Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 177 — ACOK Bran VI

Episode Date: December 16, 2022

The sea comes to Winterfell. Bran must hoist a white flag before more of Winterfell's people drown.   ---    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 Ice And Fire episode 177, brand 6 in a song of ice and fire episode 177 brand six in a clash of kings i am one of your hosts chloe and i am another one of your hosts eliana you sure are tiger sure am that's me welcome aboard the seas come to winterfell. Theon's fucking up. It's gonna be a heck of a chapter. A heek of a chapter? A lot of emotions. Yeah. Yeah. Well,

yes. Yes, good job, Aliana. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Good day. To you all. Good night. But not to Theon Grey gray joy goodbye um my problematic son has come to winterfell and we're excited to jump into that but first we are going to do a little bit of housekeeping up top yes so if you know about us which i'm guessing you do we do bonus episodes for our patrons in the Stranger tier and up.

That's $5 and up over at patreon.com slash girls gone canon. Sometimes it's a Song of Ice and Fire related tangential to a Song of Ice and Fire or his dark materials related or sometimes it's just shit we like that we want to talk about. So if you are interested in that head on over to that web page as mentioned but this is the formal announcement for this month's for december's bonus patreon episode thank you little hype building a little drum roll at home please get in the mood get in the moment we are going to be talking about a tangentially related A Song of Ice and Fire story, right? It's almost related. We're going to be talking about The Ice Dragon, George R.R. Martin's The Ice Dragon,

which was first published in Dragons of Light in 1980 as a short story. It was reworked to be a little more suitable for children and published again in 2007 as a children's book, illustrated by Yvonne Gilbert with some great pencil drawings. And then once more was published in 2014 with painted illustrations by Luis Royo. You can find the 110-ish pages short story in George's Dream Songs anthology. I'm excited about this. Honestly, I kind of started looking at the description and I'm kind of into it. I think this is a great choice. Yeah yeah i'm excited to do this one and like we're not saying it takes place in the same world as a song of ice and fire i know people have said that again making our

stances clear but it is related right it is by george and i think part of what's exciting is this is the first other george work that you and i are covering together you know i think we've probably spoken about some of george's other stuff here and there in regards to like we'll bring it in or like we've talked about it on other places but not not yet together like this so i refused to read dying of the light honestly just because somebody told me to it was probably me and that i mean i get that i mean you know that i'm the same way i'm like if someone tells you i'm like i don't want to we're fire signs and only children i feel like there's a correlation here like rick willfully stubborn yeah absolutely but the plot of the ice dragon actually feels i don't know it feels somewhat

relevant to some of the arcs in a song of ice and fire you can see that little bit of crossover where george is gardening from the same garden for a little bit of just ideas and thoughts i like it and because we also thought it might be nice because it's like it's winter right now. So a nice little wintry tale. Yeah. Kind of feels like spring showers sometimes. Depending on where in the global climate change world you are. That's true. And if you're in the southern hemisphere, then like it's not winter for you.

So it's fucking over. Sorry. Maybe you can save this episode for later. I don't know. Well, to give you a taste of the story to you know find out if you should own the dream songs anthology which i think you should honestly i think it's good for anyone's shelf born in the long freezing winter adara's mother dies giving birth to her adara's emotionless cold to the touch and loves winter and ice and snow and ice lizards. She feels as if there's an ice dragon

within her, and at the age of four, she touches one. An untamable beast of legend that causes cold and desolation wherever it flies over. War comes to her land in the form of fire dragons from the north, and Adara's ice dragon defends Adara and her family. Like I said, you'll learn more in our bonus episode for the Stranger tier and above, $5 up patrons later this month. Indeed. We also have a few other things coming this month for patrons. For example, we have our Discord, which is accessible for patrons in the Thunder tier and above,

the $10 tier and above, where we have channels, fun stuff, and discussion. But we also have, once a month, our brunch slash happy hour. And this month, that will be on Sunday, December 18th, from 2 to 4 p.m. Yeah, Eliana time. Eliana time. And I'm excited. Yeah, the 18th here. It'll be a nice little gathering. Some reindeer games. I have a new Jackbox game, as mentioned last week, last episode, that I'm excited. I'm really excited because it's funny. This is, how do I explain this without saying that I'm a total hermit homebody. Like, I don't have friends. Yes, you do. How do I say this?

Shit. I have more friends online, Eliana, in my Discord with my friends. They're so fun. But like, you know, when you play Jackbox games with our Discord, there's a line, right? Like, everyone's like, I want in, I want in. Everybody in.

We got eight players. Let's go. How many players does this game take? Like, we have to kind of think about that when we play these games but last week i played some with like four total people and i was like man but this game would be a lot more fun with the discord i was like there's more of them so i love my friends it's just i needed more of them oh i hope they're not listening to this oh they're not if they are i love you too you were a blast to have over even if they're not listening to this oh they're not if they are I love you too you were a blast to have over

even if you're not 8 people yeah even if you're not 8 people do the Naruto what is it Kage Bunshin make more of them and that is not what we're going to be playing at our brunch

none of that Naruto god Eliana playing at our brunch none of that naruto god uh eliana there's one final thing we got to bring up before we can launch into our lightning round which is the premiere of his dart materials series three it's begun we're this episode's a little pre-recorded so our reactions you'll have to tune in on our feed where we're posting our reactions weekly to the episodes. We should have just been publishing our first one by the time you're hearing this or your second one by the time you're hearing this. So wow. Yeah, that's true. It would be episode. We should have already by now covered episodes one and two as our first episode probably and three and four as our second one because

yeah i mean they started premiering on hbo december 5th and the entire season's gonna drop like i guess december 18th for the uk so i don't know we can like everyone will keep spoilers to a minimum during that discussion, but get hype. Yeah, exciting. We're halfway through the season is pretty much where we are as we sit here. Wow. That's so crazy. Yeah, if you're into a book series that is mostly finished and really good, I would recommend the His Dark Materials series. and really good,

I would recommend the His Dark Materials series. Also, if you've, like, I don't know, as someone of any age in your life, but especially a young person in your life, and you are looking for gifts, I think that the His Dark Materials trilogy is a fantastic gift. So. And if you haven't read it,

there are some of the greats like Narnia, that Pullman, Philip Pullman, he is, you know, kind of riffing with. He's pulling on, but also he's subverting in many ways. Yeah. So I think if you're familiar with that story and you want something denser, more thoughtful, in my opinion, this would be it. Yeah.

So excited to talk about those. so excited to talk about those and again you can find those episodes every week as they're coming out anywhere that our podcast is so if you want to keep up with those be sure to subscribe to us on any of those platforms whether it's like i don't know i will podcast spotify whatever just threw in the towel we give the whole list at the end of the episode yeah somebody does it used to be my job but it's not my job anymore to say all those so I've forgotten them they're gone ACAST

damn Stitcher I heart radio anyways also be sure to check out our backlog of His Dark Materials episodes if you are getting into that we have covered all three of the main trilogy the the first Book of Dust, La Belle Sauvage, and rumor has it eventually I will force Eliana to finish The Secret Commonwealth, and we'll talk about that one too. That is definitely something I will do. And also, Pullman seems like he's making a lot of

progress and might even be close, right finishing the third book and those do come out i will be honest too like thankfully i've been trained for this because i'm george's strongest warrior right i'm george's strongest soldier i was sent to earth to defend george but also it makes me really resilient and that like i don't even think about the third book of dust i'm not even close to thinking about it. You know what I mean? Yeah, I want it, but I can wait. I've waited.

I've done my waiting. It's so funny because you and I were just talking about before this another story ending that I waited a long time for, which was the fourth Evangelion Rebuild film, which did come out. It finally did come out. Then I was like, it's a sign. I'm going to get wins any day now. It finally did come out. Then I was like, it's a sign. I'm gonna get wins any day now. I believe.

I believe. Well, we are nothing but Georgia's believers. And in that note, I also believe in the Girls Gone Canon lightning round. Very heavily. I'm a strong believer. That's my religion. The lightning round. What we missed. It kind of is.

