Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 62 - ASOS Jon VII

Episode Date: August 9, 2019

In the words of the band A GREAT BIG WORLD,    "ANYWHERE I WOULD'VE FOLLOWED YOU SAY SOMETHING, I'M GIVING UP ON YOU."   You guys, it's sad.  It's The One Where Ygritte Dies.  --- 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    

Hello and welcome to Girls Gone Canon, episode 62, John 7, in A Song of Ice and Fire, A Storm of Swords. I am one of your hosts, Chloe. You know me from the internet, Lies in Arbor on Twitter, Tumblr, and LiesinArborGold.com. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. You might know me as GlossTableGirl over on Reddit, on the Mason Rundley podcast, or maybe as Arithmetic over on Twitter. We have had a crazy week. This has been so much content in the last couple weeks. Holy crap. It was a whirlwind.

Like, I'm happy and hopefully all the rest of you are happy about what we've put out, but like, we were like, damn. Yeah, we're excited for the next week of a normal schedule. Normal schedule, except not for Eliana because you're jet setting off around the world right now. Indeed, I'm going to go to Upside Down Westeros. Good for you. Good for you. I hope you have a safe trip.

You're doing that, like, soon. So we are recording this. We are getting you guys John 7. And then I'm going on a plane. It's gonna be sick. Hey, go in on a jet plane, you know, like someone else, like Ygritte. Why would you do this? Why are you like this?

Spoilers. The one where Ygritte dies. You guys, we put out our first His Dark Materials episode. It was on the Golden Compass slash Northern Lights, depending on where you live, what you read, what you own. And it was chapters one through three. Yes. So that is up now for everyone in the public. And if you are a patron, there's some fun stuff on there, some goodies.

Yeah, absolutely. Some fun little doodles. Yes. You know, got to get in there and check it out. Patreon.com. Girls Gone Canon. There has to be balance in the force. So as we said, you put out a lot of things this past week. And because I am traveling, there will be no new episode next week.

So that is the week of... If you were a $30 and up patron, you would get a release usually on August 14th. $10 and up on August 15th, and everyone else on the 16th. But alas, no one gets anything that week. It's like a reverse Christmas. Deal with it. Yeah. In fact, you guys have to give us an episode.

Oh, I would like that. That would be cool. Let's convince people to do that. Yeah, everyone do your own Girls Gone Canon episode next week and send it to us. I hope that happens. What if someone does? That would be amazing. It would be very interesting.

I would love it. It would be most pleasing to my career. That would be actually really great. I would love that, everyone. Yeah, send us your episode of Girls Gone Canon. And I'm not gonna say which day exactly but that is maybe my birthday week so if you guys did want to send us your own girls gone canon episodes a because it's reverse christmas and by that i mean

maybe my birthday somewhere along that week hashtag leo season Hashtag Leo season. Floating it. Aries season came and went. Rip us. Yeah. So before we jump into the one where Egret dies. Why do you keep calling it that? That's what this is. It's how I get through the pain, Eliana.

Yeah. it's how i get through the pain eliana yeah uh before we jump there we did get an awesome email from our friend nicole aka lady ray of sea rise mother of dogs i love her i love that i think it's very snazzy i'm a new listener and have been loving the point of view read through i started listening to your podcast after listening to history of westeros's valarie read us oh love history of westeros check themar Rereadus. Oh, love History of Westeros. Check them out. It's been a completely different experience. Reading and listening to a character's story all the way through. Sansa's storyline read all the way through. With no interruptions from other point of views.

Are a real life 12 year old puberty is awful story. Just thrust into an ugly and ridiculous environment. And people who hate on her do not take this into account. Stop side seat driving. We never know what we would do not take this into account. Stop side seat driving. We never know what we would do in a situation until we're faced with it. We only hope we will be the hero of the story. And sometimes we aren't always heroic. Sometimes the most overlooked actions are the most important and heroic. Example from Marvel's Spider-Man and Infinity War, while fighting Thanos on Titan with the bigger name heroes, was catching the

Guardians before they floated away. Without him paying attention to catch them while they were unconscious, would there have been any Guardians left to come back after the blip? In regard to episode 34, Elaine 1, I noticed the descriptions of Liza's wardrobe seem to be a callback to Queen Mary I, who dressed ostentatiously, and Elizabeth I, who dressed relatively plain to push the narrative of her virginity. Also, maybe a real-life inspiration of Philip II for Littlefinger, get a job,

preying on both Catalin and Liza, as well as Sansa and Liza. Philip II married Bloody Mary and then pursued Queen Elizabeth's hand. She also talks about how John's narrative is a slow-burn horror story, like the movie The Witch. Katie Dickey, who played Liza Aaron, is the mother in this movie. Reading his chapter stressed her out of knowing what he's going to face and how brilliantly George hid the crazy horror story in between everyone else's point of view. Yes, this was a fantastic email. And like when it came in, I was like, Chloe, did you see this email? This is so good.

This was a fantastic email. And like when it came in, I was like, Chloe, did you see this email? This is so good. I know. I always am like, I have to mark it as on Reddit so that you see it too. So that it's on top. That's what I do. It's really hard sharing an email. Actually, no, I don't know.

What if we just keep doing that forever and all of our emails look like they're on red, but they're all red? We'll never know. Yep. There's no other way to figure this out too. Yeah. yep there's no other way to figure this out too so yeah but i i thought that this was a really great historical background to some of that like fashion hour stuff that we're into and i was like this is such a great observation and analysis of that moment where sansa's getting dressed so yeah i loved it i thought it was it has to be an exact it's exactly it like

the whole time like oh duh this is exactly what george is drawing from i don't know it was really good it was just a really good thing to wake up to and see yeah good email especially get your email game on you guys because nicole's is up she has email game we do have some like great emails too like other people send funny emails and of do have some, like, great emails, too. Like, other people send fun emails. And, of course, we read those aloud for all of you. Yes. Yes. If you email us, if it doesn't get on, trust

me, we will send you an email back or we will chat with you at some point. I promise. Because we love your emails. They're great. Well, no, they're those people that we definitely ignore. Let's not promise the men anything oh speaking of uh our friend uh joe messaged us asking how far little finger would make it in survivor so i actually would not know i wanted to ask the expertise of kw dent aka kyle over on the blood of the podcast podcast yeah i don't watch survivor i get it i don't watch it though so i'm i'm curious what

everyone thinks because i don't know yeah so everyone direct this question to at K-W-D-E-N-T to the number two. He has recently just binge-watched all of the seasons of Survivor starting from like 1999. Oh my god. Yeah, he was like talking about how he just watched all of Survivor recently.

