Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 244 — AGOT Daenerys III

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

You (don't) want to wake the dragon. Heads up: No new episode next week, March 21. We'll return on March 28 but without early release. --- 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: liesandarborgold.com Intro by Anton Langhage

Hello, and welcome to Girls Gone Canon Reads a Song of Ice and Fire, episode 244. Daenerys III and a Game of Thrones. I am one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. I'm coming to you from a stormy night here. It's surprisingly rainy for me as well, so for both of us, hopefully it doesn't come through the tracks, our own a storm of swords, but we're still on a game of Thrones and out here in the very, very dry plains. Got me feeling like Catalin in a storm of swords right now.

Interesting. Wet. Not sexual. Like your corpse has been thrown into a river? No, I went like being rained on constantly, but yeah, the dead part too, I guess. Jesus, well welcome back, welcome back with that cheery sentiment, my f***ing lord. A lot of the feeling for this chapter is kind of like that until it takes that turn. Yeah, polarizing in this chapter, right? We're gonna get a little dark.

Like we said, lots of trauma in these chapters that we're gonna digest separately and together, whether it's like our Shakespearean takes on Viserys and Daenerys. We only have so much time to do that left, so we gotta get it while we can. Oh man. I can't wait till you cast our first guest, by the way. Oh my god. Interesting. I'm excited about this dynamic now. Wow. I think I know. Maybe I don't know what our guest wants. I don't know. I like to actually, I like to see, I like to try and understand the psyche of the guests and what they want and offer to them what they would like to be cast as. But you know. But also you like to open the doors to them to try something new

it's a great escape yeah yeah you're a great casting director this is a place for people to you know really find themselves this hour and a half moment that they spend with us on uh basically a zoom call it must be the longest fucking couple of hours of their lives. Thank you to all guests who have ever come on. We're not telling you who this guest is. Actually, you'll recognize their voice though when they do come on.

You'll know, you'll be like, oh, girls. And us girls would be like, oh, us. But it's gonna be great, so just trust us. That's gonna be coming in the future though, but first I want to talk about the future of the next couple episodes before that. So the next two episodes, well let's see, on March 21st we will not be here. Off, babes. We are traveling. We're out there. We're traveling, we're celebrating the Vernal Equinox. Oh my god. And we think you should too.

You should go, I don't know, do some pagan rituals or something. Go sacrifice someone. Easy peasy. Make it a good one. Yeah, make it a good one. Maybe bring spring in. It's so in to bleed people out under the moonlight. So in to bleed people out under the moonlight. So in. That said, we will not be doing that.

Allegedly, we are not doing that ourselves while we're gone. So 32125, we're out there. March 28th, Dani4 will be out, but it will be out for Friday release only patrons. You may not get an early episode if you are in a tier that grants you early episode access, schedules, timelines, time traveling. We are recording, turning it over and giving it to you the best way we can.

Why am I speaking like this? We're giving it to you the best way we can. Jesus, you're gonna get the episode. It's just not gonna be early. You have our apologies, our thanks for your patience, but it's gonna be good. That we can promise. It takes time to clean up after the ritual sacrifice, you know? Oh my god! And with that...

Yeah, speaking of ritual sacrifices... sacrifices. This month's Patreon episode, Dune Prophecy. I am in. I'm invested. Get ready. I'm gonna do some more watching this weekend. I'm gonna wrap it up. I'm gonna re-watch it. I'm gonna read. I really want to reread Children of Dune right now. Like I'm feeling the reread. Interesting. Children of Dune. I have a lot to talk to you all about and Eliana and I have a lot to question about. I expect to answer a lot of questions and maybe make more. I have so many. It's kind of my motto here. Some of my questions are kind of like even just about the meta like what is in this, what is in this, you know. What does it mean? With all that, if you're ready to join the Discord fun and get into the Thunder Tier

on Patreon at patreon.com slash girls, gone, canon. Yeah. So we have another tier. We have the Thunder Tier and above, which gives you access to our Patreon Discord where once a month you get to join for brunch slash happy hour, brappy hour, which unfortunately has already happened for this month. It was on March 9th. Was Tyrion there with his siblings? I don't know. Brunching! Brunching!

Bitchin' brunch! Yeah, I mean like, hmm, did she throw the little boy out the window? Gossip! Bitch, I mean like, hmm, did she throw the little boy out the window? Ho ho ho ho, gossip. Bitch, I know you did. So we hang out at brunch at Braps, old Braps with our friends from Discord. We chit chat. Sometimes we play games.

Sometimes we're silly. Sometimes we stream videos. Sometimes we talk about, you know, life, which is vast and terrible. Sometimes it's a blast. Many times it is a great time to just chill out, take two hours to hang out with your fellow fans of A Song of Ice and Fire, His Dark Materials, and the many other materials that we've covered. So we'd love to see you there.

That's available to connect at Patreon once you get your Thunder Tier membership at patreon.com slash girlsgoncanon. You connect your Discord account, it lets you in. We get you in that lobby and we hang out all the time. Indeed, indeed. Well, that brings us to our emails and tweets of note. Sorry to this person, we missed that we got an Apple podcast comment. Oh, and that's like your favorite. We haven't gotten one of these in a while. So it's

been interesting. I'm excited. And this one is for you, Chloe. This one's for you. I love a good quality over quantity. So this is like a quality, beautiful review. We get some great reviews. Thanks guys. This one comes from our friend, Kayfro. Kayfro? Kayfro. And it is entitled, that what it feels like to listen to podcasts meme. It says, I've been revisiting the books

and I honestly didn't know what a void there was in my life before I started listening. A Sandra Clegane community shaped void. That's a big void. Yeah. Cause of his dick. Oh, okay. Interesting.

Well, they're very much enjoying the podcast. Thank you very much, Kayfro. And I appreciate this of saying, you know, it's kind of bleak right now, and this is just bringing me such joy to listen to. And I'm glad because I agree. Things are, things are very sleek now. They're so fucking bad. They're pretty bad. Things are pretty bad on a global level, on a national level.

Honestly, you guys, on a personal level. I'm glad that this is a bright spot for you. Hanging out with Chloe is a bright spot for me. Our listeners are a bright spot for you. Hanging out with Chloe is a bright spot for me. Our listeners are a bright spot for me. Oh my god. Uh, so thank you for saying that. I'm gonna cry again. This is the second time you've made me cry tonight. Aww. Well speaking of voids, uh, this person also says the hosts go so deep without getting pedantic. Aww, thank you. And also ends the review with Sandor is baby. Five stars. Five stars. Not just the that's not just what the game is. That's the number of stars Chloe gives this review for being so pro Sandor. Five starring you back. He's just,

he is kind of baby, you know? I mean, thank you, Kayfro. I really did love this. I needed this. I'm having a hard life. Eliana's having a life as well. We're all having lives, so thanks for having one with us. We're all having a life. It's one we continue living that, let's get to the lightning round. All of you know, if you've been here at this very moment, at this very precipice with Girls Gone Cannon before, that this is where we discuss a quick brief snippet overview synopsis of the chapters we missed between Daenerys 2 in a Game of Thrones and Daenerys III in a Game of Thrones, starting with Udderd II, where Robert tells Udderd he would like to kill Daenerys Targaryen. RIP.

RIP. Tyrion II, Tyrion and Jon travel north, and Jon is given a bit of wisdom. It's like the first handful of those chapters. Catelyn III! An assassin is dealt with by Catalin and Summer. Sansa 1. Joffrey reminds us that no one likes a bully. Arya reminds us that everyone likes Arya. That's so true, Busty. Etter 3.

The king is told two different tales and the queen demands payment in a wolf's skin. Whoa. It's kind of like a cloak of a thousand mice. Yooo, callback! Callbacks. Brand 3. This one's more of call forwards, as Bran dreams that he can fly and wakes. Catalin 4. Catalin goes on a secret mission in King's Landing.

John 3. John learns that he has much more than some of the recruits of the Watch. He also learns that no one likes a bully. And that his brother has awakened. Tired of these woke kids. Oh my god! Wow. Wow. Truly.

Wow. She's gone too far. Canceled. Girl's gone too far. Canceled. Girl's gone canceled. Ettered. Four. Ned has to plan a tournament he really wants.

He doesn't actually want it. He also gets to see his sexy wife, though. Yeah. My wife. His milf wife, Catelyn Stark. Mother. Mommy. Um...