It's like wear grace before every meal you know it anchors me you know it puts me back in the story back in westeros it tells me what the hell i missed between brand five and brand six and a clash of kings yeah we're gonna have a really long one next episode yeah so it's a challenge Tyrion VIII Renly's death means opportunity for King Joffrey Baratheon who needs a new wife they send Littlefinger to make the marriage pact

Theon III Theon Greyjoy's forces overtake Benfred Tallheart's soldiers Theon drafts a new plan to win his father over with Dagmar Arya VIII as Tywin's hosts leave Theon drafts a new plan to win his father over with Dagmar. Arya 8. As Tywin's hosts leave Harrenhal, Arya gives another name, but realizes that maybe she has been giving the wrong names all along. Catelyn 5. Lord Eddard's bones arrive. Catelyn's father mistakes her for Liza. Daenerys 3.

Daenerys fails to fund ships for her mission, and Jorah suggests she asks Piotr Pry next. Quaithe gives Dany a warning. Tyrion 9. A riot breaks out as Princess Myrcella sails for Dorne. Davos 2. Davos returns to his king. And witnesses Melisandre Bertha, Shadow Baby.

Jon 5. One blast signifies the return of brothers. Corrin Halfhand chooses Jon as one of his riders to go beyond the Wall. Tyrion 10. Stannis' march on King's Landing looms closer. Shae's position at court must be chosen. Varys reveals his past. Catelyn six. Catelyn weighs duty against the Boar and wonders if we're winning. Why am I so afraid?

Are you winning, son? No. And that brings us to even more not winning a clash of kings brand six theon grayjoy takes winterfell always sunny music starts playing in the background ah the gang takes Winterfell. He lifts his head from his paws, sniffing into the night at the faintest of steel, scraping over stone. All of the other scents of nature came to life thanks to the evening's rain. He can smell his brother and the blood of the squirrel he had killed. He hears the metallic noise again, and it brings him to his paws howling a deep howl but the piles of man

rock stay dead this is kind of weird but like the opening of this chapter and all those metallic sounds also remind me a little bit of erin grayjoy's that rusty hinge that sort of sonorous thing but in regards to other sounds here's the language from this moment of he howled a long deep shivery cry a howl to wake the sleepers but the piles of man rock were dark and dead so that really stood out to me the howl to wake the sleepers because of how similar it is to that language from the night's watches oaths of being the horn that wakes the sleepers. And people have long speculated what is meant by the sleepers. And I thought that was interesting that it might be tied to something regarding earth and rock somehow, because why then would it say that Summer is trying to wake

something? And it also implies that it's with the intent of being protected, to get protection and aid from something, someone, especially based on the current circumstances of what's happening. And if he's howling because he's in danger, and then it says, but regarding the rock being dead. So there is something somewhere out there with a non-man rock, but some sort of rock, other thing rock, that is not dead, that is a current sleeper. Yeah, there's that motif kind of going on. And it's kind of in a bigger meta sense, the entire book, right? Like, The Clash of Kings itself is, it's an underrated book, first of all, as you know, I will preach very loudly. But that it, no one thinks anything happens in it because it is the thing that is sleeping and resting beneath a storm of swords breaking out right like it does all this setup so that a storm of swords is insane that like every chapter of

asos is intense like crazy especially in the middle end it feels like several books in one but there's definitely something like even with an, uh, and the rumors of an ice dragon asleep, you know, sleeping, waiting to be awakened or a stone dragon that will be awakened. Yeah.

A stoned off the magic dragon. Oh wait, wrong. Mushu. Mushu. And also like Bran is asleep right now. And as well as that, I kind of see the connection with the third eye with the sleeper. It makes me think of Dune, actually, once more, bringing Paul Atreides to the fold.

There's a passage in Dune where he and the mother lady catalan i mean lady jessica are speaking to one another and she says she spoke gently out of the freshness of her grief whatever you are paul the heredity is as much your father as me but not the training he said not the things that awakened the sleeper. Sleeper? It's here. He put a hand to his head and then to his breast in me. It goes on and on and on and on. And isn't that the theme of the last two chapters of Bran awakening? That he's asleep, that he's not opening his eyes.

And there's also in this entire vision, and I'll point it out as we come in this vision, in this dream and this vision and this kind of like CC camera that's going on. There's another force at play, right? Like there's a lot at play with it. I think you can sense Bloodraven. Absolutely. Or the three eyed crow playing in the background of this. And the language itself that you've highlighted is so chilling and beautiful. There's this great line where when his brother appears, it's actually referencing Ghost,

not unlike some of the other visions that Brands had where he couldn't sense Ghost. And it says, His brother came sliding through the trees, moving almost as quiet as another brother. He remembered dimly from long ago the white one with the eyes of blood. Once more using all that color kind of to evoke emotion intention and place right place in time showing you where you are that you are the wolf just like brandt yeah absolutely very very metal and between these chapters i think that's when that john chapter right where he sees tree brand happens and that gets referenced at the end of this book so yes he's waking as you said

here and yeah summer's summer's waking him the sleeper has awakened this time the sound of the clinking and scraping is followed then by the patter of skin feet on stone a whiff of unknown man's smell and then we have like this line of stranger danger death and that that was very exciting to me i was like stranger danger stranger danger they said it they said the thing all right stranger danger and also of course they had death at the end chloe's like why am i in this podcast i don't know what i signed up for. But of course it says stranger and death, you know, like the seven, whatever. You know, because they're related. They are.

But proving that stranger danger actually evolved from the stranger. Oh, yeah, that is. The danger of a stranger. Yeah, from back then. Oh, I meant, I'm sorry, in real life, in our real world. No, in medieval times, which is when these books are from. Yes. Medieval times.

Yes, this is a story passed down from the medieval era the wolf runs to the sound and his brother comes to baring their teeth but the man rock makes no notice the wet slick walls rising in front of them a lot of tongue twisters in this chapter a gate looms and he slams into it it shudders it clinks but it holds he looks down the bars and sees the burrow between the walls but he can't get through he can't get there he and his brother had tried many times to break the black bones of the gate oh that's so great yeah with their teeth but they wouldn't break they pace back and forth throwing themselves once more against the gate and we have this chilling line.

Locked, something whispered. Chained, the voice he did not hear, the scent without a smell. Whoa! First of all, the voice he did not hear, the scent without a smell. I do think that's probably Bloodraven whispering through him. I thought that was Bran. I thought it might be too, but I feel like the scent without a smell,

I don't know. Is it Bran? I think so. I think this is kind of like how skin changing works, right? Because Bran is the one who kind of goes through the things of like where to find the tree and then how to climb. Yeah, I will say I do feel like Bloodraven's

involved in that next bit with the tree though because i think we're seeing a lot of bran and the consciousness of summer kind of entwining especially in this front part of the chapter and going back and forth but and he's getting more confident right he wasn't this confident in the last couple chapters he's definitely more confident but i feel like it's a little weird that he doesn't recognize the voice still that summer doesn't understand that it's bran because so this next part right there was no way out but the voice whispers once more saying there is the voice tells him the other side of the godswood the sentinel hurry seeing the shadow of a giant sentinel and he goes swiftly

hearing a muffled shout in the night that gets cut short whirls and bounds back into the trees his brother following close and and the actual like language of it is like a shadow looms out of nowhere that wasn't there before i i see what you're saying now yeah yeah because then because we're seeing this chapter through the combined yeah the combined brand and summer and then the voice that he doesn't hear right like yeah the chain unlocked implies that it's brand giving voice to those words but then the the knowledge of the sentinel tree and how to get out but that could also i guess be, but the fact that it's, like you said, a voice and implies it's external from Bran. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, it feels external there. Yeah. So they plunge into the water under the heart tree to the far wood, finding the shadow of the Great Sentinel. He remembers how it is to climb it. Much easier for a boy to climb than a direwolf. It is a funny thought. We'll see it in a second.

