#or using him for shit like this. another thing sansa and bran have in common

[ladystoneboobs]

maybe this is me having an incorrect understanding of the word 'close' wrt siblings but i think certain people in this fandom confuse closeness with getting along when it comes to sansa. with jon it means their not being that close is seen as her disliking him while with arya their inablity to get along most of the time means they do not care about each other and we should disregard the relationship between two of the siblings who spent the most time together (even if not by choice). and one of the relationships we should be focused on instead as being closer and more meaningful is arya and...rickon? i'm sure everyone got along ok with rickon, but c'mon he was 3 when he last saw them. y'all really love to go on about respecting canon sibling specialness when you have to make up fanon quotes for arya/rickon. just seems a bit hypocritical to me.

number of times arya thinks of rickon

and every single one of those is an 'and rickon' listing him with other brothers, not one individual thought about him alone, much less memories of any canon interactions between them.

number of times arya thinks of sansa by name (even de-checking agot to exclude their actual interactions)

over twice as many times! that's not even counting when we know she's thinking of sansa without using her name, like calling her the girl she used to know who loved lemon cakes. and actually, most of these are just about sansa, not all the siblings. (sure not always positive thoughts about sansa, but arya is thinking about her specifically a lot.) by my count, only 9/32 or 1/4 mention sansa along with a brother or brothers missed.

poor rickon, even bran hardly thinks of him once they part. and one time when he does he thinks of osha first and another time he's mentioned only so bran can think he's not a baby like rickon.

[atopvisenyashill]

🔥16, 24, 25 for the violence ask game

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

i mean the entire “dany will be the uncontested queen of westeros” boring bland been done a hundred times before ntm it’s not ~breaking the wheel~ she would essentially just be aegon the unlikely if he had dragons and we know that despite egg being a good goose at heart he wasn’t a particularly effective king! dany coming into her crown while everyone applauds does not engage with a single theme in this series. dany FAILING to get the crown? now that’s compelling!!!

for a slightly less “you talk that one to death” take, and probably a more cancelable one but i don’t think there has been any child on child bullying happening in this series. luke & jace think aemond is In On The Joke they have no idea that they’re hurting his feelings that much (which imo is clear when jace & aemond have that little missed moment at laena’s funeral! now that he knows aemond is bothered by the teasing bc jace, a bastard, is laughing at aemond, a true born targaryen, jace feels bad about it and aemond sees he feels bad about it and almost reaches for him!) and to me, that’s not bullying that’s children just not understanding boundaries yet. similarly, i don’t think sansa bullies arya; i think arya gives as good as she gets, and i also don’t think sansa is saying anything with malice. she makes those snide remarks about arya bc septa mordane does, and because sansa wants arya to be a “proper lady” so they can do proper lady stuff together. she’s very explicitly put out by arya running off with micah because she wanted to hang out!! arya and sansa both feel isolated at winterfell in their own ways bc they’re kids and a lot of kids feel like they don’t fit in - look at jon & theon too!

“what about aegon” what aegon does to aemond (and what aemond eventually does to aegon) is not “bullying” it’s way worse than that! bullying is like…when children see an “outsider” and isolate them with physical or verbal manipulation. what’s going on with those two is like out and out abusive family dynamics that’s not the same. “what about the driftmark brawl” i don’t know how to tell you that when an argument between children escalates to actual physical harm, it has left the realm of bullying and gone into “a fucking problem” 😭

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

objectively the most rancid is whenever anyone makes a single comparison involving arya & lyanna that isn’t comparing them to each other. sorry but “my favorite teenager is hotter than your favorite teenager” and “comparing these two practical toddlers to their parents is misogyny bc *fart noises*” is genuinely insane.

and for another less obvious take, i think there’s this weird discourse that pops up around kingsguard characters where people will just fully buy into the concepts of like, chivalry and courtly love being the ideal and say shit like “aemon is the best knight ever bc he died trying to save his evil brother” buddy if my lover OR brother died saving trump or even like, pritzker (who i genuinely like as a governor!) i would carve “died a loser” on their gravestone. why is it so virtuous to die for a bad man?? for a politician???? aegon was raping naerys practically NIGHTLY, let that bitch die!!!!!!! or the semi recent discourse about how arthur gerold and oswell were ~only protecting jon and lyanna~ or people unironically being like “jaime is a bad person for killing aerys” like how do you read affc and come away with this take.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

“bran/rhaenyra are boring” first of all if you got into the high fantasy series and are upset when characters are invested in the fantasy elements of their world, idk what to say but you played yourself. second of all mfers will say they only like the political story line but when rhaenyra talks about her birthright or bran uses magic to jack the throne suddenly it’s “we’ve already done this story before it’s boring”

[buttercuparry]

I posted 4,286 times in 2021

98 posts created (2%)

4188 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 42.7 posts.

I added 324 tags in 2021

#arya stark - 134 posts

#daenerys targaryen - 46 posts

#jon snow - 40 posts

#asoiaf - 25 posts

#bulbbul - 18 posts

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My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Every essay from a Sansa Stan about the Trident incident starts with: The adults are at fault/Cersei is at fault/Joff is at fault!! No way can anyone blame Sansa...I mean the girls!! No one should blame Sansa....and Arya.

And they end with the conclusion...it is the adults! The adults!! And yeah honestly?

That's fair.

But what they do between the beginning and the end is lose me with their "well if you gotta blame someone...then that should be Arya because she chose not to maintain the class divide...doesn't she know how dangerous it is for a highborn to befriend a commoner???" And I am like:

(Translation: this is shit)

They are like (and I am paraprashing because more or less that's what they say): the rules are there to keep everyone safe

?!?!?!

No...no they are not. Do you not see the real world around you???? The class division is for the rich and the rich only. So that they do not have to deal with us. What even are you...ahsjfkgkkl

You saying at one point that it is not Sansa's fault or Arya's fault and then bending back, contorting and going: well actually if you have to blame the girls...there's Arya...

Like how?! Why?!!!? How did you just do a 360?

Arya not following the "rules" isn't the cause of Mycah's death! Her not being classist is not the reason Mycah died. Joffrey's lack of empathy, his total disregard for everyone and assurance of the power he holds is the cause of Mycah's death. And yeah Cersei just reinforced his "invincibility" by calling for Lady's death.

Like Arya being classist would not solve anything. Rather she would be adding another name to the list of highborns who do not give a shit about what happens to the smallfolks. Another one who cares not if the people go hungry in the middle of the war. Another one who won't bat an eyelash while supping on swan while the people outside eat rat's meat. Another one who would brush off a death and just gush about some Tourney. In fact, horrifyingly so as Arya observes...none from the Stark household, be it a family member, a daughter of a minor house, or an employee cared about Mycah's death. Because how important is a butcher's boy, right? So what if he was cut into pieces?? That's just another topic of gossip soon to be forgotten in favour of a glorious tourney.

Like what the hell people??? Did you all not read those lines?!

Also just tell me one thing. Suppose during the war, a lord decided to give shelter to his people because the Lannisters were burning everything. Should his fort fall...would you all be like: well he should have maintained his class. Now every commoner would die because of him. Is that how you all would react if this happened? Or would you have been like: the lannister soldiers are the murderers. The war is a tragedy that ravages all. That it is a tragedy that the Lannisters or other highborns (Stark/tyrells/baratheons) cannot be held accountable. Somehow I think you people would sing a different tune than the one you are used to taking with Arya.

And god does it show.

So yeah...I would like to end with: you people are right. The girls are not to blame for the Trident incident. And by "girls" I do wholeheartedly include Arya in reference to the term.

80 notes • Posted 2021-07-04 16:53:11 GMT

#4

Arya throughout asoiaf be like: please someone get me home. I want my parents. I want my family/ I am trying so hard to hold on but I am so afraid sometimes/ Oh, you want to be my friend? I will be your friend. Let's go home together. My home is your home. Please don't leave me/ Someone please take me to Jon. I miss him/ I am not good enough. I wish I was better at stuff/ I have to save that guy. I have to look after this girl. I will not let the memory of what happened to my family and friends fade. I will protect as best as I can. I want justice/ I miss Nymeria. I hope she is okay...I am so happy she now has a place of her own. I want to go home too. Someone please help me get to Jon./ please don't tell me to go...please let me be a part of a pack. Please someone...

Me:

84 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 15:48:27 GMT

#3

The fact that D&d failed to realize that Asoiaf is all about subverting popular tropes even after working with the material for so many years is a hilarious reflection of their own insincerity. I don't know who it was that pointed out the clever subversion of the fairytale elements of the dragon and the wolf but boy does it make me sad (because they did nothing with it!)

From what I know, in European fairytales, the dragon is a popular tyrant. The greedy serpent that gathers gold and jewels and also guards the tower of the imprisoned princess. And yet in asoiaf it is Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion who save Dany from the fate of ending up in the institution of Dosh Khaleen: a life that most certainly would have been forced on her had she not been the mother of dragons.

No matter what some of the asoiaf fans love to claim, this mother does not flaunt her power irresponsibly. Rather she is the "mhysa" who attempts first and foremost to help her people. Whether it be starving with the dothrakis while crossing the Red Waste, nursing those who are suffering from the deadly disease of the Pale Mare, ending slavery or agreeing to marry just so that peace maybe brought to a volatile environment. One has to be blind to not see the obvious subversion of the popular tropes.

The other one is the wolf. The big bad wolf. The cunning and the hungry who lay in wait amidst the forest to trap you and devour you. And yet in Asoiaf it is a wolf who protects a little girl during the Trident incident. Who prowls the Riverlands and is a menance to the monsters of the worst kind.

This is in sync with the idea that Nymeria is the reflection of Arya's soul. She thus takes a stand against Joffrey's cruelty, avenges the innkeeper's daughter, saves the three prisoners from burning alive, gives water to the dying men and is both the leader and the nurturer of her "pack".

So for D&d to take these subversions and chuck them into a trash can only to be left with the bland storyline of the "prince" killing the "dragon" and the wolf being banished into the watery wilderness is nothing short of mortifying. The statements they could have made by making the outcasts come to power turned into a lesson of maintaining conventionality. Even Bran being crowned king doesn't do anything as he is nothing like the Bran we were rooting for. He is not the one who sent sweets to Old Nan or Hodor or who wanted see Lady Hornwood happy. He is just the "Three eyed raven" or some such shit.

It's hilarious that they potrayed a kingdom like Westeros to be having a "new beginning" without the warmth of a particular dragon and the nurture of a wolf- without "monster" girls who have hearts big enough to accommodate all the downtrodden.

178 notes • Posted 2021-11-26 07:07:58 GMT

#2

You know what?

I want Arya to be selfish.

I want Dany to be focused on getting the throne.

Why is it that we have to constantly write essays defending every single one of their actions? No matter how kind, how just, how well meaning and even how inconsequential they are?

Why the hell do they get criticized when there is nothing to criticize there?

If it is going to be so...then better yet let them be selfish. At least they would get what they want and be happy.

184 notes • Posted 2021-06-27 16:21:45 GMT

#1

What I find interesting about this fandom is how it often tut-tuts Arya for surviving. There's always this "oh look what she has turned into" and I have tried to sit back and understand what exactly does it mean by that? She is a girl on the run who has stripped herself of her name to survive and evade any Lannister allies. Now she is part of the common class and is experiencing the life of a common girl. And for a commoner living in a war torn westeros...it is not going to be aesthetically pleasing. The life around her is gritty and people are cruel. She has to adapt accordingly.

Also by that I don't mean that Arya has turned cruel. For some reason people expect "nice" to be kind. She doesn't coax Weasel with flowery words...she slaps the little girl and tries to drag her out of a burning shed. She doesn't beg the BWB to spare the lives of her friends. She stands between them and threatens Lem and others to move on. She is not going to curtsey the soldeirs and try to appeal to them with her delicate sensibilities...she is going to keep her head down and do all the back breaking work to avoid the risk of getting noticed and getting killed. She is not going to plead with Jaqen till he agrees to help her...she is going to trick him in order to save her people.

(Also she had no way of knowing that Roose's men would be just as cruel as the Lannisters'. It was an eye opening moment for her to be sure...there is no "good" side or bad side for the commoners....all of it is the same).

And yes she is willing to survive but that doesn't mean she is going out there and murdering people. Every one of the people she has killed is either out of self defense or because the people were generally horrible (I have some thoughts particularly about Dareon's death but that is another topic)

You can't expect a girl to fight off all these horrible situations without getting her hands sticky...

People are so obsessed with the superficial notion of purity and the aesthetic (TM) that they fail to see the genuine kindness of Arya. I wonder if they really think of Chiswyck's death as impure? If they think looking under rocks and digging up worms for sustenance is disguating? Or is it that Arya does not fit the aesthetic image of a high fantasy upper class heroine? Is it that there is no "romanticism" to be found in the mud, blood, gore and despair of a commoner?

193 notes • Posted 2021-01-27 06:48:49 GMT

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[ruffiorocks]

Sansa Stark is misunderstood

Since its come back round to the time GOT last season was on I'm seeing a lot of renewed posts and a lot of revived hate for Sansa Stark. But it's not even justifiable hate!

I just saw a Facebook post where some bloke who fyi stated he "believed in female equality" stated that everything that happened to Sansa (abuse wise) was entirely her own fault and he bet she wished she knew how to fight like Arya while she was with Ramsey! Holy shit!! I can't believe i actually read that and when the bloke was called out for victim shaming he scoffed and insisted he believed in female equality!

People hate on Sansa because she isn't Jon, or Arya or Robb. But here's the thing, Sansa is everything she was supposed to be! She was everything she was raised to be, it's actually Arya who is the odd one for the world this story is set in.

I'm re-reading the first book and it's explained in Arya's first POV chapter what Sansa is like and how Arya is expected to be the same. Arya's first chapter is her thinking about how she is the odd one out. How much of a Lady Sansa is, how the sisters are treated by their mother and Septa Mordane. Even Jon, who gifts her needle, speaks to her about how she should be doing her needle work, and how girls get coats of arms but not swords.

Sansa at the start is exactly what she should be and exactly how she was raised to be. She's still an 11 year old child at the start of the books, and in the show she's about 13. A little Lady who still believes in songs and noble, handsome princes and happy endings. Why is that? Because that is how she was raised. Arya rejects all this as she is the odd one out, but it's not lack of trying on her parents and her Septas part. Eddard is a bit more sympathetic to his children, he knows Bran shouldn't be climbing but knows he can't stop him, so just tells him to not let his mother see. He knows Arya should be acting like a lady , it's the whole reasons he takes her to Kings Landing, he even tells her she will be a Lady and have sons etc and Arya tells him that's not her. After discovering her with needle Ned gives in and gets her a sword master. He doesn't change anything with Sansa, because she is exactly what she is supposed to be, he seems a bit clueless with her because he buys her a doll.

Now, Sansa acts like she is in a song when she is with Joffrey because no one has bothered to tell her that life isn't like a song, she is still a child but being put in adult situations.."Winter is Coming" failed on Sansa, because she wasn't taught that life isn't a song like she should have been. She doesn't understand why her father wants to send her home and destroy her fairy tale with her Prince, so this 11 year old (don't remember her doing it in the show) runs to Cersei who panders to her and complains.

Sansa doesn't get away from the Red Keep because she is watched constantly, she is the Prince's betrothed. Arya only escapes with the help or Syrio, left alone Arya would have been f**ked as well. This doesn't make Arya better than Sansa.

Sansa does everything she can to she Ned's life, she is a child being manipulated by Cersei.

Later Sansa is abused both physically and verbally and humilated for all of the court to see. She's beaten by grown men taking orders from a little psychopath. She can't stand up to them even if she tried. Give her a sword and train her to use it she would still have been f**ked. Put a trained Arya in her place and Arya would be f**ked to, she may kill a few knights but she would still end up being killed.

People forget how Sansa survived! Partly because she knew she had to play a dutiful part and she did. You think Margery was good at controlling Joffrey? Sansa had her own way as well.

People often forget how Sansa saved Ser Dontos life by manipulating Joffrey into making him his fool.

Everyone forgets how she stood up to Joffrey when he said he would give her Robbs head and she said Robb may give her his! No fear of Joffrey at all!

The very same scene she goes to push the little prat off the ledge and is only stopped by Clegane.

Swap her with Arya and Arya would be dead or locked up by then. Joffrey already hated her because of Nymeria. Joff wasn't betrothed to her, Arya may have stood up to him and gone wild as Arya is known to do but she would soon be killed.

Sansa knew that being compliant with the odd defiance here and there was the way to survive. She learned that quickly! A lesson Arya would never have learned if she had remained in the Red Keep.

People cheer Arya for killing people and how she wanted to kill Joffrey, whilst forgetting that Sansa very nearly did!

Sansa also warned Margery and Olenna about what Joffrey was like. Risking a lot if that got out!

She was the one to calm the women during the Battle of the Black Water Bay while Cersei got drunk, all the time knowing exactly why Ser Illyane Payne was there with them.

Sansa was forcibly married to Tyrion, he treated her well whilst the whole time being told by his father to get her pregnant by any means necessary. At least she found common ground with Tyrion, making the most of her situation. Arya would have rebelled and probably killed or locked up eventually for being defiant.

Sansa was nearly raped in the streets of Kings Landing, she was essentially ordered to be raped by Tyrion on Tywins orders. She was stripped in front of the court by Ser Merys whilst being threatened by Joffrey and his cross bow. She was later taken to the Eryie by known creepy pervert Little Finger, used again as a marriage pawn for Robin Arryn, kissed by creepy Little Finger, attacked and nearly thrown through the moon door by her aunt Lysa. She lied to protect Little Finger because she was starting to learn to play the game.

She was betrayed by Little Finger and married to the insane Ramsey. Constantly brutely raped by him and locked up. But she survived! She even had the guts to stand up to him as well, making it clear he was bastard and no royal decree from another bastard was going to change that.

She manages to escape with Theon and make her way to Castle Black to Jon.

Throughout all this time and abuse Sansa has not cracked. She is not the naive little girl she was raised and expected to be. She has learned what the world is really like, something the Starks should have taught her from day one. The books and the show make a point of have the men say that the boys will soon be men and need to learn what the world is like but the girls? Nope!

Sansa has survived all her abuse, and she has watched and learned how to play the game. She convinces Jon to take back Winterfell, she brings the Knights of the Vale, remember Jon didn't even want to listen to her input. He didn't want to listen to what she of Ramsey. It may be seen as harsh but Sansa knew that Rickon was dead the moment he was in Ramseys clutches, Jon was very noble wanting to save him but there was no chance.

Sansa shows how much she has learned and who she has been made into, the person she has been hiding just waiting to come out when she sets Ramseys dogs on him and enjoys watching his demise. Sansa is often condemned for this while Arya is praised for being a little psycho that loves to kill and does often.

Sansa sits by and says nothing when her birthright is ripped from her and Jon is declared King in the North, whilst she is left with Lady of Winterfell. She supports him, and she speaks her mind which is her right and he chastises her for questioning him in front of the Lords, her place is to discuss it in private. Even though she knows a lot more than he does when it came to the Northern Lords, or Cersei.

Sansa worries about the things others don't. She spent her time worrying about feeding her people, making sure their armour was warm enough, running Winterfell. This may seem boring to the viewers in comparison to Arya swapping faces and murdering all the Freys but this is why Sansa does! This is what makes Sansa strong!

Sansa understands politics, something that Jon, Arya and even Daenerys don't understand. Sansa knows how the North works, she knows how Cersei operates. She knows what the people of the North need, how the Northern Lords think. She sees the danger that Dany presents. She knows that will need her help but she doesn't trust her and doesn't want the Northern independence surrendered, something Jon did without consulting his people at all.

Sansa appropriately worries about feeding the amount of Dothraki and unsullied Dany brings with her. Boring to the viewers? Yes but a legit concern. She also worries about the Dragons and Dany petulantly tells Sansa dragons eat whatever they want. She couldn't have just answered the question properly? Maybe reassured Sansa they won't eat the Northerners, or their supplies?

Sansa is the only one after the battle for Winterfell that believes the soldiers need a break! Something they actually could have had, Cersei and the South could have waited a few days. They no longer than the dead to worry about, but Dany is impatient, caring only for what he believes is hers and not for the people. Jon even shuts Sansa down, suddenly he's stopped caring for the Northerners as well and wants to follow Dany like a loyal little dog.

Oh poor poor little Dany, no one loves her in the North. Maybe that's because the North don't trust foreign invaders. May be because she came to Winterfell after their king they had JUST elected gave it up to a foreign conqueror. Maybe because she came with three large Dragons and seemed to enjoy the fear they inspired. (Seriously go back and watch her arrive at Winterfell). Dany was so used to being worshipped like a Goddess, but that's not how things are done in the North. The Lords of Winterfell mingle with their men, celebrate together and don't worship their leaders like Gods. You can see her annoyance after the Battle for Winterfell. Oh no she lost people? Well suck it up buttercup so did everyone else. She didn't have anyone to celebrate with? Well maybe that's because Dany never made any friends! She had people that served her, even Jorah was a servant, Grey Worm, Missandi all servants not her friends. You can tell the difference with deference to her, the Northerners don't act like that, Jon and Sansa drink with the men like they are one of them. While Dany sits waiting to be pandered to.

Anyway, even Arya sees the issues with Dany! Sansa unites her family and out wits Little Finger of all people! She was once again biding her time waiting to strike. She knows how the game in played.

People praise Jon, Dany and Arya for fighting in the battle of Winterfell? Jon was a trained warrior, Arya was a trained assassin, Dany is pretty useless if she's Dragon less, e picked up a sword to fight with Jorah but didn't actually do much. Sansa is NOT a warrior, she did the best thing she could have done for everyone and stayed out of the way. She actually did have a knife and was ready to fight with Tyrion but it didn't come to that.

Sansa is one of the characters that changed the most, spoilt little girl wanting her fairy tale, to abused girl learning to survive, to abused woman still surving, to the Lady of Winterfell who understood politics and the game, to the Queen in the North who gained Northern independence.

But to blame her for all the bad stuff that happened to her? Blaming her for being raped because she couldn't hold a sword? People like that make me sick!

Sansa may not have been the most exciting character, but she learned how to play the game, she learned from her experiences, she cared about her people, she underwrite politics and saw the issues with Dany long before Jon did.

[kellyvela]

i love the deranged dany/jon shippers trying to position themselves as some kind of authority on what grrm would and wouldnt do and insist that grrm would! never! hook jon up with his cousin when he actually intended to do that with jon and arya (in a love triangle with tyrion).

Hello Anon, 

Are you serious? There are people who believe GRRM would never hook up cousins?? And the same people ship aunt and nephew??? 

GRRM has no problem at all with incest, in ASOIAF we have siblings incest in Jaime and Cersei; and father daughters incest with Craster an his daughters. And we also have all the Targaryens ffs. 

He also has no problem with cousins getting involved in marriage alliances and romance, no matter if they aren’t Targaryens.  About cousins, we have Tywin and Joanna Lannister, and Rickard and Lyarra Stark. And about uncles and nieces, we have Jonnel and Sansa Stark, and the frustrated union of Cregan and Alys Karstark.  All these unions weren’t considered incest tho…

But GRRM does have a problem with “outlines”.  Let’s talk about “outlines” then:

FEBRUARY 2015

A reddit user spotted a tweet from UK bookseller Waterstones which contained three photos of a 1993 letter GRRM wrote outlining the entire ASOIAF series.

The tweet has since been deleted, but not before the images made it to the internet.

Here is the reddit post.

And here is an article with the three photos of the letter and the transcription.

