Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 12 - Barristan The Kingbreaker/The Queen’s Hand

Episode Date: July 20, 2018

Heavy is the cloak, they say - or is it blinded by the white?  Eliana and Chloe unravel the the legend himself, Ser Barristan Selmy. In the political power keg of Meereen, Selmy finds himself playing the game of thrones. The dutiful knight partakes in a coup then acts as a reluctant Hand in his queen's absence, while making too many assumptions on the thoughts of others.  /u/BryndenBFish's thread on how Meereen compares to Ned's story in King's Landing https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/5fjdyi/spoilers_extended_mirrors_in_the_narrative_how   Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric Eliana's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/glass_table_girl Eliana's blog: https://themanyfacedblog.wordpress.com/   Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/liesandarbor  

Hello and welcome to the 12th episode of Girls Gone Canon. I'm one of your hosts, Chloe. episode of Girls Gone Canon. I'm one of your hosts, Chloe. You can find me on the internet as at Liza and Arbor, on Twitter and on Tumblr. And you can also find me at Drunk A Song of Ice and Fire History on Podbean and Twitter. And hello, I'm Eliana, also known as Glass Table Girl on the Maester Monthly podcast, which talks about the the song of ice and fire subreddit where i'm also glass table girl on the 12th day of christmas my true love gave to me the king breaker and the queen's hand an episode of berry oh that's better that's better than what i had i guess you should have worked on that you did a really good you did a really good

hungry like the wolf earlier thanks it was about the time of the wolf which I am always hungry like the wolf at the time of the wolf you know what I'm saying yeah I do I do yeah this is our third episode of Barry

our third out of four episodes. Well, out of five, I should say. I'm really excited for this episode. I think we have a lot of good thoughts in here. Yeah, there's a lot of juice in this episode. Lots of juicy stuff. Yeah. Lots of hot takes.

I mean, things are heating up in Meereen, so we must. things are heating up in marine so we must things are heating up in marine literally they're getting a little fiery over there oh hey all right so we also had some really great feedback and responses to previous episodes from folks. We did. We got a great email from Taylor, who wrote to us. Yeah, Taylor says, Hey ladies, love your podcast. Sorry, I'm behind.

Sorry, we're behind too. I just finished the Eddard 12 slash 13 episode, and I wanted to add something. You discussed briefly the Valenkar prophecy and Jaime's status as Cersei's younger brother. This chapter is the best evidence for it, in my opinion. I think it's pretty good, too. You talked about Jaime holding Cersei's heel and how that relates to the Achilles myth. But it is also a blatant call-out to the biblical Jacob and Esau story, where Jacob comes into the world literally holding Esau's heel.

It's supposed to symbolize slash foreshadow Jacob's betrayal of Esau and his scheminess. Don't know why, that's just a biblical thing. While Jacob doesn't exactly kill Esau, he strips him of his inheritance and makes him angry and is forced into exile. So we might see some version where Jaime must betray Cersei and is himself forced into exile. Probably for kinslaying. Anyway, just thought it was interesting. Thanks for reading. And thank you for listening, Taylor.

I love that. That is a great little anecdote to go along with that I love how much mythos and just how much story George puts into this and different things from fiction that uh work with it it also reminds me a bit of uh like how Jacob and Rachel and Leah uh Jacob's stories are like there's some really good weird crap in there and Jacob, Rachel, and Leah remind me of Peter, Cat, and Liza almost yeah it also very much reminds me of like Aeon the Conqueror

and Visenya and Rhaenys Jacob is like definitely a scheming bad character usually in the bible yeah he's also he's like he's a trickster hero you know even in the bible yeah he's also he's like he's a trickster hero you know even in the bible like that archetype i've never like fleshed this out and i remember playing around with the idea before i'm just gonna touch on it but whatever um of like jacob and his sow and that

idea of like kind of sneakily taking someone's birthright um i think that rears its head a lot throughout the series and i don't know and we might see like some shades with it maybe like with john and rob's will or maybe we'll see it with like fagon or something i'm not really sure how it's if it's gonna like play out exactly like that per se but it is it is a something that a song of ice and fire definitely plays with yeah it's a strong theme in the story next week we have our first guest uh we've been teasing it steadily for the last couple episodes very lightly humored and jokingly because he's one of our good buddies but we are gonna have jeff uh brendan b fish from not a cast and our a suave and of course from wars and politics of a suave what plus what plus it's almost like is that french what is that

but yeah he's joining us next week for our barriston outro he agreed it was very hard we had to pay him thousands of dollars no i'm just kidding he literally like was so excited oh my god i can't wait yeah he's not even like on a podcast you know it's just like not a cast yeah it's not even a cast yeah i'm really excited that he also you know has written extensively on baristan and you know we've referred to his post about how the situation in Meereen with Barristan very much mirrors Ned's in King's Landing, and we're going to talk about that a few times throughout today. And also, he and Emmett did that episode about Barristan for Not A Cast. Really great episode. Yeah, we're also having

his daughter come on. Yeah, she's actually the guest of honor. Yeah, she is. And of course, after next week, we will talk a little bit more at the end of this episode about what we're going to do with Barristan in the Winds of Winter, but we will be

starting our next Point of View chapter very soon in the following weeks, and it is fire. It is lit. I am so excited to get into it. I think you guys are going to love it. Yeah, there's a lot of really hot takes to be had about it now. Yeah, very spicy in a way. Very spicy. So, jumping into what we have here,

let's talk about what we missed in our lightning round since the last barrison episode starting off with the sperm suitor quentin's friends urgent to take barrison's advice and get the fuck out of dodge i don't know what this phrase means i've heard people say it my parents are immigrants um the choice to stay is hard and riddled the tests like oh now we have to deal with the windblown that we betrayed but to quentin it's better than heading home to his father empty-handed so let's kill two birds with one stone or perhaps deal with two dragons with one quentin and get the windblown to agree to help steal a dragon just trade the tattered prince pentos no big deal

yeah i wonder how that's gonna turn out probably not good yeah the griffin reborn oh i'm so excited for a john conn chapter so excited we love our almost dead gay son no, he's got such an interesting storyline. I'm very excited for John Connington's chapters. After taking Griffin's roost, it's time to broad on old regrets about Stoney Sept. John thinks about how he should have been more like Tywin and raised the town, and resolves to not make the same mistakes with Rhaegar's son. He sends a letter to Doran, informing him his nephew still lives,

then goes to pick some scabs, I mean, uh, some greyscale. A few days later, Aegon joins Jon, and they hatch a plan where the boy will lead the attack on Storm's end. The sacrifice. Everyone's hungering for a taste of blood. The Peasburys are eating people, while Asha would like nothing more than to slice Clayton Sugg's stupid head open. It is a stupid head.

