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kanonsarchivedblog · 2 years

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The Song of Rhaegar Targaryen: Part I: The Beginning of the Ballad

Word Count: 1,985

Author's Notes: Hi, hello, there was a surprising amount of demand for this when I mentioned it, so here's the rework I created of Game of Thrones season 1-8 in an Alternate Universe where Rhaegar Targaryen was not killed off. I wrote this shortly after the end of Season 8 which quite frankly made me want to rip my hair out. This goes season by season; each chapter is a season, with the first chapter being Pre-Show/Book canon.

This is in no way affiliated with GRRM; I just used to roleplay Rhaegar and wanted a verse where he lived. Thank you, and I hope you all enjoy.

Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX Tag list: @heartsvamps , @nixnbob , @papery-maniac ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Prince Rhaegar was the firstborn son of King Aerys II Targaryen (more popularly known as The Mad King) and Queen Rhaella- Aerys’ sister- at Summerhall in 259 AC, on the very same day that The Tragedy took place. Before we begin to talk of Rhaegar, we must first talk of the Tragedy, for it is intricately tied within his story.

The Tragedy of Summerhall occurred during a celebration, thrown by King Aegon to celebrate the impending birth of his first great-grandchild to Aerys and Rhaella, the children of his heir, Prince Jaehaerys. The fire of the fire remains unknown, but has been whispered to have been connected to King Aegon’s desire to restore dragons to the Seven Kingdoms, for in the final years of his reign, he’d become consumed by searching for ancient lore of the dragons and the dragon breeding of Valyria. It has been said that Aegon commissioned journeys to Asshai, with the sole hope of finding texts and knowledge that had not been preserved in Westeros of the old ways of Valyria.

The Tragedy struck in the evening; many deaths occurred, and by some miracle, Rhaella and Rhaegar survived the fire, despite it ruining the castle. According to Ser Barristan Selmy, some form of sorcery was involved. A single letter from Summerhall’s former maester, Corso, had been sent, describing the tragedy, though a mishap led to ink spilling, causing much of the information to be destroyed forever.

“The blood of the dragon gathered in one … … seven eggs, to honor the seven gods, though the king's own septon had warned … … pyromancers … … wyldfire … … flames grew out of control … towering … burned so hot that … … died, but for the valor of the Lord Comman …”

Now, we may speak of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, first of his name.

As a child he read obsessively, consuming any and all books that he could find- to the point that jests were made about his reading habits. He became a noted warrior later in life, although he did not initially seem inclined to martial habits. However, apparently by something he had read, Rhaegar became motivated to become a warrior. It has been noted that he had managed to find something that pertained to the story of Azor Ahai- the Prince that was Promised.

At the age of seventeen, Prince Rhaegar was knighted, and from all reports grew into a highly skilled and capable fighter, distinguishing himself well at tournaments, although he seldom entered the lists - he never loved the song of swords the way that men like Robert Baratheon or Jaime Lannister did.

Rhaegar's squires were Myles Mooton and Richard Lonmouth, and even after he knighted them they remained close companions.

Jon Connington, whom he himself had squired with growing up, was a good friend to Rhaegar as well. Returning from a trip to Dorne, Rhaegar once visited the Connington seat of Griffin's Roost. His songs brought the castle's women to tears, while Lord Armond Connington sought House Targaryen's support against rival House Morrigen. Jon Connington did hold romantic feelings towards Rhaegar, though it is unclear if these feelings were returned. However, Rhaegar's closest and oldest friend was Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, of whom he trusted more than Ser Barristan Selmy.

Rhaegar often liked to visit the ruins of Summerhall with only his harp, and upon his return, he would sing songs of such beauty they would often reduce women to tears. Although Rhaegar was often dour, private, and bookish, Cersei Lannister noted at the tournament in honor of Viserys's birth in Lannisport in 276 AC that “the smallfolk cheered for Lord Tywin Lannister twice as much as for King Aerys II, but only half as loudly for Tywin as for Rhaegar.” Rhaegar, age 17 at the time, fought well in the tourney, besting a dozen skilled knights, among them Barristan Selmy, Gerion, and Tygett Lannister, but was defeated in the champion's tilt by his dear friend Arthur Dayne. Aerys refused Tywin's offer at the tourney to betroth Cersei to Rhaegar. It is to be noted that Rhaegar defeated Arthur in the tourney at Storm's End.

Rhaegar was born at a time when the Targaryen family had declined, and once he came of age, there was no sister, nor anyone else of their bloodline, available for him to marry. King Aerys sent his first cousin, Lord Steffon Baratheon, to seek a bride for Rhaegar. Despite Valyrian blood still being present in Essos, Steffon could not find appropriate females of noble-enough birth for Rhaegar to wed.

After this in early 279 AC, Rhaegar was formally betrothed to the Dornish princess, Elia Martell, the younger sister of Doran Martell, the crown Prince of Dorne. They married the following year of 280 AC in a lavish ceremony that was held at the Great Sept of Baelor. His father did not attend the wedding as he was paranoid about an assassination attempt, nor did he permit the young Prince Viserys to attend.

Rhaegar and his father's relationship was straining at this point, and he and his new bride took up residence on Dragonstone instead of King's Landing. Rhaegar and Elia had their first child, a girl named Rhaenys, in 280 AC. When the babe was presented at court, Rhaegar's mother, Queen Rhaella, embraced her grandchild warmly while King Aerys remarked: "she smells Dornish". The relationship between Aerys and Rhaegar became more and more estranged.

A little over a year and a half later, Elia and Rhaegar had a son who they named Aegon. Elia, due to her delicate health, was bed-ridden for half a year after giving birth to Rhaenys and nearly died giving birth to Aegon, after which the maesters told Rhaegar she would be unable to have any more children. Maester Aemon, whom Rhaegar corresponded with via raven messages, remembers that Rhaegar believed his child Aegon to be the prince that was promised.

When Lord Tywin resigned his position as Hand of the King and left court, the new focus of King Aerys's mistrust and paranoia was his own son and heir, Prince Rhaegar. At court, there was growing tension between factions loyal to the king and those who were loyal to the prince. Grand Maester Pycelle dispatched a letter to the Citadel, writing that tensions and division at court strongly resembled those shortly before the Dance of the Dragons. Pycelle was fearful a civil war would break out unless some accord could be reached that would satisfy both factions.

In 282 AC, Lord Walter Whent announced a tourney would be held at Harrenhal to rival any previous tournament. It is believed by some that the tourney was secretly arranged and financed by Prince Rhaegar, as a pretext, so Rhaegar could meet with the great lords of the realm to discuss arranging a Great Council and the removal of his father. The tournament was announced by Walter shortly after his brother, Ser Oswell of the Kingsguard, visited his older brother. When Lord Varys alerted Aerys II to this possibility, the king decided to attend the tourney.

During the great tourney at Harrenhal, Rhaegar seemed unstoppable and defeated even Ser Arthur Dayne. Taking the winter rose crown for the queen of love and beauty, he revealed his interest in Lyanna Stark by passing over his wife, Princess Elia of Dorne, and setting it in Lyanna's lap. Eddard Stark later recalled that moment as "when all the smiles died". The next year, Rhaegar seemingly kidnapped Lyanna, for reasons previously unknown. This act ultimately triggered Robert's Rebellion and the final downfall of the Targaryen dynasty.

Some believe that Rhaegar spent the beginning of Robert's Rebellion, also known as the War of the Usurper, with Lyanna Stark at the tower of joy in the Red Mountains of Dorne. Despite her fear, Elia remained in King’s Landing with their children due to her belief in the prophecy passed down to Rhaegar. King Aerys sent Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, to retrieve Rhaegar. Leaving Ser Gerold, Ser Arthur Dayne, and Ser Oswell Whent at the tower, Rhaegar returned to the crownlands and took command of the Targaryen army after the defeat of his friend Jon Connington in the battle of the Bells. Ser Jaime Lannister was left at the Red Keep to protect Rhaegar's father and family.

Rhaegar met Lord Robert Baratheon in combat at a ford during the Battle of the Trident, where the pair had a legendary duel in the raging rivers of the Trident. Rhaegar, despite wounding Robert, was struck down with a massive blow from Robert's warhammer, which scattered the rubies encrusted in Rhaegar's armor into the water. Despite receiving a mortal wound, he survived, but was knocked unconscious. Thinking he was dead, Robert left him in the waters.

Upon waking, Rhaegar found himself alone. The wound had cut through his chest cleanly, baring bone. He could not remove his armor on his own; thus, he forced himself to his feet and half stumbled, half crawled to the nearest Inn- Crossroads Inn. The Innkeep, alarmed and confused, took Rhaegar in and did their best to patch him up. During this time of healing, his mother and Viserys were spirited away to Dragonstone Island while his father was slain upon his throne by Jaime Lannister on orders given by Tywinn Lannister. His wife and children were murdered by The Mountain, Gregor Clegane.

Hearing this news, he laid low, keeping his head down and going as far as to color his hair with bricks of dye, darkening the ivory locks to a muddy blonde. He sold the few rubies that remained from his armor for safe (and secret) passage to Dragonstone. It had taken him nearly eight months to completely heal, in which he went by a false name and claimed he was a bastard- a Logaine Rivers. He’d learned of his former wife, Elia’s, death- of his children’s murder, of his father’s murder. Usurped by none other than Jaime Lannister, his former friend, a man of whom he had knighted himself.

He arrived at Dragonstone the day of the great storm, where he bore witness to the birth of his sister, Daenerys. Try as he and her ladymaids might, his mother bled far too much, and passed away due to the complicated birth. He, along with Viserys, Daenerys, and Ser Willem Dary fled to the Free Cities where they would find shelter- and slowly amass a following. For fifteen years, they remained in the Free Cities, being welcomed with open arms. Rhaegar, the true heir of the Iron Throne, was well sought-after by family after family; a twice-widowed Targaryen prince. He, along with his siblings, found solace with Magister Illyrio Mopatis, who allows them to live within his estate in the Free City of Pentos.

He took the time to write in secret to Aemon Targaryen, a distant relative who had been stationed on the Wall, having taken the Black long ago, requesting information- if any- on Ned Stark and the “bastard” that he has. Aemon responds that there is a new Bastard, but knows nothing more. This spurred Rhaegar into writing and sending a raven to Ned Stark, explaining that yes, he is alive- his siblings live, as well. His mother perished, but they are alive, and in Essos, laying low. He requests that Ned look after Aegon and Lyanna, believing her to still be living.

Ned writes back, simply stating that Lyanna died shortly after giving birth to Aegon, who Ned has taken in as his bastard and will be going by the name Jon Snow, and that he would not tell Jon of his true parentage until the time is right. Reading that Lyanna is dead breaks something in Rhaegar, and for a short time, he becomes melancholic and reclusive, refusing to speak or work on gaining favor with the families in Essos, grieving for Lyanna and Elia simultaneously- both women he loved, now dead.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #house of the dragon #rhaegar targaryen #house targaryen #daenerys targaryen #jamie lannister #jon connington

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what-do-1000-swords-look-like · 2 years

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The North was always in trouble - it was going to be next after King's Landing

"Your capitol will be safe until the Northern threat is dealt with."

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Let's look at the wording here, shall we?

"Your capitol" -> isn't it Dany's capitol by right? Granted, yes, Cersei is in power and they're here to negotiate a truce, but your capitol?

"Will be safe" -> why would the capitol need to be safe? Okay, yes, she will eventually take KL, there will be a war, we get it, but this wording is super specific. Why not say "your red keep" or "you" or "your crown" or something along those lines? No wonder Cersei used the people to try to either deter Dany from attacking or to show Westeros her true colors

"Until" -> yes, we know, you will not put aside this war for long. Trust me, Dany, we get it. But what kills me here is that her group has literally been discussing the plan to block food routes and all exits/entrances to the city to wait Cersei out until the people turn on her.

"the Northern threat" -> this wording is super important. The NK is not the Northern threat. The NK is a threat to all, which Jon just literally said, and Tyrion opened up with. She could have said "Night King" like she did in 7x06. She could have said "the dead' or "white walkers" or "the undead", but no, she says "Northern threat." No surprise that this was a lead up to what happens with Dany and the North the next season.

"Is dealt with" -> need I say more? We know how she deals with threats.

This is even more interesting when we think back to what Cersei said earlier in the show about the North being too big and too wild. That no one can hold it (outside of the Northerners themselves). And then we think back to Robb being able to call all of their banners and march down south to attempt to free his father, and then to depose Joffrey and rescue Sansa (and Arya, who they think is there at first). In the show, other than the Iron Islands, the only other place in Westeros to have another monarch outside of KL (I know in the book history, this is different, especially before Aegon but in the show they didn't delve into this too much so I'm sticking with showverse for now).

And sure enough we get the scene of Cersei (which is meant to be a bit of a scene contrast to Robb's back in season 1 - even right down to what "words are worth" considering what Jon just told Tyrion before the latter spoke to Cersei alone) instructing Qyburn to call all of their banners. And it's purposely done this way (with Jon standing right there though he's already bent the knee) because it becomes the very inverse to what we saw in season 1 with Robb. Robb called all of the Northern banners to march south for the right reason. Cersei is "calling" all of her Southern banners to march North for the "right reason". (I'm putting those in quotation marks since we know what happens after Cersei's promise to help with the NK)

Then we get the library scene in 8x02 with Dany and Sansa, and it becomes apparent that Dany never intended for the North to be independent, not even when Sansa asks point blank. Not even when Jon presumably told Dany how they struggled to take back Winterfell from the Boltons. Not even when Jon told her what happened to Sansa not only with the Lannisters but the Boltons (as evidenced in 8x04) & this might lead her to presume that this woman aka fellow leader aka your beloved's sister might not feel safe leaving her home or being under anyone else's rule aka thumb again.

