Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 122 - AGOT Catelyn V

Episode Date: April 9, 2021

Swords out for Catelyn Stark --- LINKS MENTIONED Radio Westeros - Inn at the Crossroads episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ7jT5mq80s  Lady Gwyn's essay on the Inn at the Crossroads: https://ladygwynhyfvar.com/tag/inn-at-the-crossroads/  Steven Attewell's CBC Analysis of AGOT Catelyn V: https://racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/chapter-by-chapter-analysis-catelyn-v/  Inn at the Crossroads FOOD -- https://www.innatthecrossroads.com/  --- 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 Chloe's blog: www.liesandarborgold.com Sound Credits Intro by Anton Language Free Sword Sound Effects : https://www.videvo.net/sound-effect/sword-pull-out-pe1093109/258274/ Background music - edited from original piece Our Story Begins by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4181-our-story-begins License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Hello, and welcome to Girls Gone Canon Reads A Song Of Ice And Fire, Episode 122, Cattle In Five In A Game Of Thrones. I am one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. And we host a lot of things here on Girls Gone Canon. More than actually 122 episodes of Song of Ice and Fire. For example, we're doing a couple of interesting stuff this month. interesting stuff this month yeah we also do as you may or may not know his dark materials we cover his dark materials as a series both the original trilogy and the companion trilogy the books of dust but this month for patrons only in the stranger tier and above the five dollar tier and above we are doing a special episode on the show, on HistArtMaterials Series 2, The Lost Episode,

Asriel Bellacqua's Bottle Episode. So again, that will be available for the Stranger tier and above at Girls Gone Canon on Patreon. And a couple of other things that we do is we do have a Discord. And this month's brunch is actually going to be, by the time this episode comes out, it's going to be going to be tomorrow alright it's going to be April 10th fucking get all that shit if you want to come to brunch alright we take last minute people

and yes you can access our brunch slash happy hour on April 10th by joining the Patreon which is open to patrons thunder tier in above which is $10 and up and this month we are going to play jackbox games once again because that seemed to be fun no my god it was so fun it was really fun

so if you haven't used discord if you're not familiar it's like a little message board right and it has voice services and you can instant message with people. It's where some of us might fuck off all day. I'm going to be quite honest with you. Sometimes people, we just spend our days there. Some people, allegedly. But we played this game in the voice chat. We played this game and streamed this game, Jackbox Games. They do really fun party games.

This game in particular was Survive the Internet. And it's really funny. It scrambles things you say and mixes them with other things other people in the group said and basically it gets you cancelled and we cancelled everyone we did not

survive the internet during last month's brunch so I don't know what we're gonna play tomorrow if you're listening to this I guess tomorrow April 10th 2021 I don't know what we're going to play tomorrow, if you're listening to this, I guess, tomorrow, April 10th, 2021. I don't know what we're going to play yet, but we're going to do some games and maybe some more giveaways, right? We gave away some art from Chili Raven Art last month, and the month before that, we did some giveaway art from Sanrixian and some fun accessories that Sanrixian has her art on. So this month, I think we'll reveal that

during brunch who we're doing the giveaway from and that'll be fun. There's a lot of get to know you's, right? Lots of chit chat. It's fun. Yeah, it is. It is. And you know, in terms of surviving the internet, it's crazy. We can stream and do all this video chat and voice chat now

on one messaging platform. You and I were talking about the aughts earlier and i back then all we had like were all these like really simple messaging platforms right like we had like aim things like that icq icq msn irc yeah yeah those i mean a lot of those are actually still around but like i met I met Justin Guarini from American Idol. Wait, what? When I was in fourth grade in a Yahoo Messenger chat. It turns out people lie about who they are on the internet, though.

So he might have been lying. Because I don't think they probably would have been allowed on Yahoo chat while also filming. He told me he was, you know, in the middle of the season. So yeah, I think he was lying to me and I was 10. Actually, maybe it's good we don't have those anymore. Maybe, maybe it is. I mean, people still do it in real life, right? A lot of people lying about who they are happens in this book series that we read A Song of Ice and Fire. It does. I think we're going to talk a lot about those kind of lies today. Those kind of slanderous lies.

But I do have to interrupt us, Eliana, because one last thing before we move on to some wonderful emails from our friends. Like we said, we do cover His Dark Materials, and we're currently covering La Belle Sauvage. We do this once a month. The last week of the month usually is when that comes out. This month it'll be second to last week of the month. We're taking the last week of the month off, and I'm

really excited because we're actually having on one of our very dear friends who we met through A Song of Ice and Fire, right, who initially we talked to about A Song of Ice and Fire. Our friend Warren, you might know him from the the twitter versus the hedge knight he might show up in your feed he's a huge aria fan but he is going to come on and talk about some really cool lore in la belle sauvage some secret

commonwealth of fairies and other other fake hin that we're excited about. Yes, we're bringing Vorin on to help us dig into a lot of those folklore and legends, so I'm very excited, and it only feels right. Yeah, also we can't tell him when he's coming on for Arya, obviously, his favorite character, because

that would give a lot away about our order of POVs, so. I mean, it could be the next POV, right? Listen, we're just trying to take a stab. Or it could be the POV after that. It could be the POV after that. Who knows when? We're just trying to take a stab.

Yeah, take a stab with the pointy end when the chapters will land. I don't know. Now only you and I know. We had a wider circle once of three and betrayal no one knows aliana no one nice on that note we had some really great emails we skipped last week because we had so much to talk about with cattle and four there was a lot to tear into with that very juicy political standoff between cat berries and little finger but we had a message from our friend will who wrote us about cat's paw paste i thought this was great i was really devoted to thinking about cat through a cat lens i think a cat's lens in the last three few chapters

but i just wanted to say that will could have called this cat's post. And that's, that's, that's, um, please lead us in, Chloe. That's, that's all I have to add right before we jump into it. Cat's post? You know, like cat, like combining cat's paw and paste. Because the cat's paste gets rid of the paw part. So like cat's paw hyphen STE. I didn't really want to have to fire you this early on in the episode i don't even think like it's not my best warm up but it's my it's

my work it's a warm up okay it's a warm up let's consider it a warm up uh will wrote us about cat's paw paste and i think it's clever because i was busy kind of just thinking about it from Cat's lens or Cat's Paw lens, but not from Bran's lens of magic and awakening. But Will said, just listen to Cat 3. I'd love to know your thoughts on something that jumped out at me. When the direwolf, prospectively known as Summer, I love that, licked the blood off of Cat, was this the start of Bran's cannibalism arc? The Starklings already started to form a connection with their wolves, and regardless of whether he realized what was happening, could Bran's consciousness have fled into Summer in a similar way to how Rob and Jon seemed to have when they realized they were

moments from death? Summer's blood eating also comes after cat first talks about making a blood sacrifice of the horses for bran and later takes a bite out of the cat's paw which could be george nodding at the ideas of death paying for life and blood sacrifices and cannibalism unlocking magic also could this cannibalism have been the trigger that helped the three-eyed raven notice Bran and make first contact? Maybe. Or maybe George hadn't gotten that far and books just need to have a bunch of shit happen at the start so characters can get some jobs to do during the story. That could be it too. Yeah.

It could be both. I love that grounded perspective at the end because you and I have been like, I don't know. We were like, yeah, it could be this. Then we're like, I don't know we were like, yeah, could be this and we're like, I don't know, I guess George just had to do that, yeah Will's a great listener, Will's emailed us a couple times and that kind of grounded mentality makes me go, maybe not, maybe that's

a lie, maybe I should fact check myself but I actually really like those first parts too though, regarding you know how it's tying into, as Will said right, is this the start of Bran's cannibalism arc and creating those ties with the other characters also who are, as we know, wargs slash skin changers. And also tying it into, right, those moments and Cat also doing some of that. And another thing it makes me think of is, it's very much that breaking of taboo so early on, right? Like that innocence, Bran's breaking a lot of taboos, as we see in dance. And this might be part of the story of that, but also in the thematic level, right?

When we were discussing cannibalism before, we talked about the cannibalizing of family members in terms of status sacrificing shireen or or the dynamic between the lannister twins things like that so you know summer licking the blood of cat right kind of plays to that too i mean ned just killed lady oh that's another one yeah absolutely innocence lost you know we talk a lot about those big themes from william john william blake right uh in his dark materials but they work here just as well with innocence lost absolutely and and also yeah part of that innocence being doing things like cannibalism right The innocence and the ignorance and how that leads to the loss of it. I'll have you know that Rickon and Shaggy Dog

became vegetarians. Okay? I think they're eating unicorns all the time. They're probably, like, immortal. Oh my god. Sit down, Voldemort. Well, thank you so much for that email, Will. This is some good thoughts better than you know

my cat's past thought you didn't deserve that wait if it's cat's paw paste would it be turned into a cat's paw pasta sauce oh that's a thought it should have thought outside the cat's paw box our friend laney emailed us and i think this is another great email little tonal change right so we're gonna go out of the cannibalism in the more physical sense and the bloody sense and go for like cannibalism of the soul now we're gonna talk more of cat here right as opposed to need the paste our friend laney says I've been thinking a lot about how you guys talked about Davos's unwillingness to consciously question the system that is exploiting him. I think to Catlin, John kind of represents a similar phenomenon.

