Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 175 — ACOK Bran IV

Episode Date: December 2, 2022

During playtime, Jojen badgers Bran, and things get a bit hairy with these wolves. Luwin reminds Bran about his Maester's degree and why magic isn't real.  --- 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 Reads A Song Of and Fire, episode 175, Bran 4 and A Clash of Kings. I'm one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. We're back with Bran. We are. Back, back, back. Happy December, if you're listening to this in the now, or the then, or the later, the present. The thens. If you're a then listening to the later, the present. The thens.

If you're a then listening to this. Oh my god. We are starting to get towards that bummer part of the book where Theon takes Winterfell. We're getting closer and closer. The omens are there. The warning signs are there. They are, they are.

And all the pieces for Theon to easily take winterfell are falling into place you know roderick's out of town out on a business trip yeah four and five are really actually tragic ass chapters because everything is like the the it's like that stirring feeling in your stomach right that nervousness where you're like, something bad's gonna happen. This is so short and swift and sweet. Something bad's about to happen. And then, boom, something bad happens. The sea comes to Winterfell. Absolutely. But we're not quite there yet. At first, we're trying to even convince people that dreams are real. All right. And let's take care of a bit of housekeeping before we jump into the chapter. For example, this month, of course, we do have a Patreon episode for patrons in the Stranger

Tyrann above, and that has yet to be announced. Yeah, last month, we wrapped up our duo of Kingsguard and Queensguard Patreon episodes. We put out the Kingsguard back in, oh God, what was that? October. Yeah, and then November, we talked about the Queensguard. We had a blast chatting about that. So I'm sure we will come up with something special for your ears. Very soon, we will have something for you. I don't know.

I have a lot of great thoughts still on the Queensguard that I hope we get to expand on once we get the Winds of Winter absolutely wow you really jumped in there with the winds of winter and i mean there are other things to also discuss about the king's guard we'll probably come back to that subject eventually i did call them part one and part two and oh fucking god i was like why did why did eliana voice this series on me? I didn't even want this. I was like, I want this. You know, it's okay, because that's kind of the fun part about our podcast, is that we're working with what's published, and there are great new doors to be opened someday.

Yeah. Someday. Any day. Any day now. Look under your chair. Any day. It's the Wins winner. The Wins is an open door winter while we're on that patrons in our

thunder tier and above that's a ten dollar and above tier get access to our private discord server it is a pretty much a lifetime access we've had a very fun time with our friends there on that server and eliana hosted a brunch last month i had a little pto i had to take with the girls god can incorporation but eliana hooked it up she hosted brunch last month it sounds like they had a blast yeah it was a lot of fun i learned a lot about british television like this show called taskmaster that i have yet to watch. It sounds funny. Oh, God. It's apparently all on YouTube. I'm in. Yeah.

Yeah, we talked a lot about also different slang terms in various cultures. Okay. Okay. Anything new to bring to the table for me here? No, I forgot because I also was sick. Oh, yeah, that too. Well, I want to hear some of the slang.

So maybe at the next month's brunch, which we'll announce for you all in the next couple episodes, you'll know about December 2022 brunch date. But maybe I'll get to learn some, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. And we will also be later announcing when this month's brunch will be it is a time of course for us to all get together as a family family your fandom blee your framblies yeah your framblies and friendlies we get together with ours and we have a couple hours of just chit-chatting it's nice it's our little holiday cheer. Maybe reindeer games. Maybe.

I mean, we did do reindeer games last year that were reindeer game themed. We could just bust that out again. We could get back into it. You put your whole reindeer-sy into that. My reindeer-sy. I'd be allowed.

Finally, our final thing to announce before we jump into Brand 4 is to talk about our His Dark Materials coverage coming up. The final series of His Dark Materials is releasing in a little bit of a crazy schedule for the UK. It's going to be out on BBC iPlayer in full December 18th. So everything will drop at once. However, for the US, you will get two episodes a week starting next week, December 5th. Starting literally this coming Monday. Yeah.

After this is released. On HBO, yeah. So you will hear from us. We're going to be doing weekly episodes. So keep an eye on your feed for those episodes if you're watching His Dark Materials Series 3. However, we were kind of planning to do a little bit of a social event over at our discord for the thunder tier and above our friends at discord have been hosting rewatches of his dark materials and other shows and movies.

And they were planning on doing a weekly coverage, but they have decided because of the wonky schedule, our weekly chit chats about each episode of HDM coming out will be in January. So they'll be doing, I think, weekly rewatches. And that isn't like completely, they haven't completely like nailed down the schedule for that yet. They're working it out because, again, they had to make this sudden change because, you know, we've only actually really gotten the announcement for when this show would be coming to both HBO and BBC very, very late. Like two weeks ago.

Yeah, especially because for BBC it was only announced very recently, and then for HBO it was fairly recently, but people in the UK were left hanging. in the uk were left hanging so which is weird because if anyone's been watching this at home you might know there's a little there's a little laughter for us about the u.s kind of got fucked in that we had what we got delayed by a week yeah the first the first season was delayed by a week second season was only delayed by a couple days so it created a little competition between our buddies in the uk and us, right? Our friends in the Discord, when they had the episode and we had to wait, we were dying when we couldn't, you know, use Windows to see through the worlds and watch it. But, disclaimer, but yeah, now we have the one up for what, two weeks, and then they get all of it. Yeah, it's a fascinating back and forth.

My assumption is BBC wants it all out there for streaming for the holidays. Because, you know, the 18th is literally like the week right before Christmas. And so, yeah, I mean, what better way to celebrate the birth of Christ than the third book of historic materials and how that storyline goes. I hear the bells. Yeah. So anyway, it makes sense. It is much more popular in the UK than it is in the US. So I'm excited about this final season.

I've actually really liked the adaptations. And I mean, they've put a lot of work into this. Yeah, they put their whole rain dussy straight up into it. Yep. Yeah, I look forward to seeing their hard work on screen and saying goodbye to those characters once more. Another time. Why not again? Why not?

Oh my god. Actually, for real though. Yeah, I'm ready for my heart to break all over again, I guess is what it is. Kind of like what we do every week with this podcast, right? Yeah, with, I mean, that's what's gonna happen. This episode of Bran is still like really sad, but it's a little less heartbreaking than some of the previous chapters. They don't hit you too hard

yet this chapter this chapter is really interesting it's not even sad there is a little sadness but i feel like brand's story just has sadness lurking around the corners of all of it uh just because of the loss and because of the loss of innocence and growing up but this chapter is almost like a mini jedi training chapter right like a jedi chapter, because it's not quite like the caves with Bloodraven, but it's where he finally communicates with someone who sees the world somewhat like he does now, right? He feels a little less alone, but also a little more alone after talking to Luwin. Yeah, absolutely. And we're going to go with that journey in a second. Yeah, absolutely. And we're going to go with that journey in a second. We're not sharing any emails and tweets of note right now for this episode, but we do, of course, have our lightning round. So let's get through that before we jump into Bran.