As you said, GRRM “originally” planned for a Stark cousins romance between Jon Snow and Arya Stark: 

Jon Snow, the bastard, will remain in the far north. He will mature into a ranger of great daring, and ultimately will succeed his uncle as the commander of the Night’s Watch. When Winterfell burns, Catelyn Stark will be forced to flee north with her son Bran and her daughter Arya. Wounded by Lannister riders, they will seek refuge at the Wall, but the men of the Night’s Watch give up their families when they take the black, and Jon and Benjen will not be able to help, to Jon’s anguish. It will lead to a bitter estrangement between Jon and Bran. Arya will be more forgiving … until she realizes, with terror, that she has fallen in love with Jon, who is not only her half-brother but a man of the Night’s Watch, sworn to celibacy. Their passion will continue to torment Jon and Arya throughout the trilogy, until the secret of Jon’s true parentage is finally revealed in the last book.

And a love triangle with Tyrion Lannister: 

Tyrion Lannister will continue to travel, to plot, and to play the game of thrones, finally removing his nephew Joffrey in disgust at the boy king’s brutality. Jaime Lannister will follow Joffrey on the throne of the Seven Kingdoms, by the simple expedient of killing everyone ahead of him in the line of succession and blaming his brother Tyrion for the murders. Exiled, Tyrion will change sides, making common cause with the surviving Starks to bring his brother down, and falling helplessly in love with Arya Stark while he’s at it. His passion is, alas, unreciprocated, but no less intense for that, and it will lead to a deadly rivalry between Tyrion and Jon Snow.

So yeah, GRRM planned for a pseudo incest romance between two major characters of the same House, and a love triangle with a main character of a rival House.  

MAY 2016 - BALTICON 

A bit more than a year after that tweet from Waterstones, GRRM attended the The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention - BALTICON. There he was questioned by fans about the Jon and Arya romance:

After the Coffee Talk just outside the room:

My Con Friend asked about Arya and Jon again. This time GRRM gave some very pointed replies:

GRRM finished (in the hallway now) by saying that he “wished some past things weren’t such strong foreshadowing,” and that he, “wished some new things had stronger foreshadowing then.”

Friend: Ok, if you foreshadowed something in the first book, like, really cleverly hidden, would you then follow through on that hint? For sure?.. 

GRRM: “Well, this goes with what I said before, the story changes and expands as I write. I wish I was able to go back and make revised drafts, but that’s not going to happen.”

Here is a transcript of the outline discussion and Jon/Arya portion of the coffee talk:

[question about Jon/Arya]

GRRM: “Alright, you’ve thought about this more than I have. I mean it’s simple, Jon is very fond of Arya. They were the two odd birds in the Stark family nest, here. They didn’t quite fit in with the others, they look like each other, they both had the brown hair, you know, as opposed to the auburn hair of Sansa and Bran and Rickon and Robb. So there was always that closeness between them. And, you know, Arya didn’t mind that Jon was a bastard, and Jon didn’t mind that Arya was a tomboy, so there is that closeness there.”

[question about Jon comparing his lover to his sister]

GRRM: “If he did it, uhm… I began writing these books in 1991, and, uhm, I worked on it in 91 and then I got a tv play, so I put it aside to really work on ‘Doorways’ tv pilot and did a tv show in 92-93. In 94 I returned to it [the books] and worked on it. You know, up till then, in my career as a writer, I’d always written the entire book before I opted for sale. That’s unusual. Most writers do chapters and an outline. They write a few chapters, they outline the rest of the book, give that to the publisher and the publisher says ‘oh okay, I’ll take that’.

“As some of you may have noticed, those who have been paying very, very carefully attention, I’m not good with deadlines. And, uh, and I’m not good with outlines, either. I always hated outlines. So with Fevre Dream and with Armageddon Rag and with Dying of the Light and all my novels, I wrote the entire book. I didn’t do chapters and outline. I sat down, I wrote a whole book, and I sent it to my agent and said ‘Look, here’s a whole book, and it’s finished’. That way I ran into no deadline, it was finished before it even went on the market. And it worked well for me. And my initial thought was to do this the same way, but what happened, you know, was in 1994, uhm, when I returned to it and I’m working on it and I’m very enthused about it and I say ‘I really wanna write these Game of Thrones books as the next part’. But I was still in Hollywood and I’d just lost all this groundwork on ‘Doorways’, I was still in… The studios and networks still wanna work with me, so I’m getting other offers, like ‘We want you to write this movie’, ‘we want you to do another tv pilot’. And, you know, I took a couple of them and was ‘Oh god, I gotta have to put the book away again’. Cause I have no deadline [for the book]. You know, when you think Hollywood, they will give you a deadline, you know, they say ‘here, son, write this movie, we want it in three months’.

“So, I said ‘look, if I wanna get back to being a novelist, I’m gonna have to sell this even though it’s not finished’. So I had my 200 pages of Game of Thrones at that point, but they wanted outline. I said ‘I don’t do outlines. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I figure it out as I go. And that’s how I always did it.’ No, we had to have an outline. So I wrote two pages, a two-page thing about what I thought would happen. It’ll be a trilogy, it’ll be three books, Game of Thrones, the Dance with Dragons, and Winds of Winter. Those were the three window titles. And, uh, it’ll be three books and this’ll happen, and this’ll happen, and this’ll happen. And I was making up shit.

“And I had thought that those two pages were long forgotten, because, of course, the books did sell. They sold in the United States and in Great Britain, both. They sold for enough money that I didn’t have to take any more Hollywood games. So I was able to say ‘no’ around. I had a few less [?] to wind up in in 94 and 95. Once I had, I said ‘no, I don’t want any more movies or tv shows, I’m going to write these books now’. And I started writing the books. And in the process, I pretty much disregarded the outline. The characters took me off in entirely different directions. So, for 20 years I had forgotten that that two-page thing even existed. And then someone in my British publisher, HarperCollins, they got a new office building, uh, brand new offices, and new conference rooms, big conference rooms that they decorated with books and stuff like that. And they named the conference rooms after the writers, so one of the conference rooms [?], and they put up these plastic display cases, including the outline. The two-page outline, yes. [?], they didn’t ask my permission, they just put it up. And in that two-page outline, Jon and Arya become a romantic item.”

“You know, I don’t think it’s a reference for that [for romance]. It’s a reference to a certain physical type, and  a certain indication of what Jon finds admirable. It’s like someone who reminds you of, you know… Other people might be put off by this, you know, hair that looks like small rodents have been living in there. It doesn’t put him off because he is used to that.””

[someone says they have 5 minutes left]

“You know, I was pretty pissed that that outline got out there. It should not have happened. Outlines and letters like that are meant only for the eyes of the editor. They shouldn’t go on public display. And, uh, they also [?] my papers on [?], all my papers and correspondence. You know, I’ve been sending that stuff there for years, and it’d be, you know, available for future scholars or whatever, just like the papers of many other writers. Somehow, in the back of my head I was like ‘yeah, 20 years after I’m dead some scholar will go in and find them’. They’re going in right now!”   ”

[question if he is still going with the 1991 ending]

“Yes, I mean, I did partly joke when I said I don’t know where I was going. I know the broad strokes, and I’ve known the broad strokes since 1991. I know who’s going to be on the Iron Throne. I know who’s gonna win some of the battles, I know the major characters, who’s gonna die and how they’re gonna die, and who’s gonna get married and all that. The major characters. Of course along the way I made up a lot of minor characters, you know, I, uhm…Did I know in 1991 how Bronn, what was gonna happen to Bronn? No, I didn’t even know there’d be a guy named Bronn. I was inventing him along the way when I was writing, ‘Okay, he gets kidnapped. Let’s see, there are a couple sellswords there, their names are Fred and Bronn’.“It was actually Bronn and Chiggen, and then one of them dies, I flipped a coin ‘okay, who dies? Chiggen dies, cause his name is stupid. Bronn is a better name, so I’ll keep Bronn’. And then Bronn became quite an interesting character and plenty of these characters take on minds of their own. They push to the front till you [?] speech and you think of a cool line and you give it to Bronn because he’s trying to talk, and now Bronn is somebody who says something cool. [?]. That’s how characters grow on you.“So a lot of the minor characters I’m still discovering along the way. But the mains-”

[question if he knows Arya’s and Jon’s fates]

“Tyrion, Arya, Jon, Sansa, you know, all of the Stark kids, and the major Lannisters, yeah.”

This report appears in the following sources:

fattest leech of ice and fire blog [Source 1] 

asoiaf.westeros.org [Source 2]  

westeros.org [Source 3]

As you can see Anon, according GRRM the “original outline” was “a two-page thing about what [he] thought would happen”… “And [he] was making up shit.”  

He also said that: “[he] pretty much disregarded the outline. The characters took [him] off in entirely different directions. So, for 20 years [he] had forgotten that that two-page thing even existed”.

But then he clarified that: 

“I did partly joke when I said I don’t know where I was going. I know the broad strokes, and I’ve known the broad strokes since 1991. I know who’s going to be on the Iron Throne. I know who’s gonna win some of the battles, I know the major characters, who’s gonna die and how they’re gonna die, and who’s gonna get married and all that. The major characters”.

From all this information, I think that the romance between Jon and Arya was discarded: 

[He] “wished some past things weren’t such strong foreshadowing,” and that he, “wished some new things had stronger foreshadowing then.”

The story changes and expands as I write. I wish I was able to go back and make revised drafts, but that’s not going to happen.”

But the romance between two major characters of the same House (Stark cousins) is still there.

But a romance between two major characters of the same House could also happen between aunt and nephew, and if we follow the Show, this was the new route GRRM took.  

We just have to wait to certainly know if GRRM will give us the Stark cousins romance that was promised or if he has already changed his original plan.  

[daenerys-targaryen-moved]

Another thing that's super annoying about the GoT finale, is that we're expected to completely forget about Dany's actions in Essos or how her death will effect it. Daenerys was THE most powerful force in Essos and she ended slavery. Fine, she snapped and killed hundreds of people, fine, Jon killed her (I mean, NOT fine, but that's another issue). But the world being what it is, who wants to bet more than one fucker is gonna try to bring back slavery now that the MoD is dead? (1/?)

I mean, MAYBE the second son's army will be able to hold it back, but I'm betting not. So Jon kills Daenerys after about 4 minutes of contemplation, on a whim (not even for killing lots of people in KL but to protect his family). And no one thinks of Essos; no one is gonna point out that Daenerys death will most likely lead to the return of slavery. The persecution, enslavement, and most likely - the death, of hundreds of thousands of people. Much higher numbers than those that died in KL. (2/?)And ... we're just ... supposed to be chill with that? Nobody in Westeros cares about Essos, so why should we? The Starks behavior is arguably one of the reason Dany flipped (according to the writers themselves and several GoT actors), and they're probably the number 1 reason slavery would come back. Like ... just ... how can people be happy with this? I -- *speechless* (3/3)Lies, it's 4, sorry! Just a last add on to the previous ask --> Like, seriously, without the threat of the mother of dragons hanging over those people's heads, what's to stop slavery from returning Essos? Literally nothing. (4/4)

Oof! That’s a lot to unpack and address, but I’ll do my best!

The Starks don’t and won’t every give a shit about Essos or other people, they made that very clear. The North itself is very prejudice against the Wildlings, and pretty much any outsider that isn’t born south of the wall or white. Their treatment towards Daenerys and her army, a force that was their to help save their lives, was nothing short of disrespect and hatred. They only care about themselves, and only ever will. “I don’t need allies.” “She’s not one of us.” Sounds very familiar to “Everyone who isn’t us is an enemy.” Doesn’t it? Not to mention the ancestreal Starks and their treatment towards the Children of the Forrest, how they killed and slaughtered and burned down their trees, but yeah, we’re supposed to believe that the Starks are the purest rulers? The Starks in season 8 showed to be nothing but back stabbing “every man for themselves” morals.

In terms of Essos and the slavers..... they’ll take back their cities and re-enslave those who were freed. The thousands upon thousands of slaves she liberated will most likely go back into chains. Little boys will once again be stolen from their mothers arms, mutilated and forced to do extreme hard labor where 1/4 of them survive. Little girls will be kidnapped and used for the pleasure of men. The fighting pits will reopen for the entertainment of the rich. Every good thing she did will revert back to what it had before.Not a single person who was left in power in Westeros truly ever cared about the common people, or cared about what Daenerys accomplished over seas. Not Sam, not Brienne, not Bronn, not Bran, not Tyrion, not Sansa. None of them had the experience and morals that Daenerys had. Sure, Sansa had 2 scenes where she said that the Northern army should have leather, (wow, so smart, having leather in winter? groundbreaking) and another scene where she cared so much about the northern army (which really wasn’t any concern about the men themselves, rather that she didn’t want to have them fight for daenerys) but other than that no one in the entire series besides Jon Snow had the experience of ruling, balancing justice and peace, learning how to be a good Queen, making compromises, knows what it felt like to have people follow her and her lead them through hard times, ect. None of them had the experience Daenerys had, and the one that did share the same experience they banished beyond the wall the moment Daenerys was dead.

We’re expected to believe that a gang of second sons are going to up keep the masters at bay? We’re supposed to believe that Sansa can continue to rule the North after it’s independent? With all of the trades being cut off? We’re supposed to believe that the Northern men who flipped on Jon the second he didn’t do something they like, won’t do the same to Sansa? Once the foods go dry, once people start fleeing the North because there is no food and no profits to trade to survive? We’re supposed to believe that Grey Worm went back to Naath with the remaining unsullied? We’re supposed to believe that the Khalassar will uphold Daenerys’ order to abolish slavery? We’re supposed to believe that Jon walked out of that Throne Room with blood on his hands and the Khalassar and the Unsullied just.... let him go lmao?

Daenerys claimed all of the Dothraki as her blood riders in season six, and ancient traditions proclaim that when a khal dies, his bloodriders die with him. Most of all, the Dothraki follow strength. Ancient traditions of the Dothraki demand that a khal’s bloodriders die with him, riding the night lands by his side. When a khal is killed by an enemy, his bloodriders live only long enough to avenge him. After their last duty has been completed, the bloodriders join their khal in death. Sooo..? Did the Dothraki forget about those customs their culture has always practiced?

Tyrion convinced Jon that Daenerys wouldn’t stop, but according to the finale her armies continued to follow through on her mission to abolish slavery? So killing Daenerys really didn’t do anything in that case.

So really, truly, nothing changed at all. Every single thing Daenerys did mattered nothing in the end. The wheel isn’t broken. The wheel continued. Those who were in power in the beginning continued to have power in the end. Those who had nothing in the beginning, continued to have nothing in the end. What a waste of time, money and energy.

[julibf]

WHY THE END OF GAME OF THRONES IS NOT WORKING FOR ME....

I told in some of my past metas, that I wrote after the show was done, why the ending was so unsatisfying and I am going to try to explain why here in some point. Its not because it was sad and heartbreaking, or some of our theories never really turned out to be true.

I am afraid to say, Its George RRM who is letting me down, not Benioff and Weiss. So lets start with the points that are making my head spin.

BRAN THE BROKEN KING

If accept Bran Stark as the final King of this story, I have to pretend I didnt read the past books A CLASH IF KINGS and a FEAST FOR CROWS, where we had very good contenders fighting for the Throne (Rob Stark, Renly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, etc) Yes, some of those men were not so good from a moral point of view, but they brought strength, militar support, militar and political alliances, legitimate claims to the Throne...

I could go on and on and on. There is absolutely no reason for why would Yara Greyjoy would bend the knee to Brandon Stark and accept him as her leader and ruler; or the Prince of Dorne, or the Lords from the Westerlands. This choice is absolutely absurd and if you read the books you would know that picking a boy king, with no claim to the Throne or no powerful armies makes any sense at all. Whe we add the fact Bran had hardly any experience ruling or leading people during the 7 years of this story, this pic gets even more and more bizarre.Not to mention, I really dislike the idea that humans are incapable to control their own emotions, and because of that we must pick a God like creature with no emotions.

 I understand George wanted a surprising ending and he wanted to go against the expectations, but this choice is an utopia. I cant get behind this choice. I am sorry.

TYRION HAND OF THE KING

Again, do I have to pretend I didnt read the books and actually know that being a Kingslayer is a very terrible sin to carry on Westeros??? Tyrion is not a beloved figure in this story, even before he killed his own father, Tywin Lannister.

Tyrion decision to kill his father, not only started the downfall of House Lannister, it also made the entire region of the Westerlands political weaker and more vulnerable to future attacks.He must be a very despised figure in the entire realm. Yet, he will be the second person in charge of Westeros??

At this point I am at loss of words. I have no idea what George is planning with this.

JON KILLING DAENERYS AS A LOVER IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.

Awful, terrible, horrible idea. Any way you slice, this was a terrible idea to end such amazing novel. Its corny, outdated and down right dangerous, considering we live in a world where females are at risk of being murdered by their male partners all the time.

This is such underwhelming decision, in a sea of underwhelming decisions that I am starting to think George was simply trying to make us all hate this ending.

We could have the realm raising in Rebelion against the Queen of Ashes; we could have second Dance of Dragons; We could have Arya using her underused superpowers as a Faceless men to kill Daenerys. No, we will have Jon Snow, still making excuses for Daenerys terrible behavior, begging her to start acting better???? telling her she will always be his queen while putting a dagger into her heart!!!

Again, this ending is coming from George himself. I cant really blame the D’s for this mess.

JON SNOW AND DAENERYS TARGARYEN ROMANCE WAS ANOTHER TERRIBLE IDEA.

Awful, terrible, horrible idea. Any way you slice, this was a terrible idea to end such amazing novel. If you dont believe Political Jon theory, then Jon Snow is just a completely fool, who fell in love with a tyrant, closed his eyes to all her terrible behavior and in the end was forced to kill the love of his life to save humanity. He is a idiot. and it breaks my heart that this is how Jon Snow will be remembered by audiences.  Some people keep on telling me. “Oh, by, I dont think this is how George will write him, I think its going to be much better” But I have to say, I dont think it will.

I do believe Jon was playing Dany in the beginning of their romance and was manipulating her in order to use her dragons and armies to save the North, but I also believe that once he finds out she is his family too, he became a little torned between his Targ and Stark family. He is a family man in the end of the day and he must feel some sort of guilty for his actions towards D@ny.

I think that George will keep Political Jon hidden between the lines, just like the show did. He may write much better and be more obvious, but I dont think it will ever be revealed explicit to the audience. And this is what kills his character. If he doesnt reveal to the audience that Jon was playing Daenerys, than it seems Jon Snow never really learned anything from his past 10 years and it sucks!!

No matter how you slice it, if George will keep Jon’s actions hidden and make the audience believe he is madly in love with this entitled monster and will keep on defending her until the very end and this is the character assassination of Jon Snow.

If, he is madly in love with Dany and has to be told several times that he must kill her to save the world from her tyranny, he is an IDIOT who never learned a damn thing in his life. If he DOESNT love Dany, but out of duty still is loyal to her, and has to be told several times to kill her in order to save the world, he is an IDIOT who never fucking learns anything. I dont get what George is doing here. He is destroying the character he spend so much time bulding as a hero, but that's exactly what he wants to do it. Maybe there are NO HEROS. (what a shit message).

I wished Jon and Dany had been just allies and later became enemies. This would be a much better ending for both characters.

CHARACTERS ARCS THAT SEEMS POINTLESS BY THE END OF THE STORY....

Jaime can not put Cersei behind him and comes back to die with her in the end;

Jon Snow can never, ever, ever learn with his mistakes and is still struggling after so much pain and misery in his life, over duty and honour.

Jon Snow years and years learning to be a leader and ruler is absolutely pointless and he is sent back to the Wall, where he started???

Sansa, who dreamed about love and family all 5 novels, ends this story completely alone;

Arya, who desperate wanted to go back home since season 1, leaves once again, this time for good??? leaving her younger brother alone in the South (where Stark men dont do well), her sister alone in Winterfell and Jon all alone at the Wall. WHAT THE FUCK?????

Daenerys can never overcome her family tragedy of Fire and Blood, and becomes the monster her father was;

In fact, it seems that its impossible for humans to evolve and become better people than their parents, a God like creature must rule us all, otherwise we are lost. (I can not repeated enough times, what terrible message this ending is, and its no even true!!!!, we live in a world of no magic, and we were able to produce rules who brought us peace, progress and humanity.)

THE COMPLETE LACK OF JOY, LOVE AND HOPE....

What really got me by surprise in the end, it was how sterile and hopeless this entire story felt. George once said that he writes so much violence, deaths and rapes in his novels because it is part of real medieval life and would be a lie to avoid those themes in his books, but you know whats also real part of medieval life?? Marriages? Marriage alliances, happy normal ones, who produce children, heirs, LIFE, FUTURE!!!

Oh we had weddings on ASOIAF, but most of them ended in slaughter, death, rape, misery. I dont think we had one happy birth inthis entire story? Gilly had a child from her father rapist and Edmure was able to produce a child too, but his bride Roselin was actualy in tears when they had sex (because she was aware of the Red Wedding plans) 

What a miserable tale this was. Our heros never really get to experience real joy. They never get to fullfill their childhood dreams. But they do get to be raped and abused, so, maybe thats ALL IT REALLY happened in the medieal times. Oh wait, its not tue, The War of the Roses ended with the marriage of Henry Tutor and Elizabeth of York. They had a very happy marriage and produced several children. 

In our story, we dont get to have laughter, joy, happiness or hope for a future. We do get several pages of Theon being tortured and dismembered in the books; or Sansa being physically and mentally abused; or Jon being consumed by loneliness and grief. But I guess, thats all it happened in the medieval times, so..........

Funny thing is, you see, before the story started, marriages and children were a common occurence in Westeros. Ned and Cat had several children; Cersei and Robbert had 3; Lysa was able to produce a child too; The Tyrells keep on making babies, even God damn Lyanna Stark, who only spent a few months married to Rheagar, was able to had a child. What miracle, its almost like those events were normal facts in those days.

In our story, no House can produce children, even bastards!!! Jon, Theon and Tyrion had quite lots of sex during this story, yet no children was ever produced. Maybe all men in Westeros became sterile, once ASOIAF started it. 

AS YOU SEE....

By the end of the day, I am disappointed in George, not really the TV show, which is even more sadder. I think he wrote a very beautiful story, but his ending is taking away all my joy for those characters and this novel. I know he wanted avoid the expected and subvert the expectations, but he is shooting his own story in their foot. And its braking my heart.

What terrible way to end such fascinating tale...

“[Bran] will be a good ruler bc he’s inhuman - which is a very depressing message. GoT was always about the struggle between human good & human evil w/in each person. Bran being king suggests that the solution to human evil isn’t human good, it’s being not human.”  

ALT SHIFT X described in great words, how I felt about this ending, and you could sense his disappointment in the final message of this story too. It's was an extremely nihlistic ending. Westeros hasn't changed in facts it's worse politically. 

A SONG OF ICE ANF FIRE VS LORD OF THE RINGS....

Now, lets compare this to LORD OF THE RINGS ending, who also got a bittersweet ending. Remember, George RRM is always comparing those stories and believes he is having a conversation to Tolkien. 

Honest to God, in comparison LOTR looks like a Disney movie. It has a beautiful coronation ceremony, humanity came together to save the world from evil, and THEY TRIUMPHED!!!! There is JOY, LOVE, HOPE. Aragorn is King of the Reunited Kingdom, the people love and admire him (can we say the same about King Bran?) . 

He marries his childhood love, Arwen and produce an heir. This brings hope and a sense of future for the reader. This story is uplifting, its inspiring, its quite frankly, a good story. 

Its impossible not feel good about this story and the ending is one of the reasons this story has touched so many people, from all over the world and has remained a classic. Because, the tale of humanity coming together to defeat the evil is a theme that its always occurring in our life times. This is something that Tolkien experienced personally, having to fight in the WWII.