His presence in her home can be tied back to all the moments where the men in her life make major life decisions for her without her consent. First, we have Hoster's decision that she'll marry the Northern Heir, given what we know of Cat, I believe that if she had any input in this, she'd have chosen to wed closer to home. She seems very pained by the inability to see her father and siblings regularly, and I think she would have been happier staying in the Riverlands. While she loves Ned and her family, I'm always struck by how much she still feels like an outsider in the north. In her first chapter, we see her discomfort with northern culture outsider in the north in her first chapter we see

her discomfort with northern culture and in clash and storm we see that she doesn't really have a social familiarity with the power structure of the north she has no friends among ned's vassals which might just be more of george r martin's weakness when it comes to writing female relationships but from a watsonian perspective still makes her situation feel more isolated. More that groundedness. And Lainey goes on to say, her father did not think of what was best for Kat, the human woman, and she suffers for it. Then, of course, there's Ned's decision to keep Jon at Winterfell without asking Kat.

But the cumulative effect is that Jon becomes this tragic reminder that at any time, the men in her life can override her agency. Kat is unable to blame the system, and she doesn't want to lash out at Hoster and Ned, two men that she loves. It is absolutely wrong for her to take it out on John the way that she does, but I understand where these feelings come from and it gives her depth. It's tragic that she can't fully engage with the ways that the system hurts and limits her, but that tragedy is what I love about her death. It's tragic that she can't fully engage with the ways that the system hurts and limits her, but that tragedy is what

I love about her character. Thank you very much, Lainey, for this email. I don't really have anything to add. I think that these thoughts, they stand great, and it's just, I think these are really interesting and a fantastic analysis of what's going on with Kat.

Again, another really grounded, great email. You all should be writing this podcast. I don't know what I'm doing personally. Sometimes I get these emails and I'm like, wow, send us your episode of Girls Gone Canon. Holy shit. Will and Lainey should connect. Yeah. We can do a podcast.

Absolutely. I'm not joking, I think. I love what Lainey said about cat being unable to blame that system i know we've talked about those constraints and how because cat can't blame the system because cat's not allowed to blame ned because cat can't blame her dad or refuses to all of these feelings kind of just like it's like a pressure cooker right we see it rise up and we see that and the grief as all the things she loses rise up as well and yeah i think especially before we go into this chapter which is i'd say a pretty uh pretty hot to trot discourse chapter right you

got an opinion everyone's got an opinion whether it's wrong whether it's right a lot of wrong heard a lot of wrong in my days but everyone's got an opinion on this chapter it is a very they do hotly discourse chapter and i just hope it doesn't come to blows between eliana and i well i don't think probably won't yeah i think that you and i are very much on the same side have same your shared bannerman on this level-headed grounded yeah not lifted shifted higher than the ceiling not the ultimate feeling i don't even know if i got all those words it's so hard because some of these rules we're going to discuss today like we've discussed these I don't even know if I got all those words right. Cat, cat, how you got so high? It's so hard because some of these rules we're going to discuss today,

like we've discussed these rules that Cat has in the society and what Cat's allowed to say and what her limit is and where she's allowed to interfere in her lord in Ned's life, right? And where she's not allowed to act. And because of these limits, I think we're going to see the way that she does act when she has the agency in a manner to act or even if she doesn't i mean what were you gonna do absolutely and cat's very much you know straining the rules right and wasn't able to as we've all been discussing before but she's working on trying to make a lot of decisions and then use her power to some extent like any way that she can not necessarily for her own ends right

but in order to secure the future of her family and we are getting to that part of a game of thrones where it's getting thick there were a lot of chapters between cat four and cat five a lot happens between the last cat and this cat and you can see from that and from these chapters and kind of as we get into the groove of a Game of Thrones, this story isn't 100% chronological, right? You're not reading, all right, the next chapter happens the next hour.

The next chapter is the next part of the day. This is happening different places, different times, but all similarly. But when we break it down pov by pov like this we can actually watch the moment that tyrian travels down the king's road right that he starts moving and by the time he comes to catalan where catalan is at first like if you're not thinking about what happens in these chapters it's unbelievable that we have eddard chapters two eddard chapters before cat five but we need that setup to help these mysterious tensions build with the lannisters right before cat takes tyrian because eddard is really starting to get deep into his investigation

in his last chapter absolutely that's a great point and i hadn't thought about that right that you can sort of see the little blip of Tyrion's dot heading over and you don't think you're like, oh, those two aren't going to intersect. And then bam, here we are. Here we are the plot. Yeah, and that plot starts at Jon 3 today. Donald Noy tells Jon his shit might actually stink like everyone else's. Later, he meets with Tyrion and learns from the Lord Commander that Bran is awake. Eddard IV, Ned is summoned to his first small council meeting, and afterwards,

Littlefinger guides him to his lady wife. Catelyn and Ned plan to seek justice for their family. Tyrion III, after dining with the Night's Watch, Tyrion promises to try to make their voices heard. He meets with Jon Snow atop the wall and they discuss how he can help Bran's new life in Winterfell.

Arya II. Ned gives Arya a talk about sword dancing in the capital. And a new tutor. Daenerys III. Daenerys decides to take a more hands-on approach with her brother's attitude and her life in the Khalasar, as well as with Khal Drogo.

Bran IV. Bran is brought out of his depression when Tyrion Lannister arrives once more at Winterfell. Despite Robb's cold attitude toward Tyrion, Bran receives plans for a saddle that may someday let him ride. Jump on it, my pony. Ned 5.

Ned seeks the truth about Jon Arryn while trying to balance his workload. Jon 4. Sam Tarly joins the Watch, and Jon plans to protect him from being bullied by Alistair Thorne and co. What an arc. Eddard VI, Jory Castle has been interviewing John Arryn's remaining household in the capital, and informs Ned of Stannis Baratheon and John Arryn's visits to a brothel and an armorer. Hmm. Then that brings us to Catelyn V. A fork in the road appears, and Catelyn

must strike now or never. You could say she had no chance and no choice? Question mark? Question mark, question mark. I'll allow it. Motion passed. Wrong podcast. I will allow the thing that I just said.

Alright. We open the chapter with sir roderick advising catelyn to cover her head or take a chill in this dreary rainy day but she says it's only water she knows she must look a mess ragged and wild but for once she doesn't care yeah we're seeing again more of cat's practicality but there's a part of me that sort of wonders as as these chapters start and and based on what laney was saying is there like an aspect of cat that's kind of breaking free throughout these chapters from the confines of ladyhood right at every turn she seems to defy what people expect of her in ladyhood. Again, part of it being her practicality, but is it more of an assertion of herself? those rains like we see Arya do next book. Obviously Arya's is in a little more dire situation, but here it's really nice and it's actually a really beautiful description here. It brings back some really warm memories. Catelyn thinks, the southern rain was soft and warm. Catelyn liked the feel of it on her face, gentle as a mother's kiss. It took her back to her

childhood, to long gray days at Riverrun. She remembered the godswood, drooping branches heavy with moisture, and the sound of her brother's laughter as he chased her through piles of damp leaves. She remembered making mud pies with Liza, the weight of them, the mud slick and brown beneath her fingers. They had served them to Littlefinger, giggling, and he'd eaten so much mud he was sick for a week. How young they all had been. So, I want to give a shoutout.

I think it was our friend Amy A who said that the idea of Kat and Liza feeding Littlefinger mud pies brought her joy. I will also say I'm pretty sure that I did this, and by I did this, I mean I ate the mud pie as a child. I did try to eat soil a lot as a child.

I brought this memory up to my mother recently, and she confirmed. She's like, yeah, you tried to eat dirt quite a bit. And this was of my own volition, and I don't know. I don't know what I can say about how i turned out i will also point out you pointed out you're going to talk about aria and sansa quite a bit this chapter and this is one of those moments that does make me think of that like her and liza playing in the

mud right making the mud pies it feels like a rather aria-esque activity especially as we see what she was doing right like towards the beginning of a game of thrones running about playing in the mud i do love that juxtaposition of aria and sansa and how sansa was a lady at three sansa sansa passed her mud pie phase you know like she that was in the womb that was over that was done sansa came out having tea parties right and then there's aria and she's like oh no it's on we're playing mud pies all day long it definitely harkens a little bit to aria with ned on the road right when they pass through the neck and she takes and brings him flowers and she has rashes all over her and she ends up putting mud all over her after when they get to the trident that bleeds through kind of to Sansa's chapter on the trident. Very cute, very Arya-esque.

This passage especially, it's just such beautiful imagery. A lot of the imagery in this chapter, especially when she's gazing out of the window and the rain is drizzling down the window panes. Very Catelyn imagery. I mean, when I think rain, I think Catelyn chapters, obviously. Catelyn and Arya chapters the most, truly. It's like rain on the Red Wedding Day.

Absolutely. It's a nice day for rain on the Red Wedding Day. You thought I was gonna, I wasn't gonna. It brings back from Storm of Swords too, as we move forward in the plot with Sansa, it really reminds me of that passage, that monologue that Sansa pitied them, Sansa envied

them about those very innocent girls in the Reach who knew nothing of war who had not had their families taken hostage yet like this and hadn't had their betrothed murdered and whatever, you know, everything, all of it. None of this has happened for these girls yet

and soon, soon it all will because that's how war in life works it reminds me also of the discarded night there's the passage about mud right regarding quentin and daenerys i often relate that to the very canonical ship that george is going to canon in A Dream of Spring. Can't wait for you all to read it. I already have. It's a blast. But this passage in the context of these memories of Catelyn's youth, Littlefinger eating too much mud and getting sick because of it. The passage in The Discarded Knight is,

you can make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever. You can plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you where fire would consume you. But fools and children and young girls would choose fire every time. This feels really reminiscent of this for a few reasons. One, the Riverlands in general are just like given to us right now. We're going to discuss as a fertile beautiful land and as we go forward in the story they get torn apart by war and from where they were once

luscious with happy small folk teetering around and going to the inn and fishing marketplaces and food and people and whatever everywhere and it's slowly just gone downhill until it's no longer slowly until it's war and villages are burnt and there's almost this idea especially with little finger of young girls choosing fire which is what little finger thinks cat did right like he's like oh foolish young girl choosing brandon stark but cat never had a choice as we've been discussing yes she got lucky it turns out brandon stark is mr mcstudley with the great good looks, probably a great beard. We know how that goes. I guess. But the idea of like mud nourishing and growing a crop in mud when there's no time for crops now winter and war is coming. It's just as silly as the idea of Littlefinger presuming that he could even have Hoster's good favor in taking his daughter, or, bigger, his daughter's favor in taking his daughter.

