#you know every great house has a kid named after davos

[xxlittle0birdxx]

I have this headcanon for Game of Thrones — canon-compliant and AU/fix-it — that Davos Seaworth basically becomes everyone’s surrogate grandpa.

Need a sympathetic shoulder to cry on? Davos has it.

Someone had a baby? They receive a rattle/teether that he’s carved for them.

There’s always at least one kid at the Red Keep, running around, swinging a toy sword Davos made for them.

Getting married and you need a parental person? He’s already written a lovely, heartfelt toast for the feast.

After a couple of years, no one finds it strange to see a knot of children bellowing sea shanties at the top of their lungs. Davos can usually be found enthusiastically applauding them, while wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

[mebongster87]

Jon has been playing the game of thrones and “Dance with Dragons 2.0″ is coming in 2019

Yesterday, Game of Thrones gave us a teaser “#For the Throne” of what’s coming in April 2019. While they provided us with no new footage in the teaser, it is literally teeming with foreshadowing!!!

Here is the link for the Video.

https://twitter.com/GameOfThrones/status/1062359268203077633

One thing that made me sit up and take note is Cersei’s voiceover at the beginning of the teaser. I think what she says over the shots that are shown is really important because it hints at Jon playing the game of thrones, aka Political Jon theory!!!

As I talked about in my last post, voiceovers being used in these trailers are super important because what is being said over the shots being shown, depicts crucial foreshadowing for what’s to come and what’s going on under the surface.

In this teaser, first, we have Cersei reminding us of what she had said to Ned Stark in Season 1.

“when you play the game of thrones..you win or you die..there is no middle ground”

What this simply means is that you have to play the game if you want to survive! If you don’t play the game like Ned Stark, or like Robb Stark, you end up beheaded or brutally murdered at a wedding! This also means that if you play the game of thrones and you don’t win, you end up dead. There is simply no two ways about it. This is a game of survival of not only the fittest but also the cunningest!

Cersei overseeing the destruction of the Sept of Baelor with wildfire in a power move that completely removed all her immediate enemies from the board. She took out House Tyrell (Loras, Margaery, and Mace), the High Sparrow and all his sparrows, and Kevan Lannister (who was being a thorn in her ambitions to becoming the Queen or remaining as the Queen Regent to Tommen) in one fiery move.

“For the Throne”....she was willing to kill just about anybody...

the repercussion of it was Tommen jumping off his window and committing suicide. Yet that did not deter Cersei from claiming the Iron Throne. She played the game of thrones, albeit at a great personal cost (her humiliating walk of atonement and loss of her kids), and won the Iron Throne and that’s why she is still alive. (Though not for very long).

Next shot from the teaser is of Jon drawing Longclaw from his scabbard and facing the Bolton cavalry charge. Cersei’s voiceover says..

This shot is pure gold! It is loaded with subtext and here’s what I believe D&D are trying to imply...

When this scene takes place in the Battle of Bastards, Jon has basically fallen prey to all of Ramsay Bolton’s ploys...he misjudged the scope of his enemy’s evil schemes, did not pay attention to any of Sansa’s advice, and ended up seeing Rickon getting speared with Ramsay’s arrows in a gruesome manner...then as if things weren’t bad enough..Jon loses his cool and charges towards Ramsay and his army....which spurs Ramsay to unleash his cavalry on Jon! And voila..we have a fantastic and truly great cinematic moment of Jon drawing up Longclaw ready to ride or die. 

At this specific moment of the battle, Jon has already lost. He does not get killed because his own cavalry comes to the rescue and also plot armor!! This is an example of getting played by your enemy...then why are they saying “You win” in the voiceover?

Because Jon ultimately ended up winning the Battle of the Bastards and that is only due to the fact that Sansa was willing to play the dirty game of politics....She played her cards right with Littlefinger and was successful in getting the Knights of the Vale just at the right moment to come and rescue Jon’s brooding and trampled arse on the battlefield.

In short....Sansa had to play the game to win this battle.

What this means for the future (especially during Season 7 and 8) is that Jon will have to step up and start playing the game of thrones and in my personal opinion, he has already been playing it with Daenerys and Cersei in S7...

At this point, it’s almost safe to call it in for Jon as the next King of the 7Ks...so given Cersei’s quote..how does he win the Iron Throne?...by playing the game of thrones and winning it....and how do you do that? By being a political player and doing all kinds of morally questionable and outright dubious things to survive and protect the ones you love. Things like from pretending to bend the knee to right down to sleeping with a potential threat in order to get them emotionally invested in a battle for survival. The only difference here is that Jon isn’t looking to win the Iron Throne, he does not even know that he is the heir to it yet...he is simply looking to survive and protect the North.

Jon has been playing the political battle since Season 7 and to further drive home this point we have this next shot of Ned Stark getting beheaded from Season 1...when Cersei’s voiceover says “Or you die”.

We know Ned Stark got beheaded because he refused to play the game of thrones....chose to do the right thing by informing Cersei that he knew the truth about her children which triggered a series of events which culminated in his death. Ned chose honour and love for Sansa when he admitted to committing treason right before his beheading.

Ned got beheaded but Jon will survive because he will choose dishonour and love for Sansa, and the Starks, and the North, to play the game and win. Jon absobloodylutely hates having to do things this way, but circumstances (aka Daenerys) has forced his hand.

“For the North and the Starks”...Jon is willing to do just about anything to protect them..

This will clearly change in S8 (after the Army of the Dead are defeated) and become “For the Iron Throne”.....because Jon is a threat to Daenerys’s claim to the Iron Throne, him being the trueborn son of the late and erstwhile Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. As long as Jon is alive, Daenerys’s claim stands on loose ground and will be contested....Daenerys will sooner dracarys Jon than give up on her lifelong ambition to take the Iron Throne. “Dance of the Dragons 2.0″ is a matter of life and death for these two.

“I am the last Targaryen...I was born to rule the seven kingdoms and I will take what’s mine with fire and blood”...GRRM and D&D did not make her spew those words incessantly for 7 seasons and 5 books for nothing. The pay off to those statements will be that she is willing to unleash hell in the form of Dragonfire on Westeros to achieve her goals..that’s her “For the Iron Throne” motive. This is diametrically opposite to Jon’s motives. He does not want the throne but if he and by association, the Starks, have to survive then he has to fight Daenerys. Jon and the Starks will only survive if Jon wins the Iron Throne, or else Daenerys will have them all roasted for treason.

The transition from Jon to Ned further locks down the “Jon is Ned 2.0″ parallels but with a twist...and here is proof of that

Remember what Sansa said to Jon...

Sansa: You have to be smarter than Father, you need to be smarter than Robb. I love them, I miss them, but they made stupid mistakes and they both lost their heads for it.

Jon: And how should I be smarter...by listening to you?

If Jon does not heed Sansa’s advice and act way smarter than Ned and Robb, by becoming a political player and playing the game of thrones, then he will end up exactly like how Ned and Robb met their demise. Jon is going to survive and the only way he could’ve is if he played the game. The rule of the game dictates that.