The nazis were defeated because several countries, put aside their differences and fought for the good of humanity and yes, it is possible. And after WWII we actually managed to achieve a lot of humans rights for several people who were considered less in the early century. 

In GOT there was no joy or celebration, no weddings to form new alliances; to make peace; no births to bring new heirs, to bring a hope for the future. In fact, most wedding in the show were always associated with death and pain. Death and pain, yes, there was a lot of death and pain in ASOAIF. Thats all it has to offer the reader and viewer? Death, pain and misery??

I understand that George wanted to do the different and not give what the reader really wanted. But I have to be honest to you, in my opinion, this was a unfulfilling, uninspiring, unpleasant story. I said a few times, i have no desire to re read those long books. This story brought me no joy. And I understand that, stories are not obliged to bring us joy, but, they are supposed to make sense. And, I just dont think the ending made a lot of sense for those who read the books. Hey, maybe that was our mistake. Hee

What sad story :/

[annes-andromeda]

GOT Virtues AU: Not Enough to Understand

N/: So, I’ve finally written a chapter for Tyrion. I’m mostly gonna go by his arc in ADWD, but take out things like Young Griff and Jon Connington. As much as I believe those characters to be very vital to the books, this AU goes mostly by showverse with hints of the books and my own additions. However, some characters from ASOIAF will be incorporated here, just maybe not the same as the books. Tyrion has never really been my favorite character, but he’s definitely an interesting one. It sucks that the show turned him into a Dany cultist that licked her boots and kissed her ass. So, hopefully I’m writing Tyrion and Varys correctly. Also, please don’t think that I’m trying to villainize Tyrion (even if that may be the route GRRM is taking. But I’m not him sooo...), I’m just trying to show that he’s currently in a dark state of mind.

Somehow for Tyrion, the soils of Essos were more frustrating than the pile of shit that was the Seven Kingdoms. Ever since he strangled his lover with his bare hands and shot his father with a crossbow, somehow he’s never been the same. And yet somehow, the minute his brother opened his mouth and spoke of his first wife, of Tysha... somehow that hurt more than any slurs Tywin Lannister could ever reprise.

I trusted him, Tyrion thought hatefully. My big brother who was my protector, was no more than a liar.

The walls of Pentos where Varys had sneaked him away were beautiful no less. A perfect grave for a drunken lion. To drink himself to death seemed far sweeter than returning to Westeros where Cersei would surely want his head. But the Spider gave him another alternative.

“You have a choice, my friend” Varys had said, “You can stay here at Ilyrio’s palace and drink yourself to death, or you can ride with me to Meereen, meet Daenerys Targaryen, and decide if the world is worth fighting for”

The Dragon Queen. Tyrion had heard stories of her. How she liberated the city of Meereen and its slaves, ending the practice for good. But he had heard other stories as well. How she crucified the masters and burned men alive with her dragons. Common folk told of the Queen Across the Sea, a woman who walked with fire and left nothing but ruin wherever she trailed.

Tyrion didn’t know what to believe. So many tales, so many rumors. The people of Kings Landing spread whatever words they spoke to entertain themselves from the early graves that awaited some of them. Such as naming Tyrion the Demon Monkey. Or Sansa the Traitors Daughter. He hoped she was safe. Wherever his lady wife had gone to escape her fate. And to escape him.

But the one he thought of most was his oldest companion: Cira. His dear lioness that mewled sadly as she was taken away from his cell the day of his trial. She had been left in the Red Keep, wandering alone. Tyrion no longer seemed to care of hope, but he prayed to all the Gods that she was safe. That neither Cersei or anyone else had gotten hold of her. If he were to ever find out of her death or much worse... may the Gods help them.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Once leaving Pentos, Tyrion and Varys began their journey to the so called free city of Meereen. Before doing so, they had to go through the streets of Volantis, as Varys stated that the road to Meereen was in Volantis. Bored of the confinement their carriage brought, Tyrion decided to take a walk. If anyone were to ask his name, he’d be no more than Hugor Hill, a bastard of the Westerlands who wished to see the known world alongside his companion Rugen, a former servant of the Red Keep. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Long Bridge was filled with many people. Builders, merchants, and many, many whores. All were marked by their masters, their cheek defining who they were.

“Strange that the Mother of Dragons hasn’t stepped foot in this city, as many have claimed she is a liberator” Tyrion acknowledged

“Meereen has had its run of slavery since the beginning of its construction” Varys began “If Daenerys were to leave the city as it is, the masters would simply take it back, sending the slaves into their chains once again”

“Hasn’t Astapor already done the same?” The dwarf noted “From what my ears have heard, the city is in ruin while children are sold like cattle and slavery runs rampant. I would’ve been certain the dragon queen would ensure the freedom of the people she liberates. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The Spider simply remained silent, and Tyrion gave a look as if he’d won a great victory. As they walked the pavement, they heard the booming voice of a woman who spoke to the slaves almost as if she had cast a spell upon them. A red priestess of R’hllor, whose cheek was branded with the mark of a former whore, preached her teachings to the lowly slaves of Volantis.

“Lord, cast your light upon us” she spoke in Valyrian, as the crowd followed “For the night is dark and full of terrors”

Tyrion didn’t hear what Varys had said to him, as he’d moved closer to see and hear the Priestess’s words “I was once as you are now” she said “Bought and sold. Scourged and branded” She pointed to the mark on her cheek, the mark of a slave. A former slave now.

“The only red priest we had in King’s Landing was Thoros of Myr. This one’s much better looking...” Tyrion boasted. He had heard that Stannis’s red priestess was beautiful, with blood red hair and eyes that glowed like the ruby around her neck. Granted, he’d seen and heard of many beautiful women in his days: the Mother of Dragons was said to have flowing silver hair and eyes of amethyst, whilst he remembered Shae’s curves and her full lips that kissed him once. But yet, they were not the most beautiful of women. For Tyrion gave that achievement to a maid with sunset in her hair and whose gaze held the waters.

“The Lord of Light hears your voice. He hears the king as he hears the slave; he hears the Stone Men in their misery...” The red priestess continued

Tyrion could only scoff “Stone Men. Good luck stopping this spread of grayscale with prayer. You’d have better luck dancing away the plague” Varys shushed him before he could say anything else.

“He has sent you a savior!” The red priestess proclaimed “From the fire she was reborn to remake the world! The Dragon Queen!”

Tyrion looked over to Varys, putting on a false smile “We’re going to meet the savior! You should have told me. Who doesn’t want to meet the savior?” His voice reeked of sarcasm, and the Spider was not impressed by it. As he spoke, he could feel eyes looking directly at him, shooting daggers from their post. The red priestess had turned to gaze at Tyrion, and the dwarf hid his face from her.

“Let’s go” He warned, as he and Varys left the gathering. The atmosphere had turned casual once again, with only the chatter of the slaves being heard. Tyrion turned to look up at Varys “Tell me, Varys” he began “Do you believe in the prophecy of The Prince That Was Promised?”

Varys cocked an eyebrow at him “It’s a legend derived from the red priests of R’hllor, of how a great hero shall be born of salt and smoke to save the world from a terrible threat. Mere superstition created by fanatics who haven’t a mind of their own”

“And I suppose these ‘fanatics’, as you call them, believe that Daenerys Targaryen is this prophesied savior, yes?” He saw Varys nod his head, but then cock it back once he spoke again “Seems rather curious, does it not? I thought Stannis was this great hero the Lord of Light had gifted upon us. In the words of the priests, I mean”

“If every fanatic claimed that every person in the world were this great prince, then the whole world would be engulfed in flames of proclaimed freedom” Varys stated “Who is to trust the words of druid priests that worship a god who only ever wishes upon the sacrifices of his kin?”

“Apparently the kneelers gladly hold their faith in the hands of merciless gods and these ‘druid priests’” Tyrion insisted, his mind wandering to the different tales that lied across the Narrow Sea “It just seems rather interesting. I myself have read of the legends of Westeros so many times that they’ve grown rather boring and repetitive. Aegon the Conqueror, Bran the Builder, even my own house’s ancestor, Lann the Clever; their stories have be so overheard that even their graves must hear them”

Varys let out a chuckle of mockery and agreement. His own experience with sorcery and religious views have left him skeptical of such practices, along with the hatred of all that used magic. Tyrion wondered if the former Master of Whisperers ever despised the great houses due to their holding of the mysterious Virtues, whose power traced back to even the ages of the Children.

As the two walked through the streets of Volantis, Tyrion’s mind wandered to a brothel where Varys and him could not be noticed by any wandering eyes. But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. He could only think of his wife. Of Tysha. Somehow, Tyrion’s first thought wasn’t Shae, as she was a true whore compared to his first wife. A brothel wouldn’t ease his pain, no matter how many women he brought upon his bed.

Perhaps a mere book with a glass of wine will calm my suffering, Tyrion thought. Question was, where was he going to find a library in the mists of such a large city? The Temple of the Lord of Light could hold some scrolls for him to read through, but they’d mostly be filled with the teachings of the priests. And as if Varys would ever agree to going to such a place.

“You wouldn’t happen to know if there’s an inn in these parts, would you?” Tyrion asked, looking up to Varys

The man raised his eyebrows “I figured you’d rather be more interested in the confinements of a brothel?”

“No” Tyrion said abruptly “After everything that has happened, I’ve made the conscious decision to stay out of the whore house for a time”

“Well then, we can continue down this trail to a nearby atheneum where we’ll be able to blend in with the small folk”

“Perhaps I can indulge myself in some wine there”

“I thought you said you no longer wanted to take part in fornication. ‘For a time’, as you said”

“I never said I’d give up drinking”

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Once reaching the atheneum Varys had mentioned, Tyrion could hardly believe his eyes. He had heard that the library of the Citadel were home to many knowledge and tales, so he didn’t expect much from the atheneum in Volantis, which only held two stories yet books upon thousands of shelves.

Entering the establishment, Tyrion and Varys took their seats all the way in the back where no one would disturb them. The only people that walked trough there were the workers sorting the books into shelves or customers looking for a more interesting read. Either way, no one would ask them of their reasons to coming into the place, as they did not speak the common tongue.

Tyrion flipped through the pages of a dusty old book that read ‘The Blood Betrayal: Fall of the Great Empire’ in High Valyrian. He didn’t know much of the language, but enough to understand what some of the sentences said.

He turned to Varys, who scoured through the rippling parchments and scrolls that smelled like old leather “It says here that according to the people of Yi Ti, the Blood Emperor slewed his older sister, the Amethyst Empress, and his rule ushered in the Long Night. Apparently he slept with a tiger woman, feasted upon human flesh, and enslaved his people. And I thought the myths of Westeros were too theatrical”

“The YiTish also speak of the Maiden-Made-Of-Light, who turned her back upon the world whilst her husband, the Lion of Night, punished the wickedness of men” Varys added. Tyrion wasn’t really surprised of his response, as the man had grown up in Essos himself “The Essosi paint their gods in the forms of animals and great beasts, as they’ve never seen the deities with their own eyes. Perhaps their gods forms gives them some sort of pride in their religion”

Tyrion simply shrugged, and before he could come up with a witty remark, he noticed a librarian sorting some used books that were left by previous visitors. He raised his hand to get the attention of the man. Thankfully he noticed him or else he’d have to resort to introducing himself In Valyrian, which was not his strong suit.

Getting the attention of Varys so as to translate for him, Tyrion began “Hello” he said, as his companion repeated the greeting in the local tongue “I was wondering, if you could tell me what this creature is?” He pointed down to the page he’d stopped on, which held an illustration of a winged creature. Its wings looked as if they were burning, and it was emerging from a pit of flames.

“I can speak some of common tongue, if you’d wish” the librarian said

Tyrion raised his eyebrows and sighed “Well... that’s a relief. I don’t think my companion here would’ve been able to handle doing all of the work for me” Though he didn’t clearly see it, he could tell that Varys was rolling his eyes and quietly scoffing.

The librarian carefully took the book from Tyrion’s hands, almost as if he grabbed it forcefully, the whole thing would fall apart. He examined the drawing, and his face crinkled “Their presence lost to history, I’m afraid. But people of Essos spoke of them as ‘The Devils Daughters’”

“How come?” Tyrion asked

“Essosi believe that daughters were born in home of evil spirits” The man said, his voice frail and his common language quite broken, but still understandable “They thrived in times of dragons, some even believe that two were foes who battled for fires hearth”

Varys leaned towards Tyrion “Many strayed far from the Fourteen Flames because it is believed that The Devils Daughters made their homes within the pits of the volcanoes. It was also thought that the creatures cursed the pits if their common enemy were to ever return”

As much as Tyrion wished to speak on more vital matters, such as whether this Dragon Queen truly was worth his troubles, he couldn’t help but be intrigued “Where did the daughters come from?” He asked the librarian

The old man sat down and fidgeted in his place to get comfortable “The oldest legend is that seamstress from Yi Ti sewed gold string for Opal Emperor in days of the Great Empire. According to scrolls and writing, the monarch adorned silks with golden string, and payed seamstress for more. So seamstress worked days on needle, so much so that the string shined in sunlight and her talent spoken of across all Yi Ti ”

“Sounds a bit exaggerated” Tyrion muttered to himself

“However, Opal Emperor wanted more than gold. He was so impressed of seamstress’s work that he gave her the challenge of creating embroidery and turning it into jewels”

Varys looked as if he didn’t want to listen to the mans story. Tyrion could only guess that it was either he had heard it a thousand times or of the great distances himself kept from religious practices and fables.

“Now, seamstress argued that what the Emperor proposed was impossible, but Opal Emperor granted her a seat in his court if she were to complete his task. So, she stayed in her shop for days, and the days turned into weeks. Finally, the seamstress stepped into Emperors palace, where she presented embroidery to him and his council. Seamstress had created a bird, whose wings shined with not golden, but silver string and encrusted with what many believed to be sundrops and starlight. The Opal Emperor, impressed he was. Yet, he asked more of seamstress. He ordered her to take embroidery on the fourteenth day of her time within the palace and burn it in a pyre of all the spices her expenses could buy. On the day of burning, seamstress took embroidery upon fire and...”

He paused for a moment, his face showing an expression of wonderment and perhaps, even pure bliss. The old man looked to the ceiling as if he’d been envisioning the story while he spoke.

“And?” Varys cut the silence, stopping Tyrion from shaking the man out of his delusion.

“When the seamstress placed her creation upon pyre, the embroidery burst into flames, leaving nothing but ashes and cinders. But then, without tamper, a great miracle happened. Embroidery of creature, had become real. Embroidery, became Devils Daughter. No larger than her teat, the baby was frail, yet soon would be powerful. Upon third setting of sun and second rising of moon, Daughter had disappeared from seamstress’s shop. Never seen again, until Old Valyria found dragon”

The man got up from his seat, continuing with his previous action of sorting books upon shelves. Varys had little to no reaction, clearly thinking of the fable as nothing more than that.

Tyrion furrowed his eyebrows, not understanding why the man had decided to end the story so abruptly, with hardly any payoff “You wouldn’t happen to know the creatures diets, by any chance?” He joked “Whether they ate, just out of curiosity: lions? Preferably lionesses, on my end”

The image of his sister being devoured by this creature, every inch of her destroyed by its jaws as she joins their father in a place where their every sin haunts them, was something Tyrion gladly wished to see.

“I’m afraid not, good sir” The librarian answered, his voice hinting at slight annoyance. Almost as if he knew what Tyrion was truly asking “Lions we’re not perceived as good by Yi Ti because of Lion of Night. They saw beasts as omens of misfortune, and even death”

“Well” Tyrion exasperated “That’s rather disappointing” His eyed widened in delight when he saw that Varys had called for a serving girl to bring them two glasses along with some red wine. Pouring the drink into his glass, Tyrion took a sip, savoring the rich, sweet taste it produced inside his mouth.

Varys joined him in the pleasurable drink, taking a long sip from his cup “With the Daughters gone, the dragons are the rulers of fire. However, it seems that not even the flames wished to stay in their grasp. The Doom definitely is an example of that”

Tyrion looked at him in somber silence “You truly believe that the Mother of Dragons is the one to bring upon a new age of Westeros?” He asked

“Are the freed slaves not enough proof for you?”

“Neither of us were there when she liberated those cities, so how can you expect me to just join her cause and serve her blindly instead of believing that she chose to break chains for another reason?” Tyrion took another drink of his wine “From what’s been heard about Meereen, she nailed men to wooden posts where they roasted about the heated sun. I distinctly remember someone else doing something similar with the corpses of their enemies. And that someone just happened to be my father. Tell me, does House Reyne not ring any bells to you?”

“All leaders must inspire a level of fear upon their enemies. If not, it’ll make them appear weak. Too much kindness does not bode well in a world as cruel as this one” Varys circled his glass, making his wine move about the cup.

Tyrion raised an eyebrow at him “Come now, my friend, we both know you’re not that naive. What monarch who has inflicted pain to everything they touch has had their following last?”

“Would you rather have stayed in Pentos to drink yourself away?” Varys raised his voice “Would you have liked it if I’d denied your brothers request to set you free?”

“Don’t talk about Jaime” Tyrion sneered, his eyes darkening. Despite his outburst, Varys was not fazed.

“You may not like it, my friend,” Varys began “But the truth is that your brother is the reason you’re still living. Even after he had lied to you, think of why he did it. We both know you cannot truly spite him. Not after everything you’ve been through. And certainly not after all the people who are much more deserving of your hatred”

Tyrion didn’t speak. I want to hate Jaime, he thought. I have to hate him

“What’s the point of love and trust if the people closest to you just end up hurting you?” He got up from his seat to pour more wine, until the cup was filled to the brim “Love is pointless. It’s a disease that spreads more pain that any sword or poison in the known world. And to trust is to be willfully blind to the truth, all while everyone breaks a chunk off of you until your left with only the remaining pieces of your heart. I’ve loved and trusted for too long, and I’ve lost too much of my heart already. I’ll not loose my mind to foolishness such as love nor trust any longer”

Varys could only stare emotionless at him, then averted his gaze to his cup “So what will you do know? Replace love and trust with hate and deceit?”

“I’d settle for knowledge and revenge” Tyrion said simply “After all, it has a better ring to it”

“The Dragon Queen will not accept those who will hatch plots and schemes under her nose” Varys warned “Do you truly think that what you’re doing is wise?”

Tyrion turned to him, his stance wobbly due to the increase of alcohol consumption “Tell me Varys: you said that Daenerys Targaryen has three dragons under her control, yes?”

“Those are what my little birds and I report” His companion replied

“Dragons have scorn for their enemies. Raw and untamed scorn. The largest of them had teeth the size of swords. While a lion may not control the skies, it is the king of all beasts, who commands respect and fear upon its subjects. After all, ‘In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws’. Imagine Cersei’s terror when there comes a dragon and lion knocking at her door”

“Are you implying that your allegiance to the Dragon Queen is purely to spite your sister?” Varys asked

I never meant to imply it, is what Tyrion wished to say, but instead, his mind changed to another response “If that’s what you wish to think, go right ahead”

He put down his wine glass, which nearly tipped over and spilled “Now then” Tyrion began “I believe we should find an inn to stay. All this drinking has left my head reeling and my body tipsy” Varys seemed to want to argue, but he pursed his lips tightly that they seemed to disappear.

He didn’t even speak a word when Tyrion grabbed the book he was reading (among others) and sneak them into his tunic for future use.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

On the road to the inn, Tyrion spoke more about the Devils Daughters, and if they were real, he wondered what horrors he’d inflict on his Cersei and even his father if he were still alive. He could see that Varys was growing mildly concerned, but Tyrion assumed that he had heard worse.

What neither could have predicted, was that the halfman would be stolen away as a gift for the Dragon Queen herself.

[queentargary3n]

After Ice and Fire.

Summary: Daenerys is brought back to life by a red priestess in Volantis, it’s a terrible thing for a Targaryen to be alone in the word, but this Dragon will not be alone much longer. Post s8.

Please visit the amazing artist who created the image, Mel Schroeder. Instagram

Chapter 2

3 years later...

Late in the third year of winter, the snow had finally stopped, the wind didn’t chill your bones the way it used to, and they were finally able to see some green in the forest, from the view above the wall. The nights watch had grown, from the mere 50 men, survivors of the Great War, to the newly and unprecedented 900 men, all stationed across the wall, and in some posts now and for the first time beyond the wall, in the Hunted Forest, Hard home, and the last all the way to Thenn.

    Lord Tyrion, Hand of the King, had once said that the world will always need a place for bastards and broken things, and that had hold true, but when the common people heard that one of heroes of the Great War, the brother of Kings and Queens, the man who was now known as the best swordsman in the Six kingdoms and the North, a men so honorable, he would sacrifice his love for the good of the people, was again named Lord Commander of the Nights Watch, hundreds of men joined the Nights Watch, hoping to train under him, and be ready to protect the realm of men from the unknown Dangers from beyond the wall.

The great hole of East Watch had then become an entry port for the wildlings to cross when they needed assistance from the Watch. Lord commander was a generous man with the wildlings, and the Watch now mostly dedicated to avoiding conflict between the settlements of wildlings, that the Lord Commander had spent 6 months helping build himself. The second job of the Watch was doing research, expeditions beyond the wall to obtain information on the White Walkers and the Night King, no one ever knew why the White Walker were created or what was the reason behind the attack, other than the destruction of the world of men, but the Lord Commander was dissatisfied with this reason, insisting that the White Walkers could return, and that men should always be prepared.

“You kneeled as boys, now rise as men of the Nights Watch” Jon Snow said, finishing his speech for the newly graduated men of the Watch. The graduates cheered and congratulated each other, and the Lord Commander took his leave to his chambers, followed closely by his second-in-Command, Lester, who had been one of the few members of the old Nights Watch.

“Make sure you notify the new graduates of their assigned posts” Jon called to the man following him.

“I will, Lord Commander, did you get steward for yourself this time?” Lester asked, wondering why the Lord of Commander of the Nights Watch refused to allow a steward to serve him, clean his sheets, clear his bed pan, bring him his meals or sharpen his sword as it was customary.

“I do not need one, Lester” Jon replied, without giving it one thought or slowing his pace almost at the door of his chambers.

“You do all of that shit yourself? Even I have someone to do all of that stuff for me!” Intruded the Maester Sam, truthfully surprising Jon, who did not know Sam visiting Castle Black at all.

“Sam!” Jon yelled, moving in to hug his old friend, exited for it had been so long since their last encounter. “Why are you here, you could’ve sent me a raven letting me know” Jon moved to give Sam strong hug, causing Sam to feel crushed and exclaim “Oh ow”

“You’ve grown softer” Jon teased.

“I’m a Maester, I have no need for muscles” Sam objected. “And I would’ve sent a raven, but I thought it best to come in person and get those ancient artifacts your man found in the forest to the Citadel, and... I have some news to tell you... didn’t trust it on a bird”

“Well come on in” Jon Snow stretched his hand to invite him into his quarters. “How’s little Sam?”

“Aam, he is doing well, he is thriving in the Kings Landing, but about my news....”

“Bran is doing well I hear” replied Jon, ignoring Samwell’s last sentence and setting a seat for him at his dining table and a cup of ale for each, and the sat across the table, nodding for Sam to do the same.

“Ahem yes he is but I had to talk to you...”

“We found artifacts containing the mark of the Night King and evidence of the Children of the Forest, I thought it might be of assistance...”

“Why are you avoiding my news?” Samwell interjected.

“I have nothing to do with the politics of the Kingdoms” Said Jon, with a quiet, stern look.

“We have reports of sightings of Drogon near Volantis...”

“Sam...”