So I think that he's going to be the expert on this question. And I just don't feel qualified to give an answer yeah we're gonna have to get with him for sure all right everyone and lastly there was a tweet from there were several tweets but i wanted to call out this one from our good friend manuclear bomb it was a quote tweet of a herd of very closely packed together sheep and in the middle a little dog face is peering out he goes it's john snow with the wild legs and this is just a very important tweet to me things with dogs are important to me

that is why he is a luminary and why we have had him on our podcast because he sends us dog pictures it's not hard to please us juliette nicole sent us dog pictures too she has many doggos and they are variously wonderful so it's not hard we're very simple you know what we want yeah you know what we want guys let's jump into our lightning round in catalan six catalan and rob's campaign arrive at the twins breaking bread and salt with walder and his expansive family aria 10 aria and sandor are on their way to a wedding and it's gonna be great it's gonna be sick catalan seven and so he spoke, and so he spoke, that lord of Castamere. Arya XI, Arya and Sandor are late for the wedding, but they're early for the funeral. Sandor gets them the fuck out of there.

I knew you'd like that one. I worked really hard. I was going to do that one in Arya X and do something about that, but I was like, no, this is Arya. It is. Perfect. Tyrion 6. Tywin reveals the true monster beneath his skin. Davos 5. Melisandre's

leeches strike again. Davos' continued learning may save the realm. Hmm. That brings us to Jon 7. Minimally fortified, castle black is watched over by donald noy john and the men of the watch when things look grim the wall defends itself and john faces the unimaginable loss of a first love yeah i'm sad are you sad i'm sad everyone we had to do this chapter on its own there's no way we could have paired this with something else no it was always going to be john seven yeah we had to just let ourselves all be set

so john seven opens with they woke to the smoke of mole's town burning john's on crutches and he thinks that well at least no one's going to die in their beds because we can prepare for this attack even if we lose and he's been drinking dream wine to ease the pain of his leg even though he wants milk of the poppy, but he's like, no, I can't. Yeah, not with the wildlings coming. He insists he can fight and everyone's like, mmm,

I don't think you can. Donald Noy tells him, though, I have need of every man who knows which end of the spear to stab into the wildlings. The pointy end. john had told his little sister something like that once he remembered oh noy agrees to put john in a tower with a longbow he thinks the wild the wildlings who will be coming up the king's road the magnar of then grig the goat coarse big boil i know they did not i like that he drops these names as though like yeah these people are really important to me i'm like were they john i have never heard of them

before yeah it's like george was just giving a couple red shirts in the last second like it's the same thing in the books it's as like a tv thing where you have weird red shirts same thing guys same thing Out of nowhere. And then he remembers Ygritte, even if he wasn't friends with the other wildlings. He could feel the throb of pain where her arrow had gone through the meat and muscle of his thigh. He remembered the old man's

eyes, too, and the black blood rushing from his throat as the storm cracked overhead. But he remembered the grotto, best of all, the look of her naked in the torchlight, the taste of her mouth when it opened under his. Ygritte, stay away. Go south and raid. Go hide in

one of those round towers you liked so well. You'll find nothing here but death. Aww. Hmm. Well, too bad, because she finds a round tower and dies. Oh, damn. Alright, great. Just want to make sure we're all ready for this i mean like if we if we talk about it that helps us process our

feelings if we're open about it right just like molly i don't know actually if molly processes his feelings at all i thought that was just gonna be a transition anyways he's a night's watch man in one of the flint towers and he's peeing this was important for me to include in the episode and he's on top of the roofs and towers where there are several other men in black cloaks but actually nine out of ten of those men are in fact scarecrows everybody look to your left look to your right both of them are going to be scarecrows anyways john finds this ironic because actually we're the crows imagine the lekeanu reeves meme that's john right now oh my god well they were maester amon's idea he wanted to intimidate the wildlings or hoped they would think they had more

men than they actually do. And that's something we see a lot of people do, right? Jon especially has been fainting all that information to Mance of how many men they actually had, too. So it kind of reminds me of that. Yeah, I do think it's a good idea to try and make them think that they're well protected. Obviously, it doesn't work because the wildlings and the Fence, I mean, they're desperate. They're going to go for it no matter what they're on this side of the wall right yeah they weren't ever gonna step down i mean yeah it was worth a try and it was

worth it for at least i don't know psychological damage or whatever atop the roof with john is a boy from old town named satin the boy claimed to, older than John, but he was green as summer grass for all that. Satin, they called him, even in the wool and mail and boiled leather of the Night's Watch. The name he'd gotten in the brothel where he'd been born and raised. He was pretty as a girl with his dark eyes, soft skin, and raven's ringlets. Half a year at Castle Black had toughened up his hands, however, and Noyce said he was passable with a crossbow. Whether he had the courage to face what was coming, though.

I do think it's kind of funny that what John notices about Satin is how pretty he is, considering that this is actually one of the first things that many people notice about John. They're always like, wow, John, you're really pretty. You're prettier than my daughters.

Well, interestingly enough, not only that but i think that's why john takes him under his wing so much uh because john sees himself in him dark eyes ravens ringlets you know satin has dark hair and light skin and uh dark eyes looks just like him and john is a pretty young bastard who's lithe and fast same thing as satin so he sees a lot of himself and it does kind of remind me when you read this of how silly that show change was with ollie there was no reason yeah we already knew the wildlings were coming and they were big bad stupid satin was better we deserve satin satin our beautiful lovely boy and when we say beautiful we mean his heart i really do mean that um yeah he is a good boy oh john is limping along the

king's tower it's him satin and death dick followed there isn't a ton of protection or places to stand in the battle and john remembers him and his uncle discussing the night's watch's walls and its lack of defense once. The Night's Watch is pledged to take no part in the quarrels of the realm. Yet, over the centuries, certain Lord Commanders, more proud than wise, forgot their vows and near destroyed all of us with their ambitions. Lord Commander Runzel Hightower tried to bequeath the watch to his bastard son. Lord Commander- Upjumped fuckers.