Since Jon already knows what happens when you don’t listen to your hot sister-cousin-wife, who is soon to be unveiled to be the most astute player of the game, he becomes the player in Season 7 and will continue to do so in S8.

And that’s how the trailer sort of supports Political Jon theory, I think!

As for the rest of the teaser...one, other thing caught my attention and literally blew my mind!!!! This next sequence of shots foreshadows “Dance with Dragons 2.0″ and a political match between Jon and Sansa...here’s why.

 If you look at the above clip, you will see the Dothraki charging and Daenerys on Drogon coming to attack (I know these clips are taking from Field of Fire 2.0, further cementing Daenerys status as the antagonist of this battle) but you have Sansa sitting at the helm of the Knights of the Vale, almost like she is facing off Daenerys, with Jon caught in the midst!!!!”Every battle..every betrayal”...”Jon chooses House Stark and Sansa over House Targaryen and Daenerys and triggers treason/betrayal for love!”

This is how Dance of the Dragons 2.0 happens...Jon needs an army to match Daenerys’ armies of Dothraki, Unsullied and the dragons. How does he get those armies??? By striking a marriage alliance with Sansa who has the backing of the North, the Vale, and the Riverlands....

The moment R+L=J is out, Jon will be unnamed as King in the North....(Littlefinger’s prophecy)..

The Northern lords won’t back a Targaryen who has taken up with a foreign whore (also a Targaryen)...all those times Lord Glover went on and on about Robb’s mistakes and how he lost his head over this, it wasn’t for nothing.....if you think Jon is repeating Robb’s mistakes, well think again!

Bronze Royce said “A targaryen cannot be trusted!” all the while looking at Jon..that was D&D telling us that Jon will have trouble maintaining support from the North and the Vale after R+L=J!!!

So what’s the solution?

Good ol’ Dadvos already gave that to us in Season 6...

Sansa: The North remembers...they remember the Stark name..People will still risk everything for it...from White Harbour to Ramsay’s own door...

Davos: I don’t doubt it..but Jon does not have the Stark name...

Sansa: No..but I do..

Sansa: Jon is as much Ned Stark’s son as Ramsay is Roose Bolton’s..There’s also the Tullys..they are not Northern..but they will back us against the Boltons without question...

Davos: Stark, Tully, and a few more Houses and we will start to look like a winning side.

Replace the Boltons with Daenerys and throw in House Tully, the Vale, House Tarly (because Sam), House Greyjoy (because Theon) and Jamie Lannister...and you do start to look like the winning side...

Cue Varys’s statement from Season 5...”The 7Ks need a ruler, stronger than Tommen but gentler than Stannis, a ruler loved by millions with a powerful army at his back and the right family name.”

And that’s how you get JonSa as endgame with Starks sitting on the Iron Throne...a time for wolves!!!

JonSa fam, what do you guys think?

[jzeeeeeeeee]

Game of Thrones 8.06 Series Finale Recap and Review

THE NIGHT IS DARK AND FULL OF SPOILERS

This should be kind of obvious but I'll be discussing the final episode of Game of Thrones here so if you're not caught up don't read this unless you want to be spoiled!

CITY OF ASHES

Tyrion walks us into the episode, literally, walking through the ashes of King's Landing, closely followed by Jon and Davos. Ash is everywhere, still raining down, floating in the air like snow. I can only imagine the smell, if the scent from piles of burning dead outside Winterfell was bad this must be a thousand times worse considering they've always said how bad the city smelled to begin with... The horror on Tyrion's face is evident and surely echoes our own, as he walks by dead children and a near-naked burnt man stumbling out of the ruined city looking truly shellshocked. Tyrion tells Jon he wants to go on alone and heads for the destroyed Red Keep. Jon and co. run into Grey Worm and the Unsullied sentencing some Lannister soldiers to death in Dani's name and under her orders. Jon tries to tell Grey Worm that the war is over and the enemy soldiers are prisoners now, pleading for their lives. But the overwhelming loss must have had a hollowing effect on Grey Worm, emptying him of every last fuck he had to give. It almost comes to blood between Grey Worm/the Unsullied and Jon/random Northmen but Davos intercedes, quickly urging Jon to go speak with Dani directly. As Jon walks away, Grey Worm goes back to slitting throats of Lannister men like it's nothing, as if to show Jon how truly empty his fuck-tank was.

Back to Tyrion, walking around the remains of the Red Keep. He follows the steps down just like he told Jaime and sees the gigantic mountain of rubble covering the exit he had described. He starts digging through the rubble and finds jaime's gold hand. Digging further he uncovers both his siblings, dead on each other's arms. The music is haunting, a slow violin rendition of Rains of Castamere. This scene was picture perfect in it's tragedy, the bricks washing all color out of the scene save for the Lannisters. I might not have liked the way Cersei's end came or Jaime's middle finger to his redemption arc but seeing Tyrion kneeling there crying over them definitely gave me the feels.

PLAZA OF PRIDE

Arya walks past dead bodies and ruins out into the square in front of the Red Keep where the mysterious remaining half of the Dothraki are riding around on their horses, cheering and raising their arakhs in the air. We switch to follow Jon who's walking past the Dothraki and Unsullied towards massive, imposing steps of what is apparently left of the Red Keep. It makes me think of the Mayan Temple of the Sun, draped with a truly ginormous Targaryen banner. Jon looks at Grey Worm when he gets to the top of the stairs like "this is not handicap accessible". Just kidding, Jon looks at Grey Worm like he's gone as bonkers as his Queen. Dani and Drogon come flying in overhead and land somewhere behind the ruined Keep. Drogon's wings behind Dani stretch out and fold as she comes walking into the foreground. The sight is truly amazing and I've watched that part alone a hundred times. This is a powerful leader with men fiercely loyal to her returning victorious, no longer that little girl in Essos constantly on the run from assassins. There's a nice juxtaposition of the Unsullied lined up with precision thumping their spears in perfect unison, while the Dothraki are in a frenzy behind their orderly rows, practically doing wheelies on their horses as Dani delivers her victory speech.

Ok let's just stop and appreciate this character for a minute. Let's just imagine going through what she went through, it truly must feel like destiny, step by step bringer her closer to madness, all that power she has. She has a huge dragon that is closely bonded to her, she's the Unburnt not just a Khaleesi, not just a Queen. She's conquered before, and liberated before. When a character is too OP you just know they can't last... Remember the speech she gave when she named the entire khalasar her bloodriders? These men watched her walk out of fire, TWICE, unharmed. Who wouldn't kneel? They must think her a goddess! Grey Worm is devoted utterly because he was freed by Dani and he controls the Unsullied. The naming as Master of War, a great boon to him I'm sure, leader of ALL her forces now. He's still covered in the blood of dead Lannister soldiers as he steps forward to accept the nomination.

