Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 196 — AGOT Arya IV

Episode Date: August 4, 2023

Syrio, run... Fear cuts deeper than swords.  Links mentioned: Taylor Swift telling us to look at her pet cat: https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorswift/video/7003009339082558726?lang=en Check us out on Bluesky! https://bsky.app/profile/girlsgonecanon.bsky.social --- 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 196 inching towards that 200 with aria 4 in a game of thrones i of course am one of your hosts chloe and i am another one of your hosts eliana why did you say of course i don't know i just wanted to say a thing i sometimes i want to mix it up mixing it up i don't know i mean we're almost at 200 episodes don't the people want to know how we keep it fresh at home together i guess so happy wives happy lives yeah that's true that's true absolutely um we are always happy wives with happy lives when it comes to one another but you know who else we like to keep happy happy patrons happy lives you know what i mean they're my homies and this month this past month we put out a new patron bonus episode for those strangers and the stranger tier and above that's the five buck and up tier and god what did

we talk about we talked about road trips it was great it was a fun ass episode it was vibes all the way down, friends. It was very vibes. As the person who edited it, I was like, this is a very vibes episode. If you want something laid back, just relax, you know, turn your brain off a little bit. You can have it a little bit on as a treat this summer. You can throw on that episode. It meanders, takes you on a journey, just like a road trip does.

Yeah, I actually would venture to say you should listen to it on your road trip, because I think, you know, it's got a little A Song of Ice and Fire at the end. It's got a big chunk of other media in the middle and front. It's got stories, it's got anecdotes, it's got stupidity. I think it's a perfect episode. It is meant to follow the form of a road trip we even argue in it like a family in a car that's actually how we keep it fresh

you know arguing for you come listen to us argue on patreon.com slash girlsgodcanon that's not the only perk that our patrons can get, so if you're in the Thunder

tier and above, you can see us argue live on Discord all the time. Or do our dishes. Or do our dishes. She's never letting it go that she did her dishes during last month's Discord brunch. I actually feel a little guilty about that, but sorry everyone. I'm in the middle of a move.

Bitches gotta do their dishes. Bitches do dishes, you know what I mean? That's what they say. Yeah, that's absolutely what I think. Women's Place in the kitchen, for sure, Chloe. Doing dishes. Yeah. That's why we're doing these Aria episodes. That's why we want to stress during these episodes

about Aria stark hey harren hall is coming harren hall is coming very soon so gear up for woman in the kitchen she does go in the kitchen yeah briefly in this chapter yeah oh yeah she does some tripping in the kitchen uh but back to discord there was a segue that we were taking to discord we took the long way around what a road trip we just went on yeah our discord friends our patrons of the thunder tier the ten dollar tier and above have access to a monthly event on our discord called brunch slash happy hour it is a fun couple of hours it's actually two hours for the price of one in the title. So congratulations. And we hang around. Sometimes we play reindeer games.

My computer, my personal computer is dying. So right now, not lately, but we will soon. We do some games, get to know you as we chat, we discourse about media or about nothing sometimes we talk about the state of the world that is crumbling around us together which is always fun in my opinion like straight up we do sometimes it's good it's good existential yeah but yeah so that's happening this month in august we're doing one of course god it's like our i think we've done like a lot of these a lot of these like i think we're in like the 20 plus i don't know this is i actually don't know it's a very i want to say we're in the 20 plus i'd have to look at it but 12 to 24 of these somewhere in this range maybe we should one to two years i mean we number all the other things but maybe we don't need to number it you know it's it's free for god yeah well august it's

jazz is that august is going to be sunday the 27th at 3 p.m et and then we'll also be convening. We've already chosen September's on the 23rd from 3 p.m. E.T. on as well. So come hang out at either of those. If you are on our patron on our Patreon as a Thunder tier member and Thunder tier members also get basically asterisk lifetime access to the Discord server. The asterisk is as long as the discord server is alive and of course uh don't be an asshole because you don't want to get kicked for that that's like an embarrassing asterisk so yeah lifetime hashtag lifetime yeah you're in the lifetime channel or the band oh my god. Both very different. Hacker voice.

We got you in. Well, now that we've discussed all that, are you ready for the emails and tweets of note? And I said it here towards the later part of our intro because it goes and segues perfectly into one of the first emails that I want to call out from our friend Clint of the Learned Hands podcast saying, if you ever stop opening these episodes with, are you ready?

I will sue. I know it was a little later, but I just had a perfect segue, Clint. So I think that I should get an excuse. And it technically is still opening the episode. Please don't enable her. This is her season. It is Leo season. Please don't enable the Leoo clint whoever you may be

uh if that is your real name no it is but thank you clint for not suing us you're not our lawyer so that could be a problem if you sue us that's true asterisk up next we got an email from Sabrina Dreamfire, Brittany McClain on Twitter, who is a fan of our podcast and of Aria. She's also a fan of the Stark sisters. And we're not pitting them against one another. Hashtag yes. When they first got into the books, they remember there was a lot of you

either liked Sansa or you liked Aria. And Sabrina loves them both. Same. Hates when people, you know, hate on either of them. Anyways, Sabrina says people think of Sansa versus Arya along the lines of girly girl versus tomboy because Sansa tends to be super feminine while Arya tends to be one of the boys, so to speak. But I like to think about them along the lines of Sansa being kind of the good kid, oh yes. If she had lived in our world, she would get straight A's and be

a bit of a teacher's pet, be a bit haughty as a result, and always follow the rules. I definitely can see that. Agreed. While Arya tries to be that, she doesn't quite fit. That plot point that Arya is left handed and stories being set in a medieval setting love to use not liking Needlebrwork as a sign of being not like the girls, other girls.

That's what's going on with Arya, but she can't do needlework as well as Sansa because she's literally different than her. Septimordane doesn't do anything to account for or accommodate that and makes her feel like she's the bad one. her feel like she's the bad one. Arya doesn't really want to be part of a society with these arbitrary rules that she doesn't understand, one that's kind of unfair and conflicts with her own sense of justice. And that's why I love Arya. I really love that at the time when this email came in, Sabrina hadn't gotten to the Arya 2 episode and I think that I think that we resonated similarly with our thoughts on Arya. In fact, I hope that my left-handedness feels like a part of this. It really does. It does.

I feel seen. I feel seen. Because also in a not medieval setting that happened to me about my left hand. Yeah, I think, I mean, as I've stressed constantly, right, I strongly feel that Sans and Aa's stories compliment one another. It doesn't really make sense to pit them against one another, even though George does at the beginning to an extent. It's a little bit his fault. And I'll bring up that Reddit comment eventually, just because I don't feel like finding it now.

But I think it does a great job of summarizing why people feel that way at the beginning, which, again i think a little bit of weakness of the writing but i think sabrina does a great job of showing it as like the good kid or like the bad the bad one right whereas you know the bad one is septimordane uh jk jk unless but inside of you there are two wolves and And it is Sansa and Arya. Figuratively and... It's still only figuratively, but it's a little bit almost literal because they're Starks. Get it? No, literally, there is a Sansa and Arya within all of the genders. Like, any of the genders.

