#agot prologue

[jozor-johai]

Reread the AGOT Prologue last night, and I was so caught up this time in how the dynamics of that chapter are a microcosm of the class dynamics in Westeros.

Not such a long post, but putting it after the cut for ease.

Waymar Royce, of course, stands in for the Lords, with his wealth and name and undeserved authority, while one-named Gared and Will are the smallfolk.

In this chapter, with a speaking cast of 3, there's already this question of where does power lie? In this scene, the smallfolk outnumber the lords 2-to-1, and neither believe in Waymar, but ultimately each of them defers to the lord's authority (the ratio is much more extreme in Westeros at large, but this works for a 3-person dynamic). Will and Gared also trust each other, and trust each other's expertise, more than either of them think Waymar should be trusted in any capacity—he's not leader by merit (he has much less experience than either of them), he's not leader by popular appeal (they laugh at him in their cups), and he's not leader by age (younger than the both).

And we see already in this small moment the ways in which authority attempts to deal with usurpation—which we will see played out over and over again throughout the entirety of ASOIAF.

Gared challenges Waymar's authority on the basis of experience, which is a justified complaint. Faced with an inarguable position, Waymar responds with unnecessary cruelty: "you ought to dress more warmly, Gared." This is one way for the upper class to keep the smallfolk in line—to flaunt their wealth and advantage, and to push back visciously against challenges. This is the Tywin technique, one which we see done consistently throughout the series.

The significance of this being a mental confrontation cannot be overstated: when confronted with Varys' riddle, Tyrion later observes that the rule "All depends on the man with the sword." Here, Gared is the man with the sword—he's a man-at-arms, and the better swordsman. While "Will doubted it[Royce's sword] had ever been swung in anger," "Will would not have given an iron bob for the lordling's life if Gared pulled it[his own sword] from its scabbard." Gared could fully kill Royce here, if he dared. And so the challenge, for Waymar, is to make sure Gared never dares. Power lies where men believe it lies, so Waymar's job as authority figure is to demoralize Gared, so he does not outright challenge Waymar's authority. (This is the role of public humiliation—another 'Tywin tactic,' but which is also used broadly).

Perhaps Gared would dare to challenge Waymar's authority if he were not alone. When Varys follows Tyrion's thinking that the man holding the sword might have some real power, he questions: why do the men with swords obey kings at all, then? Tyrion posits: "Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords." So perhaps the issue is unity, a majority feeling—one man cannot rebel, lest his own class turn against him, but perhaps many can. We see this as the series goes on in instances like with the Sparrows, who amass enough numbers that they can imprison the queen, or with the sellswords in Meereen, who might turn the tide of battle if they switch sides (to the side that they believe might win).

To gain this advantage, Gared and Will would have to be a united front. In the beginning of this chapter, Will was a neutral figure, he's not willing to actually challenge that authority, he didn't want to be involved in the confrontation, but knew "he known "they would drag him into the quarrel sooner or later." Later, though, after witnessing Gared's demoralization, Will nearly steps in himself—in defense of Gared, out of respect for Gared's experience, and in a moment of class solidarity, Will speaks up to defend Gared, and is cut off:

"If Gared said it was the cold …" Will began.

"Have you drawn any watches this past week, Will?"

Here, Waymar's goal, as ruling class of this interaction, is to prevent class solidarity within the smallfolk. If Waymar responded too rudely, or with too much aggression, this might bind Gared and Will together for certain, and Waymar might be usurped (this is the result of the repeated aggressions of Aerys II, resulting in his death, or the repeated aggressions of Tywin which spawned the aforementioned Sparrows).

So Waymar has to employ a different strategy: (still a bit snidely) Waymar plays the role of 'encouraging mentor,' invoking this idea that he deserves to rule by the merit of being inherently 'wiser' or a keeper of 'knowledge'. He suggests that Will figure out for himself, under Waymar's guidance, that the cold could not possibly have killed the wildlings. Led more gently by Waymar, Will seems to decide for himself that Waymar is correct. In short, Waymar is able to reposition Will to be on his side, not Gared's, by leveraging his initial assumed authority and the existing attitude of elite education, even as that makes Will go against his own first-hand experience.

This is another tactic that we see repeatedly used throughout ASOIAF (and the world)—the ruling class acting as though they are simply elevating the ("innocently wrong") subjugated class to a more aware and knowledgeable position. If we believe the Maester conspiracy, they are the most obvious example of this, but the fact that it is only the lords who have access to Maesters means this is implicitly true without even needing a conspiracy—the ruling class is already gatekeeping knowledge and education from the subjugated class. (As an aside: the Maester conspiracy, ironically, is only concerned with the possibility of an even higher authority secretly gatekeeping knowledge from the nobility—in other words, the fear that the Maesters are treating the Lords the way that the Lords treat the smallfolk).

So let's return to Varys' final proposed answers to his own riddle: "Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law." Waymar has employed the knowledge-as-power against Will, and we're also constantly up against the backdrop of law-as-power: The Night's Watch.

Waymar references "Mormont," someone who Waymar does not want to disappoint, and they all consider the agreed-upon terms of the Night's Watch. Even in this microcosmic scenario, they are part of a system, one where this authority figure is, seemingly, held to his own authority figure, and one where the "rules" of the interaction have been determined long before now. In the end, once Waymar decides, "the order had been given, and honor bound them to obey." They have all agreed to a set of laws, already, which keep them bound to Waymar's authority.

So, ultimately, it is in this moment that despite Gared and Will being fully correct in their fears, despite being more experienced, wiser, older, and in all ways better rangers than Waymar, authority itself held true, and Waymar marched them all on towards his own death.

