Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 179 — ASOS Bran I

Episode Date: January 6, 2023

Bran, prince of the woods and prince of Winterfell, must make a choice.  --- 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 episode 179, Bran 1, In a Storm of Swords. I am one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. New year, new book. Same book series. Same POV. Part of me was like, is it new year, new book? And I'm like, I guess we went to Storm a couple times last year, but not yet this year.

Not yet. It's a new book for Bran, like i guess i guess we went to storm a couple times last year but not yet this year yeah it's a new book for brands so technically it counts i'm glad it's a clean cut into the new year with this book right that we can just start a new one clash was getting kind of sad i don't know if i was ready to carry that kind of baggage into the new year yeah before we run into a storm of swords where we've been so many times before we have returned but first up housekeeping last month we put out a patreon bonus episode for patrons in the stranger tier and above this episode was on the ice dragon by george rr Martin, a novelette, if you will. You can get more bonus episodes on A Song of Ice and Fire. That's right, more. And other topics, other shows, other movies, other series over at our Patreon at patreon.com slash girlsgonecanon. But the Stranger tier isn't the only tier with benefits.

It is not. There are more benefits for you if you would like to join our Patreon in the Thunder tier and benefits. It is not. There are more benefits for you if you would like to join our Patreon in the Thunder tier and above. That's $10 and up. And most of all, it gets you access to our special Patreon Discord, where there is fun to be had. Oh yes.

Always fun, always shenanigans. Sometimes we play Jackbox games. However, every month we do a brunch slash happy hour. This month will be announced in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for that information. But it's where we log on and chat about our day's weeks and talk about different, you know, media we're watching or reading

and play games and get to know yous, you know? It's kind of a fun time. We have a fun time at happy hour slash brunch brunch slash happy hour is one of the highlights of every single month and yeah there's also a lot of other fun channels and in february something very exciting is starting on our discord yeah some of our friends on discord will be putting together weekly pre-watches where you come having had watched having watched the series three his dark materials the final series that we are wrapping up right now covering as well on the podcast you'll see that in your feeds if you're subscribed to us

so our friends over at the discord are doing these weekly hangs starting in february on saturdays in february to discuss an episode once a week once a week and by the time that this episode comes out publicly either we are finishing up i'm just about to release our final episode on the his dark materials television series or it will have just come out. Keep an eye out on your feeds. And you can see when it comes out by subscribing and checking out our social media, twitter.com slash girls gone canon, C-A-N-O-N, or subscribing to us on any of the various platforms where we host our podcast, which we'll go down that list later on in this episode. And by that, I mean the end. It's always a fun outro you should always

listen to those you never know yeah it's different every time we you know we don't pre-record that that's part of the fun that's part of the magic of girls gone canon what platforms they say if you do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result it's called insanity i just want you all to know that but there is a different result every single time so it's not insanity in fact it is the most sane thing that we do perhaps actually it might be well we don't have any emails of note to start off a storm of swords bran however i expect that will change as we go through because and not to boast too much but you know a storm of swords bran is like it's starting to get peak bran in here yeah i mean every single one is a banger we're gonna get the good storytelling the littles we're gonna get bran traversing the north in a

storm of swords and then we get to go back to a double dot to a dance with dragons and we get brand's jedi training so i'm winning i world's biggest brand fan am winning right now yeah and also one of your favorite chapters of like all storm slash maybe the whole series is in this one that's a storm of swords brand three that's coming up very soon in just two chapters, if you are counting. So if you've got takes that you want to get in before then, you know, you want to talk to Chloe about her favorite chapter, send us some of those emails and tweets now. Yeah, Brand 2 and 3 are great. I love the hiding in the Tumbledown Tower, making their way to Queen's Ground. Making our way to Queen's Ground.

Walking slow. We don't know where the wall is. Do-do-do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do. Yeah. So back to some of the less sane things that we do, Eliana. We ended on Bran in A Clash of Kings.

It's the last chapter of the book. So our lightning round won't cover A Clash of Kings, it's the last chapter of the book. So our lightning round won't cover A Clash of Kings. We are past that. But it will cover everything we've missed up till now in A Storm of Swords. It will. So let's get started. We got our prologue. Chet is getting got by the beyond the wall patriarchy.

Jamie won. Jamie is sent back to King's Landing with Brienne as his guard Catelyn won Catelyn's crimes leave her sending ravens for long lost allies Arya won Arya travels faster when she dreams through the eyes

of her wolf who is hungry like the wolf like her wolf, who is hungry. Oh. Like the wolf. Like the wolf. Tyrion won. Tyrion wishes to be rewarded for his bravery in battle, but Papa says no. Davos won. Davos washes ashore from the battle at the Blackwater. Sansa won.

Sansa makes a new friend in King's Landing. More like frenemy. Best frenemy or girlfriends, depending on what books you've read. Frenemies to lovers. John won. Speaking of frenemies to lovers, John convinces Nance Raider he's on their side. Do you know where they put the bastard? That was for you eliana thank you that was good that was good i was glad with that kisses denarius one speaking of kisses jorah advises danny to fly to astapor to hire the unsullied soldiers i do not want those kisses i don't want new year worse us worse us. Worse us. Oh god. Worse Jorah. Every year. Not real. Every year Jorah gets worse.

That leads us into Bran 1 where Jojen has taught Bran all that he can. They move north toward the three-eyed crow. Bran spends a little too much time in summer. In summer. In his dreams, he climbs higher in the forest watching

the birds feeling the stone and a man sound calling to him we have a line the smells were a song around him a song that filled the good green world i love this because you can feel this, right? Have you ever just like stepped out into some sort of wildlife area that smells alive? Trees and shit, you know, in the woods or something. Yeah, literally trees and shit probably though. Trees and shit. That's what you're smelling and the other vegetation. Almost any brand chapter, you point to the front of it, the opening prose. George, you're such a nut. You're

crazy for this one, George. It's always good, all of it. This is in so much detail. The wolf fight and every little twinkle of light coming through the trees or darkness resting. The wolf's wood. It's wonderful and creepy. And this one especially, right? We've already pointed out in previous chapters, each one starting more and more with bran constantly in summer as it begins and as you said like the imagery is just fantastic in this one but also like that the smells were a song around him a song that filled the good green world that feels really significant in a series again called a song of ice and fire and i don't know what it means yet. Especially for a possible greenseer. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And the way that some of the stuff that's happening in Bran's chapters will be told kind of like a song later on. Wow, a story in a book. What? This one, the one we're reading. This is the story? Oh my god. Prince of the Wolf's Wood, he reminds himself, looking down upon the wolves running below.