Yeah, start off our lightning round with Catelyn II. Catelyn arrives at Bitterbridge to treat with Renly, and Stannis begins his siege on Storm's End. Jon III, the Night's Watch, arrives at Craster's Keep where Jon learns that Jaor has been turning a blind eye to Craster's actions. Theon too. Theon returns home but doesn't get quite the welcoming party that he expected. They sure give him a hand though. They really do. Tyrion VI, news of Stannis and renly's standoff reaches king's landing and tyrian uses this opportunity to poison cersei and get a lot of

work done including jailing pycelle every single tyrian chapter in that book is pretty much just him doing a ton of shit oh today tyrian went to work and did something his chapters are like insane and clash yeah they're thick thick boys aria six team aria is marched to harrenhal after days of torture and forced to serve under tywin lannister denarius two denarius and company are granted a wing of zarozo and doxus's palace for the time being j Jorah brings news of Robert's death and the civil war that is rising in Westeros. He's like, it's called a clash of kings. No, it's not. It's called the War of the Five Kings.

She's like, that's stupid. It should be called the Dance of Dragons. Actually, that wasn't initially, as many of you know, the name of the second book in the trilogy that this was once. Which takes us into Bran IV and A Clash of Kings, where Meera and Jojen further press Bran's abilities. Meera moved in a wary circle, her net dangling loose in her left hand, the slender three-pronged frog spear poised in her right. Summer followed her with his golden eyes turning, his tail held stiff and tall, watching, watching. Yai! The girl shouted, the spear darting out. The wolf knocks her backward, crouching atop Mira, and the breath goes out of her. Bran hoots, saying, you lose, Mira!

But Jojen points out points out actually she won summer is snared in her net i had to reread that yeah so many times i was like does that say y'all i was like i'm so confused why is she saying that y'all y'all y'all the girl shouted it was like to whom's to summer anyways i did think that this was interesting this idea of winning only to find out that you've lost or you think you've won it looks like it because that's very much what happens to rob right it looks like he's winning and then turns out he's lost he was caught in a trap and perhaps i wonder if it'll also be a little bit of how everyone feels at the end of the series and by everyone i mean in character the characters like we won but at what cost yeah you and courtney kind of talked last week in brand three about the idea that has

been theorized that the net could have been the arthur dane downfall right that arthur dane falls to howland because of his net or because of being the sneakiness of the net. And it makes me think a little bit of that same way, right? Being caught in a trap, almost thinking you've won, but you actually lose. And it makes me wonder, will this net-a-for, this net metaphor, will it be important in that aspect? Or will it actually, will we see it be used by Meera in the Winds of Winter for an important feat? I'm will it actually, will we see it be used by Mira in the Winds of Winter for an important feat? I'm wondering, like, will there be another I don't know,

another use for it because she's so good with the net. I bet there probably will be. You know, like... Whites? Yeah, they're not the smartest. Yeah, maybe she's gonna go white fishing. Yeah, she could do that i wonder could it be also like something else in regards to like that fishing thing too

or on the phrase i don't know also could we see her use it in some sort of similar betrayal kind of way like maybe not like betraying someone but in a way like to save bran or like to stop him from doing something or who knows i don't know yeah there's a lot of different ways yeah it could go uh i'm sure george is also thinking about all the different ways probably because he's a gardener not like i hope he's done with this. He's apparently further along than before. His Thanksgiving blog was really optimistic. He's had a lot of optimistic blogging going on the last few weeks after his touring he's been doing. I think he's feeling very uplifted and inspired.

Yeah, he talked about a lot of the talks he did, but for some reason didn't talk about the one that we were at. Must be on purpose. I've met you, and I've met me. He just wanted to talk about Clifford. Anyway, Bran, speaking of dogs, tells Meera to let Summer go free, and Meera throws her arms around Summer, rolling themselves out of the net. rolling themselves out of the net and the brand calls the summer and spreads his arms and then summer bowls into him and he clings to summer and they wrestle and roll around too laughing and yapping and end with a brand sprawled on top in the end and the muddy wolf beneath him good wolf he says and summer licks his ear oh so cute stop you're like we just don't we're not gonna get these happy times again you know this is just

this is it i mean that that dog's gonna die someday i know i've been like thinking about it earlier today and i was like really sad about it i was like chloe's probably right he's probably gonna die and this is like terrible especially with like all the emphasis on a part of you summer summer's a part of you and like killing the Yeah, but also just like that concept of grief in general too, feeling like you lose a part of yourself when loved ones die. And also like dogs. Dogs dying. Your dog dying. Like, it's sad.

Yeah. Dude, it's absolutely a bummer. When you have that constant companion that's like a part of you. Yeah. And dogs just like really love you what uh mira asks if summer grows angry ever and bran says not with me he says summer wouldn't hurt mira though because summer knows that bran likes her little rip two seconds later in this chapter. Right. The other guests had left within a couple days of the harvest feast, but the reeds had stayed behind, becoming his new companions.

Old Nan began calling Solemn Jojen Little Grandfather, and Mira reminds Bran of Arya, who loves to get messy, to fight, to run, to throw. You know, I actually forgot that Old Nan is the one who gives Jojen the nickname Little Grandfather. Like, I know that he's called that, right? I think it's adorable that she does that. I love Old Nan. and she has to have all these people memorized. She tells Bran all, like, the Umber brothers, she was like, oh, he's named this because of this, and she's like, and I'm not telling you the other one, for horsebane.

Yeah, that's right. She's like, I think you're a little too young for that. She has to keep the world in her head just like Bran will. Wow. Exactly. Meera is older than Arya, of course, almost 16, a woman grown, which is not true, but they're both older than Bray. Of an age with Rob and John, which means would have been born around the same time as them. Just putting that out there.

Yeah, but not putting it out there in the way that people seem to think that Mira and John are twins. I do not subscribe to that. No, just that they were born at similar times and places i just want to clarify where we stand on that clarify she came out of ashara's womb that was the clarification i'd like to make but john john did not we also want to clarify that absolutely there's so many things we need to clarify disclaimer disclaimer this is where we stand so both mira and jojen are older than bran although he has just recently turned nine but they don't treat him like a child which is nice he wishes that they were his wards instead of the walders right and mira moves to help bran get up as he you know he's like struggling to the nearest tree he's like no i got this i got this and he

tells her to let him do it himself using his arms and it's very much a don't just push other people's wheelchairs moment don't just touch people brandt's like i can do this all right just let me let me i imagine we're gonna see that like similar structure right of him struggling to the tree i loved the way it was written. Struggling to the nearest tree. I feel like we're going to see him do a lot more of struggling to the nearest trees. Yeah. In the future, to read from the tree. Yeah, absolutely.

