#spoilers ballad of sword and wine

[spamime]

Ballad of Sword and Wine book one read. I haven’t read an enemies to lovers that made me this giddy in a while.

And aside from the incredible build up for the romance, the fight scenes and politics are actually kinda sick? And the characters obviously are sad and traumatized but i am really into how they handle it.

Immediately going into book two bc why would the leave it like that huh

[haitang-blossoms]

On Differential Methods, Politics, & Intimacy for Early Novel!Cezhou (haitang-blossoms' Qiang Jin Jiu meta)

Note: This analysis goes up to Chapter 42 which is where I had read up to before Lianyin's fantranslation was taken down due to official English licensing by Seven Seas. This is also the source of my quoted screenshots of the novel.

The way both Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye weaponise perceived incompetence (through fabricated images of "grateful helplessness" and "devil-may-care hedonism" respectively) is so compelling and really serves to flesh out the realities of the environment they are forced to navigate.

It is a recurring narrative motif that both Shen Zechuan and Xiao Chiye are "beasts" trapped and restrained by the political system of Qudu. However, the difference in social position and status between them is key to why they choose the masks that they do.

Shen Zechuan, both as a by-proxy-traitor to the nation and as the son of a dancer, has always had to keep his head down and not act beyond his station. Thus, it is perfectly natural that he operates within this expected framework: both to survive in the hostile political landscape as well as to conceal his own intentions and moves within the shadows.

Xiao Chiye, on the other hand, was born into relative power. While the Xiao Clan of Libei was never in the favour of the Empress Dowager, they are nonetheless a reputable cavalry with a hereditary title. Xiao Chiye, as the second son, has both less direct political influence as well as responsibility than his father (the prince) or his elder brother (the next-in-line). This is how he is so easily made a "bargaining chip" and assigned to what seems to be a hopelessly dead-end job in order to keep a metaphorical "leash" on any rebellious intent that Libei may harbour. Given his wealth and inevitable position of being constantly in the public eye, the easiest way to cover up the target on Xiao Chiye's back is to present himself as a frivolous hedonist who is too busy chasing after liquor and bed-partners to pose a real threat to the established power dynamics of the capital.

The difference between their methods can also be observed in the way that their preferences are perceived by others:

Xiao Chiye presents himself as genial: he loves to drink, he is sociable enough to go out with friends frequently etc. However, as seen in the quote above, Xiao Chiye's "friendliness" is actually quite distant in that even the people who think they know him well are unaware of his true preferences. Yet he conducts himself in such a manner that they would not even think to ponder such things. It is a very effective approach for gathering intel: make the other party assume you are giving away much more about yourself than you are, opening the door for them to carelessly overshare from a sense of fabricated comradery.

Shen Zechuan is the opposite: going along with how he is forced to constantly humble himself and downplay his abilities, his preferences have to be presented as equally accommodating to the will of others. There are many instances where he seemingly goes along with others, secretly gritting his teeth the whole way, in order to "soften" them up to be played into his hand later.

And this goes into my next point:

Even though Shen Zechuan has an image of seductiveness, his entire method revolves around NOT having openly expressed desires because that would only serve as a vulnerability. Xiao Chiye, by contrast, predicates his mask around devil-may-care hedonism.

In this way, desire is both much more familiar to Xiao Chiye as well as easier to integrate into his established reputation than for Shen Zechuan. 

This is key to why Xiao Chiye is the first to accept his feelings and why he is much more comfortable with unabashedly expressing them. Thus, I think the differences in how Cezhou present themselves and the contrasting methods they use to stay ahead in their environment have bearing not only on the political games of their world but also on their relationship and how they relate themselves to each other.

[fengtashuangyi]

The extras are hard to find (at least translated in English) and most people have never read them, but my favourite will always be the one set in the past. Not only because we get the chance to see Ji Mu alive for once, but because Xiao Jiming and Ji Mu ask their brothers what kind of girl they’d like to marry. And the answers are… interesting.

Here’s Xiao Chiye’s requirements for his future wife:

must be beautiful ✅

should be able to ride a horse in some way ✅

should know some martial arts ✅

excellent aura, just like the moon ✅

not too accessible ✅

Meanwhile, Shen Zechuan’s requirements for his future wife:

should have a gentle temperament ❌

needs to know how to make dumplings ❌

should not be too tall ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌

better if slender ❌

should speak softly ❌

Xiao Chiye—Shen Zechuan, 5–0.

[web-novel-polls]

WN Criminal Upper Bracket

Jun Wu from Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF)

Submission: This is MAJOR SPOILERS for Heaven Official's Blessing- but as for his crimes, just like. All his actions as Bai Wuxiang were so iconic. Jun Wu was so single mindedly focused, he manipulated so many people and brought so much death, destruction, and despair to ruin Xie Lian's life and to turn him into a Calamity like himself. It's the dedication to the bit for me, he wiped everything from his disastrous past and became emperor of heaven. Jun Wu had all of the heavenly court fooled and under his thumb for centuries and played the part of the caring mentor/father figure to Xie Lian all while gladly placing the cursed shackles on him.

Wiki Link

Shen Zechuan from Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu

Submissions: Character of all time. He's done a lot of crimes, but I'll just mention that one time he put a guy in a cage, poured boiling water on him, and sliced off his skin piece by piece while he was still alive.

Additional Propaganda #1 from the Less Popular Danmei Character Tournament

Additional Propaganda #2 from the Less Popular Danmei Character Tournament

Wiki Link

[Please be kind and respectful in the notes. Anti-Propaganda is NOT allowed.]

[izartn]

Read Golden Stage/Terrace and was left very meh. Not bad, not a subject of my devotion either. I prefer my stories either full on R Romantic or leaning towards the plot as in Qiang Jin Jiu, so although the story and charas were perfectly fine it was very much just an entertaining way to pass the time.

I was expecting... Less good behaviour from the protags honestly XD and not in terms of scheming; I liked how few fucks they gave towards a correct confucian behaviour lol. But it didn't felt like an enemies to lovers as it was sold, not even a rival to lovers. Lost opportunity to suddenly lovers fits. I liked that they almost had something as teens but Yan Xiaohan duty/role and Fu Shen relative immaturity at court games made that impossible. The Cui Yu incident as the memory Yan Xiaohan keeps to remind himself to not sink so low in the future was nice, as is the fact he is still pretty much amoral and doesn't have any loyalty to the emperor(s) except self-preservation.

In general I was very meh about Fu Shen and his fam, except his nephew and that throwaway line about how he remembers years later when he's in the throne that Yan Xiaohan once told him as a child that he only wanted FS and not the kingdom. I want to know more about that kid's life bc it sounds fascinating just from that smidge of info. He's assured as emperor despite the regency bc he knows that what his uncles want is each other more than the throne. Fascinating.