You know what I mean? Like, that's... There's two parts of you and one is each. In my opinion. Thank you, Sabrina. Yes, yes. And then we also got another email. We're getting a lot of

emails during these Aria episodes. Very exciting. People are really excited for Aria. They were ready. Well, I hope they stay ready. For a long time. Our friend Bela Breakwind wrote in to us and said, good morning good morning girls i'm listening to

your new episode and not only do i think you aren't crazy about rainies potentially working into her kitten and when we talk about rainies we mean the most recent one all right um there's a lot of them throughout history but i also think it could be a good gardening indication of what's to come for john and rickon it's said that skin changers become more feral and more in tune with their animals as time goes on so maybe all little ranny's has left is her hatred of the people who killed her and her family i think this could indicate that a john is going to be much more animalistic when he returns from the dead and b rickon will be more wolf than boy when davos finds him which will lead to the decision to leave him on skagos with the occupational administration okay second i had to read that a lot too to understand that

we're going in pieces right now i'm in pieces that's good um thank you so much baylor breakwind for sharing this and i like that i it makes sense also when you think of what Oral too, right? Yeah, absolutely. The hatred that grew, right? And the way that the eagle acts and it tracks with what we know from Varamyr's chapter. Yeah. Also, even if you think about it, different kind of second life

Lady Stoneheart, right? All that's left of her is that desire for vengeance. Her eyes see and they hate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that that's great thank you bella breakwind wow these emails are great i'm i'm glad that we're getting this influx i want to see it capped up for the next year and a half i want you all to keep it up that's the challenge yeah every single book it's a little on us too too. We have a responsibility to report out, I guess. And I know sometimes I fail.

But these are great, everyone. Keep up the energy. Honestly, I love these emails though. I like hearing what everyone else is thinking and it makes us all feel together. Like you're here too. I also feel

like we're all together when we get to do a lightning round you know makes me feel real close to you all i hope you feel close to me these are the things i think when i think about these chapters you know this is just right off the old skull eliana i've got a couple doozies in here for you today hope you're primed hope you're ready uh keep it spicy again lots of spiciness in this relationship. The lightning round. Get it? Get it?

Well, we're keeping the spark, but we're not keeping the Starks. Or we're only keeping the Starks, I should say. Except for one. Yeah, we've cut out everything but the Starks for this here lightning round. You know? Mm. Mm. I see.

I see. All see. Alright. Without further ado, Eddard VIII, sickened by his boss's behavior, Ned quits his handjob. Thank you. Catelyn VI, Cat and Co. ascend the Eyrie with

their prisoner Tyrion. Eddard IX. Oh my god, it reminds me of 30 Rock. Jenna, I am kidnapped. I don't remember that. I don't think I watched enough 30 Rock. Oh, you gotta. Ettered 9.

After heading for a lad's night out with Littlefinger, Ned is ambushed by Jaime Lannister. Brand 5. Brand, who is no longer having what I would call a good childhood, gets attacked by six outlaws in the woods.

Thanks, that's a favorite of mine, that one. That doesn't happen to everyone? I mean... There's this line in Bob's Burgers where Bob's like, Linda, I don't think I had a good childhood, and Linda's like, of course not. no one with a good childhood stands like that look at your posture like poor bran i have to fix my posture now anyways oh well i guess i can't any uh yeah i

i'll see you like reach a certain i don't know, and like, stories always have at least one person trying to get kidnapped. You know, that's what Rush Hour is about. Addard 10. Ned has a horrible dream about an old tower, and his best friend tells him, much like we tell each other weekly, you are not allowed to quit this job. Okay, interesting.

Catalin 7. A duel proves Tyrion's honor. Does it? Jon 5. Jon passes his tests as a new recruit of the Watch, but remembers that the Lone Wolf dies and makes sure Sam, part of his new pack, survives. Aww. Thanks. Eddard 11.

Eddard plays Robert for a day, and in the Hour of the wolf, he dispenses true justice from the Iron Throne. Sansa III. Sansa's entire life is ruined because her stupid dad is making her go stupid home to stupid Winterfell. Ugh. What if they had, like, Sansa's chapters, but in the style of the Lizzie McGuire show? That's my new pitch. Get rid of Snow. This is my new pitch.

I'm gonna cry. Eddard 12. Ned gives Cersei an opportunity to save herself and her children. Eddard 13. On that good decision-making train edward asks little finger for help john six john learns he will be a steward and throws a fit but before their graduation ceremony in vows sam tells him to suck it up he's being groomed to rule yeah ma'am up no that's what i say in hard times ma'am up edward 14 ned is betrayed by little finger gasp who could have seen this coming and that takes us to aria 4 in a game of thrones aria's

childhood is murdered in cold blood before her part one. Is this also part of Arya who I who is no longer having what I would call a good childhood? Yeah, part one. Stay tuned for part two. It's next week. I bet she's got great posture though. Thanks to Syrio.

I think you have to have certain kinds of different Okay, she has incredible upper body strength as we will discuss this chapter. Yeah, and as we open up this chapter, Syrio is calling out directions to Arya. She's parrying with her stick sword, blocking blows, sidestepping him. She finally sweeps his blade away, almost touching his shoulder, and it makes her grin, right? She finally accomplished something. They dance left right left

right ba select start high low uh sirio hits her with a wooden blade in her breast she knows that she'll have a new bruise when she finally sleeps tonight and she thinks a bruise is a lesson and each lesson makes us better damn if that isn't the a of Thrones Aria metaphor, right? Because the chips are about to be down real bad. Yeah. Things are about to suck real bad, but I'm enjoying how George is showing us with Aria throughout this chapter and the rest of the Game of Thrones without telling, right? You get to see Aria starts to open up and be more observant immediately. She starts to watch what people are wearing. She begins to think of how to do the opposite of what the normal public is doing to stay hidden and

discreet we see this as she runs through this chapter and in the next chapter she learns to blend in all of this learning is kind of happening in a very unfortunate time of urgency and sadness and stress and a traumatic time you know with her dad being slaughtered in front of her after her best friend was slaughtered not in front of her but bad enough after she had to get rid of her support animal and um you know all the other bad things we don't need to really recant them but it's one of those like cheesy motivational memes you know like in times of pressure comes a diamond every lesson is a bruise but every every bruise makes us better in the end yeah i don't know if like that's necessarily true it's something that is definitely what people say right like that the hard times

make you stronger and i think you know for a lot of necessity yeah we'll we'll like see if that's true or not and i think a lot of a song of ice and fire makes arguments for both sides like that's the point of the story right to explore all those different parts because like i don't know if tyrians the things that tyria went through right make him stronger but they definitely do teach aria right she's learning how to survive better from every bruise but also I thought it was an interesting line when put in contrast with in the same book uh Cersei's statement about the bruise that she gets when her husband uh beats her and says that she will wear it as a badge of honor right like what was her lesson there kill him faster exactly like

it doesn't like harm isn't necessarily always a lesson so i just thought it was an interesting contrast between those two moments especially because their stories literally intersect yeah and i also find it interesting fascinating all the other synonyms no um i think there's also something rather interesting in like for aria the first lesson that we're going to see that answer to is that she's going to become like a very mighty person especially as a feast for crows she's out there you know just like bumped running through the streets and then dance and the wins a winner in Mercy no big spoilers but what a chapter she is very capable

she's capable of holding her own blending into the shadows being able to survive which is good but there's a negative side to that too that comes from that and there's a part of that that you don't get back of your childhood once you've gone there

so I'm interested to see that part of the consequence of these lessons and bruises absolutely it's a yeah she's a really leveling up you know very fast in her dnd class her dnd class she really is i hope i believe you so sirius has spack telling her you're dead and she accuses him of cheating that he said left but he went right he's like well my words lied but my eyes and arms told the truth and she did not see watching is not seeing dead girl the water dancer sees and he tells her to put her sword down tells her to come listen to him he tells her to put her sword down, tells her to come listen to him. He tells her that he became the first sword to the Sea Lord of Braavos by seeing, the true seeing. And I thought that stood out, right? And as more of the story becomes about like greensight, obviously there's like a true seeing that's being discussed here.

