#especially if we consider that Arya could be legitimately hearing the dead

[the-king-andthe-lionheart]

I find this highly interesting:

She hunkered down in the dark against a damp stone wall and listened for the pursuit, but the only sound was the beating of her own heart and a distant drip of water. Quiet as a shadow, she told herself. She wondered where she was. When they had first come to King's Landing, she used to have bad dreams about getting lost in the castle. Father said the Red Keep was smaller than Winterfell, but in her dreams it had been immense, an endless stone maze with walls that seemed to shift and change behind her. She would find herself wandering down gloomy halls past faded tapestries, descending endless circular stairs, darting through courtyards or over bridges, her shouts echoing unanswered. In some of the rooms the red stone walls would seem to drip blood, and nowhere could she find a window. Sometimes she would hear her father's voice, but always from a long way off, and no matter how hard she ran after it, it would grow fainter and fainter, until it faded to nothing and Arya was alone in the dark. - Arya III AGOT

Evenfall found them still trudging toward the Green Fork and Lord Frey's twin castles. I am almost there, Arya thought. She knew she ought to be excited, but her belly was all knotted up tight. Maybe that was just the fever she'd been fighting, but maybe not. Last night she'd had a bad dream, a terrible dream. She couldn't remember what she'd dreamed of now, but the feeling had lingered all day. If anything, it had only gotten stronger. Fear cuts deeper than swords. She had to be strong now, the way her father told her. There was nothing between her and her mother but a castle gate, a river, and an army . . . but it was Robb's army, so there was no real danger there. Was there? - Arya X ASOS

This could definitely be just a tactic of foreshadowing, but I do find it interesting how it’s Arya we see who seems to be having stressful dreams full of foreboding and symbolism right before the deaths of Ned and Catelyn and Robb.  Makes me wonder if Arya’s blood is even more magical (via the Warg King’s daughters) than we think.

[asprettyasyourown]

How/Where do you think Jon and Arya will meet again? And how/where do you think Dany and Arya will meet?

Honestly, I can’t see Arya and Jon meeting anywhere else other than Winterfell. It would be such a satisfying “conclusion” to this aspect of their storyline. For Arya, both Winterfell AND Jon have been associated with home. She has tried since day one to return to either of them, and to see her do both at the same time would be so lovely. And Jon too, who has struggled for so long with his desire to have Winterfell (feeding his rivalry with Robb and his conflict with his status as a bastard) and Arya (contradicting his position as a member of the Night’s Watch, who have no family), would then get both at the same time. I know GRRM doesn’t like to hand things on a silver platter, and that “Be careful what you wish for” is a massive theme in the series, but come on. You can’t tell me they had it easy, and that they didn’t fight for it.

Now how and when is a little trickier.

Unfortunately, it won’t happen before a loooong time. Arya has a long way to go before leaving Essos, let alone reach Winterfell. She still needs to: 

Tie the story with the FM (including a “training” with the courtesans/the Black Pearl, and of course leaving them);

Deal with the wildlings women and children that are stranded in Braavos now that the Sealord captured the ship (= slavers) that intended to sell them;

As I’ve mentioned before, I very much see the Iron Bank being involved in her storyline, so there’s that to deal with as well;

Meet Dany (I’ll go back to this later);

Go back to Westeros;

Deal with the Riverlands, the Brotherhoods Without Banners and, most importantly, Lady Stoneheart;

Reconnect with Nymeria.

And all that doesn’t even take into account what GRRM could throw in her way on top of all of this. That’s a lot. And since Arya will definitively not see Jon anywhere outside of the North, it could only happen after she resolved all those things.

Jon too has a lot on his plate. He first needs to be resurrected (duh). He also needs to deal with the traitors who stabbed him and his future in the Night’s Watch. If you omit the whole murder thing (kinda hard to tbh), there is still the fact he broke his vows for Arya. He was already set to leave before he died. And since his last thoughts were about Arya, and we know the dead who get resurrected focus on their last conscious thoughts, his resolve to get her back will not be lessened.

Honestly, I think he’s done with the NW. I think he’s gonna do what he intended to before dying, aka kill Ramsay and get “Arya” back, whether by allying with Stannis or at the head of his own wildling army. I don’t know if he’s gonna become King in the North like in GoT, but he’s definitively going to be considered for the role; and since Bran, the legitimate heir, is still alive and will one day return to Winterfell, this could be the catalyst for the tension between these two George planned in his original draft. Not to mention the tensions it would create with the other northern lords, who would not see with a kind eye a bastard allied with the wildlings (enemies of the North for generations) and Stannis; or those who simply won’t appreciate a king not as malleable as a child (side-eye to the Manderlys).

(Oh, and there is also the matter with fArya and Theon. I’m going on a limb here, but I doubt he’s gonna be happy to learn that what he thought was his precious “sister” is really an impostor (though he might be happy to know the real Arya didn’t get what Jeyne had to endure). Or that she’s bringing along the guy who betrayed the Starks and supposedly killed Bran and Rickon. His first reaction definitively won’t be good, though it will probably soften once he learns what happened to them and how Ramsay is the real culprit. But I’m not anticipating much benevolence from him, especially since he’s in dark mode now).

So yeah. Lots of issues to be resolved before they can be reunited, and that’s without counting on the threat of the Others or what other characters might do. Honestly, I’m anticipating a reunion between the end of TWOW and the beginning of ADOS. On one hand, I think it would be more impactful in TWOW; most specifically, the last act of either Jon or Arya’s chapters. It would be a nice conclusion for the both of them, before the Others mess everything up. But I’m also aware that all the issues I’ve previously mentioned might not be resolved in one book, and that it might spill on the second one.

-----------------------------

Now Dany.

Honestly, it’s kinda hard to be sure of how they’re gonna meet. They will, that’s a certainty. There is so much hints, since the first book really. Remember this?

This time the monsters did not frighten her. They seemed almost old friends. [Arya, IV, AGOT]

Which is exactly how I’m anticipating their relationship. At first, things are going to be tense, especially on Dany’s side who has been fed lies about the Starks and their role in her exile (and who could blame her). So there’s definitively room for Arya to be frightened. But once she gets Dany to see her side to the story, and her vision of the events become more balanced, they’ll become fast-friends. They have so much in common, it’s impossible for them not to.

But, once again, the details of how they’re gonna meet is blurry. Arya will need to at least be done with the FM. And Dany... Dany has a lot on her plate too. She’s gonna need to deal with the khalasar she hears at the end of ADWD, and a possible confrontation (alliance?) with the Dothraki. She will also need to end the plot in Meereen (aka choose between “fixing” its whole culture or do what she always intended to, return to Westeros and seize back the Iron Throne). Of course, we know she’s gonna choose the latter - but a bunch of things can happen between that, and with them time passing.

At this point, Arya and Dany are very far away, each at one extremity of Essos. For them to have a chance to meet, I anticipate that Dany will end things with Meereen at the same time Arya closes the storyline with the FM (maybe even before, so Dany could already be on the road towards Braavos). Now is the tricky part. I have two theories on how they will meet: through the lost Wildlings and through the Iron Bank.

The lost Wildlings

We know the wildlings women and children in Braavos were “freed” when the Sealord seized the ship carrying them. Unfortunately, others were not so lucky.

