Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 161 — AGOT Prologue, Will

Episode Date: May 13, 2022

We should start back.  But only with the prologues.  Links mentioned:  The Killing of a Ranger: The Death of Waymar Royce by JoeMagician --- 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 Intro by Anton Langhage

Hello and welcome to Girls Gone Canon, Creed's A Song of Ice and Fire, episode 161. Prologue. Will. William? Will I am? Will he won't be. I'm one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana.

Wow, we are at the very top of the wall looking out over the whole world the whole world is our oyster this is the very first I know it does sound really delicious I really do want an oyster now that I've said this the very first the start of it all yeah

it is it is I mean as we said we should start back and we're not doing the whole series again we're only doing all the prologues Yeah, it is. It is. It's, I mean, like we said, we should start back. And we're not doing the whole series again. We're only doing all the prologues. But this is the very first prologue. And therefore significant. This is the rewind you've all been waiting for,

where we start doing Sansa Stark as a POV character. As we've been saying. We broke the multiverse. We have crashed through the multiverse. It's topical humor, Alana. Have you watched it yet? I haven't. Absolutely not. I know all the spoilers for it. I've read all the production shit. Of course you do.

I knew all the big, you know, but I'm waiting. I'm just waiting until it comes to streaming. Yeah, I'll wait. I'll just wait. Something about paying that fucking whatever $7.99 for a Disney Plus account is going to pay off for my family. Okay? That's true. I got to use my Disney Plus more.

Granted, I'm not paying. Don't let the mouse get you down. I'm not paying. I'm in a family. And I think my family uses my other families. I'm not related to the family account I'm in. We're like the Night's Watch, you know? Oh my god,

brothers. Sworn. Sworn in front of whatever. Hi, Andrew. He's not, he doesn't listen to me. He doesn't listen to me. Andrew aside. He's using my Paramount Plus account, you know, where I'm watching iCarly so he can watch Halo. I was gonna say, what are you watching?

iCarly and Rugrats? Yes! Jesus. Yes, literally iCarly so he can watch Halo. I was going to say, what are you watching? iCarly and Rugrats? Yes! Jesus. Yes, literally iCarly. We've gotten to that part of the global pandemic. Yep. That part, that part, that part. But thankfully we are saved by the prologue out of our iCarly-ing.

Out of our The Walking Dead-ing I'm not much better we're saved, we're all saved because we have the prologue and I don't think I've read this chapter in a very long time, like years ago? I don't think I've re-read this chapter in a while

I don't remember that, I re-read it every now and then just because, I don't know it comes up and it's like short and also I think it's that. I reread it every now and then just because, I don't know, it comes up and it's short. And also, I think it's the chapter I've reread the most because every time I'm like, I'm starting a reread, obviously. It's right there. Well, I don't think I've done a linear reread in full or completed it, right? Or even was ambitious enough in a while. I think I left off on a feast reread in full or completed it right or like even was ambitious enough in a while like i think i left off on a feast reread because i think like after rereading it a couple times i was like well

what if i only read a certain book when i felt the mood for it and what if that book was a feast for crows like eight times or a clash of kings like three times and that's just another love i think of the story and of the chapters that I liked the most you know or wanted to revisit and really that's what led us to be together which we are celebrating a four year anniversary together thank you for your well wishes we have had lots

of well wishers we're holding hands through the screen right now you can't see it we are yeah don't leave me hanging thank you graduating from uh oh hold on i had my hand not right in front of the camera you couldn't tell what is what's the four-year anniversary you know what is that let's see four-year anniversary is do they all have names i think so uh fruits and flowers oh that, that's beautiful. The Sansa anniversary.

The Sansaversary. Of course, of course. We've come full circle. The Sansaversary, which is why our next POV is Sansa Stark. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, four years, though. Four years, oh my god, of POV by POV. So it has been a while since I've reread in a linear fashion probably for that

reason i've been with you for five years of my life yeah i mean i don't know that i like always like i'm going through the whole reread i just like you know i'm like wouldn't it be funny and then i just stop after the first chapter i was like that was a good try that was a good run yeah i find myself like if the chapter i'm reading for our weekly book report that we do for y'all uh if i find that chapter really compelling or like it's something that snags me it's like a hardcore like brienne it was hard not to keep going like i would keep going after the chapter that i was rereading i'd be like shit, and now I'm all the way in the Cersei chapter. Oh shit, now I finished A Feast for Crows again.

Really, I'm just a feast truther, a feast believer. God. Well, this is kind of the month of His Dark Materials, although we're returning to the prologue.

Thanks for putting up with us, our absence for a little quick week. Had to get our shit together, our health, our business, our lives. Little travel, little sickness. I think we're doing better. Yeah, I guess kind of. I don't know. I hate

sicknesses because they just stick with you for a while. I've always been like this with this one. I'm going to be congested for a while, but it's whatever. I'm definitely better. I definitely feel better than when we were recording last week. I don't feel like I'm dying.

So that's good. There were moments where I was like, Chloe, you do this quote. I can't do this. I literally cannot do this voice. And you know what? My Jon Snow voice is barely back. We're working on it. We're not going to do any Jon Snow quotes today.

Just warning you out the gate for that purpose. Need a little break so we can come back to him strong and heavy. You know, really string him back in. Absolutely. So Patreon episode, bonus episodes every month stranger to your patrons five dollar and above get a bonus episode this month is going to be a his dark materials episode on the new his dark materials novella question mark tiny book you know post-it notes of thoughts from philip pullman but you know what hey it's a book

we'll take it so um it's gonna be on that it's called the imagination chamber uh we're going in with open minds open hearts yeah open minds open hearts open pockets yeah open pockets yeah open credit card bill uh no i'm just kidding kidding we did have to sneak it in smuggle it in Davos style right because my god they didn't publish it the US publishers didn't want this story you guys it's kind of wild

if you're into His Dark Materials we also cover the main trilogy and we've started the outer trilogy the Books of Dust and we are finishing up the main trilogy and we've started the outer trilogy the books of dust and we are finishing up the main trilogy next month the last week of this month will be dedicated to hdm

we will return next month with a full aswaf schedule and the final episode of hdm of his dark materials the amber spyglass yeah wow kind of crazy to think about but that just means you will only have two episodes this month so we will return right we'll return with the remainder of the povs next week you will

get a crescent episode though yeah you will get a crescent episode It's cresting upon May with our friend Alex August of Gotthrones. Yeah, I'm so excited. Alex from Gotthrones, which if you listen to them back in the day with Alex as well as Johnny, really fun. They are a fun cast. I think you can still get these episodes. I got to look it up. I think it's still out there. They still, they're feed active though. Also of Skybound Infamy. We spent some time with Alex during the Skybound Expo last year. Digitally, virtually.

We were in the Skybound Metaverse. I don't know. But I don't know what that means. I don't know what any of it means. But I'm excited. I actually got to hang out with Alex in the real world at San Diego Comic-Con a couple years ago. Yeah, and Johnny, actually. I got to meet them both.

And when we figured out how we knew each other, tangentially, we didn't know each other. We were in each other's room. She came up in Friends with Tara from Ice and Fire Con, a geek saga. She came up and she's like, wait, I know you. How do I know you? And we realized that we follow each other on the internet. Oh, beautiful, beautiful. It was one of those.

Yeah, she's like, we've been following each other for like five years. For like five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years.

For five years. For five years. For five years. For five years. it's like I've known her my whole life really I haven't but it's like I have it's like I have I am excited to have Alex on Alex is really fun and knows her stuff so it's gonna be great and obviously

Crescent's just all the prologues are bangers obviously but the Crescent one is very exciting I will tell you it's not easy to crush this one down i can see why some podcasts have issue with um doing one episode on the crescent prologue because it is very thick it is a big boy it is so i mean look we've covered Davos already. So we're kind of doing an undoing, right? This kind of sets up some stuff that makes you presuppose a lot about Stannis and about his whole team.

It changes some of the views. I think it's only I've judged correctly. I have some mixed feelings. I have a lot of thoughts. We'll talk about it next week with Alex. But I do have a lot of thoughts we'll talk about it next week with Alex but I do have a lot of thoughts already I'm like huh maybe I don't know there's a lot going on

a lot going on interesting there is a lot going on but it changes your perspective reading it out of order right so we have already kind of read all the Jon stuff so some of the Night's Watch stuff like chat will be kind of interesting and we've read all the Jon stuff. So some of the Night's Watch stuff, like Chet, will be kind of interesting. And we've read all the Sam stuff, right?

And Sam is a big focal point for Chet's character as well. And for Pate. Yeah, for Pate, with us just finishing at the Citadel, it's perfect. We did think about this just a little, you guys. Not to flex. it's perfect we kind of we did think about this just a little you guys not just a little not to flex i do want to add to my knowledge we should have guests for every single prologue it sounds like very excited to reveal them yeah we're solidifying the last couple but a guest for each a guest for each so get on your guessing hats I'm excited to reveal them as we go.

