AoT x GoT Headcanons

This just came to my mind and in a few hours, I built a whole story with this sh*t, but who cares, so I’m gonna focus on the dragons for now ;)

warnings: mentions of blood and murder, mentions of ehhh.... not so good bed scenes

and of course, spoilers for both

Daenerys Targaryen

-portrayed by Historia Reiss

-although she entitles herself as the ‘Mother of Dragons’, she sees herself as more of a big sister and the Dragons see her as such too

-is a very openhearted and -minded person, just as Dani was in the first seasons

-wants to break the wheel and earn her right to the Iron Throne by releasing every single slave in all of the Seven Kingdoms, because she was used by her father to gain him more power (she was forced to sleep with several generals)

-loves her three dragons and if something happenes to them, she goes on full rampage

-when Reiner gets shot by a spear, she feels extremely guilty and apologizes to him even weeks after 

-her favorite of the dragons is Reiner because he is strong, kindhearted, but a beast in battle, she trusts him the most, which is why she has a connection with him

-Galliard is her favorite when it comes to insulting and threatening her enemies, because that boy knows how to use his teeth and scowls

-Bertolt is her favorite when she needs someone to talk especially when it comes to serious decisions, Reiner can’t decide either and Galliard always wants someone to die, so Bertolt is the only one with a little bit of a brain to work with

-she enjoys laying on top of any of them in their dragon forms, because their bodies are extra warm then and can protect her from the cold, no matter what

-Historia hates it, when her boys fight, so if they do, she will start crying and plead them to stop, which, of course, they do immediately

-because of her experiences with her father and his trusted allies, she doesn’t know how to handle new faces and gets really shy around them, so her dragons get a little... overprotective in these situations

-but she can be a damn strict ruler, if anybody does something, that she doesn’t want to be done, fist on the f*cking table and a stern look, everybody will crawl on the floor

-she gets to know Armin Arlert later in the series and is attracted by him, although two of her dragons do not like him that much at first, has a relationship with him later on, but is killed by Armin right in front of the Iron Throne

-the reason why she gave all her ‘sons’ different last names, or last names at all, is because they actually aren’t related to each other and her consultants didn’t allow her to give them her own last name, since the Reiss family is highest royalty to them. Many of her consultants actually only see the three dragons as tools for battle and not actual members of the empire, Historia creates.

Drogon

-Reiner Braun, there is no better one for him

-but the role of Drogon himself would be a little... different

-Reiner can transform into a light golden dragon, bigger than a Boeing 747, with even brighter horns and claws, his scales shine in the sun and sometimes, when the light is just right, slight glittery patterns can be seen all over his body, giving him some kind of royal appearance

-his flames are bright as well, still orange, but intensive

-also his armor is the strongest among the three brothers

-he is Historia’s choice to ride into battle, which he is very honored by

-is very proud of his origin and powers, but doesn’t show this pride as much as Galliard does

-doesn’t interfere too much into politics, is more of a fighting guy and wants to prove his value to the queen, Historia

-his roar is veeeery deep, can smash a grown mans eardrums into pieces and scares the enemies even before they see him

-as he grows up, he realizes, that killing people gets to be a habit and Historia isn’t just breaking chains anymore, but also kills those, who don’t want to bend the knee, which he highly disagrees with

-nevertheless, he doesn’t interfere until the last day of Historia’s reign, he is the one to melt the iron throne in rage and carries Historia’s corpse to the place, where she gave life to all three of them

-as a dragon, he can fly, but he actually isn’t too good at it at the beginning, Galliard and Bertolt get way ahead of him, which is why Historia almost decided to ride Galliard to battle

-he likes to sleep in human beds more, being out in the open is more a Galliard thing

-gets in fights with his brother Galliard wayyyy too often, but gladly Bertl is there to reason with them, if that doesn’t help, Historia will just start crying right next to them (as they grow older, they don’t harrass eachother as much because... they would burn whole villages)

-he was the first to learn how to breathe fire

-his title amongst the people is ‘the one who breathes gold’

Rhaegal

-Bertolt Hoover would earn the role of Rhaegal, the fierce green dragon, Armin Arlert gets to be his rider later on

-in his dragon form, Bertolt is even bigger than Reiner, a good amount of bigger I should say

-his scales are actually green as well, but a lot darker than Rhaegals in the series, while his teeth are black, as they should be according to the books, his wings are the only ones being without any cuts or wholes, since he doesn’t really fight with his brothers

-he is known for his technique of clapping his wings together and creating a whole storm to send people flying, when he is asked to fight by Historia

-Berts flames are a dark green colour, sometimes a bit of black can be seen as well

-although he isn’t Historia’s first choice in battle since he is rather calm and shy, he can be a real threat because of his size alone

-he actually prefers to fight in the dark, because he can hide more easily even though he is the biggest of Historia’s dragons

-Bertl is the one, who is the most aware of his powers and controls them perfectly, which is why he always reminds his brothers to be careful with their tails or their wings, much to their confusion, I mean, he is the biggest of them, by far

-he’s a gentle giant, most of the time, and Historia’s preferred place to sleep on is his back in dragon form

-that boy can be such a d*ck, when it comes to sleeping, accidentally of course, because, well, he sleeps, but his positions while doing so are... random. In both forms actually, a house was smashed to dust one time

-politics are absolutely his thing, he loves to be a part of tactical meetings and enjoys to help his queen/mother with difficult desicions, although he is pretty shy around other people, who don’t belong to his closest family

-his roar is deep, but not as deep and loud as Reiner’s, even though he should have the lung capacity to make it even louder than his, which is because he actually hates to roar, is more of a silent assassin, you almost can’t hear his wings

-as Historia begins to grow a darker queen, he keeps himself out of it, only follows her orders, but deep inside, he questions their actions and feels sorry for what he has done

-he is really sceptical at first, when Armin approaches him, but as soon as he senses the Reiss families blood, he calms down and lets Armin ride his back

-they actually have a connection similar to that of Historia and Reiner later on, which allows Armin to lead Bertolt into battle and give him commands, just like Historia does

-he has this look, when he is in his dragon form as well as in his human form, a look, that can easily make anybody uncomfortable, though he just looks very directly at somebody. That is his way to say ‘back. the hell. off’

-Bertolt is shot down by three scorpion bolts in the battle at Dragonstone, Galliard isn’t there to whitness this, but Reiner and Historia are right next to him, leading to Reiner wiping out a whole fleet of ships in blind rage