As I was saying; Yan Xiaohan on the other hand? Bastard son of an emperor with a concubine of that emp's father, raised in a temple for retired court women by a nun and a eunuch, who taught all he needed to make a life for himself and success on the court? Super interesting. And we don't know anything about their relationship except that his adoptive father made him swear to not marry a women and have children so as to not challenge any the ruling line (bc the emperor knew Xiaohan was his son). Like.

Of course I prefer Xiaohan XD

But anyways just a light read in comparison with other danmei and a dynamic that just isn't my kind of visceral romance, desire being very good for each other. Also the wonkers pseudo democracy too. That was weird XD good weird but like. Very much pfft at times. That Fu Shen is all on board bc he's just, so so tired of incompetent bosses, essentially, and also very much dislikes authority is funny too.

Anyways these are my thoughts. Worth giving it a read if you are interested by the premise (I usually despise forced marriage, except when done as in very all we here adults as in Golden Stage or full on going this is fucked up and not endgame so that's one thing it does well) but not my cup of tea.

SPOILERS QIANG JIN JIU

I'm still thinking of Xiao Chiye and Shen Zechuan. And there's no comparison with this novel sorry not sorry. Really liked Ce'an, bc he feels very... realistic as a warlord and also just fantasy enough for the story and romance to work? Both he and Shen Zechuan do. I really liked the way they're attracted to each other at the start despite the antagonism (genuine antagonism!!! their first time is genuine hate sex despite the attraction and burgeoning fondness) and the plotting bc they recognize on each other a yearning from freedom and to be themselves. Then they end the story chained in Qudu by their own volition and by love and mmm. Thematically tasty.

[aella081]

I've just started the ballad of sword and wine (qjj?) and oh my God is it off the a violent start. I have just finished the 1st chapter and we already have 2 confirmed deaths and poor shen Zechuan is being tortured within an inch of his life. This is in no way a complaint btw, just a rlly interesting start imo (I do rlly enjoy it so far!)

[talk-danmei-to-me]

pls pls pls pls make a list of all danmei people should read. I am thirsty for love and angst and pls be my salvation

Omg I can't say no to that!

Full disclosure, I've only been reading danmei since May. Also, I only read official translations. Others may be able to give a wider range.

But since you asked so nicely, let's go!

1) Yuwu/Remnants of Filth

Obviously, my number 1 is going to be the danmei I spend 80% of my time here trying to convince people to read.

Yuwu is a gift for fans of angst, literally opens with the MC getting stabbed in the heart and Meatbun doesn't let up from there.

Fun fact - the only Meatbun without non-con elements in the primary ship.

Sad fact - it also lacks her usual comedy.

Why I love it: Mo Xi, my princess, genuinely the saddest boy in all of danmei. I'm ridiculously invested in Ximang's quest for happiness.

2) 2ha/Erha/The Husky and his White Cat Shizun

At it's heart (at least to where the official translations are up to) 2ha is a romantic comedy. Tropes you may have found in other danmei hit so good (ghost weddings and shizun fucking).

Fun fact - Has my favourite confession scene out of all danmei I've read.

Sad fact - Being Meatbun's most popular work, you can basically collect spoilers like pokemon cards. Not even ao3 tags are safe.

Why I love it - Meatbun's smut writing is S tier and Mo Ran is one of my favourite protaganists... although he has some competition.

3) Ballad of Sword and Wine

I feel like I need to formally apologise for sleeping on this series after reading the first volume. It’s so, so juicy! Obsessed with the character dynamics and it’s always a winner when the main couple starts to dabble with each other in the first volume. It’s not Meatbun levels of smut peddling but I appreciate Tang Jiu Qing’s hustle. If you love courtly politics, graphic descriptions of violence and the most insane levels of sexual tension you will ever read. You need this danmei in your life.

Fun fact - I am as obsessed with Cezhou as Xiao Chiye is with the nape of Shen Lanzhou’s neck.

Sad fact - The sheer amount of characters will drive you insane.

4) To Rule in a Turbulent World

Enter You Miao! His introduction made me fall in love with him just as fast as I did Mo Ran! There's a reason everyone raves about chapter 3. Hilarious, horny and wholesome. The side characters are amazing, the main couple is adorable and it's giving hints of political powerplays. Also the first danmei I've read that seems to really deliver when it comes to skinship. The main couple literally can't keep their hands to themselves.

Fun fact - I'm only 50% through but I am buying every single Fei Tian Ye Xiang 7 seas is about to release day 1.

Sad fact - there's no pictures. Also I'm not sure how angsty it's going to get.

Bonus: For the toxic yaoi fan in your life

Meatbun's most unhinged work. She's peddling all the toxic smut fans of bl mangas and manhwas will be familiar with. Even though it's modern it made me nostalgic for that reason. He Yu is a clown and I adore him. Meatbun is airing all her kinks with this one and I'm not mad about it.

Fun fact- This is the first modern danmei I've read. Also, one of the more fun uses of the straight man trope I've read.

Sad fact - Vol 3 cliffhanger!

Why I love it - It's just pure Meatbun chaos.

(Am I just exposing myself as a Meatbun stan, probably, but she delivers every time.)

[liverbiver9]

The more I read danmei in my monthly book club that I otherwise wouldn’t have read or even known about, the more it becomes painfully clear that most of the mdzs fandom (and possibly the other 2 mxtx fandoms but I’m not as well versed with them) have not interacted with the genre at large beyond mxtx, and it shows in the meta analysis people make (especially westerners).

And I am not excluding myself here! So much of my initial assumptions and interpretations of mdzs has changed after reading other danmei authors, especifically the less western-internet-popular ones.

My point is this: when reading a book from a culture that is not your own and in an unfamiliar genre, it will be impossible to grasp all the intricacies and subtleties nestled within the narrative and characterization until you’ve become more familiar with the culture and genre itself.

Don’t limit yourself to mxtx. There are more and more danmei being translated into English by publishing houses and even more are fan translated.

If you’re looking for a place to start, I have some recommendations!

1. Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai.

Literally one of my favorite books I’ve ever read in my life, and I’m an English major. It is only 2 books and both are already published, so you won’t have to wait. The most tender, loving relationship I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. The translation is phenomenal, and it feels very similar to Jane Austen in its diction, plot, and characterization. I literally cannot explain with words how much I love this book.

2. To Rule in a Turbulent World by Gu Xue Rou

This series is just being translated and published, so it may take a while for the other books (I think 3-4?) will be out, but don’t let that scare you away! Without too much spoilers, the vibes of this first book reminds me of Harvest Moon games. Also a very sweet and tender main couple. Plus, this book is written by a male author!! Pretty rare in danmei, at least to my knowledge.