In a different way, though. Mm-hmm. Bran asks if Meera learned to fight with Annette from her master at arms. She says there are no master at arms, no maester, and no ravens can find gray water watch nor can their enemies find them there hmm why because of course it's howland's moving castle and it moves so it's obviously not actually like floating around like on a cloud or anything it's

uh it's moreover because of the bogs and we get this line in Cat 5 in A Storm of Swords. Jason Malister, daddy, says, A dozen streams drain the wetwood, all shadow, silty, uncharted. I would not even call them rivers. The channels are ever drifting and changing. There are endless sandbars, deadfalls, and tangles of rotting trees. And Greywater Watch moves. How are my ships to find it?

rotting trees and graywater watch moves how are my ships to find it so a lot of bogs in general like the the wetland and the area just shifts slightly right but over time and with the lack of people going there it can shift constantly and very much so obviously so that would make for a very very difficult place to go no maester they don't subscribe to those normal societal norms for the greater houses no master at arms no ravens that's really interesting isn't that kind of interesting like they're off the grid and they like it that way and they keep it that way yeah it makes it a very convenient hiding spot doesn't it absolutely it's very secure because of that and it seems like you know a lot of the populace is maybe like generally trained in some combat ish right very very i think amenable to this idea of like more of this guerrilla style

of fighting as well it's not a survival though i think too because they don't have that formal training i think they have to use every fucking trick in the book to keep themselves safe yeah and they know they know the terrain in a way other people don't even if it's shifting they know it you were when we were talking about it disappearing though i do think of like that there's that one area in one of the pokemon games i want to say it's in Hoenn where the islands disappear and then reappear depending but anyways yeah it's something where they're familiar with it. I was watching recently it actually went pretty viral like these videos of like I guess these men doing like silly things and I think it was on a bog and they're just like flopping into the ground in the

water because it's a bog and apparently this is very dangerous some of them were just like also very slowly sinking into it and you shouldn't do that because apparently you go under a bog because i read someone else's comment on one of these like they're like it's pitch black basically except for like little moments of light and it's terrifying and they're like what if all the things like people maybe used to sacrifice people to the bogs? And they're like, I don't know if those were, like, sacrifices or maybe, like, self-sacrifices out of stupidity. Because bogs are dangerous. Yeah. There's something even culturally, like, you look at they being, like, descended from the Marsh Kings and then from possibly the children of the forest. I mean, culturally, they are people that were attacked

and they had to learn to live differently in order to not be attacked by men of Westeros. So to see that kind of still exist with the current people at Greywater Watch, the people of the Neck that kind of have an understanding of, you know, traditionally we have protected our lands and our people in this way i think that's really interesting absolutely especially in the entire context of this chapter and learning about the dreamers further and i mean even when out of the context of the dreamers like they were in a vulnerable position because of the neck right like when with all the war yes etc very vulnerable area and yeah the phrase kind of the phrase hate

them and i wonder if it's like they have that prestige right and they have like that control etc and they have autonomy outside of the phrase who have been trying to get respect for a long time and they're like we'll do it by charging everyone to go through this toll road and still no one likes them well and then you think about the Freys as like they are living to the southern standard right and they're trying to

excel in that world and they are looked down upon where the Cranog men are also looked down upon but a lot of that is also like they're allowed to live their lives and to honor their traditions and to keep their culture to an extent, right? And they're on that verge of the South and the North.

And I think that must really piss the Freys off at their core. Absolutely. And because also people, like, as you said, people look down on them, but also people don't... Fuck with them. Yeah. In a way way you know yeah so brand isn't sure about whether or not mira is serious about what it's like at gray water watch he's like could a place really be like that but he says he'd love to visit it when the war is over because it does sound cool. And also he's like, this is maybe

the safest answer for me. And Meera says that he's welcome and says then or now, which I thought was really interesting. I love the ambiguity of that phrasing, especially when you think about Bran's abilities. Because saying then or now on its own outside of context i thought you know of course then means in the future right that's what they're talking about within the context of this conversation but that's a point in time right then when the war is over but saying then or now is something that usually might refer to talking about the past like saying back then and then of course like there's a period of time that is now the present so bran very much like gray water watch he is going to become unmoored in time he's going to be able to move throughout

time in the same way that their keep moves around this this lake this marsh. Not to bring HBO into it, but it does remind me of the Stay a Thousand Years, Danny and John at the caves in the waterfall, or Ygritte and John with the cave, right? With that in mind of that then or now, it makes me think for Meera especially, right, with what she knows for Jojen's fate and how she's likely trying to preserve these moments with her brother yeah and trying to stop his fate from happening um then or now you know like you're saying it's a place in time it's a frozen moment they could have in time a nice thing away from what's to come in this bitter horrible war absolutely and you really get the sense that it comes through more in this chapter that Mira is really here to protect Jojen because

she cares about her brother you know yeah that's her big driver obviously it's you know protect her liege but her heart is with Jojen yeah that's her pack Bran thinks he can ask Sir Roderick when Roderick returns home if he could visit Greywater he's sick of Winterfell but Roderick when Roderick returns home, if he could visit Greywater. He's sick of Winterfell, but Roderick's off east trying to set right to the trouble there. The moment Lady Hornwood had left Winterfell after the feast, Ramsay of course awaited her, twirling his villain mustache, kidnapping and marrying her that night. In order to set forth justice and fix things, Lord Manderly of course had decided to seize her castle to protect her holdings. So convenient.

Roderick is just as angry with Manderly as Ramsay. And so we were kind of talking about this at the beginning of the chapter with, like, all the things falling into place. But, like, shit happened real fast. Mm-hmm. And it was a great passage of time. I mean, we had, like, several, what did we read? Like, seven chapters in between. But a lot happened in between each of time. I mean, we have like, several, what'd we read, like seven chapters in between. But a lot happened in between each of those. Even looking at Theon, right? Like we said,

the things that were set in motion for Theon to come take Winterfell have just happened. Absolutely, exactly. Yeah. Bran says that Lewyn would never let him go. But Rodrik would. Okay. Sure. Neither of them would. You're the heir. I'm sorry, but you need to stay where you are. In Winterfell.

Root yourself. If I just ask mom instead. If I ask dad instead. But neither of them, because those aren't really his parents. His dad said. I do this just to make Chloe's face react. Not if you can see it. This is a thing I knew from me. Jojen tells Bran that

realistically, it doesn't matter where he goes, but it would be good if he got out of Dodge, like, now. Get the fuck out of Dodge now. Mira explains that Jojen has green sight. He dreams things that are sometimes yet to come. And Jojen looks at her and says there is no sometimes mira and we have a look pass between them him sad her defiant that's so sad i'm so sad kill me kill me kill me it's just like just between them just that small the tiniest little pass between them where she's like but what if not always and he's like always mira yeah jojen promises to tell bran what he's seen if bran tells him what he's seen in his dream the godswood grows quiet and only leaves are rustling around and hodor's splashes in the hot pool are heard. Bran thinks of his dreams.

The golden man, the crow, the crunch of bones, the taste of copper. And he lies with his whole ass that he doesn't dream. He takes sleeping droughts. But Jojen and Meera both call him out. All of Winterfell has heard him shouting and sweating in his sleep. The guards, the ladies. He says it doesn't matter. Embarrassing. It is a little embarrassing. We have this passage. the color of moss. And sometimes when he looked at you, he seemed to be seeing something else.

Like now. I dreamed of a winged wolf, bound to earth with gray stone chains, he said. It was a green dream. I knew it was to be true. A crow was trying to peck through the trains, but the stone was too hard, and his beak could only chip at them. Did the crow have three eyes? Jojen nodded. Summer raised his head from Bran's lap and gazed at the mudman with his dark, golden eyes.