Viserion

-the best one to play this part is Porco Galliard, just called Galliard by everyone, he hates his first name

-Galliard is the smallest of the dragon brothers, but he is actually the toughest and fiercest, leading to him being used in most of the battles Historia fights as the first one to attack the enemy

-in his dragon form, Galliard is of a smaller statue than his brother Reiner, but still pretty big, has copper scales, which pretend to seem a little bit darker, than they actually are, his claws look as if they are really made out of pure copper, but his teeth are pure white

-the fire of this boy is HOT, like he can literally melt rocks and metal like frikin wood, also his flames are of dark orange colour and sometimes a little bit of yellow sparks through

-he actually likes to use his claws to crush catapults and sink ships rather than using his fire, although it is really strong

-is the fastest of the dragon brothers and loves to speed through the enemy lines

-he often teases his brothers because he is the first to rush into combat and ‘makes things easier for them’ (actually he has to save Reiner a lot... and teases him for that as well)

-always the first one to say ‘let’s just kill them all, we know they deserve it, mom’

-he is rather harsh and cynical, but can be really sweet with children, tries to convince them that dragons are not always vicious beasts

-he often wanders around alone, sometimes disappearing whole months only to return from some smaller battles, because of that he has the best orientation amongst his brothers

-he absolutely hates fish

-Galliard actually would never allow any human to ride his back, not even Historia, doesn’t matter if Reiss blood or not, he HATES to be controlled, so Historia can only tell him what to do if he agrees to ‘help her out’

-has no interests in politics. AT ALL.

-Galliard doesn’t like other people, but is loyal to the kingdom and its queen, protecting Historia with his life, if he has to, still, no other people, except maybe some children, he grew fond of

-when he roars, it sounds like a damn hurricane is coming, high pitched, but terrifying as well, people sometimes actually think, that a storm is coming, when he roars, which he is very proud of

-is the first to notice Historia’s turn to the darker side of herself but thinks, that she finally accepted his sight on things, but as soon as it resolves in killing people just for the effect, he starts to question her, and actually speaks his mind to her very openly, only receiving stern looks from her

-he absolutely hates Armin when he first arrives at Dragonstone, shows that by growling at him and just flying away

-Galliard is the first of the dragon brothers to get killed, an ice spear pierces through his shoulder and neck, which kills him mid flight, is later revived by the Night King, also known as Eren Yeager, to fight against Historia

-he gets killed again when Mikasa Ackermann stabs the Night King in the chest, right after Galliard destroyed the wall of ice and fought his brothers in a devastating battle, in which Bertolt gets injured badly

More proof in the pudding for 15x20 breaking the fourth wall theory

I kind of already discussed this theory on this post here but in going over the last two seasons of GoT to add to this dark!Dany meta I’ve got going, I noticed something that I think is worth taking a look at.

GoT 8x06:

We all remember what happens after this weighted ominous walk of Jon’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XhfGY5pIPg&t=254s

“When I was a girl, my brother told me it was made from a thousand swords of Aegon’s fallen enemies. What do a thousand swords look like in the mind of a little girl who can’t count twenty? I imagined a mountain of swords too high to climb. So many fallen enemies, you could only see the soles of Aegon’s feet.” “This is our reason. It has been from the beginning since you were a little boy with a bastard’s name and I was a little girl who couldn’t count to twenty.” “You are my queen, now and always.” -- this is dialogue meant to call back to the Dany the audience has known since season 1 - this was done in an effort to keep her character sympathetic to the end but it’s problematic since she just torched an entire city that held a million innocent people, and it completely negates the true moral of her story - her brother is mentioned who we haven’t seen since season 1, who by all means is not a good influence or a hero in this story but in this last season, she has started to embrace the Targaryen side of things (that we’ve seen reflected in her wardrobe, I see you Michele Clapton, you brilliant woman, you) - the dialogue even invokes season 1 Jon in that one line, though obviously the focus is not on Jon but Dany herself - Jon who had just been acting as the audience mouthpiece in the jail scene with Tyrion (acting as the writers’ mouthpiece - again breaking the 4th wall), saying “You are my queen, now and always”, something the split audience (the ones who felt betrayed by Dany’s dark turn and still stan her to this day) keep saying - yes “now and always” was a common saying in the North, but this wording is purposeful as is this piece of dialogue for essentially what is Dany’s death scene, the most controversial death to come out of this episode, the end of this series I would even argue

15x20:

We all remember Dean’s monologue that took close to 10 mins to happen as he was “fading pretty quick”, so much so that Sam couldn’t call for help

“There’s a few things that I need you to hear. Come here. Let me look at you. There he is. I am so proud of you, Sam. Do you know that? I’ve always looked up to you. Remember when we were kids, you were so damn smart, you never took any of Dad’s crap. I never knew how you did that. And you’re stronger than me. You always have been. Hey, did I ever tell you that night that, uh, that I came for you when you were at school? You know when Dad hadn’t come back from his hunting trip? The woman in white, that’s right. I must’ve stood outside your dorm for hours because I didn’t know what you would say. I thought you’d tell me to get lost or get dead and I didn’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have you. ‘Cause I was so scared. I was scared. ‘Cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It’s always been you and me.” “I can’t do this alone.” “Yes, you can.” “Well, I don’t want to.” “I love you so much. My baby brother.” -- notice anything...familiar? -- this is dialogue meant to call back to season 1, to the original audience that started out with the brothers in season 1, that may not have stuck with the show for all 15 seasons but maybe ducked back in for the finale just to see how the show chose to end the boys’ stories - John is mentioned who is not a good influence nor a hero in the story which the show has gone out of their way to show time and time again, despite 14x13 - this is the result of one of their dad’s old unfinished hunts from season 1 including the “villain” - Dean mentions events of the first episode when John hasn’t come back from an old hunt, when he goes to get Sam from school, the woman in white being their very first MOTW of the show, even the dialogue from that first episode where the lines are reversed and Dean tells Sam he doesn’t want to do it alone - the dialogue is meant to invoke nostalgia of that pilot and that time, that version of the boys’ stories, where it was Winchester only - Dean’s death (outside of Cas’) is one of the most controversial deaths to happen this episode, even this series (though it has a lot of problematic deaths, i.e. Charlie but I mean in the main character arena) - this was done to keep season 1, specifically the pilot, in the viewers’ minds and as a callback to the beginning of the show, the dialogue was very purposeful, it’s also no coincidence that Sam is the focus here and once Dean is finished telling him goodbye essentially, he looks away behind the camera and talks about how he didn’t think today was going to be the day but it is (which adds to the pudding even more, because this is later season Dean talking who did not want to die on a hunt and wanted something different for himself, season 1 Dean always knew he would die young on a hunt) 

