,shiny lilac flowers watered in fear and condolences.

It had been months since that conversation and Aegon couldn’t stop to think about it.Every night,as he watched Y/n sleep next to him while he so gently caressed her belly where two new lives were growing,he could still feel his sister horrified stare on him and her heavy words in his ears.

Y/n is talking to Aegon,while they were lying under the covers of their bed.Her head is on his chest,her hair smelled of flowers and peaches,her voice sleepy and always so tender as his hand was staying on her swollen stomach.She's talking to him about her day and he can't listen to her,he can't even see her behind his pale eyelashes that lower,behind his tired eyelids that are threatening to close tightly.

With the fingers of his free hand he massage them,the nail of his index finger finds a tear that was hidden there,at the corner of the right eye,and uprooting it,let it be dried out by air.

Aegon was exhausted.He had difficulty to sleep when every sound made him jump,every shadow in the corner gave him a heart attack.

He would like to stop thinking,he would like to find a way to turn off his mind,to blow up the candle that kept his brain from sleeping and this crazy thought makes him understand that he had become even more incredibly pathetic than he already was.

Aegon was terrorized.If he already ignored Helaena,now he was avoiding her like the plague in fear that she could say something else,or worse,talk about her thoughts to Y/n.

Y/n,his beautiful and sweet wife,already had so much to think about.Being eight months pregnant was taking a toll on her,even though she never stopped smiling,he could see that she was tired and that her body couldn’t bare it anymore.He couldn’t let her worry about something that his weird sister said to him,not when the Maester said that she needed peace,calmness and affection.And even if he hadn’t said that,how could Aegon tell her what was keeping him awake at night?

He set more and more knights to follow his wife around to make sure that nothing happened to her and his children,the Maester came to check on her at least once a day and when he wasn’t with her,his mother would keep her company in the solarium.He had personally hired people to hunt the rats of the Red Keep.Aegon so often dreamed of being just like the armors that Ser Arryk wears,cold, motionless,empty,that he has come to believe that it would be beautiful,it would be fulfilling,to be something without emotions and rest in a corner without light.

Aegon had still to meet his son,both of his children,after he had dreamed of him,of them,for so long.And yet already someone wanted to take his baby away from him.

The flashes of the veins on his forehead tingle and he clash,he crush himself,against an imaginary expanse of water that slaps his brain,crushes his lungs with long ivory tusks,disfigures his face.

Aegon was blocked.

He was stuck in some claustrophobic scribbled box,in a rusty bubble of his faulty soul,and he was afraid see beyond.But he could see the future,the one that Helaena had tried to warn him about.

He could see beyond and,the certainty is disconcerting,he clearly see that the worst nightmare of any human being,what wakes up men in the middle of the night and scares children with simple shadows,is the awareness of being chased:no one can ever escape from themselves,no one has ever escaped from destiny.

Not even him,especially him.

Because Aegon knew already,tasting it on the tip of his tongue,that what will happen is was going to be his fault.Certainly not because of Y/n.

«Am I boring you?»Y/n voice was tired but still sweet«Forgive me,my days are monotonous,predictable and highly boring.»she huffed,caressing his hand above her stomach.

Ever since she had started showing,her husband treated her like the finest and most delicate porcelain.All she could do during the day was read in their chambers,walk through the gardens and pray with the Queen.Not exactly a vivacious life,especially since Ser Arryk followed her every move.

She yawns,she apologizes,and Aegon finally slam the lumpy eyelashes and look at her.

Y/n is smiling,innocent,carrying his children and then his body moves by itself,he act instinctively, and get her closer to him.

A hand behind her nape,a strong and fast grip, almost stuttered,and Aegon feel her words on the palate,he eat them between his lips moving on her open mouth.He kiss her badly,and he hurt himself,he will hurt both of them,he kiss her following the dull rhythm of his ears,he kiss her and he pass the noise of his thoughts to her.

Aegon feels a hole in the center of his throat,a knot of cries,and this makes him sway and covers his eyes with torn red lightning here and there,it breaks his mind.Yet he keep kissing her.He have to kiss her.

Kissing Y/n scratches his soul,kissing her stirs up his fears and reminds him,in the pause of one of her breath,the so natural way in which pleasure and pain mix,get tangled,whenever pieces of skin graze and play with the tongues and crests of a fire.Fingertips caressing purple flames,white sheets reduced to blackened shreds,a plate of ice lying on the jigular.

Kissing Y/n now is like taking a sip of salt.Filling her mouth,having her under his palms,feeling the boiling heat of her cheeks against his nose and against his upper lip.

Y/n forces Aegon to give her every good part of himself,even those he thought were lost by now,and she does it with twisting tongues or with an annoying clash of teeth.All it takes is a simple touch and he’s willing to give her the world.She makes him wanting to be a better person and he so scared to fail her,that he wouldn’t be able to protect her and the most precious things that they created together.

«Aegon.»she whispered on his lips,eyes fluttered closed.

«I love you.»he said without thinking«I love you and our children.And I didn't think I could ever love,not this way.»he confessed,his voice trembling as his mouth was on hers again.

«I love you too.Are you alright sweetheart?»Y/n asked placing a hand on his warm cheek,she could read him like a open book but sometimes even her couldn’t understand him completely.

Aegon wished he could tell her all about what was going on in his mind.To share with her his deepest fears,to let her hold him and tell him that everything is going to be alright and that they will be safe and together for all of their lives.

But when she starts kissing him in a different way,like a helpless girl who would let herself do anything from him,when she starts kissing him with a teenage heat,a heat so in love and so lost, then he would like to do something else.

He would like to yell all the terrible words that Helaena told him,he would like to tug on her and burst her stupid and crazy soap bubbles in front of her eyes and he would like to do it just to remind her who he really was.To remind his sweet Y/n that so willingly loved,accepted and cherished him,that believed that with him nothing could touch her,that he was still a dragon and dragons are known to burn people.

Aegon doesn’t answer her,he just lets his forehead on hers with his eyes closed.

«You don’t have to worry.»Y/n murmured against his skin«You are not like your father and our children already know that,they love you just like I do.»she promised him,their hands interlaced on her belly.

He had voiced his concerns about fatherhood the moment she told him that she was with child,his child.Children now.And she had spent countless nights reassuring him that he was going to be a good father,a better one,unlike his.That he was going to be there for them,but now he knows that he can’t escape his own fate.His father shadow will forever be there to remind him that they are just the same:bound to fail their families.

“Stop it,please.Stop holding my heart so tight in your hands,that's enough.”Aegon thought.

It was in moments like these that Aegon remembered that Y/n was just a girl,a frightened sixteen years old who lives every second with her chest open,her heart too visible to anyone,too exposed.The feelings,the emotions,painted between her bright eyes and lips,make her an easy target,a sacrificial lamb,a too good person who can easily be stabbed in the back.

Her goodness and naivety makes her vulnerable and Aegon knows it,Gods,he knows it.

Because Y/n is not,in the slightest,capable of defending herself,she is not even able to understand the reality of the universe,she does not come to terms with the subtle and treacherous truths.She does not accept the existence of evil in the world,she does not accept the possibility that often what is considered good and right,is not really good,is not really right.

So how could Aegon get her away from the black that drips from his nails,scars,thoughts?Y/n thinks she knows how dark his soul is,she thinks she's got it,but he know she doesn’t.

It will never be like this.

«Aegon.»she calls for him again as soon as she realizes that his mind is wandering too far.

Y/n throws his name on his skin and he swallow the panic that warms his esophagus,which runs through his every rib,as he block her head in his hands,almost in a trap.

Aegon push her to lie on the mattress,make her collapse between the pillows almost as if he had beaten her in a duel,and he hovers on top of her relaxed body,carefully holding her stomach.

Y/n doesn't tremble.

He’s are literally assaulting her and she lets him do it,she agrees,she welcomes him between her legs,in her heart,in her mouth that moves a little away from his and then falls on his eyelids that are still closed.

Aegon wish he could tear his eyes out,blind himself with huge metal spikes.He doesn’t let anyone get so close to him,he’d never done it and now more than before he wished didn’t do it.Because now they would see it,they already saw it.It was evident,under the lights and everyone eyes that his legacy was about to be born and die all in once.

Even the rats will see it.If someone dared to direct their steps towards Aegon,if someone dared even raise their head towards him,they would see his pupils and find Y/n and their children in there.

At the center of all his thoughts,of all his hopes:the end of an entire life that has bent over itself in the hope of scraping together some more time and living it with them.

So what's wrong?What binds his eyelashes in a white spider web?Could Helaena be right or he was being paranoid again?She was right about the fact that Y/n was carrying twins,the Maester had confirmed it months ago,but could she be right about the rest?

Then he felt it,against his warm palm and his heart skip a beat.A little kick,yet strong and determined to be felt.

«Looks like someone woke up.»Y/n giggled,looking down at her body.

«I didn’t mean to wake them.I’m sorry.»is all that Aegon can whisper and he doesn’t even know what he’s really apologizing for.

Y/n listens to him and suddenly recognizes something in the tone of his voice.She relaxes her limbs under him even more,completely wipes away any trace of tension as if someone had just cut the thin threads that moved her body,and she sulks as she touches his lilac eyes that he still deny her,stubbornly.

«Why are you so sad?What happened?»she said,concern covering all her beautiful face.

It’s not what happened,but what could happen.

Aegon forced a smile on his lips«A bad dream.That's all.»he lies,shaking his head.

Thats what he prayed every night,that it was all a nightmare and that he would wake up soon.

Y/n rubs her fingertips on his eyelashes and he feel her lips lying against his cheekbone.She’s smiling.

«Don't worry.I just found the last sleep crumbs that were hiding from you and threw them away. They were the ones who held back the bad dream and now they are gone.»she explained to him,peppering sweet kisses on his face.

Aegon eyelids rise on their own and he clash with the flickering image of his wife looking at him and bringing to his face her index finger on which one of his eyelashes is placed,almost a crescent moon caught in the air and hovering towards the earth.

«Do you want to make a wish?My mother always told me to do it,but I have to admit that almost none of my wishes ever came true in this way. Maybe I was asking for impossible things,out of my reach.Same thing with the shooting stars.Do you want to try anyway?»Y/n was rumbling,now he remembered why she was friends with his sister.

Aegon leverage his elbows,without getting too far away from her and look at her strangely«What?»he asked confused.

His cheeks mottled red and it seems to him that the way she bites her lips is yet another punch against his anesthetized emotions.

«Forgive me,it's such a stupid thing.Please forget it.»and while she is saying it she moves her nail in the act of throwing away his wish that has taken on the common form of a pale eyelash.

Y/n gesture makes the eyelash roll down and it swirls over itself and chases the earth,chases its tail,forms several open circles into which he stick his dream,his nightmare,his hidden thought.

The eyelash is lost on the red carpet and Aegon don't see it anymore.

He look for Y/n gaze again as she pushes him back into kissing her.She asks him,clumsily,to let go of those silly words of hers.The words of a girl that was still too young and forced by her father to grow up too fast,a girl hat was still a child herself with all of her fantasies and fairytales.A child that will raise children soon.

Because Y/n was better than Aegon,she is,even if she doesn't know it,and she showed it to him so many times that he has now lost count of the occasions when he felt at fault.Occasions when he realized he don't deserve her.

Aegon prefer to ignore this reality of the facts,he prefer to put his lips on her collarbone and bite slowly,resume and rummaging through her fertile body,one hand in her hair and the other under her nightgown,and grab as much as much as she offers him.

And Y/n offers Aegon everything,always.

«No wish was ever fulfilled?No one?»the question comes out of his teeth before he can control it,it pours out as his mouth moves over her belly that he suddenly feel quiver.

She is laughing.All three of them are,he realizes as he start tracing with his fingers his children imaginary features on the skin of her stomach.

«Maybe two of them.»Y/n says,referring to the lives she created inside of her«But I found out that my wishes only come true when I look at myself in a puddle.»she laughs again with her mouth open and then moves her head into a pillow.

His fingertips tingle on contact with her skin and his stomach closes into a knot the moment he notice how the intimacy that his movements has turned into familiarity.Because that is what they were going to be soon,a family.

«When did you looked at yourself into a puddle?»Aegon suddenly asked,giggling a bit when another kick met his hand.

Y/n hand found its way into his messy silver locks«The day that my father had accompanied me here for our betrothal.»she tells him,a warm feeling in her chest at the memory.

«It was raining.»he said,he remembered perfectly the first time he saw her.

He remembered her father fussing all over her wet hair,trying to adjust her dress and to make her look presentable.But she was still the most beautiful and vulnerable creature that Aegon had aver seen.A little wet bird in a golden cage.

She nodded«Before entering the Keep i took a deep breath and,as I stared at my reflection into a puddle at my feet,I secretly wished that the husband i was going to have would love him as much as I love looking at the star.»she smiled lovingly down at him.

It came true.Aegon felt his heart exploding in his chest,he loved his wife more than anything in the world.It was so easy for him to love her,how could he not?The thought that she had to wish for something like that,for something that for him was like breathing made his eyes flutter with little tears.

Aegon moved an arm and he already knew that he will hold her hand,remaining palm to palm,as he already know that her fingers will chase his,that they will squeeze,gasps.Wrists banging against wrists,veins in contact.

The time of a whole life that slips away.

«I have never made a wish.»he confessed then.

He just took,he just wanted.

Oh Aegon,what a stupid mistake.

He stole the dreams of his future child,he had plundered entire experiences of the past,and yet he could have simply asked.With courtesy,with kindness.With a little humility.

What a stupid mistake.

«You must have had a really bad dream.»Y/n whispers in her voice broken by his caresses,and then leans and puts her forehead against his as he rise to look at her«But it’s never too late,you can still have your wish.»she reassured him.

No he couldn’t and maybe they should stop talking,stop wasting time.They both should just exchange their saliva and shut up.Pant,moan obscenely and stop everything else.Eliminate among them the layers of soul,the remnants of some childish hopes,and join like empty bags.

It would be better this way,Aegon recognize this too,just below the surface,just below the peel of his chest,at least admit with himself that it would be better that way.He should stop discovering her hips with words,with confessions,with Helaena confusing words,with half-truths:it's too risky.

He should just close himself and unite with her only the bodies,discover the consistency of the painless choices and stay there stationary,inside an empty and deep gap in which the arms and legs move frantically without ever finding anything to hold on to.

This was his life once,before her.

Aegon had endless possibilities of oblivion,between the broken lines of the light palms,he had everything a young,spoiled prince could ask for.

The simplicity of superficial human relationships flowed through the buttonholes of his fingers and he continued to be unhappy,stubbornly perpetuated his pursuit of unhappiness,but he didn't know it,and therefore he really wasn't.

Or maybe yes?Maybe a part of him knew that?Is that why his chest is burning now?Because now he was finally happy for the first time and he didn’t wanted it to end?

Because now Aegon has Y/n and he managed to create something pure and innocent and beautiful with her,giving them all of the good qualities he didn’t knew he possessed.

Y/n seems to listen to his every secret and fear,to feel his breathing change and become noisier,deeper.She place a hand on his abdomen, slowly,she traces with her fingertips first his palm and then also his wrist,then also the blue vein,and repeat his name,repeat his name,repeat his name again.

Aegon enchant himself in front of the movement of her mouth and listen to the ticking of her heart that stretches until it pulls a painful fist on his gums.

He’s an adult now,a husband and a father.He should behave as such and leave the butterflies to the kids and remember that him,in his stomach and belly,only have the worms of rotten apples.

This happens to those who never make a wish. Didn't he know that?

«I would kill for our family,even innocent people if this means keep the three of you safe.»Aegon suddenly said,voicing his thoughts out loud«Would you still love me after that?»the question is sour in his mouth.

Y/n opens her eyelids to the sound of his question,frantically slams her eyelashes,those eyelashes,and swallows with difficulty.The cheeks are even redder and the ears are also red,the eyes are shiny.Atoms of soul and innocence:they agglomerated together and formed her,a little girl composed of glass and cobwebs,bubbles and feathers.

The bravest Lady he had ever met.

«Of course I will love you.My heart is your for eternity.»she replies and doesn't hesitate for a moment«And I would do the same for us.»she added with a whisper.

Her love for him is equivalent to a black hole in which he could immerse himself and observe a boundless horizon of stars broken and stuck in an icy ground.

She loves him.

And she knows that Aegon loves her too.But right now he can't even answer her,to tell her that he’s sorry,that he’s scared,that he reciprocate her feelings with the same intensity or that maybe he reciprocate them in an even more desperate way than her,crazier.He wish he could tell her that he wished they had more time,that he wasn’t who he is,that he wished that they were born in a different place and had different lives to share forever.