3. Thousand Autumns by Qian Qiu

Pretty dense with lots of philosophy, poetry references, and a more traditional wuxia world. This series is finished with 5 books in total. I had a hard time reading the first book, mostly because I didn’t connect that much with the mc at first, but I loved the world building and all the information I learned. I did eventually start connecting with the mc and ended the series fully besotted! Not a quick or easy read, but a worthwhile one.

4. Ballad of Sword and Wine by Tang Jiu Qing

The first book is out for this series, with the second being published later this month. It’s going to be a long one like tcgf, so it is a commitment read—but absolutely worth it!! Lots of palace politics and more Taoist-focused martial arts (think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). It is both fast and slow burn (I know that doesn’t make sense now; trust me, it will later on) and the main character is SO FASCINATING!! I want to study him like a bug. The overall characterization is phenomenal. The cast can be… intimidating, as there are a LOT of named characters, but they’re mostly there for world building (and the world building is fantastic!). Also, the translation here is GORGEOUS. You can tell it was translated by a writer, or at least someone who’s read the whole text (you’d be surprised…)—everything is so vivid!

[zhaohuis-lost-walnut]

Zhou Gui & Kong Ling

[spoilers for up to ch 113 of Ballad and Sword of Wine]

I’ve been making good progress in my reading and boy oh boy have two characters been running around in my brain like mice. Zhou Gui and Kong Ling are so funny to me. I love how they’re good at their jobs but are so unequipped to handle Xiao Chiye and Shen Zechuan 😭

They don’t fully trust them but they need them so they put up with them but they’re also constantly confused and I wheeze every single time.

One of my favorite scenes of them forgetting all their other brain cells and just sharing one is in chapter 103 when the maidservant reveals that cezhou are clearly an item. And rather than reacting to the fact that Chiye is dating a guy, Zhou Gui asks Kong Ling didn’t tell him he swung that way before they sent a lady to Chiye’s room 😭😭😭 Of course Kong Ling is like “how would I have known?!?!” and I just lose it every time I remember.

They’re such a fun duo, but I also enjoy when they get into serious business mode. Zhou Gui defending the gate to the city with his body went HARD!!! He genuinely cares for the people 🥺 He’s a lil uppity and Kong Ling definitely grounds him. Their shared glances as they’re both worried about the same thing without having to say anything. Good candidates for old man yaoi if you feel like getting goofy (they’re literally only 40 and 45…if I remember correctly. But some people think that’s old 💀).

I love these silly coworker best friends. A prefectural prefect and his advisor~

[freisende]

— Discussion and Poetry Masterlist —

Here is the canon discussions, thoughts, and impressions:

Thousand Autumns (Qiānqiū/千秋)

The Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiāng jìn jiǔ/将进酒)

Heaven Official's Blessing (Tiān Guān Cì Fú/天官赐福)

[rena-ragerat]

Boo! Hope, you enjoyed your Helloween!

Unfortunately, I've got no art to show you right now. So I'm just showing my Halloween look )

I'm working on pretty difficult art for the yet another fanzine, and have almost no time to rest. Spoiler, it's on the "Ballad of sword and wine" 😉🍷I'll be able to show you a bit of it soon! 🙏💚

[prefecturallord]

❝     Devil, bastard, stray dog, vile beast. You're right, I'm all of them. I'm the devil who climbed my way out of the Chashi sinkhole, the bastard Shen Wei left behind after he burned himself to death, the stray dog without a home to return to, and the vile beast reviled by thousands. Shisu, I'm so delighted you know me so well.    ❞

A private + extremely selective roleplay account for Shen Zechuan from T97's Qiang JinJiu / Ballad of Sword + Wine. 21+ over only. Exploring historical drama, political intrigue, schemer types, enemies to lovers, and lots of love for ancient chinese poetry.

Rules:

i. i am not associated with the art , fandom , or the AD . nothing here is owned by me unless stated otherwise. also, this is a sideblog. i won't be able to follow back, so you'll just have to find out where my hub blog is!

ii. i have a very demanding schedule outside of rp . i work a lot & game like a second job . so please understand that my replies may be very slow some days & quick others . i do not require a post length , so please do not expect one from me !

iii. i have d*scord available upon request & i am always down for plotting . if you need clarification on my interpretation or on a thread feel free to DM me too , i prommy i don't bite! that being said , i am here for long-term rp partners/friends and only rp with people who are 21+ . minors please do not follow .

iv. i don't do drama . don't involve me in any shape or form with yours , i do not come here for online squabbles . it will be a quick unfollow from me if that is all you post about . i will however reblog callouts on predators & known manipulators that have cause genuine harm to the rpc if it pops up .

v. while there may be mature or potentially triggering content and spoilers on here , i do not ever tolerate pedophilia , incest , racism , ableism , fetishization & homophobia/trnsphobia to any member of the lgbtq community . if i post triggering or nsfw content , i will post a tw after the trigger or nsfw in the tags . i don't do fancy tags as this is a safe space .

vi. multis please specify which muse you want jing lin to interact with if you like any starters or send me an ask . i am really chill about establishing relationships. shipping especially is not priority except w/ my xiao chiye @sanctissimx

overall , please be kind to each other . we're here for a good time , not a long time .

[fengtashuangyi]

For the ones wondering, yes, there are extras. Specifically, 5 of them (or 12, if you count the parts separately).

From my understanding, 4 of them were originally posted on Weibo and then gathered by fans here:

They were translated in English, but the translation was locked and now has been taken down, so not many people noticed.

(Yes, the third extra is Cezhou's wedding).

I can't buy from jjwxc with my credit card and I never got access to the English translation. So I read the Portuguese translation of the extras instead.

The last extra is available only in the Traditional Chinese print. The translation can be read here if you purchased this edition of the novel.

And that's it, as far as I know ;)

[web-novel-polls]

WN Criminal Lower Bracket

Shen Zechuan from Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu

Submissions: Character of all time. He's done a lot of crimes, but I'll just mention that one time he put a guy in a cage, poured boiling water on him, and sliced off his skin piece by piece while he was still alive.

Additional Propaganda #1 from the Less Popular Danmei Character Tournament

Additional Propaganda #2 from the Less Popular Danmei Character Tournament

Wiki Link

Jin Guangyao from Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS)

Submission: "All my life, I've lied to countless people and I've harmed countless others. It's just like you said. I killed my father, killed my brothers, killed my wife, killed my son, killed my teachers, killed my friends---I've committed every crime there is!"

Wiki Link

[Please be kind and respectful in the notes. Anti-Propaganda is NOT allowed.]

[ghoustlysoul]

Those Desired Words

Summary: After ending the curse, Jude has been burden with the emotional toll of what she feels for Cardan, yet she struggled telling him till now.

Word Count: 3890

Warning: Smut, swearing, tqon spoilers, and pregnancy

If you read this, I am so rusty with smut, but after rereading the series I had to.