Alex is just the first of a line of fun guests and a new POV. I can't wait for that one. Yeah. Oh man. Stop. Oh my God. It's going to be, I mean,

it will like, we're going to start July with a new, it's going to be a revolution, you know? Wow. It's almost Leo season. I mean first we have to go through it's really not

we're like two and a half months from Leo season don't worry about it we have to go through a lot of other seasons before we get there first we're doing Gemini season oh god well we're still in Taurus season which then we got Gemini season then Cancer season before we ever get there. We're really not

close, Chloe. It's not close. It's like a whole quarter away. Well, buckle up, everyone. Buckle up. Speaking of timing, our brunch is coming up soon. Yeah, last thing for you tonight is our brunch, right?

Discord members in the Thunder tier and above, well, you know, they get access to the new POV a little bit before everyone else, which is kind of fun, and they get a bunch of other perks that you can find out at our Patreon at patreon.com slash girlsgonecanon. But they also have access to our private Discord server

where we talk about everything and anything under the sun we have lots of fun channels and we do events weekly we're doing a his dark materials rewatch discussion hosted by our patrons and monthly we do a brunch slash happy hour where we just hang out kick back have a drink or a snack and uh chit chat play games sometimes you know worlds are worlds are oyster once more force people to play drawing games and they're all like what is this eliana and i'm like it's fun look at all the fun we're having eliana is chaotic when i leave her be yeah absolutely well no emails. Interestingly, none of you sent any emails or tweets of note regarding the Will POV.

I think everyone was just like too stunned. You know, we're all babies. We're all starting this whole thing anew. Who am I? You know, if you were at Ice and FireCon and you got to see the panel, there was a panel Thursday with Yolkboy, LadyGwyn, I think Aziz. Might have been A'Shea or Sean.

I'd have to look back and I think it's going to be up on their YouTube, but they did a great prologue analysis. I heard tons of great things about it. And I only regret that I didn't get to go and I haven't gotten to see the video before this because I really wanted to shout them out on so much they talked about from everything I've heard people talk about.

But alas, the timing didn't happen. But make sure when that comes out, we'll send a link around for sure. Because I'm sure it's a solid panel. Like, they already did it. I don't know why we're doing the prologue today. They already did it. Because we said we were going to do the prologue and we have to do it eventually. God, I am a woman of the north of my honor can't forsake my vows well speaking of starting back

we've got we've got a little callback that you've given us here to i think our first episode our very first episode yeah to quote a famous poet let's go go back, back to the beginning, back to when the earth, the sun, the stars all aligned. Yes, absolutely. Hilary Duff of Lizzie McGuire notoriety and musical fame. She just put out some photos recently. I think it was today. I forgot what magazine it was, but photos showing off her photos showing off her body and people are saying, you know, she's aged like a fine wine and everyone's like, dog, she's 34. Like, what? She's 34. Like, she's not like fucking Melisandre age, you know? Like, what do people think? But, I mean, speaking of watching reboots, right, and watching iCarly, I am watching. It's not a reboot.

I was really looking forward to the Lizzie McGuire reboot that we're never getting, apparently. But I am watching How I Met Your Father, and it is, it's okay. But it scratches the itch that I wanted for a Lizzie McGuire as an adult, you know? Yeah, I'm glad it didn't happen from what i heard just that it wasn't going in a good direction i think that if it had gone the direction hillary duff wanted it to go and right but disney wasn't willing to do that and now we'll never know we'll never i mean now we do because we've got how i met your father and it's like probably practically the same premise that is something i'm gonna let you keep finding out for me yeah yep you know sometimes in a couple you gotta let the other person pursue their dreams and

elliana i want you to watch it without me yep and so you what? Let the snow fall down. Oh my god, that is not even- And wake my dreams of spring. Do you think that was a segue? Did you- I tied in a lot of things, alright? I tied in, for the most part, a verse from the song and the final book, so I don't see how I didn't accomplish the assignment. So I don't see how I didn't accomplish the assignment. You're all wondering right now, beyond Eliana's segue skills, you are all wondering, how are they going to do a lightning round? How are they going to do it? Because this is the very start.

Where would you go before this to describe the prologue? Right? How are you going to logically arrange that? Well, I think we know the only way to start the lightning round. On September 20th, 1948, George Raymond Martin was born in Bayonne, New Jersey to Raymond Collins Martin and Margaret Brady Martin. He began selling fiction stories at age 21 in 1970, selling his first, The Hero, to Galaxy magazine. His first story, nominated at the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards with Morning Comes Mistfall, was published in 1973. He had a day job because short stories don't exactly pay the bills, and after a few years

was tournament director for the Continental Chess Association. This schedule allowed him to write, though, and he released his first novel, Dying of the Light, in 1977, which benefited from the success of Star Wars, science fiction, all that fun stuff in the 70s and gave him a pretty penny in his pocket. Three years worth his teaching salary. Then in the mid 70s, George met a professor. George Guthridge.

From Debucky, Iowa at a sci-fi con in Milwaukee, where he persuaded Guthridge to give speculative fiction another chance, and try to write it himself. Guthridge went on to be a finalist for the Hugos as well as the Nebula Award, and won the Bram Stoker Award in 1998, but in return he helped Martin find a job at the now Clark University. He became an English and journalism instructor, and then writer in residence at the college until 1979 when his wife graduated and he resigned. He's a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and even served as the organization's Southwest Regional Director in the 70s,

and its Vice President from 96 to 98. He and Gardner Dozois organized the first Hugo Losers Party for the benefit of past and present Hugo Losers to gather the evening following the awards ceremony and, you know, party through the sorrow. The year it was born, 1976, George was nominated for two Hugos, but lost both. He often wrote fantasy or horror, though he wrote many hybrids of sci-fi and horror in the late 70s, specifically to prove a critic wrong. He considers Sand Kings and Night Flyers the better-known versions of these, with Night Flyers making it to screen.

Though not a hit at the theaters, he claims it saved his career. Though not a hit at the theaters, he claims it saved his career. He has also written at least one political military fiction, Night of the Vampires, in Harry Turtledove's best military science fiction of the 20th century, Anthology. In 1982, he published Fever Dream, an adaptation of the hit CW TV show The Vampire Diaries, set in the 19th century on the Mississippi River, where vampires are not quite supernatural humans but a different species, related to them, evolved, superhumans. This was followed by The Armageddon Rag, which didn't go so hot, and he kinda claims it destroyed his career as a novelist at the time.

He even thought about doing real estate instead before TV came calling. We're in 1984! Bane Books editor Betsy Mitchell called to ask if he'd do a collection of Haviland Tough Adventures. He was interested, but too busy writing black and white and red all over. But editors rejected his novel, so he accepted the offer, writing stories collected in tough voyaging. They sold well enough to earn a sequel,

but before George could do it, he was approached to adapt the Armageddon rag into a film. It didn't pan out, but producer Philip DeGare Jr. called him back to write for the new Twilight Zone, then he moved to Hollywood to seek a new career. The reboot was cancelled, but he began to bounce around TV, working on Max Headroom, also cancelled, sad face. And then the fantasy drama.

Sansa and the- wait. Beauty and the Beast. Jamie and Brienne. Becoming the show's co-supervising producer and writing of 14 episodes. He published a collection of short horror stories

and portraits of his children, and continued working in print media, editing book series, overseeing the multi-author Wild Cards series, taking place in a post-World War II shared universe where humanity gets superpowers. He also became obsessed with the role-playing game Superworld, which he attributes a lot of his writing of the series of Wild Cards to, even calling 1983 his lost year which we've all been there george there's been a lot of animal crossing new horizon hades valley valley anyway but his bank account told him get his shit together

and make super world profitable instead of just playing it for a year straight so wild cards was born and it has continued to be popular even being approached to be adapted to the screen you know drink your haterade if you would like about dem cards but we respect the hustle of wild cards because again it's a multi-authored series that george edits occasionally continue is it but is it a multiverse of madness i don't know actually i literally don't know um so let's need the aces and uh aces and jokers aces and jokers yes i do like them they are fun but let's talk about fast forwarding to 1991 george is like wow for for Eliana's first birthday, let's be frustrated with TV. And he yearns to write once more, ready to never compromise his own imagination again.

And strikes out into the world of high, epic fantasy inspired by the Wars of the Roses, the Accursed Kings, Ivanhoe, and many others such as Turtles. Ivanhoe, and many others such as Turtles. George penned A Game of Thrones, published in 1996. And that, my friends, brings us to the entire reason that we are here. George Railroad Martin, trademark bookshelf stud, A Game of Thrones, and the Game of Thrones prologue. That leads us into our overview of the prologue, Will. To go forward, you must absolutely goddamn fucking literally go back. So that's what we're doing before we can go forward.