His cousins, he thinks, remembering when he too had a wolf pack, remembering their scents. Big sad. Yeah, interesting. This part where he's called a Prince of the Wolf's Wood, partially because he's a dire wolf, right, and his size, and the freedom that comes with being a prince of the wolf's wood, partially because he's a dire wolf, right, in his size. And the freedom that comes with being a prince as a wolf contrasted with how Bran feels really restricted by being a prince of Winterfell in this chapter. And he even questions, he's like,

what does it even mean to be a prince of Winterfell? What fucking Winterfell, right? And that more and more becomes a part of Bran of brand story but we see it also kind of becoming a part of other character stories right like denarius's story becomes more and more about the constraints of ruling of being a queen as she sees these challenges at slaver's bay and then that you know dives into even more detail and dance but i don't know why there's also something about calling this like woodland animal a prince of the forest that reminds me a little of bambi very different animal but like they call like that one deer and then later on they call bambi right the prince of the

forest yeah eel bambino oh my gosh but yeah that probably is what the name's about, huh? Being a baby deer. Interesting. Aw. So wait, who's Flowers? You know? Who's Flower? Who's Thumper? Who's? Oh, interesting.

Cast it. Cast it, bitch. Flowers the skunk, right? Yeah. I don't know. Thumper's probably, I guess, Rickon just saying crazy stuff. Oh, Flower could be Hodor. Aw, Hodor.

Think on it. Workshop it a little. We'll come back to that someday. I know we will. It'll be really important. I mean, Bambi's mom dies just like Catelyn Stark. Uh, like Bran says, where will they go? Their mother's dead.

Next, we have a passage. His angry brother with the hot green eyes was near, the prince felt, though he had not seen him for many hunts. Yet with every sun that set he grew more distant, and he had been the last. The others were far scattered, like leaves blown by the wild wind. Sometimes he could sense them, though, as if they were still with him, only hidden from his sight by a boulder or a stand of trees. He could not smell them, nor hear their howls by night. Yet he felt their presence at his back, all but the sister they had lost. His tail drooped when he remembered her. Four now, not five, four and one more, the white who has no voice. So the woods and other parts of the land belonged to them, but their sister had left the wilds to walk

in the halls of Manrock and couldn't get out. Very sad. Sad sounds of Stark hours. Just gotta be bummed. You know, lady. Lady. Yeah. Lady. Alright, that was good. I had to get that

out of me for just a moment the themes are really strong in these opening chapters of storm and i always like how george kind of formats the front of his story to get you back into each pov but also kind of linking them together emotionally with the things they're experiencing and there's just this significant weight and feeling of finding out who you are knowing who you are are, trying to understand your past, your present, your future that we're seeing with Danny, John, Sansa, Bran, and Arya. And identity, right? Identity and perception come across so strong as the themes for the children in the start

of the story. It makes a really great framing device, what George has done in this paragraph or this passage here, reminding you where each wolf is at this part of the story and also in comparing hearing the wolves recognizing where the wolves are recognizing still being connected to those wolves bringing that analogy to us to the reader so that we realize where we are in the mind of the wolf is nice I think it's just a really well done device yeah and as you said it gives you kind of a quick status check this is how many of them there are and or there was right it's kind of significant because when you think about it by the end of this book there will be one less wolf because rob will be dead so knowing that they all have that connection

seems really important. I thought it was really interesting the way they describe Lady being gone and had left the wilds to walk in the halls of Manrock and being unable to escape it. And I was trying to figure out this Manrock thing. We've heard the wolves talk about it before in previous Bran chapters

and how that rock is like dead man rock is dead right not alive with song i guess and i don't know i guess i it doesn't mean like winterfell's castle and the graves that are there like is that what it's talking about like ladies bones are trapped there the way that the wolves were when they were trying to also escape winterfell a little there's something interesting in the way it's used to also describe, I mean, to me, when I hear man rock now, to me it just means rock that has been formed or touched or made by man or utilized by man. So different than boulders out in the wolf's wood, but for example, a castle.

That to me is what they're describing as man rock and the south is very man-made right when you really think about it it's like wow the south is full of super manufactured bullcrap so i think it's obviously that departure from nature i'm guessing the lichyard in winterfell i mean we don't get a great description of it but i'm guessing it's covered in that granite of Winterfell. Well, what you're saying about it representing the South, right, and Sansa, because obviously the wolves represent their respective Stark sibling, is really interesting if it is about- because Sansa is trapped in King's Landing at this time. And then Lady Sol might be trapped in with her. Yeah, exactly, because she still dreams and sees lady's soul might be trapped in with her yeah exactly because

she still dreams and sees lady's spirit as we know stop reminding me so i think that's really interesting that idea that like lady's spirit might still be there with sansa i feel like that's what's being implied i do like that her spirit is too far away still in the south and never came home i mean she's killed there and Sansa's still there. That's crazy to think. Yeah, well, if they're both two and one, right? Even though we never saw Sansa, like, act as a warg, we know from So Speak Martin that all of them are to some different extent, right? And so rather than, like, I don't think we see, like, necessarily Lady Manifest as a wolf or take over like Sansa's thoughts.

That's not what I'm saying. But like, if you could have a second life in that animal or something like is that possible? And that's explored a little, right? Like, the fandom has definitely explored that with Rob, right? With the idea of maybe he warged into his wolf when he died. And of course, we're waiting on that reveal with Jon. So if it works that reveal with john so if it works that way why doesn't it work the opposite way yeah and as you all know um i do believe

rob did skin change into gray wind and dino died twice how exciting how great for them his soul's probably going to be stuck in the south too maybe that's part of why Bran could be a southern king too, out of respect to the stark ghosts in the south. Lyanna too, you know? Bran would dance with his ghosts. The wind shifts and he smells new smells. Prey. He runs, almost like flying

toward the dying deer surrounded by eight smaller wolves. The pack is already beginning to eat, with the tail left for last. Summer sneaks up, some of the pack retreats, but not the head male and female. Yeah, Summer is bigger. He snarls and he fights off two of them and then goes off to fight the leader who's older, right? But when it comes to that fight, he does have the pack, right? So some of them will like nip at him or whatever. he does tear out the throat of one attacker and after that the others kind of keep their distance more he then defeats the old

wolf into submission and is hungry he's ready to go take a bite out of this prey he's fought for when suddenly he hears hodor and we have this line of none of them had heard it it was a queer wind that blew only in his ears he buried his jaws in the deer's belly and tore off a mouthful of flesh. Hodor. Hodor. No, he thought. No, I won't. It was a boy's thought, not a direwolf's.