[baleriontheblackkitten]

A Game of Thrones - Prologue

Aah the iconic prologue - which I adore. Fun fact: I actually read the first chunk of AGOT twice, the first of which several years ago, when I downloaded the free preview from Amazon. Since the free preview is a certain % of the work, and it was the preview of the box set of the entire series, it was actually several chapters!

Much has been said about the symmetry of the very first chapter featuring the "ice" threat from the north and the last featuring the "fire" threat from the east, while the rest of the book features no magic and the characters just go out and about busy with their political squabbles oblivious to what's coming, so I don't have anything to add to that. It's really cool, though.

The cool thing about the prologue is that you can read it from different perspectives, none of them "wrong" but that focus on different angles: the class angle focuses on how the lordling sends them all to their destruction, a microcosm of how the classist system of Westeros is going to lead its population to (near) destruction; the supernatural angle focuses on how the humans are just doomed, a microcosm of how the threat of the Others is, indeed, extremely "other" to human logic. I think they're both simultaneously valid ways to look at the chapter.

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them. “The wildlings are dead.” “Do the dead frighten you?” Ser Waymar Royce asked with just the hint of a smile. Gared did not rise to the bait. He was an old man, past fifty, and he had seen the lordlings come and go. “Dead is dead,” he said. “We have no business with the dead.” “Are they dead?” Royce asked softly. “What proof have we?” “Will saw them,” Gared said. “If he says they are dead, that’s proof enough for me.” Will had known they would drag him into the quarrel sooner or later. He wished it had been later rather than sooner. “My mother told me that dead men sing no songs,” he put in. “My wet nurse said the same thing, Will,” Royce replied. “Never believe anything you hear at a woman’s tit. There are things to be learned even from the dead.”

The reader with at least a bit of an inkling of what the series is about immediately notices the irony. The dead are totally something to be frightened about, dead is definitely not dead, and everyone is going to have very much business with the dead. Seeing dead people is really not enough to be sure they won't trouble you again... (I do wonder what it's like to start reading the book not knowing anything about what's going to happen, though. Imagine the shock when dead Waymar Royce stands up!)

The gender angle comes up, too. These men have been taught things from the older women who raised them, but they don't know how to interpret them. To be fair, the women themselves probably don't know what the things they were told from their own elders - mother after mother, wet nurse after wet nurse - exactly mean. But there's a wisdom there that is overlooked.

Dead men sings no songs can be interpreted differently. What Waymar Royce assumes it means, is that the dead don't speak and nothing can be learnt from them, and denies it is true, as the dead give clues to know some things. That is not untrue: there is a perfect logic to Royce's insistence they investigate the situation, his only mistake is to assume the woods are only home to things he knows.

But there's also the fact that the Others (whom I am not sure if we can call them dead men, structly speaking, but they do look like men and are definitely not alive in a human way, so) are unhumanly silent. Many times Will notes that they don't make a sound. They also make him silent: multiple times Will should cry out, warn his officer, but he doesn't, frozen in fear. The Others do speak and laugh, but in no human voice. Their "voices" sound like ice cracking, not anything that would resemble a song.

They sing no songs indeed - songs are the main source of knowledge in this world. Songs are how stories are told and preserved. Songs are community, they are society. The Others are the opposite of that.

There are references to these men having heard stories about what's in the woods (“There’s some enemies a fire will keep away,” Gared said. “Bears and direwolves and … and other things …”) but stories are a double-edged sword: in their age, most people dismiss it as women's tales, and ignore the warnings in them. And that's what dooms all of them, including later Gareth that is not believed.

Royce is right that there are things to be learnt from the dead; the lesson he learns here is his last, though.

He keeps making the correct choices if there were no supernatural enemies waiting for them. He correctly notes that the current temperature - in normal conditions - would not be cold enough to kill people. Fire would give their presence and position away to wildlings. He dismisses the other men's fears, mocks Gareth for being "unmanned".

He would be actually good for the job if not for the Others. One could argue that his attitude is detestable, and it is, but it makes sense for a teenaged lordling; if he had lived, he would have likely grown and learnt to respect the expertise of his common-born brothers. He's been in the Night's Watch for so little time! It's no wonder he acts like the brat he's been raised to be, like Jon will do at the beginning of his time in the Watch.

Additionally, being able to prod his fearful companions and make them act anyway instead of cowering in fear and running away is actually a non negative skill to have in normal conditions for a commander! He's been raised to be a leader, which includes overriding your subjects' hesitations. He also feels the pressure of it - he mentions not wanting to come back from his first mission with zero results.

Ser Waymar Royce does exactly what he is supposed to do. Brattily, but we can forgive him for that as he's a teenager raised to feel and act superior to people lower than him in the social ladder. With sexists remarks, but that does not make him special, he lives in a world imbued with sexism. He dismisses Gareth's fears, but it is not cold enough for them to reasonably expect to have issues with it, the Wall has been weeping …

Royce cannot turn back. It's his first ranging and he has a pile of societal expectations on him he cannot escape. Expectations about "real men", about commanders, about what a highborn man like him should act like. But also expectations about … reality. He has certain assumptions about how the world works, and the Others being real is not part of them.

They are all doomed because the lordling leads them to their death, yes. But the lordling leads them to their death because it's perfectly natural for him to do so given how their world works. They are doomed because the system - the social expectations and the law, later for Gareth - is structured in a way that gives them no alternative.

Blaming the lordling for his dismissal of the other men's fears is meaningless. The lordling's actions make perfect sense in the system. It's the system that fails them, because it has forgotten, or, better, relegated the truth to women's tales. (Remembering is a pivotal thing in the story.)