Y/n face is beautiful,her forehead is smooth,no flickering lines to scar her tranquility,and the skin near her eyes is crumpled from the day they got married and started to live a life together.It's the restrained cries,the sleepless nights,the quarrels,the misunderstandings,the voracious kisses left on them like square pieces.

Y/n looks at him,her eyes are still shiny,and with her fingertips and palms she clings to his camisole.

Sh clings to him and Aegon doesn’t feel any weight,he doesn’t feel any pain,no discomfort.Then at least one thing shines certain and bright in his mind:she has become the very consistency of his body.She has entered his limbs,without him noticing,and she is so close to him,beyond the blood and the breaths,that her hand is now an extension of his,her chest is his,her back is his,her lips are his.

And they would be able to see it,all perfectly together in the faces of their children.

And it is not a mere matter of possession,just an arranged marriage to unite two houses,this is not the truth and it will never be.It is something ancestral,like being destined to meet her,being destined to belong to it,being destined to live there,despite time and space.

Aegon and Y/n were sitting on the opposite ends of a timeline,at two distant points in human life, so far away that they saw each other like blurred halos,and they wanted so much to find the other,they have desired it so much,so much,that they have decided to tilt the axes of existence,to hang on to them,and to reunite with an interweaving of hands.

They had bent their faces,touched their souls by ticking of nails,and nothing was the same again.What a stupid mistake they made,something that their innocent son will pay one day.

Aegon felt like he was on fire,his whole body was trembling and his heart ached in his chest«Y/n…I…I-»but what could he tell her?

He could push her away from him,go ahead and just do it,but on his bones he will still find her shape and her footprints.If he looked for her,looked for her in him,he would find that she was everywhere.

«Y/n,I’m…I’m really sorr-»he tried to choke out what he could.

«Do you know what I wanted when I first looked inside a puddle?»Y/n didn’t let him finish,instead she kept stroking his face lovingly to help him calm down.

Aegon doesn’t move and she puts her index finger against his right temple,light.He knew that,from where she was from,it usually rained during the end of the summer and that she loved playing outside with her siblings and mother.She was the one that taught Y/n to look inside poodles and to dance in the rain,something that she would teach her future children too.

«I wished I could see myself.I wanted it intensely,I really wanted it with all my strength,as I never wanted anything in life.»Y/n started to explain him.

All of her life was planned for her,from the moment she came to the world,by her father that only saw his daughter as piece of chess to move on the board in order to gain power.She didn’t even knew who she was if not Lady Y/n,a proper and polite young girl ready to marry in the royal house.But now she knew who she was,what she liked to eat,to read,what to do in her free time and it was all thanks to Aegon that had shown her how to be selfish for the first time and to live for herself.

«And I see myself now,I can see myself,but I'm not happy.Because I have a new wish,much more important:that you can see yourself in the same way I see you,the way our children already see you.Then yes,i would be happy.We would both be happy.»she told him,sincerely with a little smile on her beautiful face.

Y/n had plundered his last feelings,which were nothing more than bread crumbs left attached to the eaten crusts.If the world fell,the sun fell,all the snow,the hail,the rain and the lightning fell,even the rainbow.He will make fire pour from the sky,he will spill blood just to keep his family alive and safe besides him.

Aegon doesn’t say anything,he moves forward on top of her and kisses her one again.He has a wish now:time.The only thing he wanted was time,more time to see his children grow up and become beautiful people,time to spend with them and to teach them how the world works,to help them and hold their hands,to protect them when they were scared and to remains them that he will love them forever.More time with Y/n,to love and cherish her,to grow old with her,to make her smile and laugh at the most inappropriate times,to caress her sweet face at night as he watches her sleep.He just wanted more time,he deserved it.

«How about,the next time that rains,we go outside,just us.»Aegon murmurs on her lips«I have a wish to make.»he continued with a small smile.

And he prayed the gods,whoever could listen to him,that it would become true the moment Y/n giggled and nodded her head.He hoped but hope can do nothing against an already written destiny and then he will be ready to go to war.

[peachysunrize]

Oh, Alicole.

Both of them feeling an immeasurable amount of grief, guilt and rage. Both trying to put their guilt and anger onto someone else- him with Arryk and her with him. Both blaming themselves as if it’s their fault that Blood and Cheese happened. Both feeling like they’ve failed their children. They’re disgusted with themselves.

Then Criston is supposed to be Alicent’s, he’s supposed to be partial to her, they’re supposed to be in sync with everything but he goes behind her back with two things, sending Arryk on a suicide mission to assassinate Rhaenyra and one thing that isn’t his fault- Aegon removing his Grandfather as his hand and giving it to Cole instead.

Theres all these things going on and she almost confesses to her father that she’s been caught up in sin with Criston (something he already knows) but he doesn’t want to hear it. After this failed confession, she goes to her bedroom and Criston is already there, on the bed waiting for her and she’s not the least bit surprised to see him there.

She wants to fight him and fuck him but the buttercream icing on top of the cake is that although Criston moves his head forward he still waits for Alicent to consent and ALICENT is the one who dives in for the kiss 🤌🏽 and the kiss was hot, ready made and delicious.

They were both looked like they were trying to consume the other.

I love “Fifty shades of Green” I just wish these 2 could indulge in their selfish want for once in their lives with the normal amount of religious guilt and not the added guilt for the death of Jaehaerys.

Them meeting to have sex twice a day was literally harming no one. Viserys is dead and who knows he could like to watch from hell? All of Alicent’s children are by her husband, her youngest child is almost a man and apparently she can brew a mean pot of Moon tea. She hasn’t put bastards in the line of succession. They even made it to the Council meeting early even though just had sex where they didn’t skip the foreplay, got dressed, groomed themselves so that not a single hair was out of place AND had a chat about the weather.

This fandom and the shows writers are blaming them more than the man who did it.

Nonnie, you officially have one of the most special places in my heart!! Preach like just PREACH!! Talk louder for the people in the back!!!!!

I’m sick of all these people coming for Criston and Alicent while all they did was indulge in some sex, consensual at that!!!! They already feel guilty! Alicent took a bath and nearly drowned herself, nearly confessed to his father!!

And Criston?? Yeah they call him a hypocrite but he doesn’t know how to deal with his guilt! He projects it on someone else because that’s the only way he knows how to handle it!

He likes Alicent, he is her guard, her loyal dog, her protector, her lover. I loved their scene together and I wished we had more explicit sex scenes and not just PG 13 make out even though it was so hot.

Criston just waited for Alicent to slap and push him and when she was calmer he let his urges take over him, he cornered her, waited for her to do something to let him know she still wants him despite everything and I think that shows how much love and devotion they have for each other.

And you’re right!! Alicent is a widow, not taken or anything, she has done her duty to the realm by giving not one but three sons and a princess to house Targaryen, and now? After all of the torment she pushed through? She deserves this more than anyone.

[elizxbethofyork]

okay, so i watched the leaked episode and then i read all the comments and opinions on tumblr and twitter and i have come to my own conclusion.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

the plot, the theme of this episode is: grief.

all the characters and their interactions with each other all stem from the grief of losing king viserys. even though they were preparing for this moment it was still a shock.

RHAENYRA: she goes into shock and in the process of losing a father she then loses her baby. she has huge grief hanging over her heart, then learns of the treachery of aegon’s crowning. while everyone is demanding she go to war she is like hold up, let’s first gather allies and intel and make a smart course of action, she is trying to do her duty and is trying to uphold the promise she made to her father. but when she learns about luke’s death, you can tell she’s ready to unleash the dragons. she tried to do this peacefully but from her point of view, they stole her crown and killed her son. SHE LEGIT LOST HER DAD AND 2 KIDS IN 48 HOURS. HELL IS COMING.

DAEMON: the most important aspect of his character is that he loves his family, he loves his brother, and he loves rhaenyra. so when he finds out about his brother’s death, of course, he goes into a rage; and then listens to his wife’s screams unable to help her, and then in the end loses a baby. it’s hard for him to understand why rhaenyra isn’t raging like him. so when she tries to talk about the prophecy and he has no clue of course he going to react the way he did. IM NOT MAKING AN EXCUSE FOR THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (HIM CHOKING RHAENYRA IS HORRIBLE AND DISGUSTING), but understand that a character like daemon who uses violence to express his rage and frustration a lot is going to react like that when he discovers that his brother's last betrayal was not trusting him with that secret.

DAEMYRA: everyone is raging over how they ruined this relationship but honestly i feel like the writers are just showing the complexities of this relationship because they are processing grief in their own ways. TOGETHER they lost a daughter and a father/brother. while one is raging the other is cold. so when rhaenyra is like all prophecy talk of course he’s going to be angry and react like because he is a violent man. BUT when the news of luke’s death reaches dragonstone he is the one to tell her and console with her. I FEEL LIKE THIS EPISODE SHOWED THEIR RELATIONSHIP AT A TOUGH TIME AND HOW THEY REACTED TO GRIEF, BUT I ALSO FEEL LIKE THE EPISODE ALSO HIGHLIGHTED HOW THE RELATIONSHIP IS A PUSH AND PULL DYNAMIC, they push each other apart only to pull into each others arms again. I also feel the setup for season two because the beginning of episode they are both helpless and unable to help each other in their grief, but i feel like luke’s death is going to bring that to an end.

RHAENYS: she was a queen in the last episode and she was a boss in this one. i honestly felt like she didn’t have a huge role at the beginning of the season until the last couple of episodes. i felt like she was all loner girl and was like i don’t want to be part of your bullshit drama, and when her husband is like: im finally agreeing with you, FUCK THE BLACKS AND THE GREENS. RHAENYS ENDS UP BEING #TEAMRHAENYRA. QUEEN SUPPORTING QUEEN. She notices her family is falling apart because of the Hightowers and she like not on my watch, though Rhaenyra is the mother who is grieving and trying to hold back a war, Rhaenys is the grandmother who has her back by bringing the family together and more allies to the table.

LUCERYS: baby boy, was just trying to make his mama proud. i felt like he was very anxious and scared of failure throughout the episode. like he’s gained this huge responsibility of being heir to driftmark, then learns that his grandfather died only to witness his mom in agonizing labor pains all while trying to prevent a war. he loves his mother that’s very clear from the beginning from confessing his fears to volunteering to be an envoy. i felt like his death was not all how we expected it to be but his death is the breaking point of the war.

Overall, I felt like this episode wasn’t an assassination on the characters but honestly a deep dive into their emotions, reactions, and their complex relationships.

Honestly, this episode reminds me of that EW interview Matt Smith and Emma D’Arcy had because they said basically if they had actual conversations with each other so much pain and hurt could be avoided.

[last-ofthe-starks]

HOTD Episode 9 Easter eggs and thoughts

Let me first start out by saying, I missed Rhaenyra and Daemon in this episode. I think they personally carry the show, because without them and Viserys I could feel a noticeable difference and Alicent really carried the whole thing for me. 

In the opening credits we had some changes this week - Viserys’ sigil is covered in blood to signify his death. We then do not see Rhaenyra or Daemon’s sigils because they are not featured in this episode. Instead, we see Alicents sigil and then the sigils for Helaena, Aemond and Aegon. Aemond’s is a sapphire (in the books he uses a sapphire as an eye, so a little more foreshadowing there). There is also a fourth child that Alicent and Viserys had, but they have not featured Daeron (also known as Daeron the Daring) in the show. The show runners said that they simply did not have time to incorporate him, but he is alive and living in Oldtown. 

Alicent is surely in a pickle when the episode first opens up, and WOW - to know that behind the scenes she was truthfully the one with a moral compass in this meeting makes this story all the more sad. Follow that with her announcement that she was unaware of the scheming going on behind her back to install Aegon as King, and her true position in this history is very telling. I like that this show has taken how she was painted in Fire and Blood and completely spun it on it’s head. You can still see how her actions and choices would be perceived as quite evil and heartless, but as a viewer to know that throughout this race against time she was the only one looking to do it peacefully gives the whole story so much depth. 

Criston murders a second person at court - no repercussions. This man is painfully vile now. How the show has not addressed this I don’t know, but I would think after murder two, Alicent might be a little concerned? The way his character has taken a complete 180 and the obvious black heart he now posses seems a little rushed. I would have preferred this be more fleshed out personally, because right now the only event we have seen that would cause this change of character was Rhaenyra denying him. Therefore, he comes across as a bratty child denied his favorite candy. I do wonder why this choice was made, and I am sure it has to do with a lack of air time but still, it is starting to hurt his storyline for me. 

“The King did not wish for the murder of his daughter, he loved her.” and man, everyone knows this to be true and is willing to push it aside for the narrative they wish to control and the power they wish to claim. As they state in the Behind the Episode, this is Alicent truly seeing her father for who he is and recognizing that her entire world has been seen through a carefully orchestrated lens that Otto has shaped around her. Even when she begins to think for herself, he is able to twist it and that is the ultimate sign of her being trapped. 

Beesbury and Harold Westerling (our two fav Outlander men) are such men of honor. Beesbury’s outrage over such blatent treason, and how easily it is being overlooked (and quite frankly encouraged) in the wake of such a man as Viserys death is as disgusting to him and it is to us viewers. If the laws and principles of the small council or White Cloaks are so easily overturned and bent to fit the narrative of someone like Otto, it undermines his and Harold Westerling’s entire lives. And while I don’t think Beesbury ever anticipated his death would come that way, both Beesbury and Westerling are prepared to die to uphold their honor. It makes this war a fairly obvious fight between honor (the blacks) and deceite (the greens). 

“it is our fate, I think, to crave always what is given to another - if one possess a thing, the other will take it away.” “There is a beast beneath the boards.” Poor Helaena is thrust into such a sad storyline after the events of this episode. We also see her twins with Aegon, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. They also have a third child together, Maelor.

This whole show emphasizes duos and twins; there are two sides, green and black. There are two claims to the throne. Some characters are living or have lived double lives, etc. Then there are actual twins (Baela and Rhaena, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera), and this episode heavily leans into those themes as well. The twins Erryk and Arryk Cargyll are central to this episode, and we first see them when they are sent into the city by Otto to find Aegon. It then becomes a race against time between Otto and Alicent, and they become another duo we see pitted against one another. 

Aegon venturing into the city and having everyone go out on wild goose chase is the storyline that is creating the tension this episode. Both Otto and Alicent are looking to discover his whereabouts and manipulate him to do as they see fit given Viserys’ death. For Alicent, this episode sees her finally standing up to Otto, but she neglects to recognize that she is repeating history with Aegon. 

The streets of silk are being depicted as such a disgusting and horrible place, where children are fighting with filed teeth and lengthened nails, and that is where one of Aegon’s many bastards resides. Aegon’s true colors are obvious to many, including Erryk Cargyll. The man that so many are willing to put on the throne is spending his time in a place like this, being entertained by his own bastard children fighting until the death. If that doesn’t show you how messed up Otto and Alicent’s fight for power is, I don’t know what will. They argue countless times his installment is for the better of the realm…sure Jan.

Erryk and Arryk Cargyll are so fascinating in this episode. In the book, Arryk sided with King Aegon II Targaryen and the Greens. His twin Erryk, however, aligned himself with Queen Rhaenyra and the blacks.They are representative of split down the middle here that so many people inside the castle likely feel. They spend the episode subtly explaining to the viewer how Aegon lives his life and how unfit to rule he is. But while Erryk decided that his honor to this tainted crown was less important than his morals, Arryk would not throw away his oath just because Aegon was a horrible person. You can see the logic in both because in their own ways, they are each making an honorable choice. For that reason their storyline does a great job reinforcing that principle that is central to this whole story; everyone is bad, nothing is black and white.

We then see Rhaenys being locked into her room, and all the servants and help being locked away in the cells. Rhaenys actually has an enjoyable arch this episode.  When she confronts Alicent about being held hostage, Alicent does not lie per say- but you can see at this stage of the game just how naturally Alicent slips on her mask to display false confidence or get business done. She is speaking the truth to Rhaenys, but certainly seeking to leverage it against her in this situation. Alicent is planning on taking her dragon, and forcing her into a war she long wished to evade. Alicent’s reducing her to a pawn in a chess game, much like Otto does with her. What I have long loved about Rhaenys depiction on this show, however, is that she is smarter than everyone. They are always giving her such great scenes and dialogue to prove that she was a woman worthy of her title; she would have made a great Queen. “A true Queen counts the cost to her people - and yet you toil still in service to men. You desire not to be free but to make a window in the wall of your prison. Have you never imagined yourself on the Iron Throne?” Wow. 

When Alicent sends Criston out to find Aegon and say “Everything you feel for me as your Queen” - ARE THEY BANGING?!