And let us not forget this:

Andrew Dabb: “If you thought Game of Thrones was bad, just wait” (x) - this is said in a joking manner but where is it said? Comic Con 2019, the same Comic Con D&D canceled their appearances at & left the cast who did appear to deal with the fallout. This isn’t a man flipping off people and being like “Ha! Crybabies, we’re doing what we want to do and that’s that! Ha!” He said it in a joking manner when he talked about how only 30% of people would be pleased after seeing the finale and Jared joined the conversation. This is the same man who pushed hard along with Bobo Berens for a spinoff that featured women and women of color as well as having proper queer representation but got shut down by the network in the end. The same guy who worked to separate Dean and Sam from their toxic co-dependency and bolstered the found family theme in the narrative, while also taking the baton that Carver started with of Dean and Sam thinking of what they would actually want for their endings, and running with it, developing that even further. 

What did GoT have? 2 final seasons as it were. To be fair, season 7 cannot be considered an alternate ending, it had way too many open endings but here (x) it’s stated that D&D did want to end GoT with season 7 initially before being convinced by the network to go to 8. They wanted to move onto other projects (that never happened because they’re egotistical greedy idiots, but I digress)  and their rush to end the series showed. HBO wanted 10 seasons but they didn’t want to move forward without D&D. GRRM thought at least 13 seasons would be appropriate. 

What did SPN have? 2 finales. 15x19 is not only the finale that closes up the mytharc but also the found family finale. I’m not sure if they knew this ahead of time or found out last second (Misha’s line of “Cas’ ending was supposed to be different but I don’t think we’re supposed to talk about that” still haunts me), but ultimately, that’s how it worked out. 15x19 was for the later season fans, the found family, the mythology fans (meaning Heaven, Hell, angels, nephilim, Lucifer, Jack, etc). That’s why we get the huge montage of characters at the end of the episode, the initials on the table, Dean demanding Cas be brought back in the beginning of the episode and Lucifer’s phone call, Dean and Sam wanting Jack to come back to the bunker but he can’t, Dean and Sam driving off in Baby together with “Running On Empty” playing. 15x20 was the series finale for early season fans, Kripke fans, Winchester-only fans. That’s why there’s no big montage in the beginning of the SERIES FINALE that they had done every season premiere, every season finale, and every mid-season premiere. They didn’t want the found family (yes, including Cas and Jack) in the viewers’ minds. But they couldn’t remove those two characters from the narrative completely (they were too integral later on in the series plus later season fans are watching this too) so they get mentions. This is why the Carry On My Wayward Son twice, Sam married to Blurry Wife and having Dean Jr., the Winchester-only mantle, the MOTW that calls back to one of their big bads (vampires) in season 1 (outside of YED & any demonic forces), why the brothers-only ending. This is why Dean is all ‘Cas who?’, why Eileen disappeared, and why Jack is off shooting a new spot for Architectural Digest. They only wanted Sam and Dean on your minds in 15x20 with the extension of John, Mary, Rufus, Bobby, and Baby with a touch of the Roadhouse in the background. This is also why no pictures of Blurry Wife on the Winchester-only mantle either. This is why Sam’s son was named Dean. This is why after putting on the Party City wig, Sam goes to sit in Baby and cries, thinking of Dean.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again: 15x20.👏 Was.👏 A.👏 Vehicle. It’s no coincidence that W*lker was more heavily promoted during 15x20 than any other time before. That what happens in 15x20 for Sam and Dean (and that Sam is once again the focus after having the story split between the brothers for years before) parallels somewhat to what happens in Jared’s new show and his character. This is the same network that uses its shows to backdoor pilots of spinoffs and other shows time and time again (think Green Arrow and The Canaries, Legacies, etc). It’s also no coincidence that W*lker is in the same time slot as SPN had been in, that they intersperse the use of #SPNFamily and #W*lkerFamily on Twitter, that the C*W SPN twitter account is used to steer followers to their other content, that the C*W YouTube account for SPN no longer has any clips or promos available for that show, almost as if it doesn’t exist. You know why? Simple, they don’t want SPN on your minds anymore. They want you watching W*lker and any other new content they are cooking up and throwing at you. Don’t be surprised if they start heavily promoting another new show (besides their returning ones) during W*lker episodes now. That’s just the name of the game, how it works. They already pushed the audience they wanted from 15x20 to W*lker and now SPN is an officially closed chapter for them. Dabb and the actors had other projects to move onto. In their minds, it’s done...until they try to reboot it in some way in a couple of years. And it will not only feature a younger generation of actors but will have what they consider to be appropriate queer representation as well as POC representation in the new cast. It may be the same Winchester story though changed or a whole new story in that universe. You laugh but watch. It’ll happen. This network is not known for its quality or originality, only for their brand. There’s a reason they keep on showrunners to head up new content if their original source of content works and they become “favorites” (i.e Julie Plec).

Ultimately, GoT was referenced many times on SPN, in dialogue between characters whether it applied or not. GoT was mentioned by the actors when discussing watching it, at cons and in interviews. SPN (and Dabb) was very well aware of GoT and what happened with that show. Not only because it was all over the media everywhere, being a pop culture phenomenon that had HUGE backlash, but also because they were there at the Comic Con where the backlash was felt strongest. To the point where even other people mentioned it in their panels (i.e. Seth Rogen). I’m obviously not in Dabb’s head nor was I on set when they filmed the finale or in the writers’ room with J2 and the writers when they pitched the ending so I don’t know. But isn’t it odd that 8x06 of GoT features a scene that has been confirmed by Kit Harington as breaking the 4th wall to speak to/get the viewers’ attention, make them think, and SPN is a show that has featured that same concept (usually in a comedic fashion) time and time again? And in 15x20 they have Robert Singer make an appearance? And the infamous bridge crew shot, J2 talking to you while still in costume as Sam and Dean from that same shot, and the voiceover “And cut” before it cuts to black? 