Then it's less funny. I don't know. He sniffs the tree, marking it with urine it is a funny thought we'll see it in a second then it's less funny i don't know he sniffs the tree making it marking it with urine also a funny thought then he snaps a low branch pulling it apart until his mouth is full of needles seeds and those taste the sap why do dogs do that they just grab a stick and they're like what a great stick they're like i thought we were gonna play fetch with that and they they're like, and destroy it. He snarls. Sorry, the eye contact that you just made with me that no one else can see while you did this. And the face you made, which looked exactly like a dog's face.

Thank you, Aliana. That was just for me. Yes, it was just for you. Literally. Yeah, actually. So Summer snarls and his brother howls alongside him and it says that their song black with morning and the way is no way they are not squirrels or men they are dire wolves runners hunters prowlers and it speaks to something that was coming up in the

previous chapter right of being what you are not what you want to be you are not a knight you're a warg a beastling a skin changer and being able then to well and i think that really connects right to the end of the next chapter when bran's like oh like it's not dead it's just broken like it can still it can still live i can too i can make this work for me and he kind of fully somewhat awakens at the end of the book yeah something that caught my eye in this passage was the needles seeds and the taste of the sap because it reminds me of oh my god of you tearing apart a stick with your mouth miming this out in front of me on webcam um but also reminds me of a dance with dragons with the paste of weirwood seeds that bran eats something about

the look made bran feel ill the red veins were only weirwood sap he supposed but in the torchlight they looked remarkably like blood he dipped the spoon into the paste and hesitated will this make me a green seer your blood makes you a green seer said lord brendan this will help awaken your gifts and wedge you to the trees it makes me wonder if you know that's summers marrying the trees himself i don't know that's interesting if the paste is truly made of sap and seeds and not of Jojen's veins. I think it is truly made of sap and seeds and... And the secret ingredient.

And a third secret thing. Yeah. It's blood. It's blood and... It could be three things, I mean. You actually can eat some parts of pine trees. like the little coney things at the ends, like the little buds. They're not pine cones. They're still green, and they're not pine cones yet, like the sprouts of the new branches and stuff.

They're really tender, and apparently this is common, I think, in some Scandinavian countries. Like, they'll maybe make them and, like, steep them or whatever, or turn them, maybe candy them. I tried to eat one raw off of my Christmas tree, and I don't know if I was doing it wrong. I think I was doing it wrong. Just so you all know. Oh no. I was like, it's my chance. Well, I'm glad that you've learned your lesson.

I just did it wrong. I'm going to try again sometime. And learn your lesson again. Across the night, the dogs wake, sensing it, howling, barking, and then a great clamor begins. They smell it, too. Bows and fear. A fury fills him, hot as anger, and he springs away and races back in a rush, kicking up leaves and needles, hunting

an antlered stag. The smell of fear makes his heart beat harder and he throws himself up the trunk of the tree, bounding up to the lower limbs, but he gets to the midway point, the roof almost within reach, and he slips his foot on the wet wood. He's sliding, stumbling,

afraid, furious furious and falling falling falling oh poor brand and that of course wakes brand because it's a reminder of you know his trauma from the last time he went climbing but i do find it interesting that within summer right like that fury kind of makes him feel bold enough to try to climb again when it is so tied to that trauma and with the hope of escaping but of course you know you have the tie-in there right when you think of it of how this falling is it's really important to brand story right and it is almost fall or like fall now within the story it's autumn and then his wolf is named summer and summer is kind of he's awakened into summer because of the fall but also at the same time could the fall the fall is the end of summer in real life you know yeah that's it oh seven eight nine yeah i understand

i 900 understood what you were saying thank you summer fall winter yeah you can't get to fall first off without the fall but also you have to fall from summer is me that like what charlie charlie kelly with the map name yeah absolutely this is the always sunny episode there's a very sad passage because it's a song of ice and fire a clash of kings brand um sorry the sadness sometimes just makes you a little gleeful, you know? Bran was back abed in his lonely tower room, tangled in his blankets, his breath coming hard. Summer! Summer! His shoulders seemed to ache, as if he had fallen on it, but he knew it was only the ghost of what the wolf was feeling. Jojen told it true. I am a beastling. Outside, he could hear the faint barking

of dogs. The sea has come. It's flowing over the walls, just as Jojen saw. Bran grabbed the bar overhead and pulled himself up, shouting for help. No one came, and after a moment, he remembered that no one would.

Dang. That's so haunting. To have seen all of of it to have known it all happening even before and then being paralyzed and unable to do anything yeah absolutely and this is really really i don't know that helplessness a feeling of helplessness that's gotta feel like. And then this is the first time he ever tried get help with Summer, right? Like he was like, I'm gonna try to help. We gotta get you out of there or get you to a place where you can do something about this or, you know, something with so little control, right? After the first few times of finessing the whole warging thing.

Yeah. Well, the reason why no one comes to help is because they had taken the guards off of his door because Roderick recruited all of the men of fighting age. Therefore, Winterfell is left with a small garrison, 600 men from Winterfell and the surrounding areas with Clay Kerwin, the homie, bringing 300 more. Lewin had sent ravens to assemble men from White Harbor, the Barrowlands, and deep within the Wolfswood because Torrin Square was under attack by Dagmar Cleftjaw, a monstrous warchief. I like Dagmar. Old Nan says that he can't be killed, that once his head was cut in half and he pushed the halves together to heal.

Where did she even hear this story about Dagmar? Bran worries that Dagmar has won. This is interesting because just in that Jon chapter that just happened a couple chapters before this, it reminds you of how Corrin Halfhand is introduced which both have a little bit of, I don't know, they're a little exaggerated because we meet Dagmar and he's not exactly actually a horrifying

warrior, right? He's a little more bookish than he lets on in that kind of he's not like this crazy exotically evil guy. The old man kind of... Well, you know, her stories. She kind of juices them up a little bit, to be fair. But Corrin's intro that just happened is similar.

Only thumb and forefinger remained on a hand that held the reins. The other fingers had been sheared off, catching a wildling's axe that would have otherwise split his skull. It was told he had thrust his maimed fist into the face of the axeman, That's a great connection. I mean, their stories are so intertwined. Bran's and Jon's. And Dagmar, like I said, I i like dagmar i think he's a fun character from what i remember and that's because he's not the way that old nan says which again i

don't know where old nan heard about dagmar did she just say like what an interesting name let me make up lies about him especially like with dance right that he is needing aid he's still left what he's at torn square he's defending the keep it torn square and they get attacked before or ash's men get attacked before they can leave deepwood obviously and asha offers to help stannis get torn square back from dagmar so that's kind of where we left off with him we'll probably pick back up with him in ash's plot i would guess it's funny because this whole axe thing that splinters his jaw happens when he's a boy a long axe blow almost kills him and he's just a young boy so it's funny that old nan kind of like exaggerates this into this horror story and corin's not dissimilar right like he's actually not exactly of the legend. I mean, look at his death.

What's put out about his death is that Jon is a turncloak traitor that murdered him, but his actual death was him saying, please kill me. Just like Ned. You know. Yeah, he was sacrificing himself for the mission. Yeah. And, yeah. Though, again, optics-wise, I do see why that was a story told about john

it does look that way and that was the point it was supposed to look that way which is kind of what happens with osha i guess at the end of this chapter anyways oh yeah so bran pulls himself from his bed and calls to anyone hodor osha jojin but the door crashes open with an unknown man stranger danger and an axe strapped to his back with a dirk in his hand and the dirk is the giveaway of who this guy is because we know someone who loves their dirk behind the man then thankfully comes a familiar face theon what a relief bran feels dizzy with relief and asks did rob sent you and theon says rob can't help you now and i'm like whoa whoa chill and your approach is all wrong he does like this villain mustache twirl probably like he did give him like a silly mustache it was

probably like a not very good one in the books i forgot and then he sits down on the bed and explains to him that they're taking winterfell yeah bran's really confused he's like what what and theon's like you're my wards now and i'm gathering my people the people of winterfell in the great hall where you're going to command them to yield to me and then you're going to yield to me and bran's like what wait i'm sorry i just don't what it is pretty confusing i mean i would also be confused and during theon's chapters we discussed how his interiority shows that he never really did feel at home at winterfell right he gives that air of bravado but he doesn't and maybe ned was the closest figure he ever had to a father in a way but that's ignoring the fact that theon actually

