ASOIAF: What is the difference between Stannis Baratheon and Ned Stark

 Stannis is a much more Asbergery. He doesn’t understand other people’s laughter. He has no feelings of joy and is socially rather retarded, banning loud talking and laughter in his hall. No one would ever accuse Ned Stark of being the life of the party, but he does have a certain humor.

Stannis is almost insanely dutiful and legalistic to fault. Everything boils down to duty and law for him.

Ned has much stronger “human” side.

As much as Ned is ruled by his code of honor and as much as he respects laws, everything is leavened by LOVE. And for him, love trumps duty.

• He shelters Jon(probably an enemy of King Robert) out of a heartfelt horror at the idea of infanticide and out of the love for his sister. Stannis would simply be incapable of doing this: he is ruled by his sense of duty.
• He warns Cersei, mainly because he can’t stand the thought of her children being killed. Had Stannis come to power, I’m sure that he would have put a price on the children’s heads as ‘abomination’ and rival claimants.
• Having thrown in with Robert, Stannis would not have resigned the Handship at the suggestion to assassinate Daenerys and her unborn child. He would have carried out his duty.
• I don’t believe Ned would have ever entertained the thought of killing an innocent child even for the goodness of the realm. The mere thought of child-killing kind of sends him off the deep end: I believe it triggers his post-traumatic stress syndrome that he acquired during Robert’s Rebellion. He does not behave rationally.

Stannis is an interesting character; in many ways his philosophy of kingship is one that jibes with me. And, yes, Ned and he do have things in common. But Ned has more heart, whereas Stannis wouldn’t even quite know what ‘having heart’ meant.

Written May 26 th

ASOIAF/Game of Thrones: Are Bloodraven and The Three eyed Crow the same characters

There is disagreement.

I say they are different but at least two prominent ASOIAF writers and probably others have said they are the same. But I haven’t seen the evidence.

Maybe it comes down to how we define character.

So I’ll present my arguments. I’m not trying to argue for the sake of argument. In the end, it probably doesn’t matter to your enjoyment of the stories(show story and book story.) so it may be a case of choose what you want to believe.

But on show matters, I go strictly for what is included in the show itself: lines of dialogue written by the writers or otherwise portrayed: I have no interest whatsoever, or time to watch, ‘Inside the Episode’(which I’ve never seen) or actor interviews. I only care about what is conveyed in the story proper.

Note: if conclusive evidence is presented from the show, I will stand corrected and delete my post.

Bloodraven

I think that the Three Eyed Raven is different than Bloodraven. At least with the evidence we’ve been given in the show.

• Brynden Rivers, Bloodraven in the book is referred to as The Three Eyed Crow, or Bloodraven or Lord Brynden or Bryden Rivers in the book.
• He’s referred to as the Three-Eyed Raven in the show. That’s it. That’s a different name. Only the Three eyes remain.
• Brynden Rivers is a skinny, spooky one-eyed albino Targaryen with a red eye in the book.
• The Three-Eyed Crow is a hale, handsome, decidedly two-eyed Swede in the show.
  
  Appearance normally wouldn’t matter but here, I’d say it does: if Tyrion were portrayed by Brad Pitt in the show, would we consider him the same character even though he wasn’t a dwarf?
  
  No. Dwarfism is an integral part of his charaters, as skinny-spooky-one-red-eyed albino-ness-spooky-ness is a part of Bloodraven.
• Brynden Rivers is around 120 years old in the books.
• In the show the 3ER says he’s been waiting for Bran for a thousand years. Dismissed by some as hyperbole; but there’s no evidence in the script that it was hyperbole. Maybe we’ll later find out he’s only been there a few decades. Until we do, I reject the hyperbole argument.
• In the books, Brynden Rivers is said to ‘have a thousand eyes and one.’ (Because he sees everywhere plus has one eye.)
• In the show he says the same. (Because he sees everywhere and has two eyes. Yes, it makes no sense whatsoever. But this is held as evidence: for me, they included the line only because it has way more of an iconic, myterious ring than ‘I’ve been watching you for a long time.’ And the show included it mainly because it plays well. And they may have originally conceived of the show character(back in Season 4 when he said it) as he’s written in the book.For others, it’s proof that they are the same character.
• Bloodraven has a very very well developed character(for such a small role) with a complex, extremely detailed backstory in the books. He had loves, loyalties, enemies. He’s a legend a hundred years after his hey day.
   He featured in a GRRM novella(The Mystery Knight.)
• The 3EK seems to be without backstory or real character. He’s just a stripped down mentor trope. Perhaps the 3ER’s backstory will become known later and it will be similar to Bloodraven’s. But until then, his backstory is: sat in a cave for a thousand years waiting for Bran. The three eyed raven and Bloodraven are the same trope but they are not the same character.

Look, the show has different characters in general.

Is book Stannis the same character as show Stannis?

How about book Tyrion? Or book Cersei?

I would argue no, no, and no. They are different characters. They make different choices, have different motivations, react to things differently.

So for me, I have no problem seeing a minor character like Bloodraven as different when these major characters are so different.

Now, I haven’t memorized every single line of dialogue in the show. Again, if someone could point me to solid and conclusive evidence based on the show, and not just an assertion based on someone’s opinion, I’ll be happy to delete my post.

Night’s King/Night King

This one is harder for me to form an opinion on.