With her mother, Milkers. Whoa. Whoa! Whoa! As you were. Whoa. Whoa. Tyrion III.

Tyrion offers himself to both Jon and the Night's Watch. Whoa. Not his body necessarily, you perverts. But his mind. His heart. Aria too. Ned and Aria have a heart to heart, and she introduces him to her needle. Aria begins lessons with Syrio Forel.

And that brings us here to Daenerys III and A Game of Thrones. The knights are scary for Daenerys, but she rises from the ashes in defiance of her brother. Incredible work today, Aliana. The lightning round really put you through the wringer. I really appreciate your support. Thank you for sticking with us, Girls Gone Cannon fans. And we start Daenerys III and A Game of Thrones, where Jorah is describing the Dothraki Sea to Daenerys, a vast grassy expanse that blooms with dark red flowers and turns bronze when

dry. The sea is home to countless grasses and colors from yellow to indigo with oceans of ghost grass in the Shadowlands beyond Asshai, as pale and tall as milk glass. We have a quote. The Dothraki claim someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end. That thought gave Dany the shivers. I don't want to talk about that now.

It's so beautiful here. I don't want to think about everything dying. It does, it all does, it turns out. There's a lot going on here, I feel as though it feels like a metaphor or one of those legends, right? Pretending about the others and the whites in regards to the ghost grass. And that's one of their creation myths about it. And you really get a sense with all this planes imagery

of how George's Dothraki are inspired, he said, by some of the like the steppe, like American Indians. He drew from that as well as drawing from, you know, the Mongols. And there's a couple of places that George drew his inspiration, that Magpie, as our friend Isabelle likes to call him. I thought it was kind of interesting, you know, to remember this because I just reviewed some of the Victarian chapters recently for our friend Stan Rickstein's channel, but that here, you know, I mean Victarian says he's going to sail this, the Dothraki Sea, and we're all like, oh that's so silly, Victarian. And I have a new hot take, which is that the Dothraki culture of saking and all the cities is actually kind of maybe a little bit like the Ironborn culture of Raiding.

Like maybe Victarion isn't so wrong about this. Like obviously he can't actually sail the sea, but like parallels. Hmm. Euron marriage? Victarion marriage? Is it confirmed? Is it real? I still don't think so. But you know, maybe we're just all kind of more like each other than we think. And we all live on this grassy plane together as diverse as the indigo and red flowers all blooming together. Beautifully said. Thank you. Thank you. Big mood.

I'm here. I'm ad-libbing everything today. I love that this chapter kind of has this opening and it's a very classic germ opening, right? Like very beautiful, environmental, gives you a real interesting view around you. And it kind of reminds me of the chapter coming up where John and Sam take their vows at the heart tree. Okay. Especially as you

get the line about how like it all fades out, everything dies, right? Kind of some Northern imagery going on there in some aspects too with the cold, with the others. There's a lot of that floating in and out of this chapter. There's that line, I don't want to think about everything dying. What a line when that's all that happens to Dani in this book. Everything that she knows dies, literally, for someone whose life is etched in so many ways in death. Her mother, right? For someone who's going to lose so much in this book. Viserys, her son, Khal Drogo, all of these are losses, no matter how she feels about it, and that stands out. Yeah, that's true. She's had so little and she's going to lose it all and, I mean, everyone you know someday

will die. But instead of saying all of your goodbyes, let them know you realize that life goes fast. It's hard to make the good things last. I hinged. Chloe's like, why did she do a spoken word version of this flaming lip song? I don't know! Do you realize? I was literally realizing! Do you? Realize, realize, realize.

Do I realize? Do you realize? Ooh, ooh, ooh. You know, I do think that the Huns were also an inspiration, by the way, for the Dothraki, if you really wanted to feel a part of the story, because I know that Mulan is your favorite thing. Oh, yeah.

I mean, they were amongst the inspir... George, I think there's somewhere that he lists three of them, and he's like, those are just some of them. I drew from a lot of places, so. Yep. Yeah. But I'm just saying, they're in there too. So let's get down to business. No, we don't want to defeat these ones.

Oh, no, no. I mean, they do feel pretty defeated at the end of this book. As you're saying, Jorah assents to Dani's plea, and they observe the rest of the traveling party, including Viserys, who is struggling with writing. Illyrio had tried party including Viserys who is struggling with riding. Illyrio had tried to convince Viserys to stay in Pentos, but Viserys insisted on coming hoping that Drogo would pay and give him his crown. Viserys threatens Drogo with what will happen if he wakes the dragon and Illyrio does like the blinking gif meme. Like okay, what will happen, bitch? Yeah, what are you gonna do? I mean,

we'll see. We'll come back to this. Yeah. FAFO. Fuck around. Find out. Daenerys decides not to let Viserys spoil the beautiful day and orders Jorah to command everyone to stop so that she can enjoy the beauty out here. Good for you. Good for you. She then reflects on how unattractive she finds Jorah. And listen, the ugliest part about Jorah Mormont is his heart. He smiles and gives her comfort though as he tells her that she's becoming more like a queen and she corrects him a Khaleesi. Sometimes depending on how I'm feeling, I'm like, Khalisi. Oh my god, yeah, I change it every time. I never know.

I never know. I'm like, hmm, but is this more world building? I'm gonna pull an Eliana here. No, we're reading this line. It's so important to be not a queen, a Khalisi. I also wrote, should we read it at the same time? Just kidding. Oh, okay.

Should we girl boss? No, I'm just kidding. I do like use this in conversation, like normal conversation as a formulaic, like I'll be like not an X and X and like I use it without thinking about it. It's like not a normal thing. Like this is an amazing line, but it's become a like joke format in my real life without even thinking about it. It's a problem. And it's a joke only you know. Yeah, so it's not a good joke. But I'm very pleased. Like, I'm very pleased with myself when I say these things to my- I'm like, I have a lot of those. Like, if you ever hear me say something like, I don't know him in that tone, I in my head, I'm referencing Bravest Warriors and like CatBug going,

Ralph Waldo pickle chips. I don't know him. And like, no one, no one, you can't just know that that's what I'm thinking when I say I don't know him. You know? I don't know him. Oh my god. No, that's true. Just one of those isms, those pop culture isms, one of the many isms. There's a very broad span of isms in this world, and that's one of them. Yeah. Daenerys rides fearlessly. We have this passage. I decide we're gonna just put in all the paragraphs because I got to be at the helm this week and my approach is bangers. All Daenerys chapters, bangers.

Yeah, I mean, not a clean coasting. It's not untrue. It's pretty fucking hard to like, yeah. All her life Viserys had told her she was a princess, but not until she rode her silver had Daenerys Targaryen ever felt like one. At first it had not come easy. The Khalasar had broken camp the morning after her wedding, moving east toward Ves Dothrak, and by the third day, Dany thought she was going to die. Saddlesores opened on her bottom, hideous and bloody.

Her thighs were chafed raw, her hands blistered from the rains, the muscles of her legs and back so wracked with pain that she could scarcely sit. By the time dusk fell, her handmaids would need to help her down from her mount. Even the knights brought no relief. Cal Drogo ignored her when they rode, even as he had ignored her during their wedding, and spent his evenings drinking with his warriors and blood riders, racing his prize horses, watching women dance and men die. Dany had no place in these parts of his life. She was left to sup alone, or with Ser Jorah and her brother and afterward to cry herself to sleep. Yet every night,

sometime before the dawn, Droga would come to her tent and wake her in the dark to ride her as relentlessly as he rode his stallion. He always took her from behind, doth rocky fashion, for which Dany was grateful. That way, her lord husband could not see the tears that wet her face, and she could use her pillow to muffle her cries of pain. When he was done, he would close his eyes and begin to snore softly, and Dany would lie beside him, her body bruised and sore, hurting too much for sleep. Day followed day, and night followed night, until Dany knew she could not endure a moment longer. She would kill herself rather than go

on, she decided, one night. Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and black slough away. She could feel her blood boil and turn to steam and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce."