Stannis Baratheon orders the cannibals burned. Asha bonds with Justin Massey before a few unsuspected folks join their party. First, the Bravosi banker Tycho Nestoris. Then, the chapter ends on what is possibly one of the greatest moments in all of Saga Weiss and Fire history, which I cannot not quote. His lips skinned back in what might have been a grin. Half his teeth were gone

and half of those still left him were broken and splintered. Theon, he repeated. My name is Theon. You have to know your name. And of course, course following that such another influential and just groundbreaking chapter from of course Victarion which begins with Benny Hill music in which Victarion captures some fleets, and Mikoro basically describes the Elder Wand when talking about Dragonbinder.

So, yep, that was the real solid good stuff from Victarion. Keep it up, buddy. The Ugly Little Girl. A girl must learn to take a new face, see new horrible memories of another ugly little girl's life. Long gone. This girl has a target, and with the help of a little gold coin, takes the target out.

With a successful assassination in her back pocket, Arya Stark is headed to Isambarrow. In Cersei 2, we reach the Walk of Shame. Cersei finally faces some comeuppance for a few of her actions. Then in Tyrion 12, our poor child Penny is sad about Pretty Pig and Crunch and everything else is just background. And by that I mean Tyrion makes a deal with Bramble and Plom and literally tries to slap sense into Penny, which is completely unnecessary.

Leave her alone. And then he realizes that the second sons must once more turn cloak if they're to be on the winning side of this war with that we reach the kingbreaker in the kingbreaker a knight sworn only to duty and obedience has his first taste of treason he seeks to depose the queen's king for the crime of poison and for being the harpy. Barristan meets with Skahaz once more, and it opens with this fantastic phrase, a pale shadow and a dark, which just goes to show that Barristan and Skahaz are skulking, and that they're up to no good. They run through their plan together to seize the city. They plan to have it ruled by council until Daenerys returns, and they name the plan Grolio, in reference to the slain admiral.

is a codename is turning Meereen into that powder keg, really feeding that emotional rallying point and turning Grolio into a figurehead. That was not an intended pun. It's kind of like instead of Valiant Ned's precious little girl, it's precious Grolio's little

head or Valiant Grolio's precious little head. I don't know. I had something there. But it is a very strong rallying point like you said skahaz tells baristan he was present in the room when bloodbeard and the slaver lords killed roleo he claims that had hisdar commanded he and the brazen beasts would have killed the yunkish going back to this idea of you know know, Barristan very much being like Ned, but in Meereen, the way that Skahaz just sort of tells Barristan what his D'ar's intent was

feels very similar to the way that Littlefinger weaves this completely cohesive, perhaps even too perfect narrative about the Lannisters, the Poison, and the Cat's Boss. Skahaz says that the Yunkish would have never dared to do this in front of Daenerys, and that the horror shown on Hizdar's face in reaction to Grolio's head was in fact fake, and that it was just to give him a reason to kill the dragons before Volantis' fleet arrives.

Good job, Skahaz. Truly the little finger, I know. It's interesting because there are very slight holes in Skahaz's narrative that he's weaving, just like Littlefinger's, just like we see during the tourney, Littlefinger and Renly going back and forth and Renly pretty much revealing that Littlefinger was actually wrong about how Tyrion wouldn't bet on Jaime, that that would never happen. So, I mean, it's these little things that Ned and Barristan both miss,

these little cues, these little moments. Yeah. Barristan remembers another time he did something so bold and daring. It was the Hour of the Wolf at Duskendale. The Hour of the Wolf. The blackest part of night when all the world's asleep. He had first heard those words from Tywin Lannister outside the walls of Duskendale. He gave me a day to bring out Aerys.

Unless I returned with the king by the dawn of the following day, he would take the town with steel and fire, he told me. It was the Hour of the Wolf when I went in and the hour of the wolf when we emerged gray worm and the unsullied will close and bar the gates at first light this line connects us to the past and it sets us up for the rest of this chapter and the following chapter to ping pong back and forth between baristan's history um and all of his various regrets yes the baristan nostalgia hours as we call them yes but like you know how nostalgia is usually super happy they're actually these ones are sad yeah it's like very sad it's sad it's so It's so sad. Grandpa. It is. The same line about the

Hour of the Wolf appears in Quentin's final chapter that it was the Hour of the Wolf when he went to the dragons and also in Barristan 1 in the Winds of Winter which we will be covering in the next following weeks. Also, it makes me

think especially with the previous working title of what was going to be the last book and how this was supposed to like feed into it darkness and stuff like is it a time for wolves it's very thematic through this whole book i mean you get a lot of time for wolves in a dance with dragons especially as the dragons are becoming more prominent in the story with daenerys and eventually jon and of course agon and the actual dragons baristan wants to return the remaining hostages from the yunkai and command them to remove their armies from Meereen. He only wants to declare war if they should refuse, but of course, Kahaz doesn't like

this idea. He's like, no, let's just kill the hostages. Barristan feels, though, that if it comes to it, he can defeat his Darsguards because he deems the pit fighters not as skilled and not as experienced in a real fight as a Knight of the Kingsguard is. I think this is really an interesting highlight George pulls out. Barristan keeps thinking knights have all a pit fighter has and then some. Chivalry. Chivalry will save them when, just like Ned Stark's honor, chivalry chivalry will save them when just like ned stark's honor chivalry may just be what kills barriston oh absolutely and it blinds him because chivalry has a lot of different things and you know we talked about this in that dunk that drunken egg episode that we did long ago. And it's not just

like the good things. There's parts of it that are about that fealty. Barristan wants to save some of these remaining hostages like Jogo, Hiro, and Dario, but the Shavepate warns against it thinking that it's too

dangerous. The Shavepaint thinks Dario is better off dead in the long run and that they should just leave him be. Barristan wants to retain the peace that her grace had writ and does not want to be the one to break it, which is just a bit reminiscent of the

Lords on the Trident when Gregor is running rampant through the Riverlands. We see it exercised again in Barry's honor later in the chapter when he goes to his Dar's chamber. He fucking breaks it. Yeah, he totally breaks it. He breaks it. Barristan privately agrees

with Shavepate about Dario, although he knows that Dany is in love with Dario. And this is going to be a running theme throughout this chapter. This sort of patronizing paternalism on the part of Barristan, where he thinks that he can just make that choice for Dany, like for her, that she would be better off without Daario, as though Dany herself isn't aware

of the toll that it takes and isn't making the rest of the right choices anyway. And I do think there is a double standard with the idea that danny having a side piece is a quote-unquote wrong choice because there are a lot of kings as we've seen in the series and men who are allowed these concubines and mistresses and these are overlooked whereas i mean like danny though like, it's obviously bullshit, because good dick Dario, dude, fuck a double standard. Let the girl fuck. Let her fuck. Yeah, he doesn't deserve to die just cause, like, just cause they were, like, banging, you know?

Yeah, dude, I wouldn't want to condemn anyone with my pussy either. Yeah. It's a bummer. Barristan don't know shit about love. Bairston then thinks on some of these other, like, poor love choices that other Targaryens, I guess, have made in the past. Prince Rhaegar loved his lady Lyanna, and thousands died for it. Daemon Blackfyre loved the first Daenerys, and rose in rebellion when denied her. Bittersteel and Bloodraven both loved Shira Seastar and the Seven Kingdoms bled.