Dany made it very clear in 7x03 what she not only expected from the North but what would happen if she didn't get it:

"As far as I can see, you are the enemy to the North."

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So sure enough, when she finally goes North and isn't received with the "love" she expected, the show purposely showcased to the audience how the North reacted to the dragons flying overhead and Dany's reaction:

And how things deteriorated with Sansa from the get go:

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"The longer I leave my enemies alone, the stronger they become."

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"From Winterfell to Dorne" - Dorne no longer had a ruling family thanks to Ellaria and the Sand Snakes; Lannisport was no longer of concern because the Lannisters were gone & Tyrion was under Dany's rule; Qarth has already been conquered; the Summer Isles and Jade Sea were just meant to show the latitude and longitude she was going to go -> Winterfell was next on the liberation tour

The North was always in trouble.

#dark!dany #got #game of thrones #gotposts #dark!daenerys #dark!dany meta #metaposts #dark!danyposts

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tomakeitbeautifultolive · 4 years

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2 questions (or so😬); 1) do you have headcanons of how will Jon and Danys love or romance story develop(if there is one)? Slow, over time? Or on the first sight, head over heels? One-sided, and later two-sider? Will both of them don't know(R+L=J) ? Or only Jon? How do you picture the angst between them? 2)when did Ben joined the NW and why? It's not like the NW went from a place or glory to a shit hole in a span of 15 years?! Like it's never mentioned what Ben did during the rebellion? Thx you

Wow! Thank you for all the asks! Sorry it took me so long to get to your beautiful questions. Oh you know I've got some Jon x Dany headcanons! *rubs hands together*

I believe it will be a slow burn that will resemble season seven in many ways (there's a reason season seven, for all its flaws, was still very highly rated as opposed to season eight - because while things like dialogue or timing suffered, the plot still felt like it was going in the right direction).

My prediction about Jon has always been that he'll be the *one* man who isn't impressed with Dany's beauty. Oh, he'll notice it all right, but he won't mention it or use it as a means to gain her favor with compliments. He's going to treat her as an equal right off the bat, and not as an object or a prize that he can win or woo. This is going to perplex Daenerys and probably intrigue her. They'll earn each other's respect based on merit, and I definitely predict some sort of innate bond between them because they're basically fated to meet.

Now, there's some speculation that because Jon died and is (most likely) coming back to life, we may never get another POV from him again. If that is the case (knock on wood) it will definitely appear very one-sided. I also have a headcanon that Jon absolutely resembles his true father in all but coloring, and that he's a total knockout - and we won't find that out until Daenerys sees him and we finally hear a proper description of his looks. (I also have a headcanon that Jon has his father's eyes - that everyone assumes they're grey but actually they're a dark indigo...) And in my dreams, Barristan Selmy is standing beside Daenerys on Dragonstone when Jon marches in and Ser Barristan sees something in Jon that strikes him as familiar... I would love it if, upon seeing Jon, it suddenly clicks for Barriston.

Angst between them, hmm. (f)Aegon is a bit of a curveball here. Either he's going to carry out his plan to try and wed his aunt and it could cause angst and make Jon realize he feels something more for Dany, or this will happen long before Jon is around - possibly as a ploy. Part of me suspects that if he took Tyrion's advice to heart about having a stronger claim than Dany, he might try to get rid of her or destroy her reputation somehow when she arrives to Westeros - and Jon might go to her once she's totally compromised and offer an alliance then.

I am more of a mystery theorist rather than someone who feels comfortable guessing at battle plans or strategies, I admit...

I do think that Jon's parentage will come out by some means or another, and that Daenerys will find out. I don't see this being a point of contention between them whatsoever, nor will the incest be a problem for Jon. In fact, I kind of see the pair of them teaming up to slay the mummer's dragon together. While the show really went hard with Targaryens being mad and evil, that is hardly the case for ASOIAF. This negative image of Targaryens comes mostly from, you betcha, the Lannisters (and Robert Baratheon). It was more or less a propaganda campaign that succeeded not only across Westeros, but apparently across the reader base who cannot read between the lines.

If it's true that Coldhands is not Benjen, then it could be Benjen or Howland who spill the beans, or perhaps confirm Ser Barristan's suspicion? (Assuming he doesn't die - but I really feel in my heart that he won't). I think Jon will have an identity crisis - not so much about being a Targaryen (I think he'll be proud of that honestly) but about not being Ned Stark's son as he was led to believe. I'd love for him, and the readers, to finally learn that his true father was a great man.

Now, speaking of Benjen... I believe he had a very heavy hand in what happened between Lyanna and Rhaegar. I believe he helped equip Lyanna with the mismatched armor needed for the tourney - and that he helped them, in some way, correspond in order to plan their elopement/abscondence.

During the rebellion, Benjen was the Stark in Winterfell - which I can only imagine how that empty castle haunted him during that period. Following news of his sister's death, I'd be willing to bet Benjen was utterly overcome with guilt. And for as close as Ned and Lyanna were, I believe Benjen was even closer to her. His joining the Night's Watch reads almost like a self-inflicted punishment/imprisonment, or... maybe... it wasn't that at all. His decision to join the ranks of a military order full of Targaryen supporters beyond the reach of Robert Baratheon might be a strategic one.

Benjen isn't stupid. He has to know who Jon is, right? I suspect he was even in on the prophecy that Rhaegar was into about TPTWP. So, Ned is keeping Jon safe, but Benjen might just be securing his future (or was, until his disappearance threw the plan into jeopardy).

Now... I have another little theory everyone is going to hate. But bear with me.

The Mormonts. They're a relatively small house sworn to Stark, in the middle of fucking nowhere. And by that I mean they're on small Bear Island surrounded by water - it's real out of the way from just about any and everything. They are described as poor.

So, how the hell does this small, obscure house manage to be one of the few with a Valyrian sword? Was it really written that way just so that Jon could inherit it? That seems a bit too convenient for GRRM's standards, doesn't it?

Presumably, sometime before Robert's Rebellion (though no one knows for sure), Jeor Mormont joined the Night's Watch and quickly moved through the ranks, securing Lord Commander status. Benjen Stark becomes First Ranger. Two of the most powerful positions. And Bear Island went to Jeor's son, Jorah Mormont, along with Longclaw.

What happens with Jorah, exactly? He's caught selling poachers to slavers. Poachers. On Bear Island...?

For this disgrace, Jorah Mormont fled to the Free Cities. In the books, it says during this time Jorah fights the Braavosi, but in the show, he admits to having been part of the Golden Company (this might be important considering GRRM was pretty involved in season one and writing it).

I know the story goes that the sword has been with the family for five-hundred years. But a theme in these books is that history doesn't quite add up, and I can't help but notice that while the Starks' sword Ice dates back four-hundred years, around the time of the Doom of Valyria/when the Targaryens landed in Westeros, the Mormont sword allegedly goes back a hundred years further? Curious.

The original pommel, according to Jeor, was worn and indistinguishable - which seems strange for a Valyrian steel sword. Either way, this is a hint that pommels can be swapped out.

Much like Jon, Longclaw might also have a secret Targaryen identity: Blackfyre.

I'd love to see Jon and Dany square off against (f)Aegon - Dany with her dragons and Jon wielding Blackfyre. It's absurd headcanon for me that Jon obtaining and wielding this sword will inspire the Golden Company in some way and get them to change allegiance. How? I think we're missing plenty of details but if anyone knows the fate of Blackfyre better than we do, it's the Golden Company, and if Jorah did work for them or fight against them, then his presence alongside Jon/Dany might prove the swords are one and the same.

How perfect would it be for Jon to wield the very same sword as his idol, the Young Dragon? *dreamy sigh*

Anyway. If you're following me this far, it's also curious that Jorah goes on to find and protect Daenerys, eh? Meanwhile, when Jon expresses interest in joining the Night's Watch, Benjen says this:

"Until you have known a woman, you cannot understand what you would be giving up."

"I don't care about that!" Jon said hotly.

"You might, if you knew what it meant," Benjen said. "If you knew what the oath would cost you, you might be less eager to pay the price, son."

It's just all very curious to me. And maybe we'll never get answers where Benjen is concerned, just like we'll never know exactly what Rhaegar's plan was, either. But imagining these grand schemes going on in the background make the story so much more interesting to me because I'm a dreamer, what can I say?

Thanks for the asks, they were a great way to get my mind off of paranoia for a while lol ♥

#answered #jonerys #headcanons

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jonsnowwesterosworld · 4 years

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Game of Thrones one year on- why it went wrong- Cut Characters

In the process of making Game of Thrones many characters from the books are understandably cut with the show runners wanting to focus on established Stark, Lannister characters we have been with from season 1, but these characters are important in their own right and to the overall storyline which becomes more apparent as the story goes on.

Many characters from the secondary phase of the books were either cut or added at 11th hour. Some characters were simply replaced by existing ones and while this may sometimes work as I highlighted in my second essay about themes and replacing Jeyne Poole with Sansa led to both individual character arcs and the overarching themes for the story being undermined.

People have explained the travesty of the Dornish plot better than I ever will, but instead of the story being about Princess Arianne trying to cement her birthright as the heiress of Dorne and earn her father’s respect with her Queenmaker plot; about Doran’s plotting to overthrow the Lannister and get revenge for Elia and Oberyn; about how war only leads to dead children and does a Prince have a right to call his spears for personal reasons. Instead they turned it into a buddy adventure for Jaime and Bronn to rescue Myrcella and turned Ellaria and the sand snakes into one dimensional character’s hell bent on revenge and murdering an innocent girl, with the sand snakes being carbon copies of each other- in the books they have their own appearances and personalities. Arianne is currently off to meet (f)Aegon to see if he is real, with her a Dorne having an important part to play in the wars to come.

They added Euron and the Ironborn in season 6 way later than it happens in the books because the show runners probably realised they needed another villain to help Cersei and try and even the odds against Dany. Instead of making Euron the monster and threat he is- they never shied away from the Mountain or Ramsay. Instead of being a magical guy who has a horn he wants to use to control Dany’s dragons and make himself a god and may bring down the Wall they turned Euron into a knock off Jack Sparrow.

Instead of having Dany randomly go mad and burn Kingslanding, if they wanted that to happen they could have added (f)Aegon who is already arrived in Westeros and is likely to claim the throne as a popular ruler. This would lead to a conflict with Dany as she will see him as the ‘mummer’s dragon’ who stands in the way of her goal, especially if she embraces fire and blood. Instead of giving (f)Aegon Rhaegal and setting it up as the greens vs the blacks and the second dance of the dragons they instead decided to have Dany randomly turn mad and burn Kingslanding.

#anti got #anti d&d #anti game of thrones #arianne martell #doran martell #ellaria sand #sand snakes #euron greyjoy #daenerys targaryen #faegon #aegon targaryen

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hamliet · 5 years

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I've never seen Game of Thrones but I've heard a lot about it and apparently many people are upset with the ending. Something about Targaryen becoming a villain at the last second for no apparent reason? Idk, could you explain what's going on? I heard it's based off a book series. Does the show stray from the original plot or stay loyal to it?

*starts sobbing* SPARE YOURSELF

Honestly I’d sum it up like how @mercyandmagic summed it up: image Harry Potter wins the Battle of Hogwarts, but in the very moment he wins, he snaps and the Voldemort horcrux inside him suddenly takes over the rest of his soul and he murders almost everyone and Ginny has to put him down at Hermione and Ron’s urging.

That’s what happened. It was a tone-deaf plot twist in this day and age, misogynistic, ableist, and racist in its execution, and it was poorly written as well--like, there was no foreshadowing for this twist of events.

The thing about the books is that they aren’t completed. We are 5/7 books through. The creator told the showrunners the bare bones of the ending (who lives/dies/gets the throne), so I’m hoping this isn’t his endgame exactly. Others speculate it might not be (for example, the main ship--Jon and Dany--might still have one killing the other, but it might be more in a sacrifice than in a “put the mad dog down” scenario like the show gave us. Still hate it, but not “burn it all down”).

We know they cut some characters from the books whom at first I assumed the fact that they were cut meant that they were extra fat, and... well I am now hoping that’s wrong because combining their arcs with the characters we have left would explain a lot about it being shit.

So, the primary defense I’m seeing of Dany Villain is that she’s a tragic heroine, and her descent just wasn’t written properly. I’d agree that it’s not written well, but I’d also argue that in both the books and in the show, Dany is not presented as a tragic heroine at all, but as a hero on a gritty version of the hero’s journey–just like Jon--but one of the cut characters is indeed a tragic heroine.

The thing about tragedies is that you have to manage expectations and clearly show that your tragic hero is doomed from the very early on–ie you have to show them making steadily worse and worse decisions (see: Eren Jaeger in SnK), if not directly tell your audience at the very beginning that this is a tragic story (ie see Greek choruses and Shakespeare, the prequels from Star Wars because everyone knows Anakin is Vader–plus I’d argue Anakin’s arc only works because we know he comes back to the light in the end–Kaneki Ken in the first Tokyo Ghoul, etc).

We don’t have that with Dany or with Jon, and we’re 5/7 through the books which is, frankly, too late. If they intended to show Dany as a tragic heroine they needed to start foreshadowing that in, oh, book 3/season 4-5 at the latest, and show divergence from Jon Snow’s arc instead of increasing parallels. But they haven’t, which gives me hope at least that the book’s ending plays out a little bit more like Dany burning a city as the “abyss/underworld” part of her hero’s journey (which she is on, and so is Jon) and then redeeming herself in the end fighting a greater enemy.