Indeed, indeed. We should start back. Urges Garrett, an older man, past 50. Sir Waymar Royce is younger, more confident, easy, and pushes ahead. They argue about whether or not the dead are dead. While Will listens, wondering if he should pipe up too, at least before they drag him into the argument. We're introduced so quickly to these new characters and we actually have reflections on these characters later in the story uh the first quote that that comes to mind is elaine one in a feast for crows of the royces he was a guest

at winterfell when his son rode north to take the black she had fallen wildly in love with sir waymar she remembered dimly glad that sansa is learning right at these pretty boys and sad because you know well rip rip to waymar but we do hear about them in other chapters not just in the veil with sansa lane we hear of gerard waymar and will and tyrian three from mormont i sent benjen stark to search after jan royce's son lost on his first ranging the royce boy was green as summer grass yet he insisted on the honor of his own command saying it was his due as a knight i did not wish to offend his lord father so i yielded i sent him out with two men i deemed as good as any in the watch more fool i yeah i mean kinda yeah i mean that's actually the anyways we'll talk about that being

the whole point of humor but how's his dad gonna know like we go through all this later with john anyways yeah what's his dad gonna fucking do? He sent him to military school. Anyway. For life. Yeah. So, Garrett says, my mother told me that dead men sing no songs, and

Will says that his wet nurse said the same thing, and then Waymar's all like, don't believe anything you hear at a woman's tit and weird thing to say but also I mean obviously the prologue it's a microcosm right other themes that come up over and over again in the series that's why it's a prologue

and blah blah blah yes the dead are dead but beyond the obvious ice zombie threat we see the dead can in fact hurt us in many ways for example emotionally Ned's chapters which hold the first book together they're about the hurt that he uh carries about his siblings and his father dying robert obviously has never let go of liana and also rhaegar keeps haunting him we hear that in ned's very first chapter and also even after tywin's death for example later on tyrian

carries the trauma that his dad inflicted on him everywhere. People also carry good things, though. Sometimes they carry lessons about the dead, too, but we're not going to dwell on that much. The dead also do continue to sing songs, I would assert. I mean, that's a big part of the story, right? Like, you talked about Sansa earlier, right? And we obviously talked about her love of songs many times and, I mean, it's the songs of dead heroes that motivate a lot of our young protagonists early on as they

try to live up to all these memories. Yeah, I mean, almost all of them, right? That's where we learn these from. Yeah. That's great. And, yeah, the ghost is so prominent of all of these people and stories from the very start, right? This chapter alone is pushing so many things to set up, but it's not pushing them

hard. When you read the Crescent chapter, when we talk about that next week, it's thick and it's very, it's got a lot of exposition and a lot of work to do and a lot to deliver to the reader, where this is more effortless i will say uh not to compare apples and oranges right they're very different chapters and with very different purposes but this one is such an effortless horror story that introduces these characters so well and starts to introduce elements of the later plots delicately absolutely absolutely great world building also too of course you know things like how far are things right they're an eight or nine day trip ahead of them night's falling garrett points us

out and waymar is once more uncaring about the situation brushing garrett off will consents something a little bit more than wounded pride and garrett who is uh the master at arms there's like this tension and he's like it's almost like it's fear i'm like maybe it is anyway will himself though also shares this feeling of unease he'd been at the wall for four years and the first time he had gone beyond it he wet himself okay it's just like sam see yeah yeah people just love he's not the only one yeah he's not the only one i know i mean it's scary it's fucking cold and there's fucking ice zombies and it's fucking scary yeah i'd pee god yeah and he so afterward he like laughed about it though he had better humor right uh he's now a veteran of 100

rangings and the haunted forest no longer scares him as much but tonight's a lot different the darkness has an edge to it they'd been riding for nine days already on top of the trip to come away from the wall tracking a band of free folk raiders today had been the coldest and all day will felt as if something were watching him something cold and we have a line garrett felt it too very shivery very good use of just the short yeah it's just so good i feel horrible for garrett in all of this he's very obviously seen some shit uh in his many years of living and he keeps getting blown off by Waymar who I don't think he means unwell totally

but he is not they need to figure out each other's personality types and communicate is all yeah I mean as we know Waymar is a teenager so I guess he's just like that you know

and speaking of so I guess he's just like that you know and speaking of themes coming up from the start you know this very second page covers the fear that Garrett is close to feeling but won't voice and Will obviously I mean he shares that fear he's like what is this

feeling it is fear again and like with that comment about women's teats like i we get the sense again world building wise what the world is like it's a little bit like our modern world and which there's misogyny and women's advice here is disregarded but also i mean i guess they're kind of i mean he's kind of right you know he's like that that advice wasn't right but anyways these men like when it comes to like their toxic masculinity, they're afraid to voice their fear. They're afraid to even acknowledge it as such, because they'll be ridiculed for it.

And we know that it is, again, somewhat tied to gender expectations, because of how Waymar later on makes fun of Garrett asking him, what is unmanned to you? And, you know, that's pretty unfortunate when you consider like turns out fear and listening to it was good i remember when we were doing those sam chapters yoke boy discussing how fear can be a gift and then also the very very very next chapter like literally the next chapter ned teaches bran that fear is important and it is inseparable from bravery. Yes, prologue to Bran is so good. I did give myself a little treat tonight, right? I had a little Bran as a treat

after this episode of reading the chapter for it. I was like, what if I had a little Bran one as a treat? It was so nice. It was so beautiful. But this also is setting up the central theme of the entire plot for all of these characters, just like you mentioned of kind of them hanging in this chapter already. Look at Robert, right?

Look at Stannis, as we're going to discuss next week. These men are like kind of because of toxic masculinity and the kind of the viewpoint in Westeros, look at what they did and the things they were driven to do right because of that and we even see something here from mormont his cluelessness and helplessness right we know he mentions in tyrian three in a game of thrones he thinks that he sent great men out and that they will understand that i sent you know the knight to lead them as an honor to do a favor to his dad they will understand that I sent, you know, the knight to lead them as an honor to do a favor to his dad.

They'll understand. Is that not the same exact mentality Jon has when Stannis is at the Wall? They'll understand. With the Free Folk? They'll understand. With the Starks and abandoning his post? They'll understand. That's kind of the same exact flippant attitude Jon takes in his post later.

Like Mormont learns the very hard way that this attitude does not work out for him. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if Garrett and Will would have understood, but we'll never find out. Yeah. You know who didn't understand the others? It's actually the other way around. The others did probably understand them, and they didn't the others. Anyway, the others are multilingual polyglots. Jesus. But yeah, absolutely. I mean, we see a lot of that here, right? Like,

getting Will's perspective gives us insight into like, I mean, it's a kind of a precursor for chat and why everyone is like, what if we mutinied? Yeah. Which is, of course, of a precursor for Chet and why everyone is like what if we mutiny'd which is of course again precursor for when a second time they're like what if we mutiny'd anyway Will just wanted to ride back to the wall

which is probably what everyone else felt which is again why they mutiny'd but knew better than to share that sentiment with his commander Sir Waymar Royce the youngest son of an ancient house with too many heirs he's handsome gray-eyed graceful slender 18 tower and by 18 i mean not the article a teen not abba teens i mean sorry the age the number towering above on... Eight and ten. Yes. Eight and ten. Maybe that's why people said it like that. Towering above on his handsome

black dust shearer. Both. Towering over Will and Garrod, and he wears all black, because everyone hears goth. He's got leather boots, woolen pants, moleskin gloves, and a coat of black ringmail or wool and boiled leather

i will say almost all of the prologues are goth as fuck you know absolutely that's such a good point yeah i think that's the biggest parallel with all these prologues they're goth as fuck uh big honorable mention of course to our friend dr professor magician ph Magician PhD, Joe Magician of Joe Magician Notoriety over at the YouTubes. Check out his hot D breakdown. I think it'll be out by the time this is out. No, not his hot D.

Wow. No, not that forward. No, his hot D breakdown. His hot D breakdown. There's a little Easter egg in there, or should be, of something something you might hear someone so a little dragon egg yeah but honorable mention to dr magician because joe magician wrote an amazing theory the killing of the ranger right death of waymar royce this theory basically breaks down from book just some different quotes that he parses through and how the others are

looking for a Stark. And they accidentally stumble on Waymar Royce because he has, you know, the Stark look. He is, of course, from a First Men family and they've intermarried with the Starks. So the others are like, yo, you look just like a Stark, which we see later on. Yes, yes, indeed. Seeing this, though, from Will, and we will link that theory. Obviously, we will throw a link in for Joseph. But seeing this POV from Will instead of from Garrett or Waymar really changes how you view it, right?