did have a father who was a father figure to him that he was kidnapped from and to become a hostage by the man he's supposed to be his father figure, right? Who burned his home, killed his brothers, and traumatized him when he put down that rebellion. And so this is what wardship means to Theon in a way that we see is really different from the way that the Freys seem to feel about their wardship. So I really love that moment where, in's confusion he's like i don't understand your father's ward right he's not supposed to do this it's a word that theon that bran associates with kinship in the city he he feels that wardship it should be like and the feelings behind it are the way that ned and robert felt about their wardship with john erin and therefore assumes this is how theon feels but Theon throws it back at him and

says that yeah okay I was his ward and now you Bran and Rickon will be my wards which is not true at all in terms of what a ward is but it is I think a more honest usage of the word despite it kind of being tongue-in-cheek that's the way that Theon intends it and he's saying that okay well now you stark children are going to be my hostages that we're gonna call wards same as i was and gives a glimpse again into how theon felt about all of that and it also shows us that bran is still very naive and privileged and yeah he's also young so of course he doesn't truly get it. Right? He never knew or saw all of that in Theon. But then again, Rob didn't see it, so how could Bran? Yeah, he doesn't understand the politics that the Freys are both hostage and spies.

Right? That Luwin, obviously- They're such bad spies. They're very bad spies. But like, that's the point, is that Luin had to walk that very tedious line in the center. No matter how idiotic those boys are, he couldn't mistreat them necessarily, because that sends a message that they are hostages, right? It betrays the word like using the word ward is just a nice way of saying hostage because one way or another, someone in this situation is being held hostage and being leveraged against, behavioral speaking. situation as being held hostage and being leveraged against, behavioral speaking. Yeah, I think it depends on the circumstances, right?

Like when Jamie takes wards, those were hostages. But the Freys, it was, Walder Frey wanted that, right? Because it is prestigious. It's a big house. And the way that Ned and Robert were, those were, they were protected. That man went to war for them. and it works for both sides it makes it for how stark it's a promise it's an

alliance right and it's basically yeah if one party doesn't keep up their part of the alliance then these are people that will suffer yeah absolutely and do the Starks suffer next book. At first, Bran refuses to yield. And Theon's like, do you want to keep your people safe? You'll do it. You'll do what's best for them. Stop playing the boy. He tells Bran someone will come to dress him and carry him to the Great Hall shortly, and that he needs to think about what he will say to his people. shortly and that he needs to think about what he will say to his people. I like this moment where Bran refuses initially by saying, I won't. We'll fight you and throw you out. Just like Meera said that she would fight back, that Jojen and Bran should fight against fate. And it gives you insight into, obviously, I'm kind of biased, right? I clearly love that idea of fighting against fate and the inevitable there's something really romantic about it that i love and that's really starting to crop up in brand's storyline and even here with theon it shows you how brand eventually gets to the point where after speaking with leaf he

thinks about all these other species that have died out in the north and again with that idea of fighting back he thinks of leaf seemed sad when she said it and that made bran sad as well it was only later he thought men would not be sad men would be wroth men would hate and swear a bloody vengeance the singers sing sad songs where men would fight and kill and that really comes through when he urges summer to climb and to escape right that's it's the fury that awakens in him and that urge to fight to get out i won't spoil anything for those that haven't watched it yet but it reminds me of the andor finale you know there's something so inherent in human nature that we all are sleepers right all of us are sleeping and sometimes

a cause or something that you feel personal to you, you know, Dunbar's number including here, but there's sometimes something that like you want to fight, right? It makes you feel less helpless, that helpless feeling that Bran feels being stuck in that room and now having to serve Theon. There's a great quote in the finale of Andor that I urge you all to watch. I really liked it. I haven't been a fan of the expanded universe of Star Wars personally, but I've definitely, you know, liked this one.

I definitely liked this one in where someone gives a speech and says that there's a wound we won't heal at the center of the galaxy. Darkness reaching like rust into everything around us. We let it grow and and now it's here it's here and it's not visiting anymore it wants to stay and sometimes even when it feels helpless to fight thinking that you won't win sometimes that's all you can do right sometimes when enough injustice is done that's all you can do yeah and i'm not like condoning violence anything, but what you're saying makes me realize that the reason why I love that concept of fighting back against what's allegedly inevitable is it's not succumbing, right? The act of fighting back means that there's hope. Yeah.

And that's so important i mean that's what the north remembers that's what a dream of spring yeah you know yeah that something better could exist it's lady donella's fingers right chewed off in the fucking night and her assaulted it's sansa being beaten court it's aria having to run having to hide and take on these identities it's the boys rick and bran having to run next chapter and it's aria having to run having to hide and take on these identities it's the boys rick and bran having to run next chapter and it's the red wedding and it's all of that and this is just the beginning of that unfurling it's really dark but there's hope in the very center of it yeah yeah that's they could come back the wolves will again. I dreamt it. Time for wolves.

Yeah. I mean, I don't really care about the Starks or anything that happens to them. So Bran thinks he hears a clash of kings. I'm sorry, wait. A clash of swords? Anyways, that may be a shout at one point. But he doesn't have summer's ears or nose he thinks awake i am still broken but when i sleep i'm summer i can run and fight and hear smell

these chapters definitely bring me back to sansa's chapters in a game of thrones right uh even after lady's death i'm very taken with some of the similar language and how both sanza and ned and bran have to lie right and say to their people we're gonna yield because it's what protects you instead of saying we're gonna fight saying we can fight back that they have to do uh what some might think is not the smart thing but they choose the best routes for their safety and for what they think will keep others safe like Sansa writing the letter to Robb not really understanding the words she's putting in it Ned lying to save the children and Bran here as a boy lord having to yield having no choice absolutely no chance and absolutely no choice and Bran and Sansa both take their training wheels off

right for their first event like there's no practice here. There's no turning to his advisors and saying, did I do good? And having Roderick say, you're gonna be a great lord someday, boy. It's... I mean, this is real for Bran. Too soon. That's a great point,

especially as Sansa is here kind of showing that sort of spirit during the Blackwater. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there is no practice. They're children. They're thrown into this very stressful situation. And yeah, they're like, let's leave the fate of all of these people and a nine-year-old. What? Yeah, at some point, let me tell you all about my partner's Crusader King's run,

putting down a rebellion at four years old. It's a lot of work. Listen, I have 150 150 year targaryen reign going on on the iron throne and i've been conquering essos and let me tell you this shit is hard it's not easy not easy so when the door next opens it's maester lewin with the skin around his eye broken and blood running down his face. This is so sad. Why are you laughing? This is not happy, Eliana. It's not happy. He asks if Bran knows what happened.

And Bran says Theon came and told him Winterfell was his. The maester sits down and tells him how they got in. That they swam the moat and climbed the walls with hook and rope, dripping wet, steel in hand. I wonder if this will mirror something in Tiwwa with the retaking of winterfell if the moat is something to really watch out for and if like climbing the walls scaling the walls of winterfell will be something to watch out for this is this is how they took down the great joy rebellion right like because they had to scale the walls if i'm not mistaken of which is interesting um and we'll talk about it soon, but it comes back to how Theon is caught in between, right? Even his methods of warfare are confused, right?

He's not just trying to pay the iron price, but then he's mixed up and still doing northern things. Yeah. And it's fine to combine them. People combine fighting styles all the time. Yeah, you're allowed to blend your culture up, Theon. You can be a Stark and a Greyjoy. You can retake that and rename that, pal. Maybe.