— — — —

Staggering inside the moon-lit bedroom, the shadows casted from the silver lining metal, shaped as forest creatures, concealed in the glass panes were fracture by the drunken High King. The High King of Elfhame, stumbled gracefully, across the shadows, sending them in disoriented spirals, which he danced with while humming a horrific tune, easing his sleeping queen out of the rest she rightful deserved, and fought for.

After the past few escapades thoroughly displayed, the queen’s energy dissolved somewhere between receiving her newly found titles of Serpent Slayer and High Queen of Elfhame, and the addition serpent dawning her nightmares left her uneased. However, Tatterfell—her servant since childhood—halted her scolding, swapping her daggered words for a better weapon. Instead of merely mentioning the lavender herbal tea, she left a small cup on the miniature tree nightstand beside her; a beautiful addition she grown from the bark flooring while practicing the magic she carried from the land, tree stands with thick roots twisting up into tinier—vine like—branches, autumn brown leaves springing out from the edges and mended together like solid metal. Despite her earlier refusals, the High Queen decided differently that night.

Drearily, her leaded eyes peeled open. She flicked her eyes to the nightstand, catching the empty spot where the quaint teacup had resided. Tatterfell. Rolling her heavy-lidded eyes, they nearly collapsed into a disoriented dizziness threatening to send her back to sleep. “Cardan?” she rasped quietly. Her eyes unable to adjust quite right despite the moonlight.

“Jude, my violent queen, my sweet villain,” Cardan chuckled, his quicksilver smile dawning his vulnerable face. Drunken himself kind. “My curse, my cure,” he purred lowly, prowling the edge of his bed as the High Queen propped herself up. Cardan kicked his silver toed boots off, tripping up over himself till he spiraled over the massive in heart of their royal chambers.

“Cardan,” Jude sighed. “Is this how it is to be?”

Cardan muffled giggled filtered into their honey-gold sheets. He pushed up slowly, letting his face fall lazily into his hands. “How what is to be? If you wish grander words spilled from my lips, then I shall grant your desire. Perhaps, I ought to assemble the most gifted mortals to accompany me, and I shall shout ballads of my endless love, my never-ending love.”

“Never,” Jude remarked, “Cardan, never is quite a ways away. I may never reach it.”

“Jude, my darling Jude, I might be incapable of keeping us alive till never, yet my love, my heart’s content, it will reach never,” Cardan’s dizzying words spirals Jude’s mind.

She might had consumed whatever wine or ale he simmered down. It was a mighty excuse if she ended throttling the king.

Cardan, slowly, climbed his way up the massive mattress, his onyx eyes glazed as if the stone was freshly forged from the fire which birthed it. He displayed either arm on the outside o of her shapely thighs thickened during the years Madoc spent drilling and training her, honing her wildness into a sharp sword—one worthy of cutting through anything. Sadly, the exiled general had neither truly appreciated his daughter capabilities nor strength. She was grander than anything Grimsen crafted and forged. Deadlier than any of his curses. An enchantment no fair folk’s magic amounted.

And she, solely till Oak came of age, was his delight. His endless, ongoing joke to torture and tease till never caught them by the ends of their hair, yanking them down to the reality they gradually ignored.

Cardan kissed the smooth side of one Jude’s legs stuck out from the coverlet. He chased several gentle kisses to the bend of her knee with that wicked mouth of his till her legs vanished beneath the silk. He groaned softly, wrapping his hand playfully around her calf. He flexed his hand slowly, and he massaged the mortal flesh beneath his hand, warm with the blood running through her. Grinning wickedly, the High King nipped Jude’s skin. His sharp fang drew the smallest noise from his queen, his wife.

As if Jude knew the moment the thrilling idea provoked Cardan, she paled, and the dim moonlight highlight the reddish glow beneath her cheeks. “Cardan,” she rasped quickly, jerking her knee closer, yet the drunken king thought otherwise as he kept her firmly in place. If anyone was to mover her, it was to be him. “Do not think of it, my king. You are drunk.”

“As you should be, my queen,” he lyrically responded as if his magic teased his voice, dawning the beginning of an enchantment. “It is a celebration to last a month! A celebration of you and I. Why have you retired to our chambers? No guard is posted outside the door.”

Unsure if Cardan’s words were suggestive, Jude leaned closer. The space between the queen and king thinned, yet there was so much separating them. And she partially burdens the blame. If only she removed her armor as quickly as Cardan. “I retired as I am tired. Why have you left the celebration?” she inquired, glancing at the slant of the moon. There were a few hours left till light came dawning the land, and the fair folk found themselves a resting place till the endeavors resumed.

“What is a celebration without the queen?” Cardan mused. His raven hair fallen into the eyes the color of the same spilt black ink.

“A tiresome queen never made for good company,” Jude heard herself saying without much content.

Cardan, frowning, saddled between Jude’s legs, and a hefty sound came from the back of her throat. The queen’s eyebrows risen. The king merely curved the daggered smile Jude had come to admire in a way moths do with flames. Cardan crushed the silk spun blanket against the mattress, leaving Jude little room to pry the coverlet over herself. “You ought to find better reasoning, my queen. Has my sudden transformation left you sadden? Were you wishing to rule the throne as yours, and yours alone?”

Jude tipped her head back, and the shooter strands of her chestnut roasted hair falling loose and framing the sharp details of her face. Cardan trailed his hand slowly over her smooth skin, rubbing the taut muscles always strained to flee in a moments notice. “Cardan, I thought I craved power, and power alone, yet the hatred for you that poured so thickly through me anytime I crossed over a raven’s feather quill, or I wore a sliver golden ring, or I saw a tail swindling to and frow, or I went on your brother’s missions had consumed my being so thoroughly I knew nothing else than to think of you—”

“Tell me again, my sweet villain,” he whispered lightly, the sweetness of the wine far gone from his lips.

“What again? Please, do not interrupt. I must say the issues of my unresolved mind and armored heart,” Jude murmured. The opportunity was slipping. Her armor tightening. Her mind sharpening.

“Tell me you hate. At least, then, I am aware the depths of this marriage, and I may armor my heart once more—”

“Cardan,” muttered Jude abruptly, “if you do not wish to find what your tail tastes like, then hush.” Jude slid her own hand to meet Cardan’s, intertwining their fingers together. She brushed her thumb over his signet ring, tracing the symbol of his lineage. Her eyes flicked upwards, and she almost came undone. Those beautiful ink eyes glimmering with bit of golden star dust. The gold was haunting. Almost taunting. A reminder her king’s midnight eyes were completely glazed in gold when Cardan had been cursed. “My heart is armor as yours is stone, yet you held a depth of feeling, which you confounded in me, and if I were not to do the same…if I were to go another moment without telling, then I would be the serpent.”