Absolutely. And it's also one of those, I think, right, things that Barristan is mistaken about, as we've discussed back then. And as we see here, Littlefinger, someone else who has not left the past behind, as Verison has not, also mistaken, would be mistaken in thinking that Catelyn chooses fire and choosing Brandon, as you said. Catelyn did not have a choice, also as Lainey pointed out. But in the end, right, as we see in literally this book and the next two ones,

Catelyn continues to choose mud, right? Like, I say this with all the love in my heart, but, I mean, Ned's kind of the mud. Yeah. Absolutely. Ned is complete mud. He is the mud.

And she loves that. She loves that mud. She loves that muddy man. She really does. I mean, and again, maybe he's not that muddy. He's got that exhibitionist streak in him. Y'all thought that we had forgotten about this, but we have not. Just as how Kat thinks that she had almost forgotten this memory.

The north was much colder, with rain that felt like ice, and was as likely to kill a crop as nurture it. It sent grown men running for the nearest shelter Roderick complains of his cold wet bones, poor Roderick as they head through the close woods and mentions that they should park for the night somewhere with a fire

and a hot meal. Catelyn offers what about the inn at the crossroads? It's got five stars on Yelp I actually left a review on that at one point she says because she has slept there many times traveling with her father because hoster had been restless in his prime and was always writing somewhere i love that that's so fun what a fun snippet it just gives us a great view of who hoster was, especially younger on, right? Not now. Who he was before we see him in the story and what he was doing.

And it does make you think, I laugh at Lieny saying, you know, this is a more Watsonian perspective because I'm like, bitches, this whole podcast is a Watsonian perspective and you're in it. You're deep within it. But I imagine Hoster had to be lonely and directionless after minissa

died you know uh even if he was doing all the bossy stuff and controlling the house and raising cat even then like i mean when you lose someone you care about arguably that you keep making bear children that you care about um i don't know. You're directionless, I'm sure. And even with these three children and no Minissa, I just imagine like he's off racing around the world, running away from his ghosts, running away from the wars he's fought. And it shows why Kat is so prone to taking action, right?

Since she went along with him on all of these little getaway trips. I'm sure he at night would just be like, what if we went tomorrow and we went down to see so and so on the Red Fork? Cat knows that when in doubt, do. When in doubt, go. And I think that's framed in this chapter very well. Yeah, and because the Riverlands are right in this really precarious place, as you pointed out, they suffer the most from a lot of the wars that are going on he has to do a lot of that traveling right to maintain all of these connections with the bannermen and and we'll see that it pays off right later on but hoster was active he

kind of threw himself into his work i he was he was there for his eldest kid, Ketlin. But I mean, as you said, right? He's a single father. He's a widower. He's got three kids. It's not easy. It's not. He's pretty lucky that the work he put in turned out alright with some of them. Yeah, Edmure's

like not the best, but he's like... Edmure's fine. Edmure's doing great. Edmure would pass from a four-year college just fine. His GPA would be okay. He's got a lot of self-confidence issues, you know? Yeah, I would too if, you know, Catelyn was my older sister. Yeah, that's true. The perfect eldest sister.

Where do you think Sansa gets that complex from, everyone? That's true. I mean... You and I. Good thing we're all new children thank god i don't know what i'm saying well well catalan remembers the innkeep masha huddle she chews sour leaf and always had sweet cakes and smiles for the children back in the day but catalan dreaded the smiles that she would give she loved those sweet cakes they were rich honey they sound delicious but she dreaded the smiles because she would give. She loved those sweet cakes. They were rich, honeyed, they sounded delicious,

but she dreaded the smiles because the sour leaf would make them look like a bloody horror. I know it's early, even here, but this feels like some major foreshadowing for a couple things. First off, for poor Masha Heddle's death. Let's start it off with that. However, it also has some strong Stoneheart foreshadowing. The teeth,

the great tensions that she's feeling at seeing these teeth and then not seeing them throughout the entire chapter. It repeats like just the peekaboo of Masha's smile. Both of these characters are killed by the Lannisters or by the Lannister regime given red smiles you could say.

You could even look at Willow and Jane later as a kind of Sansa and Arya analog, seeking justice for their family from what's left of their home as the great nieces of Masha. In Brienne 8, in A Feast for Crows, we get, The small folk call it the Crossroads Inn. Elder brother told me two of Masha Heddle's nieces have opened it to trade once again. If the gods are good, that smoke rising beyond the hanged men will be from its chimneys.

So sad. This mini justice and vengeance thing going on for the Inn at the Crossroads for the family here. Tywin has her killed for, I mean, obviously for him it's a reason. His son, the one he really cares about, Tyrion, was kidnapped here.

His favorite son was kidnapped here. So he has her killed. Just straight up killed. That's his reason. The son I don't even like. He's just like, murder this this bitch it's not her fault right and it's especially sad when you think about it in the context of this line that you have here right or these moments you're calling out with masha huddle seems quite nice right she's nice to kids she smiles at them granted they hate her smile but like that seems like a perfectly nice person to me.

Yeah. Aw, Masha. And the imagery of the bloody smile, now that we're thinking upon it, and in the context of Will's email earlier, you get this idea of a sort of bloody smile, and it calls to mind those ideas of cannibalism once more within Catlin's story. of cannibalism once more within catlin's story yeah i will say the inn at the crossroads obviously a very popular place not just from a watsonian perspective but also amongst the fandom right it's a much beloved much discussed i think that radio westeros right did an episode on it and called it this liminal space it's a crossroads not just geographically as cat decides where to take herself and roderick and therefore her own journey she's thinking of all these places she liminal space. It's a crossroads not just geographically, as Kat decides where to take herself and Roderick and therefore her own journey. She's thinking of all these places.

She does mull that over in this chapter, but she's also at a crossroads, as many have discussed, of the story and its plot. But I would say it's also a crossroads of Katlin, specifically her past, her present, and her future. They all collide here at the end of the crossroads over and over. We're seeing here that it opens up in this chapter with her thinking upon her girlhood as they are within the proximity to Riverrun and how she spent a lot of her girlhood stopping by the end at the crossroads. And of course, now she's not Catelyn Tully, she's Lady Stark, and her actions set everything into motion in this story. and that eventually leads to her becoming Lady Stoneheart who also is kind of close to here right later on in the story

and it is here again where Kat exists as all three versions of herself she's the maiden she's the mother and the crone and that intersection of the maiden cat and the mother cat are what make those final scenes in this chapter possible right as she reminds them all that when she was last here she was a maiden she is catlin tully as she calls upon the loyalty of the banners around her the banners from her girlhood to now defend her son as she's to support her as she seeks justice as a mother yeah absolutely it's uh the perfect not a girl not yet a woman story here but she she's she's a woman she's 32 years old not yet a woman come on you weren't just singing it to yourself anyways yeah uh this is also famously the in at the crossroads of crossroads the movie yeah absolutely you'll have to watch it is a related piece of media required watching if you have not

crossroads yeah george actually got the name for this location from that movie. That's actually, you know, that's canon. That's a direct reference to it. Well, Roderick doesn't think that they should risk staying at the inn, no matter how good it sounds, because he's like, well, the inn is not a low-profile place, especially if people like you and your dad were staying there. And I just think, you know, RIP Roderick's Council 297 AC.

Yeah, I mean, it's really funny. It's like four seasons of this place. He makes some beginners' cute little mistakes here and there as himself, because it's just who Sir Roderick is. He's just the goofy, you know, old uncle guy. He's a nuncle, a northern nuncle. He is a northern nuncle. He had a point here. He really did have a point.

It was a good point. Well, almost in support of his point, right? They're interrupted by the sound of riders splashing up the road and they rein themselves back in to see who it is and it is Lord Jason Malister, his son Patrick, and the Malister's knights and squires all ride by. No doubt they're all heading to King's Landing. And I just want to call out, you know, we'll call this out a few times in Catelyn's chapters every time, but I see you checking out Jason Malister, Catelyn.

She always does. She always does just a little well it's the funniest thing because he so like patrick is bffs with edmure as we're gonna talk about at some point i'm sure as we go along he's one of edmure's bffs so like she was into her brother's best friend's dad growing up yeah she was yeah she was that is some fine taste madam tully that is some fine taste she likes it like wine, you know? She's like, now that I'm like, what, 20 years later or so, she's like, still?

She's like, put that lamb out to slaughter and bring me that bad boy. Give me the daddy. Yeah, that's the fire she wanted. Not the fire in the library, the fire in her loins. Oh my god. Not the fire in the library, the fire in our loins. Oh my god.