And changes kind of the perspective of how you see this. Like this, with Chet's POV coming up, hating your leader, planning a coup or a mutiny, being forced to do things that you're like, this is literally unjust in this penal colony in the cold. It is, of course, how the other Night's Watchmen probably feel under Jon that we don't get to see that from a perspective, right? We really don't get to see a POV beyond Chet of that on the ground. a POV beyond chat of that on the ground. This is kind of a more normal like a balanced maybe

version of it because you have Will of course he's a little he's kind of even in this. He's like well Waymar sucks but like I should probably bite my tongue. That's probably not. It shouldn't go off at the fucking mouth. And then he's like in the tree

like eh kind of sucks that I might die if I shout out for him, so maybe I'll just stay up here. Mood. Total mood. You know, a little craven, I guess, when you look at the term being floated. But, I mean, we'll talk about this more when we're there. I don't know that I, if it's, ah, that's shitty. That's shitty. Would I have made a different choice with someone I don't know? I don't know. I mean, again, re-watching The Walking Dead

and it's like, yo, things change when you're out there and there are ice zombies, okay? But at the same time, it's like, what if then you're trapped out there with nothing but ice zombies and yourself and life isn't even worth living? You know what I mean? Can't.

Yeah, maybe you. I mean, if you knew it was possible, maybe you're just like, because they're not ice zombies. Right. Right. Maybe they're being converted. Maybe you're like, I want to be I want to be a sexy ice demon, too. You know, maybe you're just like, yeah, do I qualify? Do I qualify?

Are there benefits? Yeah. i guess the cold preserves right cold preserves you're sexy and made of ice your armor you're anyways yeah i don't know i have been thinking about these things pretty often you know like again walking dead but so i'm just in the zombie mindset you know I'm just like, I don't know. Maybe last year, morally, just where I was, sitting in a house for two years, I was like, right now I'm like, yeah, I don't know. I don't know how I'd feel out there with the zombies.

I might abandon the shit out of you. I mean, you just don't know until you're there. Hopefully we'll never be there. Hopefully. That's true. i do hope that when we get to brand one someday oh my god i hope but when we get there someday but after this chapter right after this chapter in brand one there we see garrett again right he he busts out in the show it's will so george adapted that and he changed it to Garrett. In the books.

The man had been taken outside a small hold fast in the hills. Rob thought he was a wildling. His sword sworn to Mance Rayder. The king beyond the wall. It made Bran's skin prickle to think of it. He remembered the hearth tales old Nan told them. The wildlings were cruel men, she said. Slavers and slayers and thieves. They consorted

with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns, and their women lay with the others in the long night to sire terrible half-human children. But the man they found, bound hand and foot to the holdfast wall, awaiting the king's justice was old and scrawny not much taller than rob he had lost both ears and a finger to frostbite and he dressed all in black the same as a brother of the night's watch except his furs were ragged and greasy that paints a picture and just tells you like how the wall is not great right it's not great when we go to the wall later. Things aren't going great there now. Squeaky wheels

get in the grease, right? Look at Waymar. Yeah. I didn't notice that line until just now. Maybe we'll talk about it more one day, but like you pointed out, Rob thought he was a wildling. Because we're just all people yeah it's just propaganda rob i mean they're just they're just trying to run from the ice demons

same as anyone else bro you know they're dying over there bro they're dying and then fucking i mean so is rob rob's also dying so and that yeah that's true so i can't get mad at him about it but then motherfucking stannis makes them throw out their weapons okay anyways so next week next week next week next week next week but i mean i mean the whole thing right like we were talking about this it's just it's all smart it's all great world building from george right you're showing the injustice of like yes and the farce of the the night's watch meritocracy garrett makes it out of one of them goes in gets fucked by the other the system again you know because ned's just like i'm lord and you know what you deserted the thing to that to save your life right um and you were talking earlier about like all the mutinies

right okay i mean all of this injustice and the lack of meritocracy really shows why people probably... I will say, people probably definitely disliked John at first. And you know what? He was being an annoying-ass teenager. He was totally

Craig from Degrassi. Absolutely. He's being Jess from Gilmore Girls which oh my god in the first few episodes um and like I get that as a person who has been an annoying ass teenager am I still annoying maybe yeah yes absolutely um we'll we'll actually get back to that too in a second. But interestingly, I will say that the people who seem to dislike Jon most later on and lead some of that rebellion aren't people who are lower class and have necessarily been forced for the same way, right? They seem to be more of the nobility, right? Alistair Thorne, Bowen Marsh, right? more of the nobility right alice or thorn uh bowen marsh right they're not at the same level

of nobility but like in some ways kind of because john is a bastard but it's like so it's a little different yeah it's interesting to see it move that way and yeah because they hate him because he rose above them uh you know that's the worst it's not supposed to happen anywhere let alone here oh god outsiders to both methods of the system and i guess because he was loved and kind of embraced by those who don't fit in the system right sam um and the other like lower class knights watchmen yeah and because he got the lesson from Donald Noy, right? Had Waymar survived longer, maybe Donald Noy would have given

him the talk. That's actually a good point. Because he didn't. He lived there for six months and died. Less than. Fewer than. Sorry. Six months. Yeah, Waymar Royce, I mean, like, he was teachable. He was 18. Moldable, for sure sure i have i i was taught since being 18 so yeah well he was a brother for less than half a year

he looked the part though he had a very nice sable thick black soft cloak uh we have this passage that he killed them all himself he did garrod told the barracks over wine twisted their little heads off our mighty warrior they had all shared the laugh it's hard to take orders from a man you laughed at in your cups will reflected as he sat shivering atop his garrod must have felt the same. Very interesting. Again, sets the stage for characters and arcs and leadership in general. But this in particular kind of reminded me about Tywin's complex, about the way Tytos Lannister was treated. Yeah, very Reignsy, right?

All that stuff happening, that section of Lannister history. Pride, right? Pride is so important in the leadership and kind of maintaining it. That's, again, harkening back to what you were kind of talking about with the masculinity and some of the views going on in their society. Yeah. the masculinity and some of the views going on in their society yeah well geared once more complains that they had done the job that mormon had tasked mormon had tasked them with tracking the free folk who are dead so they should turn back before the weather takes them and he asked if waymar had ever

seen an ice storm but waymar seems to not hear him. He's distracted. He's staring into the twilight. He finally turns, asking Will to detail what he saw again and leave nothing out. And I know Will's kind of doing it for Waymar's benefit, but let's be real. Will's doing it for us. Thank you, Will. And then we learn a little bit about Will's backstory. He was once a poacher and he had been caught by Malister's men hunting in the woods, skinning one of his bucks. And they were like, all right, so you can lose a hand or you can take the black. Real fair choices there. But there is, I think, fun language in here. There's a couple of things that are fun language within this chapter. This one, it starts out with like, Will was a hunter. Then it's like, okay, well, actually, no no he was a poacher and so it kind of again sets us up for these ideas of like demystifying aspects of uh the

stories and legends the removal of those romantic notions and that's something the series obviously is interested in exploring will is skilled obviously right as a hunter but he has to use these skills not for a noble title like hunter but to prove and not for like providing meat in that way or something heroic right he has to use it within this system again as a poacher and that unjustly forces him to then make that choice it's interesting because it does remind me of Jorah later in some aspects. Like this was just a short version and a lowborn version of Jorah's story instead of him having it all. Well, and having this set up with, you know, the Night's Watch

under Mormont is interesting to have Will now be such a celebrated hunter in the Night's Watch, but then you have Jorah poaching people. And he was on Mormont land, right? So if he had been caught a few years earlier, he wouldn't have had, I guess, a choice of servitude or maiming. Jorah would have been like, I'm selling you into slavery. Yeah, that's very interesting because there's so much there.

Yeah, that's very interesting because there's so much there. This chapter is honestly a great summed up version of The Broken Man with Bran 1. Yes. With Gerid running, right? Gerid straight up running. Will thinks later about how, oh, Gerid will have the, he'll be able to get us out of here. Gerid will have the sword. Me and him will run and we'll run, run, run and go to the wall and tell them,

Garrett's fucking out, homie. Garrett broke. Garrett was like, I've done this for years and I can't keep doing it anymore. And that's what this story is about is all of those broad themes encapsulated in this first chapter in a horror story, though. Yeah.

Amazing. That's such a great point. Absolutely. Garrod and Will are, they're that story. I mean, they just, as you said, they break all honor. Garrod deserts. And I mean, that's the risk, right? That's what Ned says when he beheads Garrod.