Danaerys speaks passionately, fervently as any champion of fire would. I could practically see flames dancing in her eyes as she talks of liberating the people of King's Landing. The show told me she's going crazy so I guess she must be. Jon's eyes when she starts talking about liberating the entire world... But it seems Tyrion agrees with me and in a fit of pique and anguish he casts off his Hand of the Queen pin to the ground. Dani commands the guards to take Tyrion and he locks eyes with Jon as he's walked off, with this "Your girl done gone nuts bro" face.

Arya catches up with Jon on the steps, urging him to see that Dani is a killer and he's in danger from her since she knows his true heritage. I like how he's surprised to see her, asking for its the audience what she's doing there in the first place. He doesn't even question the fact she came to kill Cersei and walks off to go find Tyrion's cell.

BROKEN THINGS

Jon and Tyrion discuss what happened and Jon can't deny what Dani did was wrong but he's trying to justify it by naming all the things she lost along the way to madness. Tyrion reiterates what Arya was saying, that Jon's life is at risk because of his claim to the throne. Jon actually rolls his eyes before sitting down to take it all in. It seems like Tyron admits he had feelings for Dani here, saying he loved her though not as successfully as Jon did. He walks Jon by the hand to the idea that she's the biggest threat to the people, especially his sisters. He lays a choice at Jon's feet, knowing that only Jon has the chance to bring this to an end.

Jon leaves to go find Dani in the Keep. Drogon is stretched outside like the largest cat ever, briefly getting up to see who's disturbing his rest but let's Jon go by without even a puff of smoke. Dani's walking through the ruined throne room, stretching out her hand to the Iron Throne she's sought after for all these years, touching the arm briefly. The ruins of the throne room and the snow-like ash in the air are the payoff from the vision she had in Qaarth's House of the Undying. She's contemplative, making a meta comment about the throne being made of a thousand blades from Aegon's fallen enemies. This is a sort of dig because the throne GRRM had described and imagined was more like the one she does here. Jon comes in to rain on her parade, angry about the Unsullied executing Lannister soldiers along with the thousands of dead and burned children outside. He seems to be giving her one last chance, begging with her to see reason. As she says her final words about building a new world and breaking the wheel I'm heartbroken because I know what's coming next without anyone telling me. "Be with me. Build the new world with me. This is our reason, since you were a little boy with a bastard's name and I was a little girl that couldn't count to 20. We do it together. We break the wheel together." He kisses her passionately this time, "You are my Queen, now and always", not breaking away like he did at Winterfell and Dragonstone, and I know the instant the knife goes in her heart he's sobbing and so am I. It's like she had plot armor her entire life... until today.

THE IRON THRONE

Jon lays Dani's body down on the ground and suddenly Drogon's there, sensing something wrong with his mother. He nudges her with his head but she's gone, and the sadness that pours out of him is an echo of my own seeing her tragic story at an end. This girl had been on this path since her birth, freeing slaves, serving justice to those who deserved it and I'm supposed to believe right at the end she decides to kill all the innocent people she came to save. Ok fine I'll go along with it for now since we're on mega fast forward this season and maybe I just missed all the subtle steps on the way to Dani's madness. Back to Drogon... He's so full of anguish he let's out a few huge bursts of fire, melting the Iron Throne down to slag. The scene was awesome in the true meaning of the word but I'm a little confused why Drogon would understand the meaning of such an act. And why didn't Jon move out of the way more? He has a weird thing with facing dragons I guess, maybe he planned on yelling at Drogon like he did to his brother. The scene ends after Drogon snatches up Dani's body in one claw and flies away, never to be seen again.

Tyrion awakes, finding his buddy Grey Worm at the door. He's led out to the Dragonpit where the Lords and Ladies of Westeros (🤷) are waiting. I have no idea what kind of time has passed but guessing from Tyrion's hair it's been a few weeks since Dani's death. Sansa demands to know where Jon is but Grey Worm insists they are in control of the city and it's prisoners. Sansa doubles down letting him know King's Landing is surrounded by Northmen. Yara makes some threat about Jon getting killed by the Unsullied but Arya comes right back at her saying she'll slit her throat lol. I think it's right around here everything becomes a bit hokey to me. After some back and forth with Grey Worm about the fate of Jon Snow, Tyrion suggests they choose a king or queen (who will ultimately be in charge of that fate). That Tully dude, Lord of the Riverlands gets up to make a speech (maybe to make a play as king?) but Sansa shoots him down by asking him to just sit, be a good boy, and drink his bottled water. Sam suggests a type of democracy system where everyone gets a say and they all just laugh at him. Just like everyone imagined, Tyrion reveals Jon is the heir to the Throne and they all live happily ever after. Wait no, actually he walks around and talks about how stories hold the world together and Bran should be King. What in the ever-loving fuck? Who has a better story than a man who came back from the dead only to find he was not a bastard at all but the heir to the Iron Throne????!!! Ok I get that he killed Dani so that's a stain on his honor but he did it to save the whole damn world. He didn't want to rule but neither did Bran! Tyrion proposes kingship to Bran in a way that sounds like a marriage proposal from the realm. Then Bran shows more emotion than he has in the past 2 seasons, he smiled a little and says "Why do you think I came all this way?" Huh? Well I had thought it was to help defeat the Night King and the White Walkers but fine I'll go along with that too I guess... I thought for a hot second he'd say "I am Groot". Sansa declares independence for the North after we get a round of "ayes" from all the other Westerosi Lords and Ladies in favor of Bran the Broken as king. I face palm but on my 3rd or 4th rewatch I see that Tyrion's cleverness did shine through one last time. He knew that giving Jon to the Unsullied would mean more war, knew Jon didn't want the throne anyway, knew that the puzzle needed solving and I suppose he did it. Jon would go to the Wall and serve a life sentence in the Night's Watch as a compromise, apparently to keep everyone from getting what they want. We see Tyrion meet briefly with Jon to explain this and he's as baffled as I am there's even a Night's Watch left. What are they watching? Season one?

A DREAM OF SPRING

Another time jump of unknown proportions and Jon is getting on a boat, headed for the Wall. He sees Grey Worm on another ship about to set sail for Naath where I can only assume he'll die from butterfly poison trying to protect Missandei's people. As Jon rounds a corner he sees Bran, Arya and Sansa are there to see him off. Hugs all around, Sansa apologizes to Jon and I can't help but think it's forced, Arya will sail West of Westeros. When Jon kneels in front of Bran saying, "Your Grace" I'm still wondering what his Targ ancestry had to do with anything and why Bran thought it was so important for him to know. The last of the Starks are going to go on their separate paths again, but hey they won the Game.

We next get a cute scene of Brienne writing Jaime's deeds in the White Book, meaning she's the Lord Commander now. This part is uber meme-able, particularly when she makes faces trying to think of good deeds to write. After a few creative truths she closes the book without writing anything about how he saved the people of King's Landing from being burned alive with wildfire. This scene also shows us Bran the Broken has taken a raven for his sigil, it's now prominent on Brienne's Kingsguard armor.