High notes. Upjump jumped motherfucking high towers what are you related to otto i bet you're related to i know that's what i was thinking when i read that line earlier during the reread i was like of course the fucking high tower is trying to do that i'm like a fucking course typical lord commander roderick flint thought to make himself king beyond the wall tristan mudd, Mad Mark Rackenwell, Robin Hill. Did you know that 600 years ago, the commanders at Snowgate and the Nightfort went to war against each other? And when the Lord Commander tried to stop them, they joined forces to murder him? The Stark and Winterfell had to take a hand and

both their heads, which he did easily because their strongholds were not defensible. The Night's Watch had 996 lords commander before Jair Mormont, most of them men of courage and honor. But we've had cowards and fools as well, our tyrants and our madmen. We survived because the lords and kings of the seven kingdoms know that we pose no threat to them,

no matter who should lead us. Our only foes are to the north, and to the north, we have north we have the wall yeah no definitely fucking high towers god damn it as always auto ass high tower bitch ass runcel high runcel what the fuck what the fuck and then alicent i would love to know backstory on the other ones uh but it doesn't exist i don't know if george even has thought of it but i want more for roderick and tristan and mad mark curious about robin hill me too yeah there's definitely something meaningful though in the speech from benjamin about the night's watch

having its own share of cowards and fools and like tyrants and madmen as he says like he's saying you know we're not like all completely honorable with human leaders unfortunately like they're very fallible yeah we're only human and there's also an echo of the story beat we just saw happen with the the lord commander tried to stop them they joined forces to murder him and jay or being murdered by his own men and uh then there's that line the starks went in and had to you know behead the people involved. So I just thought that was interesting because it echoes the story beat that we just saw that 600 years ago they talk about this mutiny and murder. And now here we are right past that. John reflects that now they're caught between the hammer and the anvil with the wildlings south of the wall.

of the wall. Which is a fun fact. It's some of the similar language that we hear in one of those Barristan Wynne's chapters where, trying not to give too much away, he does think the lines of it's the hammer and the anvil in a certain martial setting. Yeah, and it's based off of that song of the Redgrass Field in that instance, which of course you have the Battle of Fire and the Redgrass Field, the Blackfire Rebellion. The hammer and hammer and the anvil though is the song about the strategy used by baylor and makar against damon blackfire's army in the first black fire rebellion baylor led dornish spearmen he's the hammer against the rear of the black fire forces and crush it against makar's shield wall the anvil which is what the watchmen are basically about to do with the wildlings, with the fire. The best part is Donald Noy is a blacksmith. So he's in charge of the whole thing. So he's choosing the hammer and the anvil strategy as a smith, which I thought was so neat. It's just

like, I see you, George. Okay. And of course, you can see a lot of these little correlations from the Hedge Knight and Sworn Sword because the Hedge Knight was put out in 98 and Sworn Sword was out in 03. George, during Storm, he had all these ideas that are going straight into 2003's Sworn Sword. And the hammer and the anvil is something that was in the Sworn Sword conversation between

Eustace Osgray, I believe. So, lots of really interesting ideas back and forth, and a lot of the language that leads into A Feast for Crows is found in those last two books as well and dance yeah yeah i think that's such a great catch and connection about donald noy of course choosing this strategy that's so great um also baylor breaks fear love him hedge. I love him so much. Throwbacks. Throwbacks, Chloe. Ugh, Maker. God, yeah. Absolutely. I'm having a romantic, you know,

this is very romantic, and maybe at the end, I'll find you dead on a field and I'll cry over your body. Why can't I find you dead on a field? I don't know. You do Egret's voice. I'm John. That's true. Oh, you're right. Well, shit. You're dying, bitch. Alright, everyone. So moy makes them a wall

it's a 10-foot barricade of their stores broadcloth timbers grains or so it seems uh the last of the moles town people called moles are making the climb up with gren and pip woman little kids an old man he wonders about those that didn't flee and he wonders if the thens would spare them okay i also think that we cannot skip over. There's this person called, like, I don't know, Sky Blue Sue, but most importantly, there's a lady, this is the quote,

Lady Meliana who was no lady all her friends agreed. And I'm like, that's you, Lady Eliana. Yeah, that's me. They just added an M in front. I'm like, that's me. I'm in this story i don't know how george knew he knew yes so everyone i'm i'm in this but side note regarding those who chose not to flee things were they too stupid or stubborn or whatever i think it's a really

difficult choice whether or not to choose to flee. I understand, of course, that Molestown is under attack. It isn't far from Castle Black. And of course, that makes fleeing to Castle Black easier. But this sort of situation, like this sort of crisis isn't a black and white decision. And it happens a lot in our real world. There's a cost to either choice when violence and conflict comes to your region or town. And considering that, you know, the largest industry in Molestown is sex work, it's implied that a lot of them are women. So there's a lot for them to lose. And in terms of, especially in terms of safety, if they stay in the town, so it seems like a lot of them choose to

flee. But like, the situation in Molestown may or may not be different because of like that distance from castle black they might think that it's more advantageous for them to choose to flee their homes but you might sometimes see that people choose to stay and when people choose to take the risk to stay in their homes it's because they're trying to calculate whether or not they think this conflict and violence is close to them geographically, whether they can afford to stay there. Because fleeing also has its own set of dangers as well, because out there on the road or outside of your village, you are also still vulnerable to attack. You don't know what you're going to encounter. There are still people out there. You might not have the same sort of food security that you have at home. There's no

assurance of it when people are displaced and your community is all dispersed. And if you have family or children, that's a burden that people have to consider as well. I think it's a difficult and almost impossible choice. And I don't know if, like, John's considering that. It is a slightly different situation, right? Because you can see Molestown from Castle Black, but in general. Yeah, and this gives a lot of good shading for what's to come

in the future when they take refugees once more from an even bigger and more awful enemy. Yeah, displacement in and of itself is very difficult for people and the fleeing itself, again,

is not easy. It's not always the best choice neither is staying obviously and yeah families make that choice for themselves and it is interesting i what i wish we had a bigger look on molestown as far as just like a pov going there and spending some time there to learn some stuff we actually get to see because they do have trade. Sam bought the garnets there for Jon's sword. Yeah, and that makes sense. I thought that was interesting. It would make sense if they have a large, like, literally underground economy

other than, like, the brothels, right? Because if they're mining... The tunnels. Yeah, in the tunnels, that would make sense for them to purchase garnets there. Jon thinks that if they had the men, they should have taken the attack to the wildling. Cut them down on the king's row with 50 rangers, easily. But they don't even have 50 rangers.