A hero’s journey includes a step in which the hero confronts the darkness, the shadow. For Jon, it’s a cold death and the fact that winter is coming. For Dany, it’s her father and her heritage’s legacy of fire and blood. The end of Book 5, the last book published, pretty clearly showed both of them falling to the abyss (well, teetering on the edge, and it’s going to get worse before they’re both reborn). But the important thing is that it’s not the end of their journey.

Audiences don’t like reversing on set up/undoing structure. To make Dany a tragic heroine is to go against the structure of her arc in both show and book. That’s why people don’t like it, even if the books makes it seem more believable.

You know who is set up as a tragic heroine destined to descend and die because of her flaws in the books, whose arc has almost certainly been combined with Dany’s in some sense in the show?

Arianne Martell. (and another character known as f!Aegon)

The show pretty clearly merged Jon’s (main hero’s) arc with f!Aegon’s, even giving him his name (in a nonsensical way. In the books, f!Aegon believes he is Aegon Targaryen, Jon’s brother, though he really isn’t as Aegon is dead; in the show, Jon’s dad apparently named… both his sons Aegon. Mmkay). Characters who are the mastermindsbehind the Aegon plot, supporting him over f!Aegon, take Jon’s side against Dany in the show. Similarly, the show is merging Dany with Arianne, retconning her as letting her demons overtake her in the end, when that is just not Dany’s arc’s set up at all, in the books or in the show.

In the books, Arianne is incredibly ambitious, and especially resents her brother and his quest for power. Like Margaery (another tragic character), Arianne seeks power and is intelligent and manipulative in her quest for it. But Margaery’s fatal mistake is that in seeking power and prestige, she’s become more a pawn than anything else for a villain (Cersei). She chose to play with lions, and she’ll be torn apart; that’s not surprising. Arianne, as her chapters hint, is going to almost certainly marry f!Aegon, playing with fire, and die burning for it.

Arianne’s grasping for her own power is never portrayed as cruel or stupid like the main human villain (Cersei); on the contrary, we empathize with a girl who truly cares about her people, but resents her father’s preferential treatment towards her brother. That’s the difference between Arianne and Cersei: Arianne cares. She is not cruel. But her pride is still going to get her killed.

The books as I recall have always, always portrayed the Others (White Walkers) as the primary threat, not the game of thrones. People who get involved in the game of thrones–it doesn’t end well. The thing about Dany, though, is that she sees herself as a revolutionary. “Break the wheel” isn’t in the books (yet), but it’s a pretty good character moment for her that rings true. But this sets up Dany’s primary conflict: does she want to be like her father or not? Throughout the books, she hasn’t wanted to be. But she can’t have her cake and eat it to. If she goes for the throne–symbolic of her family and her father and those ghosts, as it’s always been portrayed as corrupting–she will indeed probably become more like her father. To be unlike her father, she’d probably have to not play the game of thrones anymore at all, and the Others are like… RIGHT THERE to provide this motivation for her.

But the show said “fuck it she’s her dad let me show you a snap two episodes after she saved the world from the Others who after being the primary threat for 7.5 seasons are now an afterthought and defeated after a single day because we gotta go with Bitches Be CrayCray as a plotline”

Man, I remember being disappointed the show cut Arianne and f!Aegon, but honestly it wasn’t until this season that I’ve been realizing how wrong my thinking that “they must have just been fat that could be cut” might have been. I shouldn’t have trusted D&D, that they knew what they were doing. They did not.

Or this might all be wrong and Jon and Dany are just doomed to be victims of bad writing in any case. *shrugs* Who knows if we’ll ever get those last two books (there’s been an 8+ year gap from the last one) so. Yeah.

That is probably way too long and complicated. I am sorry. I needed to vent lol. Also, the Dany and Arianne and f!Aegon theory is not mine--other meta writers for the books have written about it, but I find it convincing and honestly it gives me hope; see here.

#ask hamliet #game of thrones #got meta #got negativity #daenerys targaryen #jon snow #asoiaf #arianne martell #aot-snk-4238

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ansheofthevalley · 5 years

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Jenny of Oldstones, the Prince of the Dragonflies and Sansa Stark and Jonsa: parallels, symbolism and motifs.

(This is regarding this post and some kind of discourse that it brought, because apparently, drawing parallels bewteen them is a reach now)

@sansasnowstark, your defense of this parallel inspired me to write this.

First off, what’s a parallel?

A person or thing that is similar or analogous to another.

A similarity or comparison.

Something very similar to something else, or a similarity between two things

Parallelism, in rhetoric, component of literary style in both prose and poetry, in which coordinate ideas are arranged in phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that balance one element with another of equal importance and similar wording. The repetition of sounds, meanings, and structures serves to order, emphasize, and point out relations.

The Oxford dictionary uses the word analogy. Let’s see what an analogy is as a literary device:

A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

A story, play, poem, picture, or other work in which the characters and events represent particular qualities or ideas that relate to morals, religion, or politics

Allegory is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas and principles are described in terms of characters, figures, and events [...] Writers use allegory to add different layers of meanings to their works. Allegory makes their stories and characters multidimensional, so that they stand for something larger in meaning than what they literally stand for.

And since we’re on topic, let’s see what symbol mean:

A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

A symbol, says the dictionary, is something that stands for something else or a sign used to represent something.

About symbolism:

Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities, by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense. [...] Symbolism can take different forms. Generally, it is an object representing another, to give an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant. Sometimes, however, an action, an event or a word spoken by someone may have a symbolic value.

So, with all these definitions in mind, let’s jump into Jenny of Oldstones and her story with Duncan Targaryen, the Prince of the Dragonflies.

As said in the post linked above, Michele Clapton uses the dragonfly motif on Sansa’s costumes throughout the series, whether it’s a pendant, embroidery (x) (x), fabric, or the shape of her costumes (x) (x).

But what’s a motif?:

A dominant or recurring idea in an artistic work.

An idea that is used many times in a piece of writing or music

Motif is an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work. A motif can be seen as an image, sound, action, or other figure that has a symbolic significance, and contributes toward the development of a theme. Motif and theme are linked, but there’s a difference between them. A motif is a recurrent image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains a theme.

Now, having better understanding of what a motif is, we can all agree that the dragonfly (image) is linked to Sansa throughout the seasons. The dragonfly motif on Sansa works as symbolism of Jenny of Oldstones and the Prince of the Dragonflies. It has symbolic significance. But why?

First of all, we have to understand that a symbol’s meaning can change throughout the story. It evolves, same as a character.

At first, during S1, the dragonfly as symbol are meant to represent Sansa’s idealism and love for songs and knightly valor. We know the story of Jenny and Duncan is one of her favorites (as is the story of Aemon the Dragonknight and Naerys, but I’ll talk about later). In S1, the dragonflies represent her naiveté. But as the seasons come and go, the dragonflies are still present but their symbolic value are not the same: the embroidery is gone, but we still catch glimpses of dragonfly motif in her pendant, her circle and needle necklace and her dresses’ clasps:

While in King’s Landing, the dragonflies are still tied to her idealism and romanticism, as she befriends Margaery and expects to marry Loras. So, even though her previous idealism and worldview are shattered the moment her father is executed, she still holds on to those things, as they give her a sense of security and normality. But the meaning of the symbol changed: it doesn’t represent the idealism and naiveté of before, now it represents her longing for freedom.

While in the Vale, she goes under a rather radical transformation. She debuts the feather dress, which is a direct contrast to the dragonfly symbolism of season 1: she’s no longer that “sweet summer child”; she has seen how terrible the world can be, that “life is not a song”. So she shows the world, through her costume, how the world made her tougher. The “needle” of the circular necklace, while paralleling Arya’s sword and being her own kind of weapon, is also an evolution of the dragonfly necklace: it represents how she had her wings cut off.

The dragonfly motif comes back to her costume in the form of clasps, while she escapes Ramsay and while she’s at the Wall. But again, the meaning of the symbol is not the same as it was during her stay in King’s Landing. Now, she’s reclaiming her freedom, she’s growing back her wings: she’s ready to fight; for Winterfell, against Ramsay and anyone who wants to harm her.

The most recent appereance of the dragonfly motif, even if it’s subtle, is in her leather armor from 8x02, as pointed out by @castaliareed (x):

As castaliareed said “she isn’t wearing a dragonfly anymore, she is the dragonfly”. Again, the meaning of the symbol changes: on one hand, you’ve got a fully grown and independent Sansa, one that has wings. After years of being caged and having her wings cut off, she’s finally free; but on the other hand, if she’s becoming a dragonfly, that means the dragonfly is not just a symbol and a motif, now Sansa herself is a symbol, at the same time she starts antagonizing Dænerys, and thus bringing back the Dragonfly/Dragon dilemma Duncan had to face: there is a parallel between her and the story of Jenny of Oldstones and Duncan, the Prince of the Dragonflies.

So, why is it important that Sansa “becomes” a dragonfly, clearly evoking the story of Jenny and Duncan, in season 8? What does this parallel mean? Why is it important for the narrative?

First, let’s remember the story of Jenny and Duncan Targaryen:

Duncan Targaryen, the Prince of Dragonstone, met Jenny while traveling the riverlands in 239 AC. The prince loved Jenny so much he married her against the wishes of his father, King Aegon V Targaryen, breaking his betrothal to the daughter of Lyonel Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End. King Aegon tried to have the marriage undone, but Duncan refused to give Jenny up, ultimately relinquishing his rights to the Iron Throne for her. The outraged Lyonel led a short-lived rebellion. With his younger brother Jaehaerys becoming Prince of Dragonstone and the new heir, Duncan came to be called Prince of Dragonflies. (x)

At first sight, their story resembles the one of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Both were princes, in both cases there is a scorned Baratheon betrothed, there’s a rebellion against the Targaryens. The story of Jenny of Oldstones and Duncan Targaryen is extremely similar to what happens between Lyanna and Rhaegar but it’s not a direct parallel, Lyanna and Rhaegar’s story is more of a tragic retelling of the story of Jenny of Oldstones and the Prince of the Dragonflies.

But elements of this story are present in both Sansa and Jon’s respective arcs.

As remarked above, the motifs and symbolism is fairly easy to identify in Sansa’s character. So what are the parallels between Sansa and Jenny?:

Connected to the Riverlands

Descendants of the First Men

Both considered strange: some villagers thought Jenny was a witch; after Joffrey’s murder, some talked about how she killed Joffrey with a spell and flew the scene turning into a winged wolf

But what are the parallels between Jon and Duncan?:

Both are dark-haired Targaryens, something that was unusual: Duncan favored his mother, Betha Blackwood; Jon favored his mother, Lyanna Stark

Both are the heirs to the Iron Throne

Duncan chose love over duty when abdicating the crown in order to stay with Jenny; part of Jon’s arc is the dichotomy of duty/love, so far he’s chosen duty over love, but there will come a time in which he will choose love over duty

Both are linked to Baratheon rebellions, one started one, the other “ended” it: Duncan’s marriage to Jenny led to a short-lived rebellion, in which Lyonel Baratheon declared himself the Storm King; Jon was born at the end of Robert’s rebellion, one of the reasons Robert rose his banners against the Mad King was the abduction of Lyanna Stark by Rhaegar Targaryen

The main connections between Jonsa and Jenny/Duncan:

A marriage for love: Duncan and Jenny married for love. In Sansa’s case, in GOT, she’s been married twice, neither of them of her choosing and neither had any love. Following the Rule of Three, her third marriage must be different, it has to be one of her choosing and one that will bring her love.

The choosing of love over duty: Jon’s arc has been marked by the duty/love dichotomy. From his time at the Wall, while he infiltrated the Wildling camp, to when he gave up his crown so he could secure a military alliance, Jon has always chosen duty. It will come a time when he will put love first.

The choosing of Dragonflies over Dragons: this has strictly to do with Jon rejecting his Targaryen heritage, while favoring the Starks (through a marriage with Sansa).

#Sansa Stark #Jon Snow #Jonsa #Jenny of Oldstones #Duncan Targaryen #The Prince of the Dragonflies #got #game of thrones #got meta #game of thrones meta #costume analysis #character analysis #character arcs #sansa stark x jenny of oldstones parallels #jenny of oldstones and the prince of the dragonflies #my meta #my thoughts #my stuff

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kallypsowrites · 6 years

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The Many Readings of Game of Thrones (Part 1): Daenerys Targaryen

A little bit ago I made a post about Game of Thrones parallels and how parallels could be interpreted and read in multiple ways. I posited that while it is fun to make predictions based on parallels, it is silly to insist that your reading is the ONLY CORRECT reading so long as we don’t have the ending of the show. Because without the ending, it is unclear what the show has been building to/going for. Until we have the ending, there are many readings we could give the parallels. And I’ma go through some of them today.

Please note that I am going to attempt to be completely neutral in these readings. Even though I, of course, have stuff that I want to happen/don’t want to happen, I am still going to give every set of parallels a fair shake. Then you can decide for yourself which one you like best. Also, an important note, I am ONLY going to investigate show parallels. I know there’s a lot more stuff in the books but if a part from the book didn’t make it into the show, I’m going to assume it won’t influence the show’s ending. With that, I’m going to start with the most controversial character of the show: Daenerys.

In my mind, there are three readings of Daenerys character going around the fandom right now:

1. She is a hero and is going to end up ruling the seven kingdoms after saving them from the white walkers. This ending usually involves her marrying Jon Snow and having a family.