When I was little, I almost died of graywater fever. That was when the crow came to me. He came to me after I fell. I was asleep for a long time. He said I had to fly or die, and I woke up, only I was broken, and I couldn't fly after all. You can if you want to. Picking up her net, Mira shook out the last tangles and began arranging it in loose folds.

You are the winged wolf, Bran, said Jojen. I wasn't sure when we first came, but now I am. The crow sent us here to break your chains. Ooh. Interesting. Interesting. So I have some other thoughts that pair well with some of the other parts later on in this chapter about chains, but I also like, it reminds me a little bit of the moments when Daenerys is chaining her dragon. Absolutely. There's so much of, there's a ton of parallel with her and dragons and Bran and kind of

just closing his mind and not awakening yet. It's really interesting in this book because she's very much so kind of awakened now. Yeah, true. Right? Like she is on the sands. She is feeling it. She's like, I am the chosen one, Jorah. I am the fucking chosen one.

the sands she is feeling it she's like i am the chosen one jorah i am the fucking chosen one her having to choose to chain that part of her and choose that magic side of her chaining that later and dance is devastating and that's kind of where brand psyche is he's in between right because lewin keeps being like no it ain't real but jojen's like it is real and jojen is the one that keeps proving it is real bit by bit it's a very frustrating place to be chained into that is really interesting because also like starting last book right because she was having dreams and she's like I don't know what's up with these dreams and she listens to them at the end no one else is around her telling him they're real is around her telling her that those dreams are real she's just like i just gotta believe and she did it and now there are dragons and you know it's pretty good proof that magic's in the world but you got three dragons pretty good proof that you did it i did it

jojen so it's it's funny that like jojen was found also also by the three-eyed crow when he was near death. It's something that we've been talking about throughout these chapters. But again, it's kind of like Varamyr's chapter. And I guess showing us that you become one with everything during those moments. And maybe it makes you visible to Bloodraven. And he's like, wow, another candidate when you're in that near-death scenario. Kind of like, I don't know, when you put like in that near-death scenario kind of like i don't know when you put on the one ring yeah it's like a rip in the veil that you're able to slip in between it's like something that you should never have been able to see like you're seeing that inner veil of the

workings of the universe and you should never have gained access to it but somehow you have it because you cheated death exactly and he's like is it this one maybe he he should have just been i think a little bit more he should have exercised more discretion but he seemed desperate yeah i think it got to a point where he couldn't anymore you know yeah he was just trying random i mean this guy's gonna die yeah that's true because i was like i don't know maybe he shouldn't have tried with your on i don't know i mean he was trying to put in his two weeks notice Eliana and he's been alive for far too long it's over

years Brayden asks if the crow is at Greywater watch but Jojen says no he's in the north beyond the wall past his bastard brother Jon Snow and when they told Lord Howland what Jojen had dreamed

Howland dispatched him and his sister immediately to Winterfell. To break the chains, Jojen says. Bran must open his eye. Not his normal eyes, of course. His eye. With two eyes, you could see my face. With three, you could see my heart. With two, you could see that oak tree there.

With three, you could see the acorn the oak grew from and the stump that it will one day become. With two, you see no farther than your walls. With three, you would gaze south to the summer sea and north beyond the wall. I love this distinction going back and forth on the eyes. It makes me wonder these dreams that Jojen has had. From the crow. From Bloodra raven are they real dreams or are they dreams that blood raven is projecting for jojen to lure brand north you know what i mean yeah yeah like is jojen upon a Well, it's definitely plant matter. Vegetation.

I would say, yeah. I mean, where are those dreams coming from? It starts to make you think about the dreamer and the dream weaver in this. I don't know. I haven't considered that, but that's definitely possible. We don't really understand the mechanics of how it

works. It'd be mechanics of how it works. It'd be kind of sad, though. I mean, realistically, yeah, he's going to die so that Bran can get north for the crow. So in some aspects, it's like it was going to happen always. But was it going to happen because it was intimated? You know, it's very interesting to think about. It's a chicken and the egg kind of scenario. or you know it's very interesting to think about it's a chicken and the egg kind of scenario and it doesn't really matter i guess at this point since he's already there and dying and getting eated eat it and heated but it makes you think about how these dreams happen and how they're

able to communicate or how they're able to put thoughts in minds and i guess that's kind of the workings of some of the theories like the blood Blood Raven and Ares and, you know, all the different making-people-go-mad theories. It's interesting that Howland immediately sends Jojen, though, because what did he learn? And we'll probably talk about it a little bit today and definitely in the next book about the Green Men, right? What he learned from the Green Men about the future

and what he learned was needed of him and his family well it's kind of like does mira feel differently than the rest of her family right is she a little different from them because yeah as you said howland sent jojen knowing all of this etc knowing that his son's probably gonna die because jojin doesn't seem like a person who's like keeping quiet about that you know he's telling everyone he's like mom and dad i know when i'm gonna die and they're like wow so proud of you honey why don't you go every day ashara is probably like i have the weirdest fucking kids ever yeah but she's like but only one day one day it'll only be one of them i guess i don't know and like the only one who's like why is everyone going along with this and she's the only one

who's trying to fight against fate and her parents and her brother are both just like this is all it is and it's kind of like when you learn when you're an adult, when things make sense and you're like, maybe my parental figure was right about a few things I didn't necessarily agree with at the time. Like because it's like those secrets of adulthood of like fate, right? Like you're like, oh, this thing is fated to happen or this thing is just how life goes and we can't fight that. And it's like Mira doesn't have the sight so she doesn't understand the finality of it but jojen and howland both seem to understand the finality of it all that's funny i see it differently as like one of those things where your parents accept something that like this is the way the world is this is how things are and mira being like but it doesn't have to be that way you know

the way that like denarius says the world doesn't have to be this way. You know, in the way that, like, Daenerys says the world doesn't have to be this way and tries to change it. And, like, I think there's something very admirable about being like, I will do everything that I can for, to try and find a way out, a different path. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. She won't, though. I don't know. We'll see. One day we'll see those family dynamics yeah will she be mad at her dad and be like i can't believe like you just let him go probably absolutely probably and now we got this she's like gestures at brin um so so i i do really like this line though about the you know how it's the acorn and the stump

and the tree all at once and that idea of the third eye and this idea of seeing like another dimension of time in terms of like that fourth dimension um kind of from above and it reminds me a little bit of the way that the troll farmadorians are described um and how they can see the world in slaughterhouse five where like everything's existing you know all at once oh yeah yeah and they for them actually maybe this is why jojen and howland feel that way they're like no one's ever really dead that's like kind of where that sort of like resign the ness of the so it goes comes from even though it's meant to be some a philosophy that you critique but that idea because they can see everything all at once no one's ever truly dead they're still there existing yeah and it's

like what they think about death right that the dead person is in a bad condition at that particular moment but the same person is fine in plenty of other moments yeah it's like Princess Bride. He's only mostly dead. Oh my god. Literally. He's still alive. To blaze. That's interesting because I haven't thought about Slaughterhouse in so fucking long, but damn, Eliana, you're bringing out the eighth grade in me right now.