Another element that is highlighted in this chapter, and the series in general, is sight. Will's task is to watch. Watchers, the Others are called as the rest of them observe the first one and Royce fight. Royce's sword shattering blinds him. But then, The right eye was open. The pupil burned blue. It saw. Will, on the other hand, closes his eyes before being killed.

I am sure that the dead they rise are the Other's additional eyes. They can see everything the dead they rise "see" - just like Bloodraven's magic can use the eyes of the weirdwood trees, of animals, and possibly more (at some point Bloodraven mentions wind if I'm not mistaken), the Others can use the eyes of the dead, and possibly more (the icy wind from the depths of the north, I suppose).

It's poetic that one of Royce's eyes is destroyed by the shattered metal: it gives the Other who killed him three eyes, in a symmetry with the tree-eyed crow.

Speaking of sight, we could say that Royce was blind to the danger he's led them all into, and his blindness is what dooms him, just like his physical blinding is what dooms him to be killed for good. Next chapter is Bran, whose arc all revolves around sight, a supernatural kind of sight.

The next chapter also features the direwolf pup with red eyes being the one in the litter whose eyes are already open, a clear contrast with the blue of the Others and the dead risen by them.

There's also a character who is name-dropped a couple times in the prologue, Maester Aemon, who is physically blind and towards the end of his life deplores about having been "blind" to the truth of the prophecy (at least according to his assumptions at the time). In that case, he believes he's been "blind" to the fact that the one who will defeat the Others will be Daenerys with her fire, which is a reasonable assumption to make. But I wonder if he is right, and the thing to count on is really fire, as everyone expects - or sight. Again, the direwolf with red eyes …

Let's get back to the societal critique. To be fair the critique to the classist society of Westeros writes itself - the most experienced ranger should lead the expedition, not the green boy who is allowed to give orders to and mock other men just because of his high birth. (Additional note: the Night's Watch should "erase" its members' past, including their social status, and make them all "brothers" and yet it does not.) I'll focus on a slightly different angle.

The thing is that ultimately Royce's nobility does not matter. The fancy warm clothes his family's wealth provided for him do not protect him from the supernatural cold the Others bring; his beautiful jeweled sword shatters.

On one level we could read this as a commentary (and foredshadowing) that it's not nobility or wealth that can protect you from this enemy, but something else. But this also tells us something about Waymar Royce and the Night's Watch.

I don't remember if the Royces have Valyrian steel weapons, but even if they did, they would not give them to the youngest cadet son they sent to the Wall to get rid of him. Waymar is "higher" than Gareth and Will socially because of his status as highborn, but he is also a social "reject" sent to the Night's Watch.

The Night's Watch is where Westeros sends the men it doesn't want: Will was a poacher that dared steal from nobility (a popular trope in feudal societies, no need to elaborate on it); Gareth is said to have joined the Watch as a kid, so he was probably a street urchin caught stealing, or a kid his family sent to the Wall to have less mouths to feed.

Ser Waymar is a high born, but “the youngest son of an ancient house with too many heirs”. Maybe that's even why he's such a brat: he knows that he's supposed to be more "precious" socially than Gareth and Will, but ultimately he's on the same level as them, some unwanted guy sent to the ends of the world so nobody has to see him anymore. Maybe he acts like a bitch to his inferiors because that's the only way he has to feel superior to them, because he knows he means no more than them at the end of the day. A bit Theon-like, the boy who acts like an asshole to cover his trauma of being a glorified hostage.

One more note on Royce: the narrative highlights his innocence. Will thinks that his sword has never been swung in anger, which on a surface level indicates that he is no real warror that has never really been in a proper fight. But it also indicates that he's an innocent young man. Once he's dead, it sinks in Will how young he is. He's the first of the many boys dead too soon. He "becomes a man", in the logic of their society's view of manhood (which is not necessarily a laudable thing), in the very circumstance of his death. He faces his opponent bravely: in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night’s Watch. He foreshadows Robb, the boy king, brave and dead, forever fifteen. He foreshadows Jon, also grey-eyed, also a brother of the Night's Watch, also dead by stabbing, albeit in very different circumstances.

Will also foreshadows Jon at the end, killed by his fellow brother of the Night's Watch (although in Will's case it was not Royce's choice, of course), and the last thing he feels is the cold.

Other details:

The warhorse was the wrong mount for ranging - foreshadowing for the realm engaging in war when it should be focusing on the threat from the north.

“Dance with me then.” - "dancing" is a word that is usually used in relation to dragons; here it's used in relation to the Others, establishing a connection between the two, fire and ice.

Ser Waymar Royce found his fury. “For Robert!” he shouted - doesn't it break your heart, how this boy dies in the name of a king that does not care for him, out of metaphor for a system that does not care for him. Westerosi society sent him to die beyond the Wall.

Also, Robert is just as unfit to lead Westeros as inexperienced teenager Waymar Royce is unfit to lead the ranging - the system does not care about putting the right person in the position of leading others. It's all about the violence inherent in the classist social stratification (and the even more factual violence of how Robert became the king).

Will rose. Ser Waymar Royce stood over him - this is just a kickass line.

The chapter closes with Will praying before getting killed, and then we transition to Bran's chapter, almost like he's the destination and/or answer to that prayer.

What are your thoughts about this chapter??