John reflects on how fucked they are. It's all cripples, green boys, Dornish Dilly, Red Allen of the Rosewood, Young Henley, Old Henley, Hairy Hal, and Spotted Pate of Maidenpool. Some of them wave at John when he goes by, but some of them think him a turncloak still. Shut the fuck up, Rast. Donald Noyes commanding the men below.

He has a lord's voice, John thought. His father had always said that in a battle, a captain's lungs were as important as his sword arm. It does not matter how brave or brilliant a man is. If his commands cannot be heard. Lord Mufasa? Whoa. All you have to die is become a ghost in the clouds

and then you can really direct your army that way, right? Lord Eddard told his sons, so Rob and he used to climb the towers of Winterfell to shout at each other across the yard. Danilnoi could have drowned out both of them. The moles all went in terror of him, and rightfully so, since he was always threatening to rip their heads off.

You know, just a thought. That's my father's man you're kicking. Ah. Just putting it out there. The booming voice. Mm-hmm, the booming voice. That's interesting. I'm just saying, just saying.

You know, Jon's lord face surfaces in A Storm of Swords and A Dance with Dragons later, so we'll talk about it in the coming chapters, but that is a very interesting passage. He has a lord's voice. His father said you had to have a lord's voice, just like Jon adopts that lord face. Interesting, interesting. He's the commander, man. Yeah, a lot of different ways of performing that. Here's a hat tip to Michael, aka

Bookshelf Stud. We had him on for a Theon episode long ago, and he pointed out, is Donald Noy inspired by Hawaii senator, former Hawaii senator, the late Daniel Inoue, who fought in World War II as part of the U.S. senator, former Hawaii senator, the late Daniel Inoue, who

fought in World War II as part of the U.S. 442nd Infantry Regiment, and he actually lost his right arm in a grenade wound. I thought that was an interesting catch. I think that's, like, exact. That's really, I didn't even notice that. That's funny. Wow. Check out

Michael, aka at Bookshelf Stud. Yeah, he's a dude. He's a good dude. He has a, AKA at bookshelf stud. Yeah. He's a dude. He's a good dude. He has a really good taste in game of Thrones, the TV show. Yep. Like me.

And we co-host Mr. Monthly. So. No, I puts a spear in every able-bodied person's hand. He puts the children and woman to work as well. Those too young to fight were carrying water and tending fires. The town midwife heals the wounded with Clydus and Amon.

Three finger hob has tons of spit boys and kettle stirrers and onion choppers and even two sex workers offer to fight and they're given a place 40 feet up the steps satin is cold and he's warming his hands in his armpits and john tells him that this is nothing compared to the frost fangs and satin's like well i hope to never fucking go there and then he tells John I actually knew a girl who liked ice and her wine in Old Town and he's like that's the only place I should ever belong in wine but just like use grapes you fucking half breed I use ice when I don't have frozen grapes

but everyone should just freeze and use grapes they're reusable or you can just eat them and plus like what they're in Old Town they're not that far off from where they sell grapes in the vineyards. The red wines are literally, like, boom, right there. Like, they supply

the whole entire world with grapes. That's what they do. Or even, if you're feeling really luxurious, peaches. Yeah, absolutely. You could freeze peach up. Yeah, make yourself a sink, yeah. Anyways, that was a stupid thing to say, Satin. You should feel dumb. Satin asks John if the Sentinels had scared the wildlings off but john thinks they likely stopped for a bit of uh pillaging and raping probably or they were waiting for night

midday comes and goes no wildlings owen the oaf brings raisin and nuts bread butter cheese onions for john's whole crew in case they're stuck there forever satin tries to give dick follard his food but john tells him to eat because it might be your only chance before battle i thought that was great because this is basically war is a lot of waiting you know it's like a lot of hurry up and wait i think it gives a really good view of that yeah owen asks john lord snow he calls him, if the wildlings would come today. And Jon says, if the horn blows, we'll know. Two.

Two is for wildlings. Owen was tall, toe-headed and amiable, a tireless worker, and surprisingly deft when it came to working wood and fixing catapults and the like. But as he'd gladly tell you, his mother had dropped him on his head when he was a baby and half his wits had leaked out through his ear. A lot of humor in this chapter, George, for something so gruesomely ended. It's pretty well done though,

because you need to have like all those different emotions for that ending to land. But yeah, John asks Owen if he remembers where to go and Owen says, yeah, I'm going to go to the third landing. I'm going to shoot crossbows at the wildlings if they cross the barrier.

He's like, King Robert's going to come, though, right? He's a mighty warrior. Maester Aemon sent a bird. John doesn't think there's any use in telling him. Robert's dead. So he's like, yeah, totes, totes, they sent a bird to Owen. John's going to practice this technique of socializing again in this chapter in a much sadder way. So get ready.

Being attacked. The wildlings are here being attacked. Maester Aemon had sent a lot of birds, not to one king, but to four. Wildlings at the gate, the message ran. The realm in danger, send all the help you can to Castle Black. Wildlings at the gate, the message ran. The realm in danger, send all the help you can to Castle Black. Wildlings at the gate, the north in danger, come with all your strength. Saying yes, I mean, it's not Robert

because he's dead. But one of the kings, a Baratheon even, does come. Later, later. Yeah. The day goes on. The clouds leave, the wall weeps, the men pray with Septon Selador. They have a nice last supper of black bread and mutton and ale.