All we have in the books is a legendary figure from the past, a man who ‘gave his soul to a female other when he gave her his seed’ (baum-chicka-chicka wow wow), who then ruled the Night’s Watch from the Nightfort for 13 years and was bad and stuff until the Stark in Winterfell and the King Beyond the Wall Joramun put him down.

In the show he’s the leader of the present Others. Apparently he was the first Other, the poor sap who got Otherized by the Child of the Forest plunging the dagger into his heart.

Because the book character is somebody from a legendary, mythological past, a Hero like Odysseus or Achilles, or King Arthur or Noah only even MORE removed in time, its difficult to say.
 The book legend may be wrong; extremely garbled by time.

The Night’s King may still be alive in the book, but he’s not made an appearance in the book yet. Maybe he will and they’ve changed the backstory on him, making him a slightly different character, too. In short when it comes to that guy, I don’t think anybody can really say for certain.

Written May27th

Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 6: Why did Benjen serve Bran a cup of rabbit's blood for breakfast?

I've watched this scene five times. And it's no mistake. While talking to Meera and Bran, Benjen kills a rabbit, skins it, AND squeezes it's blood into a cup. He talks for a while more, tells his story. Then he walks over to Bran and serves him a cup of blood. 

I have searched the Net (long and hard, for almost a minute)looking for anyone talking about this. And nothing.

Now I can see the need for a warm mug of something hearty on a cold day in the Haunted Forest. But why not just heat up some snow?  I mean, I suppose you would get some nourishment out of blood but it seems so…yucky. Is it just that? Or something more.

There is some suggestion that Greenseers and weirwoods survive on the blood of human sacrifice in the books.

• Eddard Stark, in his first visit to Winterfells's weirwood wipes his bloody sword on the grass at the weirwood's feet.(AGOT Catelyn)
• In White Harbor, Davos learns of the old Northern practice of sacrificing criminals to weirwood, and Bran sees a vision in A Dance with Dragons in which he witnesses a human sacrifice at Winterfell.(ADWD, Davos)
• And then there is the Jojen-paste theory, which I used to love, but lately have discounted, but…The taste of blood fills Bran's mouth when he witnesses a sacrifice at Winterfell's weirwood.(ADWD, Bran)
• Then of course, there is the scene from WOW where Tyrion finds the white weirwood cyvasse piece drenched in blood(WOW Tyrion)
• And Brienne burying the Bloody Mummers at the weirwood roots at the Whispers in AFFC(Theon).
• Asha insisting that the sap on the weirwood tree is not sap but blood(ADWD-The Sacrifice).
• The insistence of the talking ravens to sacrifice Theon to the weirwood tree in the Winds of Winter.(WOW, Theon)

But the show usually eschews such gruesome details. I mean, the North Remembers. These are the good guys, aren't they? The show usually stays away from the the creepier manifestations of the Old Faith in the books.

Is this the show's confirmation, subtly done, almost unnoticed in the wake of Benjen's revelation, that green dreams, or (Three-eyed Ravenhood in show parlance) are fueled by blood?

I think it is. But maybe it is just considered a good hearty drink north of the wall.

The instant Benjen squeezes it out, Bran sits up, as if he has just smelled some freshly brewed coffee. The best part of waking up...and during the conversation he looks at the cup o' blood several times. As if to ask: Are you going to share that?

Some people will doubtless point to this as evidence that the Jojen paste theory is back on the menu. So to speak.Others will say, 'no, it's a wholesome health drink.' 

But if it  were me, and if I had the power to set an iron flail on fire with magic instantly,  I would have just whipped up a fire, (wight repellant, by the way), cooked the rabbit and drunk melted snow.

 Those northmen are hard.

Written May 31st 2016

Game of Thrones, Season 6 episode 5: Summer

Summer's death  seemed perfunctory and rushed; a clear clearing out of a character that the producers have deemed unnecessary and unworthy of the expense. Like Osha, Doran Martell, Areo Hotah and Roose Bolton's death, Summer's ignominious end did not get the dramatic weight it deserved. Of all of these deaths, I was most disappointed with Osha's because I think Natalie Tena lights up the screen like very few actors on Game of Thrones.

It's all just housework, not drama. They want to get rid of these characters so they kill them. The producers need to remember that death is not the only way to take a character out fo the story. After a while it gets boring. Perfunctory and rushed deaths have become the norm on Game of Thrones. Because, I guess, they've made their brand through a reputation of killing people.

I really think that Summer deserved almost as much attentionas they gave Hodor, Alliser Thorne or Ollie. He didn't get it.

In fact, even Hodor’s death will, according to GRRM, in a Q&A session last night in Santa Fe, take place in a totally different context and place(I’m guessing the Wall?) Which makes sense, because who puts a door on their cave?

Written May 24th

ASOIAF: How does Euron Greyjoy differ in the show from teh books?

Like everything in the show, he has had all the sharp edges and freakiness that are the hallmarks of Martin’s colorful characters rubbed smooth.

So in the show, rather than the books’ eye-patch wearing lean, sexy shade-of-the-evening drinking mad pirate’s pirate, who forces Warlocks to cannibalize each other, who owns a magic dragon horn, the blowing of which literally roasts a man alive, who lies with every breath, who is possibly a potential greenseer and warg, the scary dude who possibly raped his own brother, raped his other brothers wife, who sailed the Smoking Seas of Valyria…

…we have instead merely an imposing warrior type who’s not so much sinister and evil as just brutish and dominant.