But there's also just the way they see the four different dimensions, right? Reality of past, present, future, any point in time, any point in will. Huh. And there's something in, like, in Hinduism, there's two, there's the higher state of consciousness and how you perceive the world, right? And so you have, like, in general, just there's two parts of your brain.

There's like the higher part of the learning and the lower part of the learning. And the higher part of the intelligence is where your third eye is actually located. So like your third eye is definitely informed in the higher form of intelligence that you need it to be. In Hinduism, the third eye symbolizes

the higher state of consciousness for perceiving the world and the gate leading to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness so having jojan i mean this is kind of a funny scene also in some in some ways because jojan is like really like i'm running out of ways to explain this to you bran like i don't know how else to explain to you we need to take these chains off of you and you need to open your goddamn eye um because it is it's that's his power that's his gate to the inner realms and the spaces of higher consciousness and it's also kind of funny because it's like one of those things you really can't teach someone to do that's true especially because he hasn't technically done it either jojen he has green

dreams but he doesn't have like the same abilities as brand so it's like how can i teach someone to do something that i have not done yeah how could you i mean he's only half right he's not a full he's uh he has green dreams he's not a green seer yeah he's like just just take them off just take off the chains uh yeah yeah you know shiva's third eye is the eye of wisdom right that sees it's free from all illusion and looks beyond what anyone can see and sees truth and there's so much language in here that's just reminiscent of that and reminiscent of that eye emitting flames to destroy evil i mean bran you are in a way the shield right now you're the sword in the darkness you're the shield that guards the realms of men

and we need you to open your eye to fucking do so because whenever Lord Shiva opens the third eye it destroys the person who sees the vision interestingly enough oh wait no keep it closed don't kill Jojen yet damn he's not gonna do that with his eye he's gonna do that with his mouth yeah well but there you have it I mean like you said last week when you talked about

how these visions the accidentals that Bran has goes around and he puts people on a death list, basically, without meaning to. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because when Shiva opens the third eye, it destroys the person who sees the vision or that the vision's about.

Big sad. Damn. Keep that eye shut. Don't take the chains off, Bran. Maybe stay chainedained keep your chains hanging low bran is nervous and he says he's tired of crows and he changes the conversation to wolves and lizard lions asking mira if she's ever hunted them she starts to tell him about their home the slow streams and deep swamps of gray water but jojan interrupts trying to keep them on track

asking oh did you dream of these creatures is that why you bring them up bran's like i don't streams and deep swamps of gray water but Jojen interrupts trying to keep them on track asking oh did you dream of these creatures is that why you bring them up Bran's like I don't have to tell you shit I'm the prince why are you questioning me like this is getting ridiculous Jojen ignores that and asks if he dreamed of summer in the godswood the night of the harvest feast and Bran's like stop Jojen says that when he had touched summer he felt bran in the wolf that he felt him fall he asks bran if that's what scares him most the falling bran thinks and the golden man the queen's brother but mostly the falling he's too scared to say it though he couldn't even say it to roger or lewin definitely not to the reeds he thinks maybe it'll just go

away if i don't talk about it mood yeah again brand start king of repression and jojen's just being a very pushy therapist right now and it's like well come on jojen come on brand has just talked about this trying new techniques trying new techniques by interrogating brand and intimidating him. Bran, did you do this? Did you think this? Did you? Anyways, for example, he's like, he asks, Bran, do you fall every night? Very quietly. And Summer's had enough.

By Summer, we mean Bran. Because Summer growls. And Jojen starts, like, making steps in between Summer and Jojen, telling Bran to keep him back. And Bran says, Jojen is making him angry. And Jojen's like, no, that's not Summer's anger, that's your anger, Bran. That's your fear that Summer is showing. And Bran says, I'm not a wolf. Yet, he had howled with them in the night,

and he had tasted blood through Summer. And Jojen knows that part of him is Summer, and part of Summer is Bran. He knows that part of him is summer and part of summer is Bran he knows that you know I've been thinking about this for like a solid three weeks this is the most important analysis I'm ever going to give you Eliana but and I'm going to quote the phantom menace you know fear is the path to the dark side fear leads to anger anger leads to hate hate leads to suffering look jojen has those green eyes is jojen yoda yeah actually kinda though he really is though like his function in the story but also maybe because he's little. Is he Baby Yoda? Grogu. Grogan.

I refuse to call him Grogu. Grogan. Me too, though. In all seriousness, though, there is a lot of, I mean, there's a lot of aspect of Dune in this part of the plot, right? Of fear being the mind killer. And that Bran is so loudly showing his fear out loud. Like, he's just screaming it. He's like, this is what I'm afraid of.

And Jojen sees through that. Jojen is trying to coach him. In a way, it does remind me of kind of that death speech that Yoda gives to Anakin, where he says that death is a natural part of life. To rejoice for those around you who transform into the force. Mourn them. Do not miss them. Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed.

Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. Jojen Yoda is trying to open Bran's eye here, and it definitely makes me think of that. It makes me think of Yoda like crazy. His entire role to Bran does. Yeah, I think that's definitely a great observation of the role that judging plays he it's kind of great it is kind of like a mentor figure but very young yeah especially because he's accepted his death yeah which makes him the oldest little grandfather of them all although he's so young, like, there's

so much that he's already accepted that he's come to terms with that lets him be so much more older in his terms because of that. He's the tree. That's the stump and the acorn at the same time. Because he's young. Yeah.

Like a little acorn, but also old, like the stump. Yeah, because he knows when he gets young. Yeah. Like a little acorn, but also old, like the stump. Yeah, because he knows when he gets chopped. Yeah. Yeah. Summer rushes forward, and Mira blocks him with her spear. He circles, stalking, and Mira tells Bran to call him back. Bran calls Summer back, but Summer lunges again.

Mira counters with her spear. The bushes rustle, and oh good, out comes Shaggy Dog. Meera stands next to Jojen, demanding Bran call them off. He says he can't and commands Jojen to go up the tree. And Jojen's like, there's no need for that. He's like, today's not the day I die. And Meera's like, Jesus fucking Christ, please just listen to me as the guardian in this. And yells at him to do it anyway.

And so Jojen does. And then Mira also follows as the wolves descend. Both of them scrambling up the rearwood. And Summer howls, sitting back on his haunches while Shaggy shakes the net in his teeth. They're angry. I love the emphasis placed on the tree here because this becomes a big plot point of people going up the trees in this area and the gods wouldn't in the wolfwood in two chapters Bram like is trying to escape through summer right when Theon takes Winterfell and tries to climb the tree that's like the very beginning of the dream and it's very the whole chapter starts so that it's very very tense. and it's very, the whole chapter starts with it, it's very tense, but this

comes back with wax, right? And Adowada having scrambled up the trees and hiding as they exit and they make their exit and he saw Bran and Rickon. So there's a lot of emphasis placed on the tree climbing. It really sticks out in this chapter. It does.