“I know why the Sealord seized the Goodheart. She was carrying slaves. Hundreds of slaves, women and children, roped together in her hold.” Braavos had been founded by escaped slaves, and the slave trade was forbidden here. “I know where the slaves came from. They were wildlings from Westeros, from a place called Hardhome. An old ruined place, accursed.” Old Nan had told her tales of Hardhome, back at Winterfell when she had still been Arya Stark. “After the big battle where the King-Beyond-the-Wall was killed, the wildlings ran away, and this woods witch said that if they went to Hardhome, ships would come and carry them away to someplace warm. But no ships came, except these two Lyseni pirates, Goodheart and Elephant, that had been driven north by a storm. They dropped anchor off Hardhome to make repairs, and saw the wildlings, but there were thousands and they didn’t have room for all of them, so they said they’d just take the women and the children. The wildlings had nothing to eat, so the men sent out their wives and daughters, but as soon as the ships were out to sea, the Lyseni drove them below and roped them up. They meant to sell them all in Lys. Only then they ran into another storm and the ships were parted. The Goodheart was so damaged her captain had no choice but to put in here, but the Elephant may have made it back to Lys. The Lyseni at Pynto’s think that she’ll return with more ships. The price of slaves is rising, they said, and there are thousands more women and children at Hardhome.” [The Blind Girl, ADWD]

So the Goodheart was too damaged to go to Lys, but the Elephant wasn’t. It means there are still hundreds of wildlings women and children enslaved there. Honestly, I’m not sure how Arya could be involved in freeing them. Lys is a long way from Braavos, which means she would have to travel down there (with no resources and the other half of the wildlings), free them and get back up to sail across the Narrow Sea, deal with the Riverlands and then go North. It’s a little much for one girl, even one as resourceful as Arya. Sure, she could ask help from the Iron Bank (see my second point), but I doubt they would indulge her (high risk for no rewards).

But. You know who is as strongly against slavery as Arya, whose path might make her travel to Lys and who has the resources to fuck shit up? Yep, Dany.

The way I see it is, after being disheartened by Meereen and her failure to change the slaver(y) culture, Dany could very much decide to go home to Westeros - and set everything ablaze in her path. If she failed to abolish slavery from the inside, she might decide to do it by force, as a last FUCK YOU to the masters. This could be the beginning of her rock bottom, before she rises back again. It’s also coherent with the Dothraki culture of “Submit or be killed”, which could play a part if she allies with them again.

So I could see her attacking the big cities of Essos, destroying the masters and freeing the slaves as she goes along, until she reaches Braavos - who may be protected since 1. she would use its port to journey across the Narrow Sea and 2. they’re famously known for being founded by slaves and anti-slavery as a whole (and they actually enforce that rule, not just preach it and close their eyes when it counts). There, she could meet Arya through the wildlings women reuniting. Like I said, things would be tense at first, but if they might not be friends at first, they might respect each other for having their hearts set on the same goal (protecting their people). Friendship would come later, I’m not worried about that.

The Iron Bank theory

For me, the Iron Bank doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as a threat, and I fully anticipate them having a much larger role in the next book.

I really believe they will have a hand in Arya going back to Westeros. After she leaves the FM, I very much see them stepping in to offer their “help” to Arya. Personally, I believe the Kindly Man informed them of her real identity (though his motivations are yet unclear). I believe he’s aware of her value as a princess, and the (supposedly) last heir of the North. Look how people are rallying for her in the North when they hear “Valiant Ned’s precious little girl” is being brutalized. Do you think the Iron Bank is gonna pass on such a prize? I can see them trying to do to her what the Manderlys are doing with Rickon, or what Illyrio tried to do with Dany - offer their protection and help so she would be/feel indebted. They could get ahold of the North through Arya, and of the other Kingdoms through Stannis/the crown’s debt. Not too shabby.

But wait, there is a problem arising. A problem named Daenerys, who fully intends to take back the Iron Throne - and if she does, she’s not gonna care about reimbursing the debt her predecessors/usurpers left, thus lessening their leverage (and with three dragons, a Dothraki army and the Unsullied, threatening her is not gonna fly well). I can see them trying to step in too, promise the same things to her they did to Arya - except she’s not gonna fall for the same ploy like Viserys did with Illyrio.

(Btw, I’m sure Arya too will see right through them - she had a whole training dedicated to make her see beyond appearances, and she’s always been pretty observant (like when she didn’t fall for trap Cersei laid for her, with Lannister soldiers dressed as Stark men in AGOT). But she also don’t have the same resources Dany has, and if she frees the wildlings, she’ll have hundreds of mouths to feed and transport back to Westeros. I can’t see her do that without external help, so she might be playing along til a better opportunity arise.)

Now, both these theories have their flaws. The biggest one, for me, is time. Meereen is not gonna be resolved in a day (unless Dany just sets everything on fire the moment she arrives and takes off into the sunset, but I doubt that). She still needs enough time to travel to Braavos. Even if George takes his sweet time closing the FM storyline, dealing with the wildlings in Braavos and the Iron Bank, it’s not gonna take a million chapters. Unless he throws something in there to delay her departure, something that wasn’t foreshadowed yet? Because I don’t see them meeting first in Westeros. What would be the point of having them on the same continent if they don’t meet there? As always, there’s a lot left hanging in the air.

[silkygoldmilkweed]

Everything Is SanSan, SanSan Is Everything, 1/? -  “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”

This might be one of a series. 

This is basically a “subtweet” post which is part designed to make myself feel better bc the negativity from a fellow Tumblr person I admire bummed me and partly because I think my show-only vantage point actually could be valuable in thinking about the story and the characters we all love.

OK. So. I’ve noticed some aggressive SanSan/GOT pessimism around here lately, which I totally accept especially if your fandom started with the book series. The book story is subtle and much more romantic than show-only SanSan. But as a show-only, I feel bound to defend the romance embedded in the series, because I think it is absolutely there, just presented in different terms than the books.

The book series gives SanSan the gift of Sansa’s internal experience. 

For my money, one of the reasons (one but not the only) GRRM made Sansa a POV character is because it amused him greatly to try to explain the fierce, unstable, dangerous, strong Hound from the extremely unreliable POV of a dreamy, gentle, ultravulnerable, isolated, young, romantic-minded little girl, Sansa Stark.

ANYWAY. On the show we don’t get to know Sansa’s thinking, or anyone’s thinking for that matter: We can see only the actions of the characters. 

On the show, Sansa is forever passive and susceptible, and Sandor’s POV is opaque, clouded by both his own recalcitrance and emotional challenges and by the fact that GRRM keeps him deliberately to the side. 

(I personally believe Sandor is one of the four most important characters in the story. Jon, Dany, Sansa, Sandor are my power quad; more on that later).

So. Camera’s POV. It’s different than the internal POV of the books, but it is also a gift in that we get new insights to the same material because of the different story medium.

We can learn a lot about the endgame from how the show cuts the stories into individual episodes, each with a theme. We can learn a lot from how the stories braid together within an episode: What scene leads into what other scene? Which themes are reflected widely, and which get brief treatment? Which phrases of dialogue and which musical refrains are repeated? 

For my money, the show uses minor and disposable characters to reflect back on the grand themes of the show, even when the main characters who will ultimately carry out the related plots are sidelined.

So. 

Let’s just say, hypothetically, that the main theme of the story is “the things I do for love” and the main characters of A Song of Ice and Fire are Sandor and Sansa (”he is the prince who was promised and his is the song of ice and fire”), whereas the main characters of “A/The Game of Thrones” are Jon and Dany. 