The Prince of Dragonflies loved Jenny of Oldstones so much he cast aside a crown, and Westeros paid the bride price in corpses. All three of the sons of the fifth Aegon had wed for love in defiance of their father's wishes, and because that unlikely monarch had followed his heart when he chose his queen, he allowed his sons to have their way, making bitter enemies when he might have made fast friends. Treason and turmoil followed as night follows day, ending at Summerhall in sorcery, fire, and grief. The way that Barristan describes how Dany feels about dario and what these quote tragic loves meant for the whelm like baristan gives these four examples from history yet when he talks about

the consequences he's talking about it from the perspective of songs like there was a complete political underside to all of these wars and it told a different story of war that isn't just about like star-crossed love because that's not what it was like the realm didn't bleed because rhaegar loved lyanna but because of aries tyranny like rhaegar lyanna the rebellion actually was started the first act of war was john aaron calling his banners because aries was just out here executing his lords without any proper trial breaking the feudal contract like that didn't have like this didn't have to happen you know uh damon blackfire rose in rebellion i think it was like eight years after the first denarius was wed to maron martel

and casting in which i think cast doubts on that claim that the rebellion was for love yeah eight years later yeah like oh i mean you you want to start a rebellion do it like within a year you know yeah? Yeah. For love. Yeah, put your back into it, Daemon Blackfyre. Alright. Yeah, Daenerys I don't want no scrub. Yeah. Bittersteel and Bloodraven, Baerys and Sazh fought over Shira Seastar, but, like, again, there was this whole rebellion. Like, again, there was this whole rebellion. There was an actual treasonous thing that was going on,

which I think is a pretty decent cause for the two to fight. And then the Prince of Dragonflies and Jenny of Oldstones is the only one that kind of, in my opinion, holds any bit of water. More like holds any bit of wildfire. Yeah. It's the only thing that i think is close to it because of lionel baratheon but like i don't know there was a lot of um there was a lot of other political stuff going on there too as the way egg was running some things was kind of disgruntling

some of the lords yeah he changed up tradition a little too much yeah which eggs a good guy good ideas bad execution yeah execution a all right and i mean it's not as though duty actually bodes any better like mirroring for duty as opposed to love when you look at the way ares treated Rhaella, which was a match only made out of prophecy, I think that it shows us that Barristan lives as much in these songs as anyone, and he fails to see those political grumblings

that led to each of these wars and just projects all of this onto Daenerys when that's not what's going on here at all. There's like a war, not because of Daario, but because it's a very complex political situation. Oh yeah, absolutely. He doesn't see the nuance of it all. He sees in black and white.

And it's something that we will definitely touch on in our next episode. Shakespeare Thrones said some really great things about his generation that I really can't wait to talk about. Yeah, we just want to save it. Yeah, we want good stuff to come. Yeah, we're saving ourselves for the outro. Okay.

Skahaz mentions they can take revenge and retaliation into their own hands if the Yunkai hurt their hostages, but Barristan once more refuses the idea, reinforcing the save the children mentality. This was set up in the previous chapter by Barristan expressing affection for them, just like the spoiled blood oranges plopping down in the water gardens. Plop, plop, plop. These kids are gonna die, dude. Just like Barristan. He's gonna die. I don't want them to. Let them live. Let them live. Grandpa, come on. Skathouse hasn't forgotten what the point of hostages are, just as the hostages likely have not forgotten, now that they are likely aware of the political climate around them. You can see

some parallels here with The Griffin Reborn, John Cunningham's chapter preceding this, as both men muse on their regrets and Tywin Lannister's actions. Just as Ned's storyline is kind of a shadow over the entire story, so too is Tywin Lannister. An anti-shadow in a shadow, if you will. A pale light in a shadow, just like we read at the very start of this chapter with Barristanon and skahaz oh hey very good very good very good very good oh hopefully not been saying

that this whole time i have so many regrets now too i i didn't say it on purpose because i knew you'd run with it oh i'm sorry it's okay so i'm so predictable skaha says that the plan is going to be ready by nightfall so barison makes rounds in the pyramids and he's just training his boys all day he thinks about some of them are going to be ready to become knights soon but if only barison would last a little longer um i feel like in the way that he describes each of these boys individually he's learning so much from them um as much from them as they are from him he's like oh whips aren't useful then he's like oh actually this guy's like got great ideas with them they're opening his horizons and then there are six of the boys that are ready to become maybe knights or fighters, which of course, together with Bersin, makes seven of them.

If you look subconsciously, Bersin's always trying to make little groups of seven with himself. He also keeps talking about how he's still Lord Commander. Like every chapter, he talks about how he's the Lord Commander. So he totally is like, I'm their dad. Yeah, I'm their dad yeah i'm their dad uh these are my seven now like he does it with the brazen beast a little later he's just always like oh look at that there's six guys plus me oh my gosh there's and i can't believe you can count you're doing great sweetheart yeah he wrestles with his honor like how can he knight

these boys when he's doing something just so dishonorable and conspiring against his queen's husband but if they were knighted by a knight who dishonors himself greatly just before his death which okay first off even baristan thinks he's gonna die so jot that down uh yeah they deserve better sir baristan decided better a long life as a squire than a short one as a soiled knight but to reverse this what about a long one as a soiled knight did he not hear rayella being raped over and over again did he not watch eris's lust for wildfire build did he not stand aside while countless innocent people were hurt. Like, did he? Did he? Did he? Is there gold in the village, Sir Barristan? Is there? No? Yeah.

Preach. Preach. And of course, again, conspiring against his queen's husband, you either die a hero, Barristan, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- become the villain Beirsten lectures these nightlings about honor

hoping that they someday understand what it means to be honorable Beirsten warns Missandei to stay in the queen's chapters but won't tell her why even though she's like but what if I hear like it's like nah

which just give us the misande chapters we deserve it give it to us he reflects on his failures and finds himself stuck on one haunting memory ashara dame i've never heard of her take it take it chloe do it Take it! Take it, Chloe! Do it! Rhaegar had chosen Lyanna Stark of Winterfell. Barristan Selmy would have made a different choice. Not the queen, who was not present, nor Elia of Dorne, though she was good and gentle. Had she been chosen, much war and woe might have been avoided.

His choice would have been a young maiden, not long at court, one of Elia's companions, though compared to Azshara Dayne, the Dornish princess was a kitchen drab. Even after all these years, Sir Barristan could still recall Azshara's smile, the sound of her laughter. He had only to close his eyes to see her with her long, dark hair tumbling about her shoulders and those haunting purple eyes. Daenerys has the same eyes. Sometimes when the queen looked at him he felt as if he were looking at Azshara's daughter. But Azshara's daughter had been stillborn and his fair lady had thrown herself from a tower soon after mad with grief for the child she had lost and perhaps for the man who had dishonored her at Harrenhal as well.