So, bangers. Yeah, one of the, I think, this is one of the most powerful chapters, maybe, in the whole book series. This is just so bleak. Yeah, it's between the horrid depression and loneliness, the physical exhaustion, and then the marital rape consistently, and just how broken and exhausted she must feel is so terrible, but the dream finally, when she is defeated, her dream and how it rises, becoming the dragon, the dragon's awakened finally, all of this waking the dragon, waking the dragon, this motif of all of her dragon dreams, having

dragons waking in one way or another, or the question ringing of wake the dragon. It's really strong and I think Adwell once pulled out from Danny 9 in A Game of Thrones that it starts up and ramps up in the beginning of the story of you don't want to wake the dragon, don't want to wake the dragon, and then it becomes wake the dragon, it becomes a command to Daenerys, it becomes something that she embraces and takes on and becomes a command to wake the dragon within her. Like where is the call coming from inside the house? Is Drogon in Egwum speaking to her? Are their bloods aligning? I don't know what's going on there, but she's being bathed, baptized, and reborn in these dreams in blood and fire.

In a way he kind of is, Drogon is, and we'll talk about that a little more with some of those creation myths around dragons that come later this chapter. But yeah, and I don't know, it's fascinating that I haven't thought about it that much, but now'm gonna like question it a little bit of it's a powerful chapter because Daenerys is obviously living this horrid existence right now but is it falling into the trope right is George writing the trope of oh she found her strength through being raped and I'm like bro what I mean what else was she gonna do? And I think that's part of what's so powerful about Daenerys' story. I don't think she should have had to do so, but there is two ways out of this for her, right? Yeah. And she says one of them in it of wanting to kill herself, and the other is the way

that the story goes. Absolutely. And it's interesting because we're gonna come to some the the time passage in this chapter is really well done we're gonna come back to that in a bit but there is a critique for me that like I don't know if it's enough time for me to really vibe with using that trope of Dani going from wanting to kill herself to riding Khal Drogo. Right. Like it's very fair I would say perhaps the real fantasy element of the story. And I don't think George is dumb. I don't think he's a dumb man.

I think the times also, it was an easier device to use in a plot. But I think there's some meaning in some ways. I think he's writing a specific way. I don't love it always. I don't hate it always. I'm changeable all the time on it. And I do think he's playing with these dynamics, right, of a couple things. A, what love can look like in a society or any society. Like, this is happening every day. In real life and modern times, just like in fantasy world and history. Like, these are all places that this happens. And I think there's so many other dynamics he's written, like the discussion on Kat last chapter, right, of, you know, Oh, I grew to love him over time, even though he was a strange man that I was supposed to fuck. I think there's also this bit in, and to me, aligned with the dragon and the womb.

I think the more powerful is, I think that there is a connection, right, that it seems at the end of this chapter when we find out she's pregnant, a fire has burned alive in her and I don't know, maybe there is a connection there. Maybe the dragon within her is awakened, like for real. There's something we'll talk about at the end today that I'm not bringing now. We're gonna move on soon enough, I'm sure. But magic, you know, I mean there is magic. I think that's more the trope being played with, if anything, is a woman's body is magic, and that's the one that really makes me flip between do I like it, do I not? I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I think that's really interesting, the idea of it being that a woman's body is magic and kind of playing with the horrors of that being... Well, I mean, the way that the birthing goes is like very much the horrors of that being, well, I mean, the way that the birthing goes is very much the horrors.

It's the blood sacrifice, you know? Yeah, that we're gonna do on March 21st. And... Allegedly, allegedly we're gonna do it. Or not. Or not. Not allegedly. But that and the way that Daenerys encompasses all these different parts of goddesses and will get there very much embodies those.

But I don't know, it's also like, there's an aspect of it that I do kind of respect of because I agree with everything that you said regarding those critiques and guess it's of the time, like this is actually, you know, of the time of the 90s of fantasy, not that it was really like that in real life because like what sucks about it is it's not that it was like this in real life in regards to raping a young girl. What fucking sucks is that it is still like this. Yeah. You know? And like, I think about the first time that I was ever sexualized, I was like, 11.

Who knows? Maybe it was earlier and I was just shielded from it and didn't realize that. And so I think that's part of why Daenerys' story resonates with so many people, because you understand that there was an inherent violence behind the way that you were objectified at that age and it becomes literal on the page for Daenerys and you can see how that could be there by the grace of God go all of us that this isn't us enduring every single night you know because like it's every single night he's not even like paying attention to her he's like I don't know this is a fleshlight.

I don't know how she is exactly and I mean mean, I think about it, like, I don't even know the age that I necessarily understood that love and sex are not always equal, you know? I think that's another part, like love doesn't always mean sex, sex doesn't always mean love. Like, it's a form of intimacy, and here it's broken. It's a weapon. It's not a form of intimacy. It's cruel. It's clearly like for one person to have power and to feel power and for one person to not. And I think that's more, in a way that gives power throughout the entire series, and that's a great point. This is one of them in which he does so as he melds together these moments with Viserys and Daenerys as well. Mm-hmm. It can be all sorts of things. I think that's what's neat, you know? It's just neat. It's all sorts of things. It's fucked up. Mendo it. Mendo it, Eliana.

Mendo this story. We should keep reading this book. I guess we should. And as we do, perhaps we'll wake the dragon as well. She feels less pain the next day after having this, would you call it a dragon dream? Yeah. A dragon dream? And the change is noticeable and she only begins to feel stronger from here on out. This is gonna be me with all my biking I'm doing these days. Yeah, I mean honestly, it is kind of like that, right? You gotta, in a literal way, you have to break down the muscles a little, create those little micro tears and shit for it to become stronger. Strong, yes.

And then you power through the pain, then you're like, wow, it's stronger. And then you do it again. But I guess do it easily. I don't know. Do it. Take it easy. You don't want to like train yourself out of it. Yeah. Daenerys touches the eggs and wonders if she feels warmth. The eggs colors resemble the dragon in her dream. Interesting. What could it mean. She and her horse have increasingly high synchronization levels. And then we have this line of, the Dothraki were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals. So Dani thought of her only as a silver. She had never loved anything so much. silver. She had never loved anything so much. It's a very sad little passage because it makes me think of the Free Folk with their

children, not their horses necessarily, but with their children. And then also makes me think of the Starks naming their dire wolves and how they were such a strange brood, those Starks for doing so, and the animals are likely to die due to their lifestyle, right? Like the Dothraki's animals do not live long because they either get eaten or ridden to death, which is kind of what Daenerys is feeling like she's going through in some ways too. And her feelings with her horse here, and I'm not being silly so don't start laughing as I talk about her connection with her horse, I'm being serious.

They have a high synchronization level. Yeah, like I think with what we're knowing and learning about dragons as bits and pieces in their connection, I do think they are akin in some aspects to the connection with the wolves or more. They share, it seems, a very strong physical connection, a very strong emotional connection. I wouldn't be surprised if maybe dragon riders are also skin changers of a sort.

I mean, I think it's kind of implied, right? Like I feel like they are, and I think it goes back to her stomach, and it makes me wonder if she has kind of abilities, horse abilities. Not like, she's not Eliza Thornberry-ing or anything, but I'm just saying that she's like, you know, like her and the horse are in tune to one another to that point. I mean, like me and my cat skin change all the time. I get him. I get her. I get both of them.

I think it's possible. Maybe it's like to be a dragon rider, like the, maybe the bond is just so intimate I guess with one dragon that you can't really skin change any other one or something. And I think it's kind of now that I see it together with this and then I also think about the rest of Dani's story with uh the way she has to suffocate Drogo later on like her deep connection with the silver, how much she loves her horse, which is not only her steed but also her pet, I think is important for how she humanizes the Unsullied later on, especially learning about the story of them having to kill their puppies, which is like, I was just like talking about that recently and making my partner listen.

I was like, listen, the puppies were a big deal. I can't believe the show removed them. And so I think that might be part of how she sees that empathy with them. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, even when she gets to what is it in she's at the market and the manticores are in cages in clash. I think that's like even symbolic. She's a very she's friends with animals. She is Daenerys Targaryen friend to animals, but not in Eliza Thornberry kind of way. And now I kind of think she is. Daenerys Targaryen, friend to animals. But not in Eliza, Thor, and Bery kind of way. And now I kind of think she is.

It could be interesting. This is my family. It's just like strong bellos eating locusts. Also, her legs are, she's getting fit just like me for riding a dragon, you know? Yeah. She's gotta up her game for the dragon. I mean, she can't take the horse. She's like a Gains girl.