[grey-joys]

Prologue storyboard

[thewatcher0nthewall]

"Dance with me then"

[bastardofharrenhal]

Hiya

Have you read the Game of Thrones books? If so, do you recommend them?

short answer: yes ive read them and do absolutely recommend the books🤭

long answer: the books r amazing the world building and characterization is top tier and its my favorite fantasy world there is (my hot take is that i like it better than lotr) HOWEVER if u plan to read them id recommend looking up if they have any content that might trigger u bc while i feel like grrm handles the topics like rape and pedophilia well, its still rather graphic (the characters are also unreliable narrators so yk). if u like to dive deep into the politics and history of fantasy worlds then there is also 'fire and blood' and 'the world of ice and fire' which explore the backstory even further🤲 however aside from the main saga my favorite stories are of 'the hedge knight' which is significantly lighter but good to read in the ever lasting wait for the last two novels. if u liked the show ull probly like the books too🤭 i liked the books more buts its a preference thing. the prologue of a Game of Thrones is some of the best pieces of writing there is. so are the jaime pov chapters in a Storm of Swords and sansa chapters in book 2 and 3

[carcrash-white]

AGoT Prologue: Establishes genre conventions. Hangs the Sword of Damaclese. Foreshadows Jon Snow's arc.

ACoK Prologue: Shows the Cold King through the eyes of a man who loves him. Introduces fire magic and Melisandre. Established Davos as the book's tragic hero. Foreshadows Catelyns arc.

ASoS Prologue: I need to kill Samwell Tarly. I neeeeeed to kill him. Oh fuck the others are here.

AFFC Prologue: Establishes the Maester's are up to something... Establishes Oldtown. Yea so this is what Syrio has been up to. If you thought the last book was dark get ready for this one....

ADwD Prologue: So you want to Warg an animal?

[gsabt]

AGOT; Prologue

→ Bran I

Preface

Welcome to my first installment of a totally unoriginal concept! You can call me G, Sab/Sabi, Mia, I really don’t care. You’ll probably call me a whore after this first post to be fair!

I think over time I’ll perfect these posts since I was never fully sure of how I wanted to format things. Obviously it’ll be about the chapter and my thoughts however I won’t be divulging everything in the chapter because y’know… it’s pretty cheap to buy and if you’re feeling a little Greyjoy it’s easy to find over on the high seas but hey, I won’t tell if you won’t. I’ve read both AGOT and ACOK start to finish and even got into ASOS when I was around 15-17. Now as a much older adult, I decided to hop back in and check on my ex-bf Jon Snow who is now very younger than me and I wish GRRM would fix that desperately.

Anyways I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, pretty much since I started my main blog earlier this year but I have a career and whatnot. Let’s get started cause I need to shut it already. Be warned, there will be spoilers and I may lightly discuss theories when they tie into chapters in the later books.

Chapter Summary

I’m not surprised that right from the first line, my loud mouth already has commentary.

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.

Like yeah, you’re nuts for wanting to check this out, Waymar, pack it up babe they’re dead! Speaking of Waymar it’d hit it till the wheels fall off. Back on track. I have always enjoyed how immersive George’s writing was, people have told me how my own writing is very Tolkien-like which I think is totally brown-nosing but thank you anyway. The seamless immersion every time I read this chapter is unbelievable as I’m the type of person to ‘see’ things I read in my head practically being played out if that makes sense.

This chapter is scary and it damn well should be. These three Nights Watch men are trekking through the Haunted Forest tracking wildlings that are claimed to be deceased by Will, our POV character for the prologue. He’s having the worst night of his life being stuck between Gared and Waymar, the latter being very douchey and picking at Gared but what I said earlier still stands. Till the wheels fall off.

I also think Waymar getting to be the commander of this ranging after only being in the NW for about 6 months is telling of the Nights Watch and the influence of nepotism but of course, that’s my opinion. Waymar is continually an asshole to Gared who is clearly played into the wise elder trope. This is a man that’s lost pieces of himself during the freezing cold winters, something Waymar has never experienced. I do feel greatly bad for Gared, having to deal with a ‘man’-child and I say it like that because I believe it’s 15 that boys are considered men which I clearly don’t agree but I mean… pop off feudalism.

The way the Others are written makes me so uncomfortable. I’m made aware of how sentient these beings are despite they share no common tongue (as far as we know) with the human characters in this chapter. They know their abilities and are confident of it when it comes to fighting Waymar.

The Other’s parry was almost lazy.

Waymar’s death was certainly a downer, especially with the sword shard getting into one of his eyes (the left I believe). But Will’s death certainly hit a little harder. I can’t imagine trying to leave and suddenly your commander who you believe to be dead just rises and stands behind you, looming like a tower of dread. It’s a feeling I know from experience and it’s horrifying. Big G hardly misses and after my 4th reread of this prologue it’s safe to say that I still thoroughly enjoy it.

[jaehaeryshater]

The King Come Over and his bride Ygritte Firekissed

art by : @shripscapi

Look at my King dawg we’re definitely getting through the Wall!!!

For the last month and a half, I have been working closely with Liesl to design concepts for Jon as King Beyond the Wall and Ygritte as his Queen. Personally, I’m not invested at all in Jon becoming King of the Seven Kingdoms despite him being my favorite character. He’s not very connected with the South and I don’t feel that it’s his birth right or anything, even being the son of Rhaegar. I am significantly more interested in him becoming King in the North, but my interest in Freefolk culture has led me to be far more invested in the idea of him rejecting Southron society as a whole and becoming King Beyond the Wall (this isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive to being King in the North later on).