He's like, you can't trust a deserter because they'd be willing to do anything. And we see that the broken men become much more vicious. Interesting. Yeah, like, what's his face? The fool. Shagwell. Shagwell, yeah. I mean, like, all of them. All of them, yeah. All the people that

the Elder Brother and Sentin Darabal talk about. All their friends who get names and... Leave Sandor out of this. Leave him out of this. I mean the grave digger, the novice grave digger. Hoomst. No one could move through

the woods as silent as Will and it had not taken the Black Brothers long to discover his talent. Sorry Will, the narrative says something more silent comes later. Hoomst. Why else would you set this up yeah it's for fun look at all the fun anyways will recants his trip two miles over beside a stream he had seen a total of eight free folk no children the television show again the original adaptation of this, sorry, the original version of this, and the television show, they did have children, right? Under a lean-to against a rock, there's no fire burning, no one was moving, and there's no blood, there's some weaponry, and it's on the ground beside them. Some of the folks were sitting up against the rocks, most are the ground fallen one was in a tree unmoving um and funnily enough we get introduction to the term far eye and i think the one who was in the tree has one that's a fancy term for a telescope in this prologue i think

sometimes they're called like a mirrorish eye or whatever but i do find it interesting that this group of free folk had one likely it's washed up on their shores the same as the cloak from the free folk woman right that that uh man talks about but i mean again most of these far eyes are or almost all of them are mirrish because they're using mirrish lenses that's really interesting i almost didn't catch that that's a good catch i saw there i was like what the fuck is that and i never like noticed i've never noticed that term in the series yeah i didn't really notice it much either until that that's crazy and that kind of says a lot that he hadn't quite been ready to bring all of

mir in with that or attribute it you know like at that point he was like oh that's a lot to end and date our readers with, you know? Yeah. It's too far out in the story. We do get a lot of Free City's stuff in the Crescent chapter, though, interestingly enough. Like, starts to pepper it in more, so I wonder if he was really starting to world-build that out more. I mean, we get a lot of it, of course, already starting with the Dany chapters, you know?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Waymar asks Gerard what he thinks killed these people, and Gerid answers with iron certainty, the cold. He says he saw men freeze last winter and one before when he had only been half a boy. Everyone talks about snows 40 foot deep and how the ice wind comes howling out the north, but the real enemy is the cold. It

steals up on you quieter than will, and at first you shiver and your teeth chatter, and you stamp your feet and dream of mulled wine and nice hot fires. It burns, it does. Nothing burns like the cold, but only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up. After a while, you don't have the strength to fight it. It's easier just to sit down or go to sleep. They say Oh, that's so nice. I've heard that's what drowning is also very peaceful. It doesn't seem peaceful. It's the end moment when your brain's just, like, dying and has no oxygen, that it just, like, releases something and you feel good. That's what I heard.

I'm not trying to find out. Um, I'll take- I'll take people's word for it. You might have heard a dog snort in the background, everyone. Um, so, I didn't realize this until you reread this i think this is one of our first mentions then of in that world building the frequency of winters because we know gerrard's about what yeah 50 years old and for him to say last winter and the one before when he'd been half a boy, and you're like, wait. Yeah. Wait.

That's pretty weird that there have only been two winters since he was half a boy. So that's interesting. Obviously it gets explained more later on, but that's building into it. And I do love this idea that comes up in this line so early on of ice burning, and it really ties well with Jojen's talk to Bran later on of you know if ice can burn then love and hate can mate and then also there's something here that makes me think of I've written

in an essay before about like cold representing loneliness especially within Daenerys's story and you kind of have that going on here as it talks about the cold getting in you filling you up and you can't fight it you don't feel any pain also towards the end and that i mean that also brings us back to that reminds me a little you know the broken men again you know you lose yourself you don't feel any pain anymore and i know we've discussed this already in those brienne chapters right the whites and the broken men are also same variations on the theme, different vehicles. But that's, and it, again, as you said, ties into Garrod too. The cold gets into him.

Well, and that like, they're not that different from the wights at the end of the day. All they're doing is fucking and fighting and dying for their masters. the day if all they're doing is fucking and fighting and dying for their masters uh and coming back to the cold for mary shelley's frankenstein for example ice and snow is desperation loneliness death isolation and i think isolation is is the big one too right because cold literally like social exclusion or exclusion from society feels cold right absolutely it literally it feels your whole body feels like almost numbly cold so that's a great a great kind of call for some symbolism to look out for in the story especially too in the north i in the north throughout and i think again i i said like i think it's a big role part of the

story it's a big part of Tyrion's story I think loneliness in not just the absence of love but the literal denial of love is a big part of so many characters arcs and in a song of ice and fire what happens when you are given love right john was denied it a lot early on but eventually finds it but what happens if it's continually withheld from you yes yes yes i am in big agreement big agree that gets dug into i guess that gets dug into in christen's chapter with stannis there is a lot well and that's the other thing about these prologues there is a lot of ice and fire dichotomy throughout this that we're going to touch on. That's such a good point.

There's so much representation of both in all the chapters, especially the sleep as described above. Right. The strangler. What the strangler does in the next chapter. That's right. In the POV for next week. You know, it was very similar to the idea of like the dream quality lots of milk of the poppy going about and other stuff you know of course the strangler for reasons

that are foreshadowing that we'll talk about way more tries to joke about how eloquent he is throughout all of uh their little journey here and garrett addresses him as a lordling and says he's had the cold in him himself, Garrett has, showing him his stumped ears, mentioning that he doesn't have three of his toes and one of his fingers, right? His little finger on his left hand. Yes, like, this is bad.

You should not joke about the cold. Oh, I was thinking little finger. I do think that's interesting. There is actually a good little finger call out i want to say next chapter that's similar george likes his jokes uh i will say though does make me think of theon right and jane right now in the snow out there i'm worried if they stay out there for much longer they might die you know after the first 24 hours that they go missing i'm just kidding just kidding yeah uh wait wait i found them it's the theon one wins chapter

uh so gerard says he got off easy losing those fingers and toes and ears because his brother had been found frozen at his watch with a smile on his face. Waymar shrugged. You ought dress more warmly, Garrod. Garrod glared at the lordling, the scars around his ear holes flushed red with anger where Maester Aemon had cut the ears away. We'll see how warm you can dress when winter comes he pulled up his hood and hunched over his garin silent and sullen hey wait we know those words when winter comes winter comesing winter is comes me under your chair wait when winter comes oh man um damn waymar really said to garrett maybe if you hadn't dressed so slutty you wouldn't have gotten frozen yeah it's pretty insulting it's pretty insulting again right from the get-go that injustice of waymark you're like what the fuck waymar how

are you gonna like criticize garen for getting frostbite and uh what we were saying earlier about class being able to afford you know good winter puffer coats yeah also like north face columbia right right and then garen even like has to be out there and way more hadn't until now and then I don't know, there's just like the utter disrespect that Waymar is showing his elders when it comes to experience. And I'm just like, damn, you couldn't do that if you were Asian.

But I do that anyway. I'm very Americanized, and that's why I'm not beloved. Again, I am very annoying. I beloved you. Thank you. Thank you. ibeloveyou thank you and it's because i'm your elder chloe

you have to be polite to me you can say that again that you're my elder yeah i am aging like a fine wine it is rude though it's absolutely rude it is right as we said before it sucks Aging like a fine wine. It is rude, though. It's absolutely rude. It is, right? I mean, as we said before, right?

It sucks, the whole Garrett thing. He goes from one lord disbelieving him to another lord disbelieving him. Well, I guess Waymore wasn't really a lord, but you know. I can't wait. Someday we'll do brand one and I'll just yell, eat the rich, eat Ned Stark, you know? Fuck dad. He's no father of mine that's what cat says yeah i mean cat's like he's no father of mine only daddy wait oh my god uh will speaks up and he starts to speak of the cold but waymar interrupts because he's really good at that and he's like how did how'd you find the wall during

your watch this week and will's like well it was weeping so wait the free folk couldn't have froze it wasn't cold enough the weeper i will say i realized this i didn't i've never really thought about this i'm sure someone has a theory and i've just never seen it i am kind kind of like, how did they die then? Right? Well, don't they bring the cold? They bring the cold, so I'm just like, do the others just stand around in a circle and just wait for them to freeze to death? Do they just stare at them until they die?

I mean, they don't have TV or internet. What else are they doing? The lead? The lead is like, what's cooler than being cool? And the rest of them chant back, ice cold. And then they all think, all right, all right, all right, until the free folk die in there. They just go, all right, all right, all right.

I think that it's the cold and their magic. I do. Okay, because I had another crazy idea. I'm like, what if their blades are so cold that as they stab you, it freezes the blood so it doesn't drip out? It's not a bad idea. But I also, my other idea was, as I said,

they just stand around and watch you freeze to death from the outskirts. I mean, it is a little odd, right? Like, only one was doing the fighting it was like he's our chosen one it maybe maybe there's some sir we'll get into it maybe they take maybe they draw straws oh my god waymar says that he's very bright will he's like nicely done the free folk were clad in fur and leather and they were sheltering it couldn't have been the cold that killed them. He tells Will to lead them there so they can go see for themselves.