But greensight's a thing. And also the other ways that we see true seeing happen. Also, the other ways that we see true seeing happen, like ironically, Maester Aemon is someone who truly sees through the glamour of Lightbringer, even though he's blind. I love that and that her first lesson and this entire passage will come to it. But like it, her feast art ties really great into here, right? Because everything she's doing in feast where she's seeing when she's blind she's forced out of her body to see they blind her they take her sight to show that she can still see and figure it out i mean this leads so well into that this is beautifully blended into that as a plot it's uh it's a seamless like progression for aria's. And it's great because when she comes to Braavos, this is her

101, right? This entire passage especially is 101 to that. But this is it. This is her intro to the rest of her arc. And when she gets to Feast, she's kind of like an advanced student. She's already past those first classes, right?

They kind of put her on the streets pretty quick compared to some of the other novices that are inside the temple just like you know doing the pale meat up cutting up all those people i mean pork cutting the pork up and you know it's kind of interesting she's she's learning here she is she is and yeah i guess you know she's never gonna we don't really see her becoming like a master swordsman or anything which is interesting that the show did go that route because technically as you said this is more of her learning seeing and those other sort of like roguelike skills that she builds on in the house of black and white she's good enough with a sword

but how good can you be when you've only had a few lessons because your dad got abducted and then your master died? Okay, true. Very true. I'm just wondering. That's a good question. No, these are good questions. I will say, again, I think it's out of survival, right? Like, she doesn't need to be a great swords person except to survive or if situations go awry and need it it's i think it's more about speed right it's about speed swiftness like being small you know some you know how short people have that like lower center of gravity

no me either but i hear about it i do hear it, and there's something there with that, I think. There's, you know, they get the underhand, the underfoot, the underhand. I like what you're saying, because that plays into it. She always gets initiative on every roll. I'm really going into these Dungeons & Dragons

shit today. I don't know why. I haven't played in a long time. I agree. I mean, all I can do is agree. It's like that. Syrio tells Arya about the Sealords' menagerie, where strange and wonderful exotic animals

and maybe lemon trees live. Parry mouse pigs as big as cows, striped horses Oh, it's horses. Stinging manticores, tigers carrying their cubs in pouch walking lizards with scythes for claws maybe even like aliens is this an alien reference like maybe lizard people in lizard suits i was like i think you're right because scyther is a bug type pokemon but all i can see in my head is scyther i'm like it's either the walking lizards with scythes for

claws is interesting the stinging manticores is interesting uh considering daenerys with her stinging manticore that almost gets her in the bazaar kind of reminds me of that the tigers carrying their cubs in pouch uh that reminds me of the lannisters just because i'm just like telling you what this all reminds me of stri Striped Horses does come into her plot, right, very soon. We have a Zorse come into her life with the Mummers, right? The bloody Mummers coming into town, bringing their Zorse. What else? There's something in there.

There's something going on there. I don't know why I've never connected in my head the idea of the bloody Mummers, also with the fact that, you know, Arya does... I'm spoiling shit uh do a little a little tour with some mummers i kind of thought about that a little recently when i was rereading the old wins a winner rag that we got out there you know the several chapters so on the day sirio's telling her all of this, he tells her, the current First Sword of Braavos had died and he was sent for. So, in the lap of the Sealord when he got there for his interview, a fat yellow cat sat.

A beast from an island beyond the sunrise, he was told. The Sealord asked him, have you ever seen a cat like this? And Syrio's like, yeah, every single night I see a thousand of them in the streets of Braavos. The cat was ordinary. Everybody else told him that this cat must be so crazy, you know, insane, a fabulous beast. It's so large. Look at its ears. They're so small. But it was plainly a tomcat. The sea lord had called it a her and that's what others saw this is i think actually very loaded we'll come back to it in a second but first of all i want to say the way that you described this anecdote i'm now thinking of the sea lord of bravos like that taylor swift i

think tiktok where she's like look at my cat look at my cat look at my cat look at my cat and it's just like the cat over and over it's a great video um i'll check it out i'll link it in the show notes look at taylor swift's cat um i would have failed this test i would have been like you're right i've never seen a cat like this so amazing it's so beautiful and fluffy just like because every single cat right i'll be like i've never seen a cat like that so special and so beautiful i'm not even gonna go into what you just said out loud because i'm like eliana did you look at what's on your ceiling oh my god you did you just looked up nothing's on your ceiling you're gullible there's nothing there oh my god she literally looked up i was like what is chloe talking about exactly you're gullible i could tell you so one time my dad told this girl and her mom i had to been like seventh grade 13 12 13 something this girl and her mom that had come

over to be my play date we they have these beautiful himalayan cats okay gorgeous show cats they're like cream with flame points bred to be show cats never put through a single show because my mom got them and she was like no they're my perfect baby boys um so these cats in the summer it gets so hot they shave them down and they give them little lion poofs and they were kind of in the throes of having the poofiness grow out a little bit so it looked a little more natural and the mom of this child was like oh my god what kind of cats are those and my dad's like oh it's an offshoot of the liger breed because this was during the napoleon dynamite craze and the woman bless her heart believed him like he just said it with all of the charisma of a leo actually his birthday is the day

after we record this but uh all the charisma of a leo and he just said it and she believed him sometimes you get away with that shit i i would have believed him too you know i would have believed him and uh i i'm not saying that like I would have believed I just am saying also that you know all the cats I've been like yes I've never seen a cat like this yours is so special to all the cats you've known before yeah to all the cats I've known before

oh my gosh I love you to all the cats I've loved before if you've shown your feline to Eliana like I have she's seen my two beautiful wonderful assistant cats now yeah just know she's thinking about your cat yeah yeah and and you as we remind people every now and then you can email us your pets at girls gone canon c-a-n-o-n at gmail.com we love a good pet photo please do please do Please do. Well, Arya thinks about it

and realizes that he saw what was there. That's all. And then we have this line of, Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. Look with your eyes, hear with your ears,

taste with your mouth, smell with your nose, feel with your skin. Then comes the thinking afterward. And in that, knowing the truth. There's something great in that not only is that part of her Braavos 101 training that she already kind of knows a little bit going in. It makes her more advanced when she gets there and feasts. But also, when you hear those things, yes, he's he's saying you know look at the truth that

surrounds you but the truth and all of those things lie in your senses and your senses sense what's around you which is like life and living and it like when you read it out loud it reminds me of like just describing like life you know like see with your fucking eyes smell your nose feel with your skin like you're alive that's what the truth is and like i think it could come back around to you know some of her plot of not being able to choose life choosing survival for these several books and choosing to kill or be killed and choosing to probably not choosing but having to kill zombies uh many zombies maybe multiple zombies we'll find out not just one or two several many like what that does to a person and like i don't know it just reads like a mantra of like fucking

relax meditate for a minute bitch i don't know something about the way you read it maybe well i like what you said because it reminds me a little of uh you know what to do when you're having what an anxiety or panic yeah right like the you know five things you can see four things you can this is probably why i have so much anxiety because i forgot what it was the three r's i learned it because of my anxiety and then i forgot it now i have problems so anyway it's like that it's like that friends yeah i don't know just something i was musing on i do have like a real thought not a this is my musing on the aria meditation hour though i would pay for that that would be a great app the cat is such a great metaphor considering where we are

between sansa chapters and ned chapters and what's going on for of course the bastard children all of them not just the ones that are the talk of the town right now, which are Cersei's bastard children, right? Big yellow cat. The big yellow cat. If you look with your eyes, what will you see about the big yellow cat? That he's nothing but a plain-ass tomcat.