“You know, you don’t have to stay here, away from everyone, refusing to even hear about current events”

“It’s my punishment” Jon took a long swig of ale, the set his cup down, more forceful than intended. Sam jumped at the loud noise.

“Nobody needs you punished anymore Jon”

“I need to punish myself.... for what I did, and the Watch needs a Commander, someone has to do it”

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to tell you, and I debated long enough if I should bring this to you. But Bran wants to bring Drogon to Westeros, and well the dragons always trusted you...”

“NO” The mere suggestion was infuriating for Jon.

“That’s not all, and I didn’t tell anyone else this, but the reports also mentioned a... a Silver Haired aaaam... women.” Samwell said, he knew how much pain he was causing his best friend with this, be he truly thought Jon deserved to have all the information. “Which I first thought might be another Targaryen survivor but there is also this  ”

“That’s not possible Sam, I know it” Said Jon, looking down at his cup, his dark hair covering his face.

“Also, there is a red priestess, just like Melissandre was, asking around about you, looking for you. And if it really is not possible Jon, then then then” Sam stuttered, as it was known of him to do when nervous. “Then how come you are here?”

Dany... is it really possible? He refused to let his heart hope for more. He attempted to wrap his mind around it. The words bouncing over and over in his head.

“I’m going” Jon said, standing suddenly. “Lester” He called, knowing Lester had been listening the whole time just outside his door.

“Yes, Lord Commander” He answered, embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping.

“ I’ll be traveling for some time, you’ll be in command in my absence, remember to visit the wildling settlements at least once a month, make sure they all have enough food to eat, winter will be over soon so it shouldn’t be a problem” Jon was walking in circles around the table where Sam was still seated at. Nervously stroking his beard and pulling on his hair. “You’ll need to send envoys to the posts outside the wall every now and then, you’ll need to meet my Sister every month to get the supplies for the Watch, when I come back...” Jon then stopped near the window but did not finish his statement.

“Come back? If the queen is alive you’ve committed no crime my Lord, I’m sure no one would complained if you’d stop serving this punishment” Lester said to Jon, understanding that although life at the Wall wasn’t bad, the life-long promise of loneliness was one of the hardest sentences.

“I’m not doing this sentence out of anyone else’s conviction but my own, Lester” said Jon, lookingout the window. “Sam, we ride tonight”

“What tonight? But I’ve just gotten here”

“Samwell!” Jon Snow chastised him as he walked towards the door.

“Oh... of course tonight” Sam replied quietly.

Lester decided his Lord Commander was one of the most complicated people he’d ever met. And even though he spoke with the same strong, forceful voice he used to command; he could’ve sworn she saw him smile for a bit.

The roads where easy, no amount of snow was visible anywhere. Jon and Sam rode at a fast pace.

“Aaam do you think she’ll want to see you” asked Sam, concerned.

“We don’t know anything yet Sam” Jon replied solemnly. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

“I know but I mean, we’ve seen so many things, it isn’t unreasonable to think she is alive”

“.... I doubt she wants to see me...” Said Jon sadly, thinking it had been such a long time, and he didn’t forgive himself why should she.

“Then why are...”

“Because I have to see her, it goes beyond reasoning, I just do” Jon never even looked to Sam as he answered, kept on riding and never took his eyes off the road. His stomach was in complete knots, felt like bats were threatening to erupt from his belly any moment now.

“We are at the border of Winterfell now; we mustn’t get too close or my sister will hear all about it”

“Couldn’t she help us get a ship? She is Queen if the North, she could secure the fanciest ship”

“She can’t know, she’ll never allow it” Said Jon. He knew if his Sister knew what he was planning on doing he would throw him in a dungeon until she thought him of sane judgement, who knows what else she’d be capable off. “No, we need to go around, get to bear island and hope their memory of Ser Jorah Mormont will be enough to want to kindly take us across the narrow sea”

“I feel like this The sort of thing we should’ve discuss prior to arriving to the border of Winterfell, and I also feel it maybe a little late for that” Sam said as even he, who couldn’t “ see all that well, was able to see the red haired  figure riding a horse heading his way. Jon’s heart stopped, he cursed his damn luck for the unlikely encounter with the Queen of the North, the ruin of all of his plans.

“That’s not Sansa!” He breathed at last, able to see up close, the red women approaching them on a horse, that for all the things seemed to be red as well.

“Aegon Targaryen!” The red priestess called.

“It’s Jon” Snow responded bitterly.

“Doesn’t matter what you call yourself, you cannot change who you are, but more on that later, I’ve been looking for you my lord, the lord of Light has a great gift for you, and I’m prepared to take you to it” Said the red women, and strange smirk played on her face.

“Not interested, we have plans already” Replies Jon, as he turned his horse around to circle her.

“Plans? Are you planning on scouting a whole continent in search for her? I know exactly where she is my lord, if you’d please follow me, I have a ship arranged for you” She turned her horse and started ahead, she didn’t even doubt Jon would follow her.

“I don’t trust in red priestessess” Jon told her, remembering the last Priestess of Rhollor he’d met, and the horror he felt when he heard that the women who had saved him, had also sacrificed a little girl for her god.

“You don’t need to trust me, you need to follow me, and I’ll take you to see who you’re looking for, want it or not, I’m your best option”

And she was not wrong, Jon thought, his plan was rather illogical, but when he heard of the possibility, he sprang into action. He was never one to be patient.

“Why where you are looking for me?” Asked Jon, riding alongside the red priestess, while Sam struggled to catch up, and hear the conversation.

“Rhollor brought you back for a reason Aegon, and, believe it or not it was not to save the world from the Mother of Dragons”

Chapter 1 

[nutellaninja0001]

I love and admire Sansa Starks character because I don’t think fans truly grasp just how much strength it took just to survive growing up in King’s Landing as a prisoner of war and the grace needed to handle it the way she did.

The one thing that truly angers me about this fandom is their blatant ignorance of her character. For years, time and time again Sansa is painted as the “weak” damsel in distress because she was unable to escape King’s Landing and was unable to physically fight off those who abused her for years. They miss the entire point of her character. She’s not supposed to fight with a sword. She’s not supposed to survive this world using magic. She’s still here without having all that shit at her disposal.

I resonate with her character because as someone who’s grown up in an abusive situation it’s not always possible to leave. It’s not always possible to protect yourself and you need emotional strength everyday just to keep going. And Sansa does. Not only does she survive, she does it all with grace and never lets her abusers sour her the way they try. A key example is Cersei but we will come back to that later.

This meta will be focusing on her arc from the end of season 1 to the early episodes of season 4 so it will get long.

She has to handle the likes of Joffery. Sansa was Joffery’s plaything to torment. He murdered her father, forced her to look at his head and those of her household, and still, Sansa did not break. She’s 13 when all of this begins and instead she looks Joffery in the eyes and tells him perhaps Robb will give her his head.

What happens when she say this? We all know.

In this moment Sansa learned she could not speak out and if she was going to survive, she had to keep her true emotions to herself and continue on. She ends her season 1 arc realizing all that she knew of the world and royalty was a lie and from here this is her ivory stage when season 2 begins.

Can y’all imagine how hard this must have been for her to say? She’s sitting next to the boy who murdered her father and she musters the strength to look Tyrion in the eye and repeat what she has learned with zero emotions behind it. She detaches herself from this moment so that neither her tone nor her expression could be used against her. But anyone with half a brain cell can see right through it. I’m not going to get into this scene as a whole, but even at this age and already everything that’s happened to her she will not let it change who she is.

She stops Joffery from brutally murdering Ser Dontos and finds a way to not only manipulate Joffery, but save a man’s life in the process all at the risk of her own safety. Her kindness never diminishes and that isn’t easy in the face of such horror.

She received regular verbal and emotional abuse from Cersei who enjoyed mocking and terrorizing her just in a different form from her son’s preferable physical abuse.

She must sit with Cersei and play a part of a happy young girl who’s betrothed to a boy who enjoys abusing her and a family who is actively fighting her own. This whole scene is agonizing for Sansa as Cersei reminds her she will do her duty regardless if Joffery murders her brother. As they speak of her family as traitors and Cersei watches Sansa’s every word. She’s on the verge of tears throughout it but does not let them slip and instead continues playing her part. It’s a horrible scene for Sansa but truly amazing at the ability this girl has in moments like this.

The abuse by the hands of the Lannisters doesn’t ease up.

She is taken in the throne room, stripped threatened, and beaten while the whole court watches and does nothing in this moment. She is powerless to stop the abuse and when she is thankfully rescued from further abuse by Tyrion, she keeps her head high and repeats the words.

If I was a 13 year old girl and had just been beaten by a grown man, I sure as shit wouldn’t have been able to speak let alone kept a straight face and walked out with dignity. This is her subtle resistance that no abuse will break her no matter how hard they try.

Continuing with the horrors Sansa is assaulted and nearly gang raped during a riot. That in of itself is completely terrifying and later we see causes Sansa to develop PTSD. But when Shae is tending to her wounds she is not hateful. She has every right to be afraid and angry but she only asks why the the common folk hated her and if she had food to give them, she would have.

She shows compassion even for those who literally attacked her and has no lingering hate for these people. I respect the shit out of that kind of empathy so big in someone so young and again, her kindness towards other isn’t shaken after seeing how ugly the world can be.

She stops Sandor, and says she should have come sooner to thank him for saving her earlier. She challenges his bitter outlook and asks why he’s so hateful. Yes, Sandor has been through some serious shit and it’s turned him into the hateful man he is today. This is why it’s so important that her spirit is not broken even up until this point.

Another moment is when Sansa gets her first period and is immediately terrified by the realization she can now bear children for Joffery. She is just a child here and is already forced to fear womanhood by the patriarchal society that she used to do everything “right” by. Now, it’s no longer the future she dreamed of with Joffery. She doesn’t sit ideally by and skip to Cersei of what has happened. She even attempts to hide it along wit Shae before she is found out and is unable to do anything.

She’s taken to Cersei as Cersei, in her own way, tries to pass on some “womanly wisdom” to Sansa on this day. This is an interesting scene for characters like Cersei and Sansa in their position as queens who’s only talent will be recognized in society for their ability to bear children. I don’t think Cersei is trying to mock Sansa here. I do believe she is trying to teach Sansa the things she has learned over time but, it’s subtle in Sansa’s rejection of this particular piece of “wisdom” “love no one but your children.” We see Sansa hold the importance of family very close to her heart and later on with Jon, Bran, and Arya, Sansa doesn’t hold back in her love for those around her.

Possibly one of my favorite examples of Sansa’s clever wit is when before the siege by Stannis, Joffery calls her over to kiss his blade and further torment her that he she will possibly kiss the blood of Robb off his sword. She subtly manipulates Joffery and even tries to encourage him through the poking of his ego that he should go to vanguard as the most dangerous part of the battle.

It goes right over Joffery’s head and he’s not even aware of what is happening. The only one she cannot fool with her real intentions is Tyrion who time and time again sees Sansa as she plays this part and admires her for this performance.

Unfortunately, as she awaits in the room with Cersei and the rest of the ladies, Cersei is drinking and picks out Sansa to keep her occupied. It’s clear from these scenes Cersei’s resentment towards Sansa comes from how much she sees her former “stupid” self in Sansa. Again, Sansa must play the part with her words that she is praying for Cersei and Joffery.

She’s mocked for praying, called a fool, forced to drink, must endure Cersei’s drunken bitterness of her duties as a queen while she even brings up the possibility of Sansa being raped if the city should fall. Note, Sansa was nearly gang raped just a few episodes before this. Cersei tries to advise of ruling through fear but we see later on in the series that Sansa does not keep this idea as she becomes a woman her people truly respect and want as their ruler. An accomplishment Cersei herself never learned.

Sansa’s kindness is showcased beautifully again when Cersei believes the battle is lost and leaves the room while the ladies began to become very frightened. Remember, these are the same women who sat back and snicker at her, and watch as she is beaten. She’s in the room with the same man who took her father’s head and will kill her too if the battle is lost. What does she do? She reassures these women and calms them with a hyme. Only leaving when Shae tells her to. Showing herself as more of a queen than the queen herself.

When she gets to her room, she finds Sandor. The man she was told to fear. He’s drunken and covered in blood with an offer to come away with him. She’s a 13 year old child alone with a man who openly admits he enjoys killing people. Instead, she looks him in the eyes and tells him “You won’t hurt me.” Sure, he’s shown her some resemblance of kindness in the past but it’s hard for anyone to say what he would do when he’s already defied his king and abandons the battle. But above all Sansa shows courage in this moment.

Season 2 ends with Sansa’s betrothal to Joffery ending when the Tyrells come to KL and she’s unable to hide her joy when she leaves until Littlefinger comes to tell her she still isn’t safe under Joffery’s rule. We won’t get into all of it, but it’s another example of just how much Sansa was constantly in danger while in KL in more ways than one.

Season 3 picks up with Sansa as the target for so many around her. Varys, the Tyrells, Littlefinger, the Lannisters. They all see her as a piece and not a person and she is forced into situations beyond her control. A very, VERY overlooked moment of courage and strength is showcased once again when she has lunch with Margaery and Olenna who’s only point to having her here in the first place is to seek info about Joffery.

She’s probed and probed on the kind of person he is. Remember, she doesn’t know the Tyrells well at all. She’s putting herself at a huge risk if she tells the truth. We see Sansa constantly needing to remember her words because one slip and she’s dead.

But she does go through with it and looks Olenna in the eye when she says Joffery is a monster. That ^^^ took unbelievable courage under the circumstances and I don’t see how fans can miss the weight she was under and how careful she had to be at all times.

Her hope of escape and perhaps a chance at a happy life or, at the very least, somewhat of a happy life are within reach with a betrothal to Ser Loros and it’s taken away just as soon as it appears. Instead, she’s forced to marry a man twice her age and into the family she loathes, who’s only intentions are to still her claim to Winterfell and usurper her ancestral home from under her. She’s left with no choice but to go through with it and she keeps her head high throughout the ceremony. Even after Joffery threatens her with rape and she must await with a drunk Tyrion expecting the night to end with having to sleep with him whether she likes it or not.

She’s 14 during all of this! And it’s amazing just how much Sansa has endured throughout her time in KL.

We end the season with the reaction shot of Sansa after the news of the Red Wedding. She cannot say a word or express any type of grievances towards the death of her mother and brother publicy and she’s still within the clutches of those who were behind it. She’s still married to Tyrion and is still very much the property of the Lannisters. Tyrion knows there is nothing to say to her and walks away.

Season 4 begins with Sansa still greatly affected (and rightfully so) by the aftermath of the Red Wedding. She isn’t eating nor is she sleeping and can only think of the gruesome ways on which her family was brutally murdered. Again, she is 14 and handling all of this completely alone for the most part but what’s extremely resilient of her shows in the next episode when she is confronted by Ser Dontos.

Lastly I want to focus on her last two scenes in KL before Joffery’s death and she is smuggled away.

Her conversation with Ser Dontos and at Joffery’s Wedding.

When Ser Dontos comes to give her the poisoned necklace, he also thanks her for saving his life and I’ve brought this up before but, look at her reaction.

It’s a small, but very important example of Sansa’s kindness. She doesn’t even believe she did anything special and shrugs it off as nothing even though it was a HUGE act of bravery. Especially when compared to how everyone else witnessing the act does nothing but can only look on not wanting to get mixed into the mess or consequences of speaking up.

This reminds me so much of the rest of her siblings who see it as simple decency even if it’s downright fucking heroic of them.

Now the wedding. Joffery’s wedding is anything but pleasant for her. She must sit as Tyrion’s wife while Joffery takes every chance to torment both Tyrion and Sansa. Starting with the big preformece of the war of the five kings parody. One of the performers as Robb Stark. She must watch as her brother’s who’s death is still very, very, fresh be mocked.

She can not say a word but instead looks on at the act with a straight face and is unable to show any signs of pain. That alone is not an easy thing to do. Especially given the circumstances! But she continues to play the part she’s played for years and doesn’t shed a tear.

Her last show of resistance in KL is when Joffery is being especially petty and obnoxious towards Tyrion, forcing him to be his Royal cup bearer as he drops his cup and forces Tyrion to get it from under the table. Sansa breaks this act as she reaches down to hand Tyrion the cup. Subtle, yet open defiance of what Joffery is doing to Tyrion in this moment and she doesn’t even need to say a word.

She’s smuggled away while Joffery is dying and so ends her arc in King’s Landing since her arrival as a young child.

It had been painful for Sansa in so many ways and what I respect is she never loses who she is. She never stops being kind, decent, empathetic, and she never forgets who she is as a Stark. So many have tried to break her down but her inner strength stays true. She grows, damn right. She learned a lot, fuck yeah. But she comes out the other end not bitter nor broken. She’s always been a survivor and as we’ve seen time, and time again that’s not an easy thing for characters in this story. Especially a young girl like her. And I respect the hell out of that and can relate to far more than I could any other character in the series. She’s taught that you can’t always fight those who hurt you, but that doesn’t mean they can win.

Sansa Stark wasn’t ever the girl who was supposed to drop kick her enemies or burn them alive. She was the girl who’s eniemies made a grave mistake turning her skin from porcelain, to ivory to steel and she’s all the better for it.

[gascon-en-exil]

Joining the Game Late: S3E4 “And Now His Watch Has Ended”

Synopsis

Jaime’s down in the mud. Varys has the man who took his dick in a box. The Night’s Watch shovel pig shit before a funeral, and then it’s a free-for-all at Craster’s that Sam and Gilly escape. Bran dreams his mother pushes him out of a tree. Joffrey has a dead Targaryen boner while his mother talks wedding prep with Olenna and grimaces in Margaery’s direction. Theon monologues some more, then his plot goes symbolically circular. Brienne gives Jaime her best pep talk. Tywin continues his epic teardown of his children. The Tyrells and Varys have found a use for Sansa. Arya reaches back to the second episode to accuse the Hound before the Brotherhood of murder. Dany starts her revolution with fire and blood and multilingualism and it all feels very... *makes confused hand gestures*

Commentary

Most significant moment of the episode: the writers (either GRRM or the showrunners, I don’t know which) demonstrate through Olenna that they don’t understand why flowers make for such powerful heraldric symbols. Of course I sympathize with her complaints that she’s forever surrounded by roses, vastly inferior to lilies as they are, but the subsequent comparisons to the ferocious animals and imposing words of the other houses falls flat when such a large part of using flowers in that way comes from the deceptive appearance of innocence and beauty. It’s a political approach the Tyrells excel at in the story, so this just feels like baseless French-bashing by a character who is meant to be one of their own.

But anyway, the plot. The Tyrells do rather a lot of that as well. Margaery earns the ire of Cersei again by appealing to commoners, and she befriends Sansa by gently mocking her sincere piety (I was right about her performative devotion, ha) and telling her about the splendors of Highgarden which include a Mardi Gras equivalent as it naturally should. Olenna meanwhile hatches a plan to have Sansa married off to Loras to save her from Littlefinger’s machinations, and while I believe this is another result of the show compressing characters there’s probably some more gay angst to be milked from this plotline in the future. As it is Cersei is right to express concern to her father over the Tyrells’ growing influence at court, and all the flower bashing is almost worth it for that scene alone of another pair of Lannisters subtly digging at each other and their strained history. Cersei also brings up an interesting point that, although he claims otherwise, Tywin doesn’t seem all that pressed about getting Jaime back. Complicated though that situation has become by his escape and subsequent recapture, the King’s Landing characters have spent almost no time concerned about Jaime in what feels like over a season.

I haven’t got much to say yet about Jaime being brought to what might be his lowest point, or Theon’s comparatively tortured and circular plotline (although getting to hear him admit that he chose the wrong father between Ned Stark and Balon Greyjoy was a very human moment for him), or even the Night’s Watch hosting a funeral for one of their own before descending into a mutiny that kills off Craster and Commander Mormont while sending Sam and Gilly off into the woods on their own with a newborn. That seems like it’s going to end well. I think it’s a larger consequence of the show skipping over the battle that killed all those Night’s Watchmen a few episodes back, but the mutiny feels like it has almost no buildup apart from a single earlier scene. While sufficiently dramatic and violent, it’s a good thing then that the chaos at Craster’s isn’t the climax of this episode.

What is the climax on the other hand is an extremely powerful moment, even if I personally found it a little conflicted in terms of tone. Daenerys appears to trade one of her dragons to the owner of the Unsullied in exchange for the army, only to reveal that she had understood the Valyrian language all along - his expression when he realizes that she’s aware he’s been referring to her by a variety of degrading obscenities this whole time is great, by the way - and have her dragon burn him alive before sending it and the Unsullied against all the slavers of Astapor. This would make for a powerful mission statement for Daenerys, except for that little nagging problem I had back when the Unsullied were introduced. She makes a show of freeing them after the assault and exhorts them to follow her if they wish, but could slaves so thoroughly broken down and stripped of their free will even conceptualize the thought of not following her? The episode closes on a shot of the Unsullied marching out of the gates of Astapor as Dany’s dragons fly overhead and she throws the slaver’s whip down into the dirt, but the sight of this massive army in perfect formation doesn’t exactly convey the idea that Dany is a liberator. As with her big speech before Drogo’s funeral pyre and her posturing in Qarth, she’s framed as a conqueror with the freedom of slaves as more of a side goal. I should probably reiterate that I don’t consider that a bad thing - it leads much more organically into her eventual ending than if she’s been presented as purely heroic - but when welded to the anti-slavery rhetoric it can’t help but feel rather confused. Daenerys may have freed all the slaves of Astapor, but she did so primarily to acquire an army she can use to invade Westeros. It’s an interesting moral balance, to say the least.

[tigereyes45]

For @tidalwaveofcats​ Here is your request! It’s not exactly what you asked for but I hope you enjoy all the same!

As he speaks the words, Sandor feels the regret building up. The look in her eyes slowly morphs into understanding. He thinks it is the first time he ever saw that look on Arya’s face. All those lessons all those days, and never once did she ever look at him the way she was now. Even when they thought he was dying, and she had to go. Her face was never this soft.

“Then come with me.”

“That’s not how this works,” Sandor scoffs letting go of Arya’s face.

She looks at the floor and shakes her head. “You say revenge is all that’s motivated you, but you weren’t looking for vengeance when you fought for me! When you offered to take my sister away from this awful place! You can live without killing him!” Arya shouts. Pieces of the roof fall down around them, almost as if it agreed with her.

“What would I do then, girl? Live in the North? Freeze my balls off every day angry and hateful.”

“You’ve always been hateful, but if I shouldn’t die here why should you?!”

“Because he’s my brother! Yours is waiting for you back home.”

Arya shakes her head and hugs Sandor. “I can’t go back alone.” She whispers as her arms loosen around him.

Sandor sighs and bends down so he was eye-level with her. She lets go of him only for him to now hug her. She laughs, “You really must be about to die,”

“Shut up.” He growls. He watches as the dragon flies above them. It’s fire reigning down on one of the towers. “We need to go.”

Arya’s eyes squint as she looks back at the Hound. ‘“What? I said we didn’t I?” He pushes her away before grabbing her hand. He flips around and decides that the way they came would be the safest route out.

As he leads the youngest Stark daughter out of the Red Keep he couldn’t help but reflect. Ghosts were everywhere here. Around every corner, a new scene would begin to play out before them. Where Sansa had been mocked, when Joffrey had taken her to see her father’s head. Where the imp had interrupted them. Where he had watched Petyr twist her. Where the queen had mocked her. Everywhere he looked was just another reason for him to keep running. For him to return to the cursed north. Fucking hell, why did he listen to Arya?