Watching House of the Dragon and then realizing Daenerys did all this shit bareback, like, insane. Like, I mean, you had to have incredible leg strength to just stay on as you're swooping down and just, even grip strength. Have you ever done a mechanical bull? No, I haven't, have you? Yeah, I've done one and it's really funny because I'm very confident because I'm an Aries

and I think I can do everything better than anything ever the first time I do it. And I couldn't, just so you know, I couldn't, but that doesn't happen to me that often. Like usually I do stuff and I'm like, yes, I do Excel. And then I did that and I'm like, oh, I wanna die. I just felt like right off. Like I was like on there for a good three seconds and like just flew me right off and

I was like, I did a good job I think and all my friends are like, no, you sure didn't. You're like, I was there, I was there for like a minute, you know, just three seconds stretching out. Interesting. I guess I should try it one day just to know. I want to do it again like I feel like I was cheated and I just needed a couple more. Is that a thing you and I should do together to like bond? Add it on the list next to fishing. Alright, alright, cool. Girls gone fishing. So with less

pain from riding, Daenerys begins to appreciate the scenery more and she rides at the head of the Kala Saar, alongside Drogo and the Blood Riders. The Kholosar, with all the Ho's and the people, they tear up all the land that they pass, but before they get there and looking in front of them, everything is lush. Gee, what could it mean? What could it mean? Also, there's a line, that line we said earlier, right? I don't want to see everything dead at the start of the chapter as she embraced the land and then everything let loose, wreaked havoc. It feels important. Yeah, but I hear sometimes, I don't know, maybe like this could be good if as long as it's not constant, like you're just shuffling more seeds around and like unearthing the

soil for new growth. I'm being optimistic. She should have hired you, you know, like you would be great PR I'm like this could be good. I mean like that's the case sometimes with some things, you know, you do need to yeah No, absolutely. Yeah, that's like Like pulling the feed and the tractors and the unearthing with the the spikies. I'm sorry I play a lot of farming games, but I don't farm but I work with a lot of farmers I don't know why I don't understand farming more, but the thing, there's a name. Yeah, or like how they sometimes do like controlled burns, you know? Like that's good for new growth. Not like

uncontrolled burns, but you know? Yeah, like deep rip- like tillage, tilling! They till! There it is. I did it. I knew I knew. I'm like, I work with farmers. How do I not know this? Where is your mind, bitch? Way out in the water. Way out. In the Dothraki Sea. See, I'm swimming. Ohhhh. Where is Chloe's mind?

Where is my mind? Your mind is traveling, just like all of them. I love this. Because we're gonna read this travelogue, because... bangers. They crossed the rolling hills of Norvos, past terraced farms and small villages where the townsfolk watched anxiously from atop white stucco walls. They forded three wide

placid rivers and a fort that was swift and narrow and treacherous, camped beside a high blue waterfall, skirted the tumbled ruins of a vast dead city where ghosts were said to moan among blackened marble columns. They raced down Valyrian roads, a thousand years old and straight as a Dothraki arrow. For half a moon, they rode through the forest of Kohor, where the leaves made a golden canopy high above them and the trunks of the trees were as wide as city gates. There were great elk in that wood and spotted tigers and lemurs with silver fur and huge purple eyes, but all fled before the approach of the khalasar,

and Dany got no glimpse of them. By then her agony was a fading memory. She still ached after a long day's riding, yet somehow the pain had a sweetness to it now, and each morning she came willingly to her saddle, eager to know what wonders waited for her in the lands ahead. She began to find pleasure even in her nights. And if she still cried out when Drogo took her, it was not always in pain. There's that middle point. Not always in pain. Yeah, I'm like, eh, still weird, but okay.

Not there yet, you know, there's a well, first of all, the little Valyrians, I just want to make sure we talk about the little Valyrians. If you listen to our cohort episode. Oh my god, wait, we did a cohort episode, did we? We did. I'm pretty sure we did. And Norvos? We definitely did Norvos. Norvos, Norvos, Norvos, Hala Hala, Norvos, Norvos, Norvos. Oh my god, I love that song. Yeah, me too. Also Zabouma fail.

Oh my god, that is what I think about when I think about them. Both of those things, literally. I also forgot like the maesters in the Citadel used to stuff them and like keep them around as good luck charms like a monkey paw or something, you know, like fucked up. And it just is kind of funny to me to think of the liberal collegiates who sit around petting stuffed little Valyrians for luck. They own a hunting lodge or something.

You just have a bunch of stuffed critters. You are maesters, act like it. You are acting out right now. Why do you have these trophies? But I guess whatever it makes sense. They're basically ancient trophies. Also, I guess it's almost Tolkien ask the forest of cohort, like Lafloria, because you have those like gold leaves, right?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Ooh, it's so pretty. That makes sense. Interesting. Yeah, I think, I don't know, maybe not. Well, at first I thought, I was thinking of Endor and I was like, that doesn't make any sense.

Endor's very like redwoods and green. I feel like it's like stormlandy. Yeah, what you said is right. And also, I don't know, are they like collecting? Are they like, look at my new, Kohorian plushie. Well, like they thought it brought luck to pet them and shit. And so like, there's something about how they were losing their hair.

The monkeys were. Like the stuffed ones, like because they got pet so much. Yeah. That's so, that's kind of weird. I guess it's like the rabbit's foot, but what if your rabbit's foot were way bigger? And like Valyrian. Yeah. And unwieldy.

I don't know. You can't bring it with you everywhere. That'd be interesting. Maybe some of them do. Okay. Well, it's also kind of fucked up because it's like a symbol of the me- if the Maesters killed the dragons, like, if you think about it and they like stopped the Valyrians and like old town in general, you know, there was some beef there. We've talked about it a couple of times,

I think, in a couple different ways, you know, on this podcast many times for seven years. But I don't know, interesting to think like of them also Trophying those stuffed animals Just like the Valyrians who they like may if the maesters are the reason the dragons died like it's very symbolic But now they keep the little Valyrians like they've made them writ small like ha ha ha But they still want their magic and their blood Crazy fucking crazy like the maesters maybe our right wing. I don't know talk myself that wow like ha ha ha. But they still want their magic and their blood. Crazy. Fucking crazy. Like, the Maesters maybe are right wing. I don't know. Talk to them about that.

Wow. Oh, Maesters. Yeah, that makes sense. Makes sense. Alright, I'm not gonna figure out necessarily the timeline on this. Like, I don't care. I don't care if anyone's already figured it out. I just don't care. But I know it's going on for a while. Like, I'm on the month and a half weeks. You know, I don't know weeks they're traveling for weeks, but the way that George writes the movement of time in this chapter is seamlessly done. It's quickly done. He doesn't waste time being like, it had been several weeks and during those several weeks, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He just like skips fast forward pretty much.

Like at chapters end, and we have lots to say about that. We get that intro to Daenerys being pregnant Right where first they're like they were on the far side of the Dothraki Sea when Zeke we brushed the soft swell of Dany's stomach Da da da Khaleesi you're a child Then the ending of it was her 14th name day these things really give you this like sense of time Moving right because we just met Daenerys and she was just 13 two chapters ago. So obviously she was probably closer to 14 than 13 at the time when we met her but it's giving you that sense of time move that you have with the rest of the chapters around here, right?

Catelyn with Bran in the coma Ned his departure and arrival in King's Landing Sansa's first chapter and then skipping that travelogue via Arya. You have then Arya and Sansa painting those travelogues. I don't know, they cover a ton of distance. Pentos, Norvos, Kohor, C, Ves Dothrak, which is way in there. It's way closer to Meereen than Pentos, which as Dothrak, which is like way in there, like it's way closer to Marine than Pentos, which kind of as you read it, you get that sense now of, oh, right,

and she goes there and she takes a little turn and she doesn't come back on her route. You start to really feel how lost she is, right? Like this is the longest trip ever. She's so much farther away from her new goals. And you begin to feel that as you move through this. Like, well, she's deeper in, she's deeper in. And then she turns to Carth, turns to Maureen. It's crazy. Like looking at a map, I'm like, wow,

she's traveling a lot. Yeah, she is. The pace moves a lot faster, I think, in terms of where people go, right? The travelogues in the earlier books. Yeah. Which is... Trotting. Like, I feel like we're trotting a lot faster, I think, in terms of where people go, right? The travelogues in the earlier books. Yeah. Which is... Trotting. Like, I feel like we're trotting long. Good. Da da da da da. Da da da da da.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot at first to take in, but I am actually glad for the more, you know, not glacial, but the smoother, slower pace that we get, like, in Feast Dance is nice. I mean, the others, they're pretty glacial. Ha! Get out of here. You gotta go. Thank you.