Tommen cat, if you will. Aww. Yeah, he's a sweetie. But yeah, Cersei's gotten away with saying, these are my exotic brood. They are Baratheon royal children. And people just follow it, right? And that, he kind of even says here,

Syrio's like, people that don't see, that don't, you know, that bring up things that go against that flow don't last. Like, you have to see with all of this. And Ned does not. He goes against the flow. Maybe he, you know, had with all of this and ned does not he goes against the flow maybe he you know howdy not but it's not just them i think it's also a great metaphor for john right who's hidden in plain sight what's an easier way of hiding john than letting people believe the

rumors that surround him letting them you know see with their eyes oh oh, it's Ned's son. That's easy. You tell people it's Ned's son, they believe it's Ned's son. You look at, you know, there's tons of bastards, like another maybe royal quote unquote bastard to talk about with this too. Maybe Rhaenys' brother. Yeah, I love I love what you said here of, you know, as you said, being able to see and Cersei's children, even though i do still think it was a really big leap for ned to be like wow they're blonde they're having incest with her twin brother literally she could have been boning anyone else and had dominant traits but that was the leap that he made and was right not the first to die for it sucker yeah i just still think i'm like wow what a strange

leap yeah and but yeah i i think the john stuff as you said it ties in really well because i'm sure if people really saw and looked closely they'd see it's not just ned that he looks like right ned must have been so relieved when aa came out and was like, oh my god. Finally. Someone, one of them finally looks like me. Someone will finally believe it. And it also makes me, it ties into Daenerys' chapters too, right? I think Jorah's telling her right now, like, really look at your brother. Do you really think that guy can rule all these people? She's like, you're right, probably not.

Probably not. she's like you're right probably not probably not anyway in regards to royalty as well i think um this ties into to what you're saying the cat being no different than any other cat i think there's another aspect in which i mean is nobility that different from the people outside the castle walls no that's why ari is able to blend in they're all just fucking people you know someone just said that cat is the king and made them special right what's so special about king's blood that other people have decided and come together and been like yeah sure i fucking see it i believe it and it's just like with those trappings of power just like with the berries and illyrio's prince i guess technically

tyrian really saw there in a moment for a bit he was like wow i see you you're actually supposed to be prince agon and then but that was a double fake out it's kind of funny because they desperately want to believe they're special too right that their blood could like wake stone dragons and shit it's like no you bleed like me bro you bleed just like the rest of us come here let's find out exactly exactly it's kind of funny and sad but funny i like that sirio tells aria there were tons of men better than him faster and stronger because sword fighting isn't also just about being the strongest kind of back to what we were saying that she might not be the strongest swordsman uh it's reminiscent of like the same lesson brienne gets from her master at arms right

that others will underestimate you use that aria might not be some giant man with mighty arms that can wield like a broad sword or bastard sword but that's her advantage right needle is her advantage much like the senya had dark sister they only see with their eyes while she sees with all of her senses and she knows what there is and what there is not when it comes to battle like she knows what she's capable of like it's like you know i i've recently finished all the grisha verse books and there's a great concept of like you know they talk a lot about moving matter and how like at one point you know there are a lot of constraints on magic and that they can't get past a certain amount of their science and magic until one of the characters kind of like

starts to realize like everything is fucking matter all you have to do is move it like i can do anything with matter if i just understand that it's everywhere and it's in everything and everything is it like if i can do one then why can't I move everything around it and senses are like that right like if you can you're the only obstacle that you have to overcome you can move everything around you so Arya kind of learns that through all this shit it's kind of neat yeah yeah and also you were talking about the you know underestimatingating her left handedness plays into that too, right? Playing with people's expectations. Yeah, I'm underestimated every day. Yeah, so true. So true.

As a lefty. See, you're underestimating me right now. I see it in your eyes. Oh my god. She's like, I'm estimating you, Eliana. Look up at the ceiling. I was gonna say, Elianaiana what's on the ceiling i can't believe you looked up that was funny as shit i wish you all could see it what is the point that she's making i was like what is the ceiling what's on it oh my point was made oh it was made yeah sirio begins to tell aria that when they reach this winterfell of hers it will be time for her to use needle in practice sooner than everyone thinks but their joy is interrupted by a resounding

crash of lannister guardsmen and a knight of the king's guard breaking in its mare entrant his visors up aria notes that the red cloaks were male shirts atop their boiled leather great first observation from her right again seeing with her eyes they came to make battle not to guard not to keep the peace a cab the king's guard totally it's such a ruining moment that maren trant walks the fuck in and performs this way like shame shame on you to king'sguard every single place and i love that the the line from sirio about reaching winterfell obviously he won't reach winterfell which is kind of sad devastating horrible devastating me but also like when she goes to winterfell that's when it will

be time for her to really use needle good point you know when she returns home to kill a bunch of motherfucking whites yeah absolutely yeah and i mean this is also just like a great immediate example of what it means to really be seeing from george to the way that he's structured this because sirio sees so observantly right there because ari is about to go right because she's been trained to be like you trust authority right and she's going to go with meron tran in series like hold on why would the stark hand of the king send lannister guards to go fetch his daughter so that right there is a great example of seeing and also understanding and meaning but i like what you called out of arian noting that the red cloaks were male atop their boiled leather because it makes me think of catelyn stark it's a little

too late it's a little too late but seeing and understanding immediately the meaning of the chain mail with the shirts and also everything else going on at the red wedding like she sees everything she just is helpless to stop it yeah and i think she didn't want to believe it right and really think about it, but she could see. She thought there was a chance still for peace. Mm-hmm. Ugh. Poor Catelyn.

She believed. That's what it is. My poor mom. Yeah, then the Reigns of Castamere started playing, and she saw in that moment what that meant. Power is power. Oh my god, leave me alone. Cheap party tricks is power.

I also think there's something great that both Sansa and Arya are learning this in different ways. Sansa is learning that the words that come out of people's mouths are bullshit, right? And to learn to see, to hear, she's learning to hear what they're actually saying. see but hear like for example the things Joffrey and Cersei say to her right like those are absolutely tons of lies and they're saying it to you know seduce her to the dark side the Lannister side and keep her as a token to leverage against her family yada yada yada but I think it's really interesting that she's learning to see through the lies of king's landing while aria has to learn to see them yeah absolutely aria is learning to see what's there the lies i think there's an aspect in which our sansa is also learning to see what people want you know their desires their goals people's desires yeah it's you you are little fingers desire anyways um thanks i hate it i yeah they bid aria to come with them and aria asks why feeling uncertain they say that her father wants to see her but sirio forel steps in asking why her father would send landis regards to come

get his daughter as we said earlier and marin tells him to mind his place but aria pipes up being like yeah yeah what he said why would my father say he would never send you and raises her wooden stick put down the stick girl sir marin told her i am a brother of the king's guard the white swords so was the kingslayer when he killed the old king i don't have to go with you if i don't want sir marin trant ran out of patience. Take her, he said to his men. He lowers his visor, and the men step forward for battle. Fear cuts deeper than swords, Arya thinks, fearfully,

and Syrio steps between them, asking if they're men or dogs to threaten a child. One of the red cloaks says, Out of the way, old man, but Syrio Ferell demands respect. Yeah. Hitting him with a stick and breaking his hands i'm just imagining like the like i don't know annoying like voice being like oh wait old man

it reminds me of like team rocket in pokemon yes exactly out of my way old man i was thinking gary oak in the early know, before he goes through character growth. Wow. Perfect. See, there you go. Smell you later. We're on the same, similar page. Smell you later. You are quick for Dancing Master. You are slow for a knight. Kill the bravosian.