Ugh. Once more ripped from his dreams, which are reality. Lost between boy and wolf. You see him losing himself in becoming this all-seeing alpha? Huh? Interesting. That was very interesting to me that he immediately was the alpha of the forest

with the other wolves. Kind of exerting himself on these other wolves as their alpha. Jojen seems to want Bran to kill the boy, kill the wolf in a way that Bran needs to take over completely and the boy, kill the wolf in a way that Bran needs to take over completely and be in control of the wolf and himself. But we're watching Bran struggle to keep to himself, giving in to the wolf and that two-in-one mentality, right? Like two souls with

one. Bran is very much letting the wolf be in control. There's also something that, I don't know, in the way that this is described, George goes into such detail with how many wolves there are and what's going on with them, and it does make me wonder if it's foreshadowing for Bran's ending in the story, if he does become a king, defeating all the wolves and coming out on top.

Even in dance, he defeats the pack with Varamyr, too. So, I don't know. Eight wolves especially stood out on top. Even in dance, he defeats the pack with Varamyr, too. So, I don't know. Eight wolves especially stood out to me. The seven wolves would be Seven Kingdoms, so eight could be Bran's new one. Yeah, well, there are eight now, right? Or nine? I think there's actually technically

nine now, or there were something, right? Because the Seven Kingdoms lines are drawn differently than the current the modern day one so it is it is very possible returning to eight then right because like the crownlands the crownlands were not a kingdom at that time the riverlands were the land of rivers and isles so then that split between the iron islands and the riverlands interesting good call on the wolves. Numbers.

The woods begin to darken until a man's grin appears. And waltz. Bran doesn't want to eat, but Hodor keeps waking him gently. Well, I mean, as gentle as Hodor can be with all of his strength. And Bran shouts, no! And for Hodor to leave off, stopping him. So now they are in the vault of an ancient watchtower abandoned thousands of years ago and bran has named it tumble down tower and was found by mira i kind

of feel like is this something that later on george was like i really like the way that sounds did like that eventually he recycled it into the names for the tumble tins or something i like the way it sounds too though it just has a nice little bit of illiteracy going on there, right? Alliteration going on there. Not illiteracy. Tumble, tumble, tumble. Tumble, tumble, tumble-ton. I am curious if this will come back in any way,

like, if it'll get a real name someday. Maybe it'll get raised as a special place that Bran, a king, once stayed. Yeah. I mean, Bran 3, I love Bran 2, and I love Bran 3, like, so equally, but Bran 3 is the chapter with all the Jaehaerys and Alysanne stuff about the new gift and because of the Queen's Crown Tower. So it just makes me think maybe this tower didn't exist

before they went there, or maybe it was another little hold that was raised. Yeah, it'd be interesting to find out. I love all these lonely towers just randomly out here in the north. Yeah, it'd be interesting to find out. I love all these lonely towers just randomly out here in the north. Yeah, same, same. Really great world building. There's a lot of like world building in these first few chapters of George re-establishing, you know, what's going on in the story, so. Jojen warns Bran that he was gone for too long once more. Meera will be back soon with supper, but Bran is tired of frogs. He wanted to eat the deer,

he had won it, after all. Jojen asks if Bran had marked the trees by clawing the bark, like he had said, but Bran is embarrassed because he forgot, like how he forgot to catch a rabbit and bring it back for them, or push rocks in a line. Things that Bran thinks, of course, are stupid. He says he forgot, and Jojen says, you always forget. When he's a wolf, these things don't seem important, especially when he can just run. For one, I understand why Jojen wants Bran to do these things. This would be extremely useful. Imagine you could just be eating a rabbit. Very great compared to what's going on. He could have brought that deer all the way back, you know? That would have been really awesome for everyone here. But beyond it being very practical, if Bran could mark places, Jojen is of course testing to see if Bran can retain his sense of self while being in Summer.

And what we're seeing through these is that Bran is still very young and immature. He's using his gifts for his own personal joy and benefit rather than for the greater good. They talk quite a bit about people's different gifts in this chapter, but it is understandable that Bryn does that because of his age and also especially what he's trying to escape, his own body. That's kind of what prompts him to make the choices that he does at the end of this chapter, which, I i mean this chapter is a very big first step towards learning to think beyond his immediate wants right he's not quite beyond thinking of just his own desires and well-being yet that comes later on in his journey probably but he's nine yeah that's always the big part with bran for me is like whenever i start to really

critique him i'm like he's fucking nine he's kid. He's a nine-year-old kid that doesn't even understand all of his own needs yet, let alone others. That's true. He doesn't even understand he's got to eat. That's his own need. So much so that he can't even fathom that they have to eat too.

He's never had to provide like this. It's interesting. Yeah, but his way of providing before was just like, I don't know, send that salmon to that person I like send those berries to that person i like cooks cooks yeah do my bidding servants yeah i mean he's a spoiled rich kid i mean like at the harvest feast right he's like i don't know send this to those people that's cool you know it comes back to what alerio says about agan right oh he's been raised for this. You know, he, some princes are born and told there to rule, but

he's been raised for it. And Bran is the opposite. I mean, he's actually going to learn on this trip what it means to be hungry, what it means to be on the run, not unlike what Dany had to go through at a young age as well, and is still kind of going through. And you talk about him learning what it means to be hungry,

and also how he doesn't really want to feed himself, right? He wants to eat what the wolf eats, right? And his lack of wanting to sustain his own body, that very much feels a bit like depression, which is understandable for what this child has gone through and the other things he will go through. Yay. Yeah, there's definitely a lot of that laced into this chapter of his depression. I think we'll come across it a lot of that laced into this chapter of his depression. I think we'll come across it a couple more times. We have this little exchange between Bran and Jojen of, I was a prince, Jojen. I was the prince of the woods. You are a prince. You remember, don't you? Just tell me who you are.