I don’t think we’ll ever really get answers. I think any we get will always be complimentary to the network, or “we can’t talk about it”, or “it was always planned that way”. I’m not saying those people are being less than truthful (and seriously, I don’t blame any of them, it’s PR and they need to protect their careers, feed their families, if you speak out on anything in this universe, something really serious or the tiniest thing, you risk ever getting hired again, you will be blacklisted, it’s not right and it’s certainly not fair, but this is the way this particular business works) but something is not adding up (a lot of somethings actually). I think there was definitely a different ending for Cas, possibly even Jack (meaning he might have made at least one appearance). I do think there may have been a different resolution to Destiel and Saileen (unless they truly planned to keep it ambiguous all along). I don’t know if Dean would have had a different ending, I think he might have at one point as suggested by the narrative during Carver’s and Dabb’s eras, but I’m not sure what their “true ending” was going to be regarding him or Sam. To have Sam be the one that died would have been redundant from Swan Song (5x22) so I doubt they would have gone in that direction. I hate to think it but I don’t think we’ll ever really know. As far as death scenes go, Dean’s death in 9x23 was way more meaningful and impactful for me when he tells Sam that he’s proud of them, than what we got in 15x20. No offense to the guys’ acting or to the boys themselves, but the 9x23 scene was more appropriate imho. And that also leads me to believe that Dean’s manner of death may not have been what they planned all along. But until we get answers (which again I don’t think we will), we’ll never truly know for sure.

As for me, this is just more proof in the pudding. I’m not saying Dabb & Co purposely sabotaged 15x20 at all but I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept the reaction to GoT’s finale in mind at a couple of key points while getting these last two episodes shot. 15x19 was our finale, sad to say. 15x20 was the network’s finale, meant to induce nostalgia and callbacks, bringing the boys’ original fans over to Texas to watch a certain ranger do roundhouse kicks. Sad but true. 

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 4: Dragonglass

It’s Tuesday again...

ON DRAGONSTONE:

Jon/Dany visit the caves - now having been cleared out of the dragonglass, Jon wants to show Dany the COTF markings, their attraction for each other becomes more clear in this scene and Dany is more sure of Jon telling the truth about the Night King and Army of the Dead

Dany asks Missandei if any of the 19 languages she speaks use a symbol-system for their written language, Missandei replies yes, a few, so Dany then tasks her with copying down some of the symbols from the dragonglass cave, perhaps she can decipher some of the ruin symbols

Sometime while alone in the cave, Missandei and Grey Worm have sex, AKA Greyssandei cavesex

Team Stark/Targaryen discuss the dragonglass, that while the amount of it is much needed, they have no weapon smith skilled enough to work it

Dany agrees to have Yara and Theon ferry all they’ve mined to White Harbor/the North (This is Theon’s idea but Jon supports it - secretly, Theon is anxious to see Sansa again so this is his excuse)

- In exchange for sending the Greyjoys North with the dragonglass, Jon agrees to send the Northern forces (Northmen, Knights of the Vale, Riverlands) south to assist with the blockade of King’s Landing - no formal alliance has been made yet, but they want to show a united front against Cersei, the sooner they take out Cersei, the sooner everyone can face the threat of the White Walkers

Davos says he knows of a weapon smith who might be able to work the dragonglass, but he’ll need to go to King’s Landing, knows how to smuggle himself in

Tyrion opts to go with Davos to King’s Landing as representative of the Queen

As Yara and Theon are about to leave, Yara basically encourages Dany to “tap that” (Jon) while Davos and Tyrion are away in King’s Landing, Dany needs to secure the North formally, and seducing Jon into marriage is the most efficient way to do it but Dany isn’t so sure (as she’s secretly falling for him anyway)

Ellaria and Olenna depart Dragonstone as well, to prepare for the siege of King’s Landing

Melisandre begins to finally push her agenda on Dany, to convert many in Westeros to the religion of R’hllor, Dany is open to the idea of erecting a center where the Sept once stood that is open to those of all religions and inviting more red priests to Westeros to practice their faith

Varys is none too pleased with this and his irritation with Dany/Mel puts him into a gossipy mood

When Baelish inquires after the fact that Dany has no children from her previous relationships, Varys confirms she’s barren, and this is music to Baelish’s ears - even married, Jon and Dany would have to name a successor because Dany can’t birth one and the most prominent name on the list of potentials would be Sansa, who is already Jon’s heir for the Northern crown

Varys quickly guesses Baelish’s scheme but for once, isn’t opposed to his former friend’s plot to get Sansa on the throne (he’s more intrigued than anything), he fears Melisandre and her magic, that her influence over Dany and Jon will lead to much trouble later on

To push Varys finally over to his side permanently, Baelish points out Dany’s house words will always be “Fire and Blood” and that if it were between her and Baelish, she would be the real “Queen of the Ashes” - a tip off to Varys that Baelish knew of his/Olenna’s S3 conversation when Varys first said Baelish would “see the country burn to be King of the Ashes”

At Varys’ slightly troubled/embarrassed look, Baelish reminds Varys he had eyes and ears all over King’s Landing, and still does...

At Jon and Dany’s urging (they both hate him and don’t entirely trust him) Baelish reluctantly leaves Dragonstone also, he’s to meet the KOTV and other northern forces when they reach the capital, Varys accompanies him

IN WINTERFELL:

Bran and Arya have formed a deep bond in their short time together, Bran sharing with Arya all he knows of his powers and he mentions his powers aren’t exclusive to his being the 3ER - that some of them are because he is a Stark, and that Arya is a Stark as well - Arya scoffs at what Bran is implying but Bran just utters something mysterious and vague that Arya can’t argue with

At Jon’s news and Bran’s urging, Arya is to go to the Riverlands to deliver the message personally to Edmure about sending troops to King’s Landing

Arya is hesitant to leave Winterfell, but Bran tells her something that makes her want to go - the things she asked Bran to look into, she’ll find in King’s Landing/her journey to, and Bran knows just where she needs to look...

Sansa doesn’t want Arya to leave, all her family is leaving Winterfell again (like Season 1), she worries none of them will come back, they’re “the last of the Starks”, but Arya insists they will all be back, there’s just a few things she’s left behind, Brienne will train Sansa in Arya’s stead and Arya quips that Sansa will be better than her by the time she gets back

Northern forces leave Winterfell

Arya leaves Winterfell

IN KING’S LANDING:

Davos and Tyrion come across Gendry and Davos gives him a sample of the dragonglass, Gendry says the material is tricky, but he should be able to work with it

The trio prepare to leave King’s Landing but Davos senses a storm coming in, they’ll have to wait in the city a few days and lay low in Gendry’s shop - Davos/Tyrion send a raven to Dragonstone saying where they are and that they’ve succeeded in finding the weapon smith

Title is simply for the substance driving the plot this entire episode - the Dragonglass. It’s what takes Theon North (toward Sansa), what urges Davos to find Gendry, and what brings Jon and Dany closer together/what makes Dany more sure of Jon’s telling the truth about the AOTD.