I'm excited for the Catelyn thirst to go on, because this is not the only time that this will come up. And then it's not just Malister. That's one of my favorite ships, though, is her and Jason Malister, probably because of us, but we're even going to get it on all sides later. Because of us! Because of us! We've talked me into it Eliana I had a long discussion with us and I've thought it over I don't know if it's a ship I just like that Catlin's oh it is I just like that every time

she's like he's still fine I mean they have a great sigil, right, printed on the cloak, and it's all swishy and purpley, and I don't know, I mean, they cut a strong form, dude. Yeah. A presence. A man with a presence, okay? But, I won't question it. Catelyn has taste when she's allowed to choose.

She does. I really like what you were saying about the Inn at the Crossroads earlier being used as an intersection for Catelyn's feminity. It's such a central position between She does. lines and regions right she is a mother a daughter a crone as you said eventually and also married a northerner born south forced to assimilate into those things and she's kind of standing here in this chapter on this precipice literally this very brink of war in westeros knowing one move forward or backward will start a fire exactly where so many people have stood before her at the inn at the crossroads i love the inn at the crossroads being used here especially because the next chapter is sansa at the hands tourney and it ends in sansa's disappointment in her prince not carrying her home

to her feather bed instead it's the grotesque sandor Clegane. The End of the Crossroads is this place where all these people congregate post or during tourney, before tourney, and after Catelyn comes here where the spirits are so high, tensions are rising, war's unleashed after this in a bit here, much like we see with the Rebellion's tourney and war playing out at the very same place george is definitely playing heavily with these themes especially for brienne as we see later who's so pit against her own destiny and what she chooses and i love this line from a brienne

chapter that really describes it from a feast for crows it's george being very george very cut and dry they had come to the crossroads, quite literally, the place where the Kings Road, the River Road, and the High Road all came together. This is where it all happens. And it's funny that Lady Gwyn from Radio Westeros, she has a theory on the Inn at the Crossroads that has become kind of a crux in the community. I would say kind of a uh i mean it's believed as canon probably because it is canon i don't make the rules sorry but it's something that i think a lot of people have read and use in their own head right like that is a starting point for me and the theory is heavily based on arthurian legend and influenced by the idea that queen

guinevar is sentenced to death for a crime against the king, adultery in the legend, but significantly a crime against the crown. The queen was sentenced to burn, but Sir Lancelot arrived at the last moment, carried her away to safety at his castle, called Joyous Guard. So Lady Gwyn goes on to discuss the parallels with Rhaegar and Lancelot and how Joyous Guard is the Tower of Joy. A king, a crime, a punishment by fire, a rescue by a knight. What if the famous kidnapping is a rescue? What if Rhaegar intercepted Lyanna at the Inn at the Crossroads

as she was about to be seized by royal soldiers? So bringing that all together and bringing that idea together, that's something that, I mean, I accept that as canon in my rhaegar and lyanna story you know until george gives me a book i mean you're the judge you are literally the judge when it comes to the relationship between rhaegar and lyanna right your high horniness bomb yes according to the learned hands podcast yes my high horniness

where i am both high and horny. I'm glad that Learned Hands podcast, that trial was great. If you didn't listen to it, Rhaegar's horny trial at the Learned Hands podcast. We'll link it in this episode. But I don't know. I think it's a very solid theory that pretty much explains and does a lot to fill in the holes. And it celebrates the Inn at the Crossroads as a place where big things happen and war brews around it.

It's a nexus, right? It's the nexus of things brewing around the nation. Absolutely. It really is. And yeah, Radio Westrose in general has done Lady Gwynn, but also later on, together with Yook Boy, they've done a lot of great thinking about the Inn at the Crossroads. And we'll probably link that episode two for all of you to check out, as well as this theory. And yeah, so, so many things get added on to the mythos of the Inn at the Crossroads. It's kind of like one of those places that, you know, one day it's going to be like, national landmark, right? All these things happened well it's almost like the the four corners like not not the actual four corners in the u.s as far as like the landscape where you can put your hand your foot yeah but like the fact that you can be at those four places at once if you're at that nexus point that's kind

of what it feels like it doesn't feel like those actual places. It's nothing like Utah. The Riverlands is nothing like Utah, but it does feel in that aspect. It's four corners. You're in four places at once. Yeah, and it just says in this moment, Kat is in many

places of her life at once. Yes. Well, as the Malisters go on by, and again again we think that this is going to be a point in roger's favor but it ends up not being right he advises cat to pull up her hood but she doesn't and the malisters pass cat and roger with their riders gives her a curt greeting but there's no recognition in his eyes he does not know. I wonder if Kat's just a little disappointed. Roderick is surprised, but Katlyn knew. She says they looked like nothing but just weary, mud-spattered travelers, not the daughter of his liege lord. So Katlyn, right, she's been taking on disguises to travel safely, hidden by the anonymity of being in the lower

class, something that we've talked about quite a bit. And this sets the stage, I would say, for the stories of her daughters, who end up having to do similar things, right? Like Sansa becoming Elaine, having to hide in plain sight. She and Roderick even later actually decide to pretend to be father and daughter out on the road doing business

just as Sansa's disguise hinges on her pretending to be father and daughter with Littlefinger. But it also reminds me of Arya's story, especially around the time that she starts kind of going by cat to some people, which is, again, also very obviously about disguise, and also this line about the Faceless Men's Cautions about Glamours that I'm pretty sure I've quoted on here before, but I quote it over and over because it is one of my favorite lines throughout the series mummers change their faces with artifice to kindly man the saying and sorcerers use glamours

weaving light and shadow and desire to make illusions that trick the eye these arts you shall learn but what we do here goes deeper wise men can see through artifice and glamours dissolve before sharp eyes. So Jason Malister, though kind, good, and maybe hot, also might not be what would be considered wise, right? He might not have a sharp eye. And of course, there's the irony, you know, we'll see what around the time of sharp eyes, seeing through glamours, right, with the sharp eyes of Maester Aemon, who is blind, but recognizing the glamours what it is. But here in this chapter, Tyrion sees through Catelyn's artifice, right? And Tyrion is, of course, framed to the reader as wise in, I mean, the follow the chapters preceding this, right? Where we're very much in Tyrion's head. And especially through the lens of Jon, right? Jon sees Tyrion as wise. He's someone who's been a friend to him,

something of a mentor who has given him guidance. And Tyrion's the one who recognizes Catelyn from all the way across the room, even. Yeah, I do think that it's definitely done as a service to his sharpness right that he is just on it i don't think that it's uh i don't know i do think that roderick was on to something by not staying there but what were you to do i get it i get it you were at a crossroads also that and i think roger even if he thought it wasn't safe i mean his bones were cold and wet right like i think he too was like maybe i would like a bed

that's true that is the thing because as it goes to nighttime the rain is no longer warm and nice you know like it's slowly you're losing hours you're losing hours and his employer's paying for this business trip so yeah and when they see jason mallister and his ilk they aren't even near the inn like they still have time to go this is they have a few hours to go so they reach the inn and it gets dark out and masha heddle greets them and she's grayer than the last time catalan saw her she still chews her sour leaf but she doesn't smile much or even notice them at all oh again stone hearty she directs them to the last two rooms in the inn at the top of the stairs under the noisy bell tower

cramped tiny but still better than the outdoors she takes their boots to have them cleaned and tells them to mind the dinner bell there were no smiles and no mentions of sweet cakes. Damn. I know, it's cold, man. Adulthood sucks. Go to the pokey, you know? Get in there. After they change into dry clothes, the supper bell goes deafeningly off. Cat watches the rain drizzle down the pane of the window and the fork at the crossroads through the milky glass. If she turns west, it's an easy ride to

river run where she can seek her father's wise counsel wise and not clever notable river run so much closer to king's landing would need to be just as prepared as winterfell for the war even more so with casterly rock out to its west but her father had been bedridden for two years and she can't tax him yeah maybe we'll talk about this later right but perhaps it is timely that cat does end up forced to go to river run when she does and is able to say goodbye to her father which is a luxury none of her children are gonna have when it comes to their parents does hey don't say that aria might get a chance. Hmm.

Goodbye is a word to describe that. Closure. It isn't. More trauma. More trauma. Definitely gonna open a few wounds, if you know what I mean. Yeah, I do. Stick him with the pointy end?

We haven't even- We keep referring to your theory we'll get to it one day we'll get to in one day yeah i'm thinking it's gonna be the last there's a place for it don't worry there's a place for us well catelyn looks to the eastern road it's wilder more dangerous requiring a climb through the rocky foothills and thick forests of the mountain of the moon into the Vale of Arryn and then to the Eyrie and its high impregnable towers there she would find her sister and maybe answers like the proof that Ned needed

to end the Lannisters and the swords to help them defend that proof. Spoiler alert they're kind of there right there are answers in the Eyrie but there is not proof to end the Lannisters alas nope but you can cancel Lysa cancel her ass There are answers in the eerie, but there is not proof to end the Lannisters. Alas. Nope, but you can cancel Liza.