You know. Jojen was his friend and his teacher, but sometimes Bran just wanted to hit him. I want you to say the words. Tell me who you are. Bran, he said sullenly. Bran the Broken. Brandon Stark, the Cripple Boy. The Prince of Winterfell. Of Winterfell burned and tumbled, its people scattered and slain. The glass gardens were smashed and hot water gushed from the cracked walls to steam beneath the sun. How can you be the prince of some place you might never see again? And who is Summer? My direwolf, prince of the green. Bran the boy and Summer the wolf,

you are two then. Two and one. I thought this was just like an interesting role building thing regarding you know a reminding us of who brand is at this time but also how you're supposed to really be approaching skin changing and warging it some of this like two and one right like it feels paradoxical reminds me a little bit of that catholic mystery of faith that holy trinity stuff which makes sense considering that george was raised catholic mystery of faith that holy trinity stuff which makes sense considering that george was raised catholic and there's something in this that reminds me of aria and sirio's training as well in the stillness and the flow of everything for a water dancer right a water dancer has to be a part of everything all at once and also able to separate themselves into two and one everything

all at once uh two and one mystery of faith indeed i mean aria has to kind of learn that through sirio and he pushes her in a similar way in the first book right i want you to say the words tell me who you are like you have to say it you have to live it you have to believe it so this does feel like a little bit of that yoda training coming in and that's fascinating because aria's later training is her learning to when someone says who are you she's supposed to answer not herself yes these kids are freaks she's like i i gotta take a step back for a second. I just gotta think for a second. I'm like, man, all these kids are fucked up. You reads are included as well.

Don't think you're disincluded, you cute little homeschoolers. I love ya. Honestly, all of them. You think about the Walters get a mention in this chapter. Those kids definitely freak out. They're fucked up too. I'm trying to think if there's a normal kid. Hot pie.

And even that. He just wants to bake. Which is that's great he could start an instagram jojen's behavior is making brand kind of uncomfortable he hates when he gets like this especially because jojen's the one who wanted brand to skin change and work and now jojen's always interrupting and calling him back jojen implores him he's like you need to remember or the wolf will consume you Bran's like so what's so bad about that I don't I don't know what the problem is officer I like being summer more than I like being myself I have legs I can eat whatever I want I can bully people like it's great it's a good time he thinks what

good is it to be a skin changer if you can't wear the skin you like it's a good question like what is the point of having this thing if you can't use like enjoy it it's also a i think that this is quite a bit of foreshadowing for the taboos of skin changing and eventually brand wielding power over hold over hodor right like remembering that yeah what good is it if you can't wear the skin you like, but also that there are boundaries to whose skin you can take. You can't just, like, and take any of them. And then also in regards to remembering who he is or the wolf will consume him, reminds me a little of, like, why Bran and Theon's stories are so

intertwined. Because remember who you are is such a big part of Theon's story. is really powerful and important because it's going to kind of come to be, you know, a thing up to bat for him. It's going to come to a really bad point that he has to learn to use his power not for himself. Right now he's using it because he's a little boy selfishly, right? He's using it to feel. He's using it to be able to actually have mobility and to be able to kind of just like, I don't know, feel like he actually has something in this world.

While that feels good and doing things because they feel good is fun, it's also not always, you know, a balanced way to live your life and other people will suffer because of that if you continue to do things just because it feels good to you. So he has to learn to be a human with actual sympathies and empathies and understanding. And yeah, I hope that the Hodor situation, man, it's going to be a bummer for all. I don't know.

It's going to be a bummer for all. It will be a bummer for all. Especially Hodor. Yeah, it's very true. And yeah yeah you're talking about him having to learn about these basic needs and wants i mean a lot of people are about to be hungry a lot of people are already hungry in this story but anyway even more winter is coming jojen asks if bran will remember to mark the tree any tree next time bran he will, he could do it now, thinking he'd eat the deer, but Jojen's against this and thinks Bran should stay and eat with his human

mouth instead. Well played. A warg can't live off what the beast eats. Bran thinks, well, how would you know? Bran thought resentfully. You've never been a warg, who don't know what it's like and the stress that both Jojen and Mira put on this sort of knowledge and that emphasis kind of makes you wonder like yeah we assume that oh they probably just know because they're so much closer to all of this magic and just know it like through you know passed down knowledge but I kind of have this tinfoil of like what if Jojen and Mira find this so important because it's something that they saw happen to their father Howland who we kind of all assume has some sort of first man magical ability uh and I just think it'd be an interesting metaphor also when you think about I

don't know addiction like in parents and like children witnessing that especially with the metaphor that exists in what we're seeing already with Bran's despondency and his condition physically escaping from his depression and thinking back to the Tower of Joy. And not just that, but everything that Howland had gone through before that. I mean, Howland going to the Isle of Faces, you know, and whatever he learned at the Isle of Faces, that couldn't have been light. Everything he went through with Ned, with Lyanna, could not have been light. And, you know, just a sidebar about howland and ashara dane really quickly just because we're in a storm of swords just a sidebar about howland and ashara dane it's something that i really like it it makes me really sad to think

of yes it's a it's a great pairing if that's how they got to escape but to think of all the sadness that exists there because thinking of mira and jojen growing up and their mom probably also had some pretty severe depression you know after her brother died for this war and she left everything behind to be with her despondent vision having husband assuming this is like even about you know if this is like about how and but like yeah i mean ashara's got a lot of probably similar similar sadness and uh and grief to ned right and you're talking about how like howland was part of robert's rebellion he was right i mean ned says he wouldn't have survived if not for howland so clearly they both lost a lot of people survived a lot of carnage together. And if we see Ned having all of this PTSD, it's not like a far leap to assume that the person that he was on this journey with like probably also does.

philosophies towards war there there's something about this that you know is even reminiscent of some of like the vietnam war vets right like and and their ptsd and unfortunately some of them did end up falling into addiction because that's how some of them were treated uh when it came to injuries etc and you come back and there's no there's no nets for you right not well not those kinds of nets that like that mirror uses no social safety nets they're already outcasts yeah cranog men are they were isolated we hadn't seen them up in winterfell for a while so like did ned just never visit his friend did his friend never visit him in all that time i don't know how could you visit one another and what we're gonna have to talk about this more in the next chapter for sure because because we're going to get a lot of that Roberts or,

but we're just getting into storm of swords brand. It's a storm of swords brand baby. Cause there's so much Roberts rebellion, PTSD to talk about and go through and to examine how it would have affected them. And because Holland is the person that is the most mysterious on our pages, right? He's one of the very most mysterious characters.

We don't get to see this part of the POV. So it's kind of fun to glean anything you can from the interactions with Mira and Jojen. It is. One day we'll get it. Absolutely. Look under your chair. Maybe it's right now.