2. She is a hero, but will ultimately die in some way, never quite making it to the throne. Some theories have her dying in child birth, and others have her dying in a heroic fashion. Either way, in this theory, she chooses heroism over her own ambition.

3. She is an antagonist who has been going darker with each passing season and in this season she will choose ambition over the realms and become as much a danger as the white walkers.

So this is a sort of positive, bittersweet and negative reading of Daenerys’ arc and trajectory. I’m going to focus on her in each of these arcs. Obviously, shipping stuff is going to come up as it is often tied to these parallel reads, but I’ll try to keep it focused on her. But I do think I should emphasize that I don’t have a bone in this shipping battle. I’m not hardcore for Jonsa or Jonerys. This is an objective as possible, non-shipper reading of Dany.

Let’s start with THEORY NUMBER ONE: The positive reading.

This reading revolves around reading Daenerys as a mostly morally good character. Not a character without flaws, of course, but a character whose intentions and goals are ultimately just and right. Daenerys starts out in a position of little to no power. This could be paralleled with many other characters in Game of Thrones but, most notably, Sansa. She is not a fighter. She is a physically weak princess type. And in some was she foreshadows Sansa’s struggles in the later seasons (of being married against her will, isolated from her home, becoming disillusioned and learning to find her power and stand up for herself). For the purposes of this reading we are going to call this a positive parallel. We are meant to sympathize equally with Sansa and Daenerys’ arcs and root for them as they come into their own and embrace their name.

Daenerys can also be paralleled with Jon. As a bastard, he has no claim or ability to inherit anything from his family. As a woman, Daenerys’ brother has authority over her. Neither of them are supposed to have any strong claim to the throne but by the end, they both seem to be in the best position to take it. But we’ll get more into their relationship later.

Game of Thrones is full of hard moral choices, and a positive reading suggests that Daenerys is another maker of those hard moral choices. When she kills, it is for a variety of reasons. In some cases, she kills for vengeance when she burns the witch who killed Khal Drogo and locks her betrayers in Quarth. This is parallel to characters like Oberyn Martell and Robb Stark (Robb goes to war to get vengeance and justice for his father and expresses how he would like to ‘kill them all’ when referring to the Lannisters). This is most parallel of all to Arya Stark, who has been on a vengeance train since season 2. Daenerys also kills for justice. After the masters of Mereen crucify several children, she pays them back by crucifying the same number of masters. This treatment could be seen as a parallel to characters like Ned Stark and Stannis, who are very justice focused. Ned Stark would have beheaded Jorah for selling slaves and has beheaded many men for breaking vows, regardless of circumstances.

Daenerys has also killed as part of war which many, many characters have done on all sides of the moral spectrum. Robb Stark sent some of his men to their deaths to give them a victory over Jaime Lannister. Stannis attacked at the Battle of Blackwater, planning to sack the city which would have led to a whole lot of death. Daenerys does the same and tries to avoid attacking civilians. That is not to say she isn’t tempted to attack cities but she can usually be talked down. Her focus is on those who attack her, those who violate the law, and those who take up arms against her. There are times she seems to enjoy the rush of killing her enemies because it makes her feel powerful, but we’ve seen that in Arya, Sansa, the Hound, Tyrion, Cersei, Jaime etc.

Another important character parallel is between Daenerys and her father. Her father liked to burn people alive and was, by all accounts, one of the most awful kings to have ever ruled. They have some similarities. He was also apparently ambitious and had a lot of high ideals. He did not always consider reality because as a Targaryen he felt himself beyond it. Daenerys certainly embraces her name just as fiercely, and her claim to the throne rests on the fact that he was the last king.

However, in this reading we take her at her word: that she is not her father. She shows more basic compassion than her father, reaches out to the poor and needy, tries not to hurt innocents. She does not burn King’s Landing for this reason, while her father was keen to blow the whole place up during his losing war. She also asks her councilors to warn her if they see her going too far. As Tyrion says “she knows herself” and wants to improve upon her flaws. Sometimes she listens to her advisors and sometimes she doesn’t. This is the same as any king/queen with their councilors. Therefore, because she is self aware of her father’s bloody legacy, she is destined to improve on the past and be a better ruler than him. She is also attempting to improve on her ancestor Aegon’s work. He was a conqueror who built the wheel that is the iron throne, but Daenerys has expressed the desire to break the wheel. Maybe this will lead to reforms to improve the monarchy and it’s relationship with the seven kingdoms.

Since many of the other main characters have killed and even enjoyed killing, she cannot be placed as darker than any of the rest of them. She is simply one of many morally grey characters on a spectrum. And therefore a hero of Game of Thrones.

A hero prioritizes the weak over those in power. A hero prioritizes the safety of the people over their own ambition. Most important to this reading is the fact that Daenerys agreed to help Jon Snow whether he bends the knee to her or not. He then, of course, proceeds to bend the knee to her, but she does recognize the necessity of beating the Army of the Dead before claiming her throne. This is foreshadowed in the House of the Undying. Because she did not touch the throne and instead headed the call of her dragons, she proved that she was able to resist ambition when the time called for it. Just like she was rewarded in season 2 (with finding her dragons), she will ultimately be rewarded with the throne she worked so hard to claim at the end of season 8. And, perhaps, she will break the wheel that is the throne and usher Westeros into a better future--probably alongside Jon Snow.

THEORY NUMBER TWO assumes everything that I just said about Daenerys being ultimately good. But the ending is changed. Instead, her not touching the throne symbolizes her final sacrifice. That she will save the realms but ultimately she will not have the throne. She had to fully sacrifice her ambition to make Westeros safe again. However, this is a heroic death, and one that clears the way for future generations.

Others, in this tragic death theory, believe she will die in child birth. There has been a lot of strong foreshadowing to suggest Daenerys will have a baby. They kept bringing it up in season 7, after all. And she visually paralleled with Lyanna Stark while having the boat sex with Jon Snow with the “He loved her and she loved him” line. Lyanna died in child birth and Rhaegar died in battle, leaving Jon Snow alone. It is possible that a new child will be born and left without parents in the same way. Such is the cost of war. This fits as well with the idea that the ending will be “bittersweet”. It would be bitter sweet to have two major characters die but their child survive.

Many are also certain Daenerys is going to die because she has been immune to death for so long. All of us knew that she wasn’t dying before she crossed the narrow sea. George, and the directors, are famous for killing off unexpected characters, so it would be in line with their philosophy of “no one is safe” if they killed one of the biggest and most recognizable characters of the show.

Now, in reference to theory one and two, we need to talk about Daenerys’ parallels with Jon Snow. They both started out with less power and not very much respect. They also (as has been pointed out soooo many times) seem to represent ice and fire. Even the climates where they exist represent ice and fire. Throughout the seasons they both lose their first loves (which began under circumstances of dubious consent), grow in authority, gain many followers and allies, have a mystical animal companion, make tough choices that come with ruling, and prove themselves in battle.

Daenerys faces her most complicated choices in season four and five. Same with Jon Snow. They both take up temporary positions of power, that will not be the end goal for their stories (queen of Mereen/Lord Commander). At the end of season five, Daenerys is alone in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by Dothraki. Jon Snow has been killed. They have fallen from their position. But they are able to rise up again. By the end of season six, Jon has returned to Winterfell and become King in the North and Daenerys has set out to take her place as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. These parallels are meant to show their similarities and foreshadow that they’ve been moving toward each other the whole story. They meet as equals, negotiate as equals, and eventually fall for each other as equals. It could be argued that Daenerys is putting herself over Jon in this season but he does not allow her to make him feel lesser and their relationship only begins once she puts herself on his level and his vulnerable with him. And since they’re both Targaryen, the incest thing won’t be seen as immoral or out of the ordinary.

Because they have been so tightly linked, we can predict that in the positive and bitter sweet theories they will either live together or die together. In the positive theory, it was meant to be and after so much suffering a struggle, they will earn a happy ending in the end. They compliment each other because Jon is more humble and down to earth while Daenerys possessed more of the ambition and idealism needed in a leader. They will make good rulers together.

Or, they have been tragic hero’s from the start and, like Lyanna and Rhaegar before them, they will not survive the Long Night. But they will bring peace to the realms through their deaths. Lyanna and Rhaegar’s match caused discord and a war in the kingdoms. Their match and sacrifice will bring about peace, which gives us our bitter sweet ending.

Either way, according to these two theories, when these two major characters come together in season 7 it is supposed to feel as if two people who have been walking similar journeys are finally uniting with a common purpose, bringing the Stark and Targaryen houses together again. They’ve come from opposite sides of the world, the two last Targaryens, two of the most isolated characters in the series, and now they find a place in each other.

Then there is the very different THEORY THREE: The Dark Daenerys Theory

First off, I think the name Dark! Dany is misleading. It implies that those who subscribe to this theory believe she is evil. Many of them do not. Rather, they see her moving into the role of the antagonist in the final season of the show. Many people who support this theory ALSO do not hate Daenerys, which is important to remember. But for the reasons we are about to discuss, they prefer her character in the role of the antagonist. This theory is not without precedent, and in fact has many parallels that could potentially back it up.

First off, this theory takes a more negative view on Daenerys’ parallels with Aegon and Aerys. While the readers of the past few theories believe that she will improve on her ancestors, readers of THIS theory, believe that the cycle is destined to repeat itself. Aegon and Aerys were both visionaries with a high opinion of themselves. Daenerys, like them, will reap destruction on the realms and, like her father, will meet an awful end for it. “The cycle repeats itself” is a very common trope in literature, so this isn’t an unfair reading. The idea of a character trying to avoid their fate but tragically falling into it? A classic, and it’s happened to LOTs of characters on this show. It could certainly happen to Daenerys as well. This theory also takes a more negative view on her parallels to Jon Snow, but we’ll get to that in a second.

So, remember how I said all characters in Game of thrones are morally grey to some degree? They don’t all do good shit. But still, many of those characters take on the role of protagonist. Arya, Tyrion, Jaime, Cersei, and Stannis are all morally grey characters who have, at some point, been in the protagonist seat. Some of them have ALSO been in the antagonist seat. So it’s a bit complicated. A lot of people like to compare Daenerys to Cersei. Certainly there are parallels between them. They have both burned people alive. They are both strong and confident women with a legendary death glare. And they have both been victims of a misogynist society. They were both married off against their will. We can feel sympathy with them because of this.

But Cersei is more often seen in the antagonist role because of where she is placed in the narrative. She is fighting characters that WE like. From the very beginning she is set up as an antagonist against the Starks. Daenerys on the other hand? She’s the only protagonist in Essos, so all of the story content there is told from her perspective. This makes it a bit harder to put her actions in perspective (until she comes to Westeros, but we’ll get to that later). They are also both ignored for their brothers and are very effected by their father’s legacies. They are both trying to succeed their fathers. Cersei obviously embraces Tywin’s methods while Daenerys is actively working to avoid becoming her father, but in the eyes of people who subscribe to this theory, she has been moving slowly in the direction of Mad King Aerys.

However, there are some clear differences between Dany and Cersei. Cersei sort of embraces being a bad person and Dany is genuinely trying to do good. She wants to be just. That’s what she strives for. She sees herself as a savior. For that reason, I think the best character to parallel with Daenerys for this theory is Stannis.

Stannis and Daenerys are extremely similar characters, in circumstance and personality. Both were second in line to the throne, next to their older brothers. Neither had a good relationship with said brother. Both became the “rightful heir” to the throne one their brother died and they lean very heavily on that fact. They have a lot of similar dialogue claiming the throne belongs to them by right and that they will take what belongs to them. They also are the two characters who execute people by burning. Fire is a very important element for them. And of course, they are both predicted to be at the center of the same prophesy. Most importantly they both believe in the righteousness of their cause. They believe they are doing the right thing.

We don’t yet know the ending of Daenerys’ arc. But we DO know the ending of Stannis’ arc. Though he believes in the good of his cause, has honorable allies to chose him (like Davos), does some good things, and fights against people we consider bad--he goes too far and he falls for it.

Stannis died because he was willing to sacrifice his daughter for his ambition. He burned a screaming child on a pyre to give him a chance against the Boltons, expecting to be rewarded for his noble sacrifice: and he failed. He died. All that time spent talking about how he was the rightful heir to the throne and it was all for nothing because he went too far. He got too focused on himself as the savior and sacrificed the most important thing in his life. This could be foreshadowing for Daenerys (whether she goes light or dark). In order to ever earn the throne, she must be willing to sacrifice her ambition. And if in the final season she ever goes too far or ignores the real threat in favor of her throne, she will be punished in some way, just like Stannis was. This isn’t a certainty that she WILL make the wrong choice, but it certainly sets up that she will face a choice.

See, Game of Thrones is big on the ‘all actions have consequences’ thing. Robb died for breaking his vow, Ned died because he was too honorable and foolish in a dishonorable place. Oberyn died because he was too set on his perfect vengeance. Tywin died because he was a dick to his son. Stannis died because he burned his daughter alive. And Rickon died because he didn’t run in a zig zag (Too soon? Too soon). Whatever theory you subscribe to, I think it’s clear that Daenerys will face a major choice in season 8 that will have major consequences.

Going back to Stannis for a minute: it is also Stannis who shows us the not so great nature of fire. This is the basis for a lot of Dark! Dany theorists reasoning. Fire has never been portrayed as the good element that fights off the evil ice. It has many times been shown in a negative light. Stannis burning people for his religion, the wild fire that Tyrion uses on the Blackwater and Cersei uses to blow up the sept. Fire and ice have both been destructive forces throughout. One is not better than the other. So people who believe in this theory see fire and ice not as opposing forces but as two equal threats about to descend on Westeros. This is further backed up by the plot structure of Dany and the white walker’s arrival in Westeros. They’ve been present since season 1 but have only now arrived in Westeros in season 7 (Dany at the beginning and the white walkers at the end).