Cancel her ass. Survive the internet? Liza wouldn't. No, she wouldn't. You're right. She would tweet crazy things. Dude, Liza would be the character of the day on Twitter almost every week. Every day, absolutely. She would get suspended finally because she just had said so much stupid shit. Jack on Twitter was just like

mm-mm she's gotta go yeah she's getting quote tweeted all the time girl we're past that we're screenshotting her we don't want to give her the attention dude Liza's an anti-vaxxer oh Liza is such an anti-vaxxer okay we're getting off topic

listen I do want to say it's very interesting how George makes it very pointed to describe the Eerie as dangerous. And he's like, here he's like, the mountain road is perilous with shadow cats and rock slides and mountain clans descending to rob and kill knights and travelers. Even Lord John Arryn had to travel in great strength you know like excusing it you know because he wants us to understand it's very very very dangerous but there's no way that part of me can't sit here and be like it's not that bad i've walked through bad parts of town wearing skimpy clothes george like alone yeah she's gonna live y'all are gonna live and I know it's like to also foreshadow the big surprise here's a little mini battle happening and

the tensions there but I don't know I don't know how I feel about that mini battle now cause I'm just like yo these are just people that live here you know what I mean I don't know yeah it's their house too okay it is it is I will say that maybe right now, you know,

they say that the mountain road is full of shadow cats, but perhaps at the moment, she is a shadow cat, right? Ah, just one! With her hood up. Just one! Well, the area would have to wait, because Catlin needs to go to where

her duty and sons lie. North. So close. would have to wait because catlin needs to go to where her duty and sons lie north so close yeah she's she's planning on getting there right she's like once they reach the neck she would declare herself to ned's bannerman and send riders to mount and watch on the king's road but cat can't see too far past the crossroads she She remembers it clearly. A marketplace is across the way, a village farther on, hundreds of white cottages and a small stone set. This is a bittersweet beautiful memory.

Not just for Kat, but for us, right? Because all of this burns. Ha ha ha ha ha! What a great moment, remembering all this greenery, this beautiful pocket of peaceful land where people had food and life and laughter. And when we return here with Jamie and Brienne, as we have before, everything's destroyed. All of it's gone.

It's burned down. Torch, time, war. We even have this chapter from Jamie 5 and feast this passage jamie clapped the man's shoulder with his golden hand stay vigilant there are wolves about they rode back along the red fork to the ruins of a burned village they passed that afternoon it was there they danced their midnight dance amongst blackened stones and old cold cinders just down the lane all these villages, torched. That's part of what's going to make it a national landmark one day.

Oh my god. All that history. Well, there would be many more, Catelyn thinks, many more cottages and much more land, marketplaces. The summer had been long and peaceful. Rip. Ha ha ha ha! She goes on to think, north of the king's road

on the green fork were thriving towns hold fast castles the river lords thriving she knew them all blackwoods brackens enemies her father must reconcile as their liege lady went the last of her line dwelling with ghosts in heron hall Irascible Lord Frey of the Twin Castles, outliving seven wives and producing far too many kids and many more. Their swords were sworn to the Tullys, to Riverrun, but Catelyn wonders, will that be enough if it comes to war? Some of them, like the dairies, the rigors, the mutants, they're sworn to her father, but they'd fought on the opposite side with Rhaegar on the Trident and Lord Frey. Well, we know this is a reread.

It must not come to war. Catelyn thought fervently. They must not let it. You know, just because you brought up Jaime a second second ago it makes me think that a lot of what caitlin's doing here right is setting the stage for and and giving us a snapshot of the political landscape of the riverlands and jamie actually has to do a lot of these things right these are the things that uh a liege lord has to reconcile and that's what jamie's trying to do in those chapters of his that we read a year ago yeah oh my god

okay yeah it was it is though it was longer than I thought yeah I mean he goes to the Brackens he goes to the Blackwoods those are the chapters we read of his and meets you know those dairies right and a couple of these other bannermen and

you know you were talking about lady gwyn's essay which again we'll link here and it there's this really sad irony right that catlin's thinking it must not come to war and they must not let it the events that are in this chapter lead to war such as for example the kidnapping of tyrian sparking the war which could very well parallel that alleged kidnapping of liana there's also you know coming back to those banners this is just a very cohesively done chapter right because all of those come back again in the closing of it yeah and i mean even clash right once we eventually get to clash this lays such great foundation for that we didn't start the fire but we kind of did

cat kind of sort of did but it was already burning it was already burning liza and little finger lit it i mean anyone could have done this okay that's all i'm saying i definitely would have that's the thing right the conditions that liza and little finger laid down right and even varies in the lyria or like slowly working towards this they have a different timing that they want right someone was gonna light the fire at some point like it was all already as people describe robert's rebellion all the time as a powder keg westeros is a powder keg right now too with liza and little finger besides the powder throwing gasoline on everything yeah it's a seduction i mean that's the thing it's straight up you know you're playing with fire you're going to get burnt like someone's showing

you a little ankle and beckoning you in, you're gonna go closer for a better look, right? Anything for the ink bank. I think we'd all do the same. She's being trapped in the web, like we said. Ensnared. She was drawn in, ensnared, like a lantern with a fly. And she is by both of them, because Varys doesn't fucking say, that's a lie, Littlefinger. Well, and that's the thing is Littlefinger and Varys both have these separate machinations

for the Starks and what roles they are going to play in their big endgame, their big 4D chess that they're playing, right? Varys sees Ned as the capable dumb enough hand that he can kind of lull in and maybe hook it up for his

protege on its way, and maybe also save and shave a few days for Dany right at the time. He's like, all right, well, some protection for the Targaryen regime going on. And Littlefinger is just all about chaos and that ladder. Let me just tell you, you know, he's just squawking up that ladder. So I don't know. I just don't think it's fair when you have all these big players in the game and you're gonna sit there and say i can't believe cat did it but also you're gonna be like little finger and various are impressive players in the game of

thrones like what you think was gonna happen story fool yes absolutely i mean i'm getting mad for the plot do it for the plot but yeah what did you think was gonna happen the starks were just being used as pawns right yeah and then everyone was like fuck wait what do you mean my pawn died and i mean some of those pawns are gonna become players someday statistically many of those pawns do eventually pass the other side of the board and get to the other end, right? And statistically, a portion of them will. And statistically, we started with a good amount of pawns. So, statistically. Statistically, but...

Well, I'm going to interrupt those thoughts, right? Because Roderick interrupts Catlin's thoughts. Reminding his lady that they need to go get some grub. Catlin reminds him in return they should probably not be knight and lady until they reach the neck. We would be common travelers that would attract less notice. And she's like, maybe we could be like a father and daughter, perhaps. That would be a more clever lie on the road. He's so cute.

So Roderick's like, no, whatever you say, my lady. And he's like, shit, shit, perhaps. That would be a more clever lie on the road. He's so cute. So Roderick's like, whatever you say, my lady. And he's like, shit, shit, shit. It's the cutest shit ever. I love Roderick. He realizes what he said and he's like tugging at his not-there whiskers. He's like, oh, fuck, sorry. My bad.

And I love that he realizes because Catelyn just starts laughing and he's about to do it again. goes my my daughter but i mean like that makes sense right for her to slip into this is this makes sense as a disguise because that was the role that she would play whenever she was at the end of the crossroads yeah other and daughter she's very used to it yes and she takes his arm and tells him he'll enjoy masha heddle's table but don't praise her too much lest she smile at you sir roderick they arrive to the long drafty common room with wooden kegs in one end and a fireplace at the other crowded benches of town folk and farmers

mingle with all manner of other travelers dyers withblack hands, rivermen reeking of fish, ironsmiths thick with muscles, septons, sellswords, merchants. The company has more swords than Catelyn would have liked to see, and more. She sees rivermen, the red stallions of the Brackens, the blue and gray of House Frey.

They were too young to know her, though. I know that feeling now. Yeah, absolutely. I know that feeling now. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely get that one. They find an empty place near the kitchens, and across the table is a handsome singer, fingering a wood heart. He gives

them seven blessings across his empty wine cup, and Catelyn returns them. Roderick calls for bread and mead and beer, and the singer boldly eyes them and he asks all sorts of questions about their lives catelyn chooses to answer one and tells him they left king's landing a fortnight ago and she reveals nothing else the youth takes the bait and he's like oh well i'm headed to king's landing to earn riches off the lords with fat purses at the tourney

yeah catelyn's all like, this man just wants to talk about himself, which is like, yeah, that's singers, but also that's not unique to this man. She's used to it. Yeah, I will say which singer hurt you, George?

I wonder this all the time. Who was it? Marillion, the Blue Bard bard i'm just like what do you have against them there are a couple okay ones yeah but ultimately ultimately what happened to you george i don't know marillion adds that the last time he attended a king's landing tourney he had more silver than he could carry but he lost it betting on the Kingslayer winning. Ding, ding, ding, siren, siren, siren. If only this had caught Cat's attention, like it caught ours.

If only Marillium wasn't such a smarmy fuck, and if only Catalin wasn't completely off her guard, her game in the inn. She could have pushed harder on this. She could have learned some truth here on the bettings that went on at the capital because again he lost it because he bet on the kingslayer winning and the

kingslayer lost absolutely i do wonder if she would have caught it right if they had not been distracted by the food suddenly arriving because in another chapter later in this book at the veil cat almost catches something about robert aaron's fostering when suddenly the bells start tolling and it's like always almost there man what a what a bummer that then she notices it in her very last chapter finally you know like that she figures it out just in time. The problem of the day. The problem of the past few years. I'm afraid not. No, that's interesting that

she's always interrupted. She's so close. The plot. It's too strong for any of us. We can't withstand it. Roderick comments that the gods frown on the gambler. He's pretty much doubting everything Merlion's saying and doing

he does not like the kid and Roderick is very northern right he shares the stark view on tournaments and I love that this is pointed out because we know the north doesn't really like doesn't like the frills we'll call it right they like they're simple people they're simple

folk they like their meat their, they're simple people. They're simple folk. They like their meat, their potatoes. They're happy with that. And we're kind of learning alongside this in Eddard's chapters the same thing, right? Because as this tourney is being planned, Eddard is like, no, we do not need this frivolous bullshit. We don't

need it. So I like the consistency told across the chapters that George wants us to know the North is not like everyone else. They're not. They're not as true. And I will say that it's interesting that the gods frown on gamblers as Littlefinger is quite the gambler when it comes to how he approaches the Game of Thrones. As Brendan B. Fish has pointed out in some of his essays over on Wars and Politics of Ice and Fire, comparing Littlefinger to a poker player. I also appreciate that Roderick says the gods and doesn't say which ones. Yeah, that's true.