Alright, Dani slows in the tall grass. She's finally alone because she never has a moment alone in the colossar. And Khal Drogo only spends time with her at night. Her maids also are just outside her tent when she's going to sleep, so she's never alone. Her brother is also like a shadow there all the time, being very annoying, and Daenerys can hear his shrill voice shouting at Jorah. Oh my gosh, the Dany chapters in the beginning are so Terence Mallet coated, like, this could

be a Mallet movie. Dany and the tall grass all alone and lonely and isolated and the slow moving and then the fast moving and the the shouts in the background and the shadows incredible this should be Terrence Malick right here he should do this word just saying I believe you thank you Daenerys continues writing and uses all her senses to give us some exposition unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield plays in the background as she walks barefoot. And Viserys then comes out of nowhere to scream at her, accusing her of commanding him and

to remember her place. Have you forgotten who you are? I feel like that's so important and I didn't realize how important it was until this reread because Viserys again appears as a force ghost at the end of Dani's published chapters and this is not one of the things that he says but it is very much the gist of her storyline especially in the fifth book. That's part of his role in the dream and and it's about remembering who you are. And this chapter is kind of about like remembering your lineage in a way like discovering yourself

and the old there the Valyrian old ways. Literally going through right every step of the way going through here of all these places her ancestors were following these Valyrian roads. Oh my god Valyrian roads take me home. Take me home. Valyrian roads to the place I come from. Oh. Westeros. It actually works pretty well. Huh. Yeah. I'm in. You could do that and then a little wagon wheel you know. We might have an album here. We might I'm in. Could do that and then a little wagon wheel, you know? We might have an album here. We might have an album. Also, the famous scene that George is trying to emulate later that stems from this moment is from The Lion King. Yes.

Remember who you are, Simba. And the stars all dissipate. Yeah, I do love that. The dragons remember, do you? Yes. Uh, bangers. Yeah, so Daenerys doesn't need to look at herself because, even though he tells her to, because she knows how she looks, she's giving Elizabeth Bennett walking in the morning across, I don't know her fucking Shire, but like what if Dothraki and yeah, real, real flushed, full of fire. Yes. Exactly. It's literally that. And he says to her,

you dress ratchet and she goes, you're so mean, you're so mean. And he goes, well, you're a big toot. And she goes, well, you jerk, at least I never kissed Johnny Schatzman. And he goes, he was a Capricorn. And yes. Not the Cerise and Denise. Yo dude, that's Denise. D-nice.

Oh, well, she gets a huzzah. I'm happy for you. Oh, thank you. I'm happy for you. Thank you. I'm sorry, that's an iconic scene and I don't mean Game of Thrones. I mean, he was a Capricorn. Viserys shoves his hand under Dani's vest and assaults her breasts again, and she shoves him away hard.

And as Viserys stares at her, she gets ready to be hurt, as she had never defied him, never fought back. Before he could do anything, a coil goes around his throat and pulls him back to the ground. The Dothraki jeer at him. Jorah explains Jogo wants to know if Dany wants Viserys killed. Quarro thinks Danny should take his ear, but Danny doesn't want him harmed. They remove the whip from around Viserys' neck, and Jorah explains he warned Viserys. He lay on the ground, sucking in air noisily, red-faced and sobbing. He was a pitiful thing. He had always been a pitiful thing. Why had she never seen that before? There was a hollow place inside her where her fear had been. Such an incredible moment

where she realizes she had never defied him, she never knew what was going to happen, and it turns out nothing because now she has protection. In a form. In a form. And it kind of reminds you of the Joffrey and Arya just a bit ago, right? The direwolf let go of Joffrey and moved to Arya's side. The prince lay in the grass, whimpering, cradling his mangled arm. His shirt was soaked in blood. Arya said, She didn't hurt you much. And then of course after that, Joffrey made a scared whimpery sound as he looked up at her. Well, I love that comparison because it's absolutely what's going on here. You know, people finally being told no. Heh heh.

Right. Absolutely. Any man who says, he is the king. And then the contrast with, you know, as you put it in that lightning round chapter, how Jon realizes, wow, being a bully kind of sucks. I could be a mean prince or a good Lord Snow. Yeah. Ha ha because he could because you know. Exactly and Daenerys I don't know finally realizing he's just why hadn't she seen that before? And that none of it's real that none of these structures like are real real things. They could all be knocked down just like Viserys

Her whole life she was told Viserys was it. So doesn't this say anything can be changed? I guess it's also like what what is he gonna do beat her? Like how is that any different from she's enduring pain every single day already? Like what can you do to her that hasn't already been done? She's like fuck you. Exactly. Now she has the power here, right? She is a lot of power. She tells them to take Viserys' horse. And so he will walk. And this is a huge loss of status among the Dothraki, right? It's not just like, wow, that fucking sucks, bro.

Like, I don't know, even though if Viserys realizes like this is a huge insult. Right. And Viserys tries to get Jorah to hurt Daenerys and kill the Dothraki. And rather than obey, Jorah looks at her and says, I think, I think Viserys tries to get Jorah to hurt Daenerys and kill the Dothraki, and rather than obey, Jorah looks at her and says, I think Viserys is gonna walk, and this makes me think again of what you're saying about Joffrey, right? It's like Joffrey telling the Kingsguard to beat Sansa. And I guess Jorah gets one, I don't know, one tiny, the tiniest of kudos for that, that he was like, I don't think so, but I guess he did sell people into slavery. That's kind of

worse. That's kind of the same thing, but way worse. Anyways, um, Danny wonders if Viserys will be able to find his way back. Jorah's like, if he cannot find the Colossi, the Colossi will most surely find him. It is hard to drown in the Dothraki Sea, child. I feel like that means something. Also in regards to he can't, you know, the Colossar will find someone in the Dothraki Sea. It's kind of like, oh yeah, Daenerys lost out there. Found her instantly.

By the end of book five. Yeah. Fucking instantly. Yeah. Like, okay, well she suffered for a couple of lost out there, found her instantly. By the end of book five. Fucking instantly. Yeah, like, okay, well, she suffered for a couple days, but they found her. That's just what camping is like, okay? It's like suffering. Suffering, yeah. Real.

The Kalasar always has scouts. They're basically a roving city. And knowing this land they were from and part of that she now is starting to feel is part of her. She wonders aloud about hitting Viserys thinking whether he will be mad or not and she thinks that she woke the dragon. We have this line from Jorah, Can you wake the dead girl? Your brother, Rhaegar, was the last dragon, and he died on the Trident. Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake." pointed here, right? Because Daenerys does try to wake the dead. That's a lot of what this specific book is leading up to. And Drogo, it doesn't work for him. Yet another dragon somewhere is going to

be woken from death in probably the Winds of Winter. Yeah, she does wake the eggs, which are seemingly dead. That's true. Exactly. I think that's a big part of her story and then later on she's gonna have to deal with like, wait, wow, we can make the dead, oh shit, we woke the dead. Yeah, and I love too it kind of lines up with Bran next book, right? Like, not broken. Not broken. Yeah. Denarius wonders now about the oaths that Jorah swore to Viserys and what a snake's servants are. The truth comes out, Viserys wouldn't be a good king, but there's been worse. She recalls that Illyrio said people still pray for his return, and Jorah delivers that

line everyone loves, right? And it's kind of like as you said last time, Chloe, the worst fucking person you know is right sometimes. And he says, the common people pray for rain healthy children in a summer that never ends. It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones. So long as they are left in peace, they never are. And I'm just like, yes and no. I don't know, I have mixed feelings about this because there's an aspect in which it's kind of right, an aspect in which I'm like, I think there's more to it than that, right? Like, it's not just being left in peace. Like,

if you're, if you have power, like you have the power to make things better, you know, governments should, yeah, governments should make people's lives better. I don't know. That's probably crazy for me to say. Also I'm just like, Jorah, shut the fuck up. You're literally the embodiment of Highlord. Not even playing your Game of Thrones, just not leaving people in peace. You're just kidnapping them and selling them. I'm just never gonna let it go. So true bestie! So true! Get on!

I'm never gonna let it go! I'm sorry! I just...ugh! Good for you. Get on, babe. Get on. Go away! I support you. Leave her alone. Get a job. Literally. Get a different job. In a new industry. Yeah, right. Actually, yeah.