She died never knowing that Ser Barristan had loved her. How could she? He was a knight of the Kingsguard, sworn to celibacy. No good could have come from telling her his feelings. No good came from silence, either. If I had unhorsed Rhaegar and crowned Azshara Queen of Love and Beauty, might she have looked to me instead of Stark? No. and crowned ashara queen of love and beauty might she have looked to me instead of stark no there's a lot going on here that we gotta unpack this is like the the segment the the section of a chapter

that's given the fandom so many theories just out of like these four paragraphs there's so many theories on ashara and daenerys and daenerys and Barristan's kid and I don't know just like freaking all these theories that are wrong they're all wrong Eliana they're all wrong all of them so all of them the great debate begins like I don't even everyone's just so wrong I don't even want to talk about this but a few things to unpack here that I do want to note. The language surrounding this is very interesting. Haunting purple eyes. Azshara's eyes are only described as haunting by two people out of the three references to them in the story.

Barristan and Catelyn, who feel immense guilt about her character. The only other reference is, of course, from Mira, who tells the story through her dad's lens, through Helen Reed's lens, and that Azshara had laughing purple eyes. This gives us confirmation, though, of Azshara's looks, which were, of course, dark long hair and violet eyes, which would be the perfect scapegoat

in case the seed wasn't so strong for a certain baby we know, or if purple overpowered gray, they don't know how a Stark-Geryon baby would come out. There's really never been one, of course. And this information all comes out of left field for everyone. We've been told from the very first book, Azshara's stillborn child, that's brand new news for us as a reader. Ned Dayne tells us in Arya's chapter in a storm of swords chapter eight of her chapters that his aunt was in love with ned and her heart was broken which he hears from

his aunt lyria who would have been born around the time of the rebellion where cersei claims ned knocked ashara up and came back for the baby that's like a weird move that's definitely a cersei move yeah it's very cersei like hearing gossip move and like trying to get at him the man that dishonored her is completely separate from looked to stark in this section of text and baristan does not ever connect ned stark with dishonor in his thoughts in fact he protects ned's name and legacy to denarius and with no mention of brandon in his chapters at all, I think it very unlikely that Stark knocked Azshara up at Harrenhal. I don't think it was a Stark at all. If anything,

she looked to a Stark for something. And finally, of course, this thought process is almost an exact replica of something we've read in The Discarded Knight, just with a different person and slightly different context. This is what we're talking about when we talk about how Barristan doesn't quite respect the women and their choices in his life. Prince Quentin was listening intently, at least. That one is his father's son, short and stocky, plain-faced. He seemed a decent lad, sober, sensible, dutiful, but not the sort to make a young girl's heart beat faster. And Daenerys Targaryen, whatever else she might be, was still a young girl, as she herself would claim when it pleased her to play the innocent.

Like all good queens, she put her people first. Else she would never have wed his daughter Zolorak. But the girl in her still yearned for poetry, passion, and laughter. She wants fire, and Dorne sent her mud. You can make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever you could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children mud would nourish you where fire would only consume you but fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time this ideology that barrison has adopted that all girls want fire and could never want mud is very toxic thinking in his mind. Oh, definitely.

Like, I don't know. There's, like, not much to say about it other than, like, this isn't true. I'm just gonna throw this out there. Who's the one, who's, who are the people who are choosing fire right now in this story? Just saying. Anyways. I don't know a single young girl in the story choosing fire yeah actually actually amongst like our povs like our young sansa's definitely not doing that right now she's all like pretty face bad personality like she's very cautious about that. Arya Arya's like not even like on that page right now.

Asha Asha's busy with Carl wanting to eat his peach, you know what I mean? Yeah, and Catelyn you know, she was willing to do her duty and she of course fell in love with Ned

over time and she chose mud. She chose mud and I mean fell in love with Ned over time. And... She chose mud. She chose mud. And I mean, like, Liza. That girl definitely chose mud. That girl chose mud. That wasn't even mud.

That was, like, dust. That girl chose shit. Poor Liza. Yeah. She is sad, though. That bitch is fucked up. And Ashara Dane also chose mud. Good luck. Bye.

Cersei chooses fire, I guess. She chooses violence. She chooses violence. She chooses violas. Also, the other people. It's young men. Young men who are choosing fire in the story and also old men barrison's choosing fire anyways as the night progresses barrison bathes in armors himself he

meets with these brazen beasts who have donned the masks of insects and i'm not really going to go into this much but in not a cast in their bar episode, they do a good quick breakdown of this, basically about how these masks are heralding that poisoning that happened to the Locust, but maybe it's also mocking Barristan by shoving it in his face that he has the wrong guy. Oh yeah, I love that.

I didn't really think about it. I was like, oh yes, Locust. Right, but that is brilliant. Barristan goes to confront his star in his chambers. Brazen beasts allow him in with questions, of course. Ser Barristan found them distasteful

though no doubt they were meant to be arousing. The sooner we are gone from this place the better. Get one fucking person. Okay. I might get a boner if I stay I don't know Barrison then tries to get the truth out of his dar are you in league with the harpy?

are you the harpy? and are you the one who tried to kill Daenerys? which I think kind of feels reminiscent of what? Ned confronting Cersei in the Godswood. Yeah. Like I said up there, yeah.

And as you pointed out, actually in the in that episode when Ned is talking to Cersei, you know, Cersei kind of ends up accidentally confessing to a bunch of things that she didn't do or wasn't a part of, like Jon Arryn's murder. She fesses up to some other things, like, you know,

sleeping with her brother. But, you know, I think this could harken to some of maybe Hizdar's innocence in some parts, like not poisoning Daenerys. Yeah. Yeah. But still being pretty sucky overall.

Oh, yeah. Like, he might not be the Harpy, but he's, like, definitely... Yeah, he's, like, still a tiny bit complicit. Yeah. I mean, his dart denies some of these accusations. They're not very convincing, but also, like, what, it's the middle of the night. And you're just gonna roll up in here, dude. In my house? Yeah.

In my house. In my chamber baristan then draws a sword and his dark calls for his guard and of course he calls for kraz when when baristan asks tell me give me the name of the man who's the harpy his dark calls for kraz which you know because i have nothing better to do let's make a tinfoil that kraz is the harpy because his dar says his name and Barristan asks for the harpy. Eliana, why? Because I can. Because we can. Kraz refuses to surrender to Barristan and Barristan's armor gives him an advantage.