Fresh blood flows down Lewyn's face because this is hurtful. And then he tells Bran that Alebelly was killed. Hayhead is injured. And he had been able to get a bird off to White Harbor, but the other bird was shot down. Lewyn says that Roderick had too many of their men and that Lewyn is just as much to blame as roderick in this because he never saw the danger coming but bran thinks jojen saw it but thankfully doesn't say told you so but he's thinking it like i would have i would have said because the absolute amount of her fires exactly right and bran is obviously not what is he a pis Anyways, it's the fish in him. But the absolute amount of growing up Bran does in that exact moment right there when Luin says, if only we had seen this coming. Because Luin is like, I didn't have a warning. But Bran immediately is like, huh, didn't we talk about this? And I told you and you were like, no, that could never happen. And then the last chapter, you were like, wow, there is some issue going on at the Stoney

Shore. It could mean something. We should probably go fend it off. Not in a mean way. I understand this disconnect for storytelling purposes, obviously, but it's very obvious to me that that just told Bran so much about the world and proved so much of what Jojen told him in the last chapter was real that they would never believe you. It all came real. Yeah, that's a great point about what it tells about the world right like it's kind of even

a trope in children's stories especially right that the children have the knowledge and that the adults aren't listening and therefore the children have to be the ones to take it in hand and solve it all and it's frustrating it. It's so frustrating. But in that moment, like it's not in a way that Bran is upset with Luin. He loves Luin, right? Like Luin is another father figure to him with Ned gone. But it's just that he realized in that moment that adults can let you down. Like more than you already knew.

And I think every time you learn that as a child, it ages you up another year. You're like, oh shit, I'm 92. When learn that as a child it ages you up another year you're like oh shit I'm 92 when did that happen yeah and that's another thing like in regards to that helplessness right like and I think that's part of why it's such a trope in children's stories because you do feel helpless sometimes you there's something that you see and you understand and you want other people especially the adults to understand it And you don't always have that agency. And Bran doesn't have that agency because he's a child.

Yeah. Because he's a child and he's not able-bodied. Yeah. He tells Luin that, well, you'd better help me dress. And so they do. Luin declares that Bran is now the Stark in Winterfell and must look princely. they do. Luin declares that Bran is now the Stark in Winterfell and must look princely. So Bran is dressed as a lord with his favorite wolf's head, silver and jet clasp on his cloak and Luin and he discuss what the right thing to do is. Luin says that there is no shame in yielding the castle.

A lord must protect his people, which is kind of similar to some of the advice Luin gives Theon later on. He's like, I mean, you could just yield and go north to the wall. Instead of telling Bran to go all balls to the walls, how loose on it, Luin actually gives Bran the most insightful advice that he can. I really respect and loved this. He says, cruel places breed cruel peoples. Bran, remember that as you deal with these Iron Men. Your Lord Father did what he could to gentle Theon but I fear it was too little and too late and it brings up kind of

some of that conversation that we've had about nurture versus nature in a song of ice and fire right and Lewin here is kind of giving him two pieces of advice he's telling him yes remember that they are strong and nasty and mean people because they were bred in a mean, cold place. But also remember that in the other way, too. Remember when you deal with them, they can't exactly help it. They didn't have the life that you had. They didn't have the mom and dad for eight years telling you they loved you and believed in you, even when you went against their wishes. remember both sides of that right like this is their nature this is who they are but this is their nature this is who they are and it also reminds me a lot in the language of

sandor clegane imagine that i'm thinking about sandor clegane again and in the the terms of your lord father did what he could to gentle Theon. And I do think that's probably language used purposefully because that's what Sansa sings about Sandor in just a couple chapters, right? Gentle mother, font of mercy, teach them all a better way. It does remind me of what we hear later on in Brienne chapters. If even half of what we heard was true, this was a bitter, tormented soul, a sinner who mocked both gods and men. He served, but found no pride in service. He fought, but took no joy in victory.

He drank to drown his pain in a sea of wine. He did not love, nor was he loved himself. It was hate that drove him. Though he committed many sins, he never sought forgiveness. he never sought forgiveness and you know where we land in the winds of winter is hopefully theon will get a chance to atone in the way that best settles his soul and gentles his soul just like sandor hopefully has had that chance at the quiet isles it's it's something that we see recurring with a lot of characters like i like that you brought it up with sandor because he does stand in for that larger theme in in this but we see it with characters like Tyrion, right?

He was raised cruelly by his family and therefore becomes hateful because of that. Or even Daenerys. I'm not saying she's cruel, but that she came from a very difficult household where she was abused by her brother and was always on the run and then had to survive in a culture that valued strength as as whether or not you're allowed to live right

for for the dothraki and then also as you said sandor and we see that with a couple of characters throughout and it's it's good that bran is learning it mm-hmm it's important for him to learn that so he can actually show them sympathy you know later on intentional and meaningful sympathy yeah and in regards to Theon and and and Tyrion like because you're saying like could Theon learn a better way right and you don't have to choose whatever your parents did. And like that idea of family, you don't have to be whatever your family dictates that you are. You kind of get to choose that yourself. And again, that's the case with Brienne's stuff, too.

Yeah. With Jamie, right? Writing his page in the light book. It could be whatever he wrote. Taking those shackles off the chains that bran himself feels in a different way those chains are on these people in different ways too and life is about finding and breaking those chains yeah i don't know if i agree with the too little and too late stuff yeah i i don't think it's too little or too late though for dion or sandor yeah yeah everyone can come back they can the iron man comes for them carrying bran easily and rickon comes to cranky saying he wants mom and shaggy dog lewin says your mother's far away pulling a bed robe onto rickon and assuring him that bran and

lewin are here on the way out they see mira and Jojen being herded from their room by a bald man with a huge spear, and other Iron Men getting the Walders up as well, who of course have some bitch-ass shit to say. Little Walder is like, your brother lost his kingdom, you're not a prince, just a hostage, and Jojen's like, yeah, like you dipshit. Little Walder says

no one was talking to you, frog-eater. But all of this childhood bullying back and forth is drowned out by the rain that starts again, and as they cross the yard, they hear the wolves howling in the godswood. Bran hopes Summer hadn't been hurt from the fall.

Theon is sat in the high seat of the Starks, wearing a black surcoat emblazoned with a golden kraken. Rickon says, Theon's sitting in Rob's chair! And Bran hushes him, feeling the menace growing around them where Rickon cannot.

Yeah. Love that detail of how Rickon is just too young to really sense it and Bran's starting to get to a point where he can understand those social conventions more. He's starting to understand people and their emotions and that line that idea of theon sitting in rob's chair really stood out to me it's of course theon taking what he covets from this other family who you know i guess they treated him well enough but

it wasn't like that good as we've discussed but for the purposes of what i'm going to say let's just pretend and say that they treated him great you know they kept him alive and whatnot they offered him prestige and so for the sake of my argument let's just say that okay theon taking winterfell and killing all of these people of the lower classes right just to sit in rob's chair and to play at being lord maybe it's a little bit like bran taking hodor's body a strong able body that he covets someone who has served him and helped him move and escape and live so that he can play at being night okay that oh i just didn't know if there was a point all the hypothetical part okay good good good i like that you used it to tie this in though hypothetically i mean like it it's there enough right like the idea that like theon sees something

and he wants it and it's like out of his grasp and he feels entitled to exploiting the guest right of someone yeah he feels entitled i've never heard of anyone exploiting well and bran is exploiting guest right in hodor's body hodor from the goodness of his heart has served bran and then bran kind of exploits that that is right i mean it's true yeah the benches have been stacked on the wall and there's nowhere to sit the castle folks stand in groups not daring to speak brand spots old nan her mouth opening and closing oh hayhead is carried in to stand between guards a bloodstained bandage wrapped on his chest beth castle weeps with fear poxy tom too theon stops at the reeds and the frays and is like, who are these people? Lune explains, oh, the frays are Catelyn's wards, and Jojen and Meera came to

renew their oaths to Winterfell. Some might call that ill-timed, said Theon, though not for me. Here you are, and here you'll stay. He demands Loren to bring Bran to him, and Loren does, dumping him, how dare he, like a sack of oats onto the stone.