And Jon tells Satin to light the kettle and fire. As an aside for Septon Selador, and I'm sure we've like brought him up before, but not in this context. I didn't think to stop on it. I don't think it really means much for the story other than being like a fun reference for George, like how he likes to put, I don't know, House Stradane or name Tully's after Muppets. But the name Cellador seems like a play on the word cellar door, which many writers, including of course, Tolkien, and also C.S. Lewis and like maybe Poe that's a rumored thing that it isn't really sourced and people aren't sure if that's true or not felt to be one of if not the most beautiful phrase slash word in the English language maybe it's cool if you say it like a cellar door or something

but it had nothing to do with the actual meaning of the word because like cellar doors are kind of I don't know mundane and lame they think it's very beautiful just because of the way it sounded. Writers doing writer things. Yeah, I immediately thought that today. I was like, wait a second, is this cellar door? So I'm glad you did that legwork because I did not get to it. Yeah, I think it's also what reference in Donnie Darko, if any of you were into that.

This is also how I feel about the word panzerbjorn. I don't think it's a beautiful word. It's just a fun word to say. It is fun. It's like a differentiate is one of my favorites. I like to say differentiate. It's just got a lot of bah, bah, bah. So he goes downstairs to bar the door.

The door to the king's tower was oak studded with iron. It might delay the fens, but it would not stop them if they wanted to come in. I like that. It reminds me of Night of the Seven Kingdoms. Oak and iron guard me well, or else I'm damned and doomed to hell. That's the same moment. So again, lots of that writing leaking into here. Jon sits between two Merlins, watching the sky turn colors, and he thinks,

oh, the stallion has ridden into one of the main constellations. And then he wonders, but wait, or is it the horn lord and i think john wondering this is a way of showing and not telling of how difficult slash conflicted this fight's going to be for him and it is absolutely full of conflict he's sitting there wondering where ghost is and then of course his mind wanders to wondering where Ygritte is. It's homework down. They came in the night, of course. Like thieves, Jon thought.

Like murderers. What the fuck? So fucking dramatic, Jon. Like, you're gonna be a murderer, you big dumb. Shut up. Like, you're literally gonna murder people tonight. Shut the fuck up, Jon. Yeah.

Jon's very dramatic. I know. shut up like you're literally gonna murder people tonight shut the fuck up john yeah john's john's very dramatic like people are like sons of the songs i'm like i don't know have you heard john talk i want to be aiming the dragon night what the fuck john i love that i mean like that's part of what's fun about john, but he's very dramatic. This idea of, like, death, though, I do think of it being tied with, like, thieves in the night with, like, that day of judgment in Christianity. And in the Bible, they often talk about, like, a thief stealing into your house in the middle of the night. But those who stay awake, in quotes, like, which means devout to the lord and so forth aren't gonna have their house broken in two and john and the night's watch are awake at least yeah so satin pisses himself and john pretends not to notice like he sends him to wake dick and dick of

course is deaf so he would not have heard the horn go off and blast for them to awaken. I'm frightened. Satin's face was a ghastly white. So are they. John leaned his crutch up against a merlin and took up his longbow, bending the smooth, thick, dornish hue to slip a bowstring through the notches. Don't waste a quarrel unless you know you have a good, clean shot, he said when Satin returned from waking Dick.

We have an ample supply up here, but ample doesn't mean inexhaustible. And step behind a melon to reload. Don't try and hide in back of a scarecrow. They're made of straw. An arrow will punch through them. He did not bother telling Dick Fowler anything. Dick could read your lips if there was enough light. And he gave a damn what you were saying, but he knew it ah john has become the father the daddy oh daddy set yeah it's just like

never mind i'm not gonna make this joke i do think yes that's fun that john's taking satin under his wing as you said earlier and john's saying so are they in regards to the free folk also being afraid is important for showing that he's like really learned and internalized corn half hands lesson and also hey if they're all afraid this is the only time that all of them can be brave truly yeah he really awards them a lot of humanity in his mind in this chapter it's a lot different from what we would have seen in the beginning of a clash of kings when he was out ranging and i mean he later on when he goes to check what's happened to the people he knew and i wonder too if him telling himself they're like murderers and thieves coming in the night if that's how he's coping with this because these

are people he was with for a little bit i think he thinks it about the thens right like you see that he doesn't have very positive thoughts towards stir but he feels mixed about the other ones and i think that's why it's important that we have this quote from benjen and then in the previous chapters john learning about the mutiny because it's like well shit people suck everywhere yeah john hung a quiver from his belt and pulled an arrow the shaft was black the fletching gray as he notched it to a string he remembered something that the on gray joy had once said after a hunt the board can keep his tusks and the bear's claws he had declared smiling that way he did there's nothing half so mortal as a gray goose feather something poor quentin and I were just discussing about this

is that this goose feather, it's symbolic in writing. So this could really be a metaphor for nothing being so mighty as the pen as well with there's nothing half so mortal as a gray goose feather. You know, like a quill. Yes, it took me a second until you said it aloud, and I was like, I see now what she's saying thank his trot john watches shadows moving in the yard and although he isn't a hunter like theon he is no stranger to the bow and arrow he pulls the string he waits watching three shadows turn into wildlings with wicker shields he looses his arrow and takes down one

of the three shadows missing the second time sat. Satin gets one, and John tells him, get another. It was only as he was running off that John recognized Big Boil. Half a heartbeat later, Old Mully put an arrow through his leg from the roof of the Flint Barracks, and he crawled off bleeding. That will stop him bitching about his boil, John thought. George. I've never heard Big Boil bitch about his boil, John thought. George. I've never heard a big boil bitch about his boil. First off, yes. Second off, George, this is not the time. Can you respect the tone of what's about

to happen? God. Dick is on his crossbow, though, which takes longer to reload, and John gets in three arrows for every one that Dick sends out. If you are interested in movies featuring archery, especially people sending out three arrows very quickly,

I would like to recommend the 2018 award-winning movie Robin Hood, starring Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx. It's on HBO Go slash now for those interested. It's a revolutionary movie about the redistribution of wealth. It also involves cool things with arrows in which Taron Egerton learns from his daddy, It's a revolutionary movie about the redistribution of wealth. It also involves cool things with arrows, in which Taron Egerton learns from his daddy, J.B. Fox, about how to fight with bows very well,

as both a ranged weapon and a melee weapon. Amazing. It's got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'll have to check this out. No, it doesn't. Most statistics are statistically made up. I'm just doing what John does at the end of this chapter you know oh my god a warhorn blows to the west the world was moonlight and shadow and time became an endless round of notch and draw and loose a wildling arrow ripped through the throat of the straw sentinel beside him but john snowcely noticed. Give me one clean shot at the Magnar

of Thenn, he prayed to his father's gods. The Magnar was at least a The Magnar at least was a foe that he could hate. Give me Styr. I'm gonna be real, I didn't really see anything that antagonistic between him and Styr when he was out there.