Written May 23rd 2016

ASOIAF/GAME of Thrones: is Bran's actions logically possible?

Caveat: I recently got some criticism for this blog: I realize it is geekery of the highest level; which is why I share it with a limited amount of people, though it is open to the public.

 if you don't like it, please don't read it.

Time: Past, future, present. These are what we call them.

They are illusive abstractions on which we build our reality. Like logic itself. Time is timeless. It is…whatever it is. Our human minds make up this construct for reality in which time marches unchangeably behind us, changeably in front of us and yet we always occupy only the Now.

But time is a monolithic unchanging thing. Past-present-future are human illusions our consciousness has created to deal with reality; but in fact, all that has happened or will happen or is happening simply IS…

…man.

(sits back, takes a hit, nods sagely, exhales)

ASOIAF: What if Bran was the one who woke up the Others?

 I’ve worked up quite a spitball that needs hawking. (Sorry for that image: who came up with the term “spitballing,” anyway? Weird term.)

Because I’m really starting to wonder what other things in the past Bran has screwed up.

Now, I’m not so bold to suggest that this is the story George RR Martin is writing; I’m embarking on a Preston Jacobs-style journey. The thing I like about crazy theories is not that they are right: but they are interesting stories in their own right. Preston Jacobs is totally nuts; but his ideas would make fantastic books and he ought to write fiction instead of piggybacking his stories on GRRM’s.

After all, most fantasy novels and sci-fi too are pretty much based on tinfoil thinking.

So bear with me while I spin this tinfoil web.

In the books, Bran is an 8 year old—still definitely a child, despite his constant assertions that he’s “almost a man grown”— with massive powers he—and we—are only beginning to understand. (He’s older in the show, but that doesn’t matter really.)

In the show, at least, his mentor and teacher, a man who mastered the art of sorcery over an entire lifetime(in the books Bloodraven is 120 years old or so, in the show, The Three-Eyed Raven says he’s been waiting for a thousand years, at any rate he’s a good deal older than Bran.) Bloodraven/3ER is killed before Bran has completed his training.

All this is kind of par for the course for Bran’s type of hero journey—usually the trainee, cast into the world not fully trained, succeeds anyway. Luke Skywaker, ya dig? Though he failed, didn’t he? HIs father had to bail him out.

But here this is cast on his ear: Bran not being fully trained is different than Luke Skywalker not being trained: because Luke Skywalker is a mere Jedi. Bran is pretty much a time-travelling god able to possess other lifeforms and make them do his bidding—imperfectly.(Thus far only Hodor, but Bran’s powers are clearly more powerful than anybody’s estimated. There is spit in this ball, I recognize that.)

So now there’s Bran.

Able in some weird way he can’t fully control or understand to affect the past and present. Vast powers he has little grasp on. Like a toddler driving a Harley Davidson, you know there’s going to be problems. Was Smashing Hodor just the first thing he’s done?.

Is Bran responsible for the wonky seasons of the world? Is he responsible for Mad King Aerys’ madness? Did he make the first dragons? Is he the voice in Varys’ flames? Is the prophecies that Dany sees and hears in the House of the Undying direct messages from Bran?

Did he do something in the past? What else has he done?

Is the only solution to destroy Bran? Is the dark lord in our tale a small boy with powers whose implications he can’t grasp? Are the Others/White Walkers going after Bran with all their might to STOP him from screwing up the things he’s already screwed up?

Will Jon Snow, the Prince that Was Promised and Daenerys, ditto perhaps, combine forces to stop him?

Is that where this is heading? If not, I’m writing a fantasy novel of my own, because that is too awesome not to be written.

Written 1h ago • View Upvotes • Answer requested by Sambath M

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What do you think of the revelations on Game of Thrones SEason 6 Episode 5

RevelationS…plural.

They blew me away. They blew me away because they were clearly and obviously George RR Martin ideas and not the usual fan-fiction stuff that Benioff and Weiss do.(Which I enjoy for what it is.) And they were some of the biggest revelation, about issues that fans have been talking about for decades, perhaps.

Just be clear we got:

1. Clear evidence that fire does not stop White Walkers like it does Wights
2. Proof that White Walkers/Others were created by the Children of the Forest to help them fight off the First Men
3. Proof that Bran can,  affect the past in a profound way.
4. Proof that Hodor’s condition was caused by a time-traveling Bran.

The moment worked so well because the series is really all about moral choices. Bran was forced into making a typically Martin-esque choice: harm Hodor in the past to save himself and Meera and doom; or do nothing, and they all die. The horrifying aspect of it is not that Hodor died—Valar Morghulis—but that he spent so many years(decades in the show, I believe Book-Hodor is much younger) disabled just to enable the last moment.

I’ve sat by idly for five seasons while my girlfriend gasped in astonishment at things I already knew were going to happen.

This time I felt like a newbie again. It was nice. A pity I had to get them on TV rather than through the books, but I still enjoyed it.

Written May 23rd

Game of Thrones Season 6 episode 5 spoilers again

Is Bran solely responsible for messing up Hodor's life and killing him?

Bran led the White Walkers into attacking his group, and forced Hodor to stay behind to protect him. He also messed up Hodor’s mind, causing him to live his life as a lackwit. Do we have any excuses for Bran?