Let’s concede, for the purposes of argument, that GRRM and D&D are bound and determined to hide the SanSan for the nearly the duration of the story, for two reasons: (1) plot twists and surprises make for good drama, (2) Sandor x baby!Sansa as a pairing is legitimately illegal child pornography and every kind of creepiness, which all of them well know and strongly oppose. And that was GRRM’s point all along: Drogo is a barbarian who buys the little girl and rapes her and puts a baby in her and doesn’t think twice about it, and Sandor Clegane is a good man who puts his selfish desire to fuck her bloody second to his sworn duty to protect her and keep her safe and do the same for all her family (Arya). (I will go to my grave swearing that they aged up Dany, Jon, Robb, Theon and not the others–including Joff and Tommen–because there was simply no way to write their sex lives out of the story; therefore they had to be played by adults or the story collapsed.) 

FORBIDDEN LOVE OF SANDOR AND SANSA get two seasons of setup just so they’ve actually met each other and had a couple of common experiences (arguably only one the two seasons has any meaningful interaction between them as a “pairing” of any kind) and then there is very very little to no TEXT ABOUT THEIR PAIRING for five years. (There are, however, many missed connections, several suggestive images and symbols of their relationship, and the incontrovertible fact that the Hound never even looks at another woman after Sansa and that Sansa fears or loathes every man who crosses her path after the Hound, and that they are both objectively lonely for the duration of seasons three through seven.)

The five years and the weak first two years are understandably alarming to book readers. It is, indeed, thin gruel compared to the books, but I don’t think the SanSan is eliminated from the show, not one bit.

QUESTION: How do you possibly tell the story of this epic fucked-up love without putting any evidence of epic unrequited inappropriate unrequited passion and love onscreen until the very end of the story when it is finally the future and it’s OK for our lovers to finally consummate their “marriage” and express their feelings physically? This is a dilemma, guys.

ANSWER: You gotta use the SUBTEXT. You bury the exposition and narration of the epic love in other stories, so that long after all the characters in those other characters are dead and buried, you still have the assertions that support your ideas about the role of love in human life. 

So. Let’s take a look at a good example. Let’s do the episode “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” which I picked because it has the line “Most men fuck like dogs,” which I consider an explicit reference to the topic of the Hound, Sansa and sexuality (as a tangible expression of love). 

(See also: the earlier statement “The Dothraki take slaves like a hound takes a bitch,” as there are a lot of SanSan shadows cast by the Dany-Drogo relationship. I think Dany-Drogo is how George scratched his beauty-and-the-beast itch in the first book.) 

“The Bear and the Maiden Fair” turns out to be what I consider to be an exceedingly clear case, not least because “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” is both a pretty clear restatement of George’s “the beast and the beauty” trope, not to mention the explicit nature of the song lyrics themselves.

So, if I rewatch the episode with the presumption that

Sandor and Sansa are the beating heart of the epic hero tale, a saga of ice and fire that will be sung for a thousand years

and with an assumption that the scenes featuring Sansa and Sandor themselves (the “text”) are just one way that D&D/GRRM can tell us their story, what subtext do we find? Let’s look.

LOVE STORY, ROBB-TALISA: Robb is a ginger!Stark who takes after Cat. He has many parallels with fellow king Jon–especially in the show–but he also has some subtler ties with Sansa that I think are not unimportant. (In re the Jon thing, I don’t think it’s a mistake that D&D replaced Jeyne Westerling with Talisa from Volantis, a “foreign whore” who speaks Valyrian–they were setting up the Jon-Dany parallels and problems years in advance.) 

After they dispense with some political setup for the Red Wedding (sniff), Robb and Talisa start doing their newlywed thing under Cat’s critical eye and after a minute we cut to them enraptured with each other, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking/sex on a pile of Northern furs. The love theme that was first played in season two, “I am hers, she is mine”, plays as they kiss. The title of this song is taken from the Westeros marriage vows, wherein the officiant also says, “I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity.” (This will be crucial when Stark blood and soul marriage and consciousness-merging through warging turn out to be the key to defeating the Night King.)

Robb: “If you don’t put some clothes on I can’t promise I won’t attack you again.” 

The conflation of sex and combat is perfect George. The cock is the sword, and the sword is the cock. 

The idea of losing your sexual prowess and being a “broken sword” comes up later in the episode in reference to Jaime (sword hand amputated) and Theon (rendered dickless by Ramsay), but Robb is very intact, very virile and an exemplar of a good man and good husband in this story, with his great weakness being…love. Love is the death of duty. He broke his oath to marry Talisa, and he pays with this life. But in these last days before his doom we see he has achieved reproductive success along with his battle victories. The seed is strong. The sword is powerful and hard and used correctly. Etc. 

It’s not enough to have a strong sword OR a hard dick. You must have BOTH to win in George’s world. Walder Frey is reproductively successful but a coward. Stannis Baratheon is a true soldier, but he fails as a family man. Robb is winning on both fronts. George gives him that as a gift to honor him before he cuts him down at the Red Wedding.

And when, in due course, Talisa reveals that she is pregnant, she strangely asks, “Are you angry with me?” And Robb graciously and intensely replies, “Angry? You are my queen.” This is a throwaway line because we know the reign of Robb and Talisa is all but over. 

But any good man’s beloved wife is his queen, regardless of whether or not she wears a crown. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love you,” says good king Robb to his wife. 

They are greedy and happy and good and doing all the right things, except they are cursed by the gods for oathbreaking, as we will see two episodes in the future.

LOVE STORY, JON-YGRITTE-OFELL: Here’s our boy Tormund with his timeless sex advice: 

“Most men fuck like dogs. No grace. No skill. A few dozen thrusts and done. You need to be patient. Give her time. Your cock shouldn’t go her until she’s slick as a baby seal and then you go inside, but slowly. Don’t jam it in like you’re spearing a pig!”

This is great sex advice for Jonno and I’m sure Dany (and Ygritte) appreciate his diligent study. But it’s also about Sandor and Sansa and the audience. You need to be patient. Give her time to grow up. Your cock shouldn’t go near her until it’s winter and the she-wolf is in heat and wants it so badly she gets wet at the thought of you. And then still take it slow. Which he will, of course. Because season eight Sandor is a man. Seasons one through four Sandor was a dog. This is better articulated in the books, but it’s visible to some extent in the show as well. Dog!Sandor is an animal. But he re-emerges as a man, and as he gets closer and closer to Winterfell he becomes more and more of a prince, and more of brave Florian to Sansa’s Jonquil. 

OK, so after Tormund, we start up with the Jon-Ygritte-Ofell love-triangle setup. In this situation, Jon is Joffrey, Ygritte is Sansa and Ofell is Sandor, which is a dark mirror which will totally fuck your head, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what George/D&D are playing with. You’re rooting for the opposite man in this scenario, compared to the original, which sounds like typical George. Go King Joffrey! Boo true knight Sandor!

Sidebar: I think the fact that Ygritte is a ginger is absolutely intentional and also a crucial part of Jon’s misidentification as the PTWP, but let’s just set that aside for the moment and see what else they’re serving up.

LOVE STORY, JON-YGRITTE-OFELL: This dialogue is Ygritte and Ofell, but read it with her as Sansa and him as Sandor and Jon as Joffrey and with my edits and tell me it’s not exactly about all the issues in the first act of the SanSan relationship. Sandor would never been this whiny externally but hell if he didn’t nurse some of this internally:

Sansa: “You’re jealous.” Sandor: “Of course I’m jealous. Should be with one of your own. Sansa: “And you’re one of my own? I’ve never heard a kind word from your mouth.” Sandor: “You would. If you were mine. I’d tell you that you’re beautiful, and fierce, and wild. I’d be good to you. You love him?” [Sansa nods.] Sandor: “’Cause he’s pretty? Is that it? You like his pretty hair and his pretty eyes? You think pretty’s going to make you happy? You won’t like pretty so much when you find out what he really is.”