Likewise, fans of this theory believe that Dany and Jon have been paralleled not to show them as lost souls who have found each other but to set up two opposing forces that will eventually clash. Two Targaryens who are rivals for the throne. This theory focuses a lot on the DIFFERENCES between Jon and Daenerys. Jon always seems to struggle with killing people, even those who defy him or actively killed him. He hesitates. He appears visibly uncomfortable. Daenerys seems to revel in the sight of people burning, especially later on in the series. There’s something satisfied about it. One could easily argue that Dany is just better at putting on a face than Jon and she is just as disturbed by executing people, but if that is the case, the show hasn’t shown it as clearly. (Note: this could just as easily be a directing/acting problem).

It’s also fair to point out that, while lots of people supporting the first theory ship Jonerys, a lot of people supporting this theory support Jonsa. They see Sansa as a better queen than Daenerys. I don’t like to pit female characters against each other, but at the very least, one can say that Sansa is a bit more down to earth because of her many hard earned lessons. She thinks more about the practical problems of winter and, as she says to Arya “chopping off people’s heads is satisfying but it’s not a way to get them to work together”. Execution is not her first inclination. She only pulls it after someone has truly revealed themselves to be despicable. Daenerys, on the other hand, executes men before knowing if they are guilty or not in season five.

Regardless, those who believe in this theory tend to focus on Daenerys’ more sinister acts. Her temper, her desire for vengeance, her fascination with fire. But this does not erase her good deeds either. Trying to end slavery, rescuing the weak, locking up her dragons after she finds out that they are causing problems. Again: she’s a grey character. The difference between the dark vs light Dany theory is that one side believes her darker acts are ultimately the most significant to her arc and the light side believes her good acts are ultimately the most significant part of her arc.

But again, Daenerys, up until now has been pitted against nameless faces. So how is she framed when she is put up against characters we know and love? Particularly, long time antagonist house: The Lannisters.

The attack on the Lannisters is one of the most fascinating scenes in the whole show to me. Because put aside the fact that yes, Daenerys is attacking soldiers opposing her in war. Put aside the fact that she is refusing to attack innocent civilians. Put aside the fact that many viewers are rooting for her and she is way more popular than most of the Lannisters. This scene frames Daenerys as the antagonist.

The camera primarily focuses on three characters: Jaime, Bronn and Tyrion. We do not follow Daenerys as she sweeps down upon her enemies. We follow the Lannisters watching in horror as she arrives. This is like the Huns coming over the ridge in Mulan (no really, it’s introduced almost the exact same way). We zoom in on Jaime and Bronn’s stunned expressions. We also focus on Dickon’s horror as well. The camera lingers on the bodies of soldiers crumbling to ash. It lingers on Tyrion, looking on, astounded by the level of destruction that can be wrought by the dragon. But he’s seeing the men who serve his family dying. He’s worried for his brother.

There is no sense of joy in Daenerys’ victory here. We don’t cut to her after the battle, feeling satisfied. We cut to Tyrion wandering through the ashes of Westeros soldiers, looking absolutely devastated. And even though Sam’s dad is a dick, his death alongside his son is still framed in this really gruesome way. Tyrion is the point of view character through all of this. We feel distant from Daenerys in this scene. What is she thinking? What is her motive? But she is separate from the others, which is a classic way to frame a villain in film.

And her soldiers? They are a faceless threat. We don’t have any Dothraki soldiers who we know and love. The show didn’t bother giving any of them personalities which could be an error in the writing or something but I don’t know. In the Unsullied, we know Grey worm, and he’s not even in this battle. Contrast this with the scene we got with the Ed Sheeren Lannister soldiers in episode one--a shockingly nice moment where we see the normal people of Westeros just trying to get through their lives. It’s significant that it forces Arya to recognize some of the Lannisters as human and then they probably got cooked in that battle. We do not get any such conversations with Daenerys’ soldiers in this season.

There are also people who point out Daenerys burning the supplies in this attack--supplies that would be sorely needed in the winter time. This supports the idea that Daario put forward in a previous episode. That Daenerys is not a ruler made to sit on an iron chair. She is far more comfortable and confident on a dragon. She is a conqueror. And conquerors do not always have the foresight to plan for the future. They sweep in, they destroy, they leave ashes in their wake. One could argue that this was what Dany did in Essos. She certainly didn’t establish a stable system of government in Mereen before she left for the real goal: Westeros. And for all of those reasons, those who subscribe to the Dark Dany theory do not think that she should be given the throne as a reward. They think she will die a conqueror, unable to give up her ambition for the greater good. She will go too far and suffer the consequences.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that all three of these theories I’ve mentioned have flaws. Those who love Daenerys and want to see her on the throne often ignore her good qualities while those who want to see Dany as an antagonist often ignore her bad qualities. The character is often reduced into a simplistic binary of good vs evil, which is not what this show is about. The ‘Dany will get the throne’ crowd ignores the idea that the ending of Game of Thrones will be “unexpected” and “bittersweet” and the fact that George does not like predictable happily ever afters.

Meanwhile those who think Daenerys will go dark assume a HUGE amount of intentionality on the parts of the showrunners. They assume any lack of chemistry between Jon and Daenerys, any darker expression from Daenerys, and the framing of the attack on the Lannisters are intentional choices. Some of this stuff could be errors in directing, writing and acting. Certainly, the showrunners have never been perfect. Just look at the dumb as hell Arya and Sansa plot that they wrote for season seven. So it’s just as likely that some of this “foreshadowing” is an error that will go unacknowledged in the final season.

Whatever the case, there is room for reasonable doubt and that doubt will only be settled by season 8. It’s going to be controversial no matter what happens, but I wanted to make this post to show the perspective of all sides. And, perhaps, to foster courteous discussion. You can start fights in the notes if you want, but try to keep it classy. I think it’s great that we all love a show so much to do so much analyzing of its content. At this point, there’s enough evidence to support all three theories and none of them are “delusional”. You may not like some of the theories. They might conflict with your personal beliefs about the show. But there’s not one way this thing could end.

So, yeah, if you have opinions, let me know. I know that I didn’t get to all of the parallels. Like, I barely brushed the surface. This is meant to be an overview, not a deep dive. But again, keep it casual. I’m not going to be fighting with any trolls. Besides, none of you even know which side I’m on so you could be starting a fight over nothing!

I’ll probably be writing one of these on the other main characters eventually. I might even--if I’m feeling very bold--tackle the Jonerys vs Jonsa debate. Lord help me if I do.

#game of thrones #game of thrones season 8 #daenerys targaryen #jon snow #Sansa Stark #Cersei Lannister #stannis baratheon #Jaime Lannister #robb stark #tyrion lannister #jonerys #jon x daenerys #jonsa #jon x sansa #long post #the many readings of game of thrones series

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jzeeeeeeeee · 5 years

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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*

#game of thrones #got season finale #got season 8 #got #gray worm #danaerys stormborn #danaerys targaryen #jon snow #sansa stark #arya stark #brandon stark #tyrion lannister #hbo

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blindestspot · 7 years

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"Aegon, his is the song of ice and fire"

I've come to realize that it is a cop-out to say that bad writing is impossible to analyze and predict. Because for all writing you can ask the question "why it was written this way?" A bad execution doesn't erase the intention behind it.

Of course, Game of Thrones is an adaptation, so one cannot look at D&D and GRRM's writing as ultimately separate things. D&D might take a few detours but you cannot solely use their writing to predict the ending because their ending is supposed be GRRM's ending. But I think looking at those detours and why these detours exists, allows us a glimpse at that ending.

And this is why I want to talk about GRRM's writing first, more specifically how he accomplishes the appearance of a realistic narrative/plot. Obviously world-building and realistic, psychologically sound characterization play a role. But he also uses a trick in order for the plot to appear more realistic than it is. This trick is a combination of two things: the cast of "thousands", in which is a large amount of characters are well-rounded, three-dimensional, are given full backstories and appear to be important to the main narrative; and the random appearance of luck.

The cast of thousands is a hyperbole but GRRM keeps a very large cast and if he loses important cast members, he is quick to replace them with other characters that also look like they will play an important part of the endgame. Aegon from Essos, Arianne, Val, the Greyjoy Uncles, to name a few, come into the story after important characters like Robb, Tywin and Balon disappear from it.

The “random luck” part is that luck for any character doesn't appear to align itself with the character's moral orientation. Good people have both good and bad luck and bad people have good and bad luck as well. This allows the bad guys to even get ahead temporarily, since they're more ruthless in using their good luck. It's a pattern that culminates in the Red Wedding when the good guys take a huge blow and the bad guys win, fostering the Wikipedia-approved impression that the whole ASOIAF-verse is very "grimdark".

But from there on narrative karma begins to catch up with the more villainous characters, with luck deserting them. And then they are dropping like flies: Joffrey, Tywin, Lysa Arryn, Janos Slynt... Going by the spoiler that are the deaths on GOT (which imply that these dead characters will never win/come out on top in the books and are also very likely to end up dead there)... narrative karma will come for many other bad guys as well. In fact, going by the show, only latecomer and Joffrey/Ramsay replacement Euron Greyjoy stands any chance to pull the "villain gets away with it" trope since Cersei, the Night King, Melisandre and Varys are pretty much doomed and no other important villain is left. (And the latter two are even rather morally gray than outright villains.)

No wonder people start to speculate whether a good guy will become corrupted and evil with this shortest of shortlists of leftover karma-evading villains.

Luck works a bit differently for good guys. It doesn't protect some of them but it protects a few of them quite considerably. I believe the fandom term is "plot armor" which a few characters have to the point that the readers have stopped believing in cliffhangers that put their survival in question. They are just "too important" to die. And that's why after ADWD most people speculated about the nature of Jon's stab wounds or the nature of his inevitable resurrection rather than wondering whether Aegon from Essos would take over his narrative.

They were not fooled because GRRM's trick has an expiration date. People catch on, no matter how many "important" characters he adds and how much "bad but survivable" luck his important characters get. Jon is supposed to appear to have the bad luck to get stabbed to death, but in reality we all know that he will have the good luck to be resurrected.

D&D have mostly (but not entirely) abandoned GRRM's trick. Now this is in part because they're farther ahead in the story but it's far from being the only reason.

There are actually multiple reasons to deviate from the books, so I’ll mention the obvious first: time, budget and effort. If GOT wanted to do all these extra storylines/characters that we know amount to nothing important in the end, they would need more seasons, more actors, more time, more money. It is understandable that they might consider that to be a pointless waste of time.

Another reason is that change can snowball, requiring more change. A small change early on and suddenly original storylines do not work quite as they should. Take the Jeyne Westerling storyline, for example. In the books Robb is sixteen and she is his first girlfriend, to use modern terms. Of course, when given the choice between dishonoring a betrothal to an ugly Frey girl or dishonoring his first serious girlfriend, the choice of a teenager is quite obvious.

In the show Robb is ten years older and re-enacting this storyline doesn't really work. He is not a green, dumb teenager, he is an adult man and should know better. It would play out pretty badly on screen and would be terribly strange, dumb and hypocritical for the character to do. It is pretty apparent that Talisa is the attempt to make him look less like an idiot and to prop him up with a great romance instead. D&D turned Jeyne Westerling into this hot, compassionate, witty, intelligent Doctors Without Borders volunteer, the sort of woman that in the real world would be worth losing your head for. (They actually only changed the name to Talisa because GRRM insisted. So yes, "Talisa" was their way of overhauling teenager-appropriate love interest Jeyne.) Talisa didn't quite work out for a lot of the audience but that's besides the point. We are asking why she was there, not why she didn't work.

A similar thing goes on with Shae and her relationship with Tyrion. In the books, despite seeing her pretty much only from Tyrion's point of view, we know she is only with him for the money, she is a selfish person and Tyrion is abusive towards her. So he makes a bad decision for being with a selfish person like that, an idiot for deluding himself about why she is with him and an abusive douchebag on top of that.

In the show, Shae cares about other people besides herself, falls in love with Tyrion and he doesn't abuse her when they are in a relationship. This not only makes him smarter than his book counterpart for choosing to be with secretly kind-hearted Shae and an actual nice guy for not being an abusive jerk. It actually elevates and makes him look awesome for making this cynical woman fall for him with his wit and charm. It's a total white-wash for Tyrion.

But then it's also just another white-wash for Tyrion in a long line of white-washes. As I said, once you make a change you have to commit to the change. And once D&D decided to make Tyrion the focal point for marketing, promo and everything else for three seasons after they lost Sean Bean, they needed to change book Tyrion in order for him to be a palatable and relatable character. Being a dumb, deluded, abusive douchebag was no longer something he could be. And so a character like Shae was good enough to be used as a prop for that change – to the point of entirely disregarding her original characterization.

Of course that white-washing also encompasses the third reason for abandoning a book plot: sacrificing some plot logic in service of propping up characters. That Shae used to be in love with Tyrion makes her presence in Tywin's bed and her murder kind of way more random than it is in the books. And yet it is just one more of the many, many plot holes that are created to cater to character. That's why Cersei is the popular ruler of Kings Landing in Season Seven despite blowing up the Westerosi Vatican and pope. (Of course, it helps that she has taken over Aegon from Essos' plot and that Lena Headey can chew scenery like nobody’s business. Sacrificing a bit of story logic to replace Aegon from Essos with Lena Headey playing someone really smart named Cersei is probably the most win-win alteration of the books that D&D have ever congratulated themselves on.)