Bring me the girl. The knight in the white armor commanded. Four Lannister guardsmen unsheathed their swords. The fifth, with the broken fingers, spat and pulled a free dagger with his left hand. Cyrio Forel clicked his teeth together, sliding into his water dancer's stance, presenting only his side to the foe. Are you a child?

He called out, never looking, never taking his eyes off the Lannisters. We are done with dancing for the day. Best you are going now. Run to your father. Arya did not want to leave him, but he had taught her to do as he said. Sweet as a tear. Just so, said Syrio Forel as the Lannisters closed. Horrible. Aw, yeah, I mean, it's the Lannisters closed. Horrible. Aw, yeah, I mean it's the Duncan Idaho chapter.

Oh my god, it's true. It is! It's true! It's also another great immediate example of, again, what it means to see versus watching, because Meryn Tritt was a little slow picking up that he is not that kind of dancing master. when he's like

you're quick for a dancing master it's like did you not notice the sticks in their hands earlier? What kind of, you know, you who were trained in swords did not see what the fuck was going on here? Yeah and it keeps going through this chapter right that people again underestimate Arya they think she is

Lady Stark right? The Hand of the King's lady daughter. She's not. That's Sansa. That's not me. That's not you. God damn it. Well.

Arya retreats, and she watches, realizing Syrio had been playing a child's game with her, and now he was dancing like a professional. She looks at their weaknesses. Leather on their legs. Bare hands. The caps have no eye cover.

Serio beats their asses one by one. Goddamn, this is such a... These couple pages are hard to read because they're so good. Oh no. Man, am I misty-eyed reading them. I'm gonna get misty-eyed in a second. It's sad. He beats their asses one by one. He steals a cap right off of one of their heads what a fucking badass

the last red cloak utters a curse and charges and sirio rolls right catching him with a butcher's cut the man on his knees shrieks sirio jabs the apple of his throat five men are down dead or dying by the time aa's at the door and Meryn Trant curses, sword in hand, calling his men bloody oafs. I couldn't not include this. I don't know if we'll get through it without me sobbing hysterically. I was reading it last week.

Maybe it was the PMS, maybe it was just life, but man, I was I was real fucking sad. I was real devastated. It's sad. I don't remember it being this sad when her Jedi mentor goes, but... Really? No, it's sad.

I was. No, it's that sad. I do. I do. Syrio Forel resumed his stance and clicked his teeth together. Arya Child, he called out, never looking at her. Be gone now. Look with your eyes, he had said. She saw,

the knight in his pale armor, head to foot, legs, throats, hands sheathed in metal, eyes hidden behind his high white helm, and in his hand, cruel steel. Against that, Syrio, in a leather vest, with a wooden sword in his hand. Syrio, run! in a leather vest with a wooden sword in his hand. Syrio, run! The first sword of Braavos does not run, he sang as Sir Meryn slashed at him.

I am tearing up right now. I know, me too, dude. Those are like so emotional. Syrio, Pharrell. I'm a grown-ass bitch. I am a grown-ass bitch. I am a grown-ass bitch who pays her bills. Why am I crying right now? Syrio, Pharrell.

I love you, Syrio. Syrio, run. Syrio died for our sins, too. Syrio died for all of our sins. Arya stands frozen watching the blows. Meryn strikes Syrio's wooden sword in two

and wood splinters everywhere and Arya sobs and runs before she has to watch her first mentor murdered before her very eyes. God. Fuck. George. George, why you do that? We're big sad. Um, I know that nobody... Fuck. um i know that nobody fuck i know that nobody equals no death right but that's so silly

especially in a game of thrones there were bodies and no bodies and it still meant death for a lot of people um in the serial case dude's dead he's so dead and yes yes men's lives have meaning not their deaths what he provided aria in tutelage and what he literally opened and closed her eyes to uh that that's priceless shit but also sometimes the rule and the exception are not the same thing right like this was important that he died he had to die this is very this is right she can't go on without him dying. Yeah. No, I absolutely agree. Like he has like his death.

It has weight, right? It has meaning because he chose to sacrifice himself, sacrifice being like a big theme running throughout the story and that you choose and you do it yourself. That's what gives it meaning as opposed to you being like, I don know i'll sacrifice like my daughter or some shit you go out on your terms you protect other people right when you do it and you give yourself up and put yourself at risk that is a sacrifice because you are protecting something you care about and exactly again the duncan idaho chapter though now that i'm like maybe that isn't a great comparison, because technically he kind of does. Spoilers, come back. Yeah.

again which we'll get to in a second but you know also what you're saying right with like that meaning it it goes together well also with ned whose death has meaning because he's protecting people with it he's protecting his daughter but i think that there's that was just like a few chapters ago ned's fever dream and i think there's a parallel there's a sort of like poetic uh rhyming here with Sirio Forel saying the first sword of Braavos does not run and then in Ned's fevered dream as he remembers coming up against the Kingsguard at the Tower of Joy of the Kingsguard does not flee then or now said Sir Arthur as he donned his helm you have these great echoes of loyalty and and of men who die to protect children to protect innocence from dead to the king's guard and then to sirio pharrell that's great that's so great it really does echo that like the real duty especially that we just watched maron trant

completely shit on what the duty of the king's guard really should be about oh yeah which which aria calls out right and yeah aria runs through the kitchens bowling over the workers syria's words are repeating in her head swift as a deer quiet as a shadow fear cuts deeper than swords quick as a snake calm as still water fear cuts deeper than swords strong as a bear fierce as a wolver, fear cuts deeper than swords. Strong as a bear, fierce as a wolverine, fear cuts deeper than swords. The man who fears losing has already lost. Fear cuts deeper than swords.

Fear cuts deeper than swords. Fear cuts deeper than swords. Again, it is her own litany of fear, as we discussed last chapter and a second ago. It's also a mirror right to earlier aria chapters as she's was before running through and sneaking through kitchens in order to get treats but now she's running through the kitchen in order to escape the treat is her life there's also an aspect in which we can unpack this a different time unless we want to do it now but i haven't

thought much about it of how this contrasts then with the lesson that ned gives of fear is important i guess this doesn't counter it right it's just saying fear cuts deeper than swords um not that you shouldn't feel it and therefore be brave but that is the point of fear right that it is deeper it's more complex fear is a complex thing right like i think of the litany i think of like you know i will face my fear i permit it to pass over me through me when it's gone i'll turn the inner eye to see its path and when it's gone there will be nothing only i will remain and it goes back kind of like what we spoke about that it's a calming it's an anxiety reducing it's being able to see clarity in a storm right it's something to center you and focus you and yeah a sword a sword yeah make you a sword a sword of storms wow

but yeah i and i really love that repeated here like this passage especially is like quite obviously yes influenced by the ancient jedi texts do very much so there's a part of me that wonders if we're going to see it come back because we haven't seen it come back that much more often in aria's storyline so i feel like it has to later on as a sort of you know again rhyming with her earlier chapters and there's a part of me that wonders if she would use fear weaponize it as a way of preying on people's fears as a way again as part of her arsenal not just the swords you know like kind of doing some psychological like mind games psychic damage or something i have one thing with that that i think is interesting is like maybe this will be repeated before she stabs the night king oh i'm just kidding that

was such a fucking joke i'm so sorry it was like interesting anyway aria reaches the turret stair and she freezes for a moment up or down up means tower of the hand but that's where they would expect her to go never Never do what they expect, Syria once said, so down she goes, emerging into a vaulted cellar of casks of ale. The cellar was a dead end. She thinks she has to find her dad

and tell him what happened, that he'd protect her. She begins to climb from casket to casket until she reaches the window and pulls herself up. I didn't notice the language of casket to casket until now. Death to death.