Aemond is just WAITING anxiously to be sent on a mission to make his brother look bad. Having him don a cloak like Daemon cracks me up though because In an attempt to look low-key, I would immediately be suss of a man in a hood. The parallels to Daemon’s character are obvious - both second sons who do not see their brothers as fit to rule, both overlooked as rulers, both great warriors, and the show is even trying to visually draw parallels between them with their physicality and mannerisms. This is intentional, as we will see likely in season 2.

While every other person is busy trying to fuck up the kingdom, Alicent is the only one seeing that Viserys’ body is taken care of. For all the vile things she has done in the past, this episode they really hammered home that she cared for him and was a good wife, as Rhaenyra also realized in the pervious episode. 

Otto meeting with Mysaria, aka the White Worm, and HA! His face when she says that she knows the King is dead. What a power move. And then to use that power to end the children being abused in Flea Bottom? Amazing. I just wish they didn’t give her such a weird accent, it takes me right out of it. “There is no power but what the people allow you to take.” is another amazing bit of dialogue.

Aegon so desperately does not want to rule and its actually so sad and the acting here is so great. He is SUCH a terrible person. He even offers to leave on a ship and give his position over to Aemond. For a second, you can tell that Aemond is intrigued by this and knows he would do a better job than Aegon ever will. He discuses all the reasons why he is better suited with Criston Cole and they bond over their shared knowledge of what it is like to watch people be given things they do not deserve for free. This offers a little more insight into why Criston now is the way he is, but with what little screen time we have seen of Aemond, his motivations and personality still feel more fleshed out than Criston’s to me.

The discussion with Aemond and Aegon also reinforces that second sons are central to this show - Daemon is a second son who was cast away by his brother and became a warrior with serious self esteem issues. Aemond is the second son with a similar outlook on life, and who trained and fought hard to gain attention from anyone who would give it to him. Otto is a second son who will never be able to gain the power a first son would, and it shapes all of his ambitions. Rhaena’s egg won’t hatch and she is the second born daughter, and feels that Daemon grants her less attention as a result...you get the point. 

“Our hearts were never one” was actually a line between Otto and Alicent - WOW!!! The whole of promo I thought that this was in reference to Rhaenyra and Alicent but nope. Alicent finally sees that she is a chess piece who has been gaslit her entire life but man, you should have realized this sooner, my gal. Her statement that the reluctance to murder is not a weakness is another great way to humanize her this episode. Otto then uses her friendship with Rhaenyra and brings up her Mother again to try and win her over and it is d i s g u s t I n g. 

House Fell is a new house we are introduced to today, they are located in the storm lands. 

Larys (another second son...are you picking up on the themes yet?) is just a terrifying, manipulative person and Alicent knows it. And now he has a foot fettish?!!? Gross. We see how effortlessly he pits people against one another to get what he wants, and sadly for Alicent she is right back inside the prison Rhaenys alluded to at the beginning of the episode. She makes one move forward, and is always shoved two steps back. 

Rhaenys escaping through the secret passage Daemon and Rhaenyra took, guess it ain’t so secret anymore! She is told that she has to leave her dragon, and you can tell that was never going to be an option. It was quite cool to finally see an event being held in the Dragon Put, especially as a fully constructed building. To have someone be able to witness his coronation and report it back directly to Rhaenyra is also invaluable, because the information will get to the blacks awfully quick when delivered by a person on dragon back. 

A building burning we see is presumably where Mysaria lives, but I doubt that she was inside. Larys is likely behind this because he does not want a rival cell like the White Worm taking away his influence within the kingdom. She has built a network of spies and is using her influence and trying to hold Aegon captive until he sees to stop the child abuse happening in the fighting rings where his own bastards are being raised to fight for his own amusement...he is truly sick. 

Viserys the Peaceful as a namesake is quite honorable, but many see Viserys as an accidental King. Having Aegon II wear the Conquerors crown of Aegon I (whom Daemon has spent majority of his life trying to emulate) and wield his sword was an awesome way to see that crown for the first time. The crown was also worn by Meagor the Cruel, which is great foreshadowing to Aegon II. Viserys crown was worn by his predecessor Jaherys, who made a conscious decision to put the crown Maegor wore away so to symbolically remove his influence from the realm. For it to be brought back out again and placed on Aegon’s head is very telling. 

In the books, Viserys’ crown is stolen by a member of the Kings Guard who leaves and takes Rhaenyra’s side, and since the show still has Harold Westerling alive, I think perhaps they will have him be the one to bring it to her. 

The crown is placed on his head by Criston Cole, the new Lord Commander of the Kings Guard. In the books, Criston takes over after Harolds death, but as we can see this is a departure from the book so we shall see where it goes. It is not a joyous day, and the entire room is silent until the bells ring out and the people are sort of forced to care about this succession. You can even see some of the people shrugging in confusion or feigned interest. They were all dragged from their homes an abruptly brought to the Dragon Pitt and I found it to be a neat visual trick. For the entire episode, it has been a stressful, horrible few days. Contrast that with the people and their indifference to the Kings death and ease with which so many of them go along with naming Aegon King is proving how insular Kings Landing is.  

When Alicent gives Aegon the dagger, this is when the true repercussions of this move are made clear. Aegon does not know the prophecy, he does not understand what his role in the realm is meant to be, and the bigger purpose their family has as rulers. This moment is the beginning of the end of their house. The dream that Viserys had of his son being named King with a crown placed on his head have come true, but the context is far different than Viserys could have ever imagined.

For Aegon, the applause at the coronation the first time he has ever been positively received by anyone - you can see that he embraces it whole heartedly and that the power will soon become addicting to him much like it is for Otto, or even for Joffrey from the main show. 

And then in a TWIST, Rhaenys escapes with her dragon and is somehow unharmed as she breaks through the floor of the dragon pit. If this does not reinforce the importance of dragons in this war I do not know what does. Rhaenys could have ended the war before it started but I think her lack of action is left unclear. She could be holding back because she does not want to be the one to draw first blood. She could also be unsure of which side she wants to be on. Third, she could be sympathizing with Alicent as a mother, which is likely considering the conversation they had in the castle where Alicent recognized the loss of both Rhaenys’ children. 

Final talking point is that I think visually, Rhaenys’ dragon Meleys was the weakest looking visually thus far, and the ending shot of her flying away felt very abrupt. And to come full circle on this post, I missed Rhaenyra and Daemon. I am excited for next week based on the preview, however. This show has surprised me in many ways, I hope this finale tied up some lose ends prior to season two and based on the preview, it looks like we should be getting plenty of action.

[b-rainlet]

how do you think Alicent, Otto and Criston would react to the mess that is helaegond? imo, Otto would support it, Criston would internally cringe but otherwise pretend it doesn’t exist and Alicent would be kept in the dark bc Criston would pull every string to hide it from her. I have this theory that Alicent is actually against incest despite her insistence on marrying her daughter to her son. She did it because strategically speaking, it was the best option (to keep Helaena safe and keep the dragons within the family) but it disgusted her in a moral sense. Criston knows this so, as her most devout protector, he shields her from this knowledge the best he can.

I feel like if Helaegond would be happening in the show with the character's acting as close to canon as possible, nobody would support it.

I think both Criston and Alicent would see it as morally wrong because not only is it Incest (which they may overlook because Targaryens are Targaryens and what kinda hypocrisy would it be to tell one brother to love his sister but the other that it's wrong) but it would also make Helaena a cheater and as we all know, a man may be allowed to sleep out of wedlock but a woman? Not a chance.

Like, even if it was crystal clear that Aegon is in the know and encourages the relationship between Aemond and Helaena/is a participant, it would still somehow be read as a moral failing on Helaena's part.

Also all her children would be seen as potential bastards and unlike Rhaenyra, she doesn't have a father who would care about her well-being and who would cover for her.

Additionally, Aemond and Aegon having a relationship? In Grrm's world? Where gay people cannot exist? Since they can't produce heirs, they can't marry, if they aren't married, it's still infidelity, even worse because it's queer.

Like, even if you put a woman inbetween, I don't think queer relationships are that well perceived within Westeros. Probably not even within the Targaryen dynasty and they do the nasty with their siblings.

If Aegon were King, maybe he could bend the law to take Aemond as a second wife but even then, Aemond and Helaena would both still have to be dutiful to their husband, so no sex between the two of them.

So in my opinion, the three of them would be playing a very dangerous game and nobody could ever know (so of course somebody like Larys knows and goats it over the Queen's head simply because he can, while Alicent tries her best not to see what's right in front of her).

I don't know what Otto would think of it personally, but it's a good way to ensure Aemond does everything necessary to keep his family safe - especially if some of Helaegon's kids are his.

[lostinmirkwood]

Iambic Pentameter

Catch up from the beginning. Read Chapter 2.

She’s Got The Look

Arya glared down at her notebook, blank except for the pen doodles in the margins. She would love her final period Literature class if only Mr. Dondarrion would let them read something written by someone other than old, dead, white men. Who decided that Steffon Fossoway had more literary value than Nymeria Ny Sar? Nymeria was a Rhoynish rebel during the Valyrian uprisings and her writings reflected the plight of her people as they fled across the Sunset Sea to Dorne. Fossoway just wanted to relive his “glory days” of war through stilted sentence structure and pretentious metaphors about sunlight. This wasn’t what she’d had in mind when she’d petitioned Mr. Dondarrion to allow her to take the senior level class as a junior.

She would also love this class even more if there was a seating arrangement that didn’t have Joffrey Baratheon sitting directly behind her. He kept knocking his foot against her chair leg and she was going to lose it on the little snot-nosed southern princeling if he didn’t knock it off soon. She didn’t care that their fathers were best friends, that his grandfather was on the Small Council, and his mother was THE King’s Landing socialite, he was a prick. One who seemed to know just how to push her buttons. If she could keep a lid on her frustration that would be a small victory for her.

Arya tuned back in to the lecture just as one of her classmates was lavishing praise on Fossoway, “His prose is so romantic,” Marella Rosby was gushing.

Arya scoffed audibly, “Romantic? Fossoway? He was a misogynistic alcoholic who spent most of his life trying to shag Aerion Targaryen’s leftovers.”

From behind her Joffrey cut in, “As opposed to a bitter, self-righteous twit who has no friends?”

Arya rolled her eyes. She could see Mr. Dondarrion sigh when she carried on as though she hadn’t heard Joffrey, “I guess in our society being a male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time, Baratheon ,” she could hear his snicker. “What about Argella Durrandon, or Elissa Farman, or Nymeria Ny Sar? Why can’t we read something from-”

The classroom door swung open, cutting her off. The half of the class that wasn’t already facing Arya, and unintentionally the door, to watch her soapbox turned as one to see who was there. Standing in the doorway was Gendry Waters, his unruly black hair falling over his high forehead into his bright blue eyes, scruff decorating his sharp jawline, and the other reason Arya couldn’t enjoy her Literature class. When he even bothered to show up to class he always sat brooding in the back corner smelling faintly of cigarette smoke. He never participated in discussions, she never saw him turn in work, and when it was time for partnered essay editing she always seemed to get stuck with him. He’d flip through the first few pages of her draft before sliding it back to her with a wink and nary a word or a pen mark before slipping out of the classroom as soon as Mr. Dondarrion’s back was turned. It was infuriating.

“What did I miss?” His school bag was hanging haphazardly over his shoulder as he leaned against the door frame, everyone’s attention now firmly on him.

Arya rolled her eyes, and turned back towards the front of the classroom, “Just the oppressive, patriarchal values that dictate our education.”

“Cool,” with a crash the door swung shut behind him as her annoyance returned to whatever it was he did when he wasn’t sitting in Junior Literature, ignoring her essays and winking those blue eyes at her.

Mr. Dondarrion sighed again, his head in his hands. “Miss Stark, thank you for sharing your opinion on Steffon Fossoway and our curriculum. You’re dismissed.”

Arya’s jaw dropped, she hadn’t done anything today to warrant this, “But, Mr. Dondarrion!”

“Dismissed, Miss Stark.”

With a huff, Arya slapped her notebook closed and stood. She made sure to clip Joffrey’s shoulder with her elbow as she stepped past him, fuming, into the hall.

---

Miss Tarth raised a pale eyebrow as Arya swept into the Main Office. “Mr. Dondarrion, again?” she asked, knowingly. Arya nodded before pointing at Ms. Smallwood’s open door with a cocked eyebrow of her own. Miss Tarth sighed and gestured for Arya to enter the guidance counselor’s office. Ms. Smallwood was typing away at her computer talking under her breath as Arya stood in the doorway. Suddenly her head shot up and she shouted, “Brienne! What’s another word for ‘engorged’?”

Arya turned back to look at the secretary. Miss Tarth was staring at the ceiling with a long suffering expression and a slight blush before she replied, “I’ll look it up.”

Arya stepped all the way into the counselor’s office, closing the door behind her, “Turgid?”

Ms. Smallwood cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment. “Perfect!” she chirped before making a few keystrokes and waving Arya into the plain wooden chair in front of her desk. “So, I hear you were terrorizing Mr. Dondarrion’s Literature class again.”

Arya frowned as she sat, “Expressing my opinion is not a terrorist action.”

Ms. Smallwood looked up from her computer and adjusted her spectacles, “The way you expressed your opinion to Elmar Frey? By the way, his testicle retrieval operation went well, if you’re interested.”

Arya faked a concerned smile, “Good for him. I still maintain that he kicked himself in the balls.”

Ms. Smallwood sighed, “The point is Arya, people find you a bit…”

“Tempestuous?” Arya supplied.

“Bitch from the Seventh Hell is the term used most often. You might want to work on that.” With that the older woman gave a firm nod and turned back to her computer screen.

Arya stared at Ms. Smallwood for a moment before standing to leave, obviously dismissed, “As always, thank you for your excellent guidance. I’ll let you get back to Aegon’s quivering member.”

The door swung shut behind her and Arya heard Ms. Smallwood mumble, “‘Quivering member’, I like that. I’m going to use that,” as the frantic typing resumed.

---

The day finally ended and Pod found himself back in the main courtyard with Hot Pie again. Hot Pie was going on about some hostile take-over in the KLP Baking Club that had his croissants branded “store-bought” much to his offense and dismay. Pod nodded along vaguely as he scanned the courtyard for shining copper hair, straightening slightly when Sansa Stark finally made her appearance. He wasn’t the only one who noticed her arrival though, sprawled on a low wall near them was a small group of guys ringed around a smug-looking blond who was clearly their leader. One of the boys nudged the blond as Sansa approached with the same friend from that morning. Both Sansa and the blond made eye contact as the girls walked by, Sansa smiling shyly and tossing her hair as they went. Just as they passed the blond called out, “Looking good ladies.”

Both girls glanced back briefly as he gave them an appreciative once over before they continued on through the courtyard, giggling as they made their way towards the parking lot. Pod felt nearly invisible as Sansa and her friend passed by him and Hot Pie without so much as a glance in their direction. He sighed quietly and turned back towards Hot Pie who was shaking his head slightly at Pod’s reaction.

Before either of them could speak they heard one of the boys in the circle around the blond say, “She’s out of reach even for you, Joff.”

The blond scoffed, “No one’s out of reach for me.”

“Want to put money on that?” the other boy replied.

“Money I’ve got. This I’ll do for fun.” Joff sneered.

Pod huffed in disgust and it was Hot Pie’s turn to sigh. Slinging an arm around Pod’s shoulders he turned them away from the other boys, “That, my friend, is Joffrey Lannister. Richest asshole at KLP, don’t mess with him. Rumor has it he once had a kid expelled for taking the last energy drink out of the vending machine right before he got there. He’s a model too.”

“Wait, he’s a model?” Pod laughed.

“Mostly regional stuff, but word on campus is he’s got a big tube sock ad coming up.”

“Really?” both boys snickered before Pod looked back towards Sansa who had paused with her friend at the edge of the courtyard, “Man, look at her. Is she always so-”

“Vapid?” Hot Pie commented.

“How can you say that! She’s-”

“Totally conceited,” Hot Pie deadpanned.

“No! There’s more to her than you think. Just look at her. There’s something in her eyes. She’s totally pure. You’re missing what’s there!” Pod exclaimed quietly, aware that his voice could carry through the crowd if he wasn’t careful. He wanted to woo Sansa, not have her start off thinking he was a creep.

“No Pod,” Hot Pie sighed, “What’s there is a haughty little princess wearing a strategic sundress that makes guys like us realize we can never touch her. And guys like Joffrey realize they want to. Put her in your spank bank and move on, man.”