“Then tell me, Jude. Whether you love or hate me, I plead you to tell me the heaviness shielded behind that armor of yours, so I may know how to act, how to be, around you,” Cardan exhaled as if he were the one saying those desired words all over again.

“I love you, Cardan,” Jude whispered shallowly, the words barely strung into the open. She spoke the words as a dead greedy man refusing eager ears where his treasury resided, and Cardan eagerly bent so close, catching every detail. The shutter in her breath, the heavy reside woven as if she had been gutted on a battlefield than sitting in their chambers.

“Tell me, again.”

“Cardan, I love you, and I will love you till never comes and beyond,” she vowed.

“Mortal promises are not worth much,” Cardan claimed, and it took Jude a brief second to realize the light teasing.

“You must wish to have your tail stuff into that formidable mouth,” she threatened tauntingly.

Leaning towards the High King, she reached past him. Quickly, she grasped his flickering tail and laughed the moment Cardan released a strangled noise, somehow a low growl and chocked moan. She ran her hands along his fury tail till she brushed the tuft ends. Gleaming, Cardan released an involuntary purr, and he quickly eased Jude onto her backside, tearing the silky blanket aside. He drew an eased breath, staring darkly down at the woman he loved, at his queen.

Jude brushed her fingers through his raven locks, pushing the strands behind his blade tipped ears. Her thumb brushed the golden hoops fastened in his ear, trailing to the bottom of his lobe. She twisted a golden chain piece of metal dangling in the lowest part of his ear, and her fingers continued, tracing the curve his jaw—the jawline that had cut out her own heart—and touching those wicked lips. Her eyes met his, and her heart slowed as if she followed into the beyond.

“Cardan, there’s another heaviness weighting my heart, and I must relieve it,” she murmured, catching her eyes on his thinned lips plastering a frown, and those dark eyebrows drawn closely together.

“Perhaps it ought to wait, my queen. I need you. I need all of you, and I will be damned if I am not inside you once more,” he growled against her lips, seizing the corner with a small kiss. He trailed his lips down, down, down, roaming the most tender parts of her jaw and neck that drew noises Jude had not known she could create.

She tried catching his jaw and steering his eyes back on her, yet she found them bounded by one of his hands, tucked between their rising chests. “Cardan, please…”

“Jude, let me show you the way you make me feel. You know I cannot lie, yet I can deceive unless you ask me directly. Please, let me love you,” he pleaded.

Cardan, her cruel prince, her wicked king, begging was an unholy sight. Jude inhaled and held it in. Her mind spun, snatching on any cohesive thought, yet as quickly as one formed, it dissipated into the nothingness of her mind. “Cardan, let me tell you this, and if you wish to continue, I give you a whole week’s worth of my time.”

Cardan growled lowly, nipping the corner of Jude’s soft lips. Inhaling a slow breath, he stiffened atop of her, and his eyes narrowed upon an intoxicating smell. A smell he had been too intoxicated and overwhelmed, with Jude lying in their bed, to notice. “How long?” he demanded, trying to articulate the seldom nights they had alone since Jude return and his own rebirth. “How long, Jude?”

“How can, how can you tell?” She stammered, her voice falling low. Refusing to meet those dark, golden ebbed eyes, she felt the heaviness of them crushing her.

Unable to stare at the woman beneath him, Cardan rolled, not caring his tail crushed beneath him. He thought their scheming and secrets were done. At least between them. How foolish though, to believe a mortal at their word. As deceitfulness and ruthlessness bounded his nature, strategy and lying bounded the queen beside him. How were they to rule as one if they could trust as one?

Cardan, while Jude breathed heavily beside him, rolled onto the edge, his bare feet cooled by the bark floor. A hand caught his shoulder, yet he shrugged off the contact. “My own wife cannot trust me,” he muttered.

“Cardan, I trust you…I was frightened, and I have been so frightened since…”

“Since when, Jude? Is it me that frightens you?” he asked calmly.

“Yes, you frightened me. The moment you transformed into that serpent I was frightened. I found out prior and had yet found a time to tell you. Vivi scented the change when I was dressing for the arrival of Madoc right before…” she kept her strength through the entire explanation, until the end. She crumbled thinking of the serpent. Serpent Slayer.

She bared the title Serpent Slayer. Slaying the serpent, ending one of the only pieces of Cardan she had left without knowing cleaving the beast’s head from its body would end the curse, releasing the High King. The serpent’s death meant Cardan’s death, and though, the power and influence of binding the serpent to her forever was desirable, she had to free the High King. Even if he was released to the beyond.

A part of him remained with her. She rubbed her flat belly.

“The curse took me,” Cardan finished. “You’re so reckless, Jude.”

“I am reckless when it comes to you, my king,” she said.

“Foolishly, reckless,” he declared, tugging her carefully into his lap. Jude crashed against him, curling her fingers around his outgrown locks of velvet black hair, winding the ends and pulling. “Not to mention the lack of guards, Sir Fend should be with you at all times, understood?”

Jude rolled her eyes, “I am capable of handling myself.’’

“I know, love, I think you are the only one who is, but it will be by your command or mine, she will be with you,” Cardan declared as if he was declaring war itself. He pressed his wicked lips against Jude’s, bounding her to him. There needn’t be anymore word exchanges, just Jude and him. Him and Jude.

Working his fingers underneath the rosy robes, mossy vines embroidered along the arms, Cardan pushed the tied robes up Jude’s thighs and pass the widened curves of her hips, a perk of her mortal body the High King loved gazing at. However, he was greedy, taking every part of her she would allow him to have, and he devoured each part until they molded themselves together; lips clashing in a battle, Cardan disarming her with quick swipes of his tongue and brief nips of his teeth.

Jude moaned lowly into her husband’s mouth. She pulled him closer, pressing her clothed chest to his, yet she ached to strip the dew green tunic off his body. Trailing her fingers down Cardan’s neck, she fumbled quickly on the frustratingly golden buttons, and slowly, she worked each button through the small sewn slit. Each button she unraveled, a feverish kissed replaced it till she reached his lower abdomen. Then, the impossible feat was his black breeches from which she ripped the tunic free from and ran her hands back up Cardan’s chest. He chuckled lightly, grasping Jude’s wandering hands and pressing kisses on the inside of her palm.

“I thought you wanted me?” she teased Cardan, rolling her hips against him while Cardan stripped—really shredded—the robe from Jude’s shoulders, letting the flimsy material bunch around her elbows, exposing her breast to her king.

“I do, and I will,” he growled lowly, bucking his hips harshly against hers, and he claimed her wide hips with his hands. He kept her firmly against him, watching her breast bounced as they moved against once another. “Fuck—” Cardan muttered, pushing his face against her chest, and he quickly closed his lips around her nipple.