He is, but it’s not like he’s some evil monster. But yeah, his actions had consequences. I mean, Arya freed Rorge(in the books) who committed massive atrocities in Saltpans; and…well, this cause andaffect thing is big in Song of Ice and Fire. (Though it definitely has become a lot more complicated!)

1. It brought the White Walkers down on the cave.(worst fear, check)
2. It gave them the ability to come in.
3. It got the Three Eyed Raven killed(mentor dead, check)
4. It got Summer killed.
5. It ruined Hodor’s mind.
6. Hodor died.

So yeah, he’s responsible. GRRM puts characters in situations where there are NO easy answers and no ‘right’ decision and he put Bran in that position. I’m sure Bran knows it too. And I’m sure he feels the pain of it. And I’m not sure that Bran wanted it to happen the way it did: but let’s be clear: THERE WAS NO OTHER POSSIBLE OUTCOME. It had all happened before he was born. He was bound to do it.

(I imagine there will be some slight differences: Bran’s vision automatically enabling the White Walkers access to the cave doesn’t seem very sophisticated to me; it has Benioff and Weiss’s fingerprints all over it.)

Written May 23rd

What is it like to be a foreigner in a small town in the Czech Republic

It depends on the year.

Seriously there are a lot of variables, including which country said foreigner is from.

I live in Vsetin, which has a population of a little less than 30 000 and I’ve been living here for 12 years; before that I lived in Valasske Mezirici, RAdhost pod Radhostem and (briefly) Sokolov. (Avoid.)

When I hire new teachers from abroad (nearly always British or American), my teachers come here with a decent job, accommodation already sorted, and someone to hold their hand as they navigate the bureaucracy and anything else they need to get set up here, including finding a GP and so on.

So they have:

• a sort of security network to ease their adjustment
• a number of English speaking colleagues(Czech and foreign) so they have someone to talk to and perhaps do things with
• a decent job
• accommodation

Most of them are pleased enough to stay: three years ago I hired 3 teachers and re-hired an old one back: all 4 are still with us now; and while one is finally going back to the USA this summer, she’s being replaced by another former teacher, so they all be content with their life here.

But when I came here 13 years ago, things were different for me: I had no net, no job and only $300 to get myself started. And, though I managed to find a room and a job, believe me I had a rough time for the first six months. (Don’t do what I did!) After that, though things steadily got better as I clawed my way out of the considerable hole that I’d landed in.

For people in small towns here, I would saylife is pretty good. There’s little you don’t need for every day needs and you can always travel for the other things(mainly clothes.). Here are some notes:

• Sport is big: people do a lot of cycling and hiking and the lot in my area, which is hilly and beautiful. In the winter both downhill sking and cross-country skiing are big. If you’re an outdoorsy type, you’ll love it. If you’re not, well, then you should consider becoming one. You don’t have to be extreme about it(I’m not.)
• There’s a surprising amount of culture in these small towns: folk concerts, classical concerts, rock bands (no big name bands, but a lot of smaller bands from all over.)
• Along these lines, if you look for it, there are a lot of interesting folk traditions and festivals—town ‘grill parties’, folk music events; events called ‘gulasfest’(similar to chilifests in Texas); Christmas markets; folk dancing festivals(with competitors from around the world) and so on.
• IN my region there are several towns that range from 15 to 30 000 people; it’s easy to travel between towns: you can easily go to one town and see a concert and make it back to your town before the trains stop running; or, if you’re young enough and it’s up your alley, stay in the second town, party all night and then come back in the morning.
• AS long as you don’t have kids and don’t have a job that requires high mobility you don’t really need a car in a town like mine: I went seven years without oe and bought one only after I had started my own school: I need to drive over 100 kms a day nowadays. If you have kids, though, it’s inconvenient to be without a car as parents need to take their kids to school and various after school activities(you know, art, sports, ceramics or dance or whatever).
• If you are open to people and experiences you’ll find a lot of Czechs will seek out your company and invite you to various functions or activities. They are closed at first, but once they know you are foreign, some they will open up. They can be very hospitable to new people at first. After a few years, when one is a familiar figure, this behaviour kind of fades away, but at first it’s a real thing.
• Not everyone speaks English, but enough people do that you can navigate your way through most situations. You are much less likely to fall into what I call ‘the expat trap’ of Prague, wherein English speakers tend to spend much of their life with other English speakers and essentially remain cut off from their host culture. You are therefore much more likely to learn Czech here. However, I have known people who lived here for YEARS and still didn’t say more than a few words in Czech
• Like everywhere in the Czech Republic, pub culture is ubiquitous and expats must be careful not to spend too much money and time there. I have known teachers who use their money and travel all over Central Europe; and I’ve known other teachers who blow it all in pubs and have difficulties.
• One negative thing is that clothes shopping is pretty sub-par in smaller towns. If you want to buy some decent clothes you really need to travel to a bigger town: in my case Zlin(30 kms) or better yet, Ostrava (60 kms).

Caveat:

I have to admit all of the above certainly applies to white Western foreigners: i.e., Western Europeans or Americans or whatever.

I don’t think that Eastern Europeans(Ukraineans) or poorer EU workers(Romanians, Bulgarians) get quite the warm welcome and, of course, are also in much lower-paid positions.