Repent, bitch. Um, the only thing that I will say is there is that great connection of both Danny and John being mentored by Mormonts, right, that's going on right now, which is interesting. If you can call Jorah that. There's this line that's kind of similar from Jorah to John later, right? God save us, boy. You're not blind and you're not stupid. When dead men come hunting in the night, do you think it matters?

Who sits the iron throne? No, John had no John had not thought of it that way. We haven't had, we haven't had one of those in a while. Oh, I guess we might in some of the Tyrion chapters. Oh my God. You good? Romance is alive. I know what you want after a hard day, honey. Right. Honey, I'm home.

I'm home. The sea. Dothraki's sea, here with Chloe. Home is whenever I'm with you. Um, yeah, it doesn't matter who sits on the throne, they just need a king who will unite everyone, or a queen, or a queen. Or a Khaleesi, you mean. Khaleesi. In my heart, I say it like that sometimes. Uh, these words are the opposite of what Viserys has taught her this whole time though. And she's like, whoa. And mulls them over a bit and then asks Jorah what he prays for. Home, he says, and she goes, whoa, hard same.

And Jorah tells her, this is your home. But she sees instead King's Landing and the Red Keep and Dragonstone. And then we have that iconic line, in her mind's eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window, in her mind's eye all the doors were red. Hmm what a line dude it's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It's so good. It We don't know. Could be interesting if there's more reveals of her having connections and visions, but I think it's more foreshadowing. It's uh, fire's supposed to be life. That place was also supposed to be life. True, but it's full of balls of brown. Um... All of Westeros is dying, baby! But it can come back. Sometimes...

Harder? Stronger? Life finds a way.... Oh, life finds a way. Not again. It's going a different way. Finally, Daenerys admits it. Viserys will never take back the Seven Kingdoms, not with all the gold and all the armies in the world. We have this line here of the Dothraki make mock of his weakness and it makes me think of this concept in Dying of the Light, a part of the world building of one of the places, Haikavalaan, which is like a very, very extremist patriarchal society where they do kind of stay in like groups. You could almost see them as in a way like proto-Dothraki, right? Like the way that it's organized and you know, family structure and the village structure

of it all. They have the concept of something called mock men, which are like, they're not considered true men and therefore don't get to hold any place power. They were probably just like, I don't know, aliens that were there. And they were basically slaves. They were the male slaves as opposed to the women, all the women were all property anyway. But some men got to be slave men and they were called mock men. And it's just an interesting way of putting it that, you know, as people have discussed outside of here that manhood has to be something that's shown through strength and through violence and like the Dothraki is here And you can kind of see George bringing that idea from his older works here with make mock of his weakness weakness is If you're not respected who can trust a leader that they laugh at he's lost it. He's lost that respect. He's lost status It's interesting because it's so guttural and so like, you know walk bitch

but also you look at court and King's landing and how many times do you have people that are in front of the king, in front of the kingdom, in front of the king's court are like stripped of their titles or lands and embarrassed. Look at Joffrey with Dantos. Yeah. You know, like it's not that guttural, it's not that savage. It seems it's man's primal idea to make hierarchies and embarrass others in order to support some up and put others down and have power.

It's all about power. It's all about power. It's a double-edged sword too, right? Because you see the way that Tyrion is treated. He is mocked, he is laughed at, he is considered weak and a half-man. He would probably be a better leader than a lot of the ones that were propped up or when you go back to the Blackfyre rebellion questions of like, I mean, Damon Blackfyre really good at fighting, but, but Darren actually maybe good at thinking and rolling.

I don't know. What do you guys want as a leader? I don't know. Or like Maegor versus Aenys. Right. I mean both of them were kind of bad for different reasons, but I don't know. I think Aenys, you know, gets a bad rep. He wasn't great. He just kind of tried to coast and it turns out Aegon's kingdom wasn't as knitted up as it could have been. Yeah. He didn't have the Jaehaerys hookup, okay? Like some

people just got born into gravy. Jaehaerys hooked it all up, fixed the world, and then everyone after him was like, we coast now? And then Rhaenyra was like, my life's been ruined. Rhaenyra was like, I wasn't allowed to fucking coast, you assholes. This is bullshit, I should have gotten to coast, dad. She didn't even want to coast anyways. Jorah calls Daenerys a wise child and she responds, I am no child. And Jorah took that to heart. She rides off and reaches the Kallasar at dusk and her tent is set up next to a pool. Gossip is inevitable in the Kallasar, especially regarding Viserys and especially when he limps

back kind of walk of shame back here. We have the line, there were no secrets in the calisar. Fucking clearly! Cause they're just fucking and shit all the time. This is an interesting idea for a culture. Yeah. I just like being home, dog. They have a very different lifestyle than I do.

Very different. I don't want to be on a horse going all the way across the continent right now. I'm good. Maybe another life. I have the Sims 4 at home. Daenerys, you would have loved the Sims 4, girlfriend. Probably. After giving her horse to be groomed, she goes to her tent to admire the eggs which feel warm and alive. She tells herself, it's the sun. it's the sun. Yeah, it's a head. While entering the bath, she asks her handmaid slaves if they've ever seen a dragon. We get some world building from the first dragons coming from the east, beyond Asshai, and the Jade Sea Islands from the Shadowlands.

Yeah, we get more other cool world building of Magic had died in the west when the doom fell on Valyria and the lands of the Longsummer, and neither Spellforged Steel nor Stormsingers nor Dragons could hold it back. But Dany had always heard that the East was different. It was said that manticores prowled the islands of the Jade Sea, that basilisks infested the jungles of Yi Ti, that Spellsingers, and aromancers practiced their arts openly in a shy, while shadow binders and blood mages worked terrible sorceries in the black of night. Why shouldn't there be dragons too? Honestly, legit. I think that all those things fucking exist in all those places. I believe it.

It's a fantasy series and like everything else is true. I think all these things are there. fantasy series and like everything else is true. I think all these things are there. Yeah. But absolutely. I mean, when she's like looking at it that I think that's true. Like I actually think this is the greatest like Georgism of where he loves to state things as outrageous. But then he puts in a fact or something that like clearly proves it all true. And like we don't know if it's true or not. But I'm like, it's true. Why else would he say all these crazy things with it? Like they clearly exist like if you break it down magic died in the West Spellforged seal spell forged steel storm singers

Dragons, so we've seen several spell forged steel swords, right? Valyrian steel swords at this point, ice, heart's vein, long claw, dragons are about to be born. We haven't seen Stormsingers, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's just like something that is a euphemism, right? Like if several of these are euphemisms for a variant of the same power, the same class, like if we're gonna look at this like D&D, right? Like the same class, like these are the same class just translated in a different country. Like Stormsingers, who knows? Maybe it's just a gardening thing, but maybe he wanted to make it a thing. I think arguably you could say like even whatever Euron is doing is Stormsinging.

Like I bet we're gonna see Stormsinging in those books. And like why the fuck not? Spellsellers you've probably seen that. We see warlocks in the next book. There's probably even more warlocks in Asshai doing more warlocky things and like as Quaithe points out all these people are not as like strong or magical or powerful as they used to be but I think that they exist. I want to know what an aramancer is. Are they just airbenders? Yeah and I think a lot of the rest of it, you know, like manticores are in a clash of kings. You have the one trying to kill her in Game of Thrones. We see one from the east here.

Like she sees one already here. She sees them in cages in the eastern market. Basilisks in Yi Ti, we know basilisks are real in a clash of kings. When she arrives at the docks she sees there's a basilisk dog fight happening, like a dog is fighting a basilisk, and we're also given all these lines about basilisk poison throughout the books. So like to get that poison it must exist because you have to get that

poison from somewhere. And Spell Singers are like same thing as Stormsingers, right? There's no real references. It might be like a Warhammer reference, I think. I think it's like these wood elves in Warhammer. So like maybe it's a nod at that, cause George likes to play. But again, it's a sorcery class. So it could just be similar to Storm Singers. We know there are warlocks.

We see them in Karth. Aeromancers, I think those are just airbenders. Like you said, Shadow Mages and Blood Mages are real. We have met one. We've met Melisandre, right? Well, not yet, but we will. So why shouldn't there be dragons too? And there are. And then of course we just had Bran III, right?