Hodor is jumping and hitting his head and shouting and he's interrupted as mira enters he happily greets her neither jojen nor mira are very tall as kranog men are quite small bran envies her walking and her grace she fights using the three-pronged frog spear in one hand and a woven net in the other yes mira has brought back two small trout and six frogs for them to eat. Bran is hungry, but not for frogs. Can't be picky, okay? He remembers that the Walders said that eating frogs turns your teeth green and makes you grow moss under your arms. Bran kind of wonders if the Walders died, but then again he didn't see their bodies,

though there were a lot of bodies at Winterfell this is interesting to think about where he'll be in the winds of winter versus a storm of swords because not yet right they're they're still alive one of them won't be i wonder if he'll be able to see i mean so we see him in the background and dance right that he and blood raven our him and blood raven are just out there like touching through the weirwood whispering to theon right weirwoods are crying at him there's all this you know he's definitely up to some shit in dance that we see him do in the background but we don't get from his pov his chapters and dance are super isolated brands are you could just see him peeking through in certain places so i wonder if by dance and if by the winds of winter Bran will be able to see what's happening and know about that Walder on Walder crimes, the crimes of Walders. Just because he seems to have more control in dance now that he's with his Sith Lord Bloodraven.

So Winds of Winter, trajectory-wise, it'll be a positive trending. He'll be super powerful, able to just see through everything i feel like walder on walder crimes like that should be i don't know trademarked or something like that should be that's gonna there's gonna be more than just those walders like having walder and walder crimes there's a lot of walders to crime against one another the many crimes of walders yes yes and that's that's a good point you might think about them or like see it and it could be a way for him to like show his growth the story can show his growth like if he has compassion like dang they were they were huge pricks but uh i kind of feel bad for them it's not really fair fair i mean look where they came from they came from a world of Walder on Walder crimes. I mean, Walder on Walder crimes, it all goes back to the Walders before us.

Well, we don't want to judge them by the sins of their Walders, you know. Mira invites Bran to help clean the catch. She always knows how to make him smile. And nothing scares or angers her, except for Jojen. I hear this is what families are like. Jojen wears all green. His eyes are the color of moss and he has green dreams that all come true. Except for dreaming that Bran died because he didn't.

Well, I mean, kind of, right? Hodor gets wood for a fire while Bran and Meera clean. They cook in Meera's helm and they make a stew of these frogs with the onions. And it's not bad. It sounds delicious to me. Honestly, yeah. I'm in a very stew mode right now. I'm like, everything is stew.

Frogs just taste like chicken. You know? They just taste like skinnier chicken. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. A little chewier. Yeah.

They're not bad at all. And in a soup or in a stew, amazing. Yeah. And there's that helm again. That possible Night of the laughing tree helm smart use of it i this is the only time we've seen a helm used to cook in in the series interesting i looked it up i was really scaling through the series to find out if there was any other use of helm for cooking and i thought that was brilliant well done it is a good a good idea. It is a good idea. I wonder if the other

helms are too decorative or have too many holes or something because I can't imagine trying to cook in the mountain's helm with its tiny little fist. That would be really hard. It would take forever to heat up. I've watched a lot of Alton Brown Cutthroat Kitchen.

It's a very favorite show of mine and that's what this sounds like to me quite a bit i remember it's so good i really highly recommend it to any of you it's like if you ever had an evil madman just hosting kitchen games that's what it is alton brown is a fucking madman and he's amazing and he'll just like show up it'll be all these chefs and they have they each have a certain amount of money they can spend and he'll just like show up it'll be all these chefs and they have they each have a certain amount of money they can spend and he'll show up at the front and be like here's a way to fuck your neighbor over while cooking and it'll be shit like they

have to be on a rotating moat and they can only cook their food whenever the moat rotates them or some shit like or like you have to prep all of your stuff in a medieval suit like he will do things like that so that's what this reminds me of absolutely i see a cutthroat kitchen with mira reed i mean a lot of westeros does seem like a cutthroat kitchen you know a lot of throats being cut in kitchens no less yeah no more jojen says they have to move on the next day, not because they're unsafe, but because this isn't where they're meant to be. I just thought it was interesting that everyone was kind of more willing to go and leave this place if Jojen had said yes, it was from a green dream. But it's just Jojen talking about like, no, we have to go to this other destination that I

would like for us to go to. It's very reminiscent of Joseph Campbell's discussions in his Hero with a Thousand Faces book about the hero's journey. And he kind of says there's something about and we're going to talk about accepting the call, but about the refusal of the call and accepting the call. And he kind of references that no matter what, the character may refuse the call, but the call will always be there so the story could go nowhere right like they might just stay where they are and refuse the call but things around them will start to change and start to align in ways that push the character to go to the call so even if your character is stranded and going nowhere the call will start transforming his surroundings

until he has to go to the call and i thought that was kind of interesting when thinking about them moving to their next destination that like it's not because they're unsafe but it's that they have to they're supposed to the world is changing around them pushing them in that direction yeah and the call has kind of been there for at least like a whole book already right and a lot of clash yeah was that and as you said it's been ignored and everything keeps changing to to nudge brand towards there yes this is the big nudge yeah it's the one where brand finally kind of makes that decision we'll get there part of it is because they're like who knows how long this tower is gonna be safe right an army

could just take them unaware and brand says well i mean but what if that army is rob's army a checkmate checkmate atheist and since he has to come back and chase the iron men away anyway and jojan reminds brand that i mean maester lewin did not discuss rob when he talked about what to do next he talked about the threats that are surrounding winterfell such as the iron men on the stony shore ramsey to the east deepwood mott has fallen also clay kerwin and leobald tallart are dead yeah the north is torn apart war everywhere he said each man against his neighbor this is just the the beginning of the storm of swords right this is well laid from the very front that the betrayal of ruse bolton is coming yes it is it is it's a big part

of this book in fact and yeah this war of neighbors against neighbors walters against walters it's only gonna get worse before it gets better because resources are going to become scarce right we're going to see a lot of people just fighting amongst themselves mira says they've discussed this before she gets jojen wants to go to the three-eyed crow but the walls far and they have no mounts and then of course there's a lord of the rings reference if we were eagles we might fly said jojen sharply but have no wings, no more than we have horses. After Jojen needles about if they'll steal them or not, Mira suggests they could buy or trade for horses, but Jojen says they'd be identified, which is probably true. So long as Bran remains dead, he is safe. Alive, he becomes prey for those who want him dead, for good and true.