Sacrificing plot logic for character is also why Arya can give the most fearsome death cult in the world the middle finger without consequence when she finally decides to go back to Westeros. The important part of it is that Arya moves on, becomes Arya Stark again. The show cannot be bothered with the realistic minutiae of that decision, what would be required to be able to leave the most fearsome death cult in the world. They don't care, they don't want to get bogged down with it, they wave it off.

And then there is the fourth reason, the one that admittedly fueled D&D's desire to adapt ASOIAF in the first place: the "Oh shit" moment. I used to think of them as water cooler moments, but that's too broad and too narrow. D&D love spectacle and they love surprise moments and both can be "Oh shit" moments but an "Oh shit" moment doesn't need to be that. It's just the moment when a storyline resolves itself with the maximum emotional impact.

It allows their actors to chew maximum amount of scenery (and D&D love it when they do that) and gives GOT emotional weight to make it feel more real, more emotionally involving. Perhaps so emotionally involving that you don't notice the plot holes. (That's a fine strategy, by the way, if you’re good enough to pull it off. Because if your audience weeps properly at the end of Romeo and Juliet, they will never notice how unlikely it was for both characters to get to that place where they would be able to commit suicide in that crypt. A great emotional response can absolutely drown out rational plot analysis.)

Anyway, “Oh shit" moments are not just surprises and high-budget spectacles like the Red Wedding or Cersei blowing up the Sept. They can also be intimate, predictable moments that you saw coming from a mile way, like the scene of Sansa feeding Ramsay to his dogs. This is not only the unsurprising culmination of the Battle of the Bastards episode but also the unsurprising culmination of Sansa's entire Ramsay storyline. They spend nearly two seasons of Sansa's storyline on that moment, for that moment.

So what do these reasons for adaptational changes tell us about the future of GOT?

Well, there is one "Oh shit" moment that they've been working on since the pilot. It has become the sole reason why certain characters have anything to do anymore, why other characters are even featured on the show; it's so important that it's teased in completely unrelated contexts and storylines for ages.

To word it differently: You do know where the focus and the narrative weight lies when you get a single flashback to the creation of the White Walkers while every other flashback is about Lyanna Stark and her baby. Because somewhere at the end of those trail of breadcrumbs, flashbacks, foreshadowing and hints is an "Oh shit" moment that is very, very important to D&D.

Jon's parentage reveal is the most teased about moment of the entire show. There is nothing that comes close to it. It stands to reason that it will be the emotional climax of the show, possibly even outshining the ending.

Now this is going to be a painful moment for Jon. Even GRRM's version of it will not have Jon jumping in joy about the fact that his entire life is based on a lie. There is nothing to suggest that show Jon will feel differently. So if D&D want maximum emotional impact, they need to tighten the screws, they need to make that reveal worse for Jon.

I concur that the obvious way to make it worse is to isolate Jon before, during and after the reveal, to divorce him from all that he holds dear – to divorce him from the North, from his previous supporters, from his family, from his best friend and from his girlfriend. Now obviously, not all of them are going to be upset about the same thing. This is why it becomes quite obvious that D&D used Season Seven to set up a situation in which everyone will be pissed off at him. And this, by the way, perfectly explains why Dany burned the Tarlys, the necessity of Jon/Dany and Jon publicly kneeling in Season Seven. It turns out that it doesn't matter why Jon (and Dany) did these things – if Jon is an honorable fool, a fool in love or someone who figured out that keeping the lady with the dragons happy beats trying to convince untrustworthy Cersei. (Or if Dany is becoming her father.) D&D had him do it (had Dany do it), so the North will hear about him giving up their independence to a “foreign whore” who loves to burn people and hate him for it, and that Sam will be pissed at him for hooking up with his family's killer, and that Dany can feel properly betrayed, thinking her boyfriend only wanted her to usurp her throne. This whole thing is not about the integrity of Jon's character or the integrity of his characterization, or about anyone’s integrity or integrity of their characterization and plot. It's about making Jon’s parentage reveal go as badly as possible for him. It's about creating the ultimate "Oh shit" moment of pain. Nothing matters beyond that, everything is a prop for it. A Watsonian reading of Jon’s motives is as pointless as the theory that Talisa Maegyr was a Lannister spy.

Yes, it’s bad writing to disregard plot and characterization integrity for the emotional impact of an “Oh shit” moment. No one’s denying that. But it’s exactly the type of bad writing that has been with us all this time. If we take bad writing as seriously as good writing, then using previous writing tactics to come to the conclusion that more typical bad writing is awaiting us, is a perfectly legitimate conclusion.

Of course, this begs the question of why D&D put so much weight on that one moment? Why haven't we got so much foreshadowing and preparation for the moment when Dany plants her behind on the Iron Throne or Jaime strangles Cersei? Or even for the moment the Night King gets defeated? Why is there nothing else that comes even close to the amount of prep that Jon's parentage reveal gets? And why is this, his moment allowed to turn every other character into a prop for his emotional reaction? Why does he matter so much? And is this just D&D fucking up GRRM's vision yet once more?

You know GRRM actually told us the answer to this particular question a long, long time ago in A Clash of Kings: "Aegon, [...] He has a song [...] his is the song of ice and fire." This is the reality that GRRM tries so hard to disguise with his cast of thousands. Jon... Aegon isn't just an important character with plot armor, he is the main character. He is the protagonist. This way too large book series is his song, his story. The Song of Ice and Fire is Jon’s. D&D haven't invented that, they simply refused to conceal it as desperately with Aegons from Essos as GRRM does.

Now, if we assume I am right (which I do), then there are basically two ways that this story can end: either with Jon's death (literal or figurative) or him becoming king. Now the classic self-sacrifice for the greater good is the oldest trope around. This means it always has good odds. But these two options are not necessarily mutually exclusive paths. A figurative death could tie in very well with a kingship and kingship might end up in death. But if we are talking about actual lasting, endgame, Aragon-in-Lord-of-the-Rings kingship, then something really interesting is going on.

GRRM once complained that Lord of the Rings makes Aragorn this ideal, promised king without ever explaining what his ruling looked like. What happened to the baby orcs? What was his tax policy? Now if GRRM plans to have a king in the end who is "Aegon Aragorn with a tax policy" then Jon has gotten some training for that already. He has been Lord Commander in the books and the show and he has been King in the North in the show. Since Robb's will is the unresolved Chekov's Gun that is notably still around, there is some chance that in the books he will become King in the North as well. Both positions allow him plenty of hands-on experience for ruling and allow the reader a pretty good idea about what he will do with the baby orcs and his tax policy should he get in power for a third time. (Third time’s a charm.) So what I see is that he is the only character with a sustainable "tax policy" that could allow Westeros to flourish and a claim. (Nope, "ruling sucks, I am better off conquering" is not a sustainable policy for the long-term betterment of a country.) And he is the protagonist, this is his story, he is good guy, he doesn't want to be king, he is possibly (within the in-universe mythology) the chosen one and he has already died once, making a second death a bit anti-climactic. To be fair though, there are people without claims who would make decent regents for a child with a claim, so the self-sacrificial death isn't off the table. (By the way, the historical precedents for child monarchs in medieval English history, which inspired ASOIAF, are mostly pretty darn depressing.) But for some reason, I keep circling back to something I didn't recall when I first start mulling about this subject. I could remember the "Aegon... his is the song of ice and fire" bit. But I had forgotten how that vision of Rhaegar actually begins: "Aegon," he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. "What better name for a king?"

#Jon Snow #Aegon Targaryen #A Song of Ice and Fire #Game of Thrones #ASoIaF #meta

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snarktheater · 7 years

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Series review — Game of Thrones (Season 7)

Yeah, just because I decided not to snark every episode individually this year does not mean I'm happy about where Game of Thrones is headed any more than I was last year. It's actually kind of worse. Season 6 felt somewhat better than 5, but this is a nosedive. And the problem is, it's not exactly a nosedive in quality, which makes it increasingly frustrating to talk to people who still like the show. Not that it hasn't been frustrating for the past few years, but it certainly got worse.

But hey, who am I if not the guy who hates the cool stuff? Well, I'm still a lot of other things, but for the sake of the joke, let's pretend otherwise and talk about this season. This mercifully short season, yet still too long, in that it exists at all.

When I review something, I like to stay as nuanced as possible, which usually means being very…wordy. But when it comes to this show, I can easily summarize what went wrong. Namely: the showrunners ran out of books to adapt, and they did not understand the story they were making in the first place.

I'm not saying that as a book fan butthurt that they changed things (although…I am that too, kind of). This issue should be apparent even if you did not read the books. Because the show has basically become a completely different story. I'm gonna have to go on a tangent to explain this further, so bear with me, please.

A few years ago, South Park made a triple (triple!) episode mocking Game of Thrones (and promoting their then-upcoming video game). The main point of criticism they threw at the show, aside from daring to include male frontal nudity (which…you know what, it's stupid and I won't go there), was "when do the dragons show up?" There was a measure of self-awareness, since it was children asking that question. And yet, to someone like me monitoring people's reactions…it seemed to be a recurring one. When do the dragons show up? When do the White Walkers attack and we fight them?

But the show was adapting the books with relative consistency at the time. I could forgive minor changes, because I try to keep an open mind to adaptations and give them a shot at telling their own story and adapting to the new medium. So I let it slide. And the dragons or White Walkers showed no signs of coming sooner than the books planned, so it was fine.

However, if there's one impression season 7 has left me with, it's that the lovingly-called D&D (the show's creators) were probably those little boys asking "when do the dragons show up?" They had to bide their time, but as soon as they ran out of books, they made their move to get to "the cool stuff". Or what they perceive as such anyway.

Now, Benioff and Weiss are not completely incompetent storytellers (…I don't think. Yet). So this paragraph above is an oversimplification. They merged characters and plot lines in season five, leading to the horrendous Sansa marrying Ramsay moment, and padded others like Jon's to get everyone roughly on par. Then season 6 worked towards one goal: blowing. Shit. Up.

Literally, but also metaphorically. With the Sept of Baelor, all of Cersei's political enemies were wiped out in one fell swoop. Dorne was taken over and made its moves. The Ironborn were brought back to be relevant and immediately split into two neat factions. Arya completed her training but also retained her identity and went back home. Daenerys breezed her way through gathering all Dothraki under her command, and Meereen's pacification was wrapped up by her and her entourage. Jon was brought back to life and unified the North, and even became King!

For a show that had been able to maintain a dozen plot lines, some of them seemingly unrelated safe for taking place in the same world, Game of Thrones sure did a good clean-up job. Season seven barely even has multiple plot lines running in parallel at all.

And the problem is, this creates a binary, dichotomic story. The framing is clear: in Daenerys and Cersei's fight for the crown, we should root for Daenerys because she's "hope for a better future" while Cersei is ambitious and ruthless and doesn't care for the people. Every major player but Jon has chosen a side, and of course, all the sympathetic characters are in favor of Daenerys. And Jon is all about saving the entire world from the White Walkers. And of course, guess who he goes to ally with early on in the season too. But we'll talk about Jon in a moment.

A Song of Ice and Fire isn't a dichotomic story with clear-cut good and evil. Hell, Game of Thrones wasn't one either. Even the Others/White Walkers aren't evil; they are simply death, which plays into bigger themes about what makes life meaningful. But in this season, we have a clear "Jon and Dany good, Cersei bad, White Walkers worse" thing going on.

This is what I mean when I say it's a different story. Thing is, it's a story I could actually like. For the longest time, my number one favorite books was The Wheel of Time, and in many ways, this season has a similar structure to the later books of that series, with factions being forced to come together and ally against evil. We even have the Cersei-esque antagonistic faction.

Problem is, The Wheel of Time was aiming that way the whole time, and it built up the dynamics so they could end there. While I don't doubt that A Song of Ice and Fire will at some point feature a battle against the Others, I sincerely doubt that the lead-up to it will be as simple as "all the sympathetic characters decide they should fight them together because it's the good thing to do".

Another issue with this polarization of the previously grey morality is that characters drift away from who they were. Daenerys is the most blatant example: the season even has trouble at times reconciling her established character with who they want her to be, so she's torn being hope for the future and being…a woman who wants to conquer a land because she views it as her birthright. The showrunners have apparently forgotten that Daenerys's opposition to slavery was driven from personal experience, not her innate desire for social justice everywhere.

But of course, the worst part of falling into the Good versus Evil cliché fantasy story is that…that story has a very clear protagonist. Which the show didn't have. Or, rather, every time a character looked like the fantasy protagonist, that character died (see Ned and Robb Stark).

So it's baffling, and somewhat infuriating, what is happening with Jon Snow. Not only is he confirmed again (repeatedly) as Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark's son, as per the popular fan theory. Not only is he King in the North. No, now the showrunners have added that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married, y'all. He annulled his previous marriage, and Jon's real name is Aegon Targaryen, and he's the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, even before Daenerys!

Oh, also, because he's now the Bland Male Fantasy Protagonist, he's not just the lost heir to the throne, he also gets a love interest in the form of the prettiest, highest-ranked girl of around the same age available. Also known as Daenerys. Her aunt.

Okay, there's a lot to unpack there, and I won't even touch on the incest as a moral issue because…I don't really care about that? I do care that the showrunners have once more taken Dorne as their victim, though. I mean, that annulled previous marriage is with Elia Martell of Dorne, a woman of color who had two kids with Rhaegar. One of those kids was named Aegon. Their death fueled the Martell hatred towards the Lannisters, but hey! No big deal at all, let's just pretend Rhaegar would just name another son of his the same way.