Kraz crumples to the ground, killed quickly by Barry. And I do want to talk about Barristan's affinity for his armor and what we hear in his story. We hear constantly in A Song of Ice and Fire that knights wearing armor have an advantage, superior to fighters of the pit who have nothing but their wild aggression and pit training on their side. When Barristan

goes, I bet you any money he will not be wearing his armor. George keeps noting armor in his chapters and noting the differences between and keeps noting how it saved barriston's ass also drawer of mormon another another similarity between these two yeah and i think you're on to something there and it's definitely true this emphasis on armor and it creates this really strong contrast with some other capable fighters in this series who don't necessarily wear as much armor like the crannog men who wear light leather or like strong belwus who doesn't fight you know with i guess honor by bearish standards and or he

doesn't fight with honor and he in fact allows his opponents to cut him once before he kills them not only am i just staring at you but also the cranog man do wear bronze scales to be fair that's the only one we're pretty far into this episode and it's the only one i've made so far okay i'll give you one you Get the one. It's gonna be two. Alright. Then Hizdar begs for his life, and Barristan tells him that he plans on imprisoning him until Daenerys returns.

And of course, like we noted, if we're keeping with our King's Landing comparison, this scene reads just like Ned going to Cersei, having her admit to everything, and he's gotten one over on her. Which, of course, to everything, and thinking he's gotten one over on her. Which, of course, just like Ned, Baerson has gotten nothing over Hizdar. In fact, the scenes only warned Hizdar in time if the Shave Paint hadn't already been in cahoots with him and helped put his plan into action. Whether it's saving his own ass, or going ahead and signaling to people outside of Meereen to attack, etc.

Also, there are so many people who saw this happen yeah it was not discreet at all like this cup bearer who comes in and informs them that resnok wants to see his darn now but you can't baristan is surprised that this cupbearer arrived and that he's telling him that Resnack is at the door because he and Skahaz had planned to take Resnack into their custody. And he asks why Resnack has come. Which, of course, the cupbearer answers, the dragons, Vazarian and Rhaegal, have been let out of their chains. Rip.

Everything in this chapter is literally just like Skahaz was trying to get one over Barristan. Like, he's literally gonna die. Yeah. His chivalry and his armor are not gonna save him when he dies. He's gonna die. I mean, death does come for us all.

Valar Morghulis. Let's just move on to it. Let's just keep going. We have one chapter left. Before we get to the Queen's Hand, we have two chapters between. The first chapter between Kingbreaker and Queen's Hand is the Dragon Tamer.

Oh. Oh? Oh. That's it. That's the summary. Then we have John 13. He never felt the fourth knife, only the cold. So, like, another summary we could use here is betrayal. Betrayal. Betrayal.

Betrayal. Betrayal. I mean, I guess as much as a dragon can betray someone they were never sworn to. Who's a good dragon? Yeah, that was a good plan, but not. This is fine. We're fine. And now we get to the Queen's Hand. Pearson finds himself setting the sun's sun to rest and performing other dissatisfactory jobs,

such as being the Hand of the Queen. Tasked with imprisoned Dornishmen, Jairus Drinkwater and Archibald Ironwood, and with accepting the Windblown's offer, the Yunkish refuse Barristan's, and

attacks begin on Meereen. The rains are coming down hard in Meereen, dampening the fires that Viserion and Rhaegal are spewing around the city, which of course reminds me of a quote from Eddard IX. The rain had driven everyone under their roofs. It beat down on Ned's head, warm as blood and relentless as old gilts. Fat drops of water ran down his face. fat drops of water ran down his face i was totally thinking the same thing but i was reading this of like how ned's later chapters talk about the rain and king's landing and how like all the stones turn to the color of blood also you know going back to some of the things we talked about last episode and how zarzo and doxos is like oh sometimes rain is like necessary and it's like slavery and it's like no slavery and rain they like necessary and it's like slavery and it's like no

slavery and rain they are still not the same and slavery is still bad still bad still bad still bad just you know in case you forgot yeah thank god for girls gone canon here to teach you about how slavery is bad there's a surprising amount of people who are like really being apologist for it like i get it but it was bad you're still a bad person for wanting it yeah like just putting that out there it was it was it was bad and it's better that there's not slavery agreed uh the dragons also they've disappeared uh apparently they too do not like the rain just like i don't know charmander oh my god they're like charmelians by now true true or charizard maybe even

they're actually charizard by now they're v small charizards yeah he saw no signs of dragons but he had not expected to the dragons did not like the rain a thin red slash marked the eastern horizon Which, of course, is like major foreshadowing, since he's gonna die. Also, I just realized it kind of connects very well with the way John's chapter just ended yeah absolutely Quentin Martell sad boy dies after three days of excruciating pain or did he

he did why would you put this in here I don't know what are you doing oh my god I thought I thought better of you. That was your first mistake. You were my brother.

I did tell you not to trust me. Oh my gosh. Good job, Chloe. It's the reverse of him dying after three days. To me, it kind of feels like the reverse of some other famous stories like of course

Lady Stoneheart who comes back after three days of being dead or Jesus where he comes back I'm glad you're realizing what you just said some other famous stories like Lady Stoneheart or Jesus okay but Lady Stoneheart has definitely

got some Jesus vibes they have the stigmata you know yeah he's going for it like George that's what he's doing but you know instead Quentin just stays alive and dies after three days which is like a big bummer yeah I don't know if it's supposed

to be like an anti-parallel there I think it's just supposed to be he fucking dies because he got roasted by dragons dude yeah it's real sad out of respect barrison has quentin laid in denarius's bed because it's the only way he was ever going to be laid in her bed got him got him it's a bed of blood, if you will. Promise me, Barry. Right, also, Barristan, like, thinks, oh, she won't be mad that I ruined her bedding with, like, smoke and blood from this dead kid

she didn't want to fuck. But here he is, laying her in this bed, ruining her bedding. I would be pissed. I'd come back. I'd be tired as shit. Rolling around with the Dothraki, having to fucking, like, become their leader and shit. shit on fire with drogon yeah shitting like in the

fucking fort or the grassy plains just shitting my asshole off me you know and i'd come back and all i'd fucking want is to lay in my bed but some fucking little kid was laying in it and it's ruined all because of baristan like he's the worst he better hope he's dead by the time she comes back because he won't be but he better hope he is she's gonna be pissed she did not cross all of essos for this like i after you know just like a day at work i come home and i'm like i would be like what what is this i'm just trying to pass out, you know? I'm just trying to take a power nap. A queen nap. A felicia nap.

Yeah. But, you know, maybe she won't care. After everything she's been through, she'll just be like, whatever. She's got her new bed, whatevs. Missandei is the only person who would tend to Quentin as he was suffering. And, I mean, Missandei was feeding Quentin milk of the poppy to help with his pains. Is Missandei the Pycelle figure of Meereen? Discuss. Eliana.