More people flow in, Gage and Osha from the kitchens, spotted with flour, Micken cursing. Farlin limping, trying to support Palla, whose dress is ripped in two. Septon Chale is knocked to the floor while trying to help Palla. Wow, I kind of, yeah. I love that Septon Chale tries to help out too and that's so sad farlan carrying his daughter paula i'm sad for paula you know like it sounds like she was raped in front of her father yeah maybe and theon does have the guys who did it right uh whipped for it and the asha does kill what's his name dinner or something drenner but you know

it doesn't stop that like theon is the reason that it happened like none of this would have happened to pala if you didn't come and take winterfell yeah they sacked pillaged and raped when he took the castle because that's what happens when you take a castle yeah i was gonna say with ironborn but no that's that's in general what happens when you take a cast yeah i mean we see it with harren hall we see uh even with what happens with osha later that she kind of decides to adapt to her job to survive we see that at harren hall right with like pia the serving woman who just changes sides the new person that lives there she serves because that's just the way it is again back to that broken man or forward to that broken man speech right in feast which then you know one lord says

now you're mine and they go over to the other side and that imagery of servitude the others war yes yes something you kind of brought up in our theon chapters is that dichotomy of Theon trying to parse and search himself for if is he an ironborn lord is he a lord of Winterfell right of the north who is he and he only ever calls Eddard in his chapters Eddard right there's no love no familiarity that's the thing that they're missing you talk about hypothetically they gave theon everything that he needed to survive and that's where a lot of those john parallels come in right like they had the highest education they were given fine clothes to wear they had their own steeds you know they were never without they were just without love how do you you know what happens when you grow someone up with everything they need but

without love look at joffrey there's not a ton of real love in that family that he grew up around and we see how it turned him theon only terry yeah yes exactly theon only ever saw the face of lord stark right which brand laid out for us in his very first chapter of Lord Stark versus his father. While Robb was invited to be at Ned's side during meetings and learn to rule, Theon probably didn't have that same opportunity and absorbed the idea of command, at least part of it, in his image of Ned as a monster at Pyke taking him from his home. He didn't learn the same lessons we see from Ned's children. We watch that when they go and they find the direwolves before, right, when they go to the beheading. He's smiling and making small japes in the background, he's not taking those lessons

the same way. And he doesn't learn to get to know your men, invite them to eat with you no matter how big or small they are. Theon treats all of these people as small because he's lost within arriving at the Iron Islands and being rejected by his father, by his sister for not being enough, returning to the North and being exactly the same, using Northern warfare and a blend of Southern warfare in his methods for taking Winterfell, but at the same time saying, am I paying the Iron Price? And he's watching all of his plans fail falling apart stuck in between them that's a great point and not to make these brand chapters all about

theon but i'm gonna do it like whatever he's a guest star one of my favorite characters yeah he's a guest star and it's only like one to two chapters anyway you know he's a big part of brand storyline also and like that's such a great point that theon didn't get any of those lessons like bran they expected would yeah maybe he'll become a knight but they also expected the possibility that he could become a small lord a vassal of robs etc so he was taught some ruling and then he's been groomed to rule by lewin and roderick these past few months and has been kind of thrust into it and is being trained for it at an earlier age whereas as you said theon wasn't given that sort of tutelage and you know like what did what was their plan for

him they took him away from his people and kind of removed him from whatever his career track was going to be right like their hope was they raised theon and then when the time comes i guess install him as lord of the iron islands but the idea the the lesson from ned which is get to know your men that you're going to rule that was never going to even be possible for theon because he doesn't live there. Yeah now he's so alienated from those men the first thing he does in Iron Islands is he kills one of his own men. He kills an Iron Islander. How does that look? That immediately grows enmity for his men. It doesn't grow respect like he think it does. It makes them hate him even

more. This weird foreigner has returned home and said that he's our new lord. No one cares. Yes. He doesn't know that. And that's what his father stresses to him, right? Like, how can he hope to rule a people whose culture he doesn't know anything about? Which, now that I think about it, will that be part of Bran's storyline as well? Yeah.

When it comes to ruling in the south? I think so. So the last man marched in the room is reek hmm whose stench arrives before he does and bran's stomach twists at the smell of him theon banters with reek about his stench and reek says well my real name is actually heek and that he serviced the bastard of the dreadfort until the starks gave ramsay his wedding present arrows in the back oh it's funny because that's the wedding present that rob kind of gets from the phrase oh shit they get arrows stuck throughout him um they love none of that knife that sorry

that sword yeah nothing but the cold so i just thought it was interesting i was curious about why george decided to give him the name heek or heke or however you want to pronounce it but it reminds me kind of of like hekate when i was thinking of it or like the idea of something more mystical so it just made me want to look it up and there is some etymology connected with the egyptian word and it's in hieroglyphics it's hk3w which means magic hecca the ancient egyptian concept of the vital force and the old kingdom pyramid text depict it as a supernatural energy the gods possess the cannibal pharaoh must devour other gods to gain this magical power so i thought that was kind of interesting since ramsey just like devours others and takes on their persona to survive in these couple chapters and because you know obviously we know that they have a little

flaying problem and they're a little into blood and ritual and it was interesting that this was like definitely symbolic of blood rituals and cannibal rituals the more you think yeah you think i don't know if it actually is connected at all but i just thought it was interesting it is interesting because i mean you got it exactly right that is what is ramsay's standard procedure that's this whole vibe right yeah that's this thing don't hate the flare hate the game of thrones no we can we can also hate the flare that's his thing. Don't hate the Flayer, hate the game. Of Thrones. No, we can also hate the Flayer. That's fine. We can hate Ramsay.

It's okay. We're allowed. So Theon is surprised to learn that Ramsay, question mark, question mark, had married the widow of the Dreadfort, calling her a crone, saying she has dried and withered teats, and why would anyone want her? And I'm like, first of all, clearly she was very hot, according to Roderick. Okay, and then Reek tells him well that isn't why ramsey married her you dangus and it shows how theon just isn't ready for this but also

like to an extent the ironborn don't really think of marriage alliances it seems in that same way in land we get a little of insight into that in some of the later ironborn chapters but part of that is there's not really much land right they think of wives in terms of this salt and rock system so a lot of that wifehood i guess is associated more with desire as opposed to the politics but bran because he's been in these conversations with roger and lewin he does understand why it happened yeah and there's something really funny going on that ramsey's so annoyed how stupid theon is and that theon doesn't get it that he almost gives himself away right here he's like even i a low-born servant who has studied nigh has studied anything ever

gets it like what do you mean you don't understand why she married him or he married her that's a good point it kind of makes me think of aria because she's posing as a lowborn right now right and the aria plot line with ramsey is kind of intrinsically connected because Arya is at Harrenhal where Roose's troops eventually come on in after she gets out but then fake Arya later posing as fake Arya when for Jane where it's not actually Arya it's just interesting that the switcheroos that get combined with their plots here but he really gives himself like why would a lowborn servant sure ramsay's personal assistant why would he be a speaking so boldly and out of turn and giving it away and theon might have if he hadn't been self-centered and absorbed might have actually realized something was up with this one but instead he puts a sword in his hand

yeah i think it's it's especially that attitude. It really does almost give him away. Yeah, just those little leaks of Highborne, which not Highborne for Ramsay, obviously, but for him, it's politicking. Yeah, just those bits that follow on through of the plan. The Iron Men slam shut the doors and Theon calls for quiet saying, you all know me. Mikan's like, yeah, I know you for a sack of steaming dung

and gets smashed across the face of the spirit for it. Bran tells Mikan's like, yeah, I know you for a sack of steaming dung, and gets smashed across the face with a spear for it. Bran tells Mikan to be silent, trying to sound lordly but failing, coming out with a shrill crack of his voice, and Theon tells Mikan to listen to his lordling, who has more sense than him. It's sad because Bran, you know, is looking for the right thing to do of what to tell these people, and this solidifies it, because Micken is doing the exact opposite, doing the fighting that we talked about, right? Like, fighting, because everything is dismal, and all he has is

that little bit of hope, that little bit of wanting to give himself some autonomy back, of saving Winterfell, right, of just fighting back against evil, but Bran sees, right here in this moment, it's proven to him there's no hope right now. There's nothing that could fix this.

