#this illustration is also featured on my wall calendar for 2024

[jemichiart]

It was about time I tried drawing a crab and I really like the colors of these guys. ^^

This design is also available as many kinds of items on Redbubble and as prints on INPRNT 🦀

[asoiafandotherbooks]

ASOIAF: Calendar Thoughts

I received my 2024 A Song Of Ice And Fire Calendar yesterday.  The illustrations are by Justin Sweet. I’m not an artist, I don’t know the technical details of different art styles but when I look at Sweet’s illustrations, the words “moody” and “atmospheric” come to mind.

The back cover states “Here we see the faces of those who have molded the kingdom and a people, as we travel from Westeros’s history from the ancient past to the present day. From the days of legend through the tumultuous reign of the Targaryens and into the years following Robert’s Rebellion, key figures have influenced or altered the course of Westerosi history, whether knowingly or not”.

I love that we get portrayals of various periods of Westerosi history and not just the common portrayals of the following eras: The Conquest, the Dance of the Dragons, Robert’s Rebellion, and the War of the Five Kings. Westeros along with Essos and Sothorys has a vast history of lore – let the artists unleash it!

The illustrations are gorgeous, with most focusing of the mystical side of Westerosi history.

The cover, and May’s image is Lyanna Stark walking beneath a weirwood with Rhaegar Targaryen observing (stalking?) her in the background. When the cover image for the calendar was released, there was speculation was the couple could be Lyanna/Rhaegar or Aemond Targaryen/Alys Rivers. The blue roses in the image clearly marks it as Lyanna/Rhaegar. The shrouded Rhaegar in the background makes his motivations unclear – is he a lovestruck suitor or an obsessed stalker? Is this when Lyanna was kidnapped/ran away?

Lyanna & Rhaegar’s impact of history is obvious – their relationship, consensual or otherwise, led to the overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty and established Robert Baratheon as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Their son, Jon Snow, is the child of “fire and ice” which will hopefully amount to more in the books than it did in the show.

January’s image is Coldhands. It has all the standard Coldhands identification marks: hood obscuring the face, raggedy night’s watch attire. Black hands, ravens, decaying moose.

What is Coldhand’s impact on history? Hard to say since his identity is unknown. Is he one of the Last Hero’s companions? The Last Hero himself? The former Night King? One of the million Brandon Starks? Danny Flint? A member of the Raven’s teeth that accompanied Bloodraven to the Wall? Benjen Stark? None of the above? All of the above? Until we learn his true identity, his actual impact on history is unknown.

The last greenseer/the three-eyed crow-raven/Bloodraven is February’s image. It features an ancient, skeletal Brynden Rivers entwined in the tree in the underground cave with one of the Children of the Forest sitting alongside him.

Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers’s had a huge impact on Westerosi public. He was one of Aegon IV’s “Great Bastards”, responsible for the defeat of multiple Blackfyre rebellions and Hand of the King to multiple rulers. During Aerys I’s reign, he essentially ran the country. He also became the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Those are facts known to the Westerosi public. He is now mentoring Bran to become a greenseer. Throw in all the fandom theories – was he pruning the Targaryen bloodline to ensure the “Prince That Was Promised” was born? Did he have a hand in Summerhall? Is he Craster’s father? Is he Melisandre’s father? Did he attempt to open Euron’s third eye? Did that cause/worsen Euron’s insanity? Did he send the Direwolves to the Stark children? Did he send the weirwood dream to Jaime? We have one of the most impactful yet mysterious characters in the series – is he good, bad, a bit of both?

March’s image brings us the Drowned God and his Mermaid wife: “For a thousand years and seven he reigned here, Aeron recalled. He took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God.”  Not much to say here except that I enjoy the Ironborn lore. The belief in the Storm God had to be more wide-spread thousands of years ago, as the Storm Gods are involved in the Storm’s End and yet he’s warring with the  Drowned God clear across the continent of Westeros. Does the Storm God and Drowned God count as “Old Gods” of the North or not? If they don’t, are the Old Gods of the North considered older?

Shiera Seastar is April’s image. Shiera’s image is of her stepping into a pool of blood. A basic image that is spiced up by the pool of blood as a reference to the rumor that Shiera bathed in blood. The only known impact of Shiera is being one of Aegon Iv’s Great Bastards and worsening a rivalry between Bloodraven and Bittersteel. She was Bloodraven’s lover but was she involved in his plans? We don’t know.

June is Aerys “The Mad King” Targaryen on his throne, haunted by ghosts. Rhaegar may have started the fire that led to the overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty, but Aerys drenched it in wildfire to ensure the destruction would be permanent. His impact on the story is felt in the modern day by Viserys, Daenerys, and Jaime.

The two-page spread is of Rhaenys riding Meraxes. Rhaeny’s clothing looks like Dany’s Dothraki outfits. I assumed it was Dany until I read the caption. Rhaenys was one of the Targaryens involved in the Conquest of Westeros and died during the First Dornish War. The true impact of Rhaenys becomes clearer if the theories of Aegon the Conqueror’s sterility are true because if would mean all the succeeding Targaryen generations would be descended from Rhaenys, and only Rhaenys.

July is Bael the Bard performing for “Lord Stark” and his daughter. The timeline is unclear for Bael the Bard. It couldn’t have happened post-Conquest but if took place pre-Conquest it should be “King Stark”. If it even happened, it could simply be a popular tale. If the Bael the Bard is an actual figure, then he fathered a future Lord/King Stark and thus the Starks have Wilding blood ties. The Bael the Bard story is also a nod to Rhaegar and Lyanna. The one nitpick I have with this image is Bael’s clothes resemble an outfit from the Renaissance era and I can’t see a wilding from beyond the Wall wearing those type of clothes. Or Northmen in general.

Daenerys sitting by Drogon is August’s image. Daenerys is one of the main characters of the ASOIAF. She became the Mother of Dragon and the Breaker of Chains. I don’t think she will succeed in restoring the Targaryen dynasty but we’ll see.

Sandor Clegane, standing on a pile of corpses with his helm’s hound, is September’s image. Odd choice for a “figures impacting history” calendar. He’s a fan favorite but what has he done that’s impacted Westerosi history? Killed a child? Fled from battle? Attempted to ransom another child? Became the Grave Digger? The closest Sandor has come to impacting history would be the various times he’s saved Loras, Arya, and Sansa but as those three haven’t had much “historical impact” it’s a stretch to consider Sandor a history maker.

October’s image is the Last Hero battling the Others and their Ice Spiders.  The Last Hero has a huge impact of the history of the Long Night but another individual we know nothing about? Was he Azor Ahai or one of the other named characters from Essos that battled the Long Night? Was he a Stark or a commander of the Night’s Watch? Or possibly Coldhands or the first Night King?

Melisandre atop the Wall is November’s image.  A member of the Night’s Watch, most likely Jon Snow, is in the background. Mel’s impact in the current story is the murders of Renly Baratheon and Courtney Penrse. She might have a role in Jon Snow’s resurrection. The reveal of Melisandre’s true age leaves a wide range of possibilities for events from her past.  What exactly has Melony of Lot 7 seen throughout her life?

December’s image is of a Wilding and a pair of Giants riding Wooly Mammoths beyond the Wall. The Wildings/Free Folk have an impact on the present day story (Mance, Ygritte, Tormund, Craster, etc) and are seen throughout the history of Westoros, fighting both with and against the Starks.