No, I don't think it's a coincidence that the showrunners are sidelining a woman of color's relationship with a major backstory character in favor of a white woman. I don't think they're actively racist, but I am fairly sure that that decision is motivated by racism. Unless it's motivated by sexism, of course! After all, the other biggest victim in that is Daenerys, since every argument she has for claiming the throne would also give Jon precedence.

There's another problem with Jon, though, regardless of all of that. Specifically, he's…a Mary Sue. Yeah, shocking, I know, the Bland Male Fantasy Protagonist is made into a Mary Sue. Who knew!

So after establishing Daenerys doesn't take well to defiance, Jon shows up, and…defies her, refuses to acknowledge her as his queen, and gets away with it. That last part being the one I take umbrage with, just to be clear. Then he sticks around to try and convince her to help against the White Walkers, and…he does. Even though Daenerys has everything to lose in that process and the show even built a scene in the second-to-last episode of the season where Dany sees the White Walkers and realizes the threat they post?

Oh, but it gets worse. That second-to-last episode is impossible to summarize in how many events should lead to Jon's death, but don't. He makes one mistake after another, survives everything, gets one of Daenerys's dragons killed, and yet not only is she an even stronger ally, but she also falls for him over this.

Just to be clear, the issue here isn't Dany falling in love with Jon. Well, it is, but only in so far as Jon faces no consequences for his errors, and instead, gets his way. Literally: the season ends with Dany renouncing on taking the throne until the White Walkers are dealt with. If there's anything more Mary Sue than doing everything wrong and facing no consequences for it, I…haven't heard of it yet.

It would be bad anywhere, but it's especially bad in a show where a man of honor (Robb Stark) fell in love with a woman and rallied her to his cause once led to him dying. And the thing is, I don't even like that they changed Jeyne Westerling into Talisa, because it completely undermines the tragedy of Robb's character arc (book!Robb dies because honor is his fatal flaw and he had to marry Jeyne for honor; show!Robb dies because he couldn't keep it in his pants). But that change means there's an even starker precedent for why, if this was still the same story, Jon should die.

And yet…this is also exactly what I'm worried won't happen. Because Jon is now our Bland Male Fantasy Protagonist/Mary Sue, the chances of him dying are…fairly low. The issue is: he is now fucking his aunt. While I wouldn't put it past the show to revel in that (they have dabbled in Targaryen exceptionalism…a lot), I think the backlash might force them to kill the ship, even if it hadn't been the plan. So who will die: the Bland Male Fantasy Protagonist, or his love interest who can give him ManPain™ by dying? Yeah, I know where I'm placing my bets. And just for the record I'll be happy if I'm wrong.

Jon is a microcosm of all the things that went wrong. Another example is the Lord of Light, who this season is treated a whole lot like the "one true religion". Characters eventually all start acting like they all serve the Lord, and…do I really need to finish my thoughts or can I just end here and say "Christianity"? Because it sounds like that's what they're going for, and that they're also equating that with being good, and once again erasing all the moral complexities of the various religions in the world of ASOIAF/GOT. Bonus points because Jon was brought back to life by a priestess of the Lord of Light, effectively making him a literal "chosen by god" trope.

This season was…well, unfortunately, it was exactly the sort of hackneyed developments I expected from the show based on the past two seasons. And yet it's also kind of worse? I just really want this to be over. I also really want to come out of this still able to like the books.

It does make me temper my expectations for whenever that Wheel of Time adaptation comes out, though. Is that a good thing, remind me not to overhype myself for other things? I'll take it as a silver lining. Another silver lining being that I can stop thinking about Game of Thrones until…whenever the final season comes out.

#game of thrones #A Song of Ice and Fire #got #asoiaf #david benioff #d.b. weiss #series #TV series #review #reviews #series review #series reviews #st: series reviews

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evilsapphyre · 7 years

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Sapphy’s Spoilerific Review

Season 7 Episode 6

In case the title isn’t specific enough, this will be a very spoiler-filled review for Game of Thrones.

Well, what the fuck.

That’s my mindset after that episode.

What. The. Fuck.

So, let’s just skip right ahead into the continuing longshot of the opening credits as the camera sweeps over the Painted Table to where Eastwatch sits on it, making it a simple segue to the Fellowship of the Crazy Stupid Idea. Because seriously, the idea to capture a wight, is fucking stupid. Just in case I didn’t make that painfully clear in my last update.

Also, it’s amusing to me that the Fellowship is made of seven named characters plus five red shirts. If you’re hip to the know of book lore, there’s some symmetry that you can argue with the legend of the Last Hero of the Long Night who travelled with his twelve companions. Just keep that in mind for later in the episode.

The journey to wherever they are going to travel starts off well enough, under bright and clear blue skies. The men banter amongst themselves as they walk, trudging forwards to Icy Mount Doom. Gendry lets loose his anger towards Beardy McTopnot and the Undead Lightning Lord about how they sold him to the Red Woman. Gendry doesn’t help his plight by telling them that the Red Woman stripped him and tied him to a bed. He’s also told that he’s not dead, so to stop whining about it. I must say, I have missed the gruff and brutal honesty of the Hound. He’s like the voice of reason that we never realized that we needed. Since it seems to be a long journey, we cut to another important dialogue also involving The Hound. Apparently, he has the most to say on this journey.

Next up is a conversation with my least favorite person to get screen time of late, Tormund of the Bear Fuckery. (Okay, I don’t hate Tormund as a character, except for whenever he looks at Brienne or talks about her.) So Tormund starts to wax poetic about this beauty of his that is madly in love with him to The Hound. Based on the description, Sandor can easily deduce that he is speaking of Brienne, the woman who bested him and left him for dead back in the Riverlands. Tormund’s eyes light up, and for a second, it looks like Sandor wants to backhand him for being with that woman. But, Tormund at least admits that he hasn’t won her over, and that she is waiting for him back in Winterfell. (Which she isn’t.) And they’ll have monstrous babies that will take over the world…. And just stop. Really. Just fucking stop. Which, The Hound reads my mind and basically tells Tormund the same thing.

Tormund also has a talk with Jon, that thankfully does not have anything to do with his unrequited crush on Brienne. They talk of Mance, and how Mance never knelt. Tormund talks about how Mance should have based on what he knows now. It seems important for them to point that out this early in the episode. Maybe Jon is going to be a kneeler after all. (Tormund also has a few jabs about how Winterfell is part of the South too early on.)

Finally, the last conversation between the groups of note is between Jon and Jorah, in a topic that I think would have come up sooner, but hey, better late than never. Jon takes off Longclaw and offers it back to Ser Friendzone, who looks at it with longing and regret, just not quite to the same level that he reserves from his Queen. He then hands the sword back to Jon, stating that it was given to him and that he hopes it will serve Jon and his sons well in the future. And, as I said at this point during my viewing, farewell Ser Friendzone. I feel your time is nigh.

We’ll come back to the North towards the end, but first, we’ll cut to Dragonstone. Tyrion and Dany are fretting at first over the stupid idiots that went North. Too bad she didn’t protest more about how stupid their idea is, and that maybe they shouldn’t do it. After all, heroic men tend towards a heroic death. Tyrion astutely points out that Jon fits that same model, and that she’s falling for him. She protests, but not very much. The conversation steers towards the armistice. Both Tyrion and Dany are trying to figure out how Cersei will betray them, as they expect that’s the only outcome that could come. Tyrion tells her that they have to think like their enemy if they want to win, and then it steers towards how Cersei rules with fear, and Aegon ruled with fear. Fear is the wheel, and Dany can’t rule with Fear if she is going to break the wheel. While discussing that, Tyrion also mentions that she needs to name an heir since she can’t have an heir. She won’t listen to it, not until she has her crown. (There’s also a point where Tyrion tells her that she needs to keep her temper, and not burn her enemies - and I’m surprised her glare didn’t burn him.)

In Winterfell, we’re given more of the Arya/Sansa show who are bickering like Season 1 still, except now they're adults, and Arya is a scary person. After Arya tells Sansa about this story of their father watching her shoot an arrow over and over again until she hit the bullseye, she informs Sansa that she has the letter she wrote Robb all those years ago. Some of the old wounds are bared for both to see regarding how their father died, and we as the audience know both sides of the story. It plays out now that Arya just has an axe to grind in Sansa’s head, and well, she at least doesn’t have the actual axe yet.

Sansa talks to Littlefinger some time later about the very same thing, and how she has all these lords that support her, but if they found out about that letter? She seems genuinely distraught at the idea, but Littlefinger is all about trying to take advantage of this situation. He suggests that Brienne might have to protect one of the sisters if things don’t improve. After all, she’s sworn to protect both daughters, and if one wanted to hurt the other… It’s more seeds, but it seems clumsy. I think they don’t know what to do with Littlefinger anymore.

Which they seem to be grasping at what to do with Brienne as well. Apparently, Sansa is going to send her south to King’s Landing for the meeting with Cersei. Sansa says she’s not stupid enough to walk into Cersei’s grasp again, and Brienne will be a fine enough person to treat in her stead. And she even name drops Jaime there for Brienne, which I’m at least down with that. However, Brienne doesn’t want to leave Sansa, especially with Littlefinger still there. Sansa will hear none of it, telling Brienne she doesn’t need protection, and she better hurry - even turning away the offer to leave Podrick behind. And given that Sansa burned the letter, something seems off about the scene. But hey, maybe Sansa’s spies beyond the wall heard that Tormund was hopeful that Brienne was waiting for him, and Sansa knowing where Brienne’s true love lies, sent Brienne south to rescue her fair Jaime.

Wrapping things up in Winterfell, Sansa goes snooping in her sister’s room. What could go wrong with rifling through her angry and murder happy younger sister’s stuff? Of course, she’s looking for the letter, and when she finds a bag under the bed, she discovers - not the letter - but a bunch of faces. She’s made of much sterner stuff than I now, as I’m fairly certain I’d be screaming if I found a bag of faces tucked under my brother’s bed. Arya comes strolling in, and she decides it’s time to play the lying game (not to be confused with the crying game). Sansa demands to know what the hell is going on with the faces, and Arya goes into cryptic lies about wanting to be Sansa. All she needs to do is take her face, which she emphasizes with by playing with the Valyrian steel dagger. She then hands Sansa the dagger and leaves. It seems to me with the way she goes on in this scene, that maybe Arya has been playing the game with Sansa all along. After all, that would explain all her really odd behavior, in her other scenes. I just don’t know if Sansa would be aware. I think it’s plausible that Sansa and Arya are both playing the games on how to beat Littlefinger the way they know how, but they are unaware of how the other is doing it. Perhaps Sansa getting Arya’s dagger now is a way for Arya to later claim Sansa’s face (which I don’t think the person has to be dead to claim their face) so she can get close to Littlefinger.

Back in the North, the Dumb Ass Fellowship of the North Excursion, find themselves in blizzard like conditions now. Up ahead, the first red shirt bites it as they are besieged upon by an undead polar bear. RIP, lowly red shirt wildling. The group bands together, doing what they can to fight off the bear, but not without some additional cost. The bear latches onto Beardy McTopknot, ripping into his chest. The others stab him with flaming weapons, so it’s a great big flaming bear, which causes the Hound to be paralyzed with fear. Fortunately for Beric, and the others, Thoros does not die, and Beric cauterizes the wound with his flaming sword.

Once the weather clears, the Fellowship finds themselves nearing the point of Icy Mount Doom, which The Hound points out. In a nearby ravine, they spy some of the undead traveling so they concoct the plan in which they will lure the undead so they can capture one. And from there, it’s on. They light a simple campfire, and a group of wights with one White Walker arrives. The Fellowship springs their trap, and they try to fight the wights without killing them. Jon takes on the White Walker, killing it, and all but one of the wights are instantly slain along with it. They subdue the last wight quickly, but it becomes apparent that this was nothing more than trap-ception, as the Night’s King unveils his trap for them. Gendry gets voluntold that he will run back to Eastwatch and send for help, and oh, by the way, they’re keeping his hammer. So, run Gendry, run. While he is running, the others run in the opposite direction, giving him time to break away. They cross some thin ice, barely making it to a rocky outcropping in the center of a lake before they are surrounded by the undead. It seems for now that they have to hope Gendry makes it to Eastwatch before he is killed.

And fortune is with the brave and stupid heroes, as Gendry collapses just outside the gate to the Wall. He tells Davos that they need to get word to Dany about what happened, and then we see Dany getting word in Dragonstone the next morning where she is about to fly off her all her dragons to save the idiots. So, this is good. She can end this now with all three dragons, as she can toast the Night King from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

The Fellowship mostly survived through the night, but it seems that the combination of the cold and the wounds spell the end of Beardy McTopknot. I guess he doesn’t get the same gift of eternal warmth like his Priestess sister, Mellisandre. RIP Thoros of Myr, we’ll miss your drunken happiness. Jon tells them they have to burn the body, and so at least for now, they’ll have some warmth for a bit.

The Hound gets bored waiting for the Dragon Queen, so he beings to chuck rocks at the undead. Which is amusing after the first throw, but then the second alerts the undead that the ice is now frozen enough for them to walk on it again. So now it’s time to eat the rest of our heroes. The remaining red shirts are quickly picked off, and we almost -almost- lose Tormund. (I was both scared and elated to see him possibly die. Like I said, I like Tormund. Just not his obsession with Brienne.) Just as it seems all hope is lost, Dany arrives with all three of her dragons, burning the undead in huge strafes. She then lands Drogon for all the Fellowship to climb on board - and all climb on board - except for Jon. Jon is torn between buying them more time, and maybe doing something stupid like going after the Night King.