As they make it out of the castle all hell came down on them. The Hound pulls Arya closer as he walks them through a back alley. He pulls her along as a swarm of commoners surround them. He can feel her slipping behind as she holds his hand tighter than before. When she trips Sandor almost falls with her. He pushes the people around them away. He sets his arms under her and lifts her up. Resting Arya’s bruised head under his neck. Perhaps it was a good thing he had left with her. She would be one less ghost to haunt him. Sandor runs faster as the world comes crashing down on them. He ignores the screams of the less fortunate, and his fear of the fire only allowed him to push himself further. He would get her out of this. He feels something hit his shoulder. He tucks her head back under his neck. When his head is hit next Sandor falls. He wraps his arms around Arya’s small body as his own collapses.

When next Sandor opened his eyes he was buried under rubble. A small source of light breaking in from somewhere to his right. He tries to stand but his feet were being held down. He moves his hands only to feel Arya was still in them. Her face was clear in the light. She was covered in white ash and a bit of blood from near her shoulder. Otherwise, she seemed unharmed. He rests his own forehead against hers and listens closely.

As breath escapes from her nose he could feel his heartbeat slow. She was still alive.

“Don’t die on me yet.” He asks her he tucks her deeper into himself. He pushes his back up and towards the back. Making sure that any rubble on them would fall away instead of in front of them. A fire erupts in his shoulder as he moves it. Sandor bites his lip and growls. Arya stirs as he shakes the last of the rubble off. He looks back to see why he couldn’t move his legs. There was more brick on them than anything else.

“Stay still she-wolf.” He warns her in a low growl. He wraps one hand under her body to hold her to him. His left reaches back to tear the bricks off of him.

“S-Sandor?” Arya’s voice was quiet almost inaudible as he continues to try and dig them out.

“Shush now she-wolf. Save your strength.” He advises as his knuckles break against the bricks. He ignores the blood and keeps trying. His limbs scream out at him as every move is faster than the last. He would get them out of here. He would get them back to the North!

“Jon,” Arya whispers, and for a moment Sandor stops. He looks up to see her bastard brother was indeed there. A bit of a way down the street from them. Northmen and unsullied at his back.

“Bastard!” Sandor shouts causing the man to jump. “Snow!” He calls out this time and the Jon finally looks at him. Not just in his direction. “I’ve got the she-wolf bastard!” He shouts and now Jon as running to him. The closer he got the wider his eyes got. Just like a doe who was about to be hunted down. Sandor hated these direwolves. The women were all too fierce and the men were all does, wide-eyes and never where they were needed.

“Take the she-bitch, she needs to get out of here.” Sandor orders as Jon drops to his knees on top of the rubble next to them.

“Arya! What was she doing here?” Jon asks as he takes her from the Hound.

“Nevermind what she was doing here! Get her home!” Sandor orders as he pulls himself out of the rest of the way.

Jon looks from Arya back towards the Red Keep. His eyes squint as he puts the pieces together. “Was she in the Red Keep?”

“We were. Now move you dumb cunt.” Sandor orders as he lifts Jon up by the back of his armor. “We need to get her out of here!”

“The attacks stopped. Daenerys has won.” Jon explains as he carries Arya behind the Hound. “We can get you two into the Red Keep where the Queen is staying. Your injuries can be tended to there.”

Sandor spits to the corner and ignores the amount of blood that was in his saliva. “That queen or yours is vicious.” He looks back up towards the army marching towards the demolished Red Keep. “I’ll stay near the little wolf. Less she tries to bring another building down upon her again.”

“We didn’t know you were here. You two weren’t supposed to be here.” Jon growls back.

Sandor rolls his eyes and glares down at the bastard Snow. “Does that excuse her bringing them down upon everyone else. Because they weren’t part of your little pack?”

He looks back down at Arya in Jon’s arms. If he was better he would already have taken her back. Her head was nestled comfortably in his chest. She was finally back in the arms of her favorite brother. For once Arya seemed perfectly at peace. It pissed him off, but he knew it was best. Jon could keep her safe. Get her back North where she belongs. All he was good for was guarding her, and even when he was doing that he had lost her once and she almost died the second time.

“N-no it doesn’t but,”

Sandor growls at him before snapping out. His teeth physically jump towards Jon to silence him. He was done listening. They both needed to be seen. That was most important right now. Not whatever squabbling and nitpicking the boy had for his queen’s actions.

“Keep talking and I’ll take her back from yer scrawny ass. She needs to be looked at. Now,”

Jon instinctively moves towards his sword. Even if he was unable to pull it out with his hands full. Sandor notices and only laughed. The boy thought himself such a hero that he could take him on with the she-wolf in his grip. A fool as brave as his little sister. If not as smart. Sandor turns back around and shouts for directions to the closest medic from the unsullied.

When Sansa arrived Sandor was by Arya’s side. The young she-wolf had been up and moving within hours after the city was taken, but after her brother killed his queen she was the only Stark free in the city. So Sandor was always just a few steps behind her. Making her presence known to all. Much to the annoyance of the trained killer. She had grown to enjoy living in silence and shadows. In a way, a lumbering dog could never do.

When the red wolf arrived a few cheered. All of the Targaryen forces were grim-faced. Arya stood at the top of the stairs leading to the Red Keep to meet her sister. Ready to inform her of Danerys’ death and their brother’s imprisonment. As Sansa approaches them, Bran being carried up the steps behind her, her face told them she already knew. Sandor looks at Bran to see him give a gentle nod towards Arya. The boy had strange abilities unlike those of anyone else he had ever met. It made him feel uneasy. The only comfort was knowing that he would never dare use such abilities against his sisters. That may be the only thing keeping Sandor nearby as the three Starks reunite once again.

Sandor takes note of Arya’s apparent preoccupied attention. She kept looking past her family towards the carriages. Her brother notices as well. For once he was next to her he pulls on her sleeve and whispers in her ear. Sandor tries to listen in, but Sansa steps in between him and the youngest Starks.

“It is good to see that you lived Ser Sandor. Having realized my sister’s sudden absence was concerning. When I heard you were with her down here it relieved a bit of my anxiousness.” She smiles and it causes him to pause.

“Cut the shit, you were never worried. The she-bitch is the fiercest fighter in the Seven Kingdoms.”

Sansa smiles and for a second his ear picks up on a brief laugh. It was short but oh so sweet. “That is true. Perhaps it was someone else’s absence I felt concern from then.”

He shakes his head and holds back a laugh. “Beguiling words are your new sweet song, aye Lady Stark?” He looks back up to see the shock on her face. “Weren’t expecting that were you?”

“Nor was I expecting to find you alive, or with my little sister.” Sansa retorts as the shock fades. She returns to her stony expression, but Sandor saw the little curve of her lips. There on her, hidden under cold blue eyes, and blood red hair that outlined her face was the faintest of smiles. A smile only a dog could see. A smile just for him as her song had been once.

“Sister a council will be meeting soon now that you have arrived. Uncle and the Prince of Dorne are already there.” Arya speaks looking bewilderedly at her sister.

“Indeed, come, Bran, we should make our way to the rest.”

“They will wait. Lord Baratheon is still seeing to the horses before he comes up.”

“Well, he is new to lordship while we would have no excuse.” Sansa insists. Taking the back of her brother’s chair from a Northman. As the Hound and Arya follow the she-wolf offers a questioning glare to him.

“What she-bitch?”

“I saw that.” Arya points out accusatorily.

“Yes, I have a tongue. I talk unlike you do nowadays. Been following you for weeks now and you’ve spoken less then you did in one day of our little journey together.”

Arya rolls her eyes, and Sandor thought he was looking in a mirror for a moment. She gives Sandor a look that he can only read as a warning. Then she was walking behind her siblings. Sandor was quick to follow in her footsteps.

After the meeting, he sits on the docks watching Snow being sent off. The scene would have felt heartbreaking to many. All the Starks were finally together again after all the trauma and years that had been piled onto their backs. Now they were all being torn asunder again. Snow beyond the wall where all snow belongs. The she-wolf had already made clear her intentions to leave behind Westeros. Sandor did feel a pang upon hearing this. For some reason, he knows that whether if she means it to be permanent or not that it will be. Bran was king. A fucking cripple was king. Sandor wasn’t sure if he was the first cripple to be king but he would be the first fucking Stark to rule in King’s Landing.

And then there was Sansa. As she hugs Jon he wonders if he had ever seen her so open with anyone else. So completely herself the way she was with her family. Then he remembers that there was a time she had been. Back in King’s Landing before her father died. While Ned Stark’s name alone could still protect her. When she was free before the cage fell around her. Eventually, it had collapsed in on her. Somehow the little bird had picked herself free. Now she was returning North with a crown upon her head and no family or even a knight by her side to protect her. A lone bird with the fur of a red wolf.

As Snow departs and the Starks stroll back to shore Sandor remains seated. He had found the cold stones of the wall by the docks comfortable. After so much rubble had sat on top of him it was nice to sit on top of something that would eventually be nothing but crumpled rock and rubble. He watches the ship carrying Snow sail away as the other Starks depart and separate.

“Will you be going with her?” He doesn’t jump when the voice comes from his back. Arya had jumped out of nowhere so many times by now that he had no fear left to give.

“With who?”

“Arya. Will you be sailing West with her?” Sansa asks again to his back.

“Why does the Queen of the North want to know?”

She sits next to him on the wall. For once Sandor actually notices how much taller she had become. Her height was closer to his own now. It only reaffirmed what he already knew. What he knew as soon as he heard the news of Ramsay Bolton’s cruelty.

“She may be looking for a Queen's guard,” Sansa suggests coyly.

“What about the behemoth of the woman that was with you? The blonde from Tarth?” He asks finally looking at her. Not past her, or by her, but right at her. He allows his eyes to hover on her face. On the way, her blue eyes moved with mirth. The way her lips quiver as her breath escapes with every outtake.

“She is going to stay and become commander of the Kingsguard. So will you be joining my sister?” Sansa asks again this time meeting his gaze.

“Yes, will you be joining my sister?” Arya asks as she appears besides Sansa.

Sandor looks at her dryly. “I don’t have to join anyone. I could say fuck all and leave.” He points out. It's just barking. He knows he would never abandon them both. Not again, not with a choice.

“You won’t though.” Arya smiles as she basically voices his thoughts out loud. Sansa looks to Arya before glancing back and forth between them. Confusion evident where before she had seemed accepting.

“Aye I won’t,” Sandor admits and Sansa looks at him again. Her cold face having returned. He looks to Arya and for once felt nothing but pride.

“I’m sorry Little Wolf, but what’s out there,” he stops and looks out to the sea. “What’s out there I can’t protect you from.”

“It’s fine Sandor.” He looks up to see the Little Wolf stood in front of him. Her wound already healing up. “You’ve protected me enough.” She wraps her arms around him. Without thinking he wraps his own around her and squeezes tight. “Keep her safe for me Sandor,” Arya whispers in his ear.

“Aye.” He promises, holding her tighter. “Make sure to come back alive. Or I fucking hunt you down myself!” This time he makes his promises a little louder. Earning him a firm hand on his shoulder from the other Stark.

As Arya lets him go she dashes down the docks. Not even looking back towards them. Never even bothering to go back and say goodbye to the smith before. “She’s a cold bitch.”

“Not as cold as you may think.” Sansa corrects leaning against him.

As Sandor realizes that the smith was already on her ship, Sansa kisses his cheek. “I think you’ll grow used to the cold Sandor.”

He rests his own hand on top of hers. Presses her fingers even deeper into his shoulder. “Aye, I might.”

[thedreamergirlofsummer]

S8E3 Sansa Stark

Okay the last episode really did Sansa's character a disservice. Also this won't solely be about Sansa, but it will be the most I'll be talking about.

We see that E3 was an episode chopped away from the first two, it was like an isolated movie. All the show makers focused on was the battle and the problems surrounding it, which is great. Yet the crypt scenes were the most bland and flat moments in the episode. They didn't add anything to the montage of survival and grit displayed by the other characters, which is why it pissed off most of the audience.

The first shot we see is of Sansa on the battlements with Arya. She watches the entire Dothraki army vanish within moments, watches the dragons light everything afire and she realises that this threat is way more awful than any other. There's fear on Sophie's face. Arya gives her a dagger and tells her to leave which was an excellent decision! It showed Arya cared about her sister, it also showed how Sansa WAS prepared to stand there and face everything. Despite being scared. But it was a good call for her to leave, because we see what happens on the battlements. It would have been incredibly difficult for Arya to protect her sister and herself, not that Sansa wouldn't have fought, she would have but she also would be getting in the way.

The second scene is when she enters the crypts. This entire scene was non verbal with Sansa's face telling us, "it's awful up there" and Tyrion's reaction being "oh we're fucked" This was an okay scene but I expected a bit more dialogue.

The third is where Tyrion contemplates going up to the battle. He does feel useless and he does say that he's as capable as any other. Sansa says "we can't do anything that's why we are here." "the most heroic thing we can do now is look the truth in the face." Now this made me feel that Sansa was as frustrated as Tyrion, knowing that people are dying to keep them safe, knowing that she cannot fight. But here's where DnD did wrong. Sansa was this hope for the frightened women and children in S2 but here we find her statement to be rather cynical and rather Cersei-like. I'll explain further why this was a pulling back of her character.

Tyrion, learning that Sansa has "wised up" says that they should have stayed married. Sansa speaks of why they wouldn't work and Missandei says "We'd be dead without the Deagon Queen" Now here, Sansa didn't say anything wrong, nor did Missandei. Both were right in their own way. Why?

We've seen that Dany already questions Tyrion in the Great Hall Jaime trial. Sansa picked up on that. Tyrion's family relationship with Cersei is equal to treason for Dany. So her and Tyrion being in a marriage would provide more suspicion in Dany's mind. She could never trust him entirely, knowing that Tyrion is the husband of a woman who is the Lady of a Great House. A lady that wants her North to stay independent. Sansa and Tyrion's end goals are in direct conflict with one another. The only common goal they can have is destroying Cersei.

Missandei faced a lot of distrust and racism on behalf of the Northerners. She tried to be friendly and bond with them but she was rejected due to her alliance to Dany and her different appearance. I believe that Missandei was just channeling that bitterness, knowing that Greyworm and his soldiers are fighting for their lives, for people that could never accept them entirely.

Uptil this scene I had no problems with Sansa's arc. The next two scenes go against the essence of Sansa's character.

The scene where everyone is frightened and soldiers are banging on the doors asking to be let in. The unease and the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. This is a situation where Sansa could have stood up and calmed everyone. Because if she was in character she totally would have. She did it before. Her not saying anything again makes this scene Cersei-like which is to say undermines Sansa as a person responsible for people's safety.

The last scene was a fucking let down despite the fact that they shot an entire scene with Tyrion and Sansa taking down the wights. Was it too much trouble to add this 1-2 minutes of footage? The time that J/D spent aimlessly navigating dragons in the storm could have been cut and that time could have been used to further the crypt scenes.

The reason why the crypt arc falls apart is because we don't see any interaction between any of the characters. Except for a few points where Missandei and Varys speak we don't see their interactions with the Northmen, we don't see Sansa's interaction with her people! The people for whom she let the gates of Winterfell stay open for longer! Can you see how it negates Sansa's character development? This is a Lady who cared for her people until the last episode and now when they need her leadership the most she suddenly doesn't step up at all? Are you fucking kidding me DnD?!

We don't see Sansa's interaction with Gilly. Sam is Jon's friend so doesn't Sansa care at all about his wife and their child?

Do you want to know what would have been a believable realistic scene?

Shot starts with Sansa and Tyrion running from the wights. They hide behind a crypt. Screams of people being killed. They look at each other. Sansa's scared expression as she swallows and pulls out a dagger. Tyrion nods and grabs her hand.

Shot of them circling around two wights and killing them. Shots of them trying to rescue some survivors. Shots of Sansa killing a wight that has caught Missandei. Both gaze at each other and nod.

Tyrion and Sansa getting the survivors with Varys and the others. Forming a plan. Deciding to get a bag of dragonglass (this is common sense, if you're holding up your people in a closed area give them some fucking weapons so that they can defend themselves if the need arises! Have some caches of dragonglass to use for self defence) near the door entrance where a couple wights wander. Everyone working together to get the dragonglass bag then arming everyone that can be armed.

Tyrion giving a recycled Battle of Blackwater speech (it would have made sense WHY they referenced Blackwater in the first place!) Sansa following it up with, "We're not fighters, none of us know what we're doing anymore, but when we go out there, we are the Warriors of Winterfell."

All of them standing in solidarity, as the NK theme plays we don't know if these characters live or die but they are determined to protect their people.

A shot in the entire theme sequence of Bran and NK, of all these people in the crypts being overwhelmed yet they're fighting.

As Arya kills the NK many in the crypts are near death but the wights all perish and all these people, who shared a harrowing night between living and dying stand up and gaze. THIS is where that shot would come in handy, everyone watches as the wights die and look around dazed and scared.

See I'm a writer, I try to write good scenes, most of the scenes above are what I invented on the spur of the moment and are incredibly cliche. Yet the fact that this cliche tripe that I wrote under 5 minutes makes MORE SENSE than what we saw yesterday regarding Sansa's scenes just makes me feel like shit. End of Rant.

And I apologise that you had to sit through my stupid scenes. Let's hope E4 turns Sansa's character around.

[une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir]

THE SAME STORY (2-2)

MELISANDRE’S VISIONS

It’s been said that both books and show are different stories, but there are some major common stories including the endgame. What I propose here is an analysis of what is common between all the prophetic segments, that they all tell the same story. In specific (there are more), I have analysed the following

A CLASH OF KINGS #47 - Danerys # 4: Danerys visits the House of the Undying and sees some visions that foreshadow her future.

SPINOFF #2: Melisandre’s visions.

S02E10 - Valar Morghulis: Danerys visits the House of the Undying and sees some visions that foreshadow her future.

SPINOFF #1: Arya Stark will kill Danerys with Bran’s help.

S04E02 - The Lion and the Rose and S06E06 - Blood of my Blood: Bran Stark’s prophetic visions.

In this fifth post, I’ll analyse Melisandre’s prophetic visions and how they foreshadow Danerys burning Winterfell during the Battle against the Army of the Dead, in an attempt to kill Jon and ending up killing a “fake” Sansa instead.

MELISANDRE, THE RED WOMAN

Melisandre is a priestess of R'hllor, a religion based on a dualistic view of the world. R'hllor is the god of light and life, contrasted with it's antithesis the Great Other, the god of ice and death. She has the ability to see visions in the flames, which predict the future, though they are difficult to interpret and because of that she freestyles a lot. She joins Stannis Baratheon’s cause, believing him to be Azor Ahai reborn, a hero destined to defeat the Great Other.

In previous iterations of these analyses, I propose that R’hllor (represented by its champion Danerys and the dragons) and the Great Other (represented by its champion the Night King and the White Walkers) are neither good nor evil, just the two extremes of destructive elemental magic that are threats against humanity. Therefore, this fits the eponymous “A Song of Ice and Fire”, the franchise’s name which was derived from a poem by Robert Frost which characterises fire and ice as equally destructive forces.

Therefore, Melisandre’s prophetic visions should mostly relate to the struggle between fire and ice. She can predict random things as well of course, but the major ones should revolve around those matters. In specific, Melisandre gives off a few successful predictions here and there but there is one that is framed differently, warranting a cumbersome mistaken identity choo-choo train and it’s own dedicated chapter, ADWD #31 Melisandre. It’s worth noting that the Azor Ahai prophecy actually doesn’t come from Melisandre, in that case she’s simply parroting R’hllor’s prophecy and teachings that greatly predate her becoming a priestess of that religion.

Anyway, that prophetic vision presented in ADWD #31 Melisandre should tell the same story as well, specifically to the Azor Ahai section. Cross-referencing with the previous iterations of this post series, this means Danerys burning WInterfell. The question is, does this story fit with Melisandre’s prophetic visions. It’s my conviction that it does.

PREVIOUSLY, ON THE SAME STORY:

In broad strokes, Danerys finds out about Jon being the rightful heir to the Iron Throne and attempts to burn him with Drogon, outing herself as Azor Ahai as the destructive counterpart to the Night King / Others, ending up burning Winterfell as well as killing a fake!Sansa whether accidentally or on purpose. In this section, a summary of the foreshadowing of this event and where it can be found in other prophetic visions (explained in detail in the previous posts).

In the show, Danerys Targaryen visits the House of Undying in S02E10 - Valar Morghulis to rescue the dragons after they were stolen by Pyat Pree. She sees some visions which foreshadow her future. Amongst them, the following:

Danerys sees a stained-glass window with a blue flower, inside the Iron Throne room which is covered in snow. Moreover, she’s carrying a torch and the camera-work makes it pass over the blue flower. I propose that this represents Danerys finding out that Jon Snow is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, which will result in her burning him and / or Winterfell with dragonfire.

Also in the show, Bran Stark has two clusters of prophetic visions, the first in S04E02 - The Lion and the Rose and the second in S06E06 - Blood of my Blood. Amongst them, the following:

Bran sees an undead!horse, the Iron Throne covered in snow, the Night King behind an ice wall and a dragon over King’s Landing. I propose this represents that during the invasion of the Army of the Dead, Jon Snow being the rightful heir to the Iron Throne is revealed, moreover this will trigger the destructive forces of ice and fire (in other words, that Danerys + Drogon will prove herself to be as much of a threat as the Night King).

Bran sees parallel imagery of Danerys followed by Night King creating their respective elemental weapons, Aerys wishing to burn everything followed by Night King wishing to kill everything. These are preceded with a clip of the sun hanging low, Catelyn Tully being murdered at the Red Wedding, and followed by Joffrey executing Eddard Stark in revenge for saying he wasn’t the rightful heir. I propose this represents Danerys + Drogon will out themselves as threats against humanity as much as Night King + White Walkers during the Long Knight. Moreover, that Danerys will break-guest right (Red Wedding) in hopes of killing Jon since he denied her being the rightful heir to the Iron Throne (Joffrey executing Ned), consequently killing “Sansa Stark” (Cat) as well.

Bran sees the Long Night clip, followed by Danerys // Night King parallel, followed by Aerys wishing to burn King’s Landing, then the wildfire catching. This is followed by Aerys deciding to murder Aerys and then asking where is Lyanna, to find her dying  I propose this represents Danerys breaking guest-right by setting Winterfell on fire, that Arya will seek revenge against her and that Jon will find “Sansa” dead next to a tower.

In the books, Danerys visits the House of the Undying in ACOK #47 Danerys #4, after failing to gather support from the rest of Qarth. She sees some visions which are meant to give her knowledge on how to claim the Iron Throne (the visions show Jon Snow has a higher claim) and that foreshadow her future (what she’ll do once she realises this). Amongst them, the following:

Danerys sees a feast of corpses, which foreshadows the Red Wedding. I propose that this foreshadows another event where Danerys will break guest-right with the Starks (in hindsight, Danerys burning Winterfell with Drogon’s dragonfire).

Danerys sees Rhaegar saying that Aegon is the rightful king, that the dragon has three heads and that there must be one more. I propose this represents Jon Snow as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, he’s Rhaegar’s third child that he thought he needed.

Danerys meets a bunch of people with fake intentions, amongst them a kingly man who offers her food. I propose this represents Jon Snow inviting Danerys to Winterfell (in hindsight, to fight against the Army of the Dead).

Further along, Danerys meets the Undying and asks them to explain what she saw before meeting them. They mock her and explain whatever she saw through more riddles and visions (they should say the same as the ones above). Amongst them, the following:

“… three fires must you light … one for life and one for death and one to love … (…) Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth.” This represents Danerys allowing Drogo to kill Viserys at Vaes Dothrak, breaking guest-right and usurping him. I propose this represents Danerys using Drogon to try to kill Jon at Winterfell, breaking guest-right in an attempt to usurp him.