This line reminds me a little of how Bran had been talking about being safe in the darkness. And we also see that, you know, when he's peering out from Bloodraven's cave. And we've talked a little bit about that already and what that might mean for his story going forward. But we do see this idea of being dead and that being safe for people like play out differently amongst all the different storks right aria is kind of relatively safe because people were assuming that she was dead until you know that opened a vacuum for someone else to take that place and then jane was very much not safe she alive as aria is prey for those who want to use her or sanza being hunted by the end of this book right everyone knows she's not dead and they're all like we would like her for regicide

and then end of dance Jon is literally dead and I don't know is being undead like when he comes back technically dead but also not is that safe I don't know we'll find out great framing for all of these starklings and rob very alive and unsafe i'm worried about that boy if i tell you the truth about it i'm real worried worried for him jojen reminds them bran needs a better teacher than he is that they go to the north one step at a time mirror reminds him how long it took to get from Greywater Watch to Winterfell and the risks of not knowing the place or how they're even going to find the three-eyed crow. Yeah, we actually haven't heard much about Mira and Jojen's journey coming from the neck to Winterfell until like this moment.

They don't really discuss it. So now I am kind of wondering how hard was it for them considering it was off page for all the rest of us? I'm curious, especially time-wise, when you think, what, we start a Game of Thrones, and it's how long does it take for Robert to get all the way to the north? I'd say it's probably cut that trip one in half. In half, or is it, like, even longer? Because they, I don't know, did they have mounts or not?

I mean, they probably did, right? Maybe, but interesting. It was just them right did they come with anyone else besides the two of them i don't remember i don't think so they're just announced by the winterfell guards so maybe a bad journey yeah i would hope they had mounts i would be very concerned i'm worried now they're probably big i don't know what they did i don't know oh yeah i don't imagine that they're dead yeah i would give them mounts, but are mounts not popular? I would imagine that they might not be super popular.

They might not have that much money, right? Because it seems pretty difficult to traverse the bogs with a horse. That doesn't actually seem useful. Environmentally speaking, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Yeah. I just see Mira arriving on Lizard Lion back, you know, saddled up. That is cool. That.

That'd be great. Would be very cool. So Jojen suggests that the three-eyed crow could then find them, would be the one to find them when they hear a wolf. But turns out the wolf that's calling is not Summer. And Bran is like, why do we even listen to Jojen? He's so dumb. He can't even tell a wolf howl from a dire wolf one.

Also, he's like not a prince, nor is he strong, and he's not even a good hunter. Why are we letting him decide everything? Here's where the wolf bleeds through, right? When has Bran been this involved in what he thinks a good leader of a group is? This is such an interesting change where last book Bran spent it reluctantly being like fine i'll be there for all of the political talks and i guess i have to rule and be a lord but i don't want to but all this time he's been spending in summer seems to be making him apply rules for men in different worlds right because this sounds more like a very visceral physical alpha and beta wolf feeling that's developing and beta wolf feeling that's developing

and like pack mentality that's developing for Bran from spending time in summer and it makes me wonder if this will give him ambition and thirst to lead right if King Bran is end game the path for him to actually have that ambition and want to lead is being laid down yeah and he's gonna probably have to find different reasons to want to be king than just being the strongest and the biggest, right? Because we see what that means, right? Being the strong prince, being a prince at all, or a good hunter. You get things like the Blackfyre Rebellion.

You get people who, or Maegor, right? Or even the Dothraki system for deciding who rules like thinking about it in the way that wolves rule is is purely based on physical power and not just you know all the all the other things that kind of matter like i don't know diplomacy legal thinking caring about people whatever stewardship so brand suggests you know what let's just go back to the idea of stealing horses all right we can steal horses and then ride to last hearth or if not a horse we'll just steal a boat and go to a white harbor where lord manderley is because he was pretty friendly and he wanted to go to war for us and And that way, it won't matter if he's alive.

Hodor likes this plan, but no one else does, even though Bran is the Stark here and a prince. I have to say, Bran suggesting it here, not taking them to White Harbor was one of the smartest things in the world between Osha and Luwin in his final bleeding moments. This shows Bran's very new understanding in politics, right? He isn't quite apt to why going to Wyman would be a poor decision. He's out here suggesting they Grand Theft Auto a boat. Grand Theft, what is that called? What's the boat version?

You can still have an auto boat, right? You can still have automobile boats. Yep. Grand Theft Auto applies to boats, motor vehicles, RVs, etc. So Grand Theft Auto. Bran is out here ready to just steal a boat. How are you four going to steal a boat is my question, Bran. How are you going to do that? Can we just play this out in our heads for a moment? And then he, you know, he finds kindness in Wyman. But it's funny because as we know later wyman is scheming the whole time

this book he was scheming a lot last book too and while he may keep you safe it is a different prison than you would have been in before in winterfell yeah you are frustrated that you can't do what you want with your life well imagine being wyman's Pawn. No. Yeah, what's great is that we do get answers to all these different outcomes of what could have happened if Bran went to these places, right, in Adabada, and what those paths would have looked like with, you know, at Last Hearth with the Umbers or with the Manderlys. But it is, to me, still meaningful that part of why Bran was drawn to Lord Manderly was because Lord M know lord manderley knows what it is to be underestimated and for people to reduce your ability as a leader and functionally just as a person to your body yeah absolutely and thankfully if they had left now and gotten there they also

would have faced trouble because frays would be planted there very soon. Yep. Walter on Walter Crimes, but then it just becomes Manderly on Walter Crimes. Which are the best kind of crimes, personally. Delicious. What? Hodor keeps hodoring, saying his name in different ways. Sometimes he's quiet, though.

Bran suggests Hodor train with the swords, so he does. They had taken three of the tomb swords. Bran had Uncle Brandon's, Meera with Lord Rickard's, and Hodor with an older iron, dull, and rusted-over-the-centuries sword that he loves to swing around. Bran asks Jojen more about this teacher they're going to, because he thought Jojen was his teacher. Jojen worries that Bran is bending more to Summer than otherwise, but Bran insists he'll be better when he's older, and we get this exchange.

Even Florian the Fool and Prince Aemon the Dragon Knight weren't great knights when they were nine. That is true, and a wise thing to say, if the days were still growing longer. But they aren't. You are a summer child, I know. Tell me the words of House Stark. Winter is coming. Just saying it made Bran feel cold. Jojen gave a solemn nod. I dreamed of a winged wolf bound to earth by chains of stone and came to Winterfell to free him. The chains are off you now, yet still you do not fly.