Episode 4 Inside the Episode: Dragonglass

1) Baelish and Varys:

Inarguably, the second-worst subplot of the entirety of Season 7 was the Winterfell plot (the first being the Wight Hunt).  It was unnecessary and ridiculous. This is when the mischaracterization of the Starks began. Arya and Sansa would not be at odds with each other upon reuniting and we all know it, even with Baelish in the picture. Sansa tells Jon in 6x10, “only a fool would trust Littlefinger” and yet she does so throughout most of S7, being the fool she had already warned Jon against. Remember what I said in the preface post about things being easily “undone” or forgotten entirely? Seems Sansa forgot to be wary of Baelish in show canon.

Also, I most definitely think we were owed one more encounter between Varys and Baelish. By killing Baelish off when the show did, it significantly simplified both their potential plots for Season 7 (and 8) because neither had anyone to spar with, as they had in previous seasons. Baelish’s “sparring partners” became Sansa and Arya and Varys’ became Tyrion, both unsuccessfully.

Further proof that Baelish and Varys were supposed to “get the band back together” so to speak, is two of Varys’s lines/conversations with/about Baelish are echoed in each of the final two seasons. First, in 7x02 when Tyrion tells Dany she’s “not here to be Queen of the ashes”. As mentioned above, Varys told Olenna Tyrell that “[Littlefinger] would see this country burn if he could be King of the Ashes,” (3x04) - it’s the exact same phrase and Varys is present when Tyrion says this to Dany in 7x02.

Next, in 8x04, Varys and Tyrion talk about “the realm”. Varys reminds Tyrion he “serves the realm” and Tyrion asks “what is the realm.” Varys has a very similar conversation with Baelish in 3x06 (Baelish’s infamous “Chaos is a ladder” speech).

These two lines/conversations, I think, are absolutely not a coincidence and further point to a previous plot/script whose lines and scenes are hidden just beneath the ones we watched. Baelish’s presence is felt in these scenes with Varys, but he’s not actually there. Having Baelish around this time gives the audience fulfillment that canon did not.

And as we’ve never seen them on the same side before, it would make for interesting conflict to see them team up against Dany.  

Varys is uncomfortable with Melisandre and her magic and this needs to be paid off. As I stated last episode, it was set up and then never done anything with. It makes way more sense for Varys to part ways with Dany over this and have a payoff for it, than him turning on Dany for Jon when he doesn’t even know Jon.

Baelish pushing Varys into this is also the natural progression of things as Baelish will manipulate anyone in order to get what he wants: he and Sansa on the Iron Throne, ruling Westeros. Varys knew Sansa from when she was a little girl in King’s Landing and admits he admired her father. Varys supporting Sansa over say Jon, would make more sense.

2) Missandei attempting to translate the COTF cave markings:

I know it seems weird guys. But hear me out. It gives Missandei a PURPOSE this season, gives her a job, an important one, and it uses her skillsets in regards to the endgame of the series: defeating the Army of the Dead. These ruins were heavily emphasized in 7x04 and the symbols even made it all the way into 8x01 with the Night King’s lovely art installation piece of Ned Umber on the wall with a bunch of body parts. These symbols NEED to be figured out. And I’m all for my girl Missandei getting to flex a little.

Plus, Missandei went to the cave with Jon, Dany, and Davos in show canon. Why not, uhh, idk, have her take a look and give her opinion on what they could possibly mean?? You know, just stating the obvious here, don’t mind me!

3) Gendry

Doy, another no-brainer. Aside from fucking and getting rejected by Arya, Gendry’s S8 story was about fashioning dragonglass weapons, but he was pulled into the 7x06 “Suicide Squad” for idiotic reasons.

Having Davos seek him out to work the dragonglass solves two problems: a) It explains how and why Gendry becomes the head weapon maker with the dragonglass at Winterfell in show canon, and b) gives Davos a REAL reason to seek him out, rather than, oh yeah, I liked this kid, gonna go see if he’s alive and around anywhere. Cuz that was just dumb and nonsensical.

4) Lastly Arya leaving Winterfell after arriving so soon...?

I know this may seem strange as well. But in this context, Arya isn’t leaving Winterfell permanently. Which was just dumb after she fought so hard to get back home and fought so hard for her home. It also gives her her own journey, not just sitting around Winterfell waiting for Jon to get back with Daenerys and waiting for the dead to come. As to what Arya’s going to find in King’s Landing/on her journey there, you’ve probably already guessed. And as for Bran’s hints that Arya’s got similar powers to him...you’ve also probably already guessed what these might be. 

Aaaaand that’s it for Episode 4. As always, you guys can comment on these and tell me what you think, ask questions etc. It’s allowed. Don’t be shy. Especially since this is the episode that probably is the greatest divergence from canon yet, I’d love to hear your guys opinions.

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons 

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall 

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?

Game of thrones: Conquest and Rebellion

I’m a happy camper this Christmas as I finally got Game of Thrones season 7 for myself. And I was surprised when it came with this beautiful little DVD that contains an over 40 minute history of the Targaryens in Westeros, narrated by several of the characters in Game of Thrones including: Viserys, Varys, Euron, Peytr Baelish, Sansa, and Jaime. I say characters and not actors because it is clearly supposed to be from the perspective of the characters and what they have learned about the history of the Targaryens.

Now, I was intrigued to watch this because I am actually midway through a big ol’ post on unreliable history in Fire and Blood. The basic thesis is that by telling the history of his world through the eyes of someone in that world, he makes it unreliable and biased and this is very much by design. I have my ideas about what is exagerated vs what is real in Fire and Blood, but I wanted to see how this video compared. Especially since it contains what the SHOW views as the most important notes in the Targaryen conquest.

And boy did it confirm my suspicions about unreliable history. In fact, hearing individual characters bring in their bias illustrated my thesis perfectly. But let’s talk about some of the highlights. Because I was surprised to see how the Targaryens were represented her.