We go next back to Tyrion, the Keep mended enough to have a small council meeting in the old spot he's meticulously rearranging the chairs. Sam, now Grandmaester, brings in a book called a Song of Ice and Fire, very Hobbit of him, setting it in front of Tyrion. The rest of the small council files in, Bronn as Lord of Highgarden and Master of Coin, Davos as Master of Ships, and Brienne the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Bran is wheeled in just for a minute so we can hear they're missing a few officers and see Sir Podrick is in charge of pushing his chair around now, making an ambiguous comment about finding Drogon just before leaving the running of the kingdom to the council (please give me a sequel of just that!). The scene ends with Tyrion starting his famous jackass/brothel joke but we never get the punchline.

NORTH OF THE WALL

Jon arrives at the Wall, which has been repaired with wooden gates. Then the most well-done cutting of scenes together happens as we bounce between Arya getting ready for her journey west, Jon's arrival and subsequent leaving of the Wall, and Sansa's coronation as Queen of the North. We see Jon moving through the wildlings and finally, FINALLY, he pets Ghost. Arya's on a ship with a huge Stark wolf on the sails. Sansa is at Winterfell newly crowned. It all ends kind of how it started, with Jon on his horse walking north into the woods, wildlings on foot following him into the future. The scene evokes a sense of adventure unknown and reminds me of the first scenes from the pilot where we first saw the wights and Walkers in action but instead of death it's life moving through these woods now.

UPS AND DOWNS

So my main reason for breaking this all down was because I've been asked over and over what I thought of this episode. Many of you know I'm passionate about this show and even now that's it's over I'm sure I'll rewatch it many, many times again, season by season. In fact, this will probably be the first blog entry I have in "Watching Thrones Backwards; maybe it makes more sense this way?"

That being said I feel like this ending was really perfect for what they set out to do. A show based on a book series is always difficult, and Thrones lost access to the written word once the show moved past the books. I've read every single book and felt that more character development could've been done here in Seasons 7 and 8, both of which would've been better with more episodes. It felt rushed without those extra moments this story deserved but instead we got what we got. And what we got in the last episode was amazing for this series, beautifully produced, imagery leaps and bounds ahead of anything else on television, well-acted, even if not always well-written.

The biggest criticism I have was that the dive into Dani's madness was too abrupt, and such a huge deviation from her character. But her last words will haunt me for all of time. "We will break the wheel together." And they did. Jon's act was a sacrifice for both of them and gave rise to the new system of electing leaders.

Time was also my enemy in this episode, I know that it opens pretty soon after the last one because there's still fires burning but as we go through it I felt less and less certain where we were on the timeline. At the Dragonpit scene Robin Aryn was much taller, does that mean years have gone by or mere weeks? Years of Unsullied occupancy in King's Landing doesn't make sense to me but ok whatever. And at the end stuff was kind of fixed like in the Red Keep and at the wall so that must've been years certainly! But Sansa was just getting crowned so did they really wait all that time to do it? I guess I'll need to wait for GRRM to help me clear that up, hopefully in my lifetime.

My other problem was that everything was getting tied up with pretty little bows, basically going down the list and checking off all the weird bets people were making online. I could've easily told you Arya would head west of Westeros, Sam would name that book a Song of Ice and Fire, and that Tyrion would never finish his joke on screen. I say "was" though because I'd rather have all these things tied up neatly than a lot of wtf moments. We had enough of those watching this series, and this being the last episode it truly was "bittersweet" so seeing storylines get sewn shut was much nicer after I had time to really think about it all. I'm over a dozen times through this episode now and it's held up amazingly well to rewatch.

Even with all the negative criticism I absolutely loved this episode. Each scene in this final episode looked incredible, Jaime and Cersei dead in each other's arms, the dragon wings behind Dani at the Keep, Drogon melting the Throne, even Jon walking off into the woods at the end. Cinematically it was successful, thematically maybe a little less so. But it made sense in a way the Dexter or Lost finales never will. Dany succeeded in the end with breaking the wheel - Shakespearean tragedy at its finest, Tyrion is for all intents and purposes ruling as Hand, Arya stopped killing everyone, Sansa's a queen in her own right, Bran is probably warging into Drogon somewhere off screen flying about and Jon pet Ghost. Team Stark FTW I give it a solid 9 out of 10!

*Picture credits to HBO Game of Thrones*

[bitchcakegreen]

A View from Behind the Camera - GoT Episode 6 x 9 - Meeting on the Battlefield

Hi Jonsa fam! I’ve been uber busy as of late, working on a play and then taking a bit of vacation for myself, but I’m back! Didja miss me? Kidding. Anyway, It’s time to take a look at the Battle of The Bastards Episode from Season 6. This is going to take a series of posts to cover because there so much content with Jon and Sansa as well as other scenes that inform on their relationship.  

Before I dig into the good stuff just a reminder, since it has been a hot second since my last post, that I look at the scenes/episodes from a directorial standpoint. I have been working in the entertainment industry for over 25 years. I am also a Jonsa shipper, mainly because of what I have observed in the episodes i.e. acting choices, direction, and cinematography choices. With that out of the way...here we go! Forewarning this is a long one. 

What is interesting about this first scene between Jon, Sansa, and Ramsey is that music continues from the previous scene. One in which Dany has ordered the death of the Masters and has had her dragons burned the slavers’ navy to dust in the Bay of Dragons. The music is ominous and sets a great tone for the first camera shot we encounter. The scene starts with an establishing shot that pans up from the grass to follow the Bolton riders as they move across the field. We don’t see their faces as they are riding away from the camera. We know they are House Bolton because we can see their Flayed Man Sigil banners flapping in the wind as they ride. The shot pans up and out so we can see the entire battlefield - this is likely in part CGI, in part the real field. This shot gives the audience a sense of the scale of what is to come. Once the riders crest the hill we see another set of combatants on the opposite side. That’s our Winterfell crew. 

We have a hard cut that takes us to an establishing shot on the opposite side of the field. We see the Bolton war party riding over the same hill straight at us this time. The shot pans down and we see the Bolton WP framed by Jon and Sansa, who are seated on horseback side by side, again Sansa in the consort position. Jon’s head is turned toward her and not to the Bolton WP. We have the line “You don’t have to be here” What is interesting about this section are two things really. We don’t ever seen the Winterfell Crew - in this case Jon or Sansa’s face until her line. Also the Boltons COME to the Starks. This is not by accident. Sapochnik does this for a reason. He is giving the power to The Starks. If he wanted Ramsey to have the upper hand to the audience from the get go his direction would have been done the other way. This gives Jon and Sansa the upper hand by making Ramsay come to them. Next we cut to a two shot of Jon and Sansa, the first time we see their faces, and we get a pause and Sansa’s line “Yes I do” 

 What I love about this small section is the subtly in both Kit and Sophie’s acting. The GA is focused on them seating side by side, ready to go into battle, but on closer inspection you can see fidgeting by both - beyond that of just trying to stay seated. hands clasped tightly to reigns. Chins lifted up and strong. Shoulders thrown back. Also Sophie doesn’t look at Kit. She stays focused on the off camera Ramsey as he ‘rides’ closer. Kit looks down and to the side when she speaks. He is playing the protective alpha who wants to shield her from this monster. It is safe to assume that at this point Jon knows everything - at least  most everything - Ramsey has done to Sansa. As a warrior, Jon understands why she HAS to be present for this parlay. The direction on this is just beautiful and heavily detailed. 