He just says the gods frown on gamblers. I'm sure the seven probably do too. Most religions, you know, are like, don't gamble, it's bad, and don't say god in vain. But I'm guessing that it's probably the same value across both religions anyways here. Yeah, and that's true. That is smart that he says the gods because he's cognizant, right, of where he is and the role that he's playing. Well, Merillion says that this time when he gets to the attorney he plans to vote for the knight of flowers as last time he did him in roger tries to frame a rebuke

but the serving boy arrives and lays great trenchers and skewers of juicy brown meat onions fire peppers and fat mushrooms honestly i would have been distracted the boy runs off to get them some beer and the singer introduces himself finally, formerly as Marillion, saying that, You have to have heard of my great band before. My EP, my solo album, my single. And Catelyn smiles a bit, because she's like, well, singers don't really venture north much, but she remembers singers like him from her girlhood. She says she does not know him, though, and he's like, all right, well, whatever. Who are the best singers that you've ever heard? not know him though and he's like all right well whatever who are the best singers that you've ever heard and roger like very quickly immediately answers alia of bravos marillion

says that he'll show him he's much better than that old stick for a silver and i'm just like who is alia of bravos all right who is she and why does roger stand her so hard oh i think we know why he stands her so hard i think we know rodrick uh rodrick must have had a little fling with whoever this alia of bravos she's never mentioned again i'm just gonna say that never again now i'm also like is this uh is this an easter egg for later aria of bravos maybe because of the similar sounding names i don't know i can say that it does remind me of dune right with alia of the knife yes so it might I don't know. It might be a reference. It could be.

It might be just like an Easter egg, you know, like George being like, I like that name. Yeah, I'm just going to use the Dune name. That's fun. I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. It might be. It's literally the only mention, so it doesn't matter, I guess. It's a throwaway, but.

Only Roderick's a big fan of her. Roderick's opinion is very like old man yelling at cloud right he has like this very gendered opinion very like this is the northern opinion this is the northern way he's like music is great for girls but healthy boys should have swords uh but he he nonetheless Merillion's like if you gave me you know a silver I could show you how great i am which is a big flex it's very confident very like give me money to my startup company uh and robert's like i have a copper too but i'd rather throw it down a well than hear you sing i'm screaming yeah absolutely he's just like such a curmudgeon to him but

no that is that was bold and marillion and you know what ask what you think you're worth I guess yeah pay what you're worth you know it is an interesting exposition on Roderick's opinions though here given that if you're reading this book chronologically we are just introduced to Sam Tarly whose father hates

that Sam likes songs two chapters ago and not only that but we also just had the Arya chapter with Ned whose father hates that Sam likes Sarns, two chapters ago. And not only that, but we also just had the Arya chapter with Ned, right? Where Ned decides, you know what? Fine. I'm going to break the norm and I want you to be prepared. My one daughter that I have, because I don't think I have a second daughter. And if I did, I'd remember her name. What's this smudged word on my hand? Salsa?

Anyways, Arya, here's your... Salsa stork! Here's your water dancing instructor and none for Sansabai. No, I'm sorry. But yeah, that just happened. He was like, we're going to go against the grain and we're going to give you a trainer, a personal trainer kid. And Roderick's over here being like, I'm so northern and I'm so tough guy and blah blah blah girls can't sword

yeah when I mean they actually the north is supposed to be known for a little better about that right though as we've seen Bear Island and Alaric Stark's yes great love well Merlin continues to try to appeal to them to Catelyn this time telling her that well he meant to honor her beauty in the song and that her grandfather is very sour. Oh, that's funny. He calls him your grandfather and not your dad. Damn.

This is a heated, this is basically, I don't know, like, rap battle. And they're seated like right next to the kitchen, I'm pretty sure, if I recall. So it's like they're having the worst dinner of their lives. They're, like, cramped up in the corner. They're, like, putting their heads down. They don't want to be seen. They're really anxious. The kitchen door keeps opening and hitting them in the elbow, you know.

And he's got this fucking singer, hipster-ass singer kid, who's like, I have an EP, old man. Want to vape my MP3? God. hipster ass singer kid who's like i have an ep old man want to vape my mp3 god yeah he's all like he was made to sing for kings and high lords and catelyn just eggs him on and she's like oh so you must have been to riverrun before right and before we get there i will say perhaps merlin was meant to sing for queens and high ladies instead not for very long but yeah well you know momentarily you know be careful what you wish for in your life. I love that Catelyn is like,

please go on, dig your hole for yourself, Marillion. I wonder if she's kind of like mild... She's super annoyed. Oh, she's egging him on. But I wonder if she's... But she's also kind of like, maybe... I do this. I do this to people, though.

I do this to people often. I actually... I won't name any names but I did this at an Ice and Fire con to someone who was kind of like chit-chatting about our podcast to me just casually and I was just like, interesting, I've heard of that podcast. Go on. I'd love to hear more.

Just waiting to see what they said, you know, I mean. Until they were like, oh shit. You're Chloe. I'm like, yeah, I am. Yeah. Well. until they were like oh shit you're chloe like yeah i am yeah well catalan also knows so like obviously she knows the truth merlion's like i have a bad chamber at river run and she's like no he doesn't my brother hates singers because edmure liked a girl and then a singer batted her and he was like boohoo and Merlion's stupid

that's the summation here so Catelyn's just smirking she's like oh this is funny this is a good one yeah but that story of the singer that bedded a girl Edmure fancied I repeat who hurt you George I mean

it could be George who Who did George hurt? He has a guitar. Oh, that's right. He does. He was a little stud back in the day. What are you saying? She ventures to push on Marillion. She's like, oh, have you ever traveled north to Winterfell?

And Marillion's like, ew, blizzards and bears. The Starks don't know music they only know the sound of wolves oh my god she's lowkey just like what ridiculous thing is this man gonna say next it's it is funny because the north you know singers don't venture north often because

of that attitude and it kind of has that feeling of like people that only tour to the major cities or whatever and they don't go to every state or they don't, you know, bands that don't come through to smaller cities, which I don't, a lot of the bands I like, they're like, hell yeah, I'll play anywhere, motherfucker, if I can sell tickets. And I don't know, this is also really funny because Rob ends up getting a song written about him after Ox Cross, right? By Ryman the Rhymer, Wolf in the Night. Her men wanted to hear more of Rob's victory at Oxcross and Rivers Obliged. There's a singer come to Riverrun, calls himself Ryman the Rhymer. He's made a song of the fight.

Doubtless you'll hear it sung tonight, my lady. Wolf in the Night, this Ryman calls it. And of course, the only lyric we have from the song is which i think is lovely because it reminds me of like simeon star eyes and brandon summer and the stars in the night were the eyes of his wolf and the wind itself was their song that's pretty i want to hear this song it sounds like a good song yeah fitting especially when you think of the howls of the wolves haunting cadatelyn in the very beginning of the book. And here we are, and now the howls of the wolves.

She probably is missing them a little. Yeah, and also, I mean, it's a good name, first of all. Great name for a song, Wolf in the Night. The Wolves of Winter. I mean, it is, right? The Winds of Winter. It's the long night. It's time.

Maybe that's the time for wolves, right? Because the wind itself, the winds of winter. Sure is, buddy. Is their song. Stars in the night. Well, one day we'll get this song. Hopefully. I actually really, we might not. I don't know why I said that. It's a hope.

I'm trying to will it into existence. The conversation is distantly interrupted by the sound of a group entering the inn, and a servant speaking to Masha about horses that need stabling for the Lord of Lannister, who also requires a room and bath. Catelyn tries to stop him in time, but Roderick

mutters, oh gods, Masha is bowing and smiling at the group, her hideous smile on display, giving her regrets to them that they are full up on every room. Four men stand there, an old man in the black of the night's watch, two servants, and him, described as small

and bold as life. I do think that the sides are chosen for Masha Heddle, like you can see how Masha Heddle feels because when they get there there she says they have room that they're full up or almost as full up kind of like implying oh depending on who comes along after you guys we'll see uh and here you know she's like oh no my lord my lord we really

don't have room but she could have tried you know like not not saying it's her job yeah I thought that was interesting. But it does seem that that was a choice, a deliberate choice for Masha Heddle that she does not side with the Lannisters on things. And that Tyrion's reputation, he's clever and we see him as a wise little character saying some fun things so far, doing some nice stuff to Bran, talking to Jon Snow real nice. We don't know his real motives or, you know, we know how his family kind of makes him feel so far and the isolation he's feeling but Catelyn doesn't know that, obviously.