* Of course I’m jealous. I think Sandor is beside himself with jealousy in season two but has no honorable recourse and hardly knows what to do he is so enraged by his own feelings, his own vulnerability and above all, Sansa’s abuse at the hands of her truly evil future husband. “Fuck the king” and his desertion at the Blackwater is the ultimate expression of this. Hell if Sandor is going to die fighting on behalf of his romantic rival when he just go straight to Sansa and offer to die on her behalf instead.

* Should be with one of your own. Sandor sees the wolf in her that no one else knows is there, not even her. 

“Your father was a killer. Your brother is a killer. Your sons will be killers someday. You should be with one of your own: a killer, someone with wolf blood, like the family of killers with wolf blood that you were born into.”

* I’ve never heard a kind word from your mouth. We don’t know that Ofell is a dick to Ygritte, but it doesn’t matter and we also don’t care. This isn’t their story, not really. This scene exists to develop Ofell as a romantic adversary to Jon on one level, but we already know that Jon has the upper hand, because plot armor. 

So this scene also serves as an exploration of what Sandor and Sansa might have said to each other in a parallel universe or in a continuation of their story after “Blackwater.” Partly because of circumstances, but moreso because the Hound is an emotional cripple, his courtship technique is AWFUL. I think he’s being warged, which is a cheat on her part (plus she’s totally artless and has no idea she’s doing anything), but I also think that regardless of how it started, the Hound is madly in love with Sansa Stark. Warged and madly in love with a virtual stranger are the same feelings, ultimately, which is George’s whole point.

You can’t help who you love. 

Love’s this involuntary nightmare where you are taken over body and soul, consumed internally by your feelings for someone outside you. It is a fire on the inside and it burns. Poor Hound can’t handle any more burning circa King’s Landing, so he lashes out in anger at the girl he loves. 

Sansa almost never hears a kind word from Sandor’s mouth, he’s always either yelling or indifferent or patronizing or glaring or sneering or otherwise making it very clear that he is not her friend. Except he is her only friend and he wants to be her husband, although even he doesn’t know that, not really. He doesn’t know how else to relate to her other than with fear and rage and lust. There is no reality he can conceive of in which they are a loving couple, in which he plays the fool to her cunt. It’s just impossible on every level, which of course is also absolutely intentional on George’s part. 

George R.R. Martin gives Sansa and Sandor every obstacle described in the “course of true love never did run smooth” scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

We only get to see his feelings for her in King’s Landing in his actions toward her (he protects her as best he can and he tries to educate her and he is the only one who fights for her), but this hints at what they might have said to each other if they were able to speak about their feelings.

* You would. If you were mine. I’d tell you that you’re beautiful, and fierce, and wild. I’d be good to you. It always breaks my heart that inasmuch as Sandor thinks himself unworthy of the princess, he is also sure that he would be “good to her” if she gave him a chance, certainly relative to Joffrey, but I think also on his own terms if they were able to ever find a moment where they weren’t in terror for their lives. Finding this moment is the basis of every Blackwater AU in existence. But in the show the moment must be withheld until season 8. 

If they don’t fuck us over, and I don’t think they will, seeing Sansa and Sandor flirt awkwardly and try to be good to each other, after so many years of suffering and abuse at the hands of bad men (Sansa) and wandering lost and homeless in the wilderness (Sandor), is sure to be one of the great delights of season eight. 

Sansa and Sandor are beloved characters, Sophie and Rory are beloved actors, and even though the general audience doesn’t yet know they want those two to be happy together, once they get a hint of it they are going to lose their minds.

Also, a word about “beautiful and fierce and wild”: Circa season three, Sansa is mostly beautiful. But she has a fierceness to her. She stands up to Joffrey more than Sandor ever did until the Battle of the Blackwater. “It’s not my place to question princes,” says he. Meanwhile, she sasses the hell out of Joffrey for as long as she dares.

But I think beautiful and fierce and wild is mostly Sansa’s true future identity. She is a lady dire wolf. As a full-grown alpha female with her pack, she will be fierce in defense of her family (buh-bye Ramsay and Littlefinger) and wild given the chance (Sandor’s not going to know what hit him once she gets him in bed). 

I think “beautiful and fierce and wild” is the Sansa equivalent of Sandor being “brave and gentle and strong.” They aren’t there yet in these early years. He’s not gentle. She’s not fierce. But what their soul marriage does, and what any good marriage does, is allows a couple to share character qualities and benefit from each other and be stronger together. She gentles him. He makes her fierce. 

One half of the union gives the gift of her strength when the other half is dying alone in the wilderness. One half of the union sends his aggression and skill at self-preservation when the other is a prisoner being beaten into submission. 

One heart, one soul, one flesh. I am yours and you are mine. I hereby seal these two souls.

In the mythological context of the show, the skinchanging is what does it. But George is really playing with the beauty of a good marriage. 

* “Cause he’s pretty?” “what he really is” Joffrey was pretty. Sandor is ugly, and sensitive as hell about it. But Joffrey is a monster. And Sandor is a prince. This isn’t just D&D trolling Kit about his looks or Ofell correctly identifying Jon as a mole and a liar, this is about Sansa’s golden prince being a lie and Sandor’s scars hiding his nobility from the world.

Remember what I said about we are gifted with the camera’s POV for sharing SanSan information as subtext?

As Ygritte processes this courtship gesture by Ofell, the camera stays on her while Sansa begins speaking over her. GINGER!Sansa’s voice over GINGER!Ygritte’s face is how we are led into this crucial Sansa speech in a scene with Marge in King’s Landing. (Remember what I said about the camera’s revealing POV?!)

Sansa: "Growing up at Winterfell, all I wanted was to escape. To come here, to the capital. See the Southron knights in their painted armor and King’s Landing after dark, all those candles burning in all those windows. I’m stupid. I’m a stupid little girl with stupid dreams who never learns.” (The stupid dreams? That’s George thinking about the nature of foolish romantic love and the power of dreams. On a literal level, this ties in to a future reveal that Sansa wargs the Hound, allowing them to connect in dreams if not in reality. Her dreams matter. Her prayers matter. Her regret and wishes matter. She is a powerful witch whose potential is totally unfocused. Her dreams may be stupid, but they are powerful as hell. And it all ties back to Winterfell too, in some way that I don’t understand at all but that will no doubt be revealed in S8.)

The ginger link, the visual transition from one ginger woman to another, is crucial. 

The Red Woman is a 5,000-year-old interpretation of a prophecy about the Warrior of Light who brings the Dawn. The warrior has a red woman: this much they know from their prophecies. But they don’t know the name of the warrior or the name of his wife, she whom he loved most in the world. It’s Sansa and Sandor, but the acolytes of R’hollor keep warping the details in a cosmic game of telephone. But they are sure about the red woman part, so sure that it’s an elemental part of their religion.

Melisandre, and every priestess of R’hollor who wears the ruby, is doing a Sansa Stark cosplay.

When Mel later tells Jon “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” quoting from Ygritte, she knows that because she has been looking into the flames and the Red God showed her a different, but related, red woman. 