Yeah, big sad. Not big sad. Again, Arya has insane upper body strength. Good for you, girl. At the window, she can see the bailey and the Tower of the Hand. There's a dead man in stark colors who's face down, dead, and the wooden door is splintered and broken. No, she whispered.

What was happening? Where was was her father why had the red cloaks come for her she remembered what the man with the yellow beard had said the day that she had found the monsters if one man can die why not to sack it a second aria felt tears in her eyes she held her breath to listen big sad um again sorry i ruined the tone there no it's okay it's okay we need it we need it she's fighting shouts steel on steel it all comes from the tower of the hand and she could not go back oh yeah denarius literally yeah they killed Jory and Will and Huard and the guardsmen on the steppe

they could kill her father too and her so true so true Busty how about that yeah shit's pretty fucked yeah so again as Arya keeps you know doing her Dune references she starts to see what we were saying a few chapters

ago like what did Joffrey and Rob want true swords for? Like, they were just playing in a yard, same as Arya had been during her dancing lessons as she realizes watching Syrio, like, you want to use real swords? Well, all right, this is the price of using real swords. People die, including your loved ones, because swords are for war.

They're not a toy. Yeah, and it's kind of ironic that she thinks this because uh get ready to use yours buddy real soon bummer bummer for all especially aria and the dead people uh and dad dad dad no. Something is so sad about that look of longing that she gives to her old chambers, right? She's like, I could go back. I could just be inside. Barred. Like, imagine. Which is where Sansa is stuck. Right? And so there's something so

literal and metaphorical about them right now being separated by these goddamn red bricks of King's Landing. And that divide shows again. Metaphorical and literal when Sansa is on stage and Arya is on the ground during the execution. So it's a great, sad divide, especially considering everything you've spoken about with their complementary skills, and personalities and their duality, right? How they complement one another. It's very sad,

because they're literally separated by these red bloody bricks of King's Landing right now, trying to get their way back home. Yeah, and I think something that stands out later on in Arya's chapters is when she remembers the moment of her father's death, what she remembers is her sister screaming. Like, that's her memory of it. Ugh. Ugh. Fear cuts deeper than swords. She squirms into the yard and realizes the red keep is a ghost town the inhabitants must all be barred inside in their rooms she now stares at that bed chamber and she moves in the shadows pretending instead of catching cats that she's the cat

but this time if they catch her she's dead no kisses great bar no kisses um i love that bar she's the cat and i like that transformation because she is right she becomes cat of the canals later on but also as we've discussed last chapter cats can be anywhere just as aria is going to be anywhere right and she becomes a cat not just to become lithe and fast and slippery on this physical level but so that she becomes no different than any of the other cats out there on the street it's just like this tomcat that sirio saw as well earlier on right and i thought that was an interesting call out with the tomcat and sirio saying that you know that means that the cat was male and we keep saying that, oh her, her, regarding this cat, right

not female, and it plays with gender same as Arya's story does as she becomes, she transforms from being Arya of Winterfell Ned Stark's youngest daughter to Ary, orphan boy of Flea Bottom That's a good boy, eh?

Yeah, I love that that's what they need to see yes so good so good just like then later with elaine it's the same lesson sansa gets with little finger when he says no no no you can't wear that dress you cannot wear your dead aunt's dress sorry that one right there buddy looks just like you as your mom. Well, that's an interesting point now that I just realized, again, of how their storylines complement one another, Sansa's and Arya's. Arya's learning how to hide within the shadows.

Sansa's learning to hide in plain sight. Right? In front of everyone. Yep. It's amazing. It's brilliant. I love them. I love two girls. It's us. No, I'm just kidding. It's Arya It's brilliant. I love them. I love two girls. It's us. No, I'm just kidding. It's Aria and Sansa.

I do love us. Aria reaches the stables without incident, hunched in the shadows, and comes across Holin, the master at horse from Winterfell, who's unfortunately seen better days because he is slumped at the stable door, stabbed so many times

that it looks like his tunic has scarlet flowers in it aria is certain he's dead but as she gets closer his eyes are open and he whispers aria underfoot you must warn your lord father he says frothy blood bubbling at his lips as if she didn't. He closes his eyes. He's dead. He's gone. That was it. It was her last little, last little goodbye. Blah, blah, blah.

I don't really understand to an extent, too. I'm like, so you think that they haven't already gotten to Ned? Right. Well, to be fair, in your final moments after you're bleeding out after being stabbed so many times, I don't know if your thoughts are necessarily coherent. also it just might be with your last breath your hope yeah or i don't know george just wanted to really hurt us a little well he succeeded i'm fucking in pain so that's true yeah reminder holland father of harwin whom aria encounters later on as part of the Brotherhood,

who calls her by that same name that Holland uses just now, that Arya Underfoot. You know, I want to say, to Arya's credit, she did mourn her father last chapter. Yeah. I was here. We were here. I was literally here. I read that chapter. I saw it. Yeah. But it's his dying wish, his last moment to be a hero as he bleeds out i get it inside there are more bodies of dead people that she knows it's going

good a groom she wants to play with three of her father's household guard a wagon stands abandoned likely the one that was being loaded for the trip to the docks, and one of the corpses is Desmond. Close to him is a dead man in the red cloak and lion crest of the Lannisters. She thinks only one, though. Every northerner is worth ten of these southern swords, Desmond had told her. You liar, she said, kicking his body in a sudden fury. Eh. Eh. It hurt. So sudden fury it hurt I hurt

Arya had planned to mount one of the horses but they're restless snorting from the scent of blood she heads towards the wagon and notices her chest in there and the wood is split likely having been dropped during the surprise attack and she sees the silks and the velvets that she never wore. She finds a heavy woolen cloak, a velvet skirt, tunic, and small clothes, a dress that her mother had embroidered for her,

as well as a silver baby bracelet she could sell. She shoves the lid out of the way and finds a needle, worried before that someone had stolen it but there it is hidden under a sack gown once more reminds me of sansa's chest as well hiding that bloody cloak in the bottom but this is devastating like this is yeah her entire childhood literally strewn across the ground covered in blood of everyone that was sworn to protect her and her family who'd been betrayed like a baby bracelet okay her mom's embroidery the last bit of protection that her lady mother can give her this embroidered dress this is it this is

her childhood it's been fucking it's butchered it's destroyed this is awful it's all yeah absolutely and as you said right all those bodies and you're talking earlier about like oh maybe this is no longer having a good childhood right like her friend as you also reminded us earlier has just died a bit ago she was already big sad and grieving and now uh look at all these other people that she can be sad about dying i'm calling the cops on George. I am so serious right now. I literally have my phone dialed to call the cops. I am.