Jude threw her head back, digging her dull nails into Cardan’s arms; she clutched tightly as if she might disappear if it weren’t for him, his body, his love, keeping her grounded. “Cardan,” she cried softly, biting her lip as he teased her nipple. He sucked gently, tongue swirling over her hardened nipple, and he kissed softly to the other, taking it gently between his teeth.

An encompassing heat arose within the pleasured queen. An intoxicating warmth dampened between her legs, and she heard Cardan inhale a frighteningly deep breath. “Jude, you smell so sweet,” he muttered against her breath, prying his mouth away.

His kissed her brashly, preventing himself from laying Jude out on the bed and sliding between her legs; he would be there till the sun rose and long after it fell. Pulling away, his eyes traced her warm skin illuminated in a silvery shine and her chestnut hair fleeing the braid she knotted it into. Trailing his eyes down her chest, he devoured the heavy rise in his chest, and he felt her clenching thighs around his waist. Every bit of her surrounded and drowned him, taking him completely by surprise as he knew he’d never tire of undoing her.

She may forever undo him with hers skilled tongue and schemed mind, yet as he held her captive, undoing her entirely, he knew this was how did so to her.

Cardan gripped her hips like an iron band, watching Jude closely. Jude released a soft mewl of laughter as her husband’s tail swayed joyously behind, and she briefly wonder if his tail was ever an indication. Dropping her hands to his breeches, she unlaced them lazily till she could work her hands beneath the waistline, and she trailed her fingers over her husband, touching his hard member. She listened to his labored breathing and felt his stiffened muscles, each ticking up with tension as he waited.

Slowly, she freed his member from the breeches, thanking whoever she must for the lack of the fair folks’ modesty. Their bodies never adorned undergarments, and sometimes, during grand festivities they bore no clothes, lost to the winds and the lands. Working her hand slowly up and down him, Cardan tightened his hold on her, almost bruising her tender flesh, yet Jude partially paid any mind. Having him leave marks on her, they were still figuring out things in bed as Jude did tend to bruise easier than her husband’s past lover, left her slightly drunken. It was a symbol other than their spoken promise that Cardan was hers and she his.

Yet, none of the marks hurt, nothing ever hurt. Cardan always made sure.

Cardan shared a darkened look, quick glimmers sparked around the blackened iris, as he pulled Jude entirely against him, entering her in a swift movement. Chocking on a breathless moan, Jude sealed her eyes shut and leant her forehead against her husband’s. He filled her so thoroughly that she was lost in a delirious state, mouth slightly parted. It was, perhaps, the only way Cardan managed to silence his wife, the High Queen—his member buried deep in her, and Jude clenching tightly around him as he adjusted.

“Are you with me, my darling?” Cardan rolled his hips slightly, grinding deep inside her.

Jude shuddered lightly, Cardan brushing each sensitive place. He always found every perfect place, drawing her higher and higher with each roll of his hips. Nodding her head meekly, the High Queen sluggishly rested her head against the king’s shoulder, too heavy to bare the weight herself. “Y-yes,” she stammered lowly, meeting her husband’s movements in a dazed pattern.

Cardan released a breathy chuckle into Jude’s chestnut hair, and he pressed a tender kiss there. He dragged her hips forward, hands tight around Jude. He moved her forward and guided her through the slow motion as he fucked inside her. Deeper and harder, he ensured their hips in perfect movements. Losing every part of herself, she sputtered a weakened breath. Fitting onto her husband’s thick length stolen everything—her mind, her heart, her body—at blade point as she had done to him all those months ago. She was breathless. She was thoughtless. The only thing grounding her was the way Cardan pressed everywhere she needed inside her, soothing and igniting a blazing fire all at once.

He snarled against her neck, lapping his tongue over the sweet skin salted by his wife’s light sheen of sweat. Jude found herself in their paced movements, drawing out the grand evening. She lifted herself up Cardan’s thick member, and she dropped down. Her loud moans chimed higher as she built the friction inside her stomach—a slow burn, forged brighter and hotter as they entangled themselves together.

Jude’s chest fastened the rate it heaved, crashing into Cardan’s heated skin. Her hardened nipples brushed the fair folk’s taut chest, sending jolts of delectable ecstasy, and she shivered violently despite the warmth spread over her skin and overtaking everything inside her. The heat crawled beneath her skin, each nerves sent ablaze as the warm unfurled and swept from the bundle inside of her stomach. It tightened in turn with the way she grinded and bounced on Cardan’s hard member. Her thighs trembled—from the work and the waves of pleasure that crashed over her, and they threatened to send her drowning in the abyss of it all. Her stomach tightened. Her skin raised with little bumps. Her nipples swelled with intense heat. Her walls clamped around Cardan.

As she drew closer, Cardan all but slowed the pace. He snapped his hips violently into, groaning greedily at the warmth of his wife. He sunk further into her, overtaken the way she felt around him. He cursed profoundly against her skin. Clashing his canines over Jude’s warm skin, he sank his sharp teeth into her flesh. The fresh blood swirled on his skin made him hum while Jude cried sharply, her voice loud and rough, as she sunk down on Cardan, clenching tightly on his thick cock as she unraveled.

Jude’s muscles trembled uncontrollably as she let go, the threatening waves crashing over and taking her to the peak of her high. She collapsed against Cardan. Completely unmoving, aside the little twitches of her body and her uncoherent moans, she was only held steady by the High King’s body that still thrust deep into her. Cardan fucked deeper and deeper, muttering Jude’s name like an oath as his entire body tightened then shuttered. He released deep inside the wetness of his wife, watching as she came undone once again before him.

As he drew his face back, he peered down at his wife. Everything about her wholly appearance left him confounded. The beautiful, blissful drawn expression on her heart shaped face. The messy sprawl of her braid. The way her body twitched as Cardan rocked shallow inside her. The little droplets of blood splattering shining, heated skin near the inflated puncture wound on the juncture of her neck.

Craning his neck down, Cardan lapped the drying blood. “That was a pleasured delight,” he hummed against Jude’s flesh, “hopefully, the remainder of your pregnancy will be so.”

Jude lazily rolled her eyes, keeping them closed tight. She hummed softly, “if you behave, my king.”

[whittlebaggett8]

15 details you might’ve missed on the latest episode of ‘Game of Thrones’, Defence Online

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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie as Jaime and Brienne on “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Game of Thrones” season eight, episode two, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

Below is a full recap and analysis of the latest installment in HBO’s final season of “Game of Thrones.”

From the weighty meaning of Jaime and Brienne’s swords seen side-by-side to the musical cue that added emotional depth to scenes with Davos, keep reading for a look at the major details and callbacks you might have missed.