The motivation for Jon becoming King as opposed to Mance stems from a theory that has been around since AGOT has come out: that the Others will only treat with/negotiate with a Stark. In the prologue of AGOT, when the Others are speaking among themselves before killing the Watchmen, what if they were confirming with each other that Waymar Royce was not a Stark and that they could go ahead and kill him? All in all, it doesn’t really matter if this is true, but rather that this is a plausible rumor that could easily have been passed down among the Freefolk which could lead Mance to conclude that Jon as a leader would give the Freefolk the best chance of survival. It’s not very hard, at least in my opinion, to imagine an AU like this, since survival is the most important thing to the Freefolk during the events of ASOIAF. But is it plausible that under these circumstances that Jon would abandon his Night’s Watch vows? I think so if he can be led to believe that only Stark blood could defeat the Others, but that is not the only factor. Jon Snow is insecure about his bastard status, plain and simple. He’s always lived in the shadow of his Robb, though he loved him. He’s wanted Winterfell, though he didn’t want to nor had any intention to take it from Robb. But he’s known since he was a small boy that he could never Winterfell and that would never inherit anything because he was a bastard. Jon also has thoughts, at least in passing, that Ned loved Robb more than him. He perceives Ned as having been more proud of Robb, of looking at him differently than himself. He’s seemingly always believed this, but there is a sort of confirmation of Jon’s feelings when Ned allows him to join the Night’s Watch without much preparation on what the Watch is actually like. Fully me making assumptions here, not something Jon has explicitly thought, but it’s unlikely that Ned would have sent Bran off at 14 to the Watch without much warning of what it was like, had Bran not become paralyzed. While we never get this exact thought process from Jon, in my opinion it fits into his psychology and insecurity. All this to say, if Jon is offered to be a figurehead, King, a title equal to his brother, but without taking anything away from the Starks or from Robb, that would almost certainly scratch that itch in him. It would be of his own merit, and there would be people behind him that don’t care that he’s a bastard, don’t see him as less than, and are willing to accept him for who he is. Not to mention that it also lets him feel like a hero and as if he is saving something far more precious than himself. And it probably doesn’t hurt that he would be able to remain with Ygritte as well.

We know from the descriptions of Mance and Dalla, as well as from being told directly by the former, that the King and his wife dress like all the other Freefolk, in thick furs. While the Jon and Ygritte arts from above are not particularly ostentatious by Southron standards, they are in obvious contrast to how Mance and Dalla are dressed. My idea was that Jon, having lived South of the Wall in a Lord’s keep all of his life, brought his own ideas to the Freefolk and added a distinction between a King and all other men. Nothing like in King’s Landing, all changes are inspired by his experience at Winterfell. I tried to think of what was achievable by the Freefolk, that would be difficult enough that it can’t be easily replicated for everyone else, but also keeping in mind of what could be done relatively quickly seeing as the Freefolk are focused on migrating South and saving themselves from the Others. The cultures I took inspiration for the clothing from are the Byzantines, Russians, Incans, Aztecs, and Mongolians. I wanted more “open” and flowy clothing, as opposed to more closed off and excessively modest clothing of 1300-1500s Europe that most of Westeros is based off of. Ygritte is still wearing furs, but they are dyed and there is weirwood embroidery in symbolism of the Old Gods and flame embroidery to symbolize her being kissed by fire. Her jewelry are simply clay beads that have been powdered blue. I didn’t want to give her any jewels as I felt it would be too difficult for the Freefolk to cut them directly and just overall would be against the spirit of the Freefolk. However, getting the blue on the clay like that still would be expensive and take a lot of time. I tried to keep the main color scheme surrounding gray as obviously that’s House Stark’s color. Jon’s clothes are similarly nice, with my main concern being him looking intimidating. I want the furs around his shoulders to be black because I wanted to call back to his time in the Night’s Watch without him keeping his psychical cloak, because I’m sure the Freefolk would not want him to do that. The furs are massive and make his shoulders look far larger, in an effort to make him look more intimidating, especially on a battlefield or in negotiations. He also has weirwood embroidery and his sigil is on the front of his outfit (my original idea was for him to have a flag with his heraldry on it, in which case the sigil would have looked far different, with a full length direwolf). There’s a white wolf on one side and either a crow or eagle on the other side (up for interpretation, both are relevant to Jon and one is one of the animals that can be used a symbol of the Freefolk) and the flame in the middle to represent Ygritte, but also defeating the Others as fire is the way Jon originally tried combating them as a steward at the Wall. The sigil is more than about Jon, after all, as it’s for the entirety of House Whitewolf, the House he founds. I thought the name fit far more in to Freefolk culture than something like Whitestark or something along those lines. Ygritte was supposed to have sewn on the sigil herself, and was very adamant about it, and that is meant to be why the thread is uneven and more visible than it ought to be. She’s not very good at the craft!

As I indicated before, crowns are not something common to Freefolk. That would be something else Jon would implement. Ygritte’s crown is very much like a hat, very casual. The beads are nice but obtaining them wouldn’t be unheard of, and holly most likely would not be particularly hard to come by. The reason I gave her a crown with holly is that during Christmas in the Tudor period and even before during pagan celebrations, people would go out into the woods and find holly and ivy to decorate their houses with. Holly was a symbol of masculine energy and ivy feminine energy. If you found more holly, it was meant to indicate that the man would rule the household for the year, and if you found more ivy then the woman would rule the household in the coming year (this was a way to “tell the future” not a rule lol). I liked the holly better for Ygritte so I’m just saying the Freefolk had the opposite belief. Jon’s crown is made of weirwood, which was important to me as I feel like his connection the Old Gods is also important as it is something that him and Freefolk both use to guide them. It ties them together. That being said, a weirwood crown is often used for Bran so I did not want to use a design that was too similar to the one used for him. Bran’s weirwood crown usually is made of weirwood branches, however, and not weirwood bark or logs, so I feel like it’s different enough. The frozen weirwood sap, as far as I know, is also unique to this design. There’s also some ivy to parallel with Ygritte’s holly.