We cut to a long shot followed by another long shot as the Bolton WP rides us. Then we get the opposing sides shot as Ramsey and a few of his ‘generals’ move to position to face off with Jon and his ‘generals’

Cut to a close up of a smug Ramsey. Then one of Sansa who is in Lady of Winterfell mode as she stares down her abuser. Ramsey thinks he’s in control that’s why the writers make his first line of dialogue about and to Sansa. The direction to make him focus on Sansa first is done on purpose too. It is a choice to try and take power away from Jon. The next set of lines are about them surrendering and kneeling before him, also the underlining claim to Sansa as well as Winterfell. Ramsey NEVER actually acknowledges Jon by name or title until several lines of dialogue later and only after Jon doesn’t respond to his offer of a pardon. The camera stays on Ramsey until “betraying my house” and then we get a wide shot of the Winterfell WP. We see Davos framed between Jon and Sansa, Tormund to Jon’s left and Lyanna behind Davos. We also get a close up of Lyanna - who gives the best stink face I’ve seen in a long time. Cut back to Ramsey. Iwan is directed to use the word bastard as a taunt. He does this every time he uses it in any of the scene. We get a back and forth series of close up from Jon to Ramsey to Jon to Ramsey. 

Now we come to one of the most iconic shots of the scene/episode. The one that is used in promos and whatnot. The close up shot of Jon and Sansa seated on horseback staring stoically forward. 

Shipping aside. This shot is what sets up Jon and Sansa officially as THE power couple of the North. This is what solidifies them as Ned and Cat 2.0. What you have here is the King and Queen of the North - crowned as such or not. Sapochnik is absolutely saying that with this shot. This shot will be repeated several times over the remainder of the scene. 

We hold this angle a few seconds then we cut to a close up of Ramsey with SmallJon Umber in the favor on position. This happens on Jon’s “no need for a battle” Cut to an over the ‘shoulder’ shot, actually it’s a trolley shot over the heads of the Ramsey WP focused on the Winterfell RP as Jon continues with his dialogue. On Jon’s ‘only one of us’ line we cut to a close up of Ramsey, looking smug still. Iwan is really good at looking smug. Cut to Jon as he says ‘Let’s end this the old way. You against me’ Quick cut to Sansa. The direction to her is clearly she was not prepared for Jon to make this offer. She is clearly shocked. 

The GA might see this as Jon’s way of fighting for Winterfell but it’s so much more than that. He is fighting for Winterfell, Rickon, and Sansa. Sansa is the driving force behind this offer. Jon wants to make Ramsey hurt for what he did to Sansa. I’m not wearing shipping googles here, folks, the direction given to Sophie, Iwan, Liam and Kristofer all support this. Jon isn’t making this offer of hand to hand combat for Winterfell. He’s doing it for HER. Cut to a close up of Tormund and Davos eyeing Ramsey up. The direction I would have given both of them, both playing seasoned warriors who had seen what life brings on the field of battle numerous times, would have been to wait as see if Ramsey has honor and says yes. 

Cut from Tormund and Davos to a favor on of Sansa and Jon in a quick shot. Cut to a smirking Ramsey. He laughs off Jon’s offer. I think because he was directed to be afraid to face Jon in single combat. The laughter seems forced which leads me to this conclusion. We have an over the shoulder at Ramsey and his crew for several lines of dialogue as he shows the GA he doesn't have the balls to face Jon. There is a brief cut over the shoulder back to Jon and Sansa followed by a close up of Ramsey. The next section is a back and forth between Ramsey and Jon as Ramsey’s dialogue covers the size of the armies and what not. When we get a close up of Jon it comes with his line about “Will they want to fight for you when they find out you wouldn’t fight for them” Basically our boys are having a pissing contest and  Sapochnik directs it as such for this section. We get a nice series of close ups back and forth for a few seconds in silence between the two. Until Ramsey laughs again, also a clear acting choice to cover nervousness and fear at Jon. Make no mistake, Ramsey is scared of Jon. 

Now come the threats. We get an over the shoulder shot of Ramsey as he mentions Rickon. There is a quick cut from Ramsey to Jon and Sansa again but Sansa’s line actually starts before the camera shifts. Also this is the first time she has spoken since the Botlon WP came over the hill AND it’s the first time she has spoken to Ramsey. These next few shots are really gorgeous. We get a closeup of Ramsey and Iwan gives us a fantastic facial expressions. His attention is on Jon and in the close up we see his eyes shift to Sansa and he is surprised that she has spoken up. 

Next we cut to Sansa and Sophie gives us her ‘not backing down’ face. 

We get a two shot of Ramsey and SmallJon Umber. Ramsey gestures to SmallJon who reaches into the pack on the side of his horse. The camera shifts to that angle between Ramsey and SmallJon’s horses with Jon and Sansa framed in the background as he pulls Rickon’s direwolf’s head from the pack. 

We cut to an establishing wide shot of the two parties faced off and then to a close up of the wolf head on the ground. (Foreshadowing to the later extreme close up shot of Rickon dead on the battlefield) This is followed by a shot of Jon, head bowed his focus on the direworlf. This is followed by a shot of Sansa doing the same. Then Ramsey smirking...again. This is followed by a two shot of Jon and Sansa. Ramsey’s dialouge is heard from off camera and Sansa then cuts him off with “you’re going to die tomorrow, Lord Bolton.” A close up of a rather shocked Ramsey is followed with one a Sansa in Lady of Winterfell mode and her line “Sleep well” We watch her turn and ride off before another close up of Ramsey. He is smiling again. (Iwan is really a great actor and he plays Ramsey in so many layers)

Let’s talk about his character for a quick second so we can understand why he smiles so much at Sansa in this scene. His character is a true sadist. He gets sexually aroused when someone fights back. When Sansa stands up to him it literally turns him on because in his mind he thinks he will be able to punish her for it later. Hence all the acting choices Iwan gives in his performance in this scene. Jon he is scared of, Sansa he believes he still controls. 

We get a long shot from which allows us to see Sansa ride away across the field. It’s a beautiful shot.  Sapochnik has painted a picture here. 

Next we get a close up of Ramsey but this one is shot from the lower flank of his horse. It skews the audience’s vision of him because of the extreme angle and truly highlights the ominous nature of this character and this scene. 

Next we move to a close up of Jon as we hear Ramsey talk about having Sansa back in his bed. Kit moves from annoyed to angry and ready to rip him to shreds at the thought in a matter of seconds. 