The Night King decides to show off his athleticism, taking out an ice javelin and throwing it at Viserion who is still strafing. And GOD DAMNIT NIGHT KING! I MAY POKE FUN AT THE WYVERN-POSERS, BUT YOU DON’T KILL THE DRAGONS!! *sobs* WHY!?!?!?!

Apparently, the javelin is of Dragon’s Bane with True Aim cast upon it as it strikes Viserion in what must be the fire bladder. It erupts in his neck, blood gushing from the wound…

AND FUCK YOU! HOW COULD YOU KILL THAT POOR CREATURE?!? *more sobbing*

And Viserion falls into the lake, sliding under the water as a corpse- his brothers screeching in anguish.

FUCK YOU!

I CAN’T HANDLE THE MOURNING CRIES OF DRAGONS!

Jon seems emboldened with anger at the sight of the dead dragon, and I can’t say that I blame him. I want to kill the Night King for killing Viserion. Of course, he does indicate for Dany to leave with the others, as he is about to get overrun. As he falls into the lake himself, being dragged under, Dany and Drogon fly off with Rhaegal close at hand. As they disappear into the horizon and the Night King begins to leave, Jon reemerges from the lake, somehow, with all his furs and armor drenched. He grabs his sword and seems intent to continue his vendetta against the Night King, but suddenly a rider appears, wielding a flaming flail, or censer. It’s Benjen, aka Coldhands and I wonder if that is somehow Jon’s 12th companion on his first foray beyond the Wall? It would make sense, even if it seems a deus ex machina style event. He sticks Jon on his horse and sends him away, as he gets ripped apart by the undead.

Back at the Wall, Dany stands vigil on the Wall. Some may claim that she’s watching for Jon, but I think she’s looking for Viserion. She’s in shock, not wanting to admit that one of her children has been killed in front of her eyes. She scans the horizon looking for a sign of her child to return to her, but instead, the horn sounds, and they see the lone rider - Jon. He gets scooped up by Davos and company, and put on a ship promptly, the same one that Sandor at least is taking to King’s Landing with their still functioning wight. Jon is stripped of his frozen clothes, and Dany sees his scars firsthand, including his stab wound to the heart. Maybe Davos wasn't using a figure of speech. When he awakens, he has a touching scene with Dany. They hold hands, she pledges herself and her assets to his war, and he figuratively bends the knee. Sansa will be mad.

But not as mad as me when I watch the fucking Night King have his men drag Viserion’s body from the lake with giant chains. He then walks up and lays a hand on the snout - only for Viserion to open a bright blue eye.

So, fuck you once more, Night King.

Instead of being delighted that Brienne and Jaime may finally reunite, I'm terrified at the prospect of an undead dragon wreaking havoc over the lands.

Guess I'll have to see how things go on Sunday. For now, I'll just continue to cry myself asleep.

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evilsapphyre · 7 years

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Sapphy’s Spoilerific Review

Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 3

As with the last two weeks, this is a review of the latest episode with spoilers, as indicated with the title. Ye have been warned.

Welcome back to As Westeros Turns, where plot lines are moving along at breakneck speed, and people are moving about the country as if thousand of miles didn’t separate certain points. Sure, it’s nice to be spared the countless and pointless hours of travel, but it’s a bit jarring nonetheless.

Anyways, Jon, who was just in the North has already made it to White Harbor, and now to Dragonstone. A slightly terse reunion between Jon and Tyrion happens, where they exchange basic insults for how they are viewed by others. Missandei requests that they turn over their weapons, and of course, Jon agrees. It makes sense, but with as small of an entourage that arrived from the North, it seems slightly foolish to walk into a dragon’s mouth with no weapons. Davos tries to make polite conversation with Missandei, and it gives us a glimpse of the Isle of Nath (which sounds quite lovely with butterflies).

As they walk the long battlement, Tyrion asks about Sansa, but then hurriedly rushes to assure Jon that the marriage was never consummated. Apparently, word has reached Tyrion on what Jon did to Littlefinger in the crypts, in addition to what happened to Ramsey. Jon distances himself from the conversation, and Tyrion talks about how bad things tend to happen to Starks that travel South. Jon replies that he’s no Stark, which is perfect timing from a drive by dragoning. In case people are still confused on who Jon’s true father is...

Varys and Mellisandre watch as the North makes it way to Dany. Varys finds it curious that she’s hiding, and she intimates that she may not be well liked by the visitors for reasons she would rather not disclose. She did what she needed to do though; she brought together Ice and Fire. (Does she get points for bringing in the name of the series?) She’s now off to Volantis, and Varys says she probably shouldn’t return to Westeros. Mellisandre says that she’ll be back. After all, they both have to die in this strange country. That’s not ominous at all.

The North entourage enters the throne room to find Dany dwarfed by the throne at Dragonstone. Missandei then lists off all 101 titles that Dany has collected, and Davos does a great job at the contrasting the two with the sparse introduction of Jon, King of the North. Dany feigns ignorance on having a good education, but then goes into the exact history lesson of how the North bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror. Jon reminds her that his family was butchered by her father. She apologizes and asks him to not judge her by the sins of her father. She wants Jon to be her Warden in the North, and she reminds him how things could be. After all, she’s last of the Targs. Well, not really, but she doesn’t know that yet.

Jon agrees that she shouldn’t be held accountable for her father’s actions, and he shouldn’t be held to his ancestors oaths. He then starts to paint a picture about the plight of the North with the army of the Dead that is on the move. Of course, no one really believes him in that threat. Dany feels that Jon doesn’t give her the right and due respect she is owed, so she attempts to rub his nose in all the things that she has survived. Jon will have none of that still, and tells her that she will be Queen over graves. Davos steps in and tries to be the herald of Jon’s deeds, and why people choose him even though he has no true birthright (that he knows of). Davos even lets slip that Jon took a dagger to the heart for what he believed in, which earns him an unhappy look from Jon.

Jon tells Dany that he doesn’t know her. He can’t and won’t abandon her people just because she claims certain things. Dany takes his words better than I’d expect, but maybe it’s only because Varys interrupts them, whispering in her ear like he has whispered in so many others. She has Jon and Davos taken to some private rooms for a bath and supper, like they are little kids. Jon asks if they are prisoners, and she tells him not yet. Then she learns the fate of her Dornish and Ironborn allies, and how they were captured by Euron.

We get a brief cut to Theon brought aboard Ironborn ship. I’m fairly certain that these were friendly Ironborn, but we don’t know for certain. He tries to fib that he only barely got away after trying to save his sister. They tell him that he’s only alive because he didn’t try to save her. Hopefully this scene will have some eventual importance, but right now, I could deal with less Theon. Give me a reason to want to root for him again.

Euron parades Yara, Ellaria and a Sand Snake through the streets of King's Landing. (Apparently, this is the Most Beautiful Woman in the world from what I’ve read. Her hair is much different, and she’s kept her clothes on.) The people throw things at the prisoners and shout whore and other tame profanity at them before Euron leads them, horse and all, into the throne room. He hands over the Dornish prisoners to Cersei, which is to be the justice for her murdered daughter. Cersei lavishes Eurone with praise, and even says that she will give Euron his reward of choice once the war is over. As the crowd applause so their first victory, Euron taunts pod-Jaime with questions about how Cersei likes to be pleased in bed. (Psst, Jaime, let the crazy pirate guy have your sister. You’ve got better prospects North.)

Cersei, with her suddenly very pink and shiny lips, then goes to the dungeons with her new prisoners. She reminds Ellaria about the day Oberyn died and how he could have lived had he had less bravado. A truth, but let’s not rub salt in that wound. She then changes the conversation to mothers and daughters, talking about Myrcella and how much she loved her. She compares her love for Myrcella to Ellaria’s for the Most Beautiful Woman, talking about the ways she thought about killing her daughter. She finally kisses her, and everyone realizes that Cersei poisoned the girl just as Myrcella was poisoned. She then wipes off the poison lipstick (and her lips return to her normal pink and non-super-shiny luster), and drinks the antidote. She then tells Ellaria that she will watch as her daughter dies, and then rots.

And then it’s time for icky Cersei and pod-Jaime sex. I get that Jaime loves her, but it’s all icky. And not just because of the incest. She literally goes straight to Jaime after basically murdering a girl, and seduces him with no words. So she’s aroused by the death of her enemies? Again… Yuck! And she doesn’t even care if the servants gossip, as the next morning she answers the door and let’s a servant see Jaime in her bed. But she’s the Queen, so it doesn’t matter any longer. She then scurries off to speak with Iron Bank, and basically tells them that she will secure payment for the debts. She’s also lauded for being Tywin’s daughter. (Which yes, show-Cersei has glimpses of being very Tywin-esque, but that’s not how book-Cersei would be.)

Back in Dragonstone, Jon is brooding, and Tyrion starts to speak about how he can’t compare to brooding next to Jon. They bicker over who has more need, and Tyrion tells him that he’d be happy to solve his problem if Jon could solve theirs. Tyrion points out that the two rulers are actually quite similar, and he also points out that Jon is being unreasonable in his requests. He says to think smaller and maybe they can help the North.

Tyrion goes to Dany and tells her that Jon wants Dragon Glass if she can’t ride North. He makes a strong case to her about how it could be useful in helping to secure the North as an ally, and it would cost them nothing. He also spouts off some words of wisdom that Dany calls him out on, since he claims it’s ancient wisdom, but it’s really his own words. Dany asks before she leaves about the “knife to the heart statement” but Tyrion says something about flights of fancy in the North. She seems unconvinced. That doesn’t stop her from agreeing to let Jon have the dragon glass, where she talks to Jon also about her dragons. There seems to be some begrudging respect between the two monarchs too, as she sends him off to mine that glass.

Meanwhile, back in the North, Sansa is going over the stock and supply of Winterfell since she’s in charge. She feels that they don’t have enough food to feed everyone once the armies return to Winterfell. So everyone is to start sending wagons of grain to Winterfell to prepare for Winter. She is very astute even about how the armorers should be manufacturing the armor. Littlefinger points out she is very good at this, and he continues his coaching of her and how to win all her battles.

He’s interrupted by the sudden return of Bran and Meera who seem to have lost part of their souls when they returned to Winterfell, given their wooden expressions and comments. Sansa tries to learn more from Bran, but he’s rather withdrawn. He also turns down his own birthright as he tells Sansa that he’s the Three-Eyed Raven, and has a difficult time explaining that to her. I’m guessing that the Weirwood Wifi Net has fried part of his brain, or he’s still in such an information overload. He does freak out his sister by saying that he saw her marry Ramsey in the snow in their Godswood. She nopes the fuck out of the scene pretty fast.

Which then leads us to Oldtown where Ser Friendzone has been cured it seems. Slughorn seems nonchalant and points out how it happened, even though Ser Friendzone denies it to him. He gets discharged from his room, being cured, and Ser Friendzone gets dressed. Boy, I hope that is a new shirt that wasn’t resting on all that grayscale! Sam and Ser Friendzone say goodbye and shake hands. Cross your fingers that Ser Friendzone is truly cured. I like Sam too much to see him become a stone man. Later, Slughorn calls Sam out for curing Ser Friendzone, and he both lauds him for his success and punishes him for not minding his orders. He’s told he should be thankful that he’s not tossed out of the program.

Back in Dragonstone, Dany wants to sink Euron’s fleet with her dragons. She wants to go so far as to ride Drogon, leading her other two dragons to burn the fleet. Which isn’t a bad idea really - even if we know he could have Cersei’s hidden weapon. Instead though, she’s cautioned against this notion over worry to her own safety. What if she got hit by an arrow? I mean, if it’s in the knee, her adventuring career is over! Instead, they focus back on taking Casterly Rock.

We’re given the first glimpse of Casterly Rock after seven seasons, after hearing about it almost all the time. The Unsullied lay siege to the castle, in a jarring scene that looks choppy and laden with poor CGI. Maybe there wasn’t CGI, but it just didn’t have that polished look like other battle scenes. The true attack comes from underneath thanks to Tyrion’s expertise about the sewers of Casterly Rock, which lets the Unsullied army within the walls. The battle is quick on the screen, but it is brutal from the appearance of bodies along the battlements from both sides. Grey Worm notices that there isn’t as many men as they were told would be there. Also, why they were capturing the Keep, Euron destroyed their ships. He really seems to get around!

The rest of the Lannister army has marched south to Highgarden under the leadership of pod-Jaime with Sternly Tarly and our first Bronn sighting of the season. The Rains of Castamere play as pod-Jaime takes the castle and marches straight to Lady Olenna, who is awaiting her execution as it would seem. Jaime tells her why they left Casterly Rock, having emptied the food stores and with it having no more gold. He tells her that the play was something he learned from Robb Stark. Olenna wants to know how she is to die, and gets a jab in about how much a cunt Joffrey was. Cersei wanted Jaime to flay her or chop off her head. Jaime hasn’t lost all his honor, and pours some poison into a glass of wine for her. She guzzles it down, and as she awaits her death, she tells Jaime one last thing for Cersei. She was the one who was behind the death of Joffrey.

It’s a such a poignant end to the Queen of Thorns, and a wonderful last jab at her enemies. Always a joy to have another twisted bittersweet death on the show. Even if the show kind of moved around at a fast pace over Westeros, and it’s hard to judge how much actual time has passed. Maybe next week we’ll have Ser Friendzone already reunited with his Khaleesi at Dragonstone. Tune in to find out!

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