And off they go. Will in front, Waymar behind, Geared in rear. Which, again, wait a second. Isn't he the lead? The command? Shouldn't he lead his? Anyways. I love this line.

I have to call it out because this is actually, I was writing or when I was drawing the cover art, when I was doodling our little cover art, I was thinking of this line. Twilight deepened. The cloudless sky turned a deep purple. The color of an old bruise then faded to black. The stars began to come out.

A half moon rose. Will was grateful for the light don't get grateful yet he'll be the grateful dead soon whoa free will free will waymar tries to push them to make better pace but will afraidful has become insolent saying not with this horse asking if way more wish to lead them and a wolf howls and will pulls to the side dismounting beneath an ancient gnarled ironwood tree he tells them it's best to go on foot the rest of the way and it's just over that ridge and again great world building we got a lot of different horses in this chapter we got destrier we got this other horse then the wolf you know i'm like our wolf our mama wolf that dies is that her oh yeah good thought that honestly probably is i wow your mind your mind i'm i'm very sure i'm i'm very sure i probably read that somewhere else someone's mind good job someone's mind wow uh wow very crazy

a cold wind whispers through the trees garrett says there's something wrong here telling them to listen to the darkness they're a great band i agree waymar seems unaffected but will can feel it too waymar pushes them ahead tying his horse to a tree limb, drawing his sword. Jewels glittered in its hilt, and the moonlight ran down the shining steel. It was a splendid weapon, castle forge, new made from the look of it. Will doubted it had ever been swung in anger. Will warns him it's probably better to take a knife because of the trees and the branches, but Waymar says he didn't ask for his opinions, basically. Gerard's commanded to watch the horses and says he'll start a fire,

but Waymar says he's a fool and says don't light anything that will attract enemies. Gerard mutters, well, fire keeps some enemies away, like bears, direwolves, and more. Waymar's like, it's a no. For a moment, Will's worried Gerrit is going to go for his sword and fight Waymar, an ugly short sword that would surely not protect him. But Gerrit finally looks down, muttering, fine, no

fire. The fires really are though a shitty catch-22. You're like, you light one and you give away your position to the free folk. You kind of give your position away to the others but at least it does keep the others away it sucks but also this this here i feel highlights later on when will does not shout out to warren waymar because over and over garrett bends because honor and duty and the night's watch um and that hierarchy right kind of bound

him to obey way more especially on this ranging same with will and it it i think really shows that the severity of will refusing to do his duty and call out later on that contrast and i guess garrod deserting whatever yeah i mean solidarity right like had will said like actually garrod's right you should be listening to him. Maybe Waymar could have been talked down a little. Stannis in the next chapter even shows a little resolve, right, for a minute. Like, he could almost be talked to like a human. But in this chapter, Waymar is, you know,

this is kind of the point of no return right here. You can't turn around from the others sooner than now. Yeah, sucks not to be the last person standing in the horror movie you know yeah garrett learns that the absolute worst way absolute so well waymar tells will to lead on and they head through the muddy snow with rocks and roots threatening them as they go will is light-footed and heads toward the Great Sentinel, a tree at the top of the ridge, sliding below its branches and looking into the empty clearing below. And breathless, Will sees the same scene, but there are no bodies.

All of the bodies are gone. Behind him, he hears Waymar call out, Gods! Slashing at the trees to try and get next to him, and Will says, something's wrong. Waymar looks at the clearing, laughing,

saying his dead men seem to have moved. Will's eyes run through the clearing, finally seeing the battle axe he saw before, still on the ground, a valuable weapon, but left behind. Waymar tells him to get on his feet. No one's here, he won't have him hiding in a bush.

He says he will not go back empty-handed to Castle Black and fail his first ranging. They must find these men. So this actually reminds me of Quentin Martell being like, I'm not going back home now. No, I have to come back with dragons. I can't disappoint dad. I gotta do it

because honor's really important. So. Or Robb Stark. Also true. Also true. Oh well. That's what happens. Now they're all dead. Well, I guess

Waymar's not, in a way. Anyway. Waymar commands Will to climb the tree, look out for a fire, see what he can see. And so he does, fear filling his guts. But then, as soon as he gets up the tree, he hears a voice below. He hears Waymar ask who goes there. And in response, the woods answer. Leaves, the rush of a stream a snow owl but not the others because

they make no sound yeah will is also i guess sharp-eyed he kind of catches them he like tries to come up with any other explanation for resize like i don't know what i fucking saw but they are quieter than bill good job others yeah it uh it again fits right into the mysteries the prologues right the prologues are absolutely the mysteries of a swath will see's movement yeah kind of right the great fantastical yeah quality the mystical quality will see's movement pale shapes gliding through the wind and and he turns to see them, but they're gone. He makes to call out to warn Waymar, but he stops frozen. He's like, whoa, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Imagine if Waymar hadn't been so Waymar this entire time.

Maybe he would have called out. Maybe he was scared to be wrong waymar calls up to him asking do you see anything why is it so cold suddenly well there's your answer eliana uh shivering will presses against the tree feeling the sap on his cheek and watching a shadow emerge from the wood standing in front of waymar how ceremonial that it's just the one other attacking that's so interesting like the rest just watch it the attack i guess you only need one right you only really need i mean like that's what i'm saying right do they just like stand around because like i know they bring the cold do they just stand and emanate cold till they die maybe they kind of seem to enclose them in a circle of cold they just like record their podcasts while killing people at the same time.

They put it on Worldstar, you know? Oh my god. Live stream into Worldstar. In regards to Will not calling out there, that's what I mean. Duty's just falling apart. It's the whole social order falling apart. Will chooses to save his own life. The death of honor.

Honor is the duty of death. Honor is the duty of death. Honor is a horse. I do wonder, like, if it had been Garrett out there that he saw, like, in danger, right? Or if it had been anyone else that, like, Will actually gave a fuck about, would he have called out?

And I do think so. Which is maybe kind of the point. He's just like, I don't give a fuck about would he have called out and i i do think so yeah which is maybe kind of the point he's just like i don't give a fuck about way more yeah yeah i mean go away more but i mean that's the thing like had way more straight up nurtured a little more or listened to them and led like a real leader not like just a man with a title leader maybe he would have been able to call out or thought about it more but he was frozen i mean that's scary yeah he could have given them like a pep talk and been like no we have to go forward because it's our duty as like knights watch members but instead he was just like condescending each time he's like yeah can you tell me how the wall was it was

weeping wasn't it you idiot yeah exactly like not listen it's fine to chum around but my god that's not how you lead like yeah john definitely is a better leader than that you know that's true he is but on the other side of things like teenagers are know-it-alls i know because i was one and i'm still a know-it-all i'm still annoying we're still annoying check back in next week for our next episode where you can catch me probably being annoying with eliana you know alex is gonna quit halfway through she's not gonna come back she'll be like wow you two are she's like we should not start back should not start back on two girls can't hit you know it i would just be remiss if we didn't put some of the most beautiful passages from this chapter in. So we've got a couple passages to read.

Tall it was, and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk. Its armor seemed to change color as it moved. Here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow. Everywhere dappled the deep gray-green of the trees. The patterns ran like moonlight on water with every step it took. Waymar warns it not to come any closer, his voice is cracking, and he throws his cloak back and he takes his sword in two hands. And he throws his cloak back and he takes his sword in two hands.

Then we have other really good, fun lines like, The other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was a long sword like none that Will had ever seen. No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed to almost vanish when seen edge-on. There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow Will knew it was sharper than any razor. Sir Waymar met him bravely. Dance with me, then! He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it,

or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the night's watch. The other halted, Will saw its eyes, blue, deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that burned like ice. Red and terrible and red. Yes. This is like, these prologues are so good.

Like reading the next one a little early was definitely a treat to look at this with because there are just so many great parallels of the undead or the undying or the dying throughout these prologue chapters and the mysteries as we said and this ice and fire dichotomy a blue that burned like ice yes that caught my eyes especially you have that line your blue eyes oh my blue blue eyes the next chapter there's also a line of the candle flames dancing in her red red eyes uh and we talk about going back right in george's history today in our cute little first part of our book report today i hope you gave us an a plus or five stars on a review platform streaming platform near you uh for eliana but if you read fever dream i didn. I'm a fake fan.

My husband read Fever Dream though. Just like Eliana read Dying of the Light. My husband read Fever Dream. And Sand Kings. And Sand Kings. I read a song for Leah, first of all. Thank you. So I could still contribute to this family. Yes, yes. And I will be bringing it up later. Between all of us.

Yeah, between all of us. We've done something. Maybe I'll start wildcards. Yeah, between all of us. We've done something. Maybe I'll start wild cards. Anyway, I'm just kidding. I don't respect it that much, just enough. I keep saying I'm going to. I just don't have the time currently. Maybe someday. But in Fever Dream, George uses some really great language.