And Masha Heddle doesn't know that about him. She doesn't know his life. She just knows the Lannisters make her life a living hell all the time. We already saw how Joffrey acted on the Trident, just showing up at people's houses, being like hello, me and my girlfriend are here to drink your wine

the Lannisters don't really always have the regard you know we see Catelyn in the last chapter paying each man money that oared them there from the north we don't see that for Jaime and Cersei in individual moments very often

in the first parts of the book so interesting Tyrion would do it yeah Tyrion likes to flex like that yeah he would do it and he'd also say it with an asshole remark because he doesn't want people to understand that he's secretly actually nice and he's almost good yeah almost insecure yeah maybe if his dad you know maybe if he really were his dad's favorite son oh my god you know steven attawell does really great chapter analysis on all of this right he is uh i don't even know what his most recent is i would have to check it out but i think we're in storm somewhere but he and his cat analysis mentions something interesting george really had to work

to make all this happen right to? To make the chapters line up. We talked about earlier that big ski jump of Tyrion kind of trickling through the chapters. You know, you get him in his chapter, you get him in the Bran chapter, and then all of a sudden here he is now in Catelyn's chapter. Attawell said in his essay on this chapter, Catelyn 5, as people have noted, George has to do rather fancy footwork to make this intersection work. Catalan arrives in King's Landing

roughly the same time Tyrion leaves the Wall. Both of them ride horses that travel. Tyrion travels roughly 2,000 miles from the Wall to the Inn, where Catalan travels 400 miles from King's Landing to the Inn, yet arrives there at the same time. Mounted Knights of the Period could travel 50 to 60 miles in a day, so you'd expect Tyrion to be four days from

Winterfell when Catelyn hits the end of the Crossroads. Realistically, they should have intersected around Moat Cailin, but Martin clearly needed them to meet in a place on neutral territory so word can get out and so Catelyn makes for the Eyrie since if she was at Moat Cailin Catelyn could have thrown him into the Stark Dungeons then there with no way for word to get out whatsoever that's true that's true

it's an alternate universe yeah it really had to be here I mean like that's the thing right the end of the crossroads is so important and George is trying to build that importance starting with some of this stuff in the first book well in terms of what's going on here that's adding on to all that tyrian says that his men will just like sleep in the stable right so he doesn't require a very large room as you can see just a warm fire in a straw bed with minimal fleas but masha says there's nothing she can do they're full up tyrian pulls out a golden coin, of course, and then flicks it in the air.

Then a free rider in a faded blue cloak lurches to his feet, offering Tyrion his room. And then once the room portion is all taken care of, Tyrion asks Masha about food, and she says, anything you like, my lord. Anything at all. Internally, you have this line from Catelyn

of, and may he choke on it, Catelyn thought, but it was Bran she saw choking on his own blood. It's so sad. Poor Bran, first of all. Second of all, isn't that what happens to you, Catelyn? Third of all, oh wait, sorry, it was water afterwards. First blood. Well, no. It is first blood because I was thinking that when I was reading this also because my understanding is when your throat is slit, you actually more of die because you're drowning on your own blood. That makes sense. And this is straight up. Yep. That's what happens to her. Yep.

And I do want to say, if you've read the Winds of Winter, Elaine 1 chapter, there's a line that has just this exact amount of energy. And may he choke on it, Catelyn thought. And Sansa thinks, Elaine thinks, and may your horse stumble. And I think that is a fun, similar kind of thought frame George had for both Catalin and Sansa it is Sansa has a lot of those thoughts internally because she doesn't voice them loud it seems Cat does too Tyrion offers that his men will eat whatever is being served in the common room but double portions of it because they've had a long ride

then he himself will have a flag in of the best wine she has and also tyrian does request some sort of foul he's like i don't care what it is chicken duck goose whatever i just really wanted to point that out i thought that like i might have commentary on it but i actually didn't i just wanted to talk about food and i'm going to plug here while we're talking about the end at the Crossroads, go check out the page for Inn at the Crossroads, who are the people who wrote the A Feast for Ice and Fire book. They do a lot of great adaptations of food from different sort of media, including, yes, the official A Feast for Ice and Fire cookbook. I love that cookbook. sister stew is so good if you

haven't made it make it it's delicious if you're into that we love sister stew here you know me sister stew stan uh i i do love that tyrian has some sort of foul and that he says that because i'm like oh there's gonna be some foul play don't you worry yes there will he invites yoren the black brother to sup with him cat's feeling even more grateful for the benches between them and the door she's like oh thank god he won't even see us until merillion bounds to his feet with his stupid fucking taste for high lords and he's like my lord of lannister i would love to entertain you with the lay of your father's great victory while you sup my lord of lannister check out my sound cloud stream it for good health

yeah and tyrian's like first of all hell no He says, nothing would be more likely to ruin my supper. The dwarf said dryly. His mismatched eyes considered the singer briefly, started to move away, and found Catelyn. He looked at her for a moment, puzzled. She turned her face away, but too late. Fuck. Gotcha. This is it, y'all. Here it is.

The dwarf was smiling. Lady Stark, what an unexpected pleasure. I was sorry to miss you at Winterfell. Marillion gaped at her, confusion giving way to chagrin, as Catelyn rose slowly to her feet. She heard Roderick curse. If only the man had lingered at the wall, she thought, if only. Lady Stark, Masha Haddow said thickly. I was still Catelyn Tully the last time I bedded here, she told the innkeep. She could hear the

muttering, feel the eyes upon her. Catelyn glanced around the room at the faces of the knights and the sworn swords, and took a deep breath to slow the frantic beating of her heart. Did she dare take the risk? There was no time to think it through, only the moment and the sound of her own voice ringing in her ears. You in the corner, she said to an older man she had not noticed until now. Is that the black bat of Herod Hall I see embroidered on your surcoat, sir? The man got to his feet. It is my lady! And his lady went a true and honest friend to my father,

Lord Hoster Tolley of Riverrun. She is, the man replied stoutly. Sir Roderick rose quietly and loosened the sword and scabbard. The dwarf was blinking at them, blank-faced, with puzzlement in his mismatched eyes. The red stallion was ever a welcome sight in Riverrun, she said to the trio by the fire. My father counts Jonas Bracken amongst his oldest and most loyal bannermen. The three men-at-arms exchanged uncertain looks. Our lord is honored by this trust, one of the men said hesitantly. I envy your father all these fine friends, Lannister quipped, but I do not quite see

the purpose of this, Lady Stark. She ignored him, turning to the large party in blue and grey. They were the heart of the matter. There were more than twenty of them. I know your sigil as well. The twin towers of Frey. How fares your good lord sirs? The captain rose. Lord Walder as well my lady. He plans to take a new wife on his ninetieth

name day. Has asked your lord father to honor the wedding with his presence. Tyrion Lannister snickered. That was when Catelyn knew he was hers. This man came a guest into my house, and there conspired to murder my son, a boy of seven, she proclaimed to the room at large, pointing. Sir Roderick moved to her side, his sword in hand. In the name of King Robert and the good lords you serve, I call upon you to seize him

and help me return him to Winterfell to await the king's justice. She did not know what was more satisfying, the sound of a dozen swords drawn as one or the look on Tyrion Lannister's face. You and I have too much fun doing quotes. I need a cigarette and I don't even smoke cigarettes after that. I'm like...

Do you guys have the chills? Do you all have the chills right now? Because you can't not read that passage and not get the chills. I think it's illegal to not have the chills right now? Because I mean, you can't not read that passage and not get the chills. I think it's illegal to not have the chills after that passage. It's a really good passage. It's like, I think one of the most suspenseful

like building scenes in the series. It's so smart. And in the first book, definitely one of the strongest. Oh, it's so smart. What a pivotal moment where the action just like, right. It's like when you're on a roller coaster and you're like, clink, clink, clink, clink. And you're getting to the top and you're feeling it.

And then just that that was when Catelyn knew he was hers. And boom, and it drops. And that's the chat. It's good. It's good. Yeah. I hate roller coasters but yeah i mean it still feels like that yeah absolutely oh god i it's such a good and i'm like really hyped up right now i got the blood pounding in my ears for the chapter. I'm like, wow! Catelyn did that. She did that. She did do that.

Iconic. It literally is an iconic scene. However you feel about it, it is an iconic scene. However you feel about Catelyn, iconic scene sets off the events for the rest of the book running forward. It pushes everything.

Everything is about to change as she gets to the Vale. We know that Tywin is in the background starting to gather the swords unofficially. I mean, it's interesting because as this war progresses and begins, Catelyn and Robb seem to do things besides battle tactic-wise. There's obviously some tricky battle shenanigans, but everything's by the books, right? Like Catelyn has this view in her mind of this is how wars go and they must not let it come to war. The men that are in charge of how such things land, they must not let it come to war. we know they play by the books, you know?

They're not like other people. And all this time, Tywin starts pretty much immediately. The second he gets news of it, what does he do? He starts going. He starts working. Yeah, Tywin has just been waiting for his chance. Yeah. And he wouldn't suffer something like that, right?

He would not suffer such an insult. Doesn't look good especially for his favorite son oh my god um yeah doesn't look good well i know that there's some very interesting thoughts here that we're going to go into you know about was this the move to make yada yada yada as we've talked about a little bit already through the episode, everyone has an opinion. I do want to call out, I know it's been a while since our Sansa episodes and our Patreon episode 6, Winds of Winter Elaine 1 episode, where we talk a little bit about this as well.

But this is an iconic speech, and I think it's very much going to come back in the future. We're going to see this speech be completely repeated when it comes to Sansa Sansa returning home to the Vale I personally expect this speech to be like not one to one but obviously a handful of words changed out but what

Sansa will kind of mirror in asking for the Vale Lords to support her and support the North and to take her home. Absolutely. And I mean, that comparison, I think, makes it clear, right, why Sansa is our next POV. We're going to cover Sansa next.

Oh my god, I wish. Oh, I wish. I wish we could be looking for a mate of 3 and 10 together forever I think we should revisit you know we've been talking about this every now and then in the discord I would love to revisit some of the POVs at some point somehow the POVs that we've already done

I mean we're different people now as we talk about I've got new thoughts after being on this journey for like since 2018. I got new thoughts now. I'm a different person than I was last week. You know, every week I feel differently about this series.