It does. Very squirrely of them. Yeah. Which is, is poor squirrel aria's at harren hall right now so i feel for her in another very magical situation wow bran remembers they're not alone they have an adult nearby he calls for hodor and asks hodor chase chase the wolves off. Shaggy is the first to flee and finally Summer lays down next to Bran spent. So I thought this was actually a very interesting play on that trope by George, you know, the trope of like, oh, his friends are in danger. They're like, you have to do it now, Bran. You have to like, call them off. And like, because like of the stressful moment, he finally learns to gain control of their powers, etc.

But Bran doesn't, right? He doesn't make that breakthrough. And that plays with our expectations. And he finds instead a different way to solve this problem without actually having to do the thing that Jojen would like him to do. And it's actually his usual solution to his problems, which is make Hodor deal with it with it yeah that's kind of a bummer for hodor hodor come get in the middle of the massive dog fight please thanks i'm like that could have been dangerous for hodor damn bran yeah the reeds warily descend the tree mira immediately goes into defense with the net and spear and jojen promises brand that they'll talk again but it's like i do not want to set up another

appointment worst therapist award i my insurance doesn't even like you don't take my insurance my guy brand thanks it was the wolves it wasn't me he did not understand why they'd gotten so wild maybe maester lewin was right to lock them in the godswood oh that's really sad it's a it's again another one of those moments that reminds us a little of denarius right and i kind of wonder like did did george's outline for how the story would go like get really unaligned because it just goes so well with like this moment in adowada denarius 2 of mother of dragons denarius thought mother of monsters what have i unleashed upon the world a queen i am but my throne is made of burned bones and it rests on quicksand without dragons how could she hope to hold marine much less win back westeros i am the blood of the

dragon she thought if they are monsters so am i and daenerys like gets to that and accepts that upon seeing uh the damage that her her dragons have wrought quite quickly but brand is still in this moment of denial regarding his nature and his relationship with the wolves. But Daenerys is also older, right? And she's had, therefore, a little bit more experience also with the things that she's been through with responsibility, being responsible for bad things happening and being more willing to accept what the dragons do. That is part of her responsibility and it's tied to her.

And even on a more metaphorical level, like opposed to her brand where it is very literal and he's trying to kind of divest himself of the fault of what happened with the wolves yeah that's a really interesting comparison to see like that daenerys is kind of not only does she know that she is one with them they are one flesh right and that her responsibilities reflect off of them and what she does with her dragons but brand there's also something about like he barely has autonomy over himself so for him as a nine-year-old trying to already struggle with barely being able to have autonomy over your own body now you're responsible for a wolf that you can't control too it's got to be rough growing up sucks as a stark huh yeah probably also as a targaryen she's like wow i also have no control i mean she has no control over her love life right now yeah the dragons that are eating the children

she's like i have no control but it's still my fault it must also be scary to wonder who's in control when and i think there's a very jackal hide werewolf kind of thing going on that we start to see that brand interfaces with that and he starts to hone his skills but rickon for example is more wolf than boy most days right already yeah Already. So slipping into Shaggy's skin and when Shaggy's in control, because I mean, even the dreams for Bran, the dreams get more and more intense and the POV starts to get unclear. Bran 6 has, the beginning is very like between both. It's Bran, it it's brand it's summer uh the pov switches so much in those dreams and you don't know who or what is in control and sometimes it's

kind of the language that we've been talking about of the man rock and the man the man smells and you're like ah that's summer but is it it's brand through summer it's a it's a little bit of a confusing thing to go through. It is. It is confusing. Rickon's going through a lot of confusing stuff. And it was also, like, interesting that Shaggy shows up too, right? Like, and joins all that. Like, where's Rickon with all this?

Well, right. And it's interesting because Shaggy seems to be doing things as well and, like, communicating with Bran in these dreams as well. Which is, like like so are you just talking to rickon do you know does rickon know he's talking to you i would love to get that pov maybe oh no okay i'm sorry nobody would just don't even say it i don't even want to hear it you're me you're really cruel i didn't even like consider that was a possibility. Leave him alone. Because of what you said. Yeah. Oh, so you are giving me the responsibility for your thoughts

now? Yeah. Huh, okay, Bran. It was Chloe. It wasn't me. Oh my god. She did not understand how Chloe had gotten so wild. Bran asks Hodor to bring him to Luin. He arrives a little early for lessons today.

Rikken, Bran, and the Freys all take tutoring sessions every afternoon with him. Bran uses a wall sconce to pull himself out of his basket, hanging by his arms until Hodor puts him in a chair. He tells Luin about Jojen's green sight, just like the Children of the Forest that Luin told him about. He says, is it magic? And Luin's like, at its heart, it's more just like different children of the forest that Lewin told him about. He says, is it magic? And Lewin's like, at its heart, it's more just like different kind of knowledge? No one truly knows because the children and their wisdom are completely,

100%, not to be found, gone from this world. It had to do with the faces in the trees, we think. The first men believed that the greenseers could see through the eyes of the weirwoods. That was why they cut down the trees whenever they warned upon the children. Supposedly, the greenseers also had power over the beasts of the wood and the birds and the trees.

Even fish. Does the readboy claim such powers? Me, reading this. Give us the fish POV he'll probably skin change some fish it's part of being a Tully you know the ancestral

skin changing for House Tully I just really like you know underwater documentaries and Finding Nemo I've been playing in underwater on my VR.

There's an underwater thing you can do and you can actually just cruise around under the sea and see different aminals. It's really fun. Nice, yeah. I think that's what it'll be like when we get the Bran fish POV. Amazing. I'm serious though.

Will he skin change? I don't know. I hope so. i think he should i find lewin's doubt in jojen's abilities really interesting considering he just gave brand an entire history and then considering that like there's a big chance that the neck is a large populace that descends from children in some way you know of the forest like i'm like this is literally these people are akin to the children of the forest the reeds definitely have marsh king blood at least right coming from them and there's this great bit in the world of ice and fire long ago the histories claim the crannog men were ruled by the Marsh Kings. Singers tell of them riding on

lizard lions and using great frog spears like lances, but that is clearly fancy. Were these Marsh Kings even truly kings as we understand it? Archmaester Arryn writes that the Cranog men saw their kings as the first among equals who were often thought to be touched by the Old Gods, a fact that was said to show itself in eyes of strange hues or even in speaking with animals as the children are said to have done hmm so joe jim with his strange green eyes would he could have been a marsh king is what that basically says maybe a little respect lewin know your histories a little more uh would you have been a marsh king or is it like because you were saying it seems like they follow this primogenitor oh wait maybe that's because of

ashara's influence not the reeds yes yes yes the i mean that's new that the dornish succession is newer thanks to the 80s the 280s that is uh what about the 90s a hell of a? A hell of a time. A hell of a time. But, you know, the Starks had killed the Marsh Kings and married their daughters, so House Reed was eventually born from that. Which, I mean, there's a whole other thought train we could go down of, like, were the Starks marrying off for magical connections and bloodlines? Maybe. Maybe. Some of the theorizing we've seen for the Targaryens or for the South makes you wonder if they knew