We don't have the people. Sometimes you have to, like, retreat to save lives, right? And that's a great point because Bran's trying to save this guy's life. And maybe it's a little like Sansa again, like at the beginning of this book with Dantos and speaking up for him but Mikan is also kind of like I'm not going to take orders from a nine year old kid but like

it's weird but it's hard it's a hard scene like I don't know I love what Bran is trying to do right it's kind of rude to order him to be silent. That's very demeaning. But he loves Micken.

Yeah. He wants to save him, but he sees here that Micken refuses to be saved in this moment. And the core of it is what happens in this passage, right? He goes, a good lord protects his people, he reminded himself. I've yielded Winterfell to Theon. Louder, Bran, and call me prince. I have yielded Winterfell to Prince Theon. All of you should do as he commands you. Damned if I will, bellowed Mikan.

Theon ignored the outburst. My father has donned the ancient crown of salt and rock and declared himself king of the Iron Islands. He claims the North as well by right of conquest. You are all his subjects. So that idea of a good lord protecting his people, maybe even the good king, if you will, protecting his people and yielding up Winterfell

so that everyone can live to prioritize people's lives is very reminiscent of Torrin Stark, the king who knelt. Yeah, he had no option there, huh? Yeah, I mean, what are you gonna do? They have dragons, and you saw what they can do. So you're like, this is the smart choice, right? Especially if he's trying to prioritize it. If Torrin also knew, right, about a war coming eventually from the north from the undead you want people to live and and protecting them can mean giving up your home he was even smart enough not to have the exchange take place on his home turf right so as people don't see the giant dragon that's true he had to take place south so that

they didn't have to see the threat and he could still maintain kind of some peace there in the north. And it actually, it really loops in well with Catelyn and Rob, right? When she warns him, like, you know, if you knelt, it's not bad. If you kneel, if it's protecting your people, we could still kneel. She says it would in her head after she tells him this. And he obviously is like no we're not fucking kneeling mom she thinks it would not do to make him feel as if his mother were usurping his place did you teach him wisdom as well as valor ned she wondered did you teach

him how to kneel the graveyards of the seven kingdoms were full of brave men who had never learned that lesson. Oh, Bran. Well, Rob. Rob. Bran. Rip Rob. God. Our kids. Mikan says he serves the Starks,

not some treasonous squid, and he's smashed in the stone face first. Theon says smiths have strong arms and weak heads and says if they all serve him as loyally as they served eddard he'll be a generous lord i don't know oh theon what are you thinking micken's got some great burns though right for example here of well this this doesn't he never gets to the burn part of this anyways but on his hands and knees micken spat blood please don't brin wished at him but the blacksmith shouted if you think you can hold the north with this sorry lot of

the bald man drove the point of his spear into the back of micken's neck steel slid through flesh and came out his throat in a welter of blood a woman screamed and mira wrapped her arms around Rikken. It's blood he drowned on, Bran thought numbly, his own blood. This is not far from that siege at Storm's End, right? And it very much makes me think of Stannis and Courtney Penrose. What's that kind of dynamic with Theon and all of these people that he's condemning to their deaths, much in order to get control and rule all because he doesn't like what they're saying you know thinks it's a threat to his reign which stannis kind of does too with a you know baby a shadow baby but here it's a little more ominously present and it really i mean this really clears up what theon's arc in Clash is will you emulate Lord Stark and be a

generous lord something that Theon keeps shouting and declaring he'll be if they pledge their loyalty to him and love to him which that's not something that you just get right you earn that but if not Lord Stark will you drown men in their own blood and pay the iron price who are you theon latecomer or theon the hungry wolf it's contrasted against bran protecting his people choosing to kneel so that he can rise again once more harder and stronger yeah and he's the one who's gonna quote unquote die for a bit but the roots are strong yeah to come back harder and stronger but that's a great comparison with stannis coming to take storms and stronger but that's a great comparison with stannis coming to take storms on you know there's a boy lord aspect too but also for both theon and

stannis it's returning to try and conquer slash take somewhere that is their home yeah it's a homecoming but the worst parade there's no joy here here. Ashes in their mouths. They're like, well, why doesn't anyone want me? Theon asks if anyone else has something to say. Hodor hodors horderly. And Theon asks someone to shut him up. It says that if anyone betrays him, they will wish that they had it. He threatens them that the men here aren't the whole of his power. Torrin's square, deep with Mott, and then when his uncle is done, Moat Cailin will be theirs. If Robb can stave off the Lannisters, he's welcome to be king of the Trident, but House Greyjoy holds the north now. Reek calls out, saying that the northern lords will fight him. The pig at White Harbor, the

umbers, the Karstarks, and that he's going to need men. And he says, free me and I'll be his man. And it's like, why would he want you? But also, I would say that this is fun because except for the Karstarks, who are wishy-washy because of all the other things that no one could have predicted will happen,

and how the Umbers, they kind of play both sides this is major foreshadowing for who the major players are gonna be in a da wada and i guess the ones that apparently the boltons have already been scheming around it seems that ramsey and ruse the fact that Reek knows this as you were saying right there's all these giveaways that Reek knows this off of the top of his head like shows that Ramsey and Roose have been planning this strategy already of who they would have to

contend with they've been identifying the lords that they're gonna have to go up against probably mostly Roose because he knew this longer and Ramsey doesn't give a fuck he's chaos but you know ruse has been sowing this dissent and we see it when he comes to harrenhal right with the brianne and jamie interactions and we see he's doing things behind the scenes because it's coming back to the idea of like people believing what they see or hear and here they're purposefully creating this divide who's to to say that if Roose hadn't gone about, fucked around, and played around in the background during Robb's war, would there be a divide between them?

They could all maybe unite. And it does make me hopeful that Jon maybe might have a chance at reuniting the Northern Lords in the Winds of Winter beneath the Stark banner again after what's kind of been shattered in the main five books and manipulated. Not much left to unite, but... He's like real deep in that northern culture you know he went to the deep north the real north yeah i mean he can prove himself i guess his his meat is bloody tough rare yeah theon thinks he's cleverer than some but but that stench on Reek is bad. Reek is like, well, I could wash. And Theon's like, oh, perfect. Bend the knee.

And Reek's given a sword. Again, Theon sees there's no love for him here. The fact that he gets Osha and Reek. That's it. A servant of someone who's not respected and is a bastard. And then a free folk woman that's it that is all that was willing to bend the knee of winterfell to him which says a lot about the loyalty for winterfell being earned not given also they've seen theon growing up right and they didn't love

the way that theon probably treated them around the castle and they're like, really, Theon? They're like, you? What the fuck are you doing here? Why are you doing this? Why did you come home to do this? Yeah, it is a little background, too. They're like, oh, I kind of forgot about you, Theon. Huh, you're still around. Huh, you're taking Winterfell. I don't know about that. I don't know about all that. They can't take him seriously because he never treated them with respect. Like, how are they going to respect him when he never respected them during the time and even while he's taking winterfell he's going between he's showing way too much of his own asshole right now right where he's like love me and i'll love you or i'll make you fear me fear me i'll make you fear me fear

fear fear like he's going in between all these emotions jumping in between and he can't just choose one to follow because he's scared because he knows that this was a reckless choice and he's like oh shit maybe this was a bad idea and maybe daddy won't be impressed by me which in the next chapter for theon right uh asha comes and is like maybe daddy won't respect you beyond for doing this did you ever think of that roman roy but he'll never know because daddy's oh ding dong daddy's dead bran could not look the green dream was coming true osha steps past micken's body swearing to theon as well i thought you were a friend bran thought hurt theon says he needs fighters not kitchen sluts. She plays on his emotions

and says, Rob put me there. I'm a fighter, ready to fight for you with a spear, not in the kitchen. That's me. I'm kitchen slut. Me too. I was thinking that. I'm like, do we need shirts that say this? Kitchen sluts. Kitchen slut?

It is really brilliant, though, from Osha, this plan. She's like, ooh, an opening, right? But poor Bran, thinking that he's being betrayed again by someone else, another friend in this moment. And I wonder if he will, though, experience that emotion of betrayal again. And I think he probably will. I don't know how. Maybe Meera. I don't know. I don't know how. and I think he probably will. I don't know how. Maybe Mira. I don't know.