We have a passage. Abner Mark blinked, and there across the table from him was an animal, a tall, handsome animal in burgundy, and there was nothing the least bit human about it. And the lines of its face were the lines of terror, and its eyes, its eyes were red, not black at all, red, and lit from within, and red, burning, thirsting, red. Simply on the language alone, you can see, you know, some of the imagery George loves to convey.

And even what he says in this passage kind of talks about how Will was a man of the Night's Watch. You know, he was no boy. This moment specifically is defining there. is defining there uh but this transformative bit in fever dream that george is literally looking at like the transformation of someone from human to almost animal in front of your eyes uh and watching the others and having that be a transformative moment definitely something there in his writing something he likes to reach for that's a that's a great connection all around i mean yeah absolutely the call out with the eyes and the color but also that changing moment and as you said watching it between like watching it in front of you whether it's like

literal or something like within someone figurative anamorphs um oh my god i mean yeah you know like waymar does change he acts like a huge dick as we were saying right like and everyone else and their mothers like have obviously discussed the complexity of waymar as like a dick but also like a huge hero in this moment um like yeah literally literally i'm not the first like i don't know like the millionth person to say this probably um but in regards to duty you know coming back again to like that honor and duty we know way more obviously he wants to do this out of a some sort of pride he's 18 but to some extent was he more of a brother of the night's watch as will notes i mean he says he's a man of the night's watch in this moment than either garrett or will in this moment

despite not being there as long that is uh my spicy take in this cold area uh he i mean like you know way more he follows his duty despite all the fear going on i'm like maybe waymar was also kind of afraid and he doesn't voice it the way quentin it does when he's like no we definitely gotta go to those dragons quentin's obviously very scared right and then waymar he does this and then it is like obviously he's shitting himself in front of the others he probably he probably also wet himself in that moment. I mean, Sam did, everyone else probably did. Clearly an act of bravery. But I mean, earlier, was he also scared? Maybe. And then he investigates the threat to the Night's Watch, which is, you know, I mean,

that's what they're supposed to do. That's the point of the ranging, you know, he just is like a huge asshole about it. And again, probably would have had more success if he was nicer to the people he was managing but anyways that is what they're supposed to do and then the others appear and then he stands against them he even shouts like as you called out like for robert and you know dies in service to the realm that's the point of the night's watch to protect the realm and then gary deserts even after 40 years of being here. When push comes to shove, he ends up not actually living up to the oath. That's like, again, literally the whole point of the Night's Watch. kind of tries to well he doesn't try to desert but he's just like good fucking luck and then i don't know it's kind of like it's a fun it's paradoxical with all the ways that earlier on in the chapter they try to convince us like waymar isn't a brother he's like a newcomer to the night's watch he's not been there long enough and it subverts our expectations of like what does it

mean to be a brother of the night's watch maybe it's not about how long you've been there. But to some extent, it's how well do you live up to the spirit of it, that duty, like Sam ending up as an unlikely slayer, yet a, I mean, technically a Night's Watch hero, Jon in some ways becoming Lord Commander, or Brienne being a knight, even though not fitting the bill of what many think a knight should be, or even Dunk, despite never having truly been knighted. I love that. That is a great point.

I mean, because Will, you know, also fails at being a human in that he dies at the end of this. Yeah. You know, he fucks up at that too. But that is a great point, how paradoxical it is that we've been built up this whole time to say, fuck Waymar Royce, that class-ass class ass motherfucking you know fuck that guy but actually unfuck him right like he did his duty he stood against it that's why you get a second chance at life a second life if you oh my

god so more of the others show up it's a party party. Will is like, man, I really should call out. That's my duty. And he's like, but if I call out, it also means I fucking die. So he just hugs the tree instead as Royce fights the other. And when the swords hit, the sound is odd. It's a thin, high sound like an animal screaming. They're going back and forth over and over. The watchers watch them, but they don't interfere.

You know, I know this isn't Lamentation, the Valyrian sword from House Royce, but I do wonder if we're going to find it in future books. And I also wonder if we'll hear anything about it during Hot D, House of the Dragon, because during the Dance of the Dragons, Willem Royce was killed in the dragon pit, during the storming of the dragon pit, the dance of the dragons willem royce was killed in the dragon pit during the storming of the dragon pit and he lost the sword so interesting yeah

i don't know and maybe it's nothing like there are rumors that sir warwick wheaton slashed a wing off of syrax with a valyrian steel sword likely lamentation during the storming of the dragon pit and so who knows if it'll come back to the plot but you know we have this idea of valyrian steel kind of coming back to the plot we'll find this one in the wild maybe right and we do have a bunch of royces running around in sansa's plot and they do have runes all over everything and their words are we remember which is absolutely cryptic for no reason probably lol uh not to mention that like the next chapter right brand one we immediately get an answer to the

prologue of the others with ned's sword with him dismounting theon bringing forward the sword ice the sword was called it was as wide across as a man's hand and taller even than Rob. The blade was Valyrian steel, spell-forged in darkest smoke. Nothing held an edge like Valyrian steel. So there's your call and your response. The prologue introduces the others. Bran I has ice. It has Valyrian steel.

An ice that burns, perhaps. Aha! The others. Aha! lyrian steel an ice that burns perhaps aha the others aha uh i all i know is you got me excited that we might get house royce in house of the dragon i hadn't even considered that and i would be so jazzed we might i mean i think we have to because they're going back back i think damon's gonna start married to house royce. Oh, that's right. Oh, my God. This is so exciting. Okay. Sorry. House Royce is fun.

I agree. I agree. We deserve more of them. Actually, though. Other than, like, you know, what's his face? Sweet Robin's babysitter. Yeah. Young Royce.

Yeah. I do like Miranda Royce, but I mean, like, more Royce. More Royce. Yeah. More Royce. Rose Royce. I do like Miranda Royce, but I mean more Royce, more Royce. Yeah, more Royce. Rolls Royce. More Rask, more Furious. So, yes, as you know, Waymar Royce is fighting with, unfortunately, not

Lamentation or else, you know. Lamentably. Those others might have some, yeah, lamentably, might have some Lamentations now but i guess not anyway his blade is now white with frost because of all of their spells and that are probably on their stuff and then he has a parry that comes a beat too late and this is like some elden ring shit right mistiming your parry and so the other sword it's lit with a pale blue light and then because he fucks up his parry as it goes the

sword then bites through his ring mail and he cries out blood welling he touches his side and his hand comes back with blood and the other we have this line this line is just like so important to me the other said something in a language will did not know his voice was like the cracking of ice on a winter lake and the words were mocking oh yeah yes they're very like i love that they're very they have a whole thing going they're sassy sassy others i want that in the world of ice and fire the children of the forest we learn that their voices kind of mimic or sound like nature or is heavily influenced by the sound of nature. So interesting, right? And thinking of the others, they also have nature influenced voices and they ran probably in, you know, lateral circles to one another.

You know, lateral circles. Influenced language. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they literally probably speak in different ways from their environment. And interesting. Different dialects of the same language, maybe.

Yeah, of nature. Of motherfucking Earth. Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain? No. Nope. So not around that river bend. We can't. So doubling back to Royce's blood on the voices. No, no. So not around that river bend. We can't. So doubling back to Royce's blood on the ground.

I wanted to highlight this line. It steamed in the cold and the droplets seemed red as fire where they touched the snow. Can I get an air horn? Can I get a pew pew pew? Fire and ice. Pew pew pew.

Ice and fire. The song of ice and fire con yeah absolutely I mean you might think that this prologue is just about ice and the next one's about fire but this one

is about ice and fire and the next one's about fire and the next one's about ice and then the next one's about fire. And the next one's about ice. And then the next one is about magical school. About ice and fire, you know? It's about dragons just as much as it is about magic. It is.

It is. As you said, the mysteries, which is a great point. I know, like, I don't know if I've said it before on here, but, like, I know George says that the others have no culture. I don't think he was thinking through that comment. Because, or maybe we have, like, different ideas of what culture entails. Because I'm like, well, the others have a language. Maybe they have a society. They live in a society, maybe.

And clearly they have humor, right? They have that mocking moment, which speaks to culture and i i don't know i've also just like i love this line because i've always thought it was so interesting that the others mock right it shows that they just think they're very superior to us that we're like fucking ants kind of homunculi see humans and full metal alchemist oh my god it's true though no it's true that's literally how i've always thought of it like that's a great point i i do love that they actually have like personalities and thoughts yeah they're like mocking okay they're like hue hue hue hue what does it mean what does it mean i want answers i want some answers well waymar finds his fury calling out for robert and he comes up snarling and tries to take the

other down whose rebuttal is like almost lazy he's just kind of like whatever fuck this shit um and when their swords meet this time the steel shatters and the scream echoes through the night waymar falls to his knees covering his eyes as the slow-mo shards like oh in all directions right blood welling between his fingers before we talk about his shattered sword in the eyeball I love

how much exposition for Robert really does provide you're dumping that someone named Robert is going to be important and additionally we always see people in the heat of the moment in battle shouting something. And the first thing that comes to mind is

Arya. For me, it makes me think of Arya and Gendry and Hot Pie fighting in Clash of Kings. And she feels sorry for a guy that she's killing, and she goes, Winterfell! Winterfell! While Hot Pie is behind her screaming, Hot Pie! One of my favorite parts.