The eighth and final season of “Game of Thrones” pushed forward on Sunday night with an intimate and emotional episode. Acting as a precursor to next week’s massive 82-minute battle sequence, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was packed with meaningful characters moments and callbacks to earlier seasons.

Keep reading for a look at the 15 details you might have missed.

Opening credits changed slightly again, this time showing the war preparations at Winterfell.

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The credits for season eight, episode two, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

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HBO

While last week’s credits were entirely new for the series (showing three major historical events on the show), this week there were simple additions.

First, Last Hearth was shown enveloped in the icy blue tiles that represent the Night King and his Army of the Dead. Then, as seen above, Winterfell was shown battle-ready with the deep trenches built around its border.

Daenerys referred to Tyrion as Jaime’s “little brother,” nodding to one of the more popular fan theories for the Lannister siblings.

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Daenerys speaking to Tyrion in the great hall of Winterfell.

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HBO

“Perhaps he trusts his little brother to defend him,” Daenerys said when Tyrion tried to come to Jaime’s defense. “Right up until the moment he slits my throat.”

In George R.R. Martin’s books, the prophecy told to Cersei as a young girl has a third and important part. The woods witch told Cersei “the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and choke the life from you.”

Valonqar means “little brother” in Valyrian, and Cersei interpreted that to mean Tyrion would eventually kill her.

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Young Cersei as seen on the fifth season of “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

But many fans have come around to the idea that Jaime is the real valonqar – he’s also her little brother, after all, just by mere minutes.

But the show removed this part of the prophecy back on season five when we were given the flashback of Young Cersei hearing the predictions, so we can’t be certain this theory will manifest at all on “Game of Thrones.”

Regardless, this episode appeared to make a clear reference to it, if only to stoke the fires of speculation once more.

Read more: Our full breakdown of the Valonqar prophecy and what it could mean for Cersei

Jaime repeated Brienne’s argument from the season seven finale when Daenerys asked him to explain his desertion of Cersei now.

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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie as Jaime and Brienne.

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HBO

When Queen Daenerys still seems doubtful of Jaime’s intentions, he turns and looks at Brienne before answering.

“Because this goes beyond loyalty,” Jaime said. “This is about survival.”

That’s very close to what Brienne told Jaime in the dragonpit when she was trying to convince him to fight with the North.

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Jaime and Brienne on “Game of Thrones” season seven, episode seven, “The Dragon and the Wolf.”

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HBO

“Oh f— loyalty,” Brienne said, much to Jaime’s shock. “This goes beyond houses and honor and oaths. Talk to the queen.”

It was Jaime’s invokation of this sentiment that finally pushed her to stand up and defend Jaime in front of all the Northern lords, Lady Sansa, and Queen Daenerys.

A familiar musical cue played at the end of Jaime’s scene in the great hall of Winterfell.

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Grey Worm handing back Widow’s Wail to Jaime.

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HBO

Just as Grey Worm roughly thrust Widow’s Wail into Jaime’s chest (more on that important sword in a moment), the score kicks in and plays Jaime’s theme song.

This music was first heard on the series back on season three towards the end of Jaime’s memorable bathtub confession scene, in which he told Brienne the story of killing the Mad King for the first time.

That theme has never been featured on the official soundtracks released by HBO, but that will change this season.

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Jaime Lannister on season six of “Game of Thrones.”

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Helen Sloan/HBO

It was notably heard on season six, when Jaime went to Riverrun to break the Blackfish’s siege. Composer Ramin Djawadi said this emotional theme will “definitely” appear on the season eight soundtrack.

“Yes, definitely,” Djawadi told INSIDER at HBO’s red carpet premiere for season eight when we asked if we could finally expect the theme to be officially released. “A lot of people have approached me [about that].”

Arya and Gendry’s flirtatious forge scene was a shot-by-shot recreation of a season two moment between them.

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Arya Stark watching Gendry on season eight versus season two.

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HBO

When Arya walked up to the forge just as Gendry was starting to work on a weapon, the framing of the shots was identical to a scene from the end of season two, episode five, “The Ghost of Harrenhal.”

Here’s Gendry, now and then, in the same shot.

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Gendry on season eight versus season two of “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

Actors Joe Dempsie (Gendry) and Maisie Williams (Arya) have aged along with their characters as the series has filmed over the last decade.

When they first began shooting, Williams was 12 years old. Now she’s 22. Dempsie was about 23 by the time season two rolled around, and now he’s 31. Their characters are meant to be much closer in age (about 18 and 23, respectively).

Read more: Fans are divided over Gendry and Arya’s sex scene on ‘Game of Thrones’

Tyrion repeated a joke we’ve heard before about how he’d prefer to die.

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Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister on “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

“I always pictured myself dying in my bed, at the age of 80 with a belly full of wine and girl’s mouth around my c—,” Tyrion told Jaime.

Clearly Tyrion loves this little jest, because Jaime finished his sentence for him.

We heard it the first time back on the first season, when Tyrion was surrounded by the mountain clans in the Vale.

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Tyrion and Bronn facing down the mountain tribes on season one, episode eight, “The Pointy End.”

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HBO

“How would you like to die, Tyrion son of Tywin?” said Shagga, son of Dolf. And Tyrion answered with his typical wit, saying the “belly full of wine” joke again.

The scene on season eight ended on a potentially more terrifying note, when Tyrion said perhaps he’d “march to King’s Landing and rip [Cersei] apart” after he was killed.

This might have been a line in the script designed to prepare fans to see their favorite characters not only killed in the upcoming battle, but resurrected and turned into murder-happy wights.

Read more: The difference between White Walkers and wights on ‘Game of Thrones’

With Jaime and Brienne together, this marked the first time the pieces of Ned Stark’s sword have been back in Winterfell since his death.

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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gwendoline Christie as Jaime and Brienne on “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

The ancestral blade of House Stark was a greatsword named Ice. The blade was Valyrian steel, making the metal precious (and one of the rare substances that can kill White Walkers).

The sword was taken by the Lannister when Ned was arrested, and later melted into two new blades.

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Ned was executed by Ser Ilyn Payne with his own sword, Ice.

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HBO

At the start of season two, Tywin Lannister had Ice melted down and forged two new swords from it.

He gave one of these swords to Jaime, who in turn gifted it to Brienne. She named it Oathkeeper. The second sword was given to King Joffrey, who named it Widow’s Wail. After Joffrey’s death, Jaime took the blade for himself.

Now, for the first time since Ned left Winterfell on season one, episode two, Ice is back in its rightful place of House Stark.

Both Davos and Gilly were visibly moved by the sight of a young girl who reminded them of Princess Shireen Baratheon.

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A little Winterfell girl, Ser Davos, and Gilly on “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

The young girl had burn marks on her face, in the same place where Shireen’s greyscale covered her cheek.