“No, no. You’re wrong about her. Well,” he paused for a moment, “maybe not about the last bit but the rest, you’re wrong.”

“Oh I’m wrong?” Pie smirked slightly, “You know, she’s actually looking for a Volanti tutor.”

“That’s perfect!”

“You speak Volanti?” Hot Pie questioned, looking surprised that Pod had jumped on his suggestion so quickly.

“Uh, no. But I will!” Surely it couldn’t be that hard. They could learn it together if he could just stay a lesson or two ahead. He’d just moved here, no one needed to know he’d taken two, broken up, years of Braavosi. The root language was the same, he could fake it, right?

[gondorosi]

The gradual separation of show!Jon from book!Jon - Part II

Magic

The showrunners deciding that magic is an unimportant part of the saga and to be relegated to the background is utter horseshit. There’s a bloody REASON direwolves and dragons reappeared in the world when they did, more or less at the same time. There’s a fucking reason why in Martin’s version Dany’s fireproof nature was a one-time thing, the dormant magic in her reawakening as needed BECAUSE dragons needed to be brought back into the world. Dany, Jon and Bran are the three most magic-sensitive characters in the whole story - and only one of them have anything to do with it in a significant manner (though significant might be stretching it). With Dany, her magical nature is only sporadically referred to (the dragons are the be all and end all) and Jon has nothing.

Show!Jon is a mortal man on every level, without a drop of magic in him. Book!Jon is no Bran, but there are three fundamental factors which show how deeply he is connected to the land.

Ghost: Removing Ghost's importance to Jon is akin to removing part of his soul. He isn't just 'big, white fluffy doggo'. Ghost is part of him, his familiar. Ghost is the physical personification of the magic running in Jon's blood, the proof of the Old Gods awareness running through Stark children's veins. Direwolves have a deeper, subtler and less apparent magic than dragons, but no less potent, and no less essential to Jon than her dragons are to Dany. Out of all the Stark siblings, Jon’s connection with Ghost and Bran’s connection with Summer seem to be the most symbiotic. All the siblings have strong bonds with their direwolves, molded to their own personality - Arya’s connection with Nymeria persists even across the sea in Essos, all legends of Robb in battle are accompanied by legends of Grey Wind and poor Rickon becomes so enmeshed in Shaggydog’s mind that there’s little to distinguish between boy and beast. However, perhaps due to the nature of their POVs and story arcs, none of the Starks save Bran and Jon have their journeys so closely aligned to their wolves. Which is why it’s nigh impossible to even consider Jon’s story moving forward without Ghost, especially post resurrection. The show omitted the obvious implication that Jon warged into Ghost before he died, had no role for him in the BoB, completely erased him in S7 and relegated him to a damn stray in S8. On the other hand, the show AMPED up the Dragon Queen part of Dany to the detriment of all other aspects of her character.

Warging: In a universe where Martin has tried his best to weave in strong magic with actual medieval politics, concentrating all Northern magic into one single character (whose surface they barely scratched) is utterly lazy storytelling. Jon's warging abilities are mighty and second perhaps only to Bran, though I hold the belief Arya is as powerful a warg. But unlike both of them, Jon seems to actively resist exploring his warging possibilities. Some of the resistance may be explained by his environment - with both the NW and the Freefolk considering warging to be something of a ‘black’ art or dark magic. Sure, the Free Folk are more open about it, with Varamyr envying Jon’s gift with Ghost in his thoughts:

“He had known what Snow was the moment he saw that great white direwolf stalking silent at his side. One skinchanger can always sense another. Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. He could have done it, he did not doubt. The gift was strong in Snow, but the youth was untaught, still fighting his nature when he should have gloried in it.”

The show makes NO mention of it. Jon being considered a warg is a major reason behind half the NW hating and fearing him. I don’t remember the show ever bringing up the fact that Jon was feared - they seemed to make Thorne and Slynt’s animosity out of sheer spite and disgust at his bastardy. 

The Lord Commander's Raven: This is a favourite obsession of mine. Old Mormont’s raven pops out at Jon at seemingly random moments, but for the reader bursting with conspiracy theories, the raven is just another nod to the fact that Jon has a far greater role to play in the story than is visible to the eye. There's a popular theory that Bloodraven wargs him from time to time, since Jon is the secondary piece on his chessboard. The raven has come to Jon’s aid atleast twice that I can remember:

When Mormont is attacked by the wight:

Jon tried to shout, but his voice was gone. Staggering to his feet, he kicked the arm away and snatched the lamp from the Old Bear's fingers. The flame flickered and almost died. "Burn!" the raven cawed. "Burn, burn, burn!"

Spinning, Jon saw the drapes he'd ripped from the window. He flung the lamp into the puddled cloth with both hands.

During the election for Lord Commander when Mormont’s raven flying to his shoulder is used as a sign by Sam to argue for Mormont’s approval of Jon as the choice.

Bastardy

Jon's entire sense of self is centered around two things:

Ned Stark is his father

He's a bastard

His entire character arc is trying live up to one of those and distance himself from the connotations of the other. His bastardy is the formative lodestone of his character and moral compass but in the EXACT opposite of how Catelyn and Westerosi society as a whole expect it to be.

However, there's a twist to that. Jon's inner desire is EXACTLY what Catelyn feared. He DOES want to be Lord of Winterfell. He DOES harbour resentment that Robb (seemingly) has everything handed to him while the best Jon can hope for is to die at his post, unknown and unsung. He DOES want glory and power and to exact some kind of revenge on a society which deemed him vile and detestable for no fault of his. All the elements for him to become the Starks' own Daemon Blackfyre is already present.

But there's one difference - Ned Stark is no Aegon the Unworthy. Even more than all of the above heart's desires, Jon wants to be like his father. He wants to do what is right. He wants his father to be proud of him. He wants to be nothing like the greedy, vengeful and lusty creature he's always been told he is. He wants to help people and stand up for the weak because that's who he is. At the very heart of it, he just wants to be loved by Ned as much as his trueborn sons. And thus he takes Tyrion's words to heart and wears his bastardy like impenetrable armour.

In show!Jon, ALL of this inner struggle is lost. Jon's bastardy is rarely affixed other than as a side. Show!Jon is a 'good' man. Yes, undoubtedly. But what makes book!Jon a great man is that he masters his baser desires to focus on what's more important. THAT'S what Jeor, Mance and Stannis all saw in him. That's why the Free Folk follow him. That's why half the NW will die for him (yes I know the other half will kill him).

When you have spent most of the show without anywhere referencing how vital the armour of bastardy, and being Ned Stark’s son is to Jon's psyche and sense of self, even the best directors will not be able to depict WHY the news of his parentage will have ripped out the ground from under him. Dany's quest for the throne is out there glaring at us thus atleast on paper making sense that having her undeniable right threatened will rattle her (I personally hate hate HATE the creative decision that Dany's immediate reaction to find out Jon's a Targaryen will be paranoia and concern for HER throne but I digress).

Intelligence, ability and cunning

Up until S4 and most of S5, show!Jon and book!Jon exhibited similar levels of intelligence and cunning. One of my favourite scenes is Sam trying to stop Jon from marching into Mance's camp to try and assassinate him. Jon gets in his face with his frustration and despair boiling and asks if he has any better ideas. At this point he's done a superb job commanding the defence of Castle Black but has also just lost Ygritte, Pyp and Grenn all in one night, a significant portion of the meagre Castle Black forces and is fully aware that they cannot survive another charge. He's beyond desperate and aware that his efforts are likely suicidal but he can't just retreat, lick his wounds and do nothing. 

The show labours under the popular delusion that truly good guys can't be really smart, as being smart means preserving yourself and truly good guys will always jump into danger first to protect other people. Politics is bad so if you're a good strategist then you can't be a good person. 

Both book and show characterizations of Jon have been criticized for being examples of the ‘Chosen One’ the ‘reluctant hero’ who turns out to be the right man for the job, and for painting ambition and the quest for power as negative pursuits. In the book however, Jon’s ambitions never really had a chance to form. He’s prideful enough in his abilities to believe he would be an immediate select into the elite Ranger ranks and is devastated when that doesn’t work out. By the time he’s come to terms with the fact that being Mormont’s steward means being groomed for command, the truth of the White Walkers is in front of him and that becomes his sole consideration.

To many readers, Jon’s election to Lord Commander was ‘contrived’ though I do believe Sam played the long political game as he believed his friend being in a position of power would lead to an easier path for him. However, Jon doesn’t crumple under the weight of the responsibility - his actions as Lord Commander are revolutionary enough to completely destabilize his support. The show entirely omits all the strategic parts of his negotiations with both Stannis and the Freefolk. Unlike show!Jon, book!Jon does not allow the Freefolk through the Wall only on the account of goodwill and the fear of a common enemy. He takes their children hostage to ensure compliance. He negotiates with the Iron Bank for a loan to stave off starvation come winter. He repopulates the Gift with Free Folk. He shelters, counsels and aids Stannis. He addresses almost every logistical and material issue he can think except for the most fundamental - his people. 

On the other hand, there’s no strategic and political angle to Show!Jon in S6 and S7, instead being posited only as warrior extraordinaire.

'The greatest swordsman in the North' - but too naive to not keep the sister who tricked him almost to his death at arm's length. Brave, loyal and courageous beyond belief - but completely befuddled by politicking. Immediately trusting a sister he’s never been close to and who has been Littlefinger’s pupil for a considerable time. 

Book!Jon's abilities as a leader are sorely underappreciated, especially considering that his tenure as Lord Commander saw the status quo of almost every aspect of NW life upended. The previous LC is killed in a mutiny. The Wildling army launch an attack. The Others finally rise. A King/King Claimant FINALLY takes the NW's warnings seriously. The Wildlings are brought south of the Wall.

Despite being a new beginning for all recruits, the Night's Watch is the one order in Westeros whose traditions and rules have not changed in millennia. Understaffed, under-resourced and facing a threat the likes of which people would struggle to comprehend, Jon does the best he can. His major mistake is one most young leaders make, and that is assume all of those under automatically understand his reasons for doing what he does. 

Relationships

Brother:

If there's one role Jon takes more seriously than 'Ned Stark's son, it's that of brother. Book!Jon is pretty much the pinnacle of brotherly love - Robb's right hand, Arya's champion and dutiful protector to both Bran and Rickon. There's a subtle tragedy in this too - despite how much his siblings love him, all of them, including Arya, have othered him. He's brother, but only half. Snow, not a Stark. The last in the list. 'The last brother left to me' - as felt by both Robb and Sansa.

Book!Jon and Show!Jon are both shown to be loving, dutiful brothers but once again the show is incapable of portraying more than one character at a time in a certain way. Thus all of Jon's brotherly love is concentrated on Sansa, the sibling he was least close to. Show!Jon never mentions Robb after his death mentions Arya not at all when book!Jon never stops thinking about the two of them.

Maybe, maybe if the show had bothered to flesh out Jon Snow's emotional attachment to his home and siblings, his dilemma between his family and Dany wouldn't have been so shoddy.

Friend:

Book!Jon, despite his aloof demeanour attracts fast friends. His staunchest supporters in the NW are those who he befriended when he first stepped within the gates. He's the only one to ever have stood up for many of them. And it's his NW friends who do become truly brothers, as they see and stand beside him during his rise to leadership.

Show!Jon is no different - he's got his loyal friends but there was no apparent discord after him being elected LC. Which is surprising considering that this is the moment that Jon effectively decides to ‘Kill the boy.’ The Gilly baby switch storyline is completely done away with, probably because it is the one decision that very clearly paints Jon as grey. The book Sam struggles to understand this decision - in his mind his best friend would never have done that. Maester Aemon is the one who sets him straight - Jon is no longer just a brother of the Watch, he’s the Lord Commander now. He can no longer be taking decisions just as Sam’s friend.

The show never really dwelt on the chasm Jon’s position as a leader would have created with his brothers who till them were his equals. Book!Jon knowingly starts distancing himself and this is a flaw that comes back to stab him in the chest - again a misstep in one raised to leadership at a young age.

Lover:

This part will be a bit of a cop-out since at this point the only common love interest between the books and the show is Ygritte. The show axed Val, who’s one of my favourite secondary characters and my main preference for a Jon pairing pre-Dany. And of course, there’s far too much plot to cover before Jon and Dany even meet in the book (if they’re ever finished).

There are factions of the fandom who don’t think the Jon and Dany romance in S7 was set up convincingly. Admittedly that’s going to be hard for me to judge fairly as I’ve been in the Jonerys camp ever since ADWD made it clear how Jon was growing as a leader and as a magical touchstone in direct parallels to Dany. It definitely helped that Kit’s portrayal of Jon had FINALLY started to appeal to me once The Watchers of the Wall aired. I’d been one of the many fans who had been waiting for these two to meet on the show - and though I personally found the Jon-Dany relationship progression to be one of the few good things about S7, I can perhaps get why many neutral fans (i.e not commited to any rival ships for either Jon or Dany) think its out of character for them to be so involved so soon.

There are plenty of popular assumptions perpetuated by the show which have no backup in the original material - one of them is ‘dumb, lovable idiot’ Jon paired with the ‘awkward and oblivious as fuck with women’ Jon. Now, I’ll not deny that the latter portrayal works QUITE well with show!Jon (Kit’s face is the perfect cast for this characterization) but I just don’t see it working with book!Jon. The boy isn’t seeking out women but its not like he’s not around them. Alys Karstark was quite obviously taken with him, and I doubt Jon missed it, but there were far greater things of import to consider for both of them - I saw no awkwardness in the text. Jon dislikes Selyse and manages to be both cordial and deferential as required. Melisandre makes no secret of her fascination with him - there’s no bumbling awkwardness there either. And Val - he’s quite smitten and there’s some awkwardness there, sure but its hardly the bumbling variety.

As for Dany - considering that at this point the 7 seasons of the show is all we will ever have, I somehow think the softer show!Jon makes a much better pairing with the more hardened show!Dany. Its as if certain aspects of their personalities were flipped in the show - book!Dany is definitely much softer and gentle without her power and strength being diminished, whereas book!Jon is far more calculated and ruthless without compromising on his honour and integrity. 

[dragonanddirewolf]

The promised post on why Dany was never meant to become the mad queen

 In the following essay I will try to pick up most of the reasons people try to push down our throats on how this was foreshadowed. A few disclaimers first:

- I am a 27 yr old female with a happy life (and yet look at me bitching on tumblr) so please save your patronising ‘Dany fanboy’ bullshit

-I have read the books and seen the show more times than I can count

-I am judging Dany based on GoT world not modern-day morals

-I believe in eye-for-an-eye justice when fighting a greater evil. E.g. You SHOULD punch a Nazi in the face and no, there weren’t ‘bad people on both sides’ in Charlottesville. There are certain people you just cannot reason with and if you’re weak they will fuck over you and anyone they consider weak.

-I agree Dany is ruthless but not mad to the level portrayed by season 8 and she would never go on a rampage the way it happened. I could’ve believed her going straight for the Red Keep and burning it down. This would still result in killing innocent people due to falling debris/excess fire - which is pretty awful for someone trying to save innocents but would make sense in a ‘this is personal’ shitty moment they’re trying to achieve. Burning KL street by street makes no sense.

So without further ado, here goes:

1) Not caring about Viserys being killed violently

Viserys sexually abused his younger sister, sold her off to a warlord and said he’d happily let savages and their horses rape her to death. If that’s not bad enough, he also threatened to kill not just her but her baby. I would be really worried for her state of mind if she DID care about him dying

2) Loving Drogo’s speech about raping/pillaging in Westeros

I’m pretty certain it wasn’t the raping/pillaging part that she liked. For the first time in her life someone believed in her and was willing to do something extraordinary (i.e. crossing the Narrow Sea) and win back her birthright. For her. Also, later she forbade the Dothraki from raping (which eventually led to Drogo being wounded) so pretty sure this is not her aesthetic.  "I have claimed many daughters this day... so they cannot be mounted.""It pleases me to keep them safe."  pretty possessive but you get the point. If you need another example, she also explicitly forbade Yara’s people from doing the same.

3) Burning  Mirri Maz Duur

Oh come on, do I really need to explain why it makes sense after someone kills your husband, your baby and then puts a curse on you that you would kill them? Oh, and all this after you save them. Sure, Mirri had a point about having been raped already but did she want it to continue or something? Makes no sense that she took out all her vengeance back on Dany. Is anyone calling Mirri mad tho?

4)  “When my dragons are grown… we will lay waste to armies and burn cities to the ground.”