New Selina now. New Eliana now. Oh my God. I don't feel differently about this speech coming back, though. That is one thing that I will never let go of. I cannot wait to read it at the end of the Winds of Winter for Sansa to call upon all of these houses that once knew her father and king robert right we know that cadeline is not a big fan of king robert but she sure invokes his justice here and his rule uh which i think is very important because she understands the power behind name whether or not she agrees with that power yeah that's true absolutely and i mean maybe sanza will also invoke some robert's power right

robert aarons the veil she's not a big fan of him either but she cares for him in some sort of way especially as his cousin and being responsible for this child i i imagine him and king robber i mean i think invoking obviously they don't want the lannister regime most people don't i hear but not the lannisters lannisters want the lannister regime but they are not most people there is no one else like us only us you know regarding this right i do love i'm gonna call it quickly this small moment that as cat is starting this the whole little thing roderick who as you pointed out before right is cat's new bff he he figures out what she's doing and he already is starting to get his sword ready and you know perhaps the gods really do hate gamblers right because

in this scene and this speaks to like is this the right decision that cat made or is it not right cat has to weigh her options there's that line of did she dare take the risk and i love that i love that what a perfect opening to what's about to happen here because with the information she has she does believe right the information she's been fed by little finger and liza with no help from berries and berries held you know probably like just held the dish right either choice that she makes in this moment feels to her like a risk it's either she lets tyrian go free to king's landing the man that she believes sent to cat's paw after her son and then informs informs on, and like, lets him, what,

inform on her to the Lannisters that, you know, are allegedly conspiring against the Starks? They're conspiring, but like, not actively and not in that sort of way, right? And, or does she take Tyrion captive, right? Which is another risk, which obviously we see the ramifications of. And Catelyn rolls the dice. She's using some of the same setup that we saw before she left Winterfell and getting everyone to swear before she takes any action, getting that sort of security and banking on people's honor. She's gambling on that, too. There's a lot of gambles happening here also in sharing that accountability right she's asking them to raise their sword put themselves on the line and in doing that and in bringing that support in it makes them a part of it makes them complicit so it's not just her that goes down that's true yeah she's bringing all of these other houses with her which i'm sure none of them are pleased about uh but well duty duty family duty honor and she's thinking family here right and she's like i gotta do what i've gotta do again based on the

information that she has and it's either again she lets tyrian go and he'll be like you know what was weird i just ran into catelyn start over at the end of the crossroads and then they'll be like, you know what was weird? I just ran into Catelyn Stark over at the inn at the crossroads and then they'll be tipped off especially if they're already, you know, allegedly conspiring against people and will take action probably against Robert and Ned

but if she takes Tyrion, she buys them a little more time she knows the news is going to get out eventually but she at least buys them more time. And is able to be the one who takes a move first. And in doing so, Cat becomes an active player, right? She takes action as opposed to letting things happen passively. Especially when so much in her life has had to be passive, right?

Like, she didn't get to make all these decisions in her life, but here she's like, I got to make a choice for my family. And I also think in a manner of speaking, like this isn't just for directly her family, but also her father's rule. She knows her father's faltering. She knows he isn't ruling the same. We see later that Jamie ends up kind of picking up these pieces

because yes, his family blew this area to war with the Starks but these people that live in the Riverlands lived here before any of that was a problem you know they lived a happy fine life before there was war they lived a happy fine life before the rebellion and the rebellion did the same thing brought all of the

fighting and war to the region she has a duty to these river lords for them to protect their people and yes she's ill-informed right now as to what's actually happening but necessarily speaking like they need to know that the lannisters are out there doing shit maybe this isn't the shit the lannisters are doing as we've realized but they needed to be aware yeah absolutely and could have sent a dm but but we're not there yet chloe this is earlier this is earlier internet uh but she yeah i mean again i think that her decision is justified with the information that she has that she has a duty to her father's houses and that you know he's obviously been a little stagnant the last

two years and that his body's faltering and she has a duty to these houses they're going to be brought into it even if the information that she's going off of isn't true even if it's false she did and yeah i mean it might be fed on lies and i think that's one of the things that is also brilliant about this scene. At this point, right, in the first read, we don't know that, like, Tyrion isn't behind the cat's paw, but because we get his POV, because we get Jon's POV, right, we're

so primed to think of Tyrion again as wise, which is why we're like, ah, yeah, Tyrion saw her, right, in the back of the room. But we're still figuring these characters out but we're inclined to believe uh especially everything that we know about Tyrion and how we see that he helped Bran we're inclined to believe that like there's no way he could have sent a cat's paw after a boy that he legitimately like went out of his way to get this like saddle designed for

so there's a lot of really rich specifically dramatic irony there's different kinds of irony um and this one's dramatic irony because we as the audience know that but catlin does not which makes it uh to use the word that laney in the email used earlier tragic right when everything goes the way that it does it's it's it's a very smartly laid out scene and really tugs on your emotions because of that and you're really right to point that out that like george is leading us to show us he's not telling us he's showing us tyrian didn't do it he's saying tyrian obviously wouldn't have done this uh but he's also showing us not telling us that catalin is doing what she thinks is right here with the knowledge she's presented and i think it's well

arranged here and again i think that that tragedy that fall of catalin that cassandra character right that gloom and that that doom that's following, that cloud over her head that's waiting to really just rain on her parade. Yeah, he infuses a lot of ambiguity into the scene in terms of that morality of who do you root for, right? When suddenly this character, again, Tyrion, we are primed to really sympathize with him at the beginning of A Game of Thrones. And also Catelyn, who is a Stark stark fighting for the starks who as you said

right they're the ones who go by the book the good guys right and we know we already know that jamie and cersei right are the ones who have shown harm against bran so you're like just screaming you're like no no no tyrian's the good one it's the wrong lannisters right right? So close! Yeah, because you know that they aren't... They're not one family unit. They're such a disjointed family, unlike the Starks who are very cohesive, who work as a team.

Yeah. And the Lone Wolf dies. And the Lone Lion comes as well, and I mean, like, that's the thing, right? That's what makes this such a pivotal chapter. And also complimentary to ned's his ned's chapters you know until like more towards the end that's chapters don't set the ball rolling they set the stage they reveal a lot of the players and it's also giving us a lot of that exposition of the history of the rebellion and how we got here and setting the stage of like these are the tragic elements of the past that are leading us into the

tragedy of some of these characters in the future while once more cat's chapters are the force they are where the story moves forward it happens with her story through the letter it happens in the dagger which and the dagger moves us forward from the cat's paw into the little finger in various chapters and it sets everything up for the emotional crux of catlin's decisions in this chapter and then this is the the decision that presents a central conflict that carries us through into book three eliana she's the cat a list oh wait actually i think that he might have done that i want to believe that's on purpose fuck fuck watsonian or whatever like we've made a new doylist fuck being grounded this is intentional now we're now doylist we turned the watsonian off yeah we are lifted higher than the ceiling. It's the ultimate feeling.

It is the ultimate feeling. I just, you started speaking and about two words in I realized as what you were saying, I was like, holy shit, she's the catalyst. The cat. God fucking damn it. So good. Oh my god. It's true though. Catalin is

the catalyst. It's lifted gifted you're close I said shifted but yeah she is the catalyst it's all building right the letter the dagger everything is coming together for this chemical reaction

and it just bubbles over yeah and that's it that's cat 5 catalyst 5 catalyst 5 well over. Yeah. And that's it. That's Cat 5. Catalyst 5. Catalyst 5. Well. We're off after this. We're off to the

north, we're gonna loudly say, over and over again for anyone that's listening. We're off to the north. We're going to the north. We're going to the north. We're going to the north next chapter. We're going to the north. We're going to the north. We are going to the north. chapter. We're going to the north. We're going to the north. We are going to the north. We'll see you in the north in Catalan 6.

We will. North. Northward to Catalan 6. Follow that north star. And if you want to go north with us, put a hashtag north if you would like to find us on social media. On Twitter, you can find us at girls gone

canon c-a-n-o-n let us know what your plans are for when we get to the north next week or maybe yeah next week the north that same timeline or perhaps you would like to send us an email with your itinerary

again for the north girls gone canon at gmail.com Yeah, and if you are not already subscribed to us on your favorite podcast listening platform, be sure to do so to stay updated on all of our movements as we travel North with Tyrion and Catelyn.

For next week, you can do that over at Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Audible, iHeartRadio, Pandora, you name it. We're on there. Give us a Google. You'll find us. Give us a Google. Yes, and you know, as we said earlier up at the top of this episode, we do have a Patreon where patrons $5 and up get a special bonus episode every month.

This month is His Dark Materials, the other series that we cover. We're going to talk about that Lost Bottle episode, but for patrons $10 and up, get a special bonus episode every month. This month is His Dark Materials, the other series that we cover. We're going to talk about that Lost Bottle episode, but for patrons $10 and above, Thunder Tear and above, tomorrow, if you were listening to this on the day of release, April 9th, April 10th, Saturday, April 10th, we are having our Discord

brunch slash happy hour. If you would like to join us and play some Jackbox games, maybe it'll be the catalyst of something my god but in the north we'll be we'll be on our way north yes in the discord well next week we'll be coming back to you from the north ah from the north so we'll see you then from the north as always i have been one of your northern hosts, Chloe. And I have been another one of your hosts. Also northern. Journeying there, Eliana.

Yup, see you in Winterfell with Catelyn next week and Tyrion. Bye! Bye!