Next we have a serious of close up of Jon and his men to Ramsey to Tormund and Davos to Ramsey will Ramsey talks about his dogs feasting on them. The dialogue is interesting here as Ramsey says ‘you’re all fine looking men” Lyanna Mormont is in this party still. She didn’t ride off with Sansa. Either Ramsey doesn’t realize she is a girl, there is a continuity issue with the writing, or he simply chooses to ignore her. I go with the latter. Ramsey’s character has one use for women. 

We cut to a close up of Jon on Ramsey’s line “In the morning then” which is hear off camera. We are focused on Jon’s reaction instead of a shot of Ramsey at this moment because Sapochnik wants the GA in Jon’s head for these few seconds. He wants us to see and feel what Jon is feeling at this very moment. He holds this shot for 3 seconds, which is a decent span of time for a close up and then we switch POV back to Ramsey for “bastard.” One final taunt. The camera stays with Ramsey as he turns and starts to ride off then we switch back again to Jon.  The close up of Jon lasts for 10 second, remember 10 seconds in movie time is a lifetime, and Sapochnik captures the interplay of emotions on Kit’s face in that span. He watches Ramsey leave and then we see him sigh and look down in contemplation. At the last moment he looks back up again with resolve. 

The final cut is of Ramsy and his WP riding back to Winterfell. 

Well there we have it. The first scene of the Battle of the Bastards! Next up I will being looking at the War Council and tent scene, a favorite among my Jonsa fam. 

See you next time! 

[oldkindandtheverylastofyourkind]

JonxSansa Remix 2017 Day 6- Hamilton and Eliza

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

           Let me tell you what I wish I’d known

           When I was young and dreamed of glory

           You have no control

           Who lives, who dies, who tells your story

The fallen leaves cracked under the boots of the former Lady of Winterfell as she slowly made her way to the crypts beneath her home. She found herself coming here more and more often as yet another winter approached. It would be her tenth winter- and something told her- her last. She had come here often over the years to visit her deceased family members- her father, her brother, her sister, her son. Today, however, she was here to visit her husband, Jon Snow.

Every other founding father story gets told

Every other founding father gets to grow old

But when you’re gone, who remembers your name?

Who keeps your flame?

Who tells your story?

After Jon and his allies had prevailed in the war for their future, Daenerys Targaryen had been unanimously elected in Westeros’s historic free-election. For the first time ever, every citizen in Westeros, from the high lords in their castles, to the common people in their modest houses, had chosen their ruler. The Mother of Westeros, as she had affectionately been known as, ruled the country wisely for twenty years before deciding to step down to spend the rest of her life in peace at her home in Dragonstone. Sansa could not imagine a ruler that could have been more admired, respected, and revered than their first elected-ruler, Daenerys Targaryen. She would forever be known as a Mother to her country.  

           Those twenty prosperous years under Daenerys’s rule had been tumultuous, but mostly happy ones for Sansa and her family. After the War of the Dawn, and Jon’s true parentage had been revealed, he and Sansa had married to rule as the Lord and Lady of Winterfell. There had been some talk to crown them King and Queen in the North, but in the end, they decided to trust Daenerys and the democratic process. They believed Westeros would be stronger if it were united as one instead of split up into seven different kingdoms.

Jon and Sansa were deeply in love and thrilled that they no longer had to be ashamed of their true feelings. Arya had been a bit hesitant, but she was happy that Jon would be in her life as her brother once again. After their wedding, children soon followed. They had four children, two boys and two girls. The first-born had been a boy which Jon and Sansa enthusiastically agreed to name Robb, after their dearly departed brother. Sansa would remember the feeling of holding her son in her arms for the first time for the rest of her life and beyond. Sansa loved all of her children equally, of course, but Robb was particularly special to her simply because he was her first.

That’s why it had hurt her so deeply when Robb died as young and as tragically as his namesake. Robb was nothing if not an honorable and dutiful son. When other boys started calling the Lord of Winterfell an adulterer and Robb a product of incest, he knew he had to challenge them to a duel. When Robb came to his father seeking advice, Jon had told him to be as honorable as his grandfather by laying down his weapon to settle the dispute. This advice, which Robb followed to a T, ended up costing him his life.

In her heartbreak and grief, it took Sansa months to forgive Jon for the part he played, but forgive him she did. After all, part of the reason she loved him so much was that he was always as honorable as her Lord Father. Always. It wasn’t long before Jon found himself involved in another duel. This time Jon himself was defending the honor of the newest ruler of Westeros, Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island. In his bid to be as honorable as Lord Eddard, Jon was struck down by Cersei Lannister’s sole surviving heir who believed that the seat of ruling in Westeros belonged to him by right.

I put myself back in the narrative

I stop wasting time on tears

I live another fifty years

It’s not enough

For months after Jon’s death, Sansa was angry at the Old Gods for taking away her eldest son and her husband within such a short amount of time. But she realized that she didn’t want to spend her remaining time mourning them. She wanted to do something productive. She wanted to feel connected to Jon even if he was no longer with her physically. She wanted the entire world to know of his accomplishments, as well as his bravery and kindness. So, she dried her tears and steadied herself for what was to come next. She had so much to do.      

I interview every soldier who fought by your side

She tells our story

As her bastard brother, and then her cousin, and finally her husband, Sansa always knew that the man she loved was capable of great things. But she was only one person and she only knew one side of the story. To truly understand her husband, Sansa knew she would have to dig deeper. She talked to Sam Tarly, the Maester of Winterfell, and asked him to tell her everything he knew about Jon. She traveled North to the Wall to talk with those former brothers of Jon who remained. She traveled South to King’s Landing to talk to Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, Missandei, and Grey Worm. She talked to anyone and everyone who had any experience fighting with or under Jon - Tormund Giantsbane, Davos Seaworth, even Gendry Waters, her sister’s husband. But of course, the person Sansa relied on the most relies on to tell her every detail about Jon was her brother Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven.

I try to make sense of your thousands of pages of writing

You really do write like you’re running out of time

Sansa also spent days and nights buried in Jon’s solar reading everything he ever wrote. Every letter, every correspondence, every decree, every personal journal entry. Sansa could not believe how much Jon wrote. Almost as if he knew his time was limited.  

I rely on Angelica

While she’s alive, we tell your story

She’s buried in Trinity Church near you

When I needed her most, she was right on time

Despite telling herself that she came here to visit Jon, Sansa found herself lingering in front of her sister’s statue and getting lost in another memory as she was so apt to do these days.  

One night, as Sansa is reading through yet another correspondence between Jon and Daenerys Targaryen, her sister enters the solar. Sansa is so wrapped up in reading every word Jon ever wrote that she doesn’t even look up. Arya sits on the floor next to Sansa and takes her hands in hers. This is what finally makes Sansa look at her sister. Arya can see how blood-shot her sister’s eyes are and the bags under them that Sansa cannot hide.