And now, sadly, anti-immigrant attitudes towards Middle Easterners or Africans is at an all time high. Other dark-skinned nationalities might have a tough time too from some quarters; I do know a dark-skinned Iranian from the UK who’s married to a local girl who has had some discrimination at the airport in Prague; but in Vsetin itself, he is fairly well liked: but he’s a big, loud, funny Scotsman, and that kind of boisterous personality wins people over everywhere.

Similarly, I think African Americans or black British people would do all right here, if they didn’t mind people staring, as long as people know they were from the West and not economic migrants from Africa.

Written May 24th

Game of thrones Season 6 Episode 5, general thoughts/ review: (spoilers)

See, without Cersei and Jaime dragging it down with their boringness, I enjoy this show a lot more. Now if we can only cut out Dany, Jorah, Tyrion and Varys, we’ll have a cracking show.

This was probably the first episode in this series’ history that I as a long time book fan literally stood up with my jaw dropped at what was happening on the screen. So many theories confirmed; so many other theories quashed in this episode. Previously bits from the show that hadn’t featured in the books were either so obvious(Daenerys) or just not going to happen that way in the books(anything with Sansa or Brienne…) But the Bran scene had me floored.

A lot of scenes of people asserting good old fashioned dominance: Sansa dominates Littlefinger; The Waif dominates Arya; The Red Priestess dominates Varys; Euron Greyjoy dominates Yara and Theon; Bran dominates Hodor;

• The North—some good solid soap opera going on between Sansa and Littlefinger. Littlefinger is still manipulating Sansa. People all over the internet are bitching about Sansa lying to Jon: these are the same people who bitch about her being so honest to everybody. I think holding her cards close to her chest is a good thing; and I’m not so sure she should trust Littlefinger with his men. I mean, from her point of view. We saw what happened the last time Littlefinger offered to help someone(Ned.) But what confuses me, is why is Melisandre at that table? I mean, isn’t Melisandre all about fighting the White Walkers? Isn’t that her MAIN THING? And suddenly she’s all just involved in the council meeting to take Winterfell? This show needs to think things through a little bit. I have a sour taste in my mouth about Brienne and Tormund Chocolate Stealer because my HILARIOUS post about him last week was flagged for being a joke answer, even though it wasn’t really a joke, it was just funny. Lord Commander Edd Tollett. ‘Don’t Let the WAll Fall Down while I’m gone.” Jon says.
  
  Gee, I wonder what that was foreshadowing? Hamfisted Weiss and Benioff strike again.
• Braavos—impressive as it is and despite the fact that it works cinematically, you have to wonder what the whole beat Arya training is good for? I understand it’s some brainwashing technique, but it seems to be an end to itself. When Arya can’t hit the Waif, she’s failed: as if the whole thing is to hit the waif. By not hitting the waif, she proves that she’s not ‘one of them.’ Yet, if she hit the waif, wouldn’t that prove that the waif wasn’t one of them? And anyway, what do all these quarterstaff shenanigans have to do with being a Faceless Man? How often are Faceless Men going to have to deal with people coming at them and fighting like that? It’s like the show has combined water dancing of the books with, er, Faceless Manning. It’s funny how the show boils thing down to sheer obviousness: Kill this innocent person or we’ll kill you.
  
  But the play…though the circumstances are slightly different, the play(based on a play from the Mercy chapter from the yet-to-be-released Winds of Winter…I mean THIS is George RR Martin. You can really tell that this is the product of a great mind: the play is so multi-layered: it comments on nature of drama and it’s distortion of events for the sake of story, as good king Joffrey is betrayed by the evil Tyrion and Stark’s head is cut off; it works as history: medieval drama really was that silly; it works as we see the affect on poor Arya at the story being told and how it ‘reminds’ her of who she is—so, so sad. And it’s funny as hell. So when Arya says she’s made her decision at the end, I think it’s clear: she’s out of there! On the other handd, was that Richardd E Grant as one of the actors? I can’t imagine that he would have such a small role in this show: I assume he’ll be back.
• Daenerys—”find a cure and then come back. I’ll need you in Westeros.” Ah, see? This is just shit. I mean pure, unadulterated, unpasteurized, grade A, unfiltered, free-range, grass-fed, non-biodegradable nuclear SHIT. I can buy Dany walking unburnt through the fire. No problem. But Jorah just merrily riding off to cure an incurable disease? Puh-lease. Obviously, Benioff and Weiss screwed up by giving Greyscale to Jorah and now they have to backpedal furiously because ‘they need him’ with Dany for whatever the plot demands. Stupid.
• The Iron Islands—Yara is, like, queen of the Game of Thrones montage, isn’t she? I liked the King’s Moot scene. Show Euron has all the spookiness and freakiness and madness shaved off him. Why is the show so afraid to get freaky? But it does what it does and I thought it worked well. Some other reviewer remarked about the whole kinslaying taboo having gone out the window. I could write alot about how the show boils everything down to life and death. I don’t like it, but the show does, so I think that Euron’s gleeful admission of murdering his brother and his wishes to murder Theon and Yara make sense within the confines of the show.
  
  I totally called that Theon would be taking Victarion’s place. I didn’t call Yara doing it.
  