SANSA STARK, SEX OBJECT: The next two scenes deal explicitly with Sansa Stark as an object of desire and as a sexual being. But it’s not in relation to the Hound. It’s in relation to the Imp, a very different kind of beast. Marge gives her a lecture about having to learn her own sexual tastes, and that Tyrion’s kindness matters a great deal more than his body. Even though it is not ideal that Tyrion is a Lannister, he’s not the worst case scenario as far as men go. Still Sansa is clear that she doesn’t desire Tyrion. She wants something else.

Meanwhile, as Tyrion contemplates his marriage to Sansa and the prospect that any legitimate son of Sansa Stark’s would be a potential future Lord Paramount of the North (Robb still lives but the show/George and the Lannisters are already playing the game as if he’s been eliminated from the board). This is more about the question of reproductive success. If the woman you want or need to impregnate doesn’t want to open her legs for you, you either fail to procreate with her or you must take her by force.

True marriage, which is sacred to the gods, involves–no, requires–sexual intercourse.

And then Bronn and Tyrion appear to remind us that it’s too soon for Sansa to be considered in this light. “She’s a child.” “She’s a foot taller than you.” “She’s a tall child.” 

“I don’t pay you to put evil notions in my head.” “You pay me to kill people who bother you. The evil notions come free.”

Sandor has “evil notions” about Sansa. Tyrion has “evil notions” about Sansa. That they do not act on them or even intimate them, is to their great credit and why we are able to view them as good guys in the series, despite their myriad other character flaws. (Tyrion does admit he wants Sansa, and Sandor’s look after she thanks him for saving him at the Bread Riots is raw desire, but neither of them ever even suggest anything improper to Sansa.) Littlefinger later not only acts on the evil notions but is also greatly interested in Sansa’s claim to the North, which also doesn’t much interest the Hound or the Imp. 

Inasmuch as we will all eventually know and accept that SanSan are soulmates and will be retroactively livid that Sansa refused to go with Sandor at the Blackwater and be equally angry at him because he was too scared to kidnap her, and then be further enraged that the writers put her through unspeakable horrors that all could have been resolved if the Hound had been narratively “allowed” to claim Sansa at an early day, we are being reminded, it’s not time yet. Ned Stark’s promise of a match with someone brave gentle and strong was for someday, when you’re older. It’s not time yet. She’s still too young. She’s a tall child. It’s not time yet.

And then we get Arya hating Beric because he’s a liar (oathbreaker!), and lots of Braime love with more story beats about oaths and promises and protecting women, like all true knights do. And there’s some Shae-Tyrion nonsense, which I both never understand and never find believable. (Maybe those problems are related?) 

The Hound appears for just one minute in this SanSan-heavy episode (yes, SanSan-heavy!), just long enough to snatch Arya before someone else can get her. 

Oh, and he does find time to call her a wolf-girl so as to remind us that wolves and hounds are the same–but for the line between wild and tame. 

Why does Sandor take Arya but not Sansa? It’s been said many times by writers wiser than I that the Blackwater scene is basically Sandor failing at the freefolk practice of wife-stealing. He proposes marriage, essentially, and she says no, which is reasonable because it is the worst marriage proposal of all time. Now, that it is a marriage proposal is not to say that he was going to carry her away for immediate wedding-night fucktime action. 

I think the Hound knows better than anyone in the world that he is not allowed to touch Sansa Stark. He wouldn’t lay a finger on her except to help her. But metaphorically and subtextually, the moment is erotically loaded. The (future) fucking is implied. And so, because he is a true knight and a true gentleman and above all, truly madly in love with her, he is unable to be pragmatic about saving her from the Lannisters because the moment is too much about his own desire and his own emotional vulnerability to his beautiful princess. Her response to him means everything and when it’s a rejection he can’t bring himself to go on. He’s crushed.

So why does Arya get the full rescue treatment, albeit unbeknownst to Arya herself? Arya is different from Sansa in several ways: (1) She’s even younger, if not more vulnerable, (2) she is no other man’s woman, (3) he doesn’t want to fuck her. Arya’s not Sandor’s opposite number in a classic yin-yang masculine-feminine dynamic. She’s a spunky tomboy girl who is basically his mini-me. And since she’s all but an orphan, even if Cat isn’t yet quite dead, and since she belongs to no other man, she is the Hound’s for the taking. He has only the best of intentions toward her, although we don’t realize that at this point in the series. He essentially adopts her on the spot. He announces himself as her protector without saying as much and pledges his sword to her without making any such oaths. She doesn’t understand–and why would she?–so they are at loggerheads for months, but he has basically knelt before her and promised to serve her in perpetuity, and give his life for hers if need be. Why? Because she’s Sansa’s sister, and Sansa is his wife, and what’s Sansa’s is his and what’s his is Sansa’s. A good man protects his family. His whole family.

Or, in animal terms, he is a lone wolf who begins to form his own wolf pack by altruistically adopting a stray lone wolf pup. Unusual, although not unheard of in the animal kingdom, but not a terrible strategy for building up the strength of your pack. And as we know, “in winter, we must protect ourselves…the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”

Anyway, then there’s some more Lannister drama and some Braime oathkeeping and devotion–this episode is maybe Jaime’s finest hour–and Myranda and Ramsay talk about Theon’s cock before they cut it off but I can’t bear to watch any Theon scenes so even if that scene is relevant I can’t tell you about because that shit is unbearable to watch.

And then there’s also some more Jon-Ygritte romance.

Jon: When a girl sees blood and collapses. Ygritte: Why would a girl collapse? Jon: Not all girls are like you. Ygritte: Girls see more blood than boys.

This hits so many story points at one time. “Fire and blood” are the Targaryen house words, which makes the dragons the perfect red herrings for the fact that fire and blood are also the crux of SanSan. The Targs are crucially important but they are also the cover story for all the epic love business between Sansa and Sandor. “Girls see more blood than boys” is about so much: (a) Sansa’s first flowering–blood on the mattress that Sandor witnesses that means that it’s time for Joffrey to begin raping Sansa, technically his betrothed but really Sandor’s wife and altogether an impossible situation. (b) Sandor himself attesting “I should have fucked her bloody” which is on one level an explicit rape threat but also a plaintive wish that he could be the one to “blood his sword” with her virgin blood. © “blood of my blood” (d) “She needed your blood.” (e) “I’m in this world a little while longer to…defend my blood.” (f) “Childbirth is a bloody business.” 

Everything about the dynasties and names and clans and family and making babies is about blood. (”Family and honor–that’s all you lords and ladies ever talk about.”)

SIDEBAR. This (from the books) is Lady Barbrey (Ryswell) Dustin about Sansa’s martyred Uncle Brandon: “Brandon loved his sword. He loved to hone it. ‘I want it sharp enough to shave the hair from a woman’s cunt,’ he used to say. And how he loved to use it. ‘A bloody sword is a beautiful thing,’ he told me once.” “Brandon was never shy about taking what he wanted. I am old now, a dried-up thing, too long a widow, but I still remember the look of my maiden’s blood on his cock the night he claimed me. I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing, yes. It hurt, but it was a sweet pain.”

CROSSREFERENCE: “Any man dies with a clean sword, I’ll rape his fucking corpse.” I believe in the books this is a Gregor Clegane line, but they transferred it to Sandor in the show to put a finer point on the fact that the sword is the cock and the cock is the sword, but you must wield both equally well or you will be considered a failure of masculinity in the terms of George’s feudal Westeros.

As for the fire? That’s love. That’s passion. That’s the suffering. Sandor’s is the heart of fire, and he burns for Sansa Stark. He is the burnt prince. He is the burnt sword. 

Anyway more Ygritte-Jon: 

“You’re mine. And I’m yours. And if we die, we die, but first we’ll live.” “Yes. First we’ll live.”