I don't know how. Well, because she'd be mad about Jojen. You ate my brother. Anyways, but... I think she'll take her spear and go home at some point for sure, which might feel like a betrayal to him if it's the last person he was really connected to. Exactly, exactly. As his emotions change and puberty happens.

It's a confusing time for a lot of reasons for Bran. You were the sister I chose. I probably should have made them older or not sister i mean like maybe sister in the lannister that's what i was thinking so what osha does here though with as you have here of like playing on theon's emotion saying that she was put there it's really similar to what happens to john that around this time in the story technically the beginning of a storm of swords ish whatever but what he says to convince mance to take him right did you see where they put me somewhere that i felt discontented and unseen absolutely it's very similar especially by using rob she knows there's tension there and she just digs

right in and it's well done and yeah something kind of that comes up is that she hates being in the kitchen because she gets basically assaulted every day right people fondling her against her will gauge tries to fuck her all the time and slaps her ass with flour and it's annoying and in the chapter two chapters ago tyrian in the chapter you have shay where he wants to send her to the kitchens he's like the kitchens would be a good place where instead she's like what well i don't want to be for lady tanda and lawless i don't want to serve for them i don't want to go to the kitchens these are women that don't have other options than to defend themselves right like osha is getting an

upgrade she's getting a promotion by doing this to get her out of the kitchens where she's being assaulted all the time she doesn't want her body to be a free-for-all down there for everybody in the kitchen she wants to be doing something meaningful and we know that she's not really betraying for betrayal here but it does put her in a position where she can get herself free to help the boys as we see later in the tyrian chapter uh the passage with him and veris i need to bring shay into the castle without cersei becoming aware he sketches out his kitchen scheme when he was done the eunuch makes a clucking sound i'll do as my lord commands of course but i must warn you the kitchens are full of eyes and ears

even if the girl falls under no particular suspicion, she'll be subject to a thousand questions. Where was she born? Who were her parents? How'd she come to King's Landing? The truth will never do, so she must lie and lie and lie. He glanced down at Tyrion, and such a pretty young kitchen wench will incite lust as well as curiosity.

She'll be touched, pinched, patted, fondled. Potboys will crawl under her blankets of a night. Some lonely cook may seek to wet her bakers, will knead her breasts with floured hands. I'd sooner have her fondled than stabbed, said Tyrion. So, I mean, it's not like a great situation to have to work in the kitchens, but also to have no agency in where you're put.

Exactly. That's what happens to Shae, no agency where you're put. Exactly. That's what happens to Shay. No agency where she's put. She gets to serve instead for some uppers, for some, you know, some noble people, which is slightly better, but still in a shitty position. Osha is in a shitty position, no matter where she is. She is.

Even on Skagos, that also might be a shitty position. But it's not amongst the whites and yeah Osha actually tells us that her attitude towards it you know like as you said she's being fondled but she can defend herself more she has more agency you know than Shay would right because Shay has to lie and lie and lie Osha doesn't have to do all that

it is sad and like that last line from Tyrion I'd sooner have her fondled and sad like who are you to get to decide what happens to her right and that isn't the job she signed up for and where's the pay raise yeah where's the pay raise right like she's does these things right she gets fondled etc for pay, you are subjecting her to this, and for what? She's not getting anything out of it. Yeah, where's the information about every time she gets fondled in the kitchen how much you're going to pay her? Exactly.

You'll be seeing Shay's invoice in the form of court. Alas, and great connection between them. So then we have the bald man who killed Micken offer Osha his spear, which does not- this does not seem like it's a great position also, but then thankfully again we see Osha knee him in the groin, telling him you can keep your soft pink thing, and then wrestles the spear from him and knocks him off his feet. She says she'll have wood and iron, she's like this is my spear now. And the Reavers laugh, as does Theon, telling her to keep the spear and just bend the knee.

And I don't know, something about this makes me think of Dorne, you know, the spear and then the bending of the knee. Yeah, it makes me think a little bit of Obara and her mother and that horrible choice that Oberyn gives her, which isn't a choice, right? Where he beats her mom and says, spear? Or crying your whole life about this. Not only that, then the whole entire unbowed unbent unbroken thematics that surround them like winterfell when it's burnt down right like they

winterfell's still there it still stands you can burn it down but winterfell will always be there it's not just a place it's a people and of course when rainies came to maria martel rainies the first came to maria martel and maria said i will not fight you nor will I kneel to you. Dorne has no king. Tell your brother that. And Rhaenys says I shall but we will come again princess and the next time we shall come with fire and blood. Meria says your words. Ours are unbowed, unbent, unbroken. You may burn us my lady but you will not bend us, break us, or make us bow. This is Dorne. You are not wanted here return at your peril because it comes back to those same things we talked about at the top of the episode

right of there's still hope and there's still a pride and a certain respect and the wolves will come again absolutely and so the chapter ends with when no one else rushed forward to pledge service they were dismissed with a warning to do their work and make no trouble hodor was given the task of bearing bran back to his bed his face was all ugly from the beating his nose swollen and one eye closed he sobbed between cracked lips as he lifted bran in huge strong arms and bloody hands and carried him back out into the rain. That's so sad. He's still doing his duty and protecting his prince and he's suffering for it.

My poor Hodor. Anyone that like hurts Hodor, besides Bran, when he takes over Hodor's body, I am blind. I am deaf. Do not speak to me right now. But it just makes, you don't hurt Hodor how dare you

I know how no I agree how could you how could you hurt Hodor he's just Bran you're grounded Bran you're also kind of grounded Theon's about to be grounded soon that's for sure that's a way of putting it Eliana

it is a way of putting it well Eliana. It is a way of putting it. Well, you make me feel grounded on this great day. What will happen next time? What will happen next as we finish Clash of Kings? Oh boy. Oh boy. Finish Clash of Kings, finish the year. Hell of a year. Well, maybe next year will be better.

We could try again next year. Yeah, we can try again next year yeah we can try again next year with when we do brandon a storm of swords i love brandon a storm of swords you think you think that i love to clash a king's brand well just hold on to your horses reign them up because storm of swords brand chloe is peak peak love brand. I was gonna say like hold on to your horses or hold on to your elks but that that's more of like. That's a little more of dub-dub but you could hold on to them too. I'm an equal opportunity uh steed member. I love all steeds. Big, small, dancer, prancer, whatever their names are. Indeed. Indeed. Well if you want to see what steeds we hold on to

you can subscribe to us on social media twitter.com slash girls gone canon that's c-a-n-o-n or you can send us an email at girls gone canon at gmail.com and if you're just looking for updates on our episodes coming out right if you're looking for that notification on your phone from your favorite podcast platform instead of social media or email you can thank you thank you you can check us out and give us a follow a like a review over at spotify google play itunes stitcher acast iheart radio pandora audible amazon podcasts and more Stitcher, Acast, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Audible, Amazon Podcasts, and more. Yeah.

And of course, somewhere that you can definitely always find us, whether it's our usual weekly episodes or our bonus episodes, once a month is on Patreon. Patrons in the $5 tier and above get access to our special bonus episodes. This month is on Patreon. Patrons in the $5 tier and above get access to our special bonus episodes. This month is

George R. R. Martin's novella, The Ice Dragon. Can't wait, can't wait. And hey, if you are in the Thunder tier or above, that's $10 and up at our Patreon, you get access to special events and our private Discord server, which is basically a lifetime access if

you don't fuck it up but this month we will be doing brunch if you're listening to this we might be doing it right now on december 18th from 2 to 4 p.m eliana time we will be meeting on the discord to chit chat in the voice chat with all our patrons and friends and play some reindeer games. And I cannot wait. It's going to be a blast. I can't wait for it. Absolutely. Well, it's been, it's been real. As always, I have been one of your hosts, Chloe. I have been another one of your hosts, Eliana.

I'll be back. Same bat time, same bat place to close out the year. Stranger danger. We'll be back stranger danger next week oh wait no never mind goodbye i got confused bye