Where he sees the vision, where he lifts his eyes and he sees the dragons. He sees beyond the free cities, the green Dothraki, see and beyond to vase Dothrak under its mountain. To the fabled lands of the Jade Sea, to a shy by the shadow where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise. Brand 3, they're waking. I don't- I could never tell, like, that's so ambiguously written, of like, doesn't mean there are dragons there now, but I guess he's just seeing across time, too.

So it might also mean, like, that's where they woke, but yeah a lot of this comes up in Clash. Things move fast, like most of these show up in Clash. Absolutely. Clash is like he wants to detail all this stuff that he started playing without. I love that. Yeah, but Dani's handmaids are like, those bitches are dead. There are no more dragons. She asks even if in the east, if there are none, and they say no, it said they're all dead, killed by brave men because they were terrible beasts. Derea explains that a traitor from Qarth said dragons came from the moon. Like Clefairy. Oh my god, Clefairy! Clefairy! Clefairy! I mean, I love Jigglypuff, but I feel like Clefairy. Oh my god, Clefairy! Clefairy, Clefairy, Clefairy. I mean, I love Jigglypuff, but I feel like Clefairy and Clefable are underrated in pink

musical little guys. Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff. That's the end of the podcast. Just kidding. Method acting. Okay, what if the trader, T-R-A-D-E-R, the trader from Karth who said that the dragons came from the moon was Quaithe? Yo, actually I wouldn't mind that. Why not?

I think that's cool. Why not? She could be pretending to be like a trader, you know? Yeah, she wears many masks it seems, right? Yeah, she could have like multiple businesses. Like, you know? Yeah, she wears many masks, it seems, right? Yeah, she could have like multiple businesses. Like, and you know, sometimes people they're out there being mysterious, trading things. Multiple businesses, yeah. She's an entrepreneur.

Quaife is walking around with a trench coat, like opening it saying, y'all wanna buy these watches? Or this magic. I don't know, you look at Varus who trades in secrets. Yeah exactly like trader is such a I think broad category. It's like someone who's like a consultant like. Yeah that's broad. The consultant.

I mean Quaithe is also a consultant. Oh my god. She is. Entrepreneurial. She comes and she gives like vague concepts, strategies. I stand for that girl. Yeah, she gets her VP pay and she pays for her insurance and gets out. I'm allowed to say this.

I used to be a consultant. Dory explains, the moon was an egg, wildly precious and expensive in this economy. And when the egg got too close to the sun, it cracked and a bazillion dragons poured out. Sorry, I cracked myself up. Moon was not egg, Khaleesi. No, listen, someone exclaimed that that's what I called Sunnyside up. No, I'm not. I gave you nods all episode already. I'm not giving you this. The moon came too close to the sun and then...

Grasped the star and fell. I'm so sick of it. I'm so sick of it. I got to write that online this week, everyone. Yuri says that this is foolish. The moon isn't an egg, but a god, woman wife of sun. Moon is not egg, Khaleesi. A woman is a god. I love that song. I want to come back to talking about this myth because yes, it is true.

I think, I don't know, I think that all of this is kind of just sort of foreshadowing. It's not just foreshadowing, it is like the recipe for how it goes because the moon was an egg and the egg is Daenerys and she's got fucking like her fertilized egg inside of her with the baby, right? And like she's the one who births the dragons and she's also the the woman or or the son. She actually might be the son even though we say it's Drogo, right? Wife, whatever. And then from that, both of these, we're being told Daenerys is this moon and from the moon comes the dragons. Like it's come on you guys. That's just all it is, I think. Well, the full moon is also, like, usually ovulation.

Exactly. I do think there's that going on. Like, that's when the moon is supposed to be fertile, like, look at it. It's fucking pregnant. And I think that's also what's going on, right? Like the symbolism is the moon is thick as hell in prego and she births dragons and Dani at the end of this chapter is thick as hell in prego. Yeah, when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie. That's a dragon. That's dragons. When your brother must die, that's a dragon. When your lover must die, that's a dragon's. When your lover must die, that's a dragon's.

That's a dragon. I don't think I know the rest of the lyrics of this song other than whatever we came up with. Yeah, that too. So yeah, they continue the White Lotus treatment as Daenerys ponders all this, then Dany asks Dorea to stay with her, the the lysine girl who was a sex slave, and she goes, you honor me, Khaleesi, she said, but it was no honor, only service. And I think that that line is really interesting in the context of Ned, because the book starts out with him being offered a job and him saying that it is an honor that he's being honored and Robert's like I'm not here to honor you. I'm here to make you wipe up my shit and

Yeah, Daenerys isn't in her in her mind at least she's being honest about it's not an honor she's asking Derea to teach her the things she was bought to do, the thing that Dorea was taught to do her whole life because that was her purpose as a slave. Reminds me of Cersei too. Right. When Robert honors her, that she'll wear as a badge of honor. Damn. Yeah, so. Also like when Robert shouts at Ned about what honor does the dragon have, is that show only? Uh, I don't know. Something like that. Yeah, but nice. Nice is really what I want to say. Nice. Thank you.

I was like, oh, that was a good one, Elliana. That's a zinger. That night, when Cal Drogo came, Danny was waiting for him. He stood in the door of her tent and looked at her with surprise. She rose slowly and opened her sleeping silks and let them fall to the ground. This night we must go outside, my lord, she told him, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. Khal Drogo followed her out into the moonlight with bells in his hair tinkling softly. A few yards from her tent was a bed of soft grass, and it was there that Dany drew him down. When he tried to

turn her over, she put a hand on his chest. No, she said. This night, I would look on your face. There is no privacy in the heart of the Kallasar. Dany felt eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft words as she did the things that Dorea had told her to do. It was nothing to her. Was she not Khaleesi? His were the only eyes that mattered, and when she mounted him, she saw something there she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever she had ridden her silver, and when the moment of pleasure came, Kaldroggo called out her name. They were on the far side of the Dothraki Sea when Xiqui brushed the soft swell of Dani's stomach with her fingers and said, child. I know." Dani told her. It was her 14th name day.

Yeah. So at least we know that Daria just like told her, I guess, verbally what to do. And I like how she's like, you know, all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky, I guess, you know. His customs. Yeah, cowgirl is a thing, a moment of importance in Drogo's life, learning the cowgirl position. We don't actually know, I'm about to do a hard shift here, we don't actually know how old the Virgin Mary was when she became pregnant with Jesus. There are different schools of thought, some of them assert that she was 14, and I'm not really sure if that's true.

We've discussed, you know, like regarding narratives around ages of things and like the age of marriage differs among scholars of Jewish customs of the time, of that time period. And of course, there are a lot of truesomes that again, we realize maybe weren't true. Like that she was impregnated by the Holy Ghost? Sure, sure.

And however, I do think that George was probably raised, like when he was learning Catholicism, they were probably saying that the Virgin Mary was 14 at the time of impregnation. So could be inspired by this. That or a lot of the pop culture, like he's really into history, but a lot of it is like pop history too. So a lot of pop history might have said the same thing.

And I kind of wonder if that's why it's around this age or why he chose to end it with that. But or like change it to that because actually in Blood of the Dragon, which as we discussed was the original published version in Asimov Science Fiction something something something magazine, she was actually 12 years old when she was married and this was her 13th name day. Thank you very much to Jen Snow, who did a lot of work going through these old published versions of Daenerys' story. And she has a comprehensive post on the differences between that and this. And there's quite a lot and also lays them out. And Viserys, she points out, we're actually given Viserys' age that we're not in this version of the chapter and he's like 20 That's interesting. I kind of forgot about that that he's 20. It's probably uh, I don't know kind of interesting the uh,

The Blood of the Dragon those chapters. I forgot about that that That version she was that young. That's nuts. Very Catholic all this What you've brought up. Yeah. Thank you for keeping it alive, you know? Catholicism. Catholicism? Yeah. Today, on our podcast. It's all thanks to me. I did this. Thanks be Aliana. Praise. So, this chapter clearly marks Viserys' fall and Dani's rise.