There are the MARRIAGE VOWS AGAIN, even known to the Freefolk. “You’re mine and I’m yours.”

And then AGAIN, the love theme music rises, as it did for Robb and Talisa, but now for Ygritte and Jon. “I Am Hers, She Is Mine.” This is the main love theme on the show until Jonerys gets their own “Truth” years later.

Ygritte’s words are a variation on “Valar morghulis. Valar dohaeris.” All men must die. All men must serve. All women must die. All women must serve. 

Perhaps the best case scenario for the feudalism and patriarchy of Westeros is that in an exceptionally rare circumstance, you actually get to serve someone you love. You get to devote yourself to someone you really love, and are not just bound to by fealty. That person might be a woman you love, or it might be a worthy, truly good king you actually wish to serve and die for.

Ygritte’s words are, of course, also a rationale for fucking before it’s too late to fuck. Robb and Talisa succeeded on those terms, at least. Ygritte and Jon pulled it off, as is articulated here. 

And in this episode, emancipated libertine Margery Tyrell specifically encourages Sansa as to her sexual freedom and right to explore, in this episode: “We women get so few chances to try things before we’re old and gray.” I consider this a key part of the personal growth that grown Sansa will bring to her adult relationship with Sandor. 

The days are passing quickly now. We fuck now or we may fuck never.

Finally, I’d like to offer a word from my girl Osha, a sage of the freefolk if ever there was one. She tells Bran (and Rickon??), Jojen, Meera and Hodor the story of her lost love.

“I had a man once. A good man…I was his. And he was mine. But one night [he] disappears. People said he left me. But I knew him. He’d never leave me. Not for long. I knew he’d come back. And he did.”

“I don’t know how I got the knife, but when I did, I stuck it deep into his heart, and he hardly seemed to notice. I had to burn our hut down, with him inside.” –Osha.

She’s talking about her husband Bruni who was turned into a wight by the Walkers. 

She uses the language we’ve already heard related to marriage. “I was his. And he was mine.” This, too, is SanSan subtext.

“A good man.” –> This is Sandor, although we might not know it at this point. Years later, Beric says, “We need good men to help us,” and Sandor deflects, but by then we all know the truth that Sandor is, indeed, a good man. 

“One night he disappears.” –> This is just the beginning of Sandor’s time away from Sansa. They have an incredibly long separation ahead of them, but at this point in season three we’re still closer to the night he left, the night of the Blackwater, than we are to his return. This harks back to a scene with Marge in ep one of season three where she talks to war orphans about how their fathers went away to fight in the war and never came back, and also Shae and Sansa talking the night of the Blackwater. Shae said, “Some of those boys will never come back” and Sansa said, “Joffrey will. The worst ones always do.” The good ones like Sandor seem to vanish off Planetos itself. She knows he wasn’t killed in the battle–he deserted–but he’s gone just the same.

“People said he left me. But I knew him. He’d never leave me. Not for long. I knew he’d come back. And he did.” –> Devotion. Trust. And promises to us, the audience, that they will be reunited someday.

And then the death imagery. It’s probably just imagery, but it hits all the SanSan. “I stuck it deep into his heart.” –> “That’s where the heart is. That’s how you kill a man.” “I had to burn our hut down, with him inside.” –> There’s your fire imagery. The fire frightens the Hound. The fire drives him out of the “home” he doesn’t share with Sansa in King’s Landing, but where at least they got to see each other, sometimes. Later, very similar language appears in the first scene with Sandor, Arya, the farmer and Sally. Arya explains the Hound’s gruffness by saying that their “hut burned down” while he was off fighting in the war, “and my mother with it.” Both are references, oblique though they may be, to the situation that drove Sandor away from Sansa and set in motion their long separation, which was nothing that Sandor would have planned or accepted had he been in his right mind, which had absolutely was not, for several reasons: fire fear, alcoholism, witch warging and Joffrey-adjacent derangement.

In conclusion, I think Game of Thrones is a historical romance, but Jonerys is the history, while SanSan is the romance. Jon and Dany’s journeys are vitally important, but it is Sandor and Sansa’s love that will give them more than a graveyard to rule over. Sandor and Sansa will bring the dawn and herald the spring that the Targaryens will use to bring prosperity and abundance back to all the people of Westeros.

Father, Mother –> Jon, Dany

Warrior, Maiden – Sandor, Sansa

Smith –> Tyrion

Stranger –> Arya

The absolute brilliance of George (and D&D, yes, them too) is that they’ve created a story that reads equally well on several levels. There’s the face value and the text, which is as intriguing as anything, and then there is the mythological, psychological and metaphorical subtext, which tells a different and even deeper story. They resonate together, they reflect each other, they all stand on their own and yet they are intimately connected.

I believe GOT/ASOIAF is truly a masterwork, and the layers upon layers of meaning are one reason why.

And I believe that SanSan is not just endgame as hell, people, it’s the whole darn ballgame.

[mykingjon]

Rhaegar, Elia, Lyanna and the matters of succession

*DISCLAIMER: This post does NOT take Rhaegar’s morality, or the outcome of Robert’s Rebellion into consideration, I judge no one and keep my opinions to myself; I’m merely searching for a reasonable truth about why the writers created this plot. I do not tolerate any kind of hate speech; I am a fan of constructive criticism, though.*

Hey guys! There are so many metas about the news of Rhaegar/Elia’s marriage annulment, I know. It definitely set sparks among the fandom. I am not here to defend Rhaegar, or call him names. However, for the past year, I’ve been mostly digging into the history of law on my university. Marriage law heavily included. There are many aspects of the annulment we might not be taking into consideration, as long as D&D read about the matter in the medieval history of course, as well as read the books carefully (Y E A H), which eventually led them to the route they took. Again, I am not trying to defend their decision with this plotline, or the character’s actions, merely wondering about what lead to it in showmakers’ minds. I might be reading too much into it and they simply wanted to make Jon legitimate, and were not very sensitive about Elia, Aegon and Rhaenys, as well as the future of royal dynasty, but all I can do is hope it was otherwise (might be proved wrong in 7x07, but hell, I want to get it off my chest). Healthy discussion and pointing out mistakes in my logic is encouraged.

So, we certainly know Elia’s and Rhaegar’s marriage has been consummated (obviously). It could not be set aside by the High Septon as an unlawful one. Their son, Aegon, was second in line for the throne before the Robert’s Rebellion. The two children Elia and Rhaegar had were securing the dynasty’s position, and Rhaegar believed they both had a great part to play in the Great War. Later on, Rhaegar decided he has to get out of his marriage for some reason, be it love, prophecy, anything you want to name. I want to discuss something entirely different, which is: how would the Faith actually grant his request, if the Prince and the Princess already had children? And also, how would the line of succession look after such a turn?

I’ve seen many people deem it absolutely impossible for a consummated marriage be set aside, and from the religious (New Gods) point of view it probably is, to some extent. However, royalty rules their own lives as they please, and the Faith have been eventually forced to agree to many compromises (just like in medieval Europe), based on Targaryens’ Valyrian heritage (the overused example: brother/sister marriage). So, although the relations have been complicated at first, after hundreds of years of Targaryen rule, Faith was not really considered as a force to be reckoned with, but rather a neccessary ally Kings had to create dialogue with if they needed their blessing in something exceptional. Therefore, in the times of Robert I, among Westerosi nobles it is widely believed that if a King wishes to set aside his wife, even if they both have children, he can easily do that. In AGOT, we have proof for that. 