I think it's projecting, I think you're correct. Well, Styr was an asshole though. I mean, he was, but he wasn't more of an asshole than some of the he i don't know just normal amount of cold in my opinion but that's just i think it's more because of their organization right like the fens are kind of like mini lords yeah so for him he's trying to hate that class system and maybe it's a bit of projecting on his part, it seems. This is the one thing he's allowed to hate, as he says. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. John's fingers have grown stiff, but he keeps on going,

and he senses fire in his peripheral view. It's the common hall, and it's on fire! No! Everything is on fire! Suddenly, yes, everything is indeed on fire and it's falling apart and deaf dick

yells the armory because the wildlings are now on top of the armory roof dick jumps into a colonel but he misses his shot and a wildling below gets him no dick dick john hears the thump and when he looks to see

where the arrow came from he he sees Ygritte. Kissed by fire, he thought. Lucky. He blinks and she's gone, and he lays his arrows on the men in the armory instead. He doesn't have time to waste on that, because the dance has already moved on. The stables are now on fire, and wildlings are pouring in through the gardens on the silent tower, bit by bit. He moves Satin and himself to the parapet that looks down on the gate the northern one the fens have already beat them there they are standing at the gate they wore half helms and had thin bronze discs

sewn to their long leather shirts many wielded bronze axes though a few were chipped stone more had short stabbing spears with leaf-shaped heads that gleamed redly in the light from the burning stables. They were screaming in the old tongue as they stormed the barricade, jabbing with their spears, swinging their bronze axes, spilling corn and blood with equal abandon while crossbow quarrels and arrows rained down on them from the archers that Donal Noy had posted on the stair.

I just like that passage. I thought it was really descriptive and beautiful i don't know the fens have their back to the tower though so john and satin start to pluck them off but their lead is taken from them when the trap door busts open john hadn't even heard the door downstairs break he rips out his sword crushing through the first man in the trap door and then then they fall back. They shoot an arrow at the next man that appears in the door, and together they lift the kettle of boiling oil to pour on the fens. The shrieks were awful. Satin looks like he's going to puke, but John tells him to retch later and follow him. Down in the yard, it's a different environment. The villagers are throwing down their weapons, you know, being untrained in fighting, and there are

too few brothers of the Night's Watch to hold the yard, and so wildlings are now pushing back at them, and they're swarming. Rast and the Henleys have died, slash are dying. I didn't really know the Henleys, to be honest. Yeah, I think they were just, like, very briefly introduced, so. I feel nothing about Rast.

I feel things, though, about Dick Follard. Anyways, Dornish D just like very briefly introduced. I feel nothing about Rast. I feel things though about Dick Follard. Anyways, Dornish Dilly falls and gets killed. Kegs, also not sure who this person is, almost died. But Satin looses an arrow to save him. I was really confused when I had to reread that sentence several times. I was like, I'm confused about these kegs until I realized this is a person. Yes, it's a person. The gate is lost.

Everyone has fallen back. John asks Satin who he prays to and Satin's like the seven and John's like pray to your new gods. I'll pray to my old kid. John hasn't refilled his quiver since the trap door and so it looks like they're safe for a hot second. The kettle hasn't moved off of the trap door. Satin was loosing quarrels at the wildlings on the steps, then ducking behind a merlin to cock the crossbow. He may be pretty, but he's quick. My refined tastes don't account for John Valjean shipping, but they do account for John Satin shipping.

Yes, I agree with this. This is a correct take. Thank you. This is also another instance, though, of John learning to put aside those preconceptions based on appearance. Because, I mean, being pretty doesn't preclude Satin from learning to fight, from being a fast learner, or, like, with training. Maybe even, like, kind of decent as a fighter. I want to point to Carl the Maid.

Yeah, and, I mean, look earlier, the two sex workers from the brothel have spears. Yeah. Spear. So everyone can fight and it's silly like war especially shows that everyone is needed to fight yeah for them the battle is intense on the steps spearmen are placed on the lower levels but when the villagers retreated it left everything below the third steps dead to the wildlings like ned said earlier you know that's a man retreats that's where you're dead the heat of the fires was making the wall we dead to the wildlings like ned said earlier you know that's a man retreats that's where you're dead the heat of the fires was making the wall leap and the flames danced and shimmered

against the ice the steps shook to the footsteps of men running for their lives it's a scary song of ice and fire yeah i mean like more than once right we have the line the dance moved elsewhere in regards to where the heat of battle is going. So yes, it only makes sense for there to be a song of ice and fire. And fire.

60 to 70 thens come pouring up the stairs, drunk on killing. A man is never so vulnerable in battle as when he flees, Lord Eddard had told Jon once. A running man is like a wounded animal to a soldier. It gets his bloodlust up. The archers on the fifth landing fled before the battle even reached them.

It was a rout. A red rout. Things are looking pretty bleak. They are. Not looking so good. Jon has satin fetched torches, and satin lights one of them, has a whole handful armful of a bunch of unlit ones. John sees Steer and he

thinks, the bald earless whore son was smiling. Steer points at the gate, yelling something to his men about it, and John thinks Steer should have led his men over the barricade, but it's too late now. A war horn sounds from above and John notches a fire arrow, satin lighting it for

him. He aims for the supplies on the steps repeatedly, running out of fire arrows and then finally lighting the unlit torches and beginning to throw them. Up above another fire was blooming. The old wooden steps had drunk up oil like a sponge and Donald Noy had drenched them from the ninth landing all the way down to the seventh. John could only hope that most of their own people had staggered up to safety before Noy threw the torches. The Black Brothers at least had known the plan,

but the villagers had not. Poor villagers. Yeah. I mean, we don't know that any of them are on the stairs, and I'm... yeah. I'm sure some of them are. The battle at the Wall is like a reverse Blackwater, basically for a million reasons.