Arya sighs and whispers, “Sansa, you don’t have to do this alone. I may not have been married to him, but that doesn’t mean I loved him less. After all, in a way, he was mine before he was yours.”

Sansa just looks at her blankly.

Arya continues, “Let me help you tell his story. I want to make sure his legacy is preserved, too.”

As realization dawns in Sansa’s eyes, her lips spread into a smile. She pulls her sister into a hug and whispers, “Thank you, Arya.”

As Arya pulls back, she asks, “So, can I help you sort through this reading material?”

Sansa thinks for a minute before replying, “Actually, have you ever talked to Gendry about what happened North of the Wall?”  

Arya had died ten years ago from a fever. It wasn’t traditional for statues to be made of family members who were not Kings in the North or Lords of Winterfell. However, her lord father had broken tradition by having a statue made for his deceased siblings Brandon and Lyanna. Sansa had felt that Arya had done so much for their family and for her in particular, that she deserved to have a statue made of her just as much as their aunt and uncle, if not more. And so Arya Stark would forever rest beside Jon in the crypts underneath Winterfell.  

And I’m still not through

I ask myself, “What would you do if you had more time?”

The Lord, in his kindness

He gives me what you always wanted

He gives me more time

Sansa had scoured the North to find a skilled artist who actually knew what Jon had looked like. She didn’t want a repeat of her father’s statue. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life staring at a piece of rock that did a poor job of imitating her husband. This slab of concrete was a poor substitute for Jon’s warmth, his comforting smile, and the crinkle in his eyes. Still, it was all she had left. As Sansa looked into the stone eyes of the freshly made statue for the first time, she wondered what her next move should be. She whispered into the quiet air of the crypts, “What would you do if you had more time, my love? What should I do with mine?”

I raise funds in D.C. for the Washington Monument

She tells my story

I speak out against slavery

You could have done so much more if you only had time

Sansa travels to King’s Landing to ask the newly elected ruler, the son of Lady Brienne and Sir Jaime, to commission a statue celebrating Westeros’s first elected ruler, Daenerys Targaryen.

“My Lord, my late husband believed in Daenerys’s vision for this country. She brought us back from the brink of ruin and established the peace and prosperity that we are still enjoying today. Across the Narrow Sea, she ended the inhuman practice of slavery in the area that is now known as The Bay of Dragons. I beg you to build a statue in King’s Landing to honor her and her achievements.”  

“Lady Stark, the efforts of your husband and aunt have not gone unrecognized. Moreover, my mother has warned me repeatedly to never deny Sansa Stark anything, lest I want to start a fight that I will most surely lose. Your request will be granted.”

And when my time is up, have I done enough?

Will they tell our story?

Sansa sits alone in her solar one evening staring into the fire, trying to think of her next project. What did Jon love the most? Me and the kids, Sansa thought bitterly as tears threatened to come to her eyes. But, then, the answer came to her. Jon’s most passionate cause. His biggest complaint about his own life. Of course, it was so simple.

I establish the first private orphanage in New York City

I help to raise hundreds of children

I get to see them growing up

In their eyes, I see you, Alexander

I see you every time

Sansa establishes the first private orphanage in the North, as well as helps to clean up the ones in King’s Landing. Sansa knows how lost Jon felt growing up, not knowing his mother, and never being able to be a true son to his father. Jon was lucky to grow up at Winterfell, but he still felt alone in his youth, even in a castle as large and crowded as Winterfell. Sansa wondered if he would have felt more at home with other orphans or other bastards who didn’t have a place in the world- just like him. The idea makes her sad, but happy at the same time.

The orphanage, called Winter’s Children, was built in the only city in the North, White Harbor. Sansa was needed at Winterfell, still being its lady, but she spent as much time at Winter’s Children as she could. She loved meeting the children and watching them grow up and eventually leave to make their way in the world. And she always saw Jon reflected in their eyes. At first, she only saw Jon’s lack of direction, insecurity, and anger. But as the children grew, she saw Jon’s kindness, strength, bravery, and perseverance. In those moments, she felt closer to Jon than she did when she started at his statue in the crypts. She was wrong when she thought that Jon’s lifeless statue was all she had left of him. As long as Jon’s spirit was alive in these children, then he was, too.

And when my time is up

Have I done enough?

Will they tell your story?

Sansa stood in front of Jon’s statue for nearly an hour before she spoke.

“Hello, my love. For fifty years, I have tried my best to make sure people remember your name centuries from now. You are the most incredible person I have ever met and all I want is for your accomplishments to be recognized. And I’m not sure I did enough.”

“You did.”

A new voice cut through the empty crypt.

Surprised, Sansa gave a squeak and jerked back.

“Sorry, Sansa, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Sansa turned to her side and saw a familiar figure slowly approaching her. He was very large and very round with a strong white beard. He had become a dominating figure from the boy who came to Winterfell so many years ago.      

“That’s alright, Sam,” Sansa replied to her friend.

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Sam said, “Jon would be so proud of everything you have accomplished.”

Sansa turned her face to look at him. “I certainly like to think so.”

“He would. No doubt about it. History had its eyes on you two and the world will know your names.”

“I hope so,” Sansa said.

Then, Winterfell’s Maester pulled something from behind his back.

“I want to show you this,” he said.

“What is it?” Sansa asked.

“I’m calling it A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s the story of Westeros around the time of the War of the Five Kings and the War for the Dawn. It’s the story of your family and the Lannisters and the Targaryens. It’s the story of Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, Tyrion Lannister, and Sansa Stark. Through this book, the world will know his story. Yours, too.”’

“Mine’s not important,” Sansa said.

“It is,” Sam urged. “It’s more important. Jon Snow was a great man, but you proved that women don’t need husbands to accomplish great things. You will be remembered by history, not as Jon Snow’s wife, but as a hero in your own right. This book will make sure of it.”

Sansa started to cry as she threw her arms around the maester.

“Thank you, Sam,” she whispered against his beard. “Thank you so much.”

I can’t wait to see you again

It’s only a matter of time

Sansa Stark died in her sleep that night. She died as she lived, surrounded by those that loved her. But the North’s daughter was never forgotten. Thanks to A Song of Ice and Fire Jon Snow and Sansa Stark went down in history as two of the North’s most legendary and loved historical figures.

Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

Online dating isn't a game. It's literally changing humanity.

In our Love App-tually series, Mashable shines a light into the foggy world of online dating. After all, it's still cuffing season.

The swipe is about as casual a gesture as it gets. 

On Tinder, Bumble and every copycat dating app, choices are made in the blink of an eye. You're not  making definitive decisions about this stream full of faces; it's more a question "could this person be hot if we match, if they have something interesting to say, if they're not a creep and we're a few drinks in?" 

You feel so far removed from the process of dating at this stage, let alone a relationship, that swiping is simply a game. (Indeed, the makers of the mobile medieval royalty RPG Reigns intended its simple left-right controls as a Tinder homage.) You're like Matthew Broderick at the start of the 1983 movie War Games — enamored with technology's possibilities, gleefully playing around. 