Promise me, Barry. I can't take you anywhere, on this podcast i know the blue graces never responded to barriston's requests and the cup bearers refused to touch quentin barriston suspects the blue graces died for the pale mare and we haven't actually had the reveal of whether or not they did die from the mare but if they still alive, it's likely they didn't come back because of the conspiracies against him from the Harpy. We don't see them with, pardon, we do see them actually in Daenerys V with the Green Grace when she comes to visit Daenerys, but we haven't seen them since, so we don't really have word on it. so we don't really have word on it yeah I agreed like I wouldn't come back if I knew what happened

to Starr and Azal Bluegrace but also I wouldn't rule out them having contracted dysentery I don't blame the cupbearers for being like I'm not even supposed to be here I don't want anything to do with this yeah absolutely I also very much like this line

where Bearson's talking about how terrible fire is and he says that half the hells are covered in fire and it gives me very dante's inferno vibes oh yeah um this yeah half the hells then of course you know the last circle of hell the worst one is reserved for treachery which is what's going on here, and it's cold and full of ice, which, like, wait, what is this series? Get a job, George. Wait.

Get a job, Scahaz. Uh, yeah, Song of Ice and Hell's Fire. I mean, fire. Missandei inquires what they will do with Quentin's body and barriston wants to send him back to dorn out of respect but he isn't really sure how he's gonna do that yet he tells missandei to get some rest and she tells him to do the same because she notes that he does not sleep

much barriston feels he doesn't need as much sleep as young knights, because as Grand Maester Pycelle once told him, and that he fears closing his eyes at night. Turns out it's not just because of being older. He also feels that dying in his sleep would be an unworthy death for a knight of the Kingsguard. Kingsguard. He also notes that part of what keeps him awake at night is memories of the Trident. Same as how Ned, of course, still suffers from PTSD because of his experiences in the

Rebellion, but, you know, particularly his family and his sister, but whatevs. Barristan, of course, after all, as he says in his page in the White Book, that he was wounded by Erospear and Sword. And then he, you know, lost that prince that he was supposed by Erospear and Sword. And then he, you know, lost that prince that he was

supposed to protect, so. Tried it. Good times. Like, not the first time he's had that happen to him. That's true. Oh my god. He's been alive for so many years. So many. So many rings. God, no wonder he's all like, no, Dany can't be dead.

He wonders if Daenerys is alive. He worries she's dead, but he dismisses the thought, even though it becomes harder and harder and harder to dismiss each time it comes up. Like, he's starting to get a little discouraged. Skahaz arrives at dawn to speak with Barristan, and he already knows Quentyn died. He informs Barristan that the Green Grace, who he sent to negotiate the release of hostages with the Yunkai, has not returned to the city.

An angry mob has assembled outside of the pyramid. This is fine. And they, yeah, they're ordering the release of Hizdar and death to the dragons. And since Hizdar... Kill the beast! and death to the dragons. Um, and since his dar... Kill the beast! Kill... Uh,

I don't remember the rest of how that song goes other than kill the beast. Since his dar, I guess, has been taken under arrest, the Sons of the Harpy have begun murdering once more. First they kill nine, then they kill three, and then twenty-nine, because why stick

to multiples of three? Escalated clicking. Wild cards. Skahaz keeps insisting they kill a hostage, and Barristan continues to refuse. Barristan, like, must be really pissing them off

with not doing exactly what they have planned for him right now, you know? That's true, but, no, I agree. But also, like, I feel like there's a more subtle way maybe eventually, you know, if you're trying to convince someone to kill a hostage, and

this just isn't it, but I also think Barristan would never agree to it, which I think is very admirable like i understand that sure that's the point of hostages the threat of killing them but good for you for sticking to your guns or your sword right having ethics yeah which bearson gets to make that call because he is now the Queen's Hand and head of the council ruling the city. Skahaz tells him that the council is waiting, and Bairston's all like, I never asked for this, I don't want to be the Hand of the Queen.

Which, I don't know if you've heard that anywhere before, but sounds like some Ned Stark parallels to me. Never heard it. He doesn't trust anyone else of the council to rule in Daenerys' stead, so Barristan assumes the position. I don't necessarily trust Barristan to rule either, for what it's worth. I think he's... I think it's good that he's not killing the hostages, though. Yeah, it is good. It's very killing the hostages though yeah it is good it's very honorable protecting the children

Nediston he just doesn't know how policy works Nediston there are 200 highborn gathered in the square standing in the rain in their tokars and howling for audience they want his dar free and me dead and they want you to slay

these dragons someone told them knights were good at that oh there you go like i said earlier when i mentioned what if maybe baristan will have to go try to slay the dragons who knows i mean this is foreshadowing for something i don't know what yet yeah this is something this means something i can just i can feel it what yet yeah this is something this means something i can just i can feel it baristan ignores a bunch of red flags from skaz who's still being like yo let's kill these hostages as a way to stop the killings of the harpy this actually i don't know that i like i don't know that would work um when they're describing how Barristan has done some redecorating, they say that instead of these Dargen chairs, instead,

instead a large round table had been set up in the center of the hall, with tall chairs all around it where men might sit and talk as peers. Which, like, this is some very obvious like king arthur and the knights of the round table like references and i think it's meant to bring back these ideas of the chivalric romance which george is definitely building off of and trying to dismantle and respond to especially as we watch you know our hero become just a man just a man in the end absolutely an old man who's going to die we're all gonna die gray worm the captains of the stalwart shields mother's men free brothers and strong belvis are

all there on the council how could they do do this? Okay, they talk about what Strong Belvis looks like when he comes back, and like he looks haggard and just how could they do this to him? Give him food. Oh my god, I can't. That's it

for the cast. That's all I have. Oh my god, stop. Stop. Barristan tells the council of Quentin's death. The council wants to execute Quentin's companions for helping to release the dragons, which... Damn, they are trying to pin these dragons on anyone else at this point, dude. Like, anyone.

Yeah. Yeah. Like, definitely, they definitely Yeah, like, definitely, they definitely played a hand in this, and it's a very little finger move. Oh yeah.

Absolutely. They've also closed the fighting pits, in case it attracts any of the dragons, because of all the blood and noise. Marcelin, Missandei's brother, argues it may attract Drogon and Daenerys back if they open the fighting pits. The pits are stocked with animals, which has kept Viserion and Rhaegal from eating more humans. Also, I just think that animals are probably more tasty than people anyway, though I hear we taste like tough sweet pork.

But I just think that I've done a lot of reading about this. We are so bony, though, and you're just like full of innards and consume things that I think are bad for us. And I just I just think that sheep are tastier than people. I mean, I'm fucking delicious. So fuck you, Eliana. I do not think that i am uh because you know here i am eating fucking bugs so oh my god yeah uh this was an outside conversation that just got brought in but eliana has eaten bugs before not locusts but bugs they're only meal where they i only eat mealworms and honestly they just

tasted like the smallest latest cheeto puff of my life i i have been trying to find locusts though and because the a feast of ice and fire cookbook fantastic fantastic cookbook i also check them out in at the crossroads on twitter and stuff they do a lot of other recipes they're fantastic they have a recipe for honey spice locusts and it sounds actually very good no thanks you can try them for me yeah i'll eat most things yeah it's just not for chloe not for chloe it's fine it It's for Eliana. I'll eat them. I'll eat them. Should Drogon return to Meereen without Daenerys mounted on his back, the city would erupt in blood and flame. Of that, Ser Barristan had no doubt.