  By the way, Theon’s accent totally changed. That thick Yorkshire accent he’s been doing…it was mostly gone. I don’t like that.
• Meereen: Speaking of stupid, I thought Tyrion was all-good, all-knowing? I can’t think that his spreading the News of Daenerys’ godhood is all that good idea. And the show hates religioun with a passion. So working with the Red Priestess is going to backfire. Nice face acting from Conleth Hill, seriously. I bought his horror and fear. But, where exactly is it going? Are the Red Priests going to screw things up for the fragile peace, or…ooh, yeah. I forgot. I don’t care.
• Bran: WOW!!. So this is what it’s like for show-only watchers. A dozen fan-theories confirmed or destroyed in a few scenes.
• Children of the Forest made the White Walkers to defend themselves from humans!! Someone on reddit pointed out a throwaway line from A Storm of Swords: “Was it really an Other you killed, Sam, or just a child’s snow knight?” Grrm strikes again!
• White Walkers/Others are NOT bothered by fire. Fire does NOT destroy them. Repeat Fire does not destroy them. Only the wights.
• Hodor. That ‘hold the door’ theory was always one of the funniest and most pointless bits of tinfoil I’ve ever read. And yet…apparently… Laughing my a off.
• No Tower of Joy revelation, but don’t worry, we’re getting it.
• I have to wonder about Summer dying. Do you all think that it happens that way in the books? I tend to think Summer will survive that episode in the books, and they killed him off because of budget and shock value. But Hodor’s death felt all too book-like, for me: effectively because Hodor gives his life for Bran, but because Bran wargs him and ruins his mind. There is no way that Benioff and Weiss came up with that idea: that’s GRRM all the way.
  . And which way were they heading? North or South? I think something has to happen at the standing stones, which I think is where the White Walkers took the Craster’s baby in Season 4, right?

I don’t know if it was just the spoiler power of the last scene or the lack of Jaime and Cersei’s boring boringness or what, but I enjoyed this episode more than most.

Written May 23rd

Game of Thrones/ASOIAF: Is Daenerys the new Mad King? She seems to enjoy burning people alive

No, of course not, or at least not yet, but the qustion is a good one as the suggestion is definitely there, both in the books and the show.

Books:

There is definitely a question planted in the text in the books to make the reader wonder if she is going mad, like her father the Mad King. ( I won’t go into the details, but the question has been asked and debated—tiresomely—for years online.)

Indeed, Daenerys herself wonders the same several times: her fear that she is mad like her father is the prime motivation for her staying in Meereen after conquering Slaver’s Bay. She is trying to prove to herself that she can rule, rather than just being the bloodthirsty wreaker of havoc and crucifier of random political enemies that she has been.

However at the end of A Dance with Dragons, she seems come to the conclusion that the peace-loving Mother image, the benevolent ruler that the freed slaves have built up of her and to which she’s tried to conform, is not really her true self.

Her true self has been locked away deep within her, much like her dragons Viserion and Rhaegon have been locked in the vaults beneath the great pyramid of Meereen. Her true self is summed up in the words of House Targaryen: Blood and Fire.

She remembers the House Words of the Targaryen and finds her identity there.

So whether you consider her mad or no, and your mileage is going to vary, she seems to have come to terms and embraced the destructive side of her nature which she’s tried so hard to ‘chain ’ down in the recesses of her psyche.

This realization signifies ‘rebirth’ in her arc, just as Reek hearing his name signifies his spiritual rebirth earlier in the book. (This identity mix up is a major theme with several characters, actually.)

SHOW

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In the show, we are not privy to this inner dialogue of Danys’, but the same resolve is shown in her fiery destruction of the Temple and the slaying of the Khals amassed there. I think that we are meant assume that the old Dany that sacked the cities of Astapor, Meereen, and Yunkai is back. To a lot of viewers that is just dandy.

This Dany is a hero to some but there’s no doubt that the omelette she wants to make features a lot of broken eggs, and I believe—strongly that what she unleashes is going to be destructive to the point where it becomes horrific for the reader/viewer.

I won’t go so far as to say she’s an antagonist: A Song of Ice and Fire isn’t Harry Potter with a Voldemort and a Harry going head to head: it’s rather a story of several Harry Potters going head to head or allying with each other…or however it ends up playing out. And all these characters change, grow and evolve as the action plays out.

But anyway her action in the Temple with the khals was, ultimately, self-defense and not an act of madness. (Although the strange glassy, almost orgasmic look her face takes on probably is meant to suggest a bit of madness, just as her inner dialogue in the books suggests it. The music sounds a bit sinister, building to a quasi religious sounding chant: if this is a goddess, it’s a dark terrifying goddess you wouldn’t want to cross. I think it’s entire possible that at least one of her eyebrows is certifiably insane, though.)

No matter how destructive she ends up getting(and trust me, she is VERYdestructive), the description of her father’s excesses are far crueler—for the sake of cruelty. His decisions ultimately were self-defeating.. Daenerys may be a destroyer but she has more of a purpose.

Ultimately some people are going to define her as crazy. Others as a savior or a great conqueror.

The point is, she doesn’t care any more. She’s found the one thing she’s good at.

Blood and fire.

Written May 17th 2016

Game of Thrones/ASOIAF: Who is Tyrion referring to about 'stopping the Wheel' in Season 5 episode 8?

In his conversation with Daenarys in S05E08 he says “it’s a beautiful dream, stopping the wheel, you’re not the first person who ever dreamt it”. Who is he referring to and what can that history tell us about stopping the game of thrones?