And like Broderick, who discovers that "Global Thermonuclear War" isn't just a fun version of Risk, you couldn't be more wrong. With each choice, you are helping to set uncontrollable forces in motion. When you swipe, the future of the human race is quite literally at your fingertips. 

Luckily, you may be accidentally saving it rather than accidentally destroying it. Mostly. 

For millennia, humans were most likely to marry and/or raise kids with (which, then as now, wasn't always the same thing) members of their own tribe. That changed a little when we started to sail and settle around the world, but ideas about religion and race and class still governed our dating decisions — in the rare cases when those decisions were fully ours to make. 

In pre-World War II America, we were most likely to meet our significant others through family. In the 1950s came the rise of meeting "friends of friends," and that method stayed dominant through the rest of the century. 

Even as we declared in the 1960s and 1970s that love was all that mattered, meet-cute was mostly for the movies. Nearly half of all marriages were drawn from the same old pre-vetted, limited pool, blind-date setups. 

SEE ALSO: Here are the best gay dating apps, since meeting people IRL is hell

Online dating started to make a dent in the question of how we find our partners as soon as the internet arrived in the 1990s; it wasn't not just porn we're looking for. By 2000, according to surveys, 10 percent of opposite-sex couples and 20 percent of same-sex couples met via the internet, overtaking family introductions. 

By 2010 — two years before the launch of Tinder — those numbers had reached around 20 percent and 70 percent respectively. "Friends of friends" setups had dropped by 20 percent in both cases, so that limited-pool and online-pool setups were about equal. 

Surprise, surprise: the Tinder era has supercharged this trend. A fresh-as-of-January Stanford study looked at data in relationship surveys that goes up to 2017, and found that 29 percent of heterosexual and 65 percent of gay couples had now met online.   

In 2014, Tinder was processing a billion swipes a day; that is now closer to 2 billion. Tinder says that 36 percent of all people on Facebook have created an account; that would translate to 800 million people. More total Tinder matches have been made than there are people on the planet, by a factor of 3. 

It's such an addiction that Bumble's in-house sociologist, who formerly worked for Tinder, has to advise us to do no more than half an hour of swiping a day for maximum results. The rest of the world is just as addicted. The 370 million users of Badoo, the most used dating app internationally, are on the app for 90 minutes a day on average.

Smug internet marrieds

And it's not like we're just spending this time mindlessly matching and never meeting. There are an estimated one million Tinder dates every week around the world. Nor are we just dating and never getting serious; given prior trend lines, a 2015 study found that the wide adoption of internet dating had probably increased the total number of marriages by 33 percent compared to a hypothetical internet-free world. 

As counterintuitive as it sounds, Tinder may well have helped save marriage as an institution, simply by bringing us more of them. Not to mention faster. Again contrary to conventional wisdom, researchers say online meeting-based marriages happen more quickly after the first date. The jury is still out on whether online-based marriages are more or less likely to end in divorce; there are studies that point in both directions. Call it a wash. 

Either way, this is our new romantic landscape. At least one third of all marriages in the U.S. are now between partners who met online. That's more than 600,000 couples every year who would, in any other era, have remained total strangers. 

The influence of these internet-minted couples on the dating world isn't over when they marry; it is just getting started. Internet marrieds get to play yentas. They can set up friends on dates with each other — still a thing, even in this day and age. 

Who knows how far out the ripple effects go, how many people who would never dream of being on Tinder and Bumble have the course of their lives changed by swipes and matches regardless.  

If you've ever noticed on your commute that a bunch of other drivers are taking the same odd Google Maps or Waze-led routes as you, creating entirely new traffic patterns, you get what we're talking about: sudden chaotic unplanned real-world results based on vast digital adoption. Listen closely to your dating app, and you might just hear the roar of a vast human tide of unbridled connection and love, a great wave that is already changing the world, and shows no sign of slowing.

Race and class

First off, there's clear evidence that online dating is creating mixed-race couples at a faster rate than our increasingly diverse society would. This topic is low-hanging fruit, research-wise, because there's a lot of data already associated with it. 

Since it was officially OKed in all states by the Supreme Court in 1967, we've seen a slow but steady rise in the percentage of all new U.S. marriages that are interracial — from 3 percent to about 9 percent in 1995. Progress was slow, but it was progress.

However, separate studies in 2017 and 2018 both concluded that online dating since '95 turned that straight line of growth into a curving one. The stats are worth quoting at length (emphasis mine). The first study:

The second study adds that you're more likely to date someone from a different race if you're dating online, by a factor of about 7 percent. That doesn't seem a huge difference, but it adds up over time as online dating becomes exponentially more popular. 

Bottom line: Millennials and Generation Z are doing more for society-wide racial integration than many leaders of the Civil Rights struggle in the 1960s — and even the 1990s — ever dreamed possible. 

But online dating isn't all good news for those of us who want a fair and just society. Because of course, race isn't the only dividing line that developed countries like America struggle with today. There's also class. 

Here the data gets impossibly murky, because people don't exactly divulge their financial status in the Vows section. But there's another proxy for class, and that's the troubling trend towards  exclusive, private membership-based dating apps.

There's the League, which has 300,000 members and a 500,000-strong waitlist. There's Luxy, which boasts that half its members are worth half a million or more. But the poster child for this brave new balkanized world is Raya, the LA-based online dating service that only accepts 8 percent of applicants and is currently 10,000 strong across a dozen countries. 

Some of the more desperate have been known to offer as much as $10,000 for a membership, according to this New York Times profile. No dice: to get one you're judged on factors like your Instagram following and how many people you know who are already in the club. 

On Raya, the well-heeled and well-connected swipe without having to see a single face from the hoi polloi. The founder had utopian visions of a global dinner party, a "digital Davos" for dating. But as with many utopian visions of the past, this has its own unintended consequences.

If Raya is the kind of thing we all secretly aspire to be on, then the future may be one of multiple tiers. Dating apps would become the new rungs of the social ladder. And all the gains made on the interracial front would be lost as people only meet others at their same income or Instagram-follower level. 

That effect could last for longer than one generation, if history is any guide. If you and your partner met on Raya, you may look askance at your kids if they want to hang out on tattered old Tinder. We're talking about dating apps creating a new aristocracy. 

Which in turn means that we might want to look at apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Badoo in a new light. 

By using these widest possible pools of potential dates, rather than aspiring to something more exclusive, we're keeping ourselves open to more random love connections that cut across lines of race and class and everything else that divides us. We're doing our part to keep society more open, more diverse, less stratified. 

Even if we come to the popular apps with certain racial or class preferences, we can still allow ourselves to be surprised by an unusual match, to think outside our normal boxes, at least for the length of one date. We have nothing to lose but our preconceptions. 

We still haven't determined the name of this vast global game we're playing, or what the final boss level will be. But let's hope it's less of a snobby, royalty-based medieval Reigns game, and more of a vast, experimental, hot melting pot. Call it Global Thermonuclear Love. 

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