The remaining bits and bobs I wanted to explain are the blue rose and then the face paint. The blue rose is obviously something associated with Lyanna Stark, who is widely accepted to be the mother of Jon Snow. I originally wanted to give him a rose somewhere, whether he was holding it or it was in his embroidery, but I forgot to ask during sketching, and then it was too late. But Ygritte holding the blue rose isn’t just about Lyanna. It’s also about Bael the Bard, a most likely fictitious person (or at least, the tale is fictitious, though I personally choose to believe it’s real) that went South of the Wall posing as a bard. He impressed the Lord of Winterfell so much that he granted Bael anything he wished; all Bael asked for was the most beautiful flower in Winterfell. This was granted for him, but the next morning he had stolen the Lord of Winterfell’s only child, a girl, and had left the flower in her bed in her place. He hid in the crypt with her for a year and they had a son together. Bael eventually went back North of the Wall and eventually Winterfell, having no other heir, passed to Bael’s child. Under this story, Jon is descended from Ygritte’s idol (maybe idol is stretching it, but she really likes him), Bael the Bard. Not only him, but all the Freefolk including Ygritte, according to her story. Following the story’s premise, Jon also poses as Bael and Ygritte as Winterfell’s daughter, with Jon joining her home under false pretenses and “stealing her”, as she calls it. So the blue rose has significance regarding both the Starks and the Freefolk. The face paint is inspired by tattooing done by cultures indigenous to North America. Indigenous Americans are not the only groups to use facial tattooing, the Vikings were famous for it as well, but Viking facial tattooing had more patterns based on shapes rather than lines and dots. I didn’t like the shapes so much, but the chin tattoo was one was that observed in all sorts of different cultures. Usually the chin tattoos with the line were on women in indigenous America, but I found some on men in other outside cultures. The dots I didn’t see outside of Native American culture and the claw marks on Jon’s cheeks I found mainly among Vikings. Because these all are an amalgamation of different cultures, we did them as face paint instead of tattoos because it seemed disrespectful otherwise. Not enough research went into it to be a proper representation of any one culture so paint was a better bet than a permanent body modification that is sacred to a number of cultures. The only thing that was meant to be a tattoo was the chin tattoo, which like I said, actually is from an amalgamation of cultures. Among the Freefolk (in this AU), dots on the cheeks are widespread, one of cultural mainstays of their people, and are generally a sign of peace, whereas the claws are meant to look intimidating and is applied to look like blood (Ygritte applies it for Jon) and is specifically used for military leaders. I really wanted to drive home the point that the goal with Jon’s whole look is to look fearsome.

I have so much more to say about Jon as King Beyond the Wall, how he negotiates with the Wall, the different rules he sets in place, how he sets up being King as a hereditary title once his daughter Bael is born, etc etc, but then I’d be here all day and approximately one person total read through all this. Oops! Ask in my inbox if you have any questions because I would love love love to answer them. All in all, shripscapi (Liesl) is so talented and she worked incredibly hard for me. She was extremely accommodating and changed as much stuff as I wanted. She never complained about the million times I decided something was not quite right and she sent me so many updates. I would recommend working with her to just about anybody. It was very cool what she was able to achieve and I got it in time for the holidays so I can enjoy my winter themed pfp on twt. So thank you from the bottom of my heart Liesl, and I hope everyone showers her with compliments because she deserves it. I also hope that people that don’t enjoy Ygritte very much can still appreciate the art and the concept of Jon as King Beyond the Wall. Hopefully I’ve gotten across how much I love and care for these characters to a chronically online degree and nobody accuses me of mischaracterizing them because that would make me!!!! very sad!!!

Bonus Jon with weirwood leaves:

[ladystoneboobs]

so, one aspect of catelyn which i think is underrated (certainly the biggest adaptation loss which nobody talks about) is her, let's say superstitiousness, or better yet, let's call it genre-savviness, being one of the few adult characters open to magic and the supernatural in this fantasy world. we first meet her in the godswood, home of gods which are not truly hers, yet she is still very aware of their power. when she and ned talk of the deserter he killed, he hopes he won't have to go with the nw to deal with mance rayder, but she has even more fear of that idea bc there are worse things beyond the wall than just wildlings. ned scoffs and says she's been listening to old nan too much, but she's right. we already know from the prologue that she's right! and here she is, understanding the genre of their world better than her husband, who was actually born and spent his earliest years in this northern land of deep magic, listening to old nan's stories. same with the direwolves, where she was uncomfortable with them at first, but later believed in them as guardians from the old gods even after robb had lost his own faith. and once again, we know she's right even if she doesn't know the evidence to back up her instincts, bc summer and shaggydog did not fail bran and rickon and robb was almost certainly a warg like his brothers. (perhaps making it more fitting that she's the one brought back as a fantasy vengeance monster, not ned and robb, the most unbelieving dead starks.) and in her 2nd agot chapter, everyone focuses on her ambition in wanting ned to agree to the hand job (pun intended) and sansa's betrothal, and while she does recognize the value of their daughter being a future queen more than ned does, that's only her stated argument bc she thinks it's rational enough for ned to listen to. (if ambitious matchmaking were as important to her as to her father she never would have made those frey betrothals fandom loves to blame her for.) in her own head there's a deeper urge driving her. she keeps thinking of the dead direwolf with antlers in its throat, an omen which filled her with dread from the first she heard of it, before robert's arrival, and thinking of it again is what makes her desperate to convince ned not to refuse robert. she had to make him see. and really, she's not wrong, as jon snow would say. the dead direwolf was an omen of ned and robert getting each other killed. it's just one of those misread portents, with no way of knowing the danger to ned was in his loyalty to robert, not conflict with him. BUT the next time she's dealing with baratheons, she knows exactly what she's talking about. it's catelyn, not brienne, who sees the shadow slaying renly, and explains that it was stannis who did that through some dark magic. with no way of knowing how it was achieved and no prior expectation that such a thing were ever possible, she realizes with no hestitation that stannis was guilty and that his red witch was capable of pulling this off somehow. really, the only instinct of the supernatural she's wholly wrong about is her insistence that varys gathered his knowledge through some dark enchantment. however, though that might offend varys, given his own personal experience with a sorcerer, i'd say it's a reasonable assumption without knowing the dude had children moving through walls everywhere like oversized rodents. and imo it just shows she had a healthy respect and awe for varys's power which most other characters lack.