You should be put away for this. He's hurting my feelings. You're just like this stable boy who interrupts her holding a pitchfork. What the fuck? No, no. And now he's interrupting me. The pitchforks thing uh and says there she is as aria pleads for him to help her saddle horse offering that her father will reward him but he advances toward

her saying that the queen will be the one rewarding him and that her father's dead i guess this kid's pretty good at seeing too because he's like yeah there she is that's her he has a pitchfork in hand which again haha because it is usually a metaphor for an angry mob it's sometimes not always connotes like that they're unruly and not always justified sometimes they are justified not always but uh anyways there's also i think a little bit of tension going on here with like the difference in their class right as she steers at these fine silks and satins that once belonged to her whereas he's got this pitchfork right he's looking for this reward and i don't know who knows is he desperate is he not but you know he's got to survive yeah it's devastating because these i mean this child is already paid for by the lannisters right like they put the

food on his table he takes that money and food to his family right like he knows that at the end of the day he has to feed his family and it goes back to that it's no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones so long as they're left in peace but they never are and here it's really sad too when you look around and you see like the only the couple of lannister guards that are dead and that they straight up hired these kids to do the rest of the job if they come back so like you know they were just slipped extra dragons extra stags sorry um i'm gonna get my hands cut off for saying that or my tongue cut out for saying dragons in the city but you know that they uh they probably were slipped you know extra stags here's some extra stags just make

sure if this girl comes around here you finish her off didn't even put guards there to do it they just said hey kid that works in the stable manually labors to pay for his family's existence knowing he has no other options because he lives lives here, probably in Flea Bottom. Here's some extra money. Kill the girl if she comes back. Yeah, or, like, bring her to us, and... What would he care? It's a rich girl. I mean, it's some rich girl he never met and has never done anything for him.

Why should he care? Yeah, and she would be in a gilded cage, same as Sansa. Right? Like, still living better than him materially. Not psychologically. Sansa undergoes a lot anyway so does aria aria does also undergo a lot yes this kid grabs her arm and she shouts for him to stay away and in a moment of terror aria forgets every single lesson she has learned while dancing and only remembers the very first one that she got from John. Stick him with the pointing end!

And that is what she does. She drives the blade upward with a wild strength, and the boy drops his pitchfork somewhere between gasping and sighing, and he begs for her to take the blade out, grabbing at it with his hand, and she does, which is probably... That is how you die faster, because he dies instantly.

His hand's cut from the blade. I don't think you're supposed to take it out you have to block no you're not and people do that shit all the time and then people die like you're not supposed to i have watched not like he was gonna survive but my god yeah um she backs away and she realizes she has to run she goes to saddle her horse but then it's like wait the gates will be guarded and closed she thinks there's another way out of the castle remembering the dungeons she gathers her clothing she gets into it she slips needle into the folds and ties the rest up into a baby bindle she tries to remember how to get back below the castle thinking of the serpentine steps and how they'd take her by the gold cloak barracks

how she would have to walk in plain sight past them and be disguised and i do have to say coming back to dune references uh it reminds me of having to walk in the rhythm so as to not attract the sandworms i do think there's a little bit of that here too to make sure that you're walking and you know being invisible to them yeah it's almost like it i guess really influenced george but um we're a dune podcast now. Are we? I have to reread it. We're a Dune the best we can. We are.

My fun fact is my partner read Dune and read all of it and was like, why did these get so bad? Why is this so different? He never realized that the author changed. He was like, why are they so different now? Anyway, we get a call back to Arya's previous chapter where she knows that the castle gates will be closed and guarded because she's already experienced it once. So good thing she learned that lesson. And of course, now that she knows of the other secret passageways. now that she knows of the other secret passageways.

And I kind of feel, to an extent, like there's a metaphor here about the secret passageways and about there being other paths in society than the one that was set out for her, being a lady of the house, right? Just because of the sex that she was born into. And there's a lot of fluidity of gender in Arya's story, as Lo has pointed out. And Lo wrote in about how being born a woman as

it's an assignment that can be taken up or refused and also the dangers in being recognized as a woman like that come with that assignment and how Arya seeks shelter by being perceived or recognized as a boy instead and whether or not Arya takes up the assignment of womanhood at large she does refuse what womanhood is in the way that Westeros has assigned it and especially as it is tied to her own class in terms of being a lady and a princess and that kind of performance she takes this secret passageway another path and how it offers Arya safety psychologically in a bit too I love that especially because later when we think of Brienne Brienne gets her big battle at the end of the crossroads where she stands kind of her ground on who she is as a knight if she is as a

woman in a knight and a person um I think that's very astute. And not to take all the great emotion out of what you just said, but also, oh, here are all the secret passageways. Duh. Duh, yeah. There they are. Arya knows them. And that's interesting. That could have some connotations for the Winds of Winter or maybe a Dream of Spring that Arya knows some of these secret passageways and how to get into King's Landing. That's a great point.

And it also, I kind of wondered, will that go together with Davos's story too, a little, you know, Davos smuggling, Lord knows what, I don't even know what he'll smuggle,

but like he's, he knows a bunch of things about secret passageways and I do. I think that's a good call out about her knowing it we know it comes back in tyrian's story but it's interesting because i don't know timing of everything how anything could work out in this story right i'm not george unfortunately i don't have these books in my brain i don't have them under my chair even though i joke that i do but that said i can see not logically with time because there's gonna be eight more books but I can see where Arya going back to King's Landing is a thing this book especially

has so many moments where maybe he really was thinking about getting her back there at some point in the story maybe he's not in our lives yeah in our lives shut the fuck up um but but I see it now like like, especially the last chapter when those rocks fall at the entrance reminiscent of King's Landing coming down. Ooh, good point. Not to be a dick, but I'm like, I see where D&D took

some of their ideas from the source material. Like, well, this happened here. What if this happened? You know, I see some inspiration in Arya's plot now because she's learning so many things in king's landing i can see where that bitch would go back yeah but i do think that i think to one point that i would disagree with is i don't know that dnd took it from here i think that george is building on what dnd laid out oh my god because you you just started the wrong source material i'm sorry i'm sorry our canon it's

upside down it's upside down uh aria is too frightened to move and hears a voice in her head whether her own or whether it's sirio's voice echoing calm is still water quiet as a shadow she wants to run and hide but makes herself move slowly one foot in front of the other fear is the mind killer she keeps her gaze on the ground and she makes it across to the sept she stuffs a few candles into her sleeves from the back window and heads to an alley the one that she had cornered belirian the cat within i just remembered sam's storyline too one foot in front of the other sobbing crying sobbing fear yeah there's there's a lot of things to be afraid of in that same chapter it also reminds me a little bit of you know will perry from his dark materials

and how he's able to walk in a way so as to not stand out right like just act like you belong here become unnoticeable and so saw a little bit of that usually lyra is the one who's compared to aria in my head the sept offering aria safety for a moment i like that it's kind of like how the gods would offer safety to sansa and it reminds me of feast yeah when she has the beautiful temple surrounding her at the house of black like the temple yeah the house of black and white yeah like being surrounded by those gods yeah especially because like there's some woman weeping there and i'm like there's a lot of people crying in that house uh black and white oh yeah that too like people are crying they're like kill me now the weeping women with the weeping woman yeah yeah i uh i find kind of and i think

religion is such a a facet of for you know some of these people in the lower class and Westeros too, right? The gods and in our world too, like we, we do have religion as something we can cling to. We come off of Aaron's chapters, right? Where we see that he found great solace in having faith in something. And it's not a bad thing. and having faith in something and it's not a bad thing you know it's just a bad thing when it blinds you to a certain extent or when you utilize that faith to persecute others or infringe on their basic human rights but um glossing over that like it's interesting that aria's connection to the small folk and then also keeps bringing her back to some of these religious places throughout her

storyline that's a good point especially because as you you talked about the temple right the house of black and white is an incredibly religious place there's like a shit ton of different statues of different deities there right and the idea that the many-faced god is all just one and i mean ari is a lot like the stranger of the seven in many ways faceless and not necessarily like being tied to one gender times but also i mean that's what the seven are right or again like the many face god as opposed to be seven who are one gods yeah they're seven they're all different faces um malleable and i think that's interesting considering that sanza is the one that therefore that is associated with the old gods as opposed to aria um yeah so aria makes her way through the cellars finding a low narrow window that goes towards the dungeons

and dragons uh she tosses her bundles through doubling back to light her candles Chloe's staring off into the distance like why am I here Aria holds the candle over her head and with each step she takes the shadows move against the walls like they're watching her pass see dragons she whispers sliding needle out of her cloak to make her

feel more confident that's how I feel about my accessories too Aria instead of going left to the entrance of the well she chooses to turn right moving slowly enough to keep her candle lit there are rats watching her with glowing eyes it's me that's alyana see the stable boy against the shadows his blood dripping, and she thinks of cutting her candle. That's great, and again, I can see where a lot of this could come back in books.