She’s starving and her entire Khalasar is close to dying- of course the girl is gonna try anything to get inside Qarth! GoT is a harsh world where even an illusion of strength gains respect and this is exactly what she’s doing here. I cannot count the number of times she has said things like ‘I will not be queen of the ashes’ or saying she will spill ‘blood of her enemies, not innocents’. We clearly should not judge her words but her (pre-S8E5) actions instead. (This also applies to her  “I will take what is mine with fire and blood.” line and any other time she threatens to burn down a city. They’re just angry, desperate words and she never goes through with it. Until D&D forgot how to write.)

4) Burning the house of the Undying/Locking up  Xaro Xhoan Daxos

So they steal her dragons and murder her close friend and fellows and what? They get away with it? No self-respecting person would allow that in GoT reality. Just remember that Jon kills a 10 yr old boy (who saw his parents get murdered by wildlings) and Arya murders the entire house Frey in a pretty disgusting way. No one is calling them mad.

5) “Half the Targaryens went mad, didn’t they? What’s the saying? ‘Every time a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin.’”

Jon didn’t. Dany’s mother didn’t. Aegon the Conqueror didn’t. She literally spends hours on this show saying she is disgusted by her father, is not him and has many main characters say it too.

6) Crucifying 163 slavers in Mereen

You lost me when you tried to defend slavers.

Also, to those complaining of her killing slavers as young as 13- she was 13 in the books at that time and felt that if she knew better others should do.

7) Burning Vaes Dothrak

She wouldn’t have been able to escape, even with the help of Jorah and Daario. Nor was the three of them strong enough to battle all the Dothraki so it makes sense she figured out a way to avoid getting raped and killed. Many other women on this show don’t seem to like the idea of rape and yet they’re not called mad! Funny.

8) Burning the Tarlys

This one annoys me so much I made a whole other post about it.  Not only did she offer for them to take the black but they were traitors. They were sworn bannermen to house Tyrell. House Tyrell was sworn to Dany. By turning on house Tyrell they became traitors and deserved to die. Traitors get killed in GoT. Also, can we stop acting like Dickon was innocent? Not once has he defended Sam and he admitted to killing many of his friends in Highgarden in what was basically a massacre.

Just a few additional good things that don’t get pointed out enough:

1) "Khaleesi, this man has been sentenced to death." Dany offers a crucified, dying slave some water.

2) Time and time again she listens to her advisors despite them giving her the shittiest advice ever which continue to make her lose more of her forces when she could’ve just burnt the Red Keep.

3) She does not go straight for the throne when in Westeros and instead fights with the North (despite all the hate she gets from the folk up there) to save innocent lives. She easily could’ve pulled a Cersei and waited it out. She also saves Jon’s ass whilst there. Once to complete Tyrion’s ridiculous plan of bringing a wight to KL and twice during the battle of Winterfell. 

4) She ignores advice from Olenna 

4) She reaches out to Cersei multiple times to avoid spilling blood

I could carry on with the good stuff but I just wanted to confront the BS about how it was always obvious she could become mad. I can see it was ‘foreshadowed’ that ‘a’ Targaryen could go mad but this is NOT the same as character development. 

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. My fingers hurt from typing now but I’m sure this is not the end of my complaining just yet.

[mynameis-jac]

You know what the sad thing is about Show! Jorah Mormont dying?

When Podrick sings Jenny of Oldstones the song could apply to any character. But it is completely patent that Daenerys is at least one of them.

If you think about it, Jenny dances with her ghosts for what seems like forever given the fact that "she never wanted to leave" is repeated more than once. Three ghosts are mentioned on the same verse:

"The ones she had lost" is about Drogo. The first one she loved and lost so quickly.

"The ones she had found" is about Jon Snow who now she knows is Aegon Targaryen, the last living member she has of her house, which means she is not alone anymore.

And "The ones who had loved her the most" applies to Jorah.

Jorah stops spying on her and refused the pardons, knowing he would likely never go home and that was the thing he wanted the most in the world. He rejected to go home because he believed in her when she was nothing more than in two Kings. It's likely because of this that Varys pays more attention to her and turns to her in the end, and brings Tyrion with him. He went against Viserys because he saw in her more than just thirst for vengeance. He follows her to The Red Waste. He tells her about Astapor and getting the Unsullied. After she kicks him out for his betrayal, he came back twice, knowing he was supposed to be beheaded on sight. He contracts greyscale the first time and has to deal with it during the second time.

THE WORST PART is that until Qarth everything was fine. But in the episode The Ghosts of Harrenhal (2x05), two things happen:

Xoan asks her: "Tell me…how long has your man servant been in love with you?" And Daenerys is flabbergasted because she didn't even noticed.

Then when he was trying to explain why he thought she deserved the throne, he slipped up and said: "There are times when I look at you and still can't believe you're real".

That's when Daenerys realizes that Xoan was not joking. And you can actually see their faces after he says that. He regrets it immediately because he did not intend to let her know.

And she looks like she wants someone to kill her. Because obviously she doesn't want a man old enough to be her father, or a disgraced knight from a lower house to be her husband or lover. But also because she's a bit disgusted by it. If you think about it, she has every reason to mistrust him considering her previous life of people using her.

That scene ends with her changing subject and it takes a few seconds for Jorah to recompose and answer back, since he's being blatantly rejected. Afterwards it's like Daenerys distances herself from him so she won't lead him on unwillingly. The familiarity between them is lost.

Then, on 5x08 Tyrion meets Daenerys and says: "He worships you. He's in love with you, I think", putting into words what we all know. Jorah doesn't even get to say it himself until he's saying goodbye to her in 6x05.

On 7x06 Tyrion says again that "Drogo, Jorah, Daario, even this Jon Snow. They all fell in love with you." She dismissed it to talk about Jon being in love with her. But before leaving beyond the wall, when Jorah and Daenerys are saying goodbye, he's about to tell her something and she cuts him off, they don't want to admit that he might not make it back.

He did everything he could to convince Daenerys that he truly did love her, and she didn't get to understand him until his death. I think mainly because she still thinks that all he feels for her is only infatuation or lust.

Now, in 8x03 the Night King is finally defeated by Arya. The crazy thing about this episode is that after Melisandre was looking for Azor Ahai for years, they didn't even mention if his rebirth is real or not (we'll have to wait for the books to enlighten this). But, there are two things connected to the legend in the episode:

Arya kills the Night King, so we could assume she is Azor Ahai.

Azor Ahai forged Lightbringer three times and only the last time he achieved what he wanted, when he put the sword through his wives heart, the one he loved.

Now, back to Jorah's death. There's an allusion to the legend with the roles reversed. First, he was wielding Heartsbane during the battle. The meaning of heart we all know it. Though, bane means a cause of distress or a poison which causes death. Azor Ahai killed his wife to save humankind.

Jorah Mormont is not going to kill the woman he adores, so he sacrifices himself for her to live. I'm not saying they are Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa reborn. I'm saying that his death is so unexpected and violent, combined with Daenerys realising finally that he means it when he says he loves her, and that she loves him back (could be romantically or not) that it breaks her heart.

By sacrificing himself, he unknowingly kills the both of them metaphorically. His death could be her heart's bane. And it's just so sad that he's been trying so hard to show her how much he loves her and then he dies without knowing that now she knows it.

But what I hate the most is that the one person that wanted nothing more than to see her on the throne is not even going to be there if she wins. And that Jorah Mormont deserved to live because his love on the show is so pure, so loyal that he becomes one of the best people. AND that he would have been so happy to see Daenerys on the throne because her happiness would have made him happy in the end.

PS: fuck Melisandre for not bringing back people back to life before committing suicide.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

So... I know your wrist is broken, all my sympathies and you don't have to answer right away, but thoughts on that first taste of Fire and Blood?

I’m in a brace now! With only two weeks needed to wear it! And my typing is remarkably improved! I’m so happy. :D  And then, while I’m at the doctor’s, GRRM goes and drops an Alysanne excerpt of F&B? eeeeeeeeeeeee. :D :D :D

So! Reactions under the cut:

That is a very nice picture of Jaehaerys and Alysanne. No slight to Magali Villeneuve, but her generically-Targ-pretty pic of J&A and a baby in TWOIAF didn’t really have anything distinguishing them as people. With Doug Wheatley’s, Jaehaerys is wearing his seven-gem crown, Alysanne has her “feminine version” of his crown, and you can really see the love between them. Also, the way Alysanne stares at the viewer, that’s the insight and intelligence she was known for (GRRM compares her to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Katherine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter), not Magali’s distracted-and-pregnant-again-sigh mom. (Moms can be very intelligent, for sure, but the picture didn’t show it.)

58 AC - Jaehaerys is 24, Alysanne is 22. They’ve probably had a few kids (they were married 8 years earlier, when J’s regency ended), but they’re in between them at the moment.

The logistics of a king’s progress when the king and queen can fly but none of the rest of the party can are super complicated. Good plans, though, to send everybody ahead to clear the way

It’s interesting that Tyrosh and Pentos look at Westeros as a neutral party and guarantor of terms. Is it the Valyrian cachet? The fact that the country is so damn big, a nearly united continent? (Especially compared to divided and warring Essos.) When did this stop being a thing? (I’m guessing the Dance, but possibly Aegon IV.)

White Harbor, a big city with a ton of people come to see the dragon and the queen

Alysanne setting up betrothals to unite Westeros! Alysanne taking on ladies-in-waiting and already having a bunch to begin with! Alysanne and her cupbearer Jessamyn Manderly! Alysanne and her female sworn shield!!!

I need fanart of Jonquil Darke, the Scarlet Shadow (!!!) like yesterday

you don’t need to draw her dueling the wildling girl (who needs a name, GRRM), you don’t need to draw her standing besides the queen with her hand on her sword, just on her own, that’s fine

quick history facts: the Darkes are from Duskendale, kin to the lordly Darklyns, who would provide seven Kingsguard over the centuries. Duskendale is near Maidenpool, home of the legendary Florian and Jonquil (Maidenpool castle even has a Jonquil’s Tower), so it’s probably a popular girl’s name in the area. There was also a Darke who was a squire to a Darklyn Kingsguard at the start of the Dance of the Dragons, and both went over to Rhaenyra (bringing her father’s crown, the crown of King Jaehaerys). Harrold Darke later became one of Rhaenyra’s Queensguard, and died defending her at Dragonstone. Jonquil was probably a relative of his great- or great-great-grandfather. There are no more Darklyns in the present day (Aerys II killed them all after the Defiance of Duskendale), but there’s still plenty of Darkes.

a women’s court! 200 women sharing their thoughts and grievances with the queen! highborn and low! you know the ban of the practice of the first night came from this

unlike the trip to White Harbor, this time the queen just drops in at Winterfell on her dragon and lets her retinue catch up eventually

Alaric Stark, Stannis v0.25  (Maekar is v0.5)

no seriously @poorquentyn read this excerpt and immediately had multiple threads on what Alaric and Alysanne foreshadows for the meeting of Stannis and Sansa, lol (I hope he’s right even though I have doubts, but that’s not important right now)

Alaric is extremely Stannissian in that stiff unbending but really slowly melting hapless charm way, apparently humorless but actually just having a very dry wit, etc

missing the Stannis misogyny though, which is nice (Alaric still a bit unnerved by girly things though, can’t expect everything), and his late Mormont wife sounds marvelous (she needs a name, GRRM)

Alaric is probably still very unhappy about his great-something-aunt who needs a name GRRM married Ronnel Arryn because Queen Rhaenys matched them, and got defenestrated out the moon door (along with him and their kids) by his evil brother

as many as a dozen southern houses that still keep the old gods? Where are they? Just Blackwood bannermen, or what? Have they died off or converted since this time?

I hope Alarra Stark is relevant later in the J&A section of F&B; I hope she’s not relevant because of something bad

fanart of Alarra and Jonquil and Alysanne would also be nice, please

this good relationship between Alaric and Alysanne probably won’t survive the New Gift, alas :(

I wonder how this history – that Jaehaerys was delayed at court and took a long while to even come north – became the story that Bran tells, how “Jaehaerys and Lord Stark were talking business but Alysanne was bored with man stuff so she flew to the Wall”

I mean, I know how, but still

“smaller holdfasts” - yay, Queenscrown

“assembled 800 of his finest men” - sigh, how the Night’s Watch has fallen. though it’s possible it was a larger complement of NW men than usual because of all the Faith Militant who’d gone to the Wall after Maegor’s war with the Faith

mammoth for dinner ugh

no offense, I’m sure it’s filling, I appreciate Alysanne saying it’s nourishing and not demanding more queenly fare, but ugh furry elephant meat ugh (my kosher disgust bells are ringing hard)

I wonder how common mammoth was at the time? Leaf says there’s only a few hundred left now. Though despite them being endangered, mammoth would be very good to feed dragons on, if needs be

what with Silverwing being so bothered by the Wall, and the whole thing about refusing to cross over, I can see why Alysanne thought it was so important that the Night’s Watch be supported in their duty of protecting Westeros from what lies beyond

(note Alysanne herself seemed to have no problem in the North or at the Wall, good for hot-blooded Targs, eh?)

God I love Alysanne, she’s the best, always and forever

OK! The big question GRRM leaves us with: Why did Silverwing refuse to cross the Wall?

First off, the story that Viserys told his grandkids about Jaehaerys fighting wildlings and giants and mammoths beyond the Wall (as related in TRP and TWOIAF) was only a story, made up for the kids, it didn’t actually happen – so we have no records of any dragon ever crossing the Wall yet

I’m pretty damn certain there were no awakened Others at the time to unnerve the dragon

However it’s apparently a significant plot point that warg senses cannot cross the Wall

The Wall is known to be imbued with spells – the Others and wights can’t cross from their side either (the wight that attacked Jeor Mormont in Castle Black was carried through, apparently a dead body)

Does the Wall block all magical beings? Or just ultimate ice and fire creatures like the Others and Dragons? (Leaf wandered Westeros for many years, but she’s not a magical being, just a COTF who can do magic; the mama direwolf apparently crossed over no problem)

@jimintomystery insists I ask the question – what about going around the Wall? Where does the magic stop? Does it cover the whole latitude of the Wall around the world, or does it stop a mile from its edge?

(that doesn’t bode well for Davos’s trip to Skagos, what with the “dead things in the water” up at Hardhome)

also note that Varamyr skinchanged Orell’s eagle to spy on the Night’s Watch, and it crossed the Wall no problem – is there a height limit to the magic too? if Alysanne had flown Silverwing higher, could they have found an altitude where they could cross?

This is certainly a plot point that GRRM will come back to later!

Gosh, what a lovely excerpt. So looking forward to Fire & Blood now, even more than I was before…

[obsidianarchives]

Game of Thrones Recap: S8E4 - "The Last of the Starks"

Didn’t we almost have it all? At the moment I’m not sure I’m talking about the episode, this season, or (if you really want to get spicy) the first four seasons of the series, but this show started off SO WELL and then devolved into an unfounded attack on everything I love and believe in. We’re back to split locations this week so let’s get into it, and trust we’ll be discussing that ending. TW: There is brief discussion about the use of rape as a narrative tactic in the “Winterfell” section.

Winterfell

The episode picks up right where we left off last week as the survivors of the Great War bid farewell to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for loss. As much as I’ve never seen it for either of them, Daenerys’s sadness over Jorah — her first friend and a man (for all his MANY faults) who was a constant throughout her adult life — and Sansa tearfully placing a Stark pin on Theon’s corpse were touching and earned conclusions of their character journeys. But there’s still no country for slave traders and child murderers so, bye!

Leading the ceremony, Jon puts some bass in his voice, does his best Captain America impression, and delivers the most impassioned and leaderly speech we’ve heard from him yet as he modifies the Night’s Watch farewell to begin lighting the pyres of fallen heroes outside the castle. Ramin Djawadi put his foot all the way in the score on this scene as we see just how much the fight took out of the survivors. All of our main characters are bruised and bloody, poor Ghost lost an ear, and Rhaegal has holes in his wings and is still too weak to fly without a bit of a hook. Everyone needs a drink.

And what an after party it is! Gendry suffers through awkward dinner conversations with his girlfriend’s father (we’ll get there) the Hound while he awaits Arya who’s a no-show at the feast. Daenerys sees him and takes the opportunity to note that he’s the unknown bastard son of a King. For a moment, I thought she was trying to make a point to Jon about the validity or lack thereof about his claim to the throne, but she instead legitimizes Gendry and proclaims him Lord of the Baratheon’s old seat of Storm’s End. By raising up the former blacksmith she not only installs a Lord Paramount of the Stormlands forever loyal to her, creating allies she desperately needs, she also buries another potential claimant against her crown.