what they were doing in that respect. I'm sure they did. They liked power back then. Everyone likes power. It's fun. But I thought seeing their kings as the first among equals, being touched by the old gods and definitely being magical and

some of the similarities with this plot here, it just shows me. I'm like, Luin, you're so in denial you're in denial so hard you are out there absolutely it's like very obvious you know especially like with some of the stuff they talk about like for example i don't know we'll get to it in a second um especially with like brandy like but my dreams come true and i'm like yeah that would like really spook me out too you know danny says the same thing right well yeah exactly because brand says his dreams come true and loon's like i mean we all have dreams that kind of come true and like brand's like no but like rick and dreamed it too like that's a little suspicious don't you think lewin and lewin's like i mean

i don't know you can call it greensight but he's like you must remember tens of thousands of dreams that you have dreamed that never came true and i'm like brand why would you believe this jojen and mira literally just addressed this recently okay they just addressed that that argument lewin asks if brand remembers what he was taught about the chain that a maester wears a maester forges his chain in the citadel of old town it's a chain because you swear to serve and it's made of different metals because you serve the realm and the realm has different sorts of people every time you learn something you get another link black iron is for ravenry silver for healing gold for psalms and numbers. I don't remember them all.

Yeah, why would he? That's not his job. He's not a maester. Luin. That's your job. Luin begins to turn each chain on his collar, showing Bran each and landing on the Valyrian steel chain, the dark gray metal link. He tells him only one maester in one hundred wears the Valyrian steel link, and

it means he studied the higher mysteries. Magic, for a lack of better word. All that study for this link end up trying their own hand at magic and spells sooner or later. He had also fallen to this, he says. He was a boy, and what boy doesn't want to be magic? But he had

had no return, no more than the other thousands of boys before him, and after him that tried. Luwin says magic doesn't work yeah so we've discussed this in previous episodes but it seems like lewin's very adamant it doesn't work because i mean he tried he really wanted it to be real you know and coming back to the chains holding down the winged wolf i'm kind of like oh interesting because they talk about chains quite a lot in this chapter as well like are part of the chains that are holding down bran like this this sort of earthly knowledge right and the idea of lewin's chains these maesters chains yeah and he's in chains himself because he serves i mean westerosi society which they don't they their

goal is not this magical awakening right so what he's serving and the bureaucracy that he's serving he is enchained because of it and i love the line that it's a chain because you swear to serve yeah and and there is i think some like something admirable about that, too, in terms of... Luwin's just trying to give good knowledge, right? I think if magic were real, he'd be like, yeah, Bran, magic's real for sure. about the Starks and Bran and I'm kind of like that idea of serving is there something there with the chains and the winged wolf in which the winged wolf as a king right because a king should serve like is there something there about how Bran yeah should be learning eventually how to serve the realm and like becomes enchained again I don't know yeah I definitely think there's something in that because even just like I don't know there's this thing with Lewin that it reminds me of teachers that we would have had in school that were really good teachers that could offer you so much about the world but couldn't

because of the rules imposed on them by the academies, right? Like, you would have a great teacher, but they couldn't actually give you everything in their brain because the school systems frown upon it right and that's what lewin is kind of stuck into he can't actually teach bran what the truth is because society is like that's not true that's not true that's not true and it shut it down for him too right like he used to probably believe in it but also it's one of those things that like you know they talk about the maesters staring at the glass candle trying to figure it out and how a man could go insane doing that and magic is that that's what magic is right like if

if it's not for you you drive yourself insane thinking about it and maybe the chains can like obviously the winged wolf needs to fly because brand needs to fly because he has to save the world but are the chains like that keep you to earth maybe something of a good thing in that it keeps him tied to his humanity you know like of the what he's fighting for yeah so it doesn't keep him too high above everyone yeah well Bran disagrees with Luin right he cites mages and warlocks in the east and Luin's like they only call themselves mages and warlocks Bran the east and lewin's like they only call themselves mages and warlocks bran he says there is much that we don't understand that makes me think about blood raven in a way right like uh he's called the three-eyed crow but that doesn't mean anything yeah i mean

it does but it doesn't one day when we'll find out but i don't know what it means yet but also like it's funny because again we're talking about the near ease and and how it ties into that storyline she's like probably meeting them soon yeah she's gonna have uh mages she's gonna marwin the mage coming to her soon oh no i mean the warlocks literally and the warlocks oh yeah right right yeah yes we have a great passage from lewin and I love this so much. But in the course of time, mountains rise and fall, rivers change their courses, stars fall from the sky, and great cities sink beneath the sea. Even gods die, we think.

Everything changes. Perhaps magic was once a mighty force in the world. But no longer. What little remains is no more than the wisp of smoke that lingers in the air after a great fire has burned out, and even that is fading. Valyria was the last ember, and Valyria is gone. The dragons are no more. The giants are dead. The children of the forest forgotten with all their lore. No, my prince, Jojen Reed may have had a dream or two he believes came true, but he does not have the

green sight. No living man has that power. Hmm. I just realized as you were reading this aloud, what Llewyn is saying about things changing kind of reminds me a little of that poem, Ozymandias, by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. Nothing beside remains. round the decay of that colossal wreck boundless and bare the lone and level sand stretched far away and i'm kind of

wondering if if that's maybe some of the imagery that that george was thinking about but uh i have four things one uh jojan in regards to jojan uh reed blah blah no living man has that power I'm like Jojen Reed though is not a man but a boy so loophole loophole loophole and maybe he's dead who knows um two even gods die maybe we think is what he says even gods die we think and regarding how gods are discussed in the series I mean yeah it is kind of true about the old gods right because if they are the children of the forest and the other green seers eventually they do die as we see sometimes a first death and then they take on a second life and then die again which is very heartbreaking when you think about rob and blood raven is probably going to die eventually and

apparently denarius right if also we think about godhood in that idea of power and loneliness that all are all gods so lonely yeah the blood raven part especially is ringing true in this chapter for me like because it's not just the gods aren't just dead but dying right it's not just they die it's that they're dying and that someone has to replace them. Bran is needed to serve next for life, right? Just like those chains. He's putting the chains on to serve for life as the next crow, and the reeds are headhunting and job recruiting for them.

Yeah. Oh, that's very strange. He's becoming the next god. Yeah, he is. That is very much part of his storyline. And then three, what does man see but a few summers, a few winters, right? Is basically what Lewin was asking. And I'm like, first of all, I have seen way too many winters in my life.

I hate the cold. in my life. I hate the cold. But also because, I mean, of course, in Westeros and Planetos, they have a viewer of these change of seasons. But also, with the ability to see through time, maybe that means that while Bran

actually sees, like, several summers and winters, and then four. Everything does change, right? That is kind of what Lune is saying here about the nature of magic having died out. Everything changes in life. I guess he's talking about puberty now that I think about it and growing up and how things change and the magic of childhood dies. But also, A Clash of Kings and the Storm of Swords, they are very much that for Bran right they're

this idea of everything changing he loses his parents he loses his home he loses the other parent he loses his brother he thinks that he loses a bunch of other people actually he does he loses like all the other people who lived in winterfell too anyways but just as the world has changed and magic has left it what Luin is missing here is that the world can continue to change. It can change again and magic can return. Yeah, it can change in a good way. For good or for more.