The cutting the candle. I could see, you know, that happened in season 8. Yeah, that happened. Was it 8? No, it was 5, right? 5 or 6? When she does that wave? Oh, I guess it was 5, yeah. Whatever, season of war, Eliana. I don't even know which one. five right five or six when she does oh i guess it was five yeah yeah yeah it was five whatever

season of war heliana oh when she cuts the candle yeah see they read the books it's just they read them badly i know a lot of you that read them badly too so whatever i said it a lot of my friends are bad at reading the books too that doesn't mean dang hot takes today everyone so to close out the chapter and almost a very positive note compared to the trauma that aria is experiencing right this moment she decides to think of a different memory of a different time she was scared maybe a simpler time when she was younger in the crypts of winterfell with her siblings rob had taken them all down sansa her baby brother bran they had only one candle between them and rob took them all the way to show them

their own tombs past aunt liana past uncle brandon and past their dead grandfather too sansa was scared old nan once told them all the spiders blocked the crypts and rats big as dogs. I'm pretty sure old Nan just didn't want you fucking around down there. Rob told them there are worse things than spiders and rats. This is where the dead walk. Get ready.

They heard a moan. Baby Bran clutched Arya's hand. The spirit stepped out, pale white, moaning for blood. Blood. Sansa runs, shrieking. Bran sobs. I don't know why the ghost sounds just like Jon.

Wrapped around Rob's legs, Bran is just crying his little ass off. Poor sucker. But Arya stands there, punching the spirit because the spirit, of course, is Jon, covered in flour. Aww. You stupid! You scared the baby!

But Jon and Rob just laughed and laughed, and pretty soon Bran and Arya were laughing too. The memory made Arya smile, and after that the darkness held no more terrors for her. The stable boy was dead. She'd killed him. And if he jumped out after, she'd kill him again. She was going home. Everything would be better once she was home again, safe behind Winterfell's gray granite walls. Her footsteps sent soft echoes hurrying ahead of her

as Arya plunged deeper into the darkness. Good for you, girl. It's pretty funny when you read it. I like it. You should read all the books to me. I don't like books unless you read them to me. The Eliana audiobook. My version of, what is it, the

rascally voice from Out of the way, old man! I love the placement of this memory because something we often see Arya doing in these chapters, as brought up previously, because Eliana fucking loves it, I just like the way her face lights up when Arya says stuff about her family.

She gets really excited. Shut up, I don't even like you. But Arya clings to that idea of family and home to comfort herself as she does uncomfortable things, just like here. And later, right, in Feast when we get that famous needle passage, the memory comes, bittersweet to comfort her in darkness and urge her

forward onto the unknown. Also, of course, loving that Jon played the spirit that comes back from the dead. You know, the ghost, the capital G ghost that comes back from the dead. The ghost, the capital G ghost that comes back from the dead. Cute, maybe foreshadowing.

What does it mean? What does it mean, George? Stabby, stab, stab. Stab him again and again. 13 times? How many? What does it mean, Chloe? Because he's gonna die and then come back from the dead.

John, the ghost. The capital G ghost. Ghost, ghost. I'm really bad at lyrics. And like neutral milk hotel. Smushing your boo. What? Smushing your boo at the neutral milk hotel. Oh, is that a meme that I don't know? Parks and Rec. Oh, smushing your boo? What? Smushing your boo at the Neutral Milk Hotel?

Oh, is that a meme that I don't know? Parks and Rec? Oh, yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah. Well, John's not the only one who's dead, but he's just way more dead, very literally. Arya is dead, too, metaphorically, starting at this moment. Arya, Syrio killed her

you'll think about it at the beginning of this chapter oh shit and she is like gone everyone just calls her dead oh shit dead girl dead girl right boy yep he's saying that's a silly dead girl

earlier on anyways yeah you're talking about the darkness but like that memory of her family kind of helping her to keep go going on as we'll see like she'll keep that um even as you know the darkness becomes no longer scary right like she as she no longer fears you know murdering people as we see right here. And she gives herself to the darkness for the next few books and murders a lot of people. She doesn't reach home. She has not reached home yet

because that's just how the books are right now. And the metaphor of darkness, right? It's this wilderness where Arya is lost. Not just literally because she's in Braavos, which is very far away, but also she herself, the self of Arya is lost. Not just like literally because she's in Braavos, which is very far away, but also she herself, the self of Arya is lost and dead. And also even maybe

that kind of sense of morality as she murders a lot of people. There's also, I think, something else tying into that, right? As she disappears into the darkness, the darkness of the long night. The long night. That's a metaphor, too, in a different way.

And before she can finally emerge into the light again and back to the warmth of home in the 10th book. She's got to go through the shadow. God. I'm sorry. You're right. Not the 10th book. Like the, I don't know. 14th.

17th. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. At best. I like what you're saying about, you know, coming out of that darkness in the murder. I like what you're talking about, about, oh, worm, all the murder. That's my favorite part, mostly about what you just said. But the rest of it was good, too.

And murder. Not just that, but like, you keep talking about about the darkness which is a band i really like the darkness that you keep quoting no i'm just kidding but to quote them i believe in a thing called love right like just listen to the rhythm of your heart that's i think aria that might be it the song of ice and fire? Touching you. Touching you. Oh, and that comes back to the things that Siri was saying about senses. You know, you have to touch feel with your skin.

I believe in a thing God loves. I believe in a thing God loves. I believe in a thing God loves. Damn, every time I sing it, I just sound like the Quiznosub song. Oh, I love that song, though. Hey, Quiznosubs. We should bring that song back somehow in an episode.

I don't know how. Because they are good to eat. Quiznos, maybe you're not as big anymore, but you can sponsor us. Well, Eliana, as I finish off a sparkling black raspberry La Croix. Oh. Sponsor us, La Croix. Sponsor us, yeah. We haven't asked for it in a while.

We've been so patient. Yeah, I'd like to point out this is not an ad. We are not sponsored by anyone except for our patrons. They unfortunately sponsor and enable all of our poor behavior that you witnessed here today in the last hour and a half. Thanks for listening, but you know, even though it's not an ad, Lacroix, I'll rep you. You should rep us,

I think. You should rep us. So, thanks for listening to Arya 4 in A Game of Thrones. We will be back with Arya 5 shortly in the next week. But in the meantime. You can find us.

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Come by, join the community, it's a lot of fun, and you won't regret it. As most of the time slash always, trying to keep it fresh, I have been one of your hosts, as time in the hourglass, I've been one of your as time in the hourglass I've been one of your hosts Chloe I've been another one of your hosts Eliana a dead girl oh my god

hey Eliana what's on your ceiling you know what fool me once shame on you fool me twice you can't get fooled again as former president George Bush George W. Bush, sorry, has said. Thanks, we'll see you

next week. Bye. That's a good Tennessee. Maybe it's in Texas, but maybe you have it here also in Tennessee. You got it here on Girls Got Cannon. You're the only 10 I see. Bravo. Goodbye.