Blood and flame. J.K. or blood and flame, a.k.a. fire and blood, which I think, sure Drogon would bring it without denarius but i think that denarius you know whatever headspace she's gonna be in when she comes back she's definitely gonna bring it with drogon as well yeah i kind of feel like either way there's gonna be a lot of blood and destruction coming down when she comes back it doesn't look so cold, I guess not hot. Yeah, I was like, I think it looks hot.

Yeah, it's looking pretty hot. Looking pretty hot. Thus far, both dragons seem to have a taste for mutton, returning to Daznix whenever they grew hungry. This is just, like, my personal feelings, and I think that all of this reference to mutton and sheeps, either it's just uh more world building because it feels to me like though like a setup for another nettles like situation

if you haven't read the princess and the queen they talk about nettles and she lures sheep stealer with sheep and then rides him. I've always been a fan of Brown Ben Plum being, I don't know, a Nettles-like dragon rider. The council agrees that Yunkai will not accept any offer to release the hostages except the death of the dragons. Barristan is asked what he will do when they refuse what he has to offer them, which he replies, fire and blood, which of course means fuck their shit up. Fire and blood, which of course means that the answer is coming out this fall

in the new Targaryen history book. Ah yes, the twelfth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Ah yes. The fifteenth book. Yes, the third book. Oh my god. The trilogy, trilogy a song of ice and fire oh my gosh rip they launch into a very long discussion about battle plans deployment of troops targets to hit

and how to use the unsullied they agree if the slavers are destroyed the sellsword companies may abandon them and the dragons might participate in the battle though they're dragons so they'll probably just light shit on fire half-ass and not join sides I mean same I wonder though if we're gonna get some other daring young folk to step up and attempt to tame them as Quentin

did and going back to the princess and the queen as many of the people on Dragonstone did there's an opportunity to be a dragon rider it'd be interesting if they force baristan to try to kill them and he tries to tame them and dies i would like i never thought of that until tonight and i'm like huh i mean either way he's gonna die but it'd be interesting he's gonna die i just think it's gonna be over the narrow sea i know sweetheart we're gonna we're gonna die. I just think it's gonna be over the narrow sea. I know.

Sweetheart. We're gonna talk. We're gonna discourse. We're gonna have a major battle about it next week. Oh. It's gonna be nuts. It's gonna be an intense episode. Yeah. Me, you, and Jeff.

All three of us are gonna disagree. I love it. That's gonna to create some really great discussion. Yeah. Barry notes that if the dragons do show up, it could help to break the morale of the Yunkish armies. And then we get some discussion from Barristan on how clever Missandei is

with all of her ideas, and she's like, give that girl a mic. Yeah, give her a medal and a mic. And a POV. Give her a chapter. We deserve it. The council adjourns. Barristan goes to the cells where the Dornishmen are being held and informs

them of Quentyn's death. Garrus blames Daenerys, which causes a heated argument between Barry and him. Garrus says that Daenerys, which causes a heated argument between Barry and him. Garris says that Daenerys laughed at Quentin, which Barristan denies, which, true, Dany did not laugh at Quentin, but rather how Quentin's story mirrors that of the Frog Prince, which, come on, you guys know the story, and it's actually reinforced in Quentin's POV, The Spurned Suitor. The tattered prince turned back to Quentin. Could that be true?

Surely not. What of your marriage pact? She laughed at him, said pretty Maris. Daenerys never laughed. The rest of Meereen might see him as an amusing curiosity, like the exiled summer islander King Robert used to keep at King's Landing, but the queen had always spoken to him gently. We came too late, said Quentin.

This really shows how easy it is for the dragon queen to get this reputation as a cold, evil, dragon-flying woman, too. All it takes is one word from someone well-known to travel, and people believe the mythos. I'm just, like, so mad also at how Curis talks about her. He's like, your bitch of a queen had no use for him. Any man could see that. Like, just the disdain and the misogyny behind it.

Like, Quentin didn't think that about Daenerys. And he's the one who's, like, actually, like, being embarrassed here, dude. Like, he's the one who you know it was on him and like Quentin understood that it was too little too late yeah he did and like I'm glad that Barristan like defends Dany and gets into this this argument with Jarrus and I don't know just like Jarrus obviously just fears a woman with power and gyrus has always been this beautiful male highborn so he's never had to play by the rules of respect for women you know having both of those things it's one thing for quentin who's kind of plain

faced and stocky and never you know nothing special he's never grown up special he's grown up being you know his father's son but garris grew up being able to be that kind of douchebag yeah and i think there's that i think that's a really great point that like maybe garris like never had to actually get to know any women whereas you know quentin we see throughout his povs he's grown up around a lot of women and he has quite a bit of respect for a lot of them, and I mean, how could you not? But like, Arianne is your sister, and he talks about the Ironwood girls too. Yeah, Quentin's a good boy, and of course, Garrus' story is probably what will reach Doran's ears.

And by the time it does, the choice will already have been made. Doran will be aligned with Aegon. does, the choice will already have been made. Dorne will be aligned with Aegon. You have, like, Garrus coming here and being like, what he did, he did for love of Daenerys, Garrus Drinkwater insisted, to prove himself worthy

of her hand. The old knight had heard enough. What Prince Quentyn did, he did for Dorne. Do you take me for some doting grandfather? A little. I have spent my life around kings and queens and princes. Sunspear means to take up arms against the Iron Throne.

No, do not trouble to deny it. Dorne Martell is not a man to call his spears without hope of victory. Duty brought Prince Quentin here. Duty, honor, thirst for glory never love and that's why quentin resigned to his fate of not marrying the dragon queen because he knew it was a flippin like far cry if it would happen you know he knew it probably wouldn't happen he knew it was too late garris in a running theme throughout the story refuses to take responsibility for his actions and somehow blames denarius for their foolishness

garris claims that quentin came for love and barriston knows better quentin's dad wanted house targaryen and dragons on his side before he divides before he defied the throne and as you're saying like quentin knew better too he's like it's fine if we don't marry her we just need the dragons and for baristan to say all of these things aloud to garris i think it's very interesting because he's finally voicing aloud that these stories of blood being the cost of love as he was in the last chapter regarding Rhaegar, Daemon Blackfyre, Bittersteel, and Bloodraven, etc. All of those about, like, Rhaegar loved his Lady Lyanna and the realm bled for it,

like, those are just songs and stories and fantasies. As he points out here, like, they wanted the spears, they wanted, they wanted, like wanted the arms. The truth is that ambition and treason and just plain old lust for war, it's not lust or love. And I wonder if Barristan is going to grow from that. If he's going to make the connection between what he's been thinking in the previous chapter, those inconsistencies, now that he's involved himself and has seen that side of it. in the previous chapter those inconsistencies now that he's involved himself and has seen that side of it

well the bad news is we only have a handful of chapters that we get in the next book probably so not sure how much growth we're gonna experience but we will find out we'll definitely find out we're gonna find out