1. Viserys suggests that the Targaryens may have left Old Valyria because of a court mishap and not the prophesy from ‘The Dreamer’. I have had my suspicions about some of the “prophetical” motivation behind the Targaryen conquest, because in large part it seemed like stories written to justify Aegon’s conquest. Like it’s his “destiny”. However, I never thought to question the idea of the dreamer foreseeing the doom of Valyria. Now, if this was from any other character’s narration I might call it unreliable and an attempt to discredit the Targaryens but this is Viserys, “number one Targaryen fanboy”, “my family is the best and like GODS among MEN” Targaryen. Even he thinks that perhaps the vision is just a story. At the very least, the vision wasn’t super clear as the Targaryens left a full twelve years before the Doom. Already the show seems to be calling attention to the fact that the Targaryens are just like everyone else.

2. This continues with the implication that Aegon conquered for resources and knew he could win because of dragons. This is also Viserys’ implication. He also makes a statement about Aegon “teaching the squabbling families the meaning of greatness” and it sounds very villainy. Again. This is Viserys who later on calls Maegar the cruel, “the wise” and says the title of cruel was slander! Viserys is 100% team Targaryen and yet he does not begin to make Aegon’s intentions sound noble. Even though the Targaryen history books are FILLED with that kind of thing. Viserys also calls them “strangers” to Westeros which follows the narrative of this being an invasion. in fact the next section is even TITLED ‘invasion’

After this, we switch to Varys’ narration. As a narrator, he’s probs the most trustworthy as he is the most neutral. And HE adds in the suggestion that Aegon used the hands of the envoy sent to him by Argilac the arrogant were just a PRETEXT for the conquest he’d been planning for a long time. He wanted to rule the seven kingdoms and was just looking for an excuse to attack. He also suggests that Argilac the arrogant was surpassed by Aegon in arrogance. Not a great picture painted of Aegon.

3. “Before he was done, the rivers fields and skies would turn red” -- Varys on Aegon the conqueror. Continues to speak of this man like a villain. in sharp contrast to the ‘noble conqueror’ painted in Fire and Blood. Speaking of which, Aegon is the one who comes up with the words ‘Fire and Blood’ according to this video, which definetily makes him seem like he was hoping for some casual mass murder.

4. Obviously, Harren the Black and Argilac the Arrogant sucked. Totally not coming to their defense. But how are their deaths portrated. Well, Euron is given the chance to describe the death of Harren and he is CLEARLY turned on by the destruction of his ancestors which is a bad sign. It’s description is horrifying and the animation is dark. Obviously if Euron likes it, its supposed to be kind of freaky.

Argilac, however, is given a heroic final battle seeming almost noble. Orys Baratheon, the most humanized of all the conquerors, seems to respect him enough to take his sigil and words “out of respect”. We’ll talk more about how the characters are drawn later, but there’s a big difference between Orys and Aegon.

5. Jaime describes the field of fire and he himself looks VERY MUCH like Lorren Lannister. He stresses that Aegon had “no mercy”. But its no surprise that he hates Targaryens cause they have a bad history. But still, the Field of Fire is shot like a horrifying war scene and the Targaryens are again depicted as the villain. Thousands return home as “scarred monsters”.

Favorite line “Aegon had a fetish for collecting swords”.

6. Sansa narrates the bits about House Stark and House Stark is indisputidly depicted as heroes. Now, this isn’t surprising. Sansa is loyal to her house. But she implies that the north was different than the other kingdoms because they were focused on survival not power. There is focus for a lot of time on the white walkers and how it is a Stark problem to deal with and they are a greater threat than dragons.

She puts emphasis on how Starks are willing to make alliances for survival, regadless of pride as well. She seems to respect Torrhen Stark’s decision to kneel saying ‘he had no choice’. Aegon was offering a very ‘kneel or die’ message after all. The Starks would have died if they did not bow. But their swords are still taken for the throne!

The most ominous bit is this:

“The swords Aegon took from them were not twisted or mangled” - Sansa

“Yet” - Viserys, very ominously

What an ominous thing to throw in there Viserys!

7. Most unsettling display of Targaryen villainy happens in the Eyrie, narrated by Littlefinger. Queen Arryn arrives to see that Visenya is with her son, next to her dragon. Visenya doesn’t say it, but she is fully threatening the boy. You can see it by her smile which is just...oof. It’s scary. She clearly intends to kill him if his mother doesn’t give the crown. She has “no choice” and Littlefinger describes him as a “poor boy”. Visenya is clear villain in this. This is in HUGE contrast to the two women apparently relating and connecting with each other in Fire and Blood.

8. Viserys mocks the “religious” reasons for old town’s surrender suggesting that they knelt because otherwise everyone would die. This once again undercuts the idea that the septon saw some grand purpose for Aegon which is suggested in Fire and Blood. The septon is just afraid, again, according to Viserys the number one Targaryen fanboy. Bonus: calls the north savages because Targaryens are better than everyone~~ He even calls the Targaryens the "Greatest dynasty ever.” when Aegon is crowned.

9. But after Aegon’s victory, the neutral Varys comes in to remind us of the Dorne failure. Rather than making Rhaenys seem unflapable and invincible as Fire and Blood did, Varys suggested that the yellow toad of Dorne SCARED Rhaenys. And later on, of course, Rhaenys gets taken down. Dorne really is painted as the heroic underdogs of this scene. and emphasis is placed on the fact that Aegon and Visenya set every city on fire except sunspear. If there HAD been people there, they would all be dead. Fire and Blood indeed.

10. We skip right from the conquest to the Dance of Dragons.

“With no enemies left they started fighting each other.” - Viserys

This defs doesn’t sound like the centuries of peace and prosperity that Dany talked about. This video is focused ENTIRELY on the wars of the Targaryens and not the good things or building of infrastructure. No mention of Jahaerys the concilitator at all. Instead we focus on Aegon, Maegar, the Dance, Aegon the Unworthy and the Mad King. All the very worst Targaryens. And there are lots of good things the Targaryens did! But instead of focusing on that, the show focuses on the war, which means they know that Dany’s line about “centuries of peace” is wrong.

Bonus, we have more of Viserys arguing for blood purity and that Targaryens are SPECIAL and that they would have been fine if Aegon didn’t legitimize so many dirty half breed bastards.

11. The greatest Targaryen threat, however, is madness (according to Jaime who saw the Mad King first hand). We bring up that line again: “Every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin”

“We put up with Aerys hoping Rhaegar would be better but then he also proved mad when he took Lyanna Stark”

This does not place Rhaegar as the sane, good sibling most people do. Instead, it also paints him in a negative light. Which, this is Jaime, so take it with a grain of salt. But he actually never hated Rhaegar so yeah...