For some reason Sansa is confused and disgusted by this and Tyrion clocks it but says nothing. As the drinking continues, Dany realizes how isolated she truly is as she listens to Jon be toasted by Tormund, a Kobe stan during a LeBron James championship parade. Instead of being a proud aunt towards her baby dragon riding nephew, Queen Daenerys sees how little she is loved by the Westorosi, an awakening that began with her witnessing Lord Royce and Theon’s admiration for Sansa earlier this season. Lurking dramatically behind her and observing all of this is, of course, Varys because he stays in the mess.

Ser Brienne, Podrick, and the Lannister brothers are playing Tyrion’s drinking game where they guess facts about each other, which is fun until the lord imp surmises that the newest knight from Tarth is a virgin. Brienne leaves in anger and shame while Jaime follows after her, leaving Tormund to finally realize where he stands as the third wheel, crying to the Hound. After Clegane chases him off into the arms of a willing Northern girl, Sansa and the Hound share their first conversation since season two and the Battle of Blackwater. When he acknowledges that the “little bird” has grown and changed as much as Arya, she tells him that without the horrors she’s had to endure she wouldn’t be the person she is today. There’s been a great deal of frustration with that line, as the notion that rape can be a tool to make a woman stronger, or that she owes her growth to the men in her life, is demonstrably false. I didn’t initially read the scene that way simply because the theme of terrible things and regrets forming people into who they are has been a repeated one this season (with Jaime, Bran, Theon, etc.), but it is a mark of poor and male-centric writing to not recognize the difference between intentional actions the male characters chose themselves and cruelty done to a character against their will that they’ve had to survive. But this wouldn’t be the last time the writers failed to understand context.

Gendry finally finds Arya in the castle working on her archery instead of reveling in the feast (Big Introvert Energy) and tells her that not only is he the son of a King, he’s now a proper lord himself. Kissing her, he gets down on one knee and tells her it doesn’t mean a thing without her by his side and proposes. Maisie Williams sells the scene with just her eyes, as she kisses Gendry back onto his feet, but has to let him down gently that being a lady is just not her. It calls back to what she constantly told Ned in season one, and the realization she had in her reunion with Nymeria last season.

Jaime channels his inner Drake and brings a flagon of wine to Brienne thee Stallion’s room, reminding her that she hasn’t finished the game. Brienne keeps her room nice and hot, so the Kingslayer starts to take off all his clothes, while probing her interest in Tormund. Always one to keep her guard up, Brienne finally realizes what’s about to happen and helps him take his shirt off as she joins him in disrobing and they finally consummate the years-long dance around and to each other’s hearts.

Daenerys and Jon finally have a heart to heart where Rhaegar’s son reiterates that he has no desire for the throne and is pledged to her. She then begs him to not tell anyone else (specifically Sansa and Arya) and to swear Samwell and Bran to secrecy lest the truth of a rival with a stronger claim gets out and threatens her position. So of course, Jon does the opposite and, forcing Sansa and Arya to promise to keep the secret in the family, has Bran divulge that he’s actually Aegon Targaryen. The scene cuts to black before we get to see their reactions to the news, but hold that thought.

With the demise of the Night King (who we’ll have to wait on the books which shall never be written to learn more about) and his army of the dead, Daenerys finally begins drawing up battle plans to take King’s Landing. As is her wont, the Dragon Queen wants ALL of the smoke and is ready to take Cersei out, whatever it takes. Ever the idealistic pacifist, Tyrion urges the long game of a siege to turn the people against her by starving the Lannisters out. Jon, who at this point doesn’t want to be in the middle of any other squabbles, concedes the feasibility of the plan but then in comes the maester of checking people in public, Lady Sansa. She councils a bit of patience on Dany’s part since her troops are dead tired from fighting zombies, one of her dragons is flying with a limp, and she really has no plan other than “I want the throne.” Admittedly, I’ve been #SansaHive for a while now, but the show seems intent on driving this division between the two matriarchs for no other reason than to manufacture tension and rush towards this narrative that Dany is the Mad Queen that has not been justified. Trying to get back in her good graces (or her bed), Jon however pulls rank and reminds the room that the North is pledged to Daenerys and will follow her to whatever end.

Ser Bronn finally arrives in Winterfell and displays the level-headed pragmatism that I’ve said more than once will put him on the Iron Throne. Rather than outright killing the Lannister men as Cersei wanted, he negotiates. While we finally discover the Queen offered him Riverrun and presumably reign of the Riverlands, Tyrion counters with Highgarden and the seat of the Reach. Less out of an affinity for the brothers and more because he’s seen what dragons can do to an army, he accepts the side he thinks is more likely to win, but promises his bill will come due once the war is over. Another thing this episode has done is remind us just how many Great Houses have fallen in Westeros. Daenerys mentions the support of a new, unnamed Prince in Dorne, and Edmure Tully is possibly still alive in a dungeon somewhere or hiding in oblivion with young Robin Arryn, but almost all of the ruling southern houses have been wiped out.

On the road from Winterfell, the Hound is riding south alone until he’s joined by Arya, and it seems they both have unfinished business back in the capital. If they’re pump faking us and we don’t get Cleganebowl, somebody has to square up. For now, the best buddy duo is back on the road again and neither have plans on coming back alive. Sansa, on the other hand, almost immediately tells Tyrion the ONE thing she promised not to and confides Jon’s secret identity. That’s how we know he wasn’t Ned’s son. Eddard managed to take decades of hate from his own wife to protect his nephew, Jon couldn’t even last a damn week.

The goodbyes continue as Tormund finally takes the wildlings back home to the REAL north to settle down and repopulate now that the threat of the White Walkers is gone. The show, choosing to emphasize his embrace of his Targaryen roots (and that he’s probably going to die soon) has Jon send Ghost north of the Wall as well, since a direwolf has no place in the South and would be happier. This is where the disrespect began and we should have seen the okey doke coming. The relationship between Jon and Ghost is one the show has always underplayed but my man would never! He didn’t even give his beloved companion a goodbye hug, simply looking on as Ghost whines for his friend. We also find out Gilly is pregnant with Sam’s baby for real this time, and if it’s a boy they’ll name him Jon. Yeah, he’s definitely going to die.

Hearing what went down at Dragonstone, Jaime, after knocking the sheen off of Brienne’s starry sapphire again for good measure, leaves in the middle of the night bound for King’s Landing. She runs out in her housecoat and slippers begging an ain’t shit man to come back into her life after just 24 hours; men are a curse. Jaime reads through the litany of things he’s done in the name of his love for Cersei and insists he’s not the good man Brienne thinks he is. It seems clear he’s going back to try to stop her this time (and possibly fulfill the prediction of the valonqar), but he doesn’t tell that to his new boo, who very uncharacteristically breaks down in tears.

Dragonstone

With her fleet preparing to invade King’s Landing and take back the throne, Daenerys and crew set sail to her birthplace on Dragonstone. Tyrion couldn’t even wait to make it to shore and immediately tells the news of Jon’s true parentage to the Benita Buttrell of Westeros in Varys, but he ain't one to gossip, so you ain't heard it from him. As the ships drop anchor in the port however, Drogon and Rhaegal are attacked by Euron Greyjoy’s suspiciously sneaky Iron Fleet now outfitted with improved Scorpions which catch Rhaegal unaware, killing yet another dragon. Gotta pour one out for the homie as we’re now down to one and I am inconsolable. Daenerys in a rage is tempted to fly Drogon straight on to light them all up, but facing another round of fire is forced to flee. Euron being the trash panda he is then targets the ships themselves, sinking most of them and forcing the Unsullied to swim to shore. A distraught Grey Worm is left to panic as he screams for Missandei, who was not among those who washed up on the beach.

On the verge of losing everything, Daenerys is understandably tired of being checked by her advisors and is finally ready to burn the Red Keep to the ground if she can sit on the ashes. In a private conversation, Tyrion keeps trying to push the obvious solution that Jon and Dany, who are in love as it is, should just get married, solving all their problems. As infuriating as it may be that the simplest answer is the one that will never happen, even he realizes the futility of hoping for logic to win out. Varys stops short of admitting he’s putting a hit out on Dany, but the Spider, going back to his defense of the realm, is obviously ready to move on to a new leader and leaves Tyrion to drink.

King’s Landing

Meanwhile, back in the capital Cersei has been opening the Red Keep to the common folk in an attempt to call Dany’s bluff that she wouldn’t burn the city with so many people inside the castle walls. Congratulating walking STD Euron on his successful mission Cersei tells him she’s carrying his child (as Qyburn confirms), and hides her disgust as Greyjoy is overwhelmed with new daddy glee.

The writers then lose the plot entirely as they cut to Missandei, back in shackles, Cersei’s prisoner as the queen remarks “so much for the breaker of chains.” We’ll get to it soon but it goes without saying that seeing a Black woman, the ONLY Black woman on the show, placed back into bondage when her story arc has been one of rising above her enslavement is reprehensible. That said, this is a show about reprehensible people doing reprehensible things. It hurts no less, but what used to elevate the series was that these actions were grounded in an internal logic and narrative fullness that resonated with character motivation and agency for both sides. This was simply done for shock value, both in-universe for Daenerys and out of it for the viewers.

Outside the Red Keep, the walls of which we see have also been outfitted with Scorpions, the two Hands of the Queen meet to discuss terms, and when it’s clear that Cersei will not be surrendering, Tyrion tries to speak directly to his sister and beg for her better nature to avoid bloodshed, insisting that she’s not a monster. WHAT WOMAN DOES HE THINK HE’S BEEN DEALING WITH FOR ALL THIS TIME? Of course that nonsense doesn’t work and Tyrion’s inability to recognize that villainy is possible even under the guise of white womanhood is what should get him killed. Instead it’s Missandei who is caught in the crosshairs of the 53% as she utters her last words, “Dracarys,” before being beheaded by the Mountain.

My personal affinity for Missandei should be well known, so you can imagine how I reacted to seeing this mess. To clarify, it's not just that she died that was so galling. If you read the episode two review we called that happening, and I’d assume most of you weren’t shocked either, even though it doesn’t hurt any less. It’s the how and why that was so poorly handled that added insult to injury of the pain that's inherent when you have so few people of color in the cast in general, but Black women specifically. Had she had the agency to choose her own end and her death come as the result of her story arc, so be it. This is a show of terrors and loved characters die everyday, B. Had she died in the crypts of Winterfell fighting for her life and the Queen she believed in, and Daenerys and Grey Worm had gotten to mourn her the way they gave tired, rockface Jorah his final respects it would have been better. Had her Dracarys command gotten Drogon to start the roast of the city? We outchea! But for it to be simply the impetus to justify razing King’s Landing, and as a pawn in a war of aggression between two white women while she’s placed back in bondage, was a perfect storm of disrespect, to the character and the audience. We've established for seven seasons that that city is a rathole, filled with people we haven't seen in years. I don't care about Dany burning the castle to the ground, but NOW? I need Thanos to show up because I want nothing left but ashes. For a blog whose motto is MORE Black Girls MORE Dragons, this episode was always going to be particularly painful, but the fact that there was no greater narrative purpose for it makes it even worse.

[beeblackburn]

Who do you think is the tall and terrible woman beside Euron in Aeron's vision? I've heard lots of theories, from the TV show hinting at Cersei, I read an interesting blog about The Mad Maid of Hightower, and a film theorist video about Dany going mad. Who do you think it is and how do you think it will affect the rest of the series.

Thanks for the question, @chocolatewitchharmony​!

First, the show isn’t the books.

Second, there’s a caveat in that, as amazing and mind-blowing as The Forsaken was, it’s not the final copy yet and liable to changes and revision. Meaning, that tall and terrible woman could possible be written out of the story. I definitely think it won’t because it’s a very evocative image, but the possibility could happen.

So, with all that said, I’ll say my piece on the chances of those women you mentioned as the “tall and terrible women.”

Dany isn’t going mad. And while one could take symbolic representation of Dany with the woman being “long and tall and terrible” and Dany’s taste in men lean towards people like Daario and Euron, both men having evocative parallels and similarities, (though I don’t blame her when her golden standard was Drogo…), even Dany recognized Daario was awful:

Dany was appalled. He is a monster. A gallant monster, but a monster still. “Do you take me for the Butcher King?”

“Better the butcher than the meat. All kings are butchers. Are queens so different?”

And Euron is far worse in terms of seeing humanity as chattel and butcher’s meat. He openly practices Valyrian-style slavery and atrocities (all men are meat, anyone?) As much as Dany is fully capable of exercising cruelty onto slavers and innocents (the wine-seller and his daughters), she’s committed herself to ending the slavery institution that her ancestors were masters to.

Dany and Euron are foils, two sides of the Valyrian coin, two ways of utilizing “fire and blood.” While Euron unleashes unrepentant suffering to fuel his magical ambitions (the true heir to Old Valyria), Dany has unleashed the dragon’s fire to consume the slavers and dehumanizing institution that has reduced men to meat in service to the slaves, her people and children.

I just don’t see Dany go that extra step of stamping her foot into darker depths and accepting Euron as a paramour or partner… willingly. I definitely acknowledge magical detainment as a possibility for Dany (though I hope not) with all the deep-seated sorcerer atmosphere emanating from Euron and I certainly theorize Dany’s certainly going to be tempted by him after she blows up King’s Landing… but no, she’s going to burn him as a final test before facing off the eldritch slavers, the greatest dehumanizing masters of them all: the Others.

Cersei, I don’t see either. Besides the fact that Cersei has her own rich story of a queen laboring under patriarchy, a woman dealing with misogyny, both others’ and her own internalized kind, a victim of fate wanting to break destiny’s knees and a daughter who’s going to destroy herself trying to be her father’s heir, as @poorquentyn​ pointed out the other day, she’s not going to cut it for Euron. He’s got his eyes on this prize:

“So are the contents of my chamber pot. None is fit to sit the Seastone Chair, much less the Iron Throne. No, to make an heir that’s worthy of him, I need a different woman. When the kraken weds the dragon, brother, let all the world beware.”

“What dragon?” said Victarion, frowning.

“The last of her line. They say she is the fairest woman in the world. Her hair is silver-gold, and her eyes are amethysts … but you need not take my word for it, brother. Go to Slaver’s Bay, behold her beauty, and bring her back to me.”

Now, Euron emphasizes Dany’s beauty as a factor and it’s possible for someone to think that might lead him to Cersei… but I think Euron was emphasizing how Dany appears the very ethnicity that once dominated the world and sees marrying her as another step closer to realizing his role as Old Valyria’s heir. Plus, Euron’s political platform was this:

“I know as much of war as you do, Crow’s Eye,” Asha said. “Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros with dragons.”

“And so shall we,” Euron Greyjoy promised. “That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. You heard its call, and felt its power. It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments. The dragonlords of old sounded such horns, before the Doom devoured them. With this horn, ironmen, I can bind dragons to my will.”

Asha laughed aloud. “A horn to bind goats to your will would be of more use, Crow’s Eye. There are no more dragons.”

“Again, girl, you are wrong. There are three, and I know where to find them. Surely that is worth a driftwood crown.”

And his talk with Victarion reveals this to be a personal ambition as well:

Euron seated himself and gave his cloak a twitch, so it covered his private parts. “I had forgotten what a small and noisy folk they are, my ironborn. I would bring them dragons, and they shout out for grapes.”

“Grapes are real. A man can gorge himself on grapes. Their juice is sweet, and they make wine. What do dragons make?”

“Woe.”

Cersei can’t give Euron dragons. And he doesn’t want to rule Westeros so her being queen doesn’t matter. Euron’s grasping eye is looking to devour something beyond the physical. On a metaphysical level, he wants to be Old Valyria’s heir, consuming the world and bringing woe to countless people. A dragon will help elevate him from ironborn king to draconic slaver.

Malora Hightower … I don’t see it. I mean, The Winds of Winter might give more grounds to this theory, but it seems the evidence leans more towards her trying to save humanity as a whole in the long-term while neglecting it in the short-term with her father:

“To be sure. Lord Leyton’s locked atop his tower with the Mad Maid, consulting books of spells. Might be he’ll raise an army from the deeps. Or not. Baelor’s building galleys, Gunthor has charge of the harbor, Garth is training new recruits, and Humfrey’s gone to Lys to hire sellsails. If he can winkle a proper fleet out of his whore of a sister, we can start paying back the ironmen with some of their own coin. Till then, the best we can do is guard the sound and wait for the bitch queen in King’s Landing to let Lord Paxter off his leash.”

I personally think Malora and Leyton are tragic figures, people trying to handle and tap into the magical and metaphysical, all in an effort to save humanity from the Long Night… but ultimately end off neglecting humanity from its immediate time of need and paying the price for it in the end, laying the metaphysical minefields that’ll ignite upon Euron’s descent into Oldtown.