when he dies stop the 26th book in the A Song of Ice and Fire trilogy We're gonna find out. When he dies. In Fire and Glen. Stop. Volume 12. The 26th book in the A Song of Ice and Fire trilogy. Archibald Ironwood tries to quiet Drink, and Barristan makes an arrangement. He will find them travel back to Dorne on a ship and give them Quentin's bones, but they must stop at the Windblown and tell the Tattered Prince that Pentos is his if they can free the hostagesblown and tell the tattered prince that pentos is his if they can free the hostages and protect them during the battle bless your archibald ironwood um but also

this whole situation is extremely significant setup like baristan should know better that denarius would never agree to sack pentos because she has voiced that she like currently feels very indebted to illyrio because of the dragon eggs they were to her an extremely generous gift so for barison to go ahead with this plan is directly in conflict with the queen's wishes so i mean like where is your honor and obedience now this reluctance on danny's part, though, is likely going to change when Tyrion comes into the picture and informs her of the plot with Aegon. Okay. Of course, the speech we'll get from Daenerys in that moment when she confronts Illyrio, the showdown, will be absolutely magnificent. moment when she confronts Illyrio, the showdown, will be absolutely

magnificent. Smoke billowing out of Drogon's nostrils, Targaryen banners billowing, Illyrio whose stance is usually proud and fat, demeaned to a tiny speck in front of Daenerys and her dragons in her Dothraki horde. He sold her like cattle, he sold her claim like

cattle, and meant for her to die among the horses and their lords, but Illyrio will have to meet the fire and blood for his actions. among the horses and their lords but alirio will have to meet the fire and blood for his actions it's gonna be so good it's gonna be a lot i'm very excited for it this is also going to have a lot of ramifications on the westerosi part of the war front and you know the westerosi political situation because while sure but the golden company some contracts are written gold and some in blood a sack of pentos jeopardizes agon fagons campaign because there's not gonna be a trust fund anymore to sponsor the armies

or everything else so gg barry yeah good going the green grace returns and of course the yunkai have refused baristan's offer she advises baristan to free hisdar if they want to keep the peace and the way everyone's like making an uproar and they're like free hisdar i think it's sure yes baristan isn't that but i think that in some ways this political situation is a little making an uproar and they're like, free Hazar. I think it's... Sure, yes, Barristan is Ned, but I think that in some ways this political situation is a little bit like the North calling their banners when Ned was

imprisoned. Yep, like Grolio's head. Yes, Grolio's head. Precious Grolio's little head. Yep, Ned's little girl. Also Ned's head. Yeah, off with Ned's head. Everyone's head. They, off with Ned's head. Everyone's head. They will only accept

the death of the dragons, and of course the Shavepaint enters at this time and informs them six trebuchets have begun firing into Meereen, but they aren't firing rocks, they're firing corpses. This whole, like, firing

of corpses thing, and it just gives me very black water vibes uh the battle the black water you know because they are throwing bodies over the wall and stuff but also there is that whole fiery aspect the dragons and their own wild fire like i mentioned last episode baristan's arc turns to horror before his very eyes severed heads in the throne room rotting corpses the smell of flesh and smoke and blood throughout the city disease baristan could close his eyes to the horrors in king's landing and pretend they weren't happening but in marine he's living his nightmare now he can't escape it yep in marine berestin has to make choices and be the worst of what he saw or what he felt the king's guard and be the kind of night that he thought the worst king's guard

are the ones who get involved in politics and and I think Ned was a better politician, better suited for his role than Barristan. He's a little out of his depth, and that turns out people were worse people than he thought, but I think he held the realm together much better than Barristan did. He had the right idea. He had better execution. ha ha uh i know

i'll go sorry dad dad no but he he didn't have the right tools available to him or the right support is his problem and baristan is even more alone than that was he is and you can see him trying to get support but i mean it's hard he has no friends he can't speak most of the people's language he's looking for support in the wrong places no he's like you know in that first chapter of his that we saw he's like sad and alone and like eating his hungry man tv dinner by himself. It's a lot sad. Oh my God. That's what it is, isn't it? Yeah, it is.

He like is almost out of pizza rolls. Yeah. Okay. Tostitos pizza rolls are super good though. That sounds really good though. I know. Why are we always hungry when we do this? I don't know.

Because it's the hour of the wolf. It's the hour of the wolf. You're hungry like the wolf. Oh my gosh. I don't know. Because it's the hour of the wolf. You're hungry like the wolf. Oh my gosh. I quit this podcast. I quit. Well, thanks for sticking with us for The King Breaker and The Queen's Hand. I am glad you guys came back this week with us. Next week

our next episode is going to be Barristan and Outro featuring someone we kind of like, Brynden B. Fish. Kinda. And then also, you know, of course, featuring someone we very much like, his daughter and his dog and his other daughter. No, they're not going to actually be on the cast, but...

They might. They might. We'll also be figuring out our situation and releasing soon a Winds of Winter episode based around the Barristan chapters. And that'll be that'll also be coming out in the next few weeks. It's gonna be We're doing this one free at first, right?

Yeah, so this is going to be an episode that we are going to release for the public but in the future our winds of winter episodes will be a part of our five dollar plus tier on patreon which we are going to be announcing our tiers in the following weeks for patreon yeah and we'll also be doing other episodes not just the winds of winter ones uh other subjects as they strike our fancy chloe and i have a lot of thoughts on a lot of things. Yeah, we have like five pages full of episodes.

Don't worry. We're already into it. We're so far in. Yeah. So, you know, keep in touch. Keep listening to our stuff. Stay tuned for all of these things. And you can do so easily by subscribing to us.

You can find us on Podbean, of course, where all of this is hosted. You can find us on iTunes, on Google Play, on Acast, and on Stitcher. And, of course, don't forget, if you want to send us an email, you can always write in

at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Feel free to add us on Twitter, give us a follow, send us a DM or a tweet at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Feel free to add us on Twitter, give us a follow, send us a DM or a tweet at girlsgonecanon. You can also leave us an iTunes review. Yes, Eliana loves them.

I'm convinced that you also like them. I don't like anything. Anyway, I've been Eliana, also known as GlassTableGirl. You can find me always on the AsangaViceAndFire subreddit, and on the podcast about it, Maester Monthly.

I've been Chloe. You can find me on Twitter at LiesAnArbor. You can also find me on Tumblr under the same name, LiesAnArbor.Tumblr.com, where I write meta-analysis about the series. And of course, you can also listen to Drunk, A Song of Ice and Fire History on Podbean, and we have a Twitter account also, which is Drunk Aeswath. Thanks so much for listening in, you guys. Make sure to join us next week with Brendan B. Fish as we tackle

the outro of baristan and what his future looks like or doesn't because he's gonna die well our miracles we're all gonna die all grandpas must die oh that's it yeah actually though sorry all right this got in our mind goodbye everyone bye