 “ … three mounts must you ride … one to bed and one to dread and one to love … (…) Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. … mother of dragons, slayer of lies …” This represents Stannis as Azor Ahai, a person that people cheer for, and a beast flying off to burn shit. I propose this represents Danerys being Azor Ahai (and not Stannis) and this is a threat to humanity (not someone people should cheer for), and that she’ll reveal it by burning Winterfell (smoking tower = Burned Tower).

THE GIRL IN GREY

GRRM likes to use characters as shadows of someone else. In Jon Snow’s case, there are a few characters who apparently are love interests but whose attributes code what he’s either attracted to or repulsed by. These characters and Jon’s story with them exist independently, but I believe there are details about them which are also meant to foreshadow future storylines with other characters. In specific, Jon as a man appreciates specific attributes in these characters which foreshadow his endgame love interest to be Sansa Stark.

Melisandre’s prophetic visions in ADWD #31 Melisandre feature three out four of these women. Jon has a moment where he mistakes the two redheads Ygritte and Melisandre, which alludes to a “mistaken identity” plot and then bleeds into those same prophetic visions which allude to the brunette Alys Karstark (who was changed from having brown hair in the books, to having red hair in the show). In specific, this is known as the “girl in grey” prophecy. People often treat the whole thing separately (crumbling towers by the sea, the girl in the grey, “Brynden Rivers” and Bran Stark, Jon Snow as Azor Ahai?), but I believe that is wrong and treat it together.

ADWD #28 Jon #6

In general, Jon’s character arc is a mistaken identity plot since he’s not Ned’s bastard but Rhaegar’s trueborn son, but Jon’s arc in ADWD in specific is full of mistaken identity plots (Jon swapping Mance and Gilly’s babies, Melisandre disguising Mance as Rattleshirt, fake!Arya who is actually Jeyne Poole, the inane grey girl plot, etc etc). In broad strokes, it hints that Jon mistaking people should be looked at carefully because they foreshadow something else.

In this chapter, Jon receives a raven informing him that his half-sister Arya Stark is to marry Ramsay Bolton. He’s conflicted between keeping faith with the Night’s Watch and worrying about Arya. In reality, this isn’t Arya but Jeyne Poole in disguise. In the books, this is part of Jon’s Winterfell side-plot where he's tempted back to his family and pander to his wish to retake his home. In the show, Jeyne was switched by Sansa and they conveniently made Jon clueless about the whole thing (not a good look if he did know she was there getting raped and yet did nothing, because Sansa is his endgame love interest).

Sometime after, Jon goes for a walk with Ghost to angst about this, then finds Melisandre who he mistakes for Ygritte at first. Melisandre tells Jon that she knows about his sister Arya marrying Ramsay and that she has seen her in prophetic visions. Much later on, the “girl in grey” that Melisandre sees will be “revealed” to be Alys Karstark instead. In hindsight, it will become obvious that the “girl in grey” is actually meant to be Sansa Stark since she lurks in the background in all these mistaken identities: Arya Stark // Jeyne Poole, Ygritte // Melisandre, Alys Karstark // Sansa Stark. In the show, they cut this bloated storyline by switching Jeyne with Sansa and making Alys Karstark a redhead.

    [01] In the shadow of the Wall, the direwolf brushed up against his fingers. For half a heartbeat the night came alive with a thousand smells, and Jon Snow heard the crackle of the crust breaking on a patch of old snow. Someone was behind him, he realized suddenly. Someone who smelled warm as a summer day.     [02] When he turned he saw Ygritte. She stood beneath the scorched stones of the Lord Commander’s Tower, cloaked in darkness and in memory. The light of the moon was in her hair, her red hair kissed by fire. When he saw that, Jon’s heart leapt into his mouth. “Ygritte,” he said.     “Lord Snow.” The voice was Melisandre’s.     Surprise made him recoil from her. “Lady Melisandre.” He took a step backwards. “I mistook you for someone else.” [03] At night all robes are grey. Yet suddenly hers were red. He did not understand how he could have taken her for Ygritte. She was taller, thinner, older, though the moonlight washed years from her face.

[01] Jon feels someone that smells as warm as a summer day. This can’t be Ygritte since he met her in autumn and it can’t be Melisandre since he says she smells of smoke and blood the first time they meet in ASOS. The “warm as a summer day” gives it away as who this really is meant to foreshadow, a regular childhood acquaintance since most of Jon’s childhood that he remembers took place during the Long Summer (in specific, Sansa was born either at spring or summer, while Arya was definitely born in summer).

AGOT #52 Jon #7: The old men called this weather spirit summer, and said it meant the season was giving up its ghosts at last. After this the cold would come, they warned, and a long summer always meant a long winter. This summer had lasted ten years. Jon had been a babe in arms when it began.

[02] Jon then mistakes Ygritte and Melisandre, but he’s dismayed as to why this happened when they’re actually very different physically and the only thing in common is that they’re both redheads. A childhood acquaintance who has red hair, so Cat and all of the Stark kids (except Arya, which is notable since she and Jeyne are both brunettes, who they think the “girl in grey” is at first). Ygritte and Melisandre (and later the “girl in grey”) are all female, so this suggests the subject should be one as well, narrowing this further to either Cat or Sansa. Since Cat and Jon disliked each other, Jon wouldn’t characterise her as having a warm smell, therefore by the elimination of parts we get Sansa (awww).

[03] Jon has a daltonic event and mistakes robe colours, he sees Melisandre’s red robes as grey robes. This is notable since they are talking about the “girl in grey” next. This suggests the whole passage should all be looked at together as a single foreshadowing event, therefore to look more closely at all these mistaken identities which I’ve already done in [01] and [02]. The conclusion is that this “girl in grey” is actually meant to represent Sansa. Again, in the show they cut all this bloating, making Sansa go to Jon at the Wall and that’s it.

    “The heart is all that matters. Do not despair, Lord Snow. Despair is a weapon of the enemy, whose name may not be spoken. Your sister is not lost to you.”     “I have no sister.” The words were knives. What do you know of my heart, priestess? What do you know of my sister?    Melisandre seemed amused. “What is her name, this little sister that you do not have?”    “Arya.” His voice was hoarse. “My half-sister, truly –”     “– for you are bastard born. I had not forgotten. I have seen your sister in my fires, fleeing from this marriage they have made for her. Coming here, to you. A girl in grey on a dying horse, I have seen it plain as day. It has not happened yet, but it will.”

Melisandre says she has seen in prophetic visions that Arya will be coming to Jon at the Wall, dressed in grey and on a dying horse, fleeing from Ramsay’s marriage. Most of what Melisandre says is actually nonsense fuelled by filling the blanks and wishful thinking, because two or three chapters later there’s a POV chapter with Melisandre and only about half of this is truth. Melisandre only sees a grey girl on a dying horse, coming to the Wall to Jon for his protection. It’s possible that Sansa is also fleeing a marriage since it’s present in both fake!Arya and Alys storyline (Arya + Jeyne, Alys, Alayne, all brown-haired, get it?), but that detail isn’t necessary due to never being stated that way. Melisandre filled the blanks with faulty logic, most likely because she overheard Jon receiving Ramsay’s letter in some way (or she was informed). She got the “sister” part right, but that only out of sheer luck.

ADWD #31 Melisandre: The girl. I must find the girl again, the grey girl on the dying horse. Jon Snow would expect that of her, and soon. It would not be enough to say the girl was fleeing. He would want more, he would want the when and where, and she did not have that for him.

ADWD #31 Melisandre: “The girl,” she said. “A girl in grey on a dying horse. Jon Snow’s sister.” Who else could it be? She was racing to him for protection, that much Melisandre had seen clearly.

Melisandre doesn’t give the context as to why she sees the “girl in grey” in her fires. Since her objective is for Jon to trust her just like Stannis trusts her so they can make shadow babies together (dreadful), the logical conclusion is that she asked to be shown something important enough to move him. In response, the fires answered with Sansa (awww). This may be indirectly confirmed by Melisandre commenting that she can see into men’s souls and Jon’s own words loaded with authorial intent, “What do you know of my heart, priestess?“ It suggests that Jon already loves Sansa at this point (there are others sprinkled in the text that suggest it as well), which is the type of icky stuff GRRM would do and that (in this case) I very much appreciate. It shouldn’t matter either way, if this is foreshadowing of the future or says something about the past as well, since the endgame is the same though.

ADWD #03 Jon #1: “I shall pray for the Lord of Light to send me guidance. When I gaze into the flames, I can see through stone and earth, and find the truth within men’s souls. I can speak to kings long dead and children not yet born, and watch the years and seasons flicker past, until the end of days.”

S05E04 - Sons of Harpy

In the show, Jeyne Poole and Mance Rayder (the whole “girl in grey”) were cut from the storyline. In consequence, Melisandre skips the mental seduction and power tripping, going right into the physical seduction (the show is just “sexy” like that, urgh). Jon is very tempted by Melisandre’s beauty (also a metaphor for her power), when Sam leaves them alone he sits straighter and clutches the armrest like a green boy and when she undresses he’s rekt because she’s a redhead with nice titties (the camera-work purposely focus on both with light tricks and close-ups) and he’s very weak against those (he’s a consistent man).

There’s a portion of the dialogue which is common in both mediums. Melisandre promises that if Jon gives himself to her (make shadow babies with her), she’ll give him the power to obtain what he wants. In the books, both Winterfell and a way to save Arya, while in the show, it’s just Winterfell since he’s oblivious about Ramsay having Sansa. In both cases as well, Jon is very much tempted but refuses, saying he swore the Night’s Watch vows, but in the show when she looks at him pointedly because she doesn’t believe him, he adds that he doesn’t want to since he “loves another” still. This is nonsense, Jon is refusing because he knows Melisandre is dangerous and he doesn’t want to be indebted to her (these are his thoughts in the books).

What’s interesting about this scene is actually the potential for Sansa in the background, as was the case for the equivalent chapter in the books.

Sam mentions Lord Ashford, which could be a reference to the Ashford Tourney theory, predicting a Targaryan as Sansa’s final suitor (in the show, it has to be Jon since Aegon VI was cut from the storyline).

Jon is writing stuff down with a quill and two scenes afterwards, Sansa finds Lyanna’s feather at the Crypts of Winterfell. These two scenes are connected visually by a feather object.

Jon is upset for having to ask the Boltons for resources and then he’s seduced by a redhead but refusing by saying he still loves another, while Sansa discusses Jon’s real parents with Littlefinger, as well as her upcoming marriage to Ramsay Bolton. These two scenes are connected thematically as well (sexually even, which is... kind of telling).

This means that either this is a huge coincidence (nah) or they managed to adapt the “mistaken identity” conundrum, just made with different symbolism (very nasty symbolism, the smelling warm like a summer day is just... *cries*), though the underlying idea is the same. Jon “mistakes” Melisandre with Ygritte (well, kinda), but the subtext actually means Sansa.

ADWD #31 MELISANDRE

Melisandre has one POV chapter in the whole series, ADWD #31 Melisandre, where she’s in her chambers, looking into the fire and trying to have visions. It becomes obvious very quickly that Melisandre's interpretation skills are quite bad since her logic process is very flawed. What this also means is whatever Melisandre says she sees in the fire in other character’s POV chapters should be interpreted with huge caution.

    The red priestess closed her eyes and said a prayer, then opened them once more to face the hearthfire. One more time. She had to be certain. Many a priest and priestess before her had been brought down by false visions, by seeing what they wished to see instead of what the Lord of Light had sent.  Stannis was marching south into peril, the king who carried the fate of the world upon his shoulders, Azor Ahai reborn. Surely R’hllor would vouchsafe her a glimpse of what awaited him. Show me Stannis, Lord, she prayed. Show me your king, your instrument.

This passage suggests that R’hllor’s visions are very difficult to interpret to begin with, that people who have these visions are prone to see what they wish to see reflected in them instead of what it really means. In case of Melisandre, it means that her instinct is to believe she’s serving a good god and relate what she sees to Stannis. This is Melisandre’s bias filter.

However, this passage is also explicit in what she’s asking R’hllor to show her. She asks the flames to show her Azor Ahai, which is R’hllor’s champion. What she’ll see next is the same story. Danerys outing herself as Azor Ahai by burning Winterfell with Drogon, moreover attempting to kill Jon Snow and succeeding in killing someone that is mistaken by Sansa Stark.

    [04] Visions danced before her, gold and scarlet, flickering, forming and melting and dissolving into one another, shapes strange and terrifying and seductive. She saw the eyeless faces again, staring out at her from sockets weeping blood. [05] Then the towers by the sea, crumbling as the dark tide came sweeping over them, rising from the depths. Shadows in the shape of skulls, skulls that turned to mist, bodies locked together in lust, writhing and rolling and clawing. [06] Through curtains of fire great winged shadows wheeled against a hard blue sky.

[04] Melisandre describes the visions she sees in the fire with words associated with fire. The colours are gold and scarlet which are the colour of fire, the verbs are flickering like the movement of flames and then a more flowery language way of describing them, forming / melting / dissolving into one another. Later she’ll also see snowflakes and the like, things different from fire that she can distinguish. What Melisandre is glossing over is that she’s watching something on fire (in hindsight, Winterfell).

This is confirmed by the following phrase. Melisandre sees eyeless faces, staring out of sockets weeping blood. This type of imagery pinpoints what kind of fire it is, since it’s also used with Azor Ahai killing “monsters” with Lightbringer as well as Danerys killing people with dragonfire (in hindsight, they’re the same thing). There are other variants, but the most substantial example is with the common expression: “eyes melting down their cheeks”. In other words, “eyeless sockets weeping blood”.

ASOS #27 Danerys #3: “Drogon,” she sang out loudly, sweetly, all her fear forgotten. “Dracarys.” The black dragon spread his wings and roared. A lance of swirling dark flame took Kraznys full in the face. His eyes melted and ran down his cheeks, and the oil in his hair and beard burst so fiercely into fire that for an instant the slaver wore a burning crown twice as tall as his head.

ADWD #10 Jon #3: “I looked at that book Maester Aemon left me. The Jade Compendium. The pages that told of Azor Ahai. Lightbringer was his sword. Tempered with his wife’s blood if Votar can be believed. Thereafter Lightbringer was never cold to the touch, but warm as Nissa Nissa had been warm. In battle the blade burned fiery hot. Once Azor Ahai fought a monster. When he thrust the sword through the belly of the beast, its blood began to boil. Smoke and steam poured from its mouth, its eyes melted and dribbled down its cheeks, and its body burst into flame.”

ADWD #16 Danerys #3: “My dragons have grown, my shoulders have not. They range far afield, hunting.” Hazzea, forgive me. She wondered how much Xaro knew, what whispers he had heard. “Ask the Good Masters of Astapor about my dragons if you doubt them.” I saw a slaver’s eyes melt and go running down his cheeks. “Tell me true, old friend, why did you seek me out if not to trade?”

[05] Melisandre describes the sea destroying towers. It’s worth remembering that these visions are supposed to be tricky, so the most likely interpretation that these are towers by the sea is factually wrong. Since I propose this to be the same story that is being told, the common subject of Winterfell being destroyed by the sea as well as Winterfell burning was already explored before. In ACOK, Jojen Reed had a green dream where the sea came to Winterfell and that predicted the Greyjoys invading Winterfell. There is a very good meta that proposes this green-dream predicts Winterfell will burn a third time and that it will be invaded by the sea once more (I cannot find it because I’m incompetent and don’t tag), but this time by Danerys with the Dothraki, which hail from the Great Grass Sea. That fits quite well into this.

Moreover, Melisandre describes the sea as a dark tide made of skulls that rose from the depths and sweeps over the towers to destroy them. Together, these suggest the Army of the Dead, since that one is composed of undead corpses (dark tide made of skulls) which have been reanimated (rose from the depths), as well as their invasion of Winterfell (sweeping over the towers and destroying them). Furthermore, the skeletons are having freaky sex and intercourse in ASOIAF’s prophetic dreams often mean war (for example, Danerys sees some dwarves fucking a woman as an allegory for the War of the Five Kings). It’s worth noting that “rising from the depths” could also allude to the corpses inside the crypts Winterfell, suggesting all those dead Starks can come back to either join the Army of the Dead or fight against them.

ACOK #34 Bran #4: “I dreamed that the sea was lapping all around Winterfell. I saw black waves crashing against the gates and towers, and then the salt water came flowing over the walls and filled the castle. Drowned men were floating in the yard. When I first dreamed the dream, back at Greywater, I didn’t know their faces, but now I do. That Alebelly is one, the guard who called our names at the feast. Your septon’s another. Your smith as well.”

[06] Melisandre describes great winged shadows flying in a wide curve amidst tall fires. This suggests that the dragons are flying over and setting stuff on fire (in hindsight, the dragons are setting Winterfell on fire). While the three dragons are described as winged shadows, this is most prevalent with Drogon.

AGOT #68 Danerys #9: Wings shadowed her fever dreams. (...) She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. "Faster!" the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew. (...) And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings.

ACOK #12 Danerys #1: "Aegon's dragons were named for the gods of Old Valyria," she told her bloodriders one morning after a long night's journey. "(...) and Balerion ... his fire was as black as his scales, his wings so vast that whole towns were swallowed up in their shadow when he passed overhead." The Dothraki looked at her hatchlings uneasily. The largest of her three was shiny black, his scales slashed with streaks of vivid scarlet to match his wings and horns. "Khaleesi," Aggo murmured, "there sits Balerion, come again."

ASOS #27 Danerys #3: "And here he waits." Ser Jorah and Belwas walked beside her to the litter, where Drogon and his brothers lay basking in the sun. Jhiqui unfastened one end of the chain, and handed it down to her. When she gave a yank, the black dragon raised his head, hissing, and unfolded wings of night and scarlet. Kraznys mo Nakloz smiled broadly as their shadow fell across him.

ADWD #2 Danerys #1: Bones they were, broken bones and blackened. The longer ones had been cracked open for their marrow. "It were the black one," the man said, in a Ghiscari growl, "the winged shadow. He come down from the sky and … and …"

ADWD #11 Danerys #2: And Drogon ... The winged shadow, the grieving father called him. He was the largest of her three, the fiercest, the wildest, with scales as black as night and eyes like pits of fire.

ADWD #52 Danerys #9: Dany hit him. "No," she screamed, swinging the lash with all the strength that she had in her. The dragon jerked his head back. "No," she screamed again. "NO!" The barbs raked along his snout. Drogon rose, his wings covering her in shadow. Dany swung the lash at his scaled belly, back and forth until her arm began to ache. His long serpentine neck bent like an archer's bow. With a hisssssss, he spat black fire down at her. Dany darted underneath the flames, swinging the whip and shouting, "No, no, no. Get DOWN!" His answering roar was full of fear and fury, full of pain. His wings beat once, twice …

This type of “winged shadow” imagery is shared with an eagle that stalks Jon during ACOK (in fact, it’s a skinchanger checking up on Mormont’s column) and later attacks him when he’s taken hostage by the wildlings because it detects he’s being duplicitous. This blue-grey eagle is changed to a black eagle in the show (subtle) and attacks Jon right after he outs himself as a betrayer (”You were right the whole time!”). Together, these foreshadow that Danerys will attempt to burn Jon with Drogon, butthurt about him betraying her.

ACOK #52 Jon #7: Then a sudden gust of cold made his fur stand up, and the air thrilled to the sound of wings. As he lifted his eyes to the ice-white mountain heights above, a shadow plummeted out of the sky. A shrill scream split the air. He glimpsed blue-grey pinions spread wide, shutting out the sun ... "Ghost!" Jon shouted, sitting up. He could still feel the talons, the pain. "Ghost, to me!"

 ASOS #73 Jon #10: "Something's coming." Varamyr sat crosslegged on the half-frozen ground, his wolves circled restlessly around him. A shadow swept over him, and Jon looked up to see the eagle's blue-grey wings. "Coming, from the east [Essos]."

I refuse to post #agony kissing each other’s chin and moustache, with Jon staring at Drogon over Danerys’ shoulder while the dragon glares at him in suspicion because EWWW, but that’s the perfect moment to post here so whatever... imagine it,

[07]The girl. I must find the girl again, the grey girl on the dying horse. Jon Snow would expect that of her, and soon. It would not be enough to say the girl was fleeing. He would want more, he would want the when and where, and she did not have that for him. [08] She had seen the girl only once. A girl as grey as ash, and even as I watched she crumbled and blew away.

[07] Melisandre switches focus and thinks about the "grey girl” and how she must find more about her in the flames, to appease Jon. She’s dismayed she hasn’t seen her again, but she’s actually asking the flames the wrong question. Melisandre asked the flames to show her Azor Ahai, so they showed Danerys burning Winterfell and outing herself as such. She now wishes to find the grey girl again, so the flames show her how to find her (in hindsight, it’s Bran as the Three-Eyed Raven through the Weirwood Network).

[08] This girl is as grey as ash, she crumbles and blows away. This is the same imagery of burning until there’s nothing but ash. This fits the scenario where Danerys burns Winterfell and ends up burning someone that is mistaken by Sansa either willingly or unwillingly (I’d say willingly). Jon later believes this is grey girl is Alys Karstark and in the show, it has been speculated that she will die and be mistaken for Sansa (they even changed her hair from black to red between adaptations).

    A face took shape within the hearth. Stannis? she thought, for just a moment – but no, these were not his features. A wooden face, corpse white. Was this the enemy? A thousand red eyes floated in the rising flames. He sees me. Beside him, a boy with a wolf’s face threw back his head and howled.

This is Bran Stark (wolf boy) with a Weirwood Heart Tree (wooden face and corpse-white). Together, these represent Bran as the Three-Eyed Raven’s powers to check out the Weirwood Network and find out about things (”a thousand red eyes that see everywhere”). Melisandre’s question is answered, Bran will find this grey girl through the Weirwood Network. In hindsight, this suggests that Bran will find out about Sansa’s mistaken identity as well as kidnapping (?), plus that he’ll find out where she was taken.

    The red priestess shuddered. Blood trickled down her thigh, black and smoking. The fire was inside her, an agony, an ecstasy, filling her, searing her, transforming her. Shimmers of heat traced patterns on her skin, insistent as a lover’s hand. Strange voices called to her from days long past. “Melony,” she heard a woman cry. A man’s voice called, “Lot Seven.” She was weeping, and her tears were flame. And still she drank it in.

This functions as “punctuation”, separating the former segment from the latter. Melisandre sees herself before she became a priestess of R’hllor, as a slave sold to a red temple at an early age. It’s worth noting that this would be a clever way for the author to hint at a kidnapping plot, as slaves have no agency and they’re only property of someone else (as a hostage, Sansa is known as the property of the crown, this is exactly what Littlefinger calls her situation).

    Snowflakes swirled from a dark sky and ashes rose to meet them, the grey and the white whirling around each other as flaming arrows arced above a wooden wall and dead things shambled silent through the cold, beneath a great grey cliff where fires burned inside a hundred caves. Then the wind rose and the white mist came sweeping in, impossibly cold, and one by one the fires went out. Afterward only the skulls remained.     Death, thought Melisandre. The skulls are death.     The flames crackled softly, and in their crackling she heard the whispered name Jon Snow. His long face floated before her, limned in tongues of red and orange, appearing and disappearing again, a shadow half-seen behind a fluttering curtain. Now he was a man, now a wolf, now a man again. But the skulls were here as well, the skulls were all around him. Melisandre had seen his danger before, had tried to warn the boy of it. Enemies all around him, daggers in the dark. He would not listen.     Unbelievers never listened until it was too late.