12. Jaime is so bitter about Ned condemning him and it’s kinda funny. I love Nikolaj narration

“I saw what Ned Stark couldn’t. Robert was ashamed of the bodies of the children... and more ashamed at his relief. Glorious heroes didn’t kill children. They simply didn’t punish their murderers” - Jaime being smart with one of my fave lines.

He clearly sees things as they are. He doesn’t like the Targaryens but he also doesn’t elevate Robert as a god. Jaime doesn’t believe in heroes and it shows here.

13. Then we end with a particularly ominous note.

“One day I’ll return and repay all traitors with the only coin my family knows. Fire and blood” - Viserys. 

These are the last words in the video. A threat. It really does not paint the Targaryens as tragic characters pushed out of their rightful throne.

And this is where I want to talk about the character drawings. Every pose from the original three dragons (Aegon and sisters) is the most villainous thing in the world and the music behind their conquest is intense and dark. Their faces are often lowered but with their eyes glaring up and shrouded in shadow. Their smiles are sharp. Their body language is arrogant. It is victims of the conquest like Lorren and Torrhen who are given more humanized designs.

On the Targaryen side of things, the most humanized design belongs to Orys Baratheon who has much kinder eyes and a more open expression. And the there’s Viserys and Daenerys at the end who look like scared children more than anything. But the Targaryen dynasty that is their birth right doesn’t appear to start out on a great foot.

This kinda all backs up my point that if Daenerys wants to break the wheel, she will have to reject and correct the legacy of her family. The show clearly does not view Aegon as a great hero. So if they mean for Daenerys to be a hero, I hope they have her recognize the history and take steps to correct it (maybe even destroy the iron throne, plz?) And if she doesn’t recognize her history or tries to emulate Aegon, she could be headed down a bad path.

I love the Targaryen family because, like lots of my favorite Westeros families, they are SCREWED UP and have lots of interesting characters, and I look forward to exploring them more in my Fire and Blood post. But if anything, this video just backs up my thesis about unreliable history and what Dany will have to do if she wants to be a good ruler. Break that wheel! It was forged in fire and blood!

Game of Thrones Has Gotten Kinda Horrible

As a die-hard Game of Thrones Fan: The show had gone to shit after season 6.

Meaning only season 7-8 have been absolutely unfaithful to the source material. They feel rushed, the only have 6-7 episodes each. Longer episodes are not the same as having more episodes Every episode follows a pretty compact portion of the story and characters It feels better paced and easier to follow You have one or two major events per episode, so as not to get overwhelmed or lost.

Sure it’s always entertaining to watch the show. It’s fine to enjoy it as it is.

I have some real issues with seasons 7-8 as a whole, and we are only 3 episodes into the 8th and final season.

It shouldn’t be the final season. THEY SHOULDN’T BE RUSHING AND FORCING THE FINALE LIKE THIS. Truthfully they had enough characters and unfinished character arcs for at least 10 seasons each with 10 one hour episodes. Everything is moving at an ungodly pace it’s hard to keep up at times. We went from a television show that was somewhat slow paced, it gave us time to breathe but never allowed us to get bored. Every other conflict was not fixed in a single night. (Looking at you, Night King)

Also, PLOT ARMOR IS APPARENTLY A THING NOW? You know that thing, where a character is beloved, and liked, and has a purpose so they can’t be killed off. Plot Armor that Game of Thrones was famous for when Eddard Stark lost his head, The Red Wedding, The Purple Wedding, The wildlings, Let’s not forget Jon fucking Snow himself who died.

Imagine this

Game Of Thrones Seasons 7-8 are like a gift The box is pretty, wrapped in shiny sparkly paper, some ribbon, and bow. Super nice to look at Yet, when you open the gift, excited to see what’s in the box. It’s a bag of flaming shit within the heart of your gift.

Would you still be happy is had a pretty presentation to it, or would you be mad someone had cleverly got your hopes up about this very beautiful present, and you just received literal shit in exchange?

It’s cool to look at, it’s pretty and well polished. But, It’s lacking depth. Sure the Dragons are very cool D&D, They cost a lot huh? You know who is also cool, and more important to Jon then Daenerys and her very cool dragons. Ghost. Where is Jon and Ghost? They started the journey together?

(Just a mention on how Jon is finally told about his parentage, and whose lines he actually belongs too, and how we have no time, nor does Jon get any time to process what and who he is and wants to be.)

The Night King (White Walkers) is presented in both the books and the television show to be one of the main driving forces in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. There are too many prophecies, legends, and history to just ignore here. The Night King is not a villain that should have been taken out so easy. (I mean easy as in, he waits to give Arya and opening, but more on that later) In the books, the Night King (or at least the White Walkers) are always kind if looming, so menacing with an unknown purpose.

In the show the built him up the same. Only they failed to explain him Why did Craster give his baby sons to him? Why is he back now? Why does he turn his back on the children of the forest? What is his ultimate goal? WHY DOES HE WANT TO ERASE HISTORY? Why is Bran the most dangerous thing for him? Is this Night King, in fact, the same as the First Night King that brought the eternal Long Night (THAT WASN’T JUST A SINGULAR NIGHT, BUT AN ACTUAL APOCALYPSE THAT NEARLY WIPED OUT MAN KIN) Has this Night King met the original hero of man Azor Ahai, and was he slain by the legendary weapon Lightbringer? If the Night King is back now, does that mean Rhaegar Targaryen actually managed to complete the prophecy? Was Rhaegar the Prince that was promised, was Lyanna Nissa Nissa, and is Jon Lightbringer?

Now coming full circle back to the Arya shock.

No

Nope

No

I love Arya, and I believe they picked the perfect person for her when they cast Maisie. She is not Azor Ahai She is not Lightbringer The Catspaw claw is not Lightbringer Lightbringer was probably Valyrian steel, but it was probably an even more magic blade then the catspaw, Unless the catspaw was the original Lightbringer and that’s why Samwell saw it in a book at the citadel…. That would be so dumb. So, So dumb. Plus Arya doesn’t have the elements to be Azor Ahai. She’s not Ice and Fire. Other then it being a shocker, and looking cool. Arya shouldn’t have been the one to take down the Night King. The communities are already driving home that they could sense a blood drop, but not her. Also, why wouldn’t they swarm Bran?

Since the Night King was just gonna stroll up anyway, and Bran already knew Arya would ninja out of nowhere, why does Bran pat Theon on the ass and send him charging into an UNNECESSARY death.