Backstory spoilers!

The only historical figure who comes close is King Aegon V, who would be Daenerys’ great-grandfather(only grandfather in the show.)

Aegon V, who was Maester Aemon’s younger brother, was so down the line of succession when he was young that he was allowed to squire for a hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall, who was a low-born knight who came from the slums of Fleabottom in King’s Landing; but who was also a powerful and ultra-honorable and good knight who rose to become Lord Commander of the King’s Guard.

A freak series of accidents(war; disease; mental retardation; Aemon’s maester-hood) brought Aegon to the front of the line and eventually he was crowned king.

However, his long background squiring for a lowborn knight and coming into constant contact with the peasantry taught him sympathy for the common folks and during his kingship he attempted to enact a number of reforms that essentially amounted to a Peasant’s Rights movement.

Of course, the ruling class did not approve of this and “Egg” endured bad political fallout over this(and the fact that he allowed his children to marry who they wanted.)

In the end, Aegon ended up dying with Ser Duncan and his own son in a horrible fire while trying to hatch dragons, whose power he had become convinced he needed to back up his attempts at reform, for the good of the realm.

So that’s probably who Tyrion was talking about.

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On another level, the dialogue between Tyrion and Danerys shows the difference between mere reform and revolution.

Tyrion was thinking reform, which he apparently thinks is futile. But Daenerys is thinking revolution, a complete destruction of the old order.

Revolution means things get broken.

Written May 20th 2016

My Night in the Tent

So in preparation of my upcoming vacation in America, I spent last night sleeping in the tent. First, Jana tutored me in how to set it up--amazingly easy!! I remember my dad laboring for hours to put up the old canvas tent that we used to camp on. This one is smaller of course, but it's a ten minute job, max, for two people.

After watching a couple of episodes of Better Call Saul with Jana, I decided to try it out. I put the sleeping bag in, got my house keys and my kindle and my phone and climbed in.

It was pitch black in the tent. By the combined light of my Kindle and my phone, I unzipped the sleeping bag and placed it on the inflatable sleeping mat. Now, I am pretty particular about my sleeping habits. One of my 'rules' is that my body must be warm but my feet must be cold. So I set about trying to find a way to have the top and the bottom of the sleeping bag open.

I sat up and grabbed the zipper, which, of course was stuck. I gave it several sharp tugs in both directions to no avail. Finally, with a Herculean effort I ripped it open...It unzipped completely, converting my sleeping bag instantly into a large blanket. OK, I thought, that will do.

Then I set about zipping and unzipping various entrances of the tent, deciding to leave one flap open for air, because I like the air, cool but not cold.

Finally I settled back with a sigh to read the book on my Kindle, Dies the Fire an entertaining book, if transparently ripped off of  Stephen King's the Stand. I was aware that the mat I was on was not really as comfortable as I thought it was going to be. But I reckoned I would still be able to sleep on it...fortunately there are no stones in our yard and I had gotten up at 5 o'clock, so at this point--it was close to 11.00 pm at this time--I was pretty bushed.

I read a paragraph or so...the dim light of my kindle was sort of strange in the otherwise pitch dark of my tent. I sat up. It sounded like something was...sniffing at the tent. A dog...or...I don't know...some kind of... wild beast. Could it have been our cat, Stripey? Had one of the kids let him out? Then the thought hit me--shit! Had I brouht my keys?

I searched with my hand around me in the dark, trying to locate my cellphone. I knew I had brought that, but I couldn't find it. Finally, using the light of my Kindle, I located it. I used the cellphone's light to search for my mising house keys. Where were they? Then I was torn between using the cell-phone's light to search or the kindle's light. The Kindle light pretty much stayed on all the time, but was dim and not very helpful; on the other hand, the cell-phone's light was blindingly bright but only lasted for about 30 seconds. Which one would be more effective in my search? I frantically searched the floor of the tent, running my hands along the vinyl(or whatever) floor. No dice.

I squatted onto my haunches, pushing the sleeping mat over to one side. Had the keys fallen under the mat? But surely I would have felt them? The ground was a bit hard but it didn't feel like keys, but maybe the mat had sort of softened the keys into feeling like hard ground? Anything was possible.

I sighed. Either I hadn't brought the keys or they were lost in the dark of the tent, which is about the size of a queen-sized bed. There was nothing else to do. I was out of options. I called my girlfriend.

She answered and I explained my predicament. She laughed. She told me she'd bring me out her keys. I waddled, duck-style, over to the tent-flaps and unzipped them. There are a lot of tent flaps. There's like a screen against bugs; and an outer layer; and over all there is this sort of tent's tent designed to keep the tent dry in case of rain. It's like trying to unzip a chastity belt!! I thought.

Finally, I got out of the tent and managed to stand. The grass was wet and freezing cold to my bare feet. I should have put my socks back on. I felt like an idiot. My girlfriend came out and gave me her keys. "Good luck!" she cheerfully said and went back up to bed.

I crept back into the tent and laid down. Having opened it and stepped out, I had let a lot of cold air in. I glanced at my phone. It  was 45°. Actually a bit nippy. It had reached 20° earlier that day. Which I guess is about 70°. I'm not exactly sure. My phone shows Faherenheit but every other gauge in my world shows Celsius, so it gets a bit conffusing. I know what both mean but I don't know how to translate them into each other. Anyway.