oh, oh, and let's not forget that she also believed in the curse of harrenhal, from her own childhood and the stories old nan told her kids. "and every house that held Harrenhal since had come to misfortune. Strong it might be, but it was a dark place, and cursed. 'I would not have Robb fight a battle in the shadow of that keep,' Catelyn admitted." sure, that wasn't enough to save robb, but he did not die from the curse of harrenhal. that doom was meant for his enemies from tywin lannister to roose bolton.

[morgenlich]

i also have to say that AGoT’s last line being “…and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.” really sold the series for me. first because i just think it’s a beautiful line. also, it’s a huge Oh Shit moment. like this is clearly a big thing that is going to change the world. also ofc the Parallels with the prologue, where the Others have returned���ice and fire, always….

but more importantly it’s such a strong statement on the themes of hope and rebirth. dany walked into drogo’s pyre thinking she had lost everything—she has no brother, no husband, no son. and she rises out of it with dragons. her new children. and a new purpose in life…she goes through a lot of character growth throughout all of AGoT, but walking into the pyre and emerging unscathed changes her…she no longer views her destiny as being the sister/wife/mother of a man who will restore the throne or whatever. she’s going to do that herself now….lots of thoughts and feelings

[jozor-johai]

Ghost as Jon's "white shadow" in AGOT Tyrion III:

They walked, with Ghost pacing along beside Jon like a white shadow.

Ser Mandon Moore as Joffrey's "white shadow" in ACOK Tyrion IX:

Joffrey was galloping at his side, whey-faced, with Ser Mandon Moore a white shadow on his left.

and then, with Ser Balon Swann, two "white shadows" to Tyrion in ACOK Tyrion VIX:

His two white shadows were always with him; Balon Swann and Mandon Moore, beautiful in their pale plate.

and again, more menacingly, later in the same chapter:

The knight was a white steel shadow, his eyes shining darkly behind his helm.

Ser Barristan Selmy as Daenerys' "white shadow" in ADWD Daenerys I:

Dany glimpsed Ser Barristan sliding closer, a white shadow at her side.

Five chapters later, Ghost as Jon's "white shadow" again in ADWD Jon II:

Ghost padded after him, a white shadow at his side

and again in ADWD Jon VII:

Ghost ran with them, a white shadow at Jon's side.

That's almost every instance of the concept of the "white shadow" in ASOIAF, and I think the limited context is striking: this is only in reference to the Kingsguard, clad in their pure white-enameled armor, and Ghost, Jon's all-white guardian.

If we are assuming Jon is a lost Targaryen Prince, then perhaps we might say Ghost is spiritually the first member of his Kingsguard.

I think it's a sweet thought.

However ... that's notably omitting the third context for the phrase "white shadow"

From the AGOT Prologue:

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

From AGOT Jon VIII:

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

From ACOK Jon III:

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

and again:

We ride north, after Mance Rayder and these Others, these white shadows and their wights. We seek them, Gilly.

From AFFC Samwell III:

Maester Aemon's woken up and wants to hear about these dragons. He's talking about bleeding stars and white shadows and dreams and . . . if we could find out more about these dragons, it might help give him ease. Help me."

What can we make of that, then?

These are the only three contexts for this imagery, actually. I think it works if Ghost is sort of like Jon's Kingsguard but then... can there be some connection in this phrase with the Others? What could that mean?

[thewatcher0nthewall]

Waymar Royce

[bastardofharrenhal]

Sorry gave up on fire and blood for now bc I could physically feel the mainseries books staring down at me from my bookshelf mocking me and laughting

[ai-manre]

The way that characters keep accusing Jon of fucking someone just because he's kind and open-minded and wants to protect people...

Sam:

Jon drew his longsword. He dared defy Ser Alliser only to a point, and he feared he was well beyond it now.

Thorne smiled. "The Bastard wishes to defend his lady love, so we shall make an exercise of it. Rat, Pimple, help our Stone Head here." Rast and Albett moved to join Halder. "Three of you ought to be sufficient to make Lady Piggy squeal. All you need do is get past the Bastard." - Jon IV, AGOT

The plan was Chett's. He was the clever one; he'd been steward to old Maester Aemon for four good years before that bastard Jon Snow had done him out so his job could be handed to his fat pig of a friend. When he killed Sam Tarly tonight, he planned to whisper, "Give my love to Lord Snow," right in his ear before he sliced Ser Piggy's throat open to let the blood come bubbling out through all those layers of suet. - Prologue, ASOS

Melisandre:

Jon could feel her heat, even through his wool and boiled leather. The sight of them arm in arm was drawing curious looks. They will be whispering in the barracks tonight. - Jon I ADWD

Alys:

"A wildling. A filthy, murdering wildling." Cregan's hands closed into fists. The gloves that covered them were leather, lined with fur to match the cloak that hung matted and stiff from his broad shoulders. His black wool surcoat was emblazoned with the white sunburst of his house. "I see what you are, Snow. Half a wolf and half a wildling, baseborn get of a traitor and a whore. You would deliver a highborn maid to the bed of some stinking savage. Did you sample her yourself first?" - Jon X, ADWD

Satin:

Ser Malegorn stepped forward. "I will escort Her Grace to the feast. We shall not require your … steward." The way the man drew out the last word told Jon that he had been considering saying something else. Boy? Pet? Whore? - Jon X, ADWD

Val:

"Easily remedied." Florent's smile was so false that it looked painful. "Where is she, Lord Snow? Have you moved her to one of your other castles? Greyguard or the Shadow Tower? Whore's Burrow, with t'other wenches?" He leaned close. "Some say you have her tucked away for your own pleasure. It makes no matter to me, so long as she is not with child. I'll get my own sons on her. If you've broken her to saddle, well … we are both men of the world, are we not?" - Jon X, ADWD

The watch is constantly whispering and gossiping about his sexual deviant tastes because he's?? Nice and kind to people?? Irrelevant of who they are??

[melrosing]

fav asoiaf books ranking & why

AFFC: it’s my three favourite POVs basically one after the other + I love how introspective this book is, that he gave the characters room to breathe…… idk I love ASOS and it’s always hard to choose between AFFC and ASOS but I think AFFC pips it for me

ASOS: everyone loves ASOS and everyone should like what can u even say. how has man gurm packed like a dozen genre defining plot twists into this one book idk. also the beginning of Jaime’s story and ofc it’s just stellar all the way through the book

ACOK: i keep thinking about how hard a book like AGOT is to follow up when it already contains so many moving pieces and yet ACOK not only meets that challenge but ups the ante!!! the hell. the Starks chapters are so strong in this book, Tyrion is off the charts, Theon is an amazing new POV addition, I’m obsessed w Dany in HOTU, Brienne is here, the fuckin prologue….. wao

AGOT: I love AGOT I always look forward to starting it again on reread. it’s like watching a matryoshka doll in reverse as you start to get a sense of the scale gurm is going for. the one thing that always sticks out to me in this book though is that god these kids are all way too young for their roles in the story lol you can feel that GRRM regrets the numbers he started with by ACOK

ADWD: I do like ADWD but my faves are all mostly missing and I miss them :( plus I struggle w Jon Snow as a POV, he just isn’t my fave unforch and there is SO much of him here + I don’t think I would’ve made all the same choices GRRM does w Tyrion’s arc within this book, it feels to me like he just got seriously carried away. but I love Theon’s chapters, I like Dany’s arc here, and I really enjoy Joncon and Aegon as late additions to the story so yeah I do still love this book, I just get through it the slowest of the five

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Jaime Lannister didn’t think Robert Arryn would live long to breed, and he most likely had little interaction with him. Do you think Jon Arryn thought the same? Do you think he regretted marrying lysa, especially with how she turned out?

Correction: Jaime and Robert Arryn lived in the same castle for the first six years of Robert's life. Jaime was aware Robert was still breastfeeding at the age of four. Jaime undoubtedly witnessed several incidents where Joffrey called Robert cruel names, and probably the incident where Joffrey slapped him with a wooden sword. (Which I imagine took place in the training yard, where the Kingsguard frequently hang out.) Jaime probably saw more than one of Robert's seizures, as he had the "shaking sickness" from birth. Jaime has full context to judge Robert's fitness for survival, even if he does so coldly and with Westeros-typical ableism.

I don't know what Jon Arryn thought exactly, but the fact he continued to care for Robert and didn't bring his great-nephew Harry Hardyng to the Eyrie (as Randyll Tarly surely would have done) suggests that no, he hadn't given up on his son. In fact, Jon was planning to take Robert away from Lysa and send him to be fostered at Dragonstone:

[Catelyn] glanced at her nephew and sighed. “The boy is utterly without discipline. He will never be strong enough to rule unless he is taken away from his mother for a time.” “His lord father agreed with you,” said a voice at her elbow. She turned to behold Maester Colemon, a cup of wine in his hand. “He was planning to send the boy to Dragonstone for fostering, you know… oh, but I’m speaking out of turn.” — AGOT, Catelyn VII

“The boy is weak and sickly,” Lord Stannis objected. “Even his father saw how it was, when he asked me to foster him on Dragonstone. Service as a page might have done him good, but that damnable Lannister woman had Lord Arryn poisoned before it could be done…” — ACOK, Prologue

So Jon evidently believed that Robert could grow stronger, as long as he was away from his mother. But this pissed Lysa the hell off:

“I proposed that Lord and Lady Arryn foster two of my grandsons at court, and offered to take their own son to ward here at the Twins. […] Lord Arryn wouldn’t have him, or the other one, and I blame your lady sister for that. She frosted up as if I’d suggested selling her boy to a mummer’s show or making a eunuch out of him, and when Lord Arryn said the child was going to Dragonstone to foster with Stannis Baratheon, she stormed off without a word of regrets and all the Hand could give me was apologies. What good are apologies? I ask you.” —Walder Frey, AGOT, Catelyn IX

and so she killed Jon (under guidance from Littlefinger and with the help of Pycelle's malpractice).

Again, I don't know exactly what Jon was thinking regarding his choice to marry Lysa, but also... I don't actually care? Oh, so when you were in your 60s, you married a "soiled" girl young enough to be your granddaughter because you were desperate for an heir, got her pregnant nine times in your loveless marriage, and only had one chronically ill child survive the miscarriages and stillbirths? Sucks to be you, Jon, and I'm glad Lysa outlived you.