Again, quite a bit of this passage is sort of in that language of songs right the green dreams aren't too dissimilar from that when it comes to that symbolism but and it ties to those legends of flory and the fool and amen the dragon knight which flory and the fool that that plays quite a bit of a role in this book with sansons of Story and also a reminder of age, right? Again, Bran's just a youngling. Aw, a little youngling. And it makes me wonder if Aemon the Dragon Knight had dragon dreams, too. Hmm. Honestly, maybe.

Probably. A lot of them did. I'm in camp like most of them did now, so. Yeah. Points at a Targaryen. You had them, too. You had them, too. At least like 25 you know enough of

them which like a significantly high amount yeah bran says that jojen ought to teach him as a green seer but jojen reminds him he's not a green seer green seers don't just dream they're also wargs and they can skin change any beast they can see through the weirwoods and see the truth that lies beneath the world so this is some great setup for telling us kind of a bit of the rules of what makes someone a three-eyed crow versus just any kind of other you know green seer or green dreamer or skin changer right varamir did not have green dreams but he was a warg in that he did have a skin-changed wolf and also he could skin change multiple other creatures and then we find out that veramir learns what the truth that lies beneath

the world is and that happens upon his death right when he goes into his second life so we've speculated upon this before but it seems like there is sort of a truth that lies beneath the world that only comes to people in death, which might explain why those near-death experiences, again, are prerequisites for being a three-eyed crow, heir to being a three-eyed crow, maybe a three-eyed hatchling, if you will, and what Bloodraven is looking for. raven is looking for there's the bitter irony too that bran is like jojen what do you mean you can't teach me more and jojen's like you're a green seer idiot you're the one that could teach me shit someday yeah he's like you're such a bigger capacity yeah he's the chosen one you were the chosen one anakin oh wait sorry branican branican you know the the passage specifically mentions, too, that the greenseers would have power over all creatures, whether they fly, crawl, etc., etc., and went through some of those actions which stood out to me. I'm like, dragon? Dragon? Dragon?

Ice dragon? I think that it would be very cool. I know that that's, like, a popular theory as well well. So I'm also struck by that theme of perception, right? Sees the truth that lies beneath the world. All of the Starks are kind of doing that. John in the last John chapter is lying to Mance after having to kill one of his mentors to kind of succeed to the next part of his little journey as a

mini hero, the thousand faces of this story that are all heroes and john's one of them but you know he had to be able to see through lies and through to the truth of things and he's a little farther in this cycle i would say than bran on a kind of mastering warging and bran's probably gonna finesse it a little more but john's getting there john is starting to be able to go in and out of those a little bit soon he's just only going to be in and have a hard time getting out and and yeah he doesn't really skin change into other animals but I mean if you've got a dire wolf like you could kind of settle I think you can kind of just rest on your laurels with

that one a little and I guess part of that is because john's got a stronger sense of self he's older right and also he's not trying to escape his body in the way that bran is and he's got i think he's also had he has some friends yeah i also think he has i mean he's already come to blows and faced the paranormal so he knows it's real in some aspects that bran is still coping and grappling with he's starting to get it that this is very fucking real but john's come face to face with it already yeah absolutely jojan explains to bran that gods give people varied gifts they are not strong hunters like mira but jojan can unlike her, and that Bran can be more with a good teacher. This is just a nice little lesson, all right? It feels important for, in general, Bran's coming-of-age story, anyone's coming-of-age story, right? He's resentful of the

gifts that he doesn't have. He covets Hodor's instead of learning to accept himself. Yeah, when he needs to just embrace the gift that he has right now and really hone it and make it shine and not just that but i don't know i'm just worried about this whole entire good teacher that they keep saying with a good teacher a good teacher i'm just worried about that influence and then it might not be a positive influence i don't know yeah he might be like a very skilled teacher but is he a good teacher or is he a bad teacher like onions aliana onions onions layers layers absolutely it's not just good or bad yeah yeah that's real i mean i guess that's the truth of Bloodraven too in some aspects.

so too much about the first men and children of the forest knowledge has actually been forgotten which is part of why they need to go find another teacher then mira comes around and says that they would be safe here until the war ends but then brand wouldn't learn any of the other places that brand suggested they could all easily be taken. So she puts it to Bran. She says, the risk is ultimately yours, Bran, and so is the gift. So what do you choose? And I just love the way that Meera frames this question and that Bran does have a choice here, or at least Meera clears the way to create that choice for him and yes now Bran has to reason through this difficult decision which is exactly what someone would have to do if they were a lord you know or or a prince or I don't know even a king any sort of leader as you were

talking about earlier and that Mira realizes that what Bran has is both a gift and a sacrifice. It's for him to do whatever he wants. Kind of like, I guess, Jamie at the end of, what is it? This book, right? Whatever he chose, whatever he chose. Tying into, I mean, his storyline is very tied into Brandt. If you really think about it, you don't have to think hard. Mira represents that belief in a choice whereas

her brother jojen right feels that they must find brand a teacher he feels much more resigned to fate and also these ideas of sacrifice which makes sense because jojen's dreams make him feel that the ink is dry right he isn't fighting anything he says they always come true and he has been sort of indoctrinated by these dreams to feel that he must make a sacrifice of himself so maybe he feels that everyone else just fucking do it too yeah they're very polarizing right they have very staunch opinions that mira still very firmly sits at the side of it's important and it means something which means you should be able to make a choice or to change it and jojen of course is the side of it's important and it means something, which means you should be able to make a choice or to change it. And Jojen, of course, is the opposite of that.

I like that you've pulled that out of Jojen's sacrifice as well, that he already has come to terms with it. He's already done his grieving and he's already moved on, so it's time for them to do so as well. Did we really cover that Jaime chapter? I don't remember it. It was a long time ago now if you think about it which is crazy new year new year happy new year everyone hmm what

whatever he chose whatever he chose like block that out blacked out for a minute there sorry but he's like my choice is to not, I do not see it. Well, of course, Mira says, whatever you chose, we will follow you, our prince. And we get this final exchange. It felt important to be kept at all. You mean, you'll do what I say? Truly? Truly, my prince. So consider well.

Bran tried to think it through. The way his father might have. The Greyjohn's uncles, Hothir Horsebane and Mors Crowfood were fierce men. But he thought they would be loyal. And the Karstarks, them too. Karhold was a strong castle, father always said. We would be safe with the Umbers or the Karstarks. Or they could go south to Fat Lord Manderly.