So, what I do think personally? Well, my first gut instinct was that it was either Dany or Melisandre, given the possible textual evidence than the others:

Slender she was, graceful, taller than most knights, with full breasts and narrow waist and a heart-shaped face. Men’s eyes that once found her did not quickly look away, not even a maester’s eyes. Many called her beautiful. She was not beautiful. She was red, and terrible, and red.

Melisandre cried, “We thank you for Stannis, by your grace our king. We thank you for the pure white fire of his goodness, for the red sword of justice in his hand, for the love he bears his leal people. Guide him and defend him, R'hllor, and grant him strength to smite his foes.”

She was stronger at the Wall, stronger even than in Asshai. Her every word and gesture was more potent, and she could do things that she had never done before. Such shadows as I bring forth here will be terrible, and no creature of the dark will stand before them. With such sorceries at her command, she should soon have no more need of the feeble tricks of alchemists and pyromancers.

That being said, I shot this down. Melisandre is a religious zealot and ex-slave with a genuine desire to save the world who’ll commit to unsavory means to net-positive ends. She doesn’t take pleasure or emotional catharsis in suffering. She causes suffering through her burnings, and that’s worth condemning, but it’s for her notion of the “greater good”, not out of joy.

The very notion that Melisandre would work with Euron, who is essentially an Other in human skin… it just doesn’t work. I can cite logistical problems, but, from a character-driven level, any working relationship between them doesn’t add up. Maybe a female follower of R’hllor, given the white fire that Melisandre ties with R’hllor, but otherwise, this just doesn’t work for me.

So, after thought, this is what I’ve decided: a female representation of the Others that Euron’s going to colliding together with.  

Shadow?

Will saw movement from the corner of his eye. Pale shapes gliding through the wood. He turned his head, glimpsed a white shadow in the darkness. Then it was gone.

“We have white shadows in the woods and unquiet dead stalking our halls, and a boy sits the Iron Throne,” he said in disgust.

“The cold gods,” she said. “The ones in the night. The white shadows.”

Long and tall?

Tall, it was, and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk. Its armor seemed to change color as it moved; here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow, everywhere dappled with the deep grey-green of the trees.

Sword-slim it was, and milky white.

Terrible and laughing at human suffering?

The bear was dead, pale and rotting, its fur and skin all sloughed off and half its right arm burned to bone, yet still it came on. Only its eyes lived. Bright blue, just as Jon said.

A horse’s head emerged from the darkness. Sam felt a moment’s relief, until he saw the horse. Hoarfrost covered it like a sheen of frozen sweat, and a nest of stiff black entrails dragged from its open belly.

The watchers moved forward together, as if some signal had been given. Swords rose and fell, all in a deathly silence. It was cold butchery. The pale blades sliced through ringmail as if it were silk. Will closed his eyes. Far beneath him, he heard their voices and laughter sharp as icicles.

A woman?

The gathering gloom put Bran in mind of another of Old Nan’s stories, the tale of Night’s King. He had been the thirteenth man to lead the Night’s Watch, she said; a warrior who knew no fear. “And that was the fault in him,” she would add, “for all men must know fear.” A woman was his downfall; a woman glimpsed from atop the Wall, with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars. Fearing nothing, he chased her and caught her and loved her, though her skin was cold as ice, and when he gave his seed to her he gave his soul as well.

He brought her back to the Nightfort and proclaimed her a queen and himself her king, and with strange sorceries he bound his Sworn Brothers to his will. For thirteen years they had ruled, Night’s King and his corpse queen, till finally the Stark of Winterfell and Joramun of the wildlings had joined to free the Watch from bondage. After his fall, when it was found he had been sacrificing to the Others, all records of Night’s King had been destroyed, his very name forbidden.

As for the pale, white fire, a fair counterpoint. I assume a Others-friendly glass candle because how would Euron otherwise make his deal with the Others, given the distance between them? And there’s some precedent, textually:

Alleras nodded at the glass candle.

Sam stared at the strange pale flame for a moment, then blinked and looked away. Outside the window it was growing dark.

Precedent, motive, characterization, textual support, a representation of all the sorceries Euron “demon in human skin” Greyjoy wants to conquer and take over is the perfect mate. Who better to help herald in the apocalypse for a man who wants to consume all the metaphysics and reign as king over the dragonfires and, with this mate’s help, the frozen lands?

Hope this helps!

[lordofpinecrest-blog]

SEASON 7 EPISODE 3 THE QUEEN’S JUSTICE

Another great episode! The dialogs between Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen and Jon Snow were some of the best ever, especially as those discussions progressed. And we certainly saw what the title “The Queen’s Justice” was all about. So much talking without action so you know what that means–this will be long! So let’s get to it.

DRAGONSTONE

We begin with the arrival of Jon Snow and Ser Davos arriving at Dragonstone. They arrive in a dinky boat, so maybe that is the way to avoid Euron and his fleet. They are met by Tyrion, Missandei and a few Dothraki soldiers. You knew from the way they greeted each other that the Imp and Bastard still shared a weird bond. Tyrion “The bastard of Winterfell” John “The dwarf of Casterly Rock.” They smile and shake hands as they remind each other of the last time they saw each other atop the Wall. Real male bonding! Davos is introduced and then the Imp introduces Missandei as the Queen’s “most trusted advisor” Remember how I always talk about the word “Trust.” Back to that later. Jon agrees to hand over his weapons in a show of good faith, but it was smart. After all, what could he and few men do with them? But he did part with Longclaw which is made of Valyrian steel. He better get it back as he will certainly need it. Did you notice Tyrion’s slight nod? Happened a lot in this episode.

Davos asks Missandei where she was born because he cannot place the accent. She does say the island of Naath and the Onion Knight says it is the Isle of Butterflies, which is true. So it wasn’t a trick question, but he seemed to look at Missandei with some suspicion. And haven’t we all come to trust in Davos’ judgment of people?  

So it is off to meet the Queen, the Wonderful Queen of Oz. But didn’t you love the lines as Tyrion and Jon are walking up the long path as they discuss Sansa. Tyrion “She’s much smarter than she lets on.” John “She’s starting to let on.” Yes she is!! And when they are discussing how Stark men do not fare well when traveling South, Jon says he is not a Stark and that is when a dragon flies close over him ala Tom Cruise in Top Gun. No coincidence in the timing as Jon is part Targaryen. And the look on his face was priceless. In fact, The facial expressions throughout the show add to what makes it so great.

We cut to Melisandre looking down at them as Varys joins her by his side. He wondered why she wasn’t down there meeting Snow, especially after she was the one who encouraged Her Grace to summon Jon. But she said she has done her part by bringing “Ice and Fire” together, which  I think this is the first time that phrase is mentioned. Varys’ lines are masterful, how once a commoner tastes power, he won’t give it up-- like a lion who has tasted man and nothing is so sweet again. WOW! And who are the lions? The Lannisters! In an episode  show of some  confessions, Melisandre admits to her horrible mistakes and says she is off to Volantis, which is a city in Essos where we believe she was born. But Varys goes farther and tells her not to return as she would not be safe. Not sure why or where he was coming from, but he knows something. So when the Red Priestess replies “Oh I will return dear Spider” as she and Varys must both die in this strange country. First, she addresses him as the Spider and her prediction that Varys will die there must have some meaning. Maybe she knows something about Varys and Varys does look spooked as it appears he looks out at a  ship taking her away. But I couldn’t see the sigil on that ship. Did anybody recognize it?

And then we have one of the moments we all have been waiting for: the meeting between Daenerys and Jon Snow, both introduced with their titles of Queen and King, although Danny’s is so long! Davos is so loyal as he chides the Queen when she refers to Jon as only a “lord.” A history lesson ensues about Torrhen Stark being the last true King of the North who bent his knee to Aegon the Conqueror and swore his loyalty to house Targaryen in perpetuity Of course Jon pointed out that the Mad King had murdered a bunch of Starks so the deal was off.

So who was Torrhen and why is he mentioned? I didn’t know who he was, so I did some research and it may prove valuable. Aegon had already conquered much of the South with his dragons and his sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya, both of whom he married. So Jamie and Cersei have some precedent if they were to marry. All the Southern lords had bent their knees after the destruction of Harrenhal and the Field of Fire. Torrhen marched South (and we know how that usually turns out for the Starks) with about 30,000 men and was in the Riverlands. When he reached the Trident, he was faced with a Aegon having 45,000 men and 3 dragons. Being smarter than Ned and Rob, he chose not to have his men devastated in battle and wisely chose to bend the knee. As a result, he became known as “The King Who Knelt” but he was appointed Warden of the South and Lord of Winterfell. Don’t’ we agree that it was a good deal at the time? And one more interesting fact: Because Torrhen reached the deal, no Stark swords were charred by Aegon’s dragon and as such, there are no Stark swords in the Iron Throne. I like the side story because Jon knows what it is like to face overwhelming odds, but also knows he can win. Also, Rorrhen’s bending of the knee took place at the Trident, where Robert Baratheon defeated Rhaegar Targaryen. Coincidence??

Daenerys gives an impassioned speech and then asks Jon for forgiveness for her father’s crimes.  Jon agrees that she is not responsible for those crimes, but will not bend the knee. And as they go back and forth, both looking at Tyrion as they do, Jon correctly states that Stormborn has not stormed King’s Landing because she doesn’t want to see thousands of innocent people die. What great insight. As Sansa said last episode, he is good at this. And when Jon says she is better than Cersei, we see the first smile on her face. But just as it appears things may be  warming up, Danny thinks Jon has insulted her by refusing to call her queen, not bending the knee and calling her a child. Thank goodness the Imp can also be an interpreter as he clarifies the statement a bit. But Her Grace still calls him the enemy as she does not believe his story of the Army of the Dead and the Night King.

While I will not repeat it line for line, you have to agree that Daenerys’ speech back to Jon as she descended down from her throne towards him was one of the best we have heard and seen. She goes through her history. But it is worth noting that she wonders if Jon’s presumptive father knew that King Robert had sent assassins to kill her when she was a baby girl in her crib. Ned didn’t and know it was Ned, who later on, told Robert to stop his plan to have her assassinated. But in her powerful voice, she goes on to say  “I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms and I will” Why? Not because she believed in gods or myths, but faith in herself. WOW!! And buried in the speech is Daenerys’ line that she had been betrayed before. Hold that thought.

And once again, it is the Onion Knight, the commoner,  who has the great comeback. He goes trough all that Jon has accomplished and how he became King of the North. Not because of any birthright, hell he is a bastard, but because the people of the North believe in him. I have to give Davos an A++!! Danny is soaking it in, not yet persuaded, but listening as true leader should; reserving judgment. Of course, he almost slipped that Jon had given his life for his people. Not sure why Jon stopped him on that. Maybe because it would add to the craziness of how it all sounds?

Tyrion tries to make peace, after all what is the harm in bending the knee, takes no time. But Jon is not Torrhen and reacts defiantly. Why would he do that? After all, he doesn’t know her and her claim to the throne rests on her deposed father’s claim his is founded on the trust of his people.  Jon does call her “Your Grace” which is respectful. Danny says that is fair but that he is in open rebellion. She is about to say more when she is interrupted by the Spider bringing in a message which we know is the defeat of the Sand Snakes and Euron’s destruction of that part of her fleet. Had she not been interrupted, would she have broken the Rules of Hospitality and killed Jon? She may leaned toward it, but I think the Imp would have stopped her. But the scene does end on another great line. Jon “Am I your prisoner?” Danny “Not yet.” Chills.

Varys gives Stormborn the bad news, the Iron Born and Dornish allies were ambushed by Euron. All dead or captured. And when Daenerys asks “all of them?” we cut to Theon being pulled out of the water as the other Greyjoys look down at him in disgrace for not dying in battle. Will Theon come back to help? I say yes and in fact, I think he will end up saving his sister.

KING’S LANDING

We go from Theon to a grandstanding and victorious Euron with Yara, Ellaria and Tyene in tow. As he parades toward the Red Keep, we see the King’s Landing citizens reacting as they have so many time before, throwing things in glee at the defeated. A true Roman mob if there ever was one. Euron saying “This is the life...Look at them, cheering for a Greyjoy.” And the mob calls his captives “whores.” Didn’t they shout that at Cersei? And then Euron rides his horse into the throne room. Who does he think he is, Tywin Lannister??   He presents his gifts to Cersei, and in doing so, he taunts Jamie as he says “I give you what no other man could give-justice.” Now, Euron believes he has earned the right to marry the Queen, andhe  thinks he is getting that reward, as Her Grace tells Euron he will get what his heart desires, but only after the war is won. Euron did not seem pleased with that and turned away with what looked like disgust as I am sure he saw no sense of gratitude on Cersei’s face. How long can Cersei keep toying with Euron? She has no intention of marrying him. And while both Jamie and Euron are right about the mob, that they will turn on anybody,  Euron keeps poking and taunting (see below as to what happens when you taunt) the lion, and we know that soon, Jamie will have had enough and fight back. Can’t wait for that.

Next we have the Queen’s Justice. With both Ellaria and Tyene in chains, Her Grace poisons Tyene with the same poison Ellaria used on Myrcella and sentenced Ellaria to watch as her daughter died from the poison and rotted away. And Cersei poetically sealed it with a kiss! Okay, we all know how cruel Cersei is. But didn’t Ellaria deserve to be punished for killing Myrcella who was a young innocent girl? She blames the Lannisters for the death of Oberyn at the hands of the Mountain,  but that was a fair fight and the Red Viper would have won if he hadn’t taunted his opponent. So in a way, it was justice, just a very warped justice. And yes I know that the Mountain killed Oberyn’s sister, but that is not what motivated Ellaria to kill Cersei’s daughter.

We go from the cruelness of Her Grace to he making love to Jamie. At first he resists her temptations, but then gives in. When they wake in the morning, he does look affectionately at Cersei, but not the way he used to. And when a hand maiden knocks on the door, when Jamie says don’t, Cersei says she is the Queen and will do as she pleases. But history in King’s Landing may not be on her side. And clearly Jamie’s love for her is not what it used to be. I smell trouble there.

Next we see Cersei with Tycho Nestoris, the representative from the Iron Bank. To be sure, the back and forth was good, with Cersei saying how the destruction of the Sept of Baelor was a tragic accident and Nestoris replying sometimes tragedies are necessary to restore order and rational leadership. Her Grace showed her negotiation skills and was right when she said the Iron Bank  investing on things that it thinks will pay off, is by any name, a bet. That was the best line here, as was Nesoris’ statement that Euron was loyal “for now.” But Cersei says give her a day to pay off the debt. Seemed absurd, but she pulled it off. In the books, as least when they ended, the Iron Bank did not lend the Lannisters more money. And for him to say or hint that Cersei brings “rational leadership” defies logic. This is a departure from the books that to me, just doesn’t make cents or sense!!

DRAGONSTONE

A brooding King of the North and a brooding Imp. Ever the sense of humor, Tyrion says Jon is even better at brooding. As they talk, Jon’s frustration is apparent and he gets emotional as he can’t understand why nobody is reacting to the threat of the White Walkers and Night King and says to Tyrion that he probably doesn’t believe him. But Tyrion surprises him when he says he does believe him as he says “I trust the eyes of an honest man more than what everyone knows.” Great insight and wisdom. That is why we have come to trust in Tyrion. He sees things where others do not. Jon is afraid he is a fool and made the same mistake his father made by going South. So again Tyrion chimes in with his wise words “Children are not their fathers, lucky for all of us.” He is of course referring to his father and The Mad King. But Jon is looking for an answer to his question of how to gets Daenerys to believe him and help the North. As only Tyrion can, he explains to the King of the North that while Danny may be a foreign invader, she protects people from monsters, just as Jon does. That is why she came here, but it is not a reasonable thing to ask for Stormborn to travel North to fight an enemy she hasn’t seen on the word of a man she doesn’t know after only one meeting. Very reasonable thinking. After Jon says that maybe he is just another Northern fool, the Imp wants to know if there is something he can do to help.

So Tyrian meets with Daenerys and they discuss dragon glass. First, did you notice that Danny referred to Jon as King of the North and not just Jon Snow? I found that to be very telling. Stormborn is not convinced about the existence of the White Walkers, but she is always willing to listen, which can “trump” those that don’t. Okay, had to get that in. And then Tyrion says he wishes Snow was wrong, as he goes back to his old ways when he says a wise man once said “that you should never believe a thing simply because you want to believe it.” And when Daenerys calls him out as to who that wise man was, the Imp says he doesn’t remember. Danny lets him slide even though she knows the Imp is telling a white lie when he says he would never do that to her. But if he is willing to tell a white lie, he is capable of much more?