Stannis shows up at the very end and he's the ghost of Robert, where Garland was the ghost of Renly at the end of Blackwater showing up in Renly's armor. And the plan to light up the supply pile to light everything up is kind of like the chain being lifted. And of course, with the wildfire going off.

So there's so many things at play here that george is echoing from the last book and having stannis actually get to kind of fulfill this savior role later on is really cool in a way he gets his own black water redemption he does he really does though can't can't lose them all status you gotta win some of them can't lose them all gotta win a couple of them gotta stay in the got couple of them. Gotta stay in the- got skin in the game, you stay in the game. Good job. And then he can, you know, join all of Jon's other dads and be one of his dads too.

Nature does the rest, though. The fire traps the wildlings and ice in the wall breaks and kills Stir and some Thens. That was the last that Jon Snow saw of Stir, the Magna of Then. The wall defends

itself, he thought. I love that. The wall defends itself. Also salty as fuck. Come on, Jon. Yeah. Jon's just like, got that done. It's a great echo too to back in that chapter when the Thens and the other wildlings were climbing the wall

when a chunk of ice comes attached from it and obviously everyone who's on the chunk of ice dies and i think there's something to be said of them both uh as you said using that ice and fire to defend the wall and using that as a way to make the ice work more strategically yeah i i think that's definitely kind of a callback george writing that and having that be the way that the steer of thun dies john has sat and help him to the yard and has him bring a torch he says he needs to look for someone i don't i mean there's no one i don't look for we don't have to talk about this we don't have to talk about this this is the end of the episode this is it this is the end actually of the book series story yeah this is

it they won the battle yep that was it and uh we don't hear anything else ever again nope interesting good story though i mean and for our next series we're thinking of doing yeah so john needs to look for someone no he doesn't yard no he doesn't it's fine everything's fine he thinks that surely some of the free folk must have escaped and she could be one of them he's wrong by the way but he thinks this but he's wrong also but what did he think like maybe she would have come to her senses after this and seen like wow the battle was bad and i survived and i'm gonna go back north of the wall like what they were never gonna be together like that's the end of it like john what was gonna happen yeah it's like we are never ever getting back together but 10 times worse

the fire still rages across the wall although it had already consumed everywhere else john finds some free folk dead some he knew some he didn't consumed everywhere else john finds some free folk dead some he knew some he didn't all right all right okay are we doing this okay yeah we're doing it we're doing it we've actually committed to doing this all right i mean we have to read it and try not to cry we can't not read it he found egret sprawled across a patch of old snow beneath the Lord Commander's tower, with an arrow between her breasts. The ice crystals had settled over her face, and in the moonlight it looked as though she wore a glittering silver mask.

The arrow was black, Jon saw, but it was fletched with white duck feathers. Not mine, he told himself. Not one of mine. But he felt as if it were. When he knelt in the snow beside her, her eyes opened. Jon Snow, she said very softly. It sounded as though the arrow had found a lung. Is this a proper castle now? Not just a tower? It is, Jon took her hand. Good, she whispered. I've wanted to see one proper castle before… before I…

You'll see a hundred castles, he promised her. The battle's done, Maester Aemon will see to you. He touched her hair. You're kissed by fire, remember? Lucky, it will take more than an arrow to kill you. He touched her hair. You're kissed by fire, remember? Lucky, it will take more than an arrow to kill you. Eamon will draw it out and patch you up and we'll get you some milk of the puppy for the pain. She just smiled at that. Do you remember that cave? We should have stayed in that cave, I told you so. We'll go back to that cave, he said. You're not going to die, Ygritte.

We'll go back to that cave, he said. You're not going to die, Ygritte. You're not. Oh, Ygritte cupped his cheek with her hand. You know nothing, Jon Snow. She sighed, dying. Chloe, I think is legitimately crying right now. No, I'm not. I'm like looking at her face. I think she's legitimately crying right now. I don't think that is legitimately crying right now. No, I'm not. I'm looking at her face. I think she's legitimately crying right now.

I don't think that I'm crying right now. Why would you say that? I don't know. You just looked like you were. I'm fine. It's the morning. Oh, she turned off her camera because of this. Goddamn. So, this is it.

This happened. This bitch is dead she's our bitch sucks i loved her i loved her so much even in death i mean yeah good for her we've said this before but like this was this was the death that actually really hit me hard in the series oh yeah this was the one this was uh my first heartbreak probably like the red wedding song it was heartbreak yeah this was big for me when i first read through the books this hurt me the most yeah i mean like you know when ned died i, I was like, what? That just happened? But this one I was like, no. It's just awful. Your protagonist is faced with having to fight the woman he loves on a field of battle, and then

she dies, and he is guilt-wracked for the rest of his life over it. And then... And even at the end, like, he's telling her, yeah, this is is a castle and we know that he doesn't think it's a castle but he tells her that it is it's just in miniature kind of like some of the rest of their relationship where he kind of gives her these sweet lies the whole time he could never

like truly tell her the truth the whole time that they were out there he knows that she was hit in the lung and that's a that's a big stretch for her to survive and so he tells her all these sweet pretty lies like this is a castle you're gonna see a hundred castles even's gonna cure you you're totally not gonna die but i don't know egret's like are you fucking kidding me i know i'm gonna die and so it's kind of like i don't know know, these lies are more for himself, I think, than they really are for Ygritte. He told Owen, yeah, they sent ravens, Owen, even though Robert Baratheon and no one else yet is coming to save them. And it's just like what Sansa says in her Feast for Crows chapters. If a lie was kindly meant, there's no harm in it.

Yeah. But Ygritte's just like, you're an idiot. That's basically her last words. You're a cute idiot, Jon Snow. That's what she says, basically. It was petty as fuck. It was great. I love that Ygritte, as she dies, is just a petty bitch.