So now I was cold. Now I wanted to zip up the sleeping bag again. I sat up, but in the darkness of the tent, it just wasn't happening. Fuck it, I thought and laid back with the sleeping bag swaddled messily around me, which I found none to comfortable. I read for awhile but the light was irritating and I was very tired. So I set the Kindle aside and put my headphones on. I listened to music for awhile and probably started to drift off to sleep. I took my headphones off and listened to the sounds of the night which were very relaxing. I heard slight breeze and the drunken sounds of some neighbours cavorting from somwhere down the hill...In the woods near our house, i heard some sort of bird crying out...some kind of owl, I expect. A screech oul? But it didn't sound like a screech. It was really kind of hooting, but wasn't hooting like they hoot in the movies, so I guess it was not a classic Hollywood owl. But it was a nice sound--wait, what was that? Footsteps? Had someone crept into my yard? Were they standing over my tent, big Bowie knife in hand? The sound of panting again. Stripey? Some dog? A....a....warthog?
What if it was a rat or something and it tried crawling UNDER the tent...wouldnt' that be weird if I felt the shape of a rat burrowing under me? Yuck!

But that didn't happen and I fell into an uncomfortable asleep.
________________________________________________________________________

I woke up. I quickly glanced at my phone. It was about 245 am. The sounds of our drunken neighbours down the hill were much more uproarious, though I daresay that had I been inside, I would'nt have heard them at all.

It wasn't them who had woken me up. It was my bladder. I really, really had to go. Friday night had been a night like any other so before watching TV with Jana I had prepared myself a big mug of steaming peppermint tea(oh, yeah: I definitely know how to party on a Friday night..)

So naturally now, there I was. Laying in the dark, with my bladder about to explode. I sort of debated to myself: should I go in the yard? I mean, it was two in the morning. The sun would shine tomorrow and I'm sure the piss would dry along with the rest of the dew. Or should I grope around for mine, or rather Jana's, keys and go inside? Torn between the civilized approach and the rugged man's man approach, I lay there. Damn, this was proving to be one uncomfortable night. Hopefully in America, I'll be so exhausted that I will sleep like a baby, I thought. But I was unconvinced.

Then it struck me. When we are in America, sleeping in Yellowstone or Grand Tetons or the Rocky Mountains, what was I going to do at night when I had to pee? I mean, you know...what about BEARS? They're nocturnal aren't they? Are they repulsed by the smell of piss? Or does it signify food for them? Should I bring a bottle to piss in? Or should I just stand right outside the tent to piss...or would I have to make my way to some nearby woods and piss? What if a raccoon or a fox attacks me mid-stream? I'd be helpless!! Questions without answers. Problems without resolutions.

With a groan I sat up. My back kind of hurt from the incredibly swift and easy job of setting up the tent. Well that would be just my luck. Incapacitated with a crippling two-week backache in America, while Jana and the kids were....you know, doing whatever we're going to do when we're camping...swimming in hot springs, cavorting with wild animals, communing with the ancient and unchanging gods of the natural world... And there I'll be. Stuck in a fucking tent, unable to move. My Kindle won't even be charged!

I stepped out of my tent. Socks off, of course. Damn was that ground cold! I tiptoed to the corner of my garden and let fly, pissing in near perfect arc, a joy a man finds only in the great outdoors and only at night. The partiers down the hill said something....I heard  Kde?'Nahoře! Tam! Divej!(Where? Up there! There, see?)

All went silent. My arc continued to merrily fly with no sign of abatement. I had consumed a LOT of peppermint tea. Normally I would have been proud of the masculine power and strength of it but it was cold!!

Suddenly the people down the hill all started laughing. Was it possible they were laughing at me? I peered in their direction. I really had(and have) no idea exactly where they were. Were they watching me piss in my own front yard and laughing at me? I comforted myself that, in the dark they wouldn't be likely to see any...details of my anatomy. I would just be some nameless neighbourhood dude to them.
Shit! Except I'm THE AMERICAN. I bet everybody knows I'm the American on the block! I'm the American! The guy who goes for his walk everyday with his huge headphones on! I bet everybody knows who I am. They see me driving that Edcentre School car! 

Awww screw it, what can you do?
____________________________________________________________________________

Back in the tent, I struggled to get comfortable again, zipping and unzipping zippers, shifting my body, rolling onto my side, stomach, back.

I must have eventually fallen to sleep because at about 4.25 my phone made the sharp, piercing ringing noise it makes to tell me someone's sent me a message on Messenger. It was Scott Gofta, this guy who I went to college with informing me and others that he would be attending the get together from college people along with his significant other and his toddler daughter when I was visiting New York City in June.

 I started thinking about how cool it would be to see all my old friends from my youth, now with children of their own, or at least in very serious relationships. Who knows? Maybe I will never see these friends again after next month. I felt a little sad about that, at the strange ways my life has led me, all the places I've lived, the conglomerations of friends who don't know each other, whose only common denominator is me. A man without history or roots. All the goodbyes of our lives.  How fleeting life really is.

 I thought of my son at my age, when I will almost certainly be gone...like my mother is gone.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, all that kind of crap.

The owl made it's noise.

I finally fell asleep again and woke up at the disappointingly early hour of 7.00. Aching. But only a little.