At Winterfell, he'd laughed a lot and never seemed to look at Bran with so much pity as the other lords. Castle Kerwin was closer than White Harbor, but Maester Luwin had said Clay Kerwin was dead. The Umbers and the Karstarks and the Manderlys may all be dead as well, he realized. And he would be if he was caught by the Iron Men or the Bastard of Bolton. If they stayed here, hidden down beneath Tumbledown Tower, no one would find them. He would stay alive. And crippled. Bran realized he was crying. Stupid baby, he thought it himself. No matter where he went, to Carhold or White Harbor or Greywater Watch, he'd be a cripple when he got there. He balled his hands into fists.

I want to fly. Please, take me to the crow. Ah, that's my boy. Do you know how many times a day I call myself a stupid baby and ball my hands into fists? I love Bran, I'm such a Bran moon. My god. boy do you know how many times a day i call myself a stupid baby and ball my hands into fists i love brand i'm such a brand moon my god i don't know why it makes me think now of this is just because it plays on the radio radio all the time that taylor's this song she's like sometimes it feels like everybody is a stupid baby not stupid sorry sexy baby sexy baby very differently yeah very

different but anyway it makes me think of that but it i get that i get that it makes me think of sailor moon of yuzagi-chan uh which in which way stupid cry baby oh yeah that is also me also personally me it's even like actually one of her superpowers like when she cries she like can send out like the shwoo shwoo shwoo like sonar yes yeah the sonar things yeah well bran is just that powerful too. I love that. I love, you know, in our His Dark Materials coverage, I think we've talked a lot about that loss of innocence as well.

And there's something in the recent, the final season that came out that reminds me of it that you and I were talking about offline of just that idea of growing up is truly having to make the choices that suck, the choices you don't want to do, the choices that don't make you feel good. And when you don't make those choices, your life goes in a different direction, usually a downward direction, sometimes a downward spiral. And here, Bran considered and weighed every single option, and he went through the many phases of grieving it right there right refusal

rejection upset crying and then finally he went uh i have to do this i have to go do this thing because there are no other options for me in the beginning of storm all of our starks are kind of quartered without options sanza has to choose the least bad choice and play along in a court of roses where thorns still surround her. Jon is lying to Mance about his motives, immediately ever having to kill Arthur Dayne, I mean, Corrin Halfhand, his BFF,

slash new dad. Arya and the boys are on the road with nothing but the horses, hungry, cold. She's warging into the maria and her sleep her one escape and all of them are kind of pitted to this place where it's fly or die with rob rob is about to be in his own rock in a hard place rob in a hard place with jane the hard place being his dick whoa or the crag crag, I guess, but... Whoa. Dang. And you're talking about this idea of, like,

you make a choice and you have to live with it, right? And having to make one, and something that Emily in Paris just taught me in the latest season is that not making a choice... Sorry, I broke everyone, but not making a choice is also... It's still a choice, right? I learned that

in the Tudors today as well oh my god in season two of the tutors wow season three of emily in paris i'm not there yet it's still a choice i haven't binged it yet that's this weekend for me hopefully that's what i did over the holidays with my mother so yes Accepting the call. That is what this finally is, right? We've had several long chapters of rejecting the call, but finally the call has shown up at the doorstep and forced Bran to answer it. In Joseph Campbell's Hero of a Thousand Faces,

there's this idea of the walls that are protecting you also imprisoning you, which we saw with Bran, right? We saw that his life in Winterfell, he felt like he was in a jail cell. And there's this quote from Joseph Campbell that the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved when they are trapped within those walls. And I think that this last passage, the end of it, it's so powerful because that is the moment Bran makes himself not a victim to be saved. Right. That is the moment he gets to take a moment in his life and choose, even if it's really not a choice in the end. Right. Like it is the the choice, capital T, the choice he needs to make. But he got to make it for himself.

he needs to make. But he got to make it for himself. Part of why he makes it, right? You're talking about this is really great, what you're saying of like, when you don't take that action, when you're not a proactive character, being a victim to be saved. And that's what Bran is wrestling with in himself. He's hated this whole time. Part of why he likes Manderly is Manderly does not look at him with pity, right? He hates that he has to be carried around he hates that he can't make these decisions and that he's not the hero he's the damsel in distress I guess if you will and in these stories and so there's that gendered aspect too but he realizes finally like it doesn't matter anywhere that I go everyone's still gonna think I'm a cripple and it ties back to that speech that Tyrion gives Jon that he doesn't really give Bran. He doesn't get the chance to really impart that same message onto him, but like, make

it your armor and no one can use it against you, right? So if Bran's going to be this anyway, he might as well decide and take action. And a lot of this chapter is about that right george rr martin setting the stage for what this book is and what brands not only literal outside adventure journey is going to be right because what's important is as you said right he answers the call and that the journey starts because of brand but he's also to an extent, reminding us where Bran left off in the previous chapter at the end of Clash, right?

The crushing of the threshold when it comes to that hero's journey. In case you forgot, during the two-year wait between Clash and Storm, I would not forget anything during a two-year wait. Glossing over that.

And it's crazy to think if he's developed this much by dance i'm sure that george will take advantage of not necessarily a gap like the original five-year gap but i'm sure that he will take advantage of using time as a kind of more spaced out topic not necessarily a day-to-day approach in the winds of winter because i feel like he's going to want to mature some of these characters a little more and book five we don't get a lot of insight from internal bran as much as we do in these first three books in my opinion in dance so i'm curious to see what we get back of bran in the winds of winter and how far he's kind of progressed since

this because you're already seeing him as a much different boy than the boy we met in a game of thrones yeah and a big part of that is like what brand only has three chapters in dance compared to all these other books absolutely and it's intentional i mean to me that's very intentional in a dance with dragons that george wants to kind of isolate him and pull him back from us not unlike what we'll see with john for probably the first half of t wow interesting well there you go the journey begins again yeah lots to ponder before next week with our uh hero's journey truly popping off i'm excited i'm excited for my couple of favorite chapters coming up here with terny at heron hall talk next week and of course

what chapter three we have jaharis and aliceanne at queen's crown and hey i think we might even have a special surprise for you on the fourth chapter. So keep your ears peeled. A surprise. Well, you can keep up with all of those developments by following us on social media. That's twitter.com slash girls gone canon. C-A-N-O-N. Again, in case you forgot it from the start of the episode, or you can send us an email at girls gone canon at gmail.com. Yeah.

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season. Yes. As always, I'm depressed about His Dark Materials and Bran. I mean, I'm Chloe. And I've been another one of your hosts. Eliana. Also sad.

We'll be back next week. Bye. Bye.