Yeah, she's the best. But I'm gonna throw it out there. They did send the ravens. They were like, they even circled back and followed up on the ones in the north and everyone was just like spam mark for spam and except for one except for one person who checks his yeah that one he's like flag is important yep absolutely he's lucky he has the right personnel

checking his email he was like flag is important forward forward mark label I want to talk a little bit about season eight's implications and Ygritte's implications in the story and what her character means going forward. Season eight of Game of Thrones, if you have not watched that, you don't have to listen to this. Log off, you know, or you can listen to it, whatever you want to do. But Ygritte is very much so set up for Dany. That is something that I really learned this read-through of reading Jon's chapter standalone. You have the wildlings versus the free folk as far as raiding and invading and these ideas about liberation and freedom. Ygritte's idea of freedom is a lot different from Jon's, as we've learned. For her, being free is something completely different than Jon's freedom. And Daenerys obviously has different ideas about liberation some that may end up escalating

to put it the least we'll see we'll see fire of course kissed by fire danny is a little bit kissed by fire herself not with the hair but with the dragons's like making out with it. Yeah, absolutely. She's just... The struggle that Jon has in killing Ygritte is something that I really thought was highlighted well in this. He brought his bow up, but his fingers would not part, and she was gone as suddenly as she'd appeared.

He couldn't do it. He had a chance. Yeah. And he couldn't do it. And of course chance. Yeah. And he couldn't do it. And of course, if the show is to be believed, by the end of the series, John will close that loop

and he'll be able to let his fingers go on the bow. Yeah. Yeah. It's very much like just all these foreshadowing bits through this book. And so, of course, in John 2, we get that line we talked about a couple chapters ago. Old Nan used to tell stories about knights and their ladies

who would sleep in a single bed with a blade between them for honor's sake, but he thought this must be the first time where a direwolf took the place of the sword. Jon obviously chose home and his family and the north and the people of the kingdom with the wildlings attacking. And the dire wolf is not going to probably leave that bed anytime soon, especially not when it comes to Daenerys. That dire wolf kind of represents his honor. And I don't know if we've touched on this in the previous episode, but of course,

coming back again to love is the death of duty that Aon says and i guess in season eight is repeated by john to tyrian there's two ways to look at that line right in terms of that direwolf as you said it represents his family and it's john being like ned right love is the death of duty ned had a duty to robert and he withheld that duty he didn't do his duty to robert in keeping his family safe and keeping john safe it's not just that john's love for danny would be the death of maybe his duty to the realm it's that john's love of the dire wolf, his family, same as Ned, is the death of his duty to his liege, Daenerys. Yeah, that's a really good way to look at it. There's the line in Jon 5 that we just talked about that I, of course, want to come back to

because it's just so fucking there. It's just very, this line is very online. It's like, I look at it and I'm like, George, Georgeorge might be we could come back here and live in that tower she said would you want that john snow after after the word was a spear thrust after the war after the conquest after the wildlings break the wall uh that right there is just like after the conquest is what makes your mind just go red red alert 9-1-1 siren siren siren after the conquest uh you've said a lot about how denarius

is a conqueror she's conqueror and very much so westeros will be seen as a conquest by her it's like a spear thrust the word was was a spear thrust. It was a war. The wildlings didn't break the wall. Someone else is going to break the wall. It happens again. All later. If Jon was remembered at all, it would be as a turncloak,

an oathbreaker, and a murderer. He was glad that Lord Eddard was not alive to see his shame. This is from Storm of Swords, John 10. We haven't quite gotten there yet. But that quote out of context could probably be placed anywhere at the end of the story. That's true.

But I don't know if Ned would look at him with shame or if he'd just be like... I think he'd be very sad that John had to go through any of it. Yeah, of what he had to but there's the irony that Jon of course is closing that loop that Ned saved Daenerys and let her live the life that she intends to live or do the things she intends to do in the end he wanted to save her from being murdered by Robert

and now she has had a chance to exist is kind of the idea of it there's a line in John 8, A Dance with Dragons. I am the sword that guards the realm of men, John reminded himself. And in the end, that must be worth more than one man's honor. Damn.

Yep. So just some thoughts I wanted to bring up, some passages to think on as we think about the future of John's plot and what's going to happen. Cool. It's all right there. I mean, I didn't write these books, you guys. Yeah.

George did. George did. It's one of those things that, like, if the books were done, you know, would bring everything together thematically on a reread. I'm seeing a lot of those right now for his dark materials, but... Yeah, George uses themes really strongly, really well, really strongly, and it pays.

It really pays. Yeah. It holds it all together, right? Yeah. Well, you guys, this has been fun sure that's a word i'm fine i'm fine this is fine we're fine this is normal of course it's kind of a bummer this is kind of a bummer eliana i'm kind of bummed i feel like we spent obviously you've spent a lot of time with egret before and i feel like you spent so much time with her again just now and I'm just like wow this is it she's gone yeah and she really isn't in these books very long uh she gets two books to be in you know it feels like a long time it does feel like a long time and like

she only really comes in towards the end of clash which is why sometimes when people are like I don't know George is going to wrap everything up in two books sometimes I think that sometimes I'm like I don't know a lot happens in Clash and a lot happens in Storm it's doable yeah uh the Winds of Winter is going to be one of those books where there's a lot happening just like that so I don't really uh I feel like there are a lot of people that are hedging a lot of bets as far as how the pacing of the books at all it won't happen it won't happen but i think george could do it i really do think he could complete it after dream yeah he gets all the way from the frost fangs to the wall in this book so yeah anyway so yeah this happened yep well guys next week we will not be back we're taking a quick breather, just in time for your August Patreon episode, if you're a patron, and of course, the eventual August His Dark Materials episode. We will be back for the public on the 23rd. We'll have an episode for early release on the 21st and 22nd for patrons. And you'll start getting some other content piled out right around then, so get excited about that.

And of course, if you want to be notified about any of that content, be sure to follow us on social media at Girls Gone Canon on Twitter. Or, I mean, maybe you want to make us an episode and you can send us that on social media or via email at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Please send us your episode of Girls Gone Canon.

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as always guys I'm Chloe one of your hosts and I'm Eliana another one of your hosts go outside in the sun today and smile at a baby or sniff a flower I don't know do something good for yourself

treat yourself don't read John seven don't read these books i mean it ends at john seven there's nothing else to read and it it's funny it ends just as like mid-page yeah he he's just going out into the yard and the battle just ended and i'm like wow interesting we don't have a resolution yeah thank you guys