This is like a continuation of what Melisandre asked first in [1,2,3], it’s what follows Danerys burning Winterfell, the Battle against the Army of the Dead proper. A dark sky represents the Long Night, the white snowflakes and the grey ash represents the destructive forces of both ice and fire respectively. The Others have brought their cold winds to Winterfell and Danerys has burned it as well because she’s raging. Interestingly, since it implies that some type of undead wins the battle (”the wind rose and white mist came, one by one the fires went out and afterwards only the skulls remained”), either killing everyone or forcing them to flee south.

Jon is also mentioned of course. He’ll fight this battle, as expected. Much later, it’s implied that Melisandre’s visions are meant to symbolise “dragons” and “kings”, which fits this narrative. Danerys as Azor Ahai and burning stuff with Drogon, Jon and Winterfell both, out of anger because she finds out Jon is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

ADWD #39 Jon #8: “And keep him away from the red woman. She knows who he is. She sees things in her fires.” Arya, he thought, hoping it was so. “Ashes and cinders.” “Kings and dragons.” Dragons again. For a moment Jon could almost see them too, coiling in the night, their dark wings outlined against a sea of flame. “If she knew, she would have taken the boy away from us. Dalla’s boy, not your monster. A word in the king’s ear would have been the end of it.” And of me. Stannis would have taken it for treason. “Why let it happen if she knew?” “Because it suited her. Fire is a fickle thing. No one knows which way a flame will go.”

    “What do you see, my lady?” the boy asked, softly.     Skulls. A thousand skulls, and the bastard boy again. Jon Snow. (...) Yet now she could not even seem to find her king. I pray for a glimpse of Azor Ahai, and R’hllor shows me only Snow.

To recap... Melisandre asks the flames to show her Azor Ahai, so she sees what she believes are “unrelated” visions, but they’re actually Danerys burning Winterfell and outing herself as Azor Ahai (the same story). Melisandre thinks she must find the grey girl, so she sees what she believes is the enemy, but it’s actually Bran as the Three-Eyed Raven because he gets to find the grey girl. Melisandre trips out and then the visions continue “unprompted”, she sees Jon Snow because he’s the one who’s going to rescue Sansa after being told by Bran where she’s at. Yet, she connects Azor Ahai with Jon Snow.

Even if people don’t agree with what I’m proposing, it should be more than clear Melisandre misread what she sees in the flames because she has bad basic interpretation. Melisandre should be equating Azor Ahai with either the skulls being naughty because that’s the first thing she sees or the wolf boy since that’s the first person she actually sees, but instead she dismisses the former as non-important and the latter as the enemy (Bran is R’hllor’s champion’s enemy alright, but not how she believes), then bridges the start vision with the end vision, identifying Azor Ahai with Jon Snow. It’s very bad.

    (...) [09] “The girl,” she said. “A girl in grey on a dying horse. Jon Snow’s sister.” Who else could it be? [10] She was racing to him for protection, that much Melisandre had seen clearly. “I have seen her in my flames, but only once. We must win the lord commander’s trust, and the only way to do that is to save her.”     “Me save her, you mean? The Lord o’ Bones?” He laughed. “No one ever trusted Rattleshirt but fools. Snow’s not that. If his sister needs saving, he’ll send his crows. I would.”     “He is not you. He made his vows and means to live by them. The Night’s Watch takes no part. But you are not Night’s Watch. You can do what he cannot.”

[09] Who else could it be? This is blatant trolling by the author since this is a string of mistaken identities. [A] Jon Snow has no sisters since he’s a mistaken identity himself, he’s unwittingly posing as Eddard Stark’s bastard son when he’s Rhaegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark’s trueborn son, so his sisters are his cousins. [B] Jon was informed Ramsay Bolton married Arya as a captive in Winterfell and Melisandre must have known about him, so she tricks him into thinking that the “girl in grey” is Arya when it’s Jeyne in disguise. [C] Jon later believes this "girl in grey” means Alys Karstark (it is and isn’t) since Stark and Karstark are kin some generations back. In resume.

Jon’s sister but Jon says he has no sister because they’re his cousins, he has two instead of one and such Sansa lurks in the background.

Arya Stark, who’s actually Jeyne Poole. Theon spends ADWD comparing these two to Sansa, therefore Sansa lurks in the background. In the show, Sansa took this plot directly.

Alys Karstark, who is kind of random... but that I propose will be killed and mistaken for Sansa, therefore Sansa lurks in the background. In the show, her hair colour was changed from brown to red to match Sansa’s.

[10] The grey girl goes to the Wall for Jon’s protection is framed as certain. The way this is framed is the same as GRRM’s original plotline, where “Arya” goes to the Wall for protection. That original plotline is now irrelevant as most of it has taken another form (including Arya’s character), but Jon’s sister going to the Wall for protection seems to be something that was carried over. In the books, it’s a side-plot that keeps tempting him back to his family and back home (successfully). In the show, it’s played “straight” since Sansa took Jeyne’s plot and later flees Winterfell with Theon to the Wall for Jon’s protection. It’s unclear how the Night’s Watch’s vows business will go in the books, in the original plotline Jon turns Arya down because of them, while in the show Jon believes he was released from them and swears to protect Sansa immediately.

So in TWOW, Sansa will bail out from the Vale and will flee to the Wall to Jon. I’ve seen several metas on how this sister is supposed to be Sansa (I agree!!) and what way she’ll travel. They’re all very good and I recommend them (if only I tagged and knew how to find them in the rat maze that is my blog) I’m actually only going to make a few observations of the following passage which I don’t believe where made in any of them (if they were, I honestly don’t remember and I apologise in advance. They predict the way she’s coming, but they also identify her through those same descriptions.

    [11] “If your stiff-necked lord commander will allow it. Did your fires show you where to find this girl?”     “I saw water. Deep and blue and still, with a thin coat of ice just forming on it. It seemed to go on and on forever.”     “Long Lake. [12] What else did you see around this girl?”     “Hills. Fields. Trees. A deer, once. Stones. She is staying well away from villages. [13] When she can she rides along the bed of little streams, to throw hunters off her trail.”     He frowned. “That will make it difficult. She was coming north, you said. Was the lake to her east or to her west?”     Melisandre closed her eyes, remembering. “West.”     [14] “She is not coming up the kingsroad, then. Clever girl. There are fewer watchers on the other side, and more cover. And some hidey-holes I have used myself from time –” He broke off at the sound of a warhorn and rose swiftly to his feet.

[11] Melisandre describes “where” this sister can be found with an elemental allegory of water and ice. Sansa is half-Tully from her mother’s side, the lords of Riverrun and the Riverlands, a place associated with rivers and waters. She resembles her mother and she has the same eye colour, which Littlefinger describes in AFFC as “blue as a sunlit sea” and when she’s a bit older many men will drown in them (younger too, apparently). Sansa is half-Stark from her father’s side, the lords of Winterfell and the North, associated with ice and snow. This piece of land comprises half the territory of the Seven Kingdoms and both Robert Baratheon and Tyrion Lannister have described the North as “going on forever”. While the element fits all the Stark kids, since it’s female and the insistence on the colour blue points to Sansa over Arya.

[12] Melisandre describes the “surroundings” of this sister with another nature allegory referencing the current location and even the relevant characters. Sansa is at the Vale, a region associated with mountains and vales and trees. In specific, Sansa begins AFFC at the Eyrie which is the Vale’s highest point (hill) and then descends into the Gates of the Moon at the mountain’s base (field), said to be surrounded by a thick forest. These locations are both very far away from regular villages as they’re two isolated castles. The following, mentioning a deer and stones and streams suggests she’d go through forest, whatever stone means (mountains for example) and water.

Sansa befriends plenty of people, but not that many would fit the words “hill”, “field”, “trees”, “streams”. Only Mya Stone is referenced proper, she’s Robert’s Baratheon bastard daughter, whose house sigil is a stag (deer) and whose surname is stone. This suggests that Mya accompanies Sansa in her journey North. The rest, I’ve no idea. There is “water” in this, so this could mean Brynden Tully, Gendry Waters, Brienne Tarth (in her case, there’s also the colour blue). In the show, Brynden is randomly killed, Gendry shows up in Winterfell in a very forced manner, and Brienne does find Sansa on her way North. Of all three, Brienne has big chances.

[13] The journey north references avoiding hunters, which can both signify the bounty hunters that are at the Vale after Sansa (for example, Ser Shadrich), as well as the Boltons later on. Ramsay is a known hunter in both medias, in the show he’s precisely introduced in this fashion hunting for a human girl (!), and after Theon and Sansa escape Winterfell they are chased by his dogs. In a way, just this alone hints that there will be some kind of chasing sequence.

There is the widely accepted theory that Jon is going to stay inside Ghost for awhile while “dead”, which considering the dynamics at play suggest some kind of Red Riding Hood reversal moment (Jon while warging Ghost as the “big wolf” but he’s good instead of bad), Sansa as the “red cap” since she’s a redhead, Ramsay as the hunter chasing after her but he’s evil instead of good). It’s worth noting that GRRM likes fairytales with wolves and specifically mentioned Little Red Riding Hood and the Starks in an interview a few years back.

2014-11-09: "Well, they're mythic. I think even as a kid I responded to the werewolf legends and the wolves in the wood and, you know, Little Red Riding Hood and all of that," says Martin, who claims his choice for the Stark's direwolf banner came from a gut feeling rather than an attempt at symbolism.

There is a specific passage in Jon’s very first chapter in AGOT that could be foreshadowing for such a plot as well. Jon feeds Ghost some chicken, there’s a mongrel who attempts to steal the food (Ramsay has hunting dogs which he calls his girls) from the wolf and the two face off, but then Ghost wins. In this case, the food can foreshadow Sansa and / or Winterfell (I’d say both). In the show, Jon and Sansa retake Winterfell from Ramsay, fulfilling this little one.

AGOT #05 Jon #1: Dogs moved between the tables, trailing after the serving girls. One of them, a black mongrel bitch with long yellow eyes, caught a scent of the chicken. She stopped and edged under the bench to get a share. Jon watched the confrontation. The bitch growled low in her throat and moved closer. Ghost looked up, silent, and fixed the dog with those hot red eyes. The bitch snapped an angry challenge. She was three times the size of the direwolf pup. Ghost did not move. He stood over his prize and opened his mouth, baring his fangs. The bitch tensed, barked again, then thought better of this fight. She turned and slunk away, with one last defiant snap to save her pride. Ghost went back to his meal. Jon grinned and reached under the table to ruffle the shaggy white fur. The direwolf looked up at him, nipped gently at his hand, then went back to eating.

As a side-note, there is a sexual component to all these stories. Ramsay rapes and tortures Jeyne in the books and Sansa in the show. The Little Red Riding Hood is actually an allegory for sexual male desire and a girl having sex for the first time (colloquially, “she has seen the wolf” *shifts eyes*). AGOT #05 Jon #1 foreshadows the conflict between Ramsay and Jon through animal counterparts where they’re both hungry and I’ve watched Evangelion too many times it also features a sexual pun (”He knifed the bird whole and let the carcass slide to the floor between his legs.”). I’m not sure what to think of it. I’m just hoping Sansa’s fate is kinder in the books than in the show, because from that disgusting mess of season 5 I’ll only miss Sansa’s friendship with Theon Greyjoy.

[14] Melisandre mentions that the grey girl will travel through isolated areas to avoid being seen. Mance believes this makes the grey girl a clever girl. I could write about Sansa is smart but I’ll let Arya speak for me. Yeah.

THE BURNING OF WINTERFELL

It’s interesting to look for Jon’s chapters to find Sansa’s shadows, to see if they have foreshadowing of her role in his life. There is a “redhead obsession” with Ygritte and Melisandre (the show added Ros as well), it is clear they are meant to foreshadow that his endgame love interest is also a redhead, but also other things such as singing and nice titties, etc etc (all things Sansa has as well). There is also a “brunette swerve” with Val (he thinks she’s the most lovely when she’s described as a brunette) and Alys Karstark during ADWD, which fits the time Sansa spends parading as a brunette Alayne Stone in the Vale. In the case of Val, Jon appreciates her character strength in face of contrariety and unwilling to be subservient, which mirrors Sansa’s story as it’s being framed in season 8 (northern independence).

Jon doesn’t really think of Sansa much, which many think is narratively suspect (I agree!!). In specific in ADWD, Jon thinks of Sansa in two specific contexts. The first is to assert Winterfell belongs to her by birthright and the second is to oddly associate her with Ygritte for the first time. The latter is one reason why it’s narratively suspect that he doesn’t think of her, since Jon compares Ygritte being skinny with Arya, but it’s Sansa who resembles Ygritte since they share colouring, yet he only connects them at this point in a moment of despair.

ADWD #3 Jon #1: “By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa.”

ADWD #17 Jon #4: Jon said, “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.”

ADWD #69 Jon #13: Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself. You know nothing, Jon Snow.

In the specific case of Danerys burning Winterfell and killing someone that is mistaken for Sansa, the foreshadowing could be present in Ygritte references since about ~75% of them in ASOS after Jon leaves her would fit that plot device. The remaining ~25% also have the potential to fit since they could be details and motivations for the things he has done, but since there’s no way to tell (yet) I’ll leave those out and only reference major examples and add the rest if they happen later (there’s a cute one that may foreshadow Sansa taking care of Jon while he’s hurt, I want it so bad... :<).

A STORM OF SWORDS

ASOS #48 Jon #6: When the dreams took him, he found himself back home once more, splashing in the hot pools beneath a huge white weirwood that had his father’s face. Ygritte was with him, laughing at him, shedding her skins till she was naked as her name day, trying to kiss him, but he couldn’t, not with his father watching. He was the blood of Winterfell, a man of the Night’s Watch. I will not father a bastard, he told her. I will not. I will not. “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” she whispered, her skin dissolving in the hot water, the flesh beneath sloughing off her bones until only skull and skeleton remained, and the pool bubbled thick and red.

This could foreshadow a “fake” Sansa (Ygritte isn’t Sansa after all) being burned during the Battle against the Army of the Dead, which would happen in the godswood. In specific, slough is a verb that’s almost exclusively used for burning in ASOIAF (there is one exception, an undead!bear and even then this bear might the one that shows up earlier and got burned...).

ASOS #55 Jon #7: But he remembered the grotto best of all, the look of her naked in the torchlight, the taste of her mouth when it opened under his. Ygritte, stay away. Go south and raid, go hide in one of those roundtowers you liked so well. You’ll find nothing here but death.

This could be foreshadowing of Sansa leaving Winterfell in the middle of the battle against the Army of the Dead (not an isolated case) and taken south either willingly or unwillingly but also mistaken for dead up north in Winterfell. In specific, Sansa has a vast association with towers and she’s known for liking the southron architecture XD, which Ygritte also does apparently.

ASOS #55 Jon #7: He found Ygritte sprawled across a patch of old snow beneath the Lord Commander’s Tower, with an arrow between her breasts. The ice crystals had settled over her face, and in the moonlight it looked as though she wore a glittering silver mask. The arrow was black, Jon saw, but it was fletched with white duck feathers. Not mine, he told himself, not one of mine. But he felt as if it were. (...) He touched her hair. “You’re kissed by fire, remember? Lucky. It will take more than an arrow to kill you.”

This could foreshadow Jon finding someone dead that he mistakes for Sansa during the Battle against the Army of the Dead (ice on her face), after Danerys burned her with Drogon out of jealousy (black arrow to the heart). which would fill him with guilt. In specific, Ygritte is found beneath the Lord Commander’s Tower, which Jon accidentally burned to kill a wight. This would fit very well with Danerys’ vision at the House of Undying that could reference burning Winterfell with Drogon (”a stone beast flew from a smoking tower breathing shadow fire”) during the Battle against the Army of the Dead. It’s worth noting Burned Tower is NEXT to godswood, so this body could be found next to both places.

As a side-note, I was meant to finish this nonsense before season 8 began, but I was tired of writing the previous four posts, so this one stayed in the back burner (there are more posts, I write a lot XD). I’m completing it just after 8x2 aired and this is the status quo as of now. Jon convinced Danerys to fight against the Army of the Dead, but she’s both jealous of Sansa and angry at Jon after finding out he’s the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.

ASOS #64 Jon #8: He dreamt he was back in Winterfell, limping past the stone kings on their thrones. Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed, and their grey granite fingers tightened on the hilts of the rusted swords upon their laps. You are no Stark, he could hear them mutter, in heavy granite voices. There is no place for you here. Go away. He walked deeper into the darkness. “Father?” he called. “Bran? Rickon?” No one answered. A chill wind was blowing on his neck. “Uncle?” he called. “Uncle Benjen? Father? Please, Father, help me.” Up above he heard drums. They are feasting in the Great Hall, but I am not welcome there. I am no Stark, and this is not my place. His crutch slipped and he fell to his knees. The crypts were growing darker. A light has gone out somewhere. “Ygritte?” he whispered. “Forgive me. Please.” But it was only a direwolf, grey and ghastly, spotted with blood, his golden eyes shining sadly through the dark …

This could foreshadow Jon feeling guilty over fake Sansa’s death (”a direwolf spotted with blood”), while the Battle against the Army of the Dead is still raging (”a chill wind was blowing on his neck”). In specific on the latter, Theon has a “counter” dream where he’s feasting with the dead in that same Great Hall (don’t worry about Theon, what is dead may never die). Interestingly, after Jon has this dream and he’s trying to figure out what it means (lol, poor baby), a horn blows and Jon thinks it’s the Horn of Winter (rumoured to bring the Wall down, which would allow the Others to invade, as well as waking giants from the earth, which would probably mean animating all the dead Starks).

Much like the previous example, things are lining up rather well. Sam told Jon he’s not Ned Stark’s bastard but Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark’s trueborn son in Winterfell’s crypts (”You are no Stark.”), and he’s most likely having a silent identity crisis (”I am not welcome there. I am no Stark, and this is not my place.”). Alys Karstark was featured a lot in both episodes and that has added with the speculation that she’ll die and mistaken with Sansa (her hair colour was changed from books to show) and Karstark’s sigil is a sunburst (“a light has gone out somewhere″).

A DANCE WITH DRAGONS

Most of Ygritte mentions in ADWD are “irrelevant” for this subject. In broad strokes, they reference giants (if they’re meant to reference the “waking of giants” and these mean the dead Starks maybe the insistence means fake Sansa comes back from the dead, imagine all that glorious man pain eh...), comparing to other women (Melisandre and Val), remembering her when seeing random redheads (to push the reader to remember Ygritte when reading about Sansa’s red hair of course), then some interesting passages that may foreshadow something else. In specific, one two of them may foreshadow the Battle against the Army of the Dead.

ADWD #58 Jon #12: “Stand fast,” Jon Snow called. “Throw them back.” He stood atop the Wall, alone. “Flame,” he cried, “feed them flame,” but there was no one to pay heed.They are all gone. They have abandoned me. Burning shafts hissed upward, trailing tongues of fire. Scarecrow brothers tumbled down, black cloaks ablaze. “Snow,” an eagle cried, as foemen scuttled up the ice like spiders. Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist. As the dead men reached the top of the Wall he sent them down to die again. He slew a greybeard and a beardless boy, a giant, a gaunt man with filed teeth, a girl with thick red hair. Too late he recognized Ygritte. She was gone as quick as she’d appeared. The world dissolved into a red mist. Jon stabbed and slashed and cut. He hacked down Donal Noye and gutted Deaf Dick Follard. Qhorin Halfhand stumbled to his knees, trying in vain to staunch the flow of blood from his neck. “I am the Lord of Winterfell,” Jon screamed. It was Robb before him now, his hair wet with melting snow. Longclaw took his head off. Then a gnarled hand seized Jon roughly by the shoulder. He whirled –

While Jon is dreaming he’s at the Wall fighting the undead, this can foreshadow the Battle against the Army of the Dead at Winterfell as well (“I am the Lord of Winterfell”), where he’ll have to face undead friends (including fake Sansa and Robb!) and Danerys will try to burn him (Scarecrow brothers tumbled down, black cloaks ablaze. “Snow,” an eagle cried.).

Much like the previous example, things are lining up rather well. Jon believes that he needs the dragons to defeat the undead and he has acquired Rhaegal as his personal mount (“his blade burned red in his fist”). Danerys is pissed off after Jon revealed that he’s Rhaegar Targaryan’s trueborn son, realising he has a claim to the Iron Throne.

ADWD #69 Jon #13: Jon flexed the fingers of his sword hand. The Night’s Watch takes no part. He closed his fist and opened it again. What you propose is nothing less than treason. He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair. Kill the boy and let the man be born. He thought of Bran, clambering up a tower wall, agile as a monkey. Of Rickon’s breathless laughter. Of Sansa, brushing out Lady’s coat and singing to herself. You know nothing, Jon Snow. He thought of Arya, her hair as tangled as a bird’s nest. I made him a warm cloak from the skins of the six whores who came with him to Winterfell – I want my bride back – I want my bride back – I want my bride back – “I think we had best change the plan,” Jon Snow said.

In this case, Jon thinks that going against Ramsay Bolton is treason, but then thinks of his family and directly associates Sansa with Ygritte for the first time (the fact that he never did before is narratively suspect), then changes his plans and decides to engage him, foolishly reveals his plans to the rest of the Night’s Watch and ends up dead. This can foreshadow Jon choosing his family and betraying Danerys for their sake, then ending up targeted.

This example wasn’t part of the original draft of this post, but I procrastinated and in this case it was worth it because the show’s clunky dialogue (”That’s treason.”) when Jon’s parentage reveal was done (the crypts, matching the foreshadowing of the last example of ASOS as well) make it relevant. In the books, Jon thinks it’s treason to go against Ramsay, while in the show, Jon thinks it’s treason to go against Danerys. The parallels between Ramsay and Danerys are actually quite vast (there’s a very good post about this, I even made an infographic, but I can’t find it) and in this case, they’re pretty much the same narrative too. Both Ramsay and Danerys have taken Winterfell away from the Starks and they’re threats to them.

ROS

Ros is a prostitute of renowned beauty in the brothel in Winterfell's outlying town. She has drawn the attention of the young nobles of Winterfell, including Theon Greyjoy who is a regular customer. Jon Snow once paid Ros for her time but explains he did not have sex with her because of a pang of conscience over the possibility of fathering a child who would be a bastard like him. She’s yet ANOTHER redhead (with great titties) which relates to Jon’s storyline.

Ros is a show-only character, but when Sam asks Jon to describe her, he says her hair was red and she had nice titties (a consistent man, I tell you), then when Sam makes the same question for Ygritte, he says that her hair was red. It’s difficult to grasp whether these redheads in Jon’s storyline are simply meant to foreshadow the future (Jon will love Sansa in the future) or they’re actually saying something about the past as well (he always loved her). It doesn’t really matter either way (IT MATTERS TO ME!), since the endgame is the same.

S03E06 - The Climb : Chaos is a Ladder

Regardless, Ros has an interesting death since it’s part of yet another redhead choo-choo train. Varys finds Littlefinger in the throne room and they discuss the Game of Thrones and how to win the Iron Throne (they even talk about the Tully sisters, both redheads). Littlefinger then announces that he thwarted Varys’ plan of giving Sansa to the Tyrells and reveals that he has given Ros to Joffrey to do what he wants. In particular, Littlefinger’s final stretch “Chaos is a Ladder” is put in the foreground with two scenes, the first Joffrey having killed Ros and the second with Sansa crying after realising she cannot escape King’s Landing after all. This could foreshadow Sansa’s fate during the Battle against the Army of the Dead. Danerys kills a fake Sansa by burning her with Drogon, but Sansa was actually kidnapped and taken south as a hostage instead.