For good. Yeah. Yeah, because everybody uses magic for good. Right? Right? They could. They could. Until they don't. Use that sword without sword without a hill there's something in what you're saying that reminds me of the danny chapter that came right before this because

we're watching luin and jojen from opposite directions coming at bran being wary of how long of a leash no pun intended they have on him right like Jojen needs Bran to go in one direction. Luwin needs to keep him in another direction. And we're seeing Jorah kind of try to do that with Daenerys, but she's already awakened. There's no leashing her. She's unleashed.

That girl is out there. She is magical. She is out there and there's this great end of that. Yeah, magical girl Dany. And I need Bran to put on his fuku and get to it in the end of the last chapter for Dani literally right before this chapter we get kind of a back and forth with her and Jorah when he brings her news of Robert dying and she's talking to him and he

says that he sees more of Rhaegar in her than her brother but that even rhaegar could be slain robert proved that on the trident with no more than a warhammer even dragons can die and she says dragons die but so do dragon slayers and i love that so much of just like there are two sides there are the seers and those that killed the seers and there are dragons and those that seek to kill dragons and there's magic and those that wish to vanquish it and the balance between those two worlds yeah that's great that's great and in the earlier part of this quote that you did not read this part aloud but she's talking about how she's as old as the crones and the dosh kalin and as young as my dragons she's all these things at once all four

places yes just like the acorn and the tree in the stump yep she says to him she says i've born a child burned a cow crossed the red waste in the dothrak you see and it's not unlike that passage that we just read from lewin right when he's like you know you'll be able to see you you know they can see here go here what jojen says about opening the eye that with a third eye you would be able to see past the sunset sea and beyond the north uh danny's saying i've already been all these places she has all of these at once yeah when mira comes to brannet dusk he apologizes about the wolves behavior and then tells her that Jojen shouldn't have said all that stuff about his dreams which I mean Jojen probably shouldn't have but I understand why he did the crow lied to him and her brother lied to him too and she says

well maybe Maester Luwin is wrong and Bran counters that his father relied on lewin lewin could never be wrong oh oh she says that ned of course listened but in the end did not ned decide for himself she tells him of what her brother dreamed happening to him and his fosterling brothers they were sitting at supper but instead of a servant lewin was the one who brought them their food. He brought Bran the king's cut of the roast. It was meat, rare and bloody and delicious smelling. But to the Freys, he served them old, gray, dead meat. But yet the Freys liked their supper more than Bran liked his. And Bran's like, I don't understand this.

And Meera mentions that Jojen said he will. So that night, Bran's almost afraid to eat. But when he sits to sup, everyone is served the same food. A pigeon pie. And he's like, well, that was a lie. We end the chapter with Maester Luwin has the truth of it. Nothing bad was coming to Winterfell, no matter what Jojen said. Bran was relieved, but disappointed too.

So long as there was magic, anything could happen. Ghosts could walk, trees could talk, and broken boys could grow up to be knights. But there isn't, he said aloud in the darkness of his bed. There's no magic, and the stories are just stories. And he would never walk, nor fly, nor be a knight. nor fly nor be a knight oh well see it's fun because magic does exist in this world and all those things do happen the ghosts or the dead do walk it's his fault and other people the trees talk uh he's gonna find that out very intimately and bran is probably going to become a knight of some sort like a

knight of the mind or something and i I love the idea of the ghosts, because we have those people coming to life all the time, whether it's Catelyn in the Undead way, Jon, who's dead now, maybe alive later, Arya, the ghost of Harrenhal, a very specific ghost, Theon, the ghost of Winterfell. Oh, yes. Good point, good point.

Great tie-in with stuff that's coming soon. And yeah, the stories are not just stories there. Turns out, a lot of them are real and worse than you thought, but some of them are better. I mean, because who has the best story after all? Who has the best? I mean, he could in the books. Yeah, in the books. Absolutely. I watched that episode yesterday. I want you to know I tortured myself. Mostly because my friend and I were. So you ended. So you ended it.

Yeah, absolutely. The whole series. So did you finish your watch through entirely already? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I stopped. The last episode we watched before House of the Dragon together. whatever episode that was, that was the last episode I watched. Just yesterday, we just watched the Iron Throne for fun, to laugh. Oh.

For pain. Okay, okay. Yeah. There was some good laugh out loud moments and some interesting, like, you know, like, that could be done well. But it wasn't. Yeah, absolutely. But it wasn't. Yeah, absolutely. But it wasn't. But, you know, in another world where magic exists and Bran can fly and be a knight, it was a good finale.

For sure. For sure. And, you know, after all, why do you think Bran came all this way? Sit on that. Sit on that till the next book. Oh my god, that line is not gonna be in the books, but it's gonna be in our hearts. I know that you and I like to say that a lot nowadays,

and our friend Jimmy likes to say it. I think it might be in the book, you just never know. You just never know. I look forward to the last chapter before shit hits the fan next week with you. Oh my gosh. And, you know, a heads up for you all. We will be doing a little bit of traveling over the holidays. So if you do send us an email or a tweet of note, we may not see it right away.

We might not get to it, but we will shoot you a message back. You just might not be able to hear it because the next couple episodes will be pre-recorded. Indeed. Indeed. Because, I mean, yeah. Traveling, also. End of year. Holidays. And also, we got His Dark Materials

on the horizon. So, stay tuned for those. Yeah. Your girls are gonna be a little busy the next few horizon, so stay tuned for those. Yeah. Your girls are going to be a little busy the next few weeks, so keep those push notifications on your feed, whether you're listening to us on your favorite platform or not, and I'm sure you'll see us pop off episodes. Truly. And if you want to keep up with when all those happen,

be sure to subscribe to us on social media. You can still find us on Twitter. Yes. At twitter.com slash girlsgoncanon and as Chloe said, you can always shoot us an email that's at girlsgoncanon c-a-n-o-n at gmail.com And make sure that you've subscribed to us

on your favorite listening streaming platform. I know a lot of you are putting out your Spotify raps at this time of year right now and posting that we are on it. So thank you so much for listening to us over at places like Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Acast, iHeartRadio, and many more.

And thank you also if you listen to us on Patreon, where there is also an RSS feed and where patrons in the $5 tier and above get a bonus episode every single month, and this past month, we put out our Queensguard episode, and this month, stay tuned for what it's gonna be. The reveal.

Our own Unwrapped. Oh my god. GGC. Unwrapped. That implies something different, especially with what our name is. Wrap it back up ggc and if you're a patron in the ten dollar or above tier the thunder tier and above you get access to our discord server where our friends are chit-chatting all day long about shows music everything they like and we even have events here and there like our brunch slash happy hour that happens monthly which we'll announce in the next couple weeks for you for this month december 2022 as well as eventually getting back to some weekly discussions on his dark materials once the

season is aired look forward to those as always i have been one of your hosts chloe and i have been another one of your hosts eliana oh oh are we not howling again oh we could we could do that howling howling read howling read goodbye bye maybe it's just fun for me to howl you know