History lesson: When did Tyrion first use this ruse? Last year,  with Grey Worm and Missandei, he says “A wise man once said that true history of the world is the history of great conversations in elegant rooms.”  While the room was not elegant, the words spoken next may very well lead to history and the alliance that will save them all. Tyrion knows Danny needs allies so why not allow Jon to mine dragon glass which is worthless to them? It will help gain an ally and trust. But Daenerys picked up on Ser Davos’ statement about Snow taking a knife to the heart for his people. The Imp dismissed it, but from the look in Daenerys’s eyes, she has not. Score one for Danny over the Imp.

Next, Jon walks down and meets Daenerys outside as she watches her dragons flying overhead. No truer words than when Jon says they are amazing to see. We can already see that Danny has softened her attitude as she explains to Jon that she named two of the dragons after her dead brothers and that she knows Jon lost two brothers as well. And we see how Daenerys has taken the Imp’s counsel when she says people thought that “dragons were gone forever but here they are and perhaps we should all be examining what we thing we know.” Jon realizes Danny has been talking to Tyrion and may start to believe him. But the best and most honest line was after they talked about the Imp loving to talk;  Daenerys says people enjoy what they are good at, and Jon replied “I don’t.” And then two strong willed leaders, talk it out. Yes, Stormborn will not let Cersei remain on the Iron Throne and Jon expected nothing less. But she will let Jon mine and armor the dragon stone. And when Jon says you believe me know, Daenerys gave almost the perfect reply “You better to get work Jon Snow.” What would have been the perfect reply?? Of course what Ygritte always said to him “You know nothing Jon Snow.” And as Jon thanks her and walks away, Daenerys looks up at him-with what look? You decide, but it counted.

WINTERFELL

We start with an overview of Winterfell as they are obviously bringing in food and grain to store for the Winter. Sansa gets an assessment that they only have enough food to last a year so they have to gather more as Winterfell is the best place to defend no matter where the theat comes from. And her plan to store grain is forward thinking, if the attack comes from the South. Certainly, if the Lannisters were to attack and try to lay siege, Winterfell would withstand the siege just as the Russians did against Napoleon and Hitler. But while Winterfell could hold off and win against the South, it couldn’t against the Army of the Dead. So she is half right. So in chimes Lord Baelish who is so creepy just lurking in the background. Littlefinger claims he knows Cersei better than she does, but Sansa says he doesn’t. But listen carefully to his advice. Don’t fight in the North or the South. Fight every battle everywhere always in your mind. Everyone is your enemy, everyone is your friend. Every possible series of events is happening all at once.” And if you think that way, everything that happens you will have seen before. A WOW speech from Littlefinger and one we have missed for a long time. But what does he mean? Is he referring to himself who said he was a friend of Ned Stark only to become his enemy? Or even to Sansa?

As Sansa is absorbing this, a messenger tells her to come to the gate. And in comes Bran. Had to put a tear in everyone’s eye when Sansa sees her little brother for the first time in years. Which was sadder? Sansa’s tears as she hugged Bran or Bran not hugging her back with no emotion in his eyes. I get it that Bran is a Three Eyed Raven, and is out to save the world, but that doesn’t mean he lost all his emotions. To me, this didn’t cut it. Next Sansa is talking to Bran out by the Weirood tree. It was like a scene from Netflix’s Stranger Things. Sansa says she wishes Jon was there and in a monotone voice, Bran says he needs to speak to him. And when Sansa says that Bran is Lord of Winterfell, he says he can’t be and that he can’t be anything as he is the Three Eyed Raven. Well isn’t that something? You know, out to save the world? Sansa of course doesn’t understand, after all, who would. So Sansa asks Bran to try to explain for her, and he does try so maybe there is some feelings left inside him. He says “I can see everything. Everything that has ever happened to everyone. Everything that is happening right now. But it is all fragments, he needs to piece it together to see better. That when the Long Night comes again he needs to be ready and rather than look at Sansa, he turns to look at the face carved into the Weirood tree. To prove what he was saying, he tells Sansa that he is sorry for what happened to her, what happened in her home but that she looked beautiful in the snow on her wedding night. That shakes Sansa to the core. But as she walks away what is the look on her face? Not sure, but isn’t what Bran told her what Littlefinger said to her? Every possible series of events is happening all at once,  And if you think that way, everything that happens you will have seen before.  Creepy!! And with Bran saying he cannot be Lord of Winterfell, that further cements Sansa’s standing.

THE CITADEL

Sam has cured Jorah. I think Jorah will reunite with Daenerys and help her as her armies need a good commander. Plus he knows the ins and outs of Westeros’ geography and he is a Notherner, a Mormont. And when he tells Sam that perhaps our paths will cross again, count on it. Sam, while praised is then “punished” by having to re-write old scrolls. We all know that Sam will find something important in those scrolls and  that Sam will discover a way to fight the White Walkers.

DRAGONSTONE

Daenerys wants to take her dragons and go hunt and burn Euron’s fleet. She is talked out of it by her war council. Were they right and who was there?

CASTERLY ROCK

Casterly Rock was an impressive sight to see. And as some predicted, Tyrion, being the low man in his father’s eyes, built the sewers and knew a secret way in. So the Unsullied sacked the city, but as Grey Worm observed, there were far too few Lannister troops there. And when he asked where they are, we see Euron’s flagship  and that Euron’s navy has set the remainder of Danny’s Greyjoy fleet on fire and sunk it. How did Euron know they would be there? And are the Unsullied marooned at Casterly Rock?

HIGHGARDEN

We know that the bulk of the Lannister army was  with Jamie marching on Highgarden along with the Tully army. And who is beside him? None other than Bronn. Olenna looks down on the advancing troop and knows she cannot win. We don’t see the battle, but we know that the Tyrells were crushed. I know that Jamie had the numbers, but from history, one would have thought that the Tyrells, with the castle and its walls, would have put up a better fight.  And with the victory, we see the Lannister troops loading up the gold to pay back the Iron Bank. Just as as Cersei promised, a Lannister always pay her debts. Olenna is waiting in her chambers when Jamie arrives and is ready for her death sentence. Jamie bows his head in respect and tells her he learned lessons from failure and took his army where the Unsullied were not, just as Rob Stark had done at Whispering Wood. A fascinating conversation then takes place. The Queen of Thorns admits that she did unspeakable things to protect her family and ordered others to do so. Never lost sleep over them because they were necessary to protect House Tyrell. But then she goes on to say how her failure was she couldn’t imagine how far Cersei would go. That the lack of imagination was her ultimate downfall and that she would not have regretted doing what Cersei did. She tells Jamie that he knows Cersei is a monster, but isn’t Olenna a monster too? Yes, she is. And Jamie is right, if the Lannisters wins, and there is peace, nobody will remember how she did it. To the victors go the spoils and the winners and their atrocities are buried in history. The Queen of Thorns warns the King Slayer that his sister will be the end of him and he replies “possibly.” Of course, that is the opposite of the witch Maggy’s prophesy that Cersei will die at the hands of her younger brother. And although twins, Cersei was born first making Jamie a younger brother. Olenna asks how it will happen, i.e., how she will die and Jamie tells her the horrible deaths Cersei wanted to inflict upon her but Jamie talked her out of it. So he does it mercifully, with a quick, non painful poison. But before she goes, the Queen of Thrones makes sure she exits on top. She tells Jaime that is was her that killed Joffrey, although she wasn’t familiar with the poison and didn’t know how painful and awful Joffrey death would be. On my part, I don’t believe her as I think she knew exactly how it would kill the Boy King. “Tell Cersei, I want her to know it was me.” The look on Jamie’s face. A little shaken but no overt reaction. But what does this mean? Jamie now knows that Tyrion is innocent of this son’s death. How will that news effect Her Grace? I say it won’t, but it will The King Slayer. And one last thing. Prior to this, I think we all thought how smart and clever Olenna was. We admired her during her conversations with Tywin. But in this scene, she says to Jamie that she was surprised that Tywin never came to take their gold when the Lannister mines went dry. To me, that shows The Queen of Thorns never understood the Game of Thrones. Tywin never instigated wars and he would never have attacked a House loyal to the Throne. Plus, the Tyrell’s banner men would not have abandoned House Tyrell under those circumstances and thus Tywin would have lost. Agreed?

RECAP

So much happened. Let’s look at the big picture. When we started on this adventure, there were many great houses in Westeros. But how many are left? The  Tyrells have joined the Freys, Baratheons, Boltons and House Martell. Unless Cersei or Jamie have another child, the Lannister line is coming to end. And Daenerys says she is the last Targaryen. So who is left? The underdog Starks!!  And yes the Tarlys and Tulleys are still around, but they do not compare to the Starks.

How did Euron know again where Danny’s fleet would be? Is Jamie so smart that he knows his brother so well, or is there a spy in Stormborn’s ranks? If so, who could it be? There are only three possibilities. Tyrion who is Lannister and loves his brother. But he hates Cersei too much and he can be beheaded for his failures so I say no. Varys? We never know with him and his realm is not the Seven Kingdoms. Or what about  Missandei, who Tyrion describes  as the Queen’s “most trusted advisor? What do we really know about her? Not much. Just saying.

Will Jamie tell Cersei that Tyrion did not kill Joffrey or keep it to himself for now? I don’t think he will tell her right away. And will Cersei become overconfident with her victories? How long can she put off Euron? And how long before Jamie and Euron come to blows? Will that split Jamie and Cersei? Was it a mistake not to kill Ellaria as others have escaped from chains? And where is Yara? And in the end, while we like Olenna, she was her own monster as well.

At Winterfell, Sansa is growing in power and confidence. Littlefinger is still lurking there, and Bran has to figure things out. What will happen when Arya arrives? That should prove interesting.

That leaves us with Jon and Daenerys. So fascinating as the two of them know they need each other, but don’t trust each other, at least not yet. Will Danny find out how Jon rose from the dead? Will Jon tame a dragon?  And when will each of them learn of Jon’s true heritage as that will form a true bond between them. (I predict not until next year-what do you think?) Jon has to convince Stormborn to believe not just that White Walkers exist, but in HIM. And we did have the scene where  the dragons, Jon and Daenerys were all in one scene. Again, no coincidence. And of all the leaders, aren’t  they the only ones who know the value of forgiveness?

In the previews, it appeared as though Daenerys was riding her dragon, Drogon. If so, can’t wait to see how that goes! And there was also a dagger which looked like the one that was used to try to kill Bran. I believe Littlefinger has it so the plot may thicken there.

Another long one, but it deserved it. Until next week,

Eric, the Lord of Pinecrest

[stevefromitreviewsgameofthrones]

Stormborn / S7E2

Well that was more action packed!!!

Ok so start small?

Jorah and Sam sitting in a room p e e l i n g…. ok that was gross, good on Sam for sticking it out and finding some sort of cure sick and disgusting though it may be. Being sick already I almost lost it when they jumped from peeling to eating.

Arya on her way south to kill Cersei but stops to visit an old friend.  Upon learning Jon is king of the north and in Winterfell, she abandons the quest to kill Cersei and heads home. … OK while an Arya homecoming is long awaited she’d have likely made short work of Cersei and make the world right again…

So off to the North where she finds Nymeria, both sad and happy moment while it is sad she does not go with Arya she did prove to be exactly like Arya. Ned had told Arya about how she would marry a lord and be a lady, her response was “that’s not me” she wanted Nymeria leader of her own pack and true survivor to come home and be her pet.. but as Arya noted “ that’s not you’ so sad but happy for both.

I did love her eluding to baking a pie or 2 ;)

Daenerys – not feeling it right now. No pomp and circumstance and has the man who betrayed her father and Robert as an advisor. Luckily Varys said all the right things and will be staying by her watchful side. Cue Melisandre with word of Jon Snow Tyrion vouches for Jon and respects him and he is summoned to Dragonstone to bend the knee… we’ll come back to this….

After a little back and forth a battle plan is finally hashed out the Unsullied headed to take Casterly Rock to unhinge the Lannisters and potentially personal revenge for Tyrion and the Greyjoys escort the Sandsnakes back to Dorne to raise the Dornish army and lay siege on King’s Landing. Hmm good solid plan but forgets the looming Euron looking for his kin to kill.

Speaking of Euron… So Yaran and Alaria almost caught with their pants down… I think they have gotten too comfortable while they sailed with the dragons flying overhead since they were caught by surprise. The battle or slaughter as it were, ensues and the fleet destroyed 2 sand snakes dead and one captured along with Alaria Sand. So Theon seemed like the best fighter of their side which makes sense since was trained by a master at arms in Winterfell.  Euron captures Yara and has a blade to her throat and taunts Theon. Theon sees the carnage and men being flayed alive by Euron’s men the fleet on fire hopes of anybody surviving none. Reverts to Reek and jumps ship disappointing Yara and earning mockery from his Uncle… such a coward… OR… was he?

½ the Battle plan strategy hinged on getting the Dornish back to Dorne raising their army and laying siege on King’s Landing. The fleet was destroyed the only survivors would be prisoners to be handed over to Cersei in hopes to win her favor. Euron may be a bit out there but he’s not dumb both Yara and Theon are good fighters so if Theon made a move to save his sister her throat would have surely been slit so Euron only had to fight one at a time. By not trying to save her he pretty much did. If he did try to fight he would have been greatly outnumbered and die.  Nobody would be able to get word to Daenerys that this part of the battle plan failed and no siege on King’s Landing is on its way. Nor would she know ½ her fleet was destroyed. Theon might have assessed the situation and determined the best course of action is to escape alive and alert Daenerys and Tyrion. Also, remember she has another fleet out there heading to Casterly Rock we would not want them to suffer the same fate. Theon ran instead of fight. No, It’s not Iron Born, it’s not what the Drowned Gods would see done. But strategically for the greater purpose, it was the only move he could make.

By the way, how did he so easily find them? Well he was sailing from Kings Landing via Black Water heading North Dragon Stone is on the edge of Black Water Bay on its Northern tip and the envoy headed to Dorne was going South down Black Water Bay. So it was inevitable. Will he go after the other fleet and stop the attack on Casterly Rock? No, he will go back south and deliver his gifts to Cersei so he can win her favor. Thus, missing a prime opportunity to practically win the war for Cersei.

And now Jon, are the Northmen really that dumb? There are a bunch of undead heading south to them and let’s face it if you get killed you end up one of them so they just keep resupplying their army. The only way to kill them is Dragonglass and Valeryian Steel only a few on the steel so a good supply of Dragonglass is needed. Surprisingly there is a stockpile on Dragonstone and Jon has been summoned there to bend a knee. He needs Dragonglass and a powerful ally with Dragons will definitely help win the battle with the others. So a smart man heads south bends the knee gains the aid and trust of this powerful ally and make sure it is a battle they can win…

Northmen? We need you here you belong here protecting us and leading us blah blah cry cry the North should never bend the knee to a southern ruler. Give it a rest, the North cannot hold this battle themselves and will die if they do not get help especially without weapons to kill the wights and the Others. Yes Jon’s grandfather was summoned by the Mad King to bend a knee and was killed Daenerys is not the mad king. Aegon the Conqueror took the 7 kingdoms with 3 dragons she has 3 dragons she will take the 7 Kingdoms she will also remember who did not support her… something to think about.

Ned went south and lost his head to Jeoffrey keep in mind Cersei is still Cersei granted she now has wildfire so even worse. Rob went south and lost his head… Rob was an idiot and broke an agreement. Mistake not soon forgotten. Jon is heading to meet with somebody who did not kill any of his family that is powerful enough to help with the big war to come and can get rid of the mad queen. And at the same time, he can get permission to farm Dragon glass. Strategically he is making a great move that will pay off big. The Northmen need to get over themselves.

Also, Sansa needs to get over Cersei. Yes, she knows her and knows how she thinks she is no-longer her prisoner and the North is now in a position to take a side that can win. Now, of course, there is the knowing glances between her and Little Finger when Jon puts her in charge. I expect Little Finger to make a move once Jon is away but I expect Arya to show up to stop it. As much as Sansa feels she has wisdom and Jon should take her counsel she still acts like a naïve child. She knows nothing about the Night’s King and what is coming that is something she needs to trust Jon about. She holds more hatred for the Mad King who took her Grandfather’s head and holds it against Danny than the Mad Queen who had a part in taking her FATHER’s head?? They also all forget what book readers knew as lore. There was a golden age under Targaryen rule a time of peace and happiness before the Mad King. At one point all 7 kingdoms got along, had tournaments and feasts together. The Mad King caused the dissension, not Daenerys.