Notice that both Joffrey is the usurper to Jon’s “real” claim (just like Danerys) and that Joffrey kills Ros the same way Ygritte died, plus the arrow is black and red (just like the colours of Danerys’ dragon Drogon). This crossbow (or one alike) has shown up once again for season 8, as Cersei tasks Bronn to go North to kill both Tyrion and Jaime with the crossbow that killed Tywin. It suggests that fake Sansa is killed by Danerys and she’s whisked away by Lannister betrayal (this latter one was also foreshadowed in Bran’s prophetic visions, as they include Roose Bolton killing Robb Stark after saying “the Lannisters send their regards”).

The directors have said that they are very careful with transition scenes and that they mean something, this may not be true for all of them, but this one is a strong candidate for two major reasons. The first, is that this is a redhead choo-choo train for some reason that is actually bigger than this as the two scenes that precede them also feature redheads and the following one does as well. The second is that this is Littlefinger’s infamous speech about climbing to power (the very name of this episode and what the wildlings are doing) and winning the Game of Thrones, obviously something important. So what are these scenes? Below, their transition matrix.

[31] The wildlings are climbing the Wall but it breaks.

[32] Loras and Sansa discuss their future marriage.

[33] Cersei and Tyrion discuss how Tywin arranged to break Loras and Sansa’s betrothal, by arranging Cersei to marry Loras and Tyrion to marry Sansa.

[34] Tyrion goes to Sansa’s room to explain how she’s no longer marrying Loras, but she’ll have to marry him instead.

[35] Varys finds Littlefinger in the throne room and they discuss the Game of Thrones.

[36] Littlefinger’s speech is in the foreground while Joffrey raises up after killing Ros with a crossbow.

[37] Littlefinger’s speech is in the foreground while Sansa watches the ships leaving King’s Landing, realising she’s a prisoner there still.

[38] The wildlings finish climbing the Wall.

The case of [31] and [38] is interesting because the wildlings are climbing the Wall, the name of this episode is The Climb, and Littlefinger gives his infamous speech about chaos being a ladder and that climbing it is all there is. There is a lot of climbing case and in the wildling’s case, it features Orell (eagle guy!), Jon and Ygritte... yes, a redhead.

The first scene is where the Wall accidentally breaks and a bunch of them die, leaving Jon and Ygritte hanging by their safety rope. Orell decides to cut this rope, but Jon manages to secure himself to the Wall and saves Ygritte. The two hug, while Jon glares at Orell (eagle guy), but then Ygritte leaves starts climbing up ahead of him. The second scene is the wildlings reaching on top of the Wall. Ygritte is the “first” to arrive and Jon follows her (hilariously, an eagle passes by as they stare up to the sky, so maybe Rhaegal will be involved). The two raise up and stare at the landscape, then they kiss.

It may foreshadow Danerys attacking both Jon and Sansa (Orell is the skinchanger that controls the black eagle that attacks Jon and he tries to cut their rope), then Sansa decides to go on ahead either willingly or unwillingly (Ygritte goes on ahead) and manages to hatch some plan to win the Game of Thrones (she’s the first to arrive, Sansa crying in King’s Landing directly follows Ygritte arriving at the top) and Jon follows her. I’ll maybe forgive the show for romanticising Jon x Ygritte so much if it actually goes exactly like this. Fuck yes, Sansa winning the Game of Thrones.

The case for [32], [33] and [34] is also interesting, because it’s the Lannisters attempt at solidifying their power through Sansa as Key of the North. There is plenty of speculation about what Cersei’s role in season 8 as well as Tyrion betraying his allies for Cersei (that conversation in season 7 between them that people never got to see).  ETA: Since Cersei sends Bronn to kill Tyrion in 8x1 and yet seems like he has a role to play yet, this panders to that speculation that Tyrion buys an extra-life by delivering Sansa to Cersei. As a side-note for fans of Lyanna’s feather, [31] is preceded by Tywin telling Oleanna that she will accept his plan of breaking the Loras and Sansa marriage to marry each with the Lannisters, threatening to name Loras to the Kingsguard if she doesn’t and picks up a feather, but she accepts the deal and breaks this feather.

In particular there are arguments that Loras Tyrell is actually a stand-in for Jon and interestingly, [31] Jon staring after Ygritte climbing the Wall transitions into a close-up of Loras’ rose pin (the winter rose symbolises Jon’s real parents, Rhaegar Targaryan and Lyanna Stark, therefore that he’s the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. In this case it could foreshadow a romance between Jon and Sansa, but then they are put in a position where they must marry others instead (if it’s literal, Cersei wishes to marry Jon to solidify her claim to the Iron Throne and Tyrion wishes to marry Sansa again to unite the North into Cersei’s hand, I read a theory about the kidnapping plot going exactly like this once).

[cchellacat]

Game of Thrones Finale

Here be spoilers for the last season of GoT.  Turn back now or forever hold you peace.  Trust me, I am not holding my peace, I feel like going to war and breaking a bloody wheel over the back of D&D’s heads.

I knew going in, this wasn���t the ending I had been hoping for, or even expecting for nine years.  After the penultimate episode the writing was clearly on the wall, so I watched this final chapter, ready for crushing disappointment and grief. D&D did not let me down. 

They completed their character assassination of Daenerys with all the clumsy, lazy, pretension and dreadfully written dialogue as one might have come to expect, if they had been paying attention since the start of the season. 

When left to flounder in the seas of uncertainty without the masterfully crafted scaffolding of GRRM’s books to hold them afloat, the writers sunk the whole thing gleefully. I’m absolutely certain they took great pleasure in destroying every logical expectation.

This constant need to justify their own twisted ending and eradicate certain characters development and arcs, left me feeling bewildered and horrified.  The beautiful woven foreshadowing that had been building since season one seemed to be cast aside at the last and replaced with some Frankenstein monster, cobbled together from a need to be “different”  to “surprise”, to be “edgy”  and “subversive”.  

This isn’t how good writing is done.  You don’t change the track of a story just because it’s deemed predictable or because fans guessed the ending. 

The onus then, is on the writer, to follow through and complete the story while still making it enjoyable and intriguing.  It isn’t to upturn the apple-cart and refill with limes.  It’s to take the damn apples and make pie.  Make it interesting, draw the audience in, there is nothing wrong with giving the audience what they want. There is nothing wrong with delivering a satisfying and sensible conclusion.  There is nothing wrong with giving the main character/s a happy ending.

Their fear of cliche, lead them straight into trope hell.  The “face heel turn” of Daenerys from Liberator and Mother to Tyrant and Murderer was sloppy, poorly written and did not have a justifiable history to back it up. 

Do not even get me started on how they killed her.  JFC.  Could they have been anymore obvious about how that was gong to go down?  Talk about cliche. 

Murdered by the man she loves, who loves her and who is also her only family.  We’ll talk later about what they did to poor Jon.  Just for reminders sake though, here she is, held in the arms of the man she loves as he promises her she will always be his queen, kisses her and stabs her right in the heart.  **blood boiling**

Turing Sansa into Littlefinger 2.0 made my inner rage monster scream.  Her transformation from  the “The High Queen”  to “The Chess-master” makes me think the North isn’t in any better hands than it would have been with Littlefinger in charge.  How convenient that none of her siblings will be nearby to notice.  Bran in the south, Jon in the True North and for some inexplicable reason, the girl who spent eight season finding her way home, decides to go gallivanting off into the west on some LotR, knock off elf quest. 

Arya’s end is as unsatisfying as every other one.   She spent years growing stronger, learning to kill, striving to be No-one.  Her whole character arc was about her coming to terms with her loss and recognising that no matter how far she ran, she would always be Arya Stark. 

Then is was her journey home, learning that she could go back, that even changed by war and blood, family meant everything.  Her clarion call, that the “lone wolf dies but the pack survives” has been with her every step.  It’s the message her father taught her, one she held too.  Why on earth would she leave her pack behind? 

What even was the point of having her and Gendry meet again and come together if she was just going to walk away?  I’m not saying a character has to be defined by a romantic relationship, but why bother giving the fans a few crumbs just to spit on it an episode later?  This is clearly baiting of the worst kind.  I’d rather they met as friends and parted as friends than the shit show of having Gendry propose, only for her turn him down.  I mean, she could have learned another lesson with the Hound, that defining your life by revenge and forgetting to live only ends in death.  Her returning to Gendry after that would have made sense.  It would have made sense for her to go build a pack of her own.  But no, that would be too easy.  What shall we do with Arya?  Lets put her on a bus!

He did love her.  Jon was crazy about Dany.  She was crazy about him.  This is the man who puts family first, who lives by his honour.  He is his Uncle Ned come again.  Ned, who lived and died by his oaths.  The only time he broke them was to protect his sisters son, to protect Jon, his family. 

This is why they had to destroy Daenery’s character so completely.  They had to make her the worst villain imaginable to make it look even remotely plausible that Jon would;

1. Break his oath of fealty

2. Murder his own blood.

3. Betray the love of his life.

They had to preserve Jon’s good name, oh yes, because Jon wouldn’t kill her for power or because she lost her temper and disagreed with him.  No.  They destroyed both Jon and Dany with this plot. 

Jon is now Queen Slayer and Kin Slayer and he has broken his word, his oaths of loyalty, his unspoken oaths of love and protection, which she rightly expected from him as her blood and her lover and has been reduced to a shadow of the man he was meant to be, the king he could have been. 

He is cursed by the gods in the eyes of most Westerosi, or he would be if they knew the truth.  After all, look at how the nobility treated Jaimie after he killed the Mad King.  It didn’t matter to them that the King was evil, no, what mattered was that he broke his oath.

Oath breakers are anathema in Westeros. 

So much for a Targaryen Restoration.  Goodbye Iron Throne.  The whole point of Jon’s character was just erased.  Did he defeat some great evil?  No.  Did he overcome war and death and end triumphant on the throne as the last dragon?  No.  There was no point in bringing him back after his death in season six.  Anyone could have went to bargain with Dany and the outcome would have been the same.  Ugh!

Jaime and Brienne.  The love story/redemption arc I was so invested in.  One hand gives and the other takes away.  In the end it seems that Jaime learned nothing, according to the writers that is.  I call bullshit.  Jaime had redeemed himself.  If he had to die, it should have bee while killing Cersei.  The foreshadowing of him being Cersei’s death has been around for years. Cersi didn’t love Jaime, she loved controlling him.  Cersei loved no one but herself.  That was the lesson Jaime was meant to learn.  Thanks so much for taking away eight season of character development and self realisation.

Tyrion got shafted too.  His speech near the end, it was a load of cow dung.  In the end they left Tyrion to be Westeros’ own comic relief.  The Small Council was a bloody farce.  All that scene did was reinforce my belief that nothing in Westeros has really changed.  It doesn’t matter what title you give someone, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Give it ten years and Bron will be the power in Westeros in all but name. 

Now who have I forgotten?  Ah yes.  My Special Mention.

Sandor went out the way he meant to, bringing an end to his brother.  But not before the writers gave him a brief moment with Sansa.  There you go Sansan fans, he called her little bird!  Now shut up and let us kill him in a fiery fall of doom. 

Death by fire, the worst death they could give this man.  He wasn’t a good man, it’s arguable that none of the characters were good people.  However, Sandor Clegane suffered more than most.  He spent his life, angry and bitter, seeking revenge for himself and his sister and father.  I think, if they had to kill him, they could have given the man a better exit than him tossing both himself and his brother into the flames.  It was cruel to make that the only way out, the only triumph he could claim.  I think Sandor should have lived.  He deserved to find a life of peace after all the fighting he did.   It is not poetic or clever to kill a character off with the object of their own fear.  It’s not clever when they do it to a villain, it’s doubly unfair to do it to a hero.  He was a hero by the end.  Sandor deserved better.

Now look, I‘m not saying that in a show like this, that everybody should live or necessarily get the end they deserve, but, they went too far in the name of shock value, leaving no one happy, well, virtually no one. I guess the rabid Sansa fans who loathed Dany are feeling pretty good about now. 

(Yes, okay that was mean, but I got sick of seeing it in my timeline and unfollowed a few people.) 

I was always very much of the belief that Sansa and Dany had more in common than would drive them apart.  I didn’t expect an easy friendship or alliance, but I did expect them to find common ground and be able to build a relationship over time.  Strong women supporting each other is what we need more of on TV.  Not this misogynistic desire to see two strong women fight over a man, which is essentially what they reduced Sansa and Dany too with poor Jon caught in the middle.  

In conclusion...

I feel as though the writers went into season eight with a clear idea of where they had been building and then someone get a bee in their bonnet and posed the question, “Who is the least likely to end up ruling Westeros?”

The answer of course is Bran.  Bran the Broken, how fucking ignorant is that?  How about Bran the Burdened or Bran the Broker or Bran the Benevolent, if you’ve really got such a hard on for alliteration?

So now Bran, who is so disconnected from feeling that he can’t love anyone, sits the Iron Throne and is somehow meant to be a good ruler. 

All that’s needed to achieve this happy ending for the writers?

Goodbye Character development and epic love stories, hello smear campaign, death, destruction and the end of one of my favourite canon ships to ever sail.

Rest in Peace Jonarys.  I believed in you. 

[kalinara]

I’m going to say something a little bit controversial here.  But I’m maybe the only person on Earth who actually loved the Game of Thrones finale.

Please keep in mind of course that I am basing this mostly from the perspective of a fan of the books, who has seen a handful of episodes, (well, all of season 1 now.  But only the sporadic episode after that).  I’m saying this because it means my evaluation of the finale is less based on its execution (which from what I have seen is a little, um, spotty) and more based on the overall story that I perceive from the books/first season/sporadic episodes.

So, basically take me with a grain of salt as I talk about what I genuinely loved about the Game of Thrones finale.  But anyway, these are things I’ve loved about the finale, in no particular order.

1) That NONE of the prophecies fully came true.

One of the big complaints I’ve seen, understandably so, is that Jaime should have killed Cersei, per the Valonquar prophecy.  That Cersei wasn’t really supplanted by a younger and more beautiful queen (since Daenerys never really sat on the Iron Throne, her ultimate successor was Bran).  That Arya never killed that last significant green-eyed person.  That the three-headed dragon thing came to nothing.  And so on and so forth.

But that’s actually what I loved about it.

See, ONE missed prophecy is a plot hole.  The writers either forgot how to fit it in, or wrote themselves in a corner.  But here, EVERY prophecy is missed in one way or another.  NONE of them fully came true. And that strikes me as very much intentional.

Game of Thrones is has a number of characters who have destroyed their own lives, or at the very least, made their lives a shit ton harder than they needed to be because of fucking prophecy.  

Rhaegar is the biggest example, of course.  Rhaegar is so obsessed with the idea of a three-headed dragon that he discards his actual wife and children, because she can’t give him a third, to start fresh with someone else.  By doing this, he actually ends up destroying his family.  TWICE.

By kidnapping Lyanna, he provides the last straw for Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark to bring down the Targaryen line.  And then the child he creates finishes the job by killing Daenerys as she’s finally taken their throne back.

Aerys was always going to be a problem, but he’s a problem that might have been ended with a coup and a Regency in favor of his far more reasonable son.  Rhaegar was the one who ensured that the Targaryens as a whole would fall.

Cersei is another example.  Her obsession with the Valonquar prophecy caused her to alienate her brothers and treat every perceived rival with harshness and suspicion.  She lost her chance at valuable allies and assets because of this.

Basically, in the GOT world, prophecies are bullshit and people who follow them bring about their own doom.  And I really enjoy that.

2) Daenerys Targaryen was never going to sit on the Iron Throne

Please, don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of sympathy for Daenerys fans who were disappointed with her ending, but to be perfectly honest, I’ve never believed that Daenerys would actually sit on the Iron Throne.  

If anything, I think ASOIAF/Game of Thrones is a criticism/deconstruction of the idea of right to rule by blood or conquest.

The Targaryens conquered Westeros hundreds of years ago, on the might of their dragons.  They ruled absolutely, by fire and blood.  Baratheon took the throne by right of conquest.  Cersei Lannister took it through marriage, and then violence in her own right.

None of these rulers were just.  None of these rulers were happy.   (Well, Aerys seemed somewhat happy while burning people alive.)  None of these rulers did well by their people.

This extended into general Westerosi politics, the court at Kings Landing, the War of the Kings, all full of people so obsessed with this giant game of musical chairs that none of them had any idea of the threat(s) on their horizon nor any real interest in protecting their people from it. 

By the end, though, we have a real change.  While they did laugh at the idea of an all-out democracy (which was annoying, though I don’t think it would have been realistic for them to support it at this time), we still end up with rulers that have been explicitly chosen by at least SOME of the people that they rule.

It was never going to be Daenerys though.  The theme couldn’t work that way.  Even if somehow she could have gained enough popular support on a Watsonian level from the Westerosi people, she’s a Targaryen.  On a Doylist level, she would still be the rightful princess by blood who took her throne back by conquest.  There is no way that the Dany could sit on the throne without destroying that theme.  (And that rules Jon out too, for the same reason.  Even if he were chosen as Bran was, there’d be an undercurrent that he “deserved” it because of his ancestry.)

The tragedy of Daenerys is that if she had only stayed in Essos, she could have lived a long and happy life, as a beloved liberator.  In Essos, she was a just ruler.  She spent her wrath on slavers and killers.  She was chosen by the people that she ruled.  She did screw up in Meereen, but she could have learned from that.

But it wasn’t enough for her.  She wanted Westeros.  She felt she was entitled to Westeros.  And that was always going to go very badly.  When I think about Daenerys as a queen, she reminds me of Sansa’s statement that if she were queen, she would want to make people love her.  In a way, Daenerys is the embodiment of that idea.  She was raised on the idea that her family were rightful, beloved rulers and that the common people were begging for their return.  And well, that’s not Westeros.  

To the people of Westeros, Dany represents the return of something only slightly less terrifying than the Night King.  They don’t want her.  They don’t love her.  They certainly would never choose her.  And Dany’s lived her entire life around a lie.  While I think her fall could have been done better, I can see why it happened.

I was hoping that Dany would figure out that she didn’t want the throne, and that she would go back to Essos and the people who love her.  But she didn’t. 

Drogon burning the Iron Throne wasn’t subtle, but it was an indication that with her death, the rule of absolute autocrats who seize their throne by power is over.

3) R+L=J mattered, but not how we thought, and Jon’s ending was the happiest that it could have been

One critique I keep seeing is: why did it matter that Jon was a Targaryen?

And I think it mattered for a number of reasons:

First, of course, is that as mentioned above: it meant that Rhaegar really did bring about the absolute destruction of his entire dynasty.

Second, it reinforces the idea of nurture vs. nature.  For better or worse, Jon Snow will always be a Stark.  He might not be the wisest person in the room, but he always tries to do the right thing.  He owns his mistakes.  If he has to kill, he does it with his own hands, as cleanly as possible.  No matter who his parents actually were, he is and always will be Ned Stark’s son.

And third, as mentioned, it completely removes Jon from the running for the throne.  Because after Daenerys’s rampage, NO ONE will want to see another Targaryen in charge.  Even if Jon really isn’t one at heart.  I feel like Jon’s exile was less about the Westerosi seeing him as a traitor, or appeasing Grey Worm, and more about making sure that the last Targaryen will never be in a position to finish what his aunt started.

Really, getting exiled to the North is probably the happiest ending possible for Jon.  He’s never wanted to rule, and if he DID get the throne, he’d be positively miserable.  If he DIDN’T end up on the throne, he’d be a walking threat to whoever did get it.  IF he were allowed to live, he would be a perpetual tool to be used against the current regime.  They would never let him live in peace.

This is why Bran and Sansa didn’t and won’t pardon him, by the way.  It’s not because they don’t love their brother, but if they did, then he would just get pulled back into all this bullshit.  He’s the last Targaryen.  There’s no escape.

(Also, they can’t just pardon him because they’re not autocrats.  Tying into that theme again.)

4) All the Starks had good endings

I don’t really understand all of the fans tearing their hair out about Arya leaving to explore, or Sansa sitting “alone” on her throne.

When Ned Stark said that the lone wolf dies, but the pack survived, he wasn’t saying that all of the Starks had to stay under one roof.  Sansa and Arya were always intended for marriage.  Jon was probably always intended for the Wall.  

The ending reinforced the idea that even if they are physically separate, Bran, Sansa, Arya and Jon will always be connected.  

Arya has always had an adventuring spirit and way back in season 1 asserted that marrying a lord and being the mother of knights and princes was never going to be her fate.  So it makes perfect sense that she’d want to see what else is there, with her own eyes.  And really, she’s eighteen.  She has time to do what she wants and then come back home.

Sansa is the Queen of the North.  She’s chosen by her people.  And as we saw, they love her.  Sure, she’s not married yet.  But she’s going to have plenty of offers.  And she’s got PLENTY of time.  She’s twenty-one-ish, right?  Nothing about her ending rules out love later.

And the people who think it negates her development because she’s always wanted to be a queen are being silly.  As a young girl, Sansa wanted to be a “queen” because that’s what one did when one married a prince.  She wanted love.  She wanted acceptance.  She had no idea of the responsibilities or duties of ruling at the time.  But over time she learned to be a powerful person in her own right.  And she rules now, in her own name, by her own merit.  That’s important.

Bran’s ending feels the most off in the show, but as a book reader, it does make sense.  It IS a little funny that they chose a Stark, but the North still declared independence.  It makes sense though.  The North probably would have been willing to follow Bran Stark, but they’re tired of having their rulers chosen FOR them by the South.  And that’s understandable.  Right now it’s Bran, but who’ll be next?  (I’d like to think that Dorne and the Isles follow suit.  I don’t feel like Bran would want to hold any kingdom unwillingly.)

The execution should have been done better, but in terms of the Starks, I think they got good endings.

5) Not all redemption arcs happen

The ending I was most disappointed by was Jaime Lannister’s.  As a book reader, I always found Jaime’s chapters really compelling.  I remember being so amazed that Martin could start a character off with an act as heinous as pushing a child out the window, and somehow make me still like him.  I really wanted the Valonquar prophecy to come true (Jaime is after all, younger than Cersei).  I wanted Jaime to choose Brienne and Tyrion, and become a better person.  I figured he was probably doomed, but that he might get a heroic death.

He didn’t.

At the same time, while I’m disappointed by Jaime’s choice, I don’t necessarily think he got the wrong ending.  There are other redemption arcs in GOT (see: Theon), and maybe it’s time to see the handsome and tortured asshole with the deep down potential for good actually fail.

I don’t really think it’s out of character for Jaime to not care that much about the people of King’s Landing.  Yes, he once killed a king and sacrificed his honor to protect the people, but that was when he was nineteen years old, and he’d been punished for it ever since.

I’ve wondered sometimes if Jaime wouldn’t have been better off if Robert hadn’t pardoned him.  If Jaime had gotten sent to the Wall, like Jon, he might have had a chance to grow into someone separate from the machinations of his family.  He would have had an honorable cause.  He wouldn’t have gone through life every day, having his “crime” and his lack of honor thrown in his face to the point where he seemed to have decided “fuck it, I’ll be as terrible as you say I am”.

Certainly the man who pushed Bran out the window didn’t give a shit about innocent lives at that point.  The man who ambushed Ned on the streets of King’s Landing and cut down every one of his men didn’t care too much about fair play.  Now he was changing, undoubtedly.  But sometimes it’s not enough.  In the end, Jaime chose Cersei.  The prophecy fizzled.  And they both died, probably kinder than they really deserved.

Anyway, we’ll probably see a lot of thinkpieces and bits about how George R.R. Martin’s endings will be VERY DIFFERENT from the show.  And maybe they will.  But it wouldn’t surprise me if they aren’t.  Because I think the ending actually does fit, even if the journey got a little derailed.