First one, we can find in Bran II, just before he sees Jaime and Cersei together. Cersei complains about the fact that Ned agreed to become the Hand of the King. She’s scared that Robert will actually listen to him out of love two men bear for each other, and that she will be set aside for the sake of “another Lyanna”. Robert is known to have many mistresses, and father many bastards, so surely she is not speaking merely of that kind of relationship between her husband and a woman Ned would choose for him. She is actually speaking of Ned Stark finding Robert a new wife. Now, if she is presumably the mother of his three children, how could her position be endangered by something like Lord Stark’s opinion of her, or her house, if she is protected by how lawful her marriage is in the eyes of gods? Clearly, if the King wants to set her aside for another woman, he can. The Faith’s opinion is not even considered.

“ My husband grows more restless every day. Having Stark beside him will only make him worse. He’s still in love with the sister, the insipid little dead sixteen-year-old. How long till he decides to put me aside for some new Lyanna?”

Some might argue that Cersei is paranoid, because she is scared of a potential enemy, as well as of the reveal of Joffrey’s real parentage. However, there are also the members of the two great houses who share her opinion, and even found a potential new Lyanna Cersei fears. In AGOT, Arya III, after trying to catch the cats, our girl overhears a conversation which proves the same point. Two unknown to her figures speak of how close Ned is to discovering the truth, for he has a bastard and a book. Before they start this topic, they also mention that lord Renly Baratheon and ser Loras Tyrell plan to bring 14-year-old Margaery to the court. She’s believed to be sweet, meek and beautiful. Both men want Margaery to be bedded and wed by King Robert, although he has a Queen, as well as heirs.

“The Knight of Flowers writes Highgarden, urging his lord father to send his sister to court. The girl is a maid of fourteen, sweet and beautiful and tractable, and Lord Renly and Ser Loras intend that Robert should bed her, wed her, and make a new queen. “

They even hope that Robert will see Lyanna in Margaery:

“The maid was Loras Tyrell’s sister Margaery, he’d confessed, but there were those who said she looked like Lyanna. “No,” Ned had told him, bemused.”

So, to conclude: during the reign of Robert I, there undoubtedly is a possibility for a lawful wife of a King, with whom he (presumably) has children, to be set aside, with no solid reason at all. Surely, just before his reign, there also was such a possibility. One can argue that Rhaegar was no King; yet, he was the Crown Prince of house Targaryen, and his ascention has been long awaited by the most of Westeros, because of his Father’s ways. I would not be surprised if he was treated like a King by the Faith under such circumstances, even if he did not have Aerys’ support in that matter. According to ASOIAF wiki, neither wife nor husband have to be present to make such an annulment, and just one side of the marriage (read: a man) can request it (presumably by sending a raven, if neither of them have to be present). It is uncommon; but not impossible, even book-wise.

Okay, so we know that Rhaegar could somehow persuade High Septon to annul his marriage to Elia, and he didn’t have to travel all the way to Tower of Joy, even if the Prince didn’t start his preparations for running away with Lyanna during the year between Tourney of Harrenhal and the actual event. I imagine that his official reason could be, of course, the good of the dynasty. Elia couldn’t have more children, or else she would risk her life severely, and in the terms of royalty, the more the heirs, the more secure they feel on the throne. Sure, Aegon and Rhaenys would be more than enough for house Targaryen to have a bright future after Rhaegar’s death. But we know there was also something else driving the Crown Prince, and that kind of official reason for an annulment could be accepted by the Faith, instead of “I need a third head of the dragon to save this godforsaken land”, “I love Lyanna Stark, I have to marry her asap”, or anything else you want to name. In medieval Europe, the inability to bring children to the world, or even as much as not being able to have sexual intercourse, was believed to be reason enough to annul marriage among the high-born. The main god-given task behind all the marriages was for the husband and wife to want to bring as many children as possible into the world. Conclusion: the annulment could be arranged in the world based on our medieval one.

But what kind of sense would it have, right? If Rhaegar annuled his marriage to Elia, he would bastardize his “promised prince” Aegon, and his daughter Rhaenys. He would risk his dynasty all the more with taking two heirs out of the line of succession, especially in the turbulent times of the Mad King. It just wouldn’t make sense, for the dynasty, Rhaegar, and even High Septon.

In medieval times, there were many obstacles to subdue in Catholic marriage law. I will not name them all, ‘cause there are a lot of them, but they were divided into those which annuled the marriage the second they were discovered (example: kinship to some extent), and those which could prevent the very existance of the marriage  ONLY before the sacrament, vows, etc. took place (example: age; yes, in medieval times people were sometimes not sure how old were they). The inability to provide more children could be used as an obstacle to annul the marriage by someone as important as Rhaegar (especially with the fact Robert could set Cersei aside with no reason at all, or the made-up one), yes, we know that already; but even in this series of events, in medieval Europe, there was an institution to protect the children from such a marriage. They were said to be “conceived in a good will”, so, in a belief that a marriage was and always will be valid. Aegon and Rhaenys could still be kept in the line of succesion, even if their mother would never become/stop being Queen (which is a bummer, of course, but hear me out). 

This seems like the most logical option that writers could follow if they decided to erase Elia and Rhaegar’s marriage completely. It was a HUGE compromise on the Faith’s side - the dynasty would not loose its heirs and the Realm - two heads of the dragon, and Rhaegar was free to do what he wanted, for whatever the hell reason he wanted. But then again, we already decided that Targaryens were bending everyone to their will, Faith included.

So, the line of succession then, would be: 1. Aegon, 2. Jon, 3. Rhaenys, 4. Viserys, 5. Daenerys. Pretty secure, huh?

The only person who lost social position in this, was of course, Princess Elia. But whether you morally accept with what was done to her in the terms of her marriage, or not, that kind of option seems like the most possible one. *prayer circle Rhaegar was not batshit crazy and actually took Realm, his children, and his whole life before Lyanna and Jon into consideration before doing something like that to Elia, all the while bending High Septon to his will, even in the show-verse*

Of course, we all know that the war ruined Rhaegar’s plans, whatever they might have been. I am just trying my VERY best to understand what was the writers’ logic behind that decision, because frankly, as somebody who watches the show, as well as read the books, I never took that option into consideration. Polygamy, the royal decree to legitimize Jon - yes, that was on my mind. But annulment? That was quite a shock to me, as it must have been for everyone. At first I completely couldn’t get my head around that, but the deeper you get into that, the more sense it makes. Well, I hope we’ll see how George handles it!

[thearabkhaleesi]

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6 CHARACTER BY CHARACTER RECAP

I’m going to post mini recaps of each character, where they left off in season 6, and what may lie ahead in the upcoming season. NO SPOILERS! It’s just a quick refresher on each character so that you don’t feel lost during the first episode. If you watched season 6 you’ll be fine. But just to refresh your memory, here are a few general things to keep in mind going into season 7:

- The pace of the show will be MUCH faster. Nikolaj Coster Waldau said “Things that normally take a season take one episode.”