That's like, actually, literally one of my favorite scenes. Hot Pie! Hot Pie! I think about that all the time. I think about that, and I think about, like, the line from Harrenhal about Pia when Arya's like, Pia was always seeing things in the buttery. Men, mostly. Yeah, good for her.

Yeah, good for her. Amen. But also, on top of the the battle calls that's what i think of it made me laugh uh the veil loves robert right like robert just graduated out of the veil out of prep boy school so waymar is bronzio's son robert is about 14 years older than waymar but he could have seen him as an infant, right? And it's very likely Waymar was raised on tales of Robert's valor and positively in a pro-Robert Baratheon household. The Vale's very pro-Robert during this time. So for him to yell for Robert, I mean, that makes sense. That checks out. Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure we're all very sure this is about King

Robert, but I just realized because it's a veil. He could be talking about Sweet Robin. He is technically in some ways sworn to him, but he's probably not. Yeah, isn't Sweet Robin like three? Yeah, also John, well he's like six, but John Aaron would still be alive at this time too. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, John Aaron's alive. As far as he knows. Yeah.

Yeah. So it's definitely for King Robert. Yeah, that's a great point. It's, again, great world building because, like, why else just shout out a fucking name? Then we have a line of

Swords rose and fell all in the deathly silence. It was cold butchery. The pale blade sliced through ringmail as if it were silk me failing to a strong enemy again in Elden Ring

um when Waymoor finally finds or when Will finally finds the courage to look down again after a long time of you know he's just like dissociating he's like whatever this branch is my home now the bridge is empty Royce's body is just lying there face down um and there's a line of and lying dead like that you saw how young he was

a boy and the man breaks uh no really truly though what i'm thinking is like and he never felt the fifth knife only the cold yeah that's i mean that line is goddamn you saw how young he was a boy will finds what's left of the magnificent sword the end is splintered almost as if it was hit by lightning and he snatches it up thinking the sword would be his proof garrad would know what to make of it or mormont or amen but just as he turns to go i didn't know that yet more about those names fun fun fun fun um yeah just as he turns to go the chapter starts and will rose sir waymar royce stood over him his fine clothes were a tatter, his face a ruin. A shard from his sword transfixed the blind, white pupil of his left eye. The right eye was open. The pupil burned blue. It saw.

The broken sword fell from nerveless fingers. Will closed his eyes to pray. nerveless fingers will closed his eyes to pray long elegant hands brushed his cheek then tightened around his throat they were gloved in the finest moleskin and sticky with blood yet the touch was icy cold oh wow you know sidebar kind of makes me think of the Valonqar prophecy a little bit at the end there, out of nowhere. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Also, it makes me think of Euron's smiling eye as we narrow this eye thing down, right? The pupil burned blue, it's saw. And we've talked about the stark quality to Waymar.

Thank you, Dr. Professor Magician PhD. blue it's saw and we've talked about the stark quality to waymar thank you dr professor magician phd but he reminds me of another historic figure george has written to the story later on simeon star eyes is kind of who i'm thinking of here from the age of heroes who was blind and he's described in tales as a knight even though chivalry came to Westeros thousands of years later he loses both of his eyes and replaces them by putting star sapphires in the empty sockets and it also makes me think of Aemond Targaryen from the greens in the dance of the dragons as well yeah great point about Simon Star Eyes now I have a new tinfoil that he's there amongst them and all the heroes have just gone on and we're like what if i just became a cool sexy ice um like ice

demon i mean that's it it's the new age of heroes right like that's what we're reading is the new age of heroes so here's your first hero waymar royce yeah but what if all the old heroes were just like what if i anyway um retired that way and but yeah oh amon's an interesting one amon's an interesting one but absolutely with euron and and simon right like and it's interesting that only one of the eyes comes back just because the other one's like got a shard in it you think that wouldn't fucking matter with magic. It really does make me think it's a Euron parallel heavily now. Yeah. And Bloodraven.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's literally coming in the book soon with the Bran falling, you know? Yeah. Great call. on falling you know yeah great call i so like i said the writing is like interesting in this chapter um in that line like about waymar it says like lying dead like that you saw how young he was and that's actually not italicized in the text and the text very rarely i think i i think this is just george's writing style changing and not being solidified early on because he doesn't usually do that second person thing

even to idiomatically describe things I think that's just a lapse so I just thought that was fun but I really do like this line towards that ending it's its own paragraph of the right eye was open, the pupil burned blue, it saw. It's just like, it hits so hard, that whole

transformation and the whole horror element. The it saw, that could either refer to the eye sees, or Waymar, no longer being the breathing human person and is now a corpse,

not like a he, but an it. It's just like also such a good line in terms of its rhythm, right? It's these simple sentences, like just noun, verb, and then to some extent, like description, grammatically, and they just get shorter and shorter to like that last it saw there's almost like a this tracheic meter to it um it's almost staccato it's like staccato right it's the fact that you have the consonants in the right place sticking in the right moments it saw like it it keeps the rhythm of the sentence really well yeah it's such a good line great job strong open strong open george prologue yeah can't complain i really can't complain you know yeah i mean like the thematics of it like and how it ends at the end absolute chills yeah i understand it's kind of

like every other zombie story of like oh oh no, the person that you know coming back to life and like attacking you. But I mean, to not be too dismissive, I mean, it was also 1996 before the big zombie pop culture resurgence boom, you know? And I mean, this is the first zombie that we see in the story, right? Like, and by zombie, I mean white, because we saw the others like a moment ago. And I mean, it's fun. Waymar ends up being the dead one that can hurt you. The dead can, in fact, hurt you. It's a great circular close to what was brought up at literally the very start of this chapter.

Well, and it's also like buried after this, right? Like the story, you get John, you get the inklings from John's plot, but it gets buried. It gets very much so buried. And it's very well balanced that he does it that way. Like, it's good to get you into the intrigue and the court stuff, and get you into the family dynamics and start to understand some

of these characters, and then drags you into it again. And he's like, oh yeah, by the way, this actually is important. Yeah, it starts out with this, like, icy scene. And then you have Daenerys on the other end of the book with the dragons the night was alive with the sound of dragons or music of dragons i don't know it could be whiplash you know yeah uh it would be whiplash for for other stories that i've read to do such a drastic change to then, well, brand time to kill this deserter, which as you read it,

you don't even realize really at first that it's him. Like you're like, wait, wait, okay, wait, this is linear. This is happening.

Uh, yeah, but blink and you don't realize you just think it's some guy that killing. Right. So to read this and understand, ah, these are our protagonists and they are here and they are killing the guy that ran from the zombies.

And then forget about it for a while. Like, just come back to it later. That's brilliant. Literally everyone that you met in the prologue is, like, dead. Yeah. Like, by the first chapter. Brilliant. It is brilliant.

Complete smoke show. We love it, George. Thanks. Fucking thanks. We're not smoke show. We didn't light a fire. Ah, it was always burning. It actually wasn't. They got there and it was gone.

Thank you, guys, for listening in. Thank you all so much for listening to our first prologue POV chapter, Will. I am excited for next week's with Alex from Gotthroats and Skybound Entertainment. Next week's will be fun. Crescent.

It will. It will. It will. Yeah. Strong, strong opening act here with the Will.i.am of the blue-eyed peas. Oh my god. I've been waiting a while to say that. Will, he's not of the blue eyed peas. Oh.

Will, he is no longer. Will, he's not. Will can't come to the phone right now. Why? Because he's undead. Ooh. Look what you made him do. Okay. Look what you made Will do. If you have any thoughts

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where we have hijinks yeah yeah we do some hijinks they're car pranks yeah uh i can't wait for the imagination chamber we are going to use our imaginations from what i'm hearing from our friends it It will be good. Till then, as always, I have been one of your hosts, Chloe. And I have been another one of your hosts, Eliana. Don't let it get too cold tonight. Light your fire. Set it all on fire.

Oh my god, lake cracking noises of ice yeah do you think but maybe they even just like wait there you know like they just like stand there until the fire goes out what happens if they want to smoke a cigarette like can they not light a cigarette up would that melt them maybe they use like i guess it's not quite a cigarette but it kind of makes smoke they use like dry ice or something you know these kids and their vape cartridges we'll see you next week my god they totally do vape goodbye