Davos thought of Shireen as a daughter, and was devastated to learn not only of her death but to hear she was executed by Stannis and Melisandre. Shireen helped both Davos and Gilly learn how to read. We saw the young princess bond with Gilly on season five, when they were both at Castle Black.

The scene was given added emotional weight with an instrumental version of the song Shireen once sang playing in the background.

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Davos and Shireen with each other for the last time on “Game of Thrones.”

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Helen Sloan/HBO

During a season three scene with Shireen, she was heard singing an eerie ballad called “It’s Always Summer Under the Sea.”

The melody of that song is the same music heard on the season eight scene when Davos has a visceral reaction to seeing the young Winterfell girl in front of him.

During the War Room session, we got a peek at the battle plans for the coming fight.

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The battle plan for Winterfell’s fight against the Army of the Dead.

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HBO

From left to right on the top, the plan is to have House Stark and Arryn forces on the left (where Brienne will lead), then Targaryen and Dothraki fighters in the center. On the far right is more Stark soldiers.

Inside the castle walls, House Mormont (led by Lady Lyanna) will apparently protect the main holdfast. Then there’s a blank black tile, marking a mysterious set of people. Perhaps this indicates where the crypts are, but we can’t be sure.

We also know House Greyjoy will be posted in the godswood with Bran, aka the Three-Eyed raven.

Meanwhile, Sam Tarly keeps reminding us of those important books he stole. What could be inside them?

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Also, Ghost is back! Kinda. He just stood there.

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HBO

Upon the ramparts, Sam talked to Jon and Edd about the books he stole from the Citadel library. What exactly are those books? Is there important information in them? Sam poached them from the restricted section of the library, where tales about the Long Night and Azor Ahai were kept.

We had hoped to get a peek in them before the big battle started, thinking there might be useful info inside for our heroes. But we’re still waiting for whatever those pages will reveal.

Read more: 37 important questions we hope ‘Game of Thrones’ season 8 will answer

When Arya found out Gendry was a Baratheon, the weight of that revelation added fuel to a fun fan theory.

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Maisie Williams as Arya Stark on “Game of Thrones” season eight.

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HBO

Back on the pilot episode of “Game of Thrones,” Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark spoke in the crypts of Winterfell about their familys.

“I have a son, you have a daughter,” Robert said. “We’ll join our houses.”

King Robert was referring to Joffrey and Sansa but, as we soon learned, Joffrey wasn’t Robert’s son at all but the bastard of Cersei and Jaime.

Fans have spent years hoping that line might foreshadow a romance between Gendry and Arya, the real son and daughter of Robert and Ned. And tonight they got their wish (just sans the arranged bethrothal part).

Tyrion and Jaime mention the Siege of Pyke and Whispering Wood, two battles with loaded significance.

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Tyrion, Davos, and Jaime sitting together by the fire.

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HBO

Tyrion calls Jaime the “fabled hero of the Siege of Pyke.” That fight happened decades before the contemporary events of “Game of Thrones,” but Jaime had a meaningful conversation with one of the Stark household soldiers about it on the first season.

On season one, Jaime was standing guard duty when Jory — one of Ned Stark’s most trusted men — came to him with a message.

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Jaime and Jory together on “Game of Thrones” season one, episode four, “Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things.”

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HBO

The two exchanged pleasantries, and talk turned the battle at the Siege of Pyke, where they had fought side by side. Jory mentioned how he nearly lost an eye fighting one of the Greyjoy men.

The next time Jaime and Jory saw each other was when Jaime and the Lannister men attacked Ned in the streets of King’s Landing.

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Jaime killing Jory as he stares at Ned Stark on season one, episode five, “The Wolf and the Lion.”

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HBO

Jory tried to take Jaime on single-handedly, but Jaime shoved his dagger through Jory’s eye, killing him instantly and bringing their earlier conversation around full circle.

Back on our season eight episode, Jaime calls himself the “fabled loser of the battle of Whispering Wood.”

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Jaime and Theon standing before King Robb Stark on season one, episode nine, “Baelor.”

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HBO

This was the first major battle Robb Stark won. He surprised the Lannister forces and captured Jaime, which eventually led to Jaime’s release with Brienne and the loss of his hand.

Given how Jaime-centric Sunday’s episode of “Game of Thrones” was, it’s fitting for us to be reminded of these two monumental character moments for Jaime. The first is an example of his previous cutthroat loyalty to his family, and the latter shows how far the relationship between House Stark and Lannister has come.

Meanwhile, that emotional knighting ceremony was a deep reference to George R.R. Martin’s books.

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Brienne knighted by Jamie on “Game of Thrones.”

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HBO

In addition to the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, Martin wrote three novellas set in Westeros around 100 years prior to the events of “Game of Thrones.”

Each novella follows the tales of a knight called Ser Duncan the Tall and young Targaryen prince known simply as Egg. Ser Duncan even got name-dropped on the fourth season of “Game of Thrones,” when King Joffrey was reading through the White Book of the Kingsguard.

Ser Duncan the Tall is Brienne of Tarth’s ancestor.

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Ser Brienne of Tarth in all her glory.

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Helen Sloan/HBO

After years of fans speculating that the unusually tall Ser Duncan might be one of Brienne’s ancestors, Martin confirmed the theory at a convention in 2016. The three “Dunk and Egg” novellas were packaged into a single book called “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

Knowing Brienne’s shared heritage with the chivalrous Ser Duncan made that incredible knighting ceremony all the more powerful when Jaime said, “Arise, Brienne of Tarth, a knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

The song Podrick sang was pulled straight from the books, and it’s known as “Jenny’s Song.”

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Daniel Portman as Podrick on “Game of Thrones” season eight, episode two.

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HBO

The song, renamed “Jenny of Oldstones” for the show, appears during one of Arya’s chapters in “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Learn more about the song and its hidden meaning here.

For now, here are the full lyrics to Podrick’s version:

“High in the halls of the kings who are gone Jenny would dance with her ghosts The ones she had lost and the ones she had found And the ones who had loved her the most The ones who’d been gone for so very long She couldn’t remember their names

They spun her around on the damp old stones Spun away all her sorrow and pain And she never wanted to leave Never wanted to leave (x5)”

The version which played as the credits on the episode ran was by Florence + The Machine.

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Daenerys and Jon Snow at the end of Sunday’s “Game of Thrones.”

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Helen Sloan/HBO

Just after Jon Snow dropped the bombshell news of his parentage on Daenerys, the Night King’s army arrived and the episode faded on an ominous note. Watch the lyric video for the Florence + The Machine version of “Jenny of Oldstones” here.

For more “Game of Thrones” insights like these from INSIDER’s Kim Renfro, pre-order her book “The Unofficial Guide to ‘Game of Thrones’” now.

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