- We’re nearing the end of the story; “For a long time, we’ve been talking about ‘the wars to come’. Well, that war is pretty much here”. - show runner David Benioff

- Characters’ storylines are merging

- No one is truly safe

- WINTER IS HERE (& the White Walkers)

THE GREYJOYS

Theon helped Sansa escape Winterfell, and returned to the Iron Islands and found his father had been killed by his uncle Euron. He supported his sister Yara in her agenda to become the new ruler of the Iron Islands, but their uncle Euron showed up and declared that he will bring the Iron Islands back to glory by marrying Daenerys and gifting her with a fleet of ships. The people of the Iron Islands loved him instantly and Euron became the new lord of the Iron Islands, causing Theon and Yara to escape; they took the best ships in the fleet and escaped to Daenerys, offer the ships in return for helping defeat Euron after she takes the Iron Throne.🐟 Euron Greyjoy was a new introduced in season 6. He is the younger brother of Balon Greyjoy & the uncle of Theon & Yara, and he is known to be an extremely cruel, rude, and frightening man, and so far we’ve seen so little of what he could do; we saw him murder Balon and he now commands the majority of the Greyjoy army. Since Theon & Yara have allied with Daenerys Targaryen, he will need a new ally to fight with going into season 7… 🐟

CERSEI LANNISTER

Cersei is in a dark, but powerful place at the moment. At the end of season 6, she is sitting on the Iron Throne, the official Queen of the Seven Kingdoms; with all of her children dead, there’s nothing in the world that Cersei loves and nothing’s going to stop her from unleashing her full unmerciful wrath next season.👑 King’s Landing is definitely going to be a dark place under Cersei’s rule, and even though she has the strongest man in the world, The Mountain, by her side, the evil queen doesn’t really have any allies at the moment, especially considering she murdered the Tyrells. While she has her wildfire and the great and strong Lannister, she needs to strengthen her forces to defend herself against Daenerys Targaryen and fight off the oncoming threat of the White Walkers…👑

JAIME LANNISTER

Jaime has always had unwavering loyalty to his sister, but over the seasons we’ve learned more of his backstory and we’ve also seen the type of man he can be when he’s far away from Cersei; as we all know during Robert’s Rebellion, Jaime killed the Mad King, who wanted to burn King’s Landing to the ground with wildfire, and his sister has pretty much turned into the Mad Queen, blowing up the Sept and everyone in it with wildfire. So Jaime is sort of at odds at the moment, well at least based on the look he gave his sister Cersei in the last episode of season 6. Therefore, it’s hard to tell where Jaime could be going, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see… On Jaime’s current feelings toward Cersei, Nikolaj Coster Waldau (actor who plays Jaime) has said in a recent interview, “I’m not sure he understands or knows who that person is now, and that’s scary.”

TYRION LANNISTER

During Daenerys’ time with the Dothraki last season, Tyrion Lannister was left in charge of Meereen and was left to negotiate with the slavers which wouldn’t have turned out so well if Daenerys’ hadn’t shown up at the last minute with Drogon. Nevertheless, Tyrion is officially by Daenerys’ side as The Hand of the Queen, and he’s an extremely valuable asset on Daenerys’ side since he’s one of the smartest characters on the show and can help her strategically take the Iron Throne… It’s time for the both of them to come home.

ARYA STARK

Ever since she left Winterfell during season 1, Arya Stark’s misadventures have taken her all over the continent of Westeros and even got to the city Braavos in Essos, where she learned the ways of the Faceless Men and become “no one”. Now a fearless warrior, Arya is back in Westeros and in her words, she’s going home. The last time we saw her was in the Riverlands, where she avenged her brother & mother's deaths by murdering Walter Frey & his sons. Next stop: Home.

SANSA STARK

Sansa has been through a lot. After dealing with the horrible Ramsay Bolton, we see Sansa escape Winterfell and reunite with her brother Jon at the Wall (after his resurrection); when Ramsay Bolton calls for war, she tried telling Jon of Ramsay’s tricks, but he didn’t hear her and was on the verge of losing, however the Knights of the Vale showed up and helped the Starks reclaim their home. After all the troubles she has faced over the seasons, Sansa Stark is finally back at home in Winterfell! However, after reuniting with Jon and retaking their home from the evil Boltons, her illegitimate “brother” has been named the King in the North and is the head of Winterfell, even though she is the oldest living legitimate child of Ned Stark.. It’s a bit of a mystery at the moment how Sansa feels about this, whether she’s sticking by her brother or is envious of him. Plus. she has a snake in her ear by the name of Petyr Baelish, who is known to be one of the sneakiest characters on the show and acts as a puppet-master. Will he egg Sansa on to rival against her brother? Will she trust/believe him? All questions will be answered this season..

BRAN STARK

Bran Stark has been through such a whirlwind, but after learning to use his powerful and dangerous wargring/time traveling abilities from the mystical Three-Eyed Raven, Bran is ready to cross back south of the Wall to head to his family home as well. The Three Eyed Raven not only helped Bran learn how to use his powers, but he also allowed/showed Bran visions of the past, including how Hodor got his name and the true birth of Jon Snow (his mother is Lyanna Stark & his father is Rhaegar Targaryen). Bran is currently the only person (that we know of) aware of Jon Snow’s true parentage. With Sansa & Jon at Winterfell and Arya & Bran on their way, it’s expected that there will be a Stark family reunion on the show… Let’s just hope GOT actually gives us this moment of happiness before the oncoming war…

SAMWELL TARLY

Last season we saw Sam journey to Old Town with Gilly, as Sam is studying there to become the new Maester of the Night’s Watch after Maester Aemon Targaryen’s death. On the way to Old Town they stop by Sam’s family home of Hornhill. however, his father didn’t welcome Sam back and bans. He leaves Hornhill & steals Heartsbane, the family’s Valyrian steel sword. After that Sam has been at the Citadel, studying and researching as much as he can, finding out more about the White Walkers and how to defeat them…. *something I forgot to mention previously*, mild spoiler alert I guess?: Jim Broadbent has been confirmed to star as a Maester in the Citadel this season, and he’ll appear in 5 or 6 episodes of the season. Most likely he’ll be mentoring/supervising Sam during his studies….

JON SNOW

After being murdered by his brothers of the Night’s Watch in season 5, Jon Snow was resurrected by Melisandre in the second episode of season 6. After hanging the men responsible for his murder, Jon retired as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. He reunites with his sister Sansa, who has come to meet him at Castle Black after escaping Ramsay Bolton. When Ramsay threatens to kill Rickon Stark/wage war, Jon has no choice but to go into battle. However, Jon did not listen to his sister Sansa’s advice on Ramsay’s tricks, and Rickon was murdered anyway. With the sudden help of the Knights of the Vale, Jon & his army were able to retake their family home of Winterfell. At the end of the season, the Northern lords swore loyalty to Jon and named him King in the North despite him being an illegitimate child. The end of the season also reveals that Jon is not actually Ned Stark’s son, but the son of Lyanna Stark (Ned’s sister) & Rhaegar Targaryen (Daenerys’ brother), but Jon doesn’t know that yet… Now Jon has to strengthen his armies and rally allies once again to face the greater, oncoming threat from beyond the wall…

DAENERYS TARGARYEN

Finally, after going through so many trials & tribulations, and learning how to rule, Daenerys is heading to Westeros! Even though At the beginning of the last season Daenerys was captured by the Dothraki, but she burned her captors, showed them her strength, and gained their army in return, and they accepted her as their new Khaleesi. Upon returning to Meereen, she executed the Slave Masters who sieged the city after an agreement with Tyrion went wrong, and she sent Jorah to find a cure for his Greyscale and left Daario Naharis in charge of the city. By the end of the season Daenerys has fully regained her power and is stronger than ever, her army and allies are growing in numbers and in strength, having Tyrion Lannister, Greyworm, Missandei, Varys, the Unsullied, the Tyrell army, the Martell army, Theon & Yara Greyjoy, and most importantly, her dragons, by her side and ready to fight by her side as she heads for the Seven Kingdoms…