Since the first book/episodes we hear whispers about a prince that was promised. We heard history, songs, legends, and etc. None of them as mentioned as the Azor Ahai prophecy. Melisandre’s entire character arc and the story is based around this one prophecy. There is even an entire religion about it.

Melisandre even stated that the LORD OF LIGHT brings people back to life with the purpose of stopping the LONG NIGHT. Why was Jon brought back to life if he is not Azor Ahai? Why would the Lord of Light bring Jon back if he wasn’t a key component in stopping the Night King? Jon’s important, and it obvious he isn’t important in the fact he has a better claim to the throne than Daenerys just for drama and to rattle her. Jon was not brought back to be THE KING Jon was brought back to defeat the NIGHT KING and the LONG NIGHT. I thank you all for coming to my Ted Talk. Next Week I’ll touch on why Daenerys and Jon are a garbage couple. 

Just something curious to add. The first spin off for Game of Thrones is going to cover the war of the dawn and the description for it is that "It's not the story we think we know". Let's say that GoT reveals this N+A=D in the last episode, wouldnt fans want to know more? The truth from the very very beginning? Revealing this plot twist can lead to a series of spin offs the tell the true history and go into more depth about house Dayne. It's perfect

*rubs hands together*

Now you get why I’m so excited for the prequel… since it could only help me with the Dayne one. Here’s the thing, I know they say there won’t be dragons, but I don’t believe it. Here’s why:

“Against the Unnatural is a book written by Maester Vanyon. It contains certain proofs of dragons having existed in Westeros even in the earliest of days, before Valyria’s rise to power. The work considers as far-fetched the claim that Valyrian bloodmages experimented with unnatural arts to create dragons.”

I think the Daynes and Valyrians both come from the same ancient house, the Great Empire of the Dawn. Dany has this vision in a fever dream:

“Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. ‘Faster,’ they cried, ‘faster, faster.’ She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. ‘Faster!’ the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward.”

This is a clear nod to the Great Empire of the Dawn from Yi Ti, a ‘mythical’ realm, featuring rulers such as the Opal Emperor, Amethyst Empress, Tourmaline Emperor, and Jade Emperor… whose territory extended to Asshai.

“The Valyrians tamed the dragons with magic—taught by a vanished people according to the Asshai'i—and mastered the technique of raising and training the dragons into devastating weapons of war.”

We have evidence of dragons, maybe, with fused and/or oily black stone over in Westeros. I won’t get into it here but it’s all on this page.

Another interesting link between House Stark and dragons:

“Hot springs such as the one beneath Winterfell have been shown to be heated by the furnaces of the world—the same fires that made the Fourteen Flames or the smoking mountain of Dragonstone. Yet the smallfolk of Winterfell and the winter town have been known to claim that the springs are heated by the breath of a dragon that sleeps beneath the castle. This is even more foolish than Mushroom’s claims and need not be given any consideration.”

Notice how everything remotely interesting is “debunked” by the maesters for being “foolish” and shit? lol

Winterfell and Dragonstone have another interesting feature - they’re the only castles to have gargoyles.

The term ‘gargoyle’ originates from the French word “gargouille“, around which there is a peculiar legend of a long-necked, fire-breathing dragon beast with bat-like wings who was defeated. When its head could not be burned or destroyed, La Gargouille was mounted to the walls of the church for protection or to scare off evil spirits.

As we know GRRM is an admirer of J.R.R. Tolkien, it bears mentioning that:

“Drog means Wolf in Tolkien languages. Drogon essentially means male or stone wolf.”

and: “Cognates, also meaning “wolf”, are Exilic Doldorin draug and Doriathrin drôg.”

And to further link some interesting recent dragon shit to Winterfell, we have another “absurd tale” that was debunked by the maesters (of course):

“We can dismiss Mushroom’s claim in his Testimony that the dragon Vermax left a clutch of eggs somewhere in the depths of Winterfell’s crypts, where the waters of the hot springs run close to the walls, while his rider treated with Cregan Stark at the start of the Dance of the Dragons.”

Alright. Again, we’re noticing a pattern here… right?

“Prince Jacaerys Velaryon was a dragonrider whose dragon was Vermax. Rhaenyra’s coronation as Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, she named Jacaerys Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne. Mushroom also states Jacaerys fell in love with Cregan’s half-sister, Sara Snow, and married her in secret, although Gyldayn discounts the fool’s claim.”

See what’s going on here? Maybe someone out there doesn’t.

Another dark-haired heir to the Iron Throne who possesses a mixture of Targaryen blood (and likely Strong blood) marries a bastard Stark girl in secret.

And yeah, I get it. All of these things might mean fuck-all and maybe the maesters are right but I don’t believe them for a second. Why? Sam says it pretty well:

“The First Men only left us runes on rocks, so everything we think we know about the Age of Heroes and the Dawn Age and the Long Night comes from accounts set down by septons thousands of years later. There are archmaesters at the Citadel who question all of it. Those old histories are full of kings who reigned for hundreds of years, and knights riding around a thousand years before there were knights.”

This is why I’m excited about the Long Night prequel. We might see Starks riding dragons. We might see Daynes, we might see the Bloodstone Emperor, the Amethyst Empress, the first Long Night caused by the blood betrayal between brother and sister… the formation of House Dayne and Starfall - which by the way, if you’re going to follow a shooting star to where it falls, wouldn’t it be easiest on dragonback? 🤔

Opinion Piece: Where Adaptation Original Content can fall flat or be seen as something creative

This is a personal opinion Essay. That means what follows will be all from my perspective and reflective of my tastes. Don’t like it? Fine. Because it’s just an opinion from one person.

So, now for the essay:

Adaptation Extension: Where it’s failed and where it’s succeeded and why.

There’s no avoiding it sometimes whenever a hot new intellectual property takes the world by storm and there is a clamoring to get it adapted into another form ASAP. Only there’s one problem: they don’t have enough material from the source to go for as long as they need it, which leaves those adapting it with one choice: time to make up their own stories. This used to happen a lot with manga-into-anime adaptations hastily commissioned after a manga sudden boomed into popularity with, usually, awful results. It’s happened with western materials from time to time as well. In this instance I will be comparing two cases where there was a very solid base but the speed of publishing and the speed of adaptation varied. One is the Fullmetal Alchemist series from 2003, and the other is the current HBO smash hit Game of Thrones. Both are adaptations of a source material that was still in progress when they started and both ended before their sources ever wrapped but and both changed and omitted things as they were forced to grow without the guidance of the source. Yet one of these will definitely be more fondly remembered by its fans than the other in the