Last chapter, we had that placement at the wedding where he's sitting below her. And at the beginning, we have that great bit of Viserys threatening Drogo, idiot, with what will happen if he wakes the dragon. And the truth of that is exactly what we said. Fuck around, find out, nothing will happen. They're bigger than him, stronger than him, and the Dothraki aren't afraid of little boy kings And of course we come to that line where Daenerys thinks she had never defied him never fought back She did a lot of things today that she didn't think she could ever do defying the Saris Riding Kaldrogu apparently there is a little power in that right like we talked about in the middle of the up I think there's still something in this that is very strong about Daenerys finding this within her and the blood of the dragon taking hold, choosing

her position, right? Choosing to be able to do that, like having a choice somewhat, like no, she doesn't have choices, but she's learning how to make some and how to stand up for herself in many ways and it's crazy we talked about like that emasculation of Viserys at the beginning and I think it's like of all people right like everyone wants to feel support or that they have protection or that they can stand on their legs and not fall back and Dani finally has that for the very first time and by choosing your position instead of being seated above Viserys, like she didn't want to be on top then, but she realized today that she could.

And I think that strong connection to the pregnancy is what makes this good for me and why I like it. Because we learn, and this is in many stories, not just here, that children are a piece of power for people, right? They could be gambled as pawns later in their lives, but for women specifically, they add value to the coin that you're worth. If women are worth coin, kids are a great fucking value add, alright? They cement your place. We've seen that throughout history in A Song of Ice and Fire. We've seen Aegon IV and his bastards, right? His nine mistresses and counting. They all wanted a little something back, probably, for their trysts, and they

were probably promised something as well. But because of that, and you look at, you know, Euron hasn't murdered Phalia quite yet, just kidding. It becomes a power, right, that only women in this world can wield. We see that in many stories, not just A Song of Ice and Fire. In some stories, it's even more magical. Like in Dune, it's very tied to some of the magical bits. Like, perhaps the Bene Gesserit are able to defy prophecy in some aspects, and some of them have the power and the sheer will force to changing the gender of their child to get out of a prophecy, or creating abomination, creating a psychic link with the child in your stomach until that child is like a fucking radio wave

out into the world, like picking up their ancestors' fucking thoughts. I think George's use of this is more traditional in some fantasy and some sci-fi in that sense, but I still think it's very powerful, right? We look at Catalin's thoughts during sex of, I could still give him a child, as if to say she has worth and to prove it. Cersei, for her, she was able to give an act of defiance, right? She didn't give Robert a child. It was an act of defiance. I ate your sticky princes, your grace. Like that is an act of defiance and an act of protection for herself and an act of standing up for herself in the way that she could. And for Dani, it's also somewhat powerful, right? She has protection.

She's been accepted into this group of Dothraki. She's never had more than two to three people in her life, like at a time, right? Like she's not, she's not really had anyone on her side her entire life, really. It's always been Protector or adult figure and Viserys, and it's only ever been somewhat good once, as we learn from Ser Willem. So for her now to have the Dothraki, the Kalasar behind her, or respecting her at least as Khal Drogo's wife, and she's carrying his child, she's carrying a future inside of herself. It doesn't mean that future is solid, it doesn't mean you know, that future is going to give her something good or bad, but at the moment, for

a good several months, it means status. So much so that her value has risen above Viserys'. That value-add baby in her stomach makes her more important than Viserys, and that has never happened in her life. That's an exciting power. It is. It's like, there's something that's just really, I don't know, interesting about, like, the way it's all written because Daenerys is with people. She doesn't know. Like, she can't speak to most of these people. And yet, this is where she finally finds freedom. And as you said, she finds power. She finds power in a moment where you would think, and the chapter shows starts out with her being incredibly vulnerable. But turns out the thing that's been holding her back her whole life has been her brother. And now he has lost his grip on her.

Yup. he has lost his grip on her, she's able to turn all these things around. And I think that's part of, you know, again, the power of her story of like that she is in these like incredibly difficult circumstances and learns to use the rules of this game and redefine the rules as well to to ways that she can carve out power for herself. And that is what people have had to do, right? Even in Westeros, like that, we talk about Catelyn, you know, having to play by the rules and learning to play by the rules. That's what Daenerys is also doing. She's using these rules.

And at the end of the chapter, right, throughout these chapters of A Game of Thrones and throughout the rest of Daenerys' storyline, I think what's great is not only does she learn to use those rules for herself, she, as we see, questions, why are the rules like this? The rules don't have to be like this. What if we rewrote them? Yeah, when you were singing Unwritten earlier, it actually did make me think like she never I'm serious.

I'm not even I didn't actually sing it. I only referenced it by the way. We're just talking about all the betting fields on this podcast. If you're not the one, Eliana. So when you were talking about that, I'm serious. You- you- you made me think of how she never understood that she could pick up the Quill too. In her own Targaryen history and take on her own sigil, take on exploring it. It was always something reserved for Viserys.

He always kept it away from her. It was stories that he told her. She never realized they could be her stories too. She never understood that and it was like the moment that he was pushed down. She realized it's not real. These are made-up things and made-up rules that he was giving me. And it's like that line that Alicent and Rainey's back and forth in House of the Dragons season 1, when she says, you know, you wish to make a window in your prison, and today, she made a window in her prison. But tomorrow, she's going to say, well, why just a window?

And go to push-in, go to shatter it. Yeah. Why prisons? Maybe we should have none of those. Maybe we shouldn't have slaves. Maybe we shouldn't have people treat women this way. Yeah, it's definitely more than we get to see from any other female character in a leadership role in this story, right? Besides Cersei Lannister, ultra feminist queen. And yeah, which is only second to Maegor. Yeah, am I a true? I think it's also like you and I, we are Rhaenys truthers, alright?

I don't know if there's any blood of Aegon other than what he shares with Rhaenys. No, I'm serious. In Daenerys. We're talking about remember who you are, blood of the dragon. Alright, well. Who is that? What if that's, yeah, what if that's Rhaenys? It's the women, we never thought to look for a princess.

A princess! Anyway. God. You know, Westeros just wasn't ready for a tree queen. This is tragic. That's sad. I mean. Don't you agree, chat? Chat! I'm trying

it out. Trying it out for size. I don't know. Trying a lot of things out these days. Chat, hats. Thank you. I'm so youthful. Yo, I'm in my hat era. Yeah, I'm in mine. Oh my god, we're hatting. I'm really into it. If you have any good ideas for hats, guys, if you have any good links, let me know. I'll buy a hat. I love a hat. I love a fucking hat. I'm into them now. What's that? A hat? Crazy? Funky? Do you know this one from Wizards of Waverly Place? No, I don't remember it, but I've actually been thinking about rewatching it just so I can watch the reboot for no reason. Oh my god, same! Real?

Wow, we are- maybe we're birthing a dragon together. I don't know, something about our wavelength. What is this, like our tenth dragon? Well chat, we'll be back. Not on the 21st, because of the blood sacrificing that's allegedly going on, but we will be back March 28th, 25 if you are listening to this in real time as it is released. If you are from the future and you're listening to this piece of history, enjoy. We hope you had a great episode in time with us. Yeah, I'm glad that you could just binge these probably.

Hopefully. I don't know. Glad is a great way to put it. Yeah, well, if you ever want to find us, you can on social media at girls gone canon, that's C-A-N-O-N over on Twitter or blue sky, or you can send us emails at girls gone canon at gmail.com. Yeah, don't forget about those Apple reviews also. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Or Podbean. Yeah. You've got a little time, though. If you're listening to this, you've got a little bit of time to put some emails in. So send them in. Send some reviews in.

We'd love to hear from you and your five star review, folks. Yes. Sorry if we didn't get to any of yours for this episode. We had to do a couple of time traveling, do a little, do things a little differently in terms of our recording schedule. So if you sent any before this slash after Danny 2, we'll try to get them next time around. We'll fit you in. We'll fit you in. We'll be back with Danny 4 and you can find that on many platforms that our patrons are going to tell you about. Amazon podcasts. You can also join us on Patreon, where if you join the thunder tier above, you have

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I like those kids telling you where to find the stuff, do the things, make sure you're following, make sure you're faving. I think Patreon's the best way to find us. We're always posting stuff consistently on there, so check it out. And that's the show. We'll be back. We look forward to Danny 4 with you. I have been one of your hosts, Chloe. And I've been another one of your hosts, Eliana. The rest is still unwritten. Oh, I was like deciding what song we were gonna like play out to and I was thinking like, when the moon hits your eye, like a big piece of light.

That's a dragon. That's a dragon. We had a- we referenced a lot of songs in this episode, including especially the Jigglypuff song. Yeah, I think you felt very empowered by the review. Thank you. Yeah, we only get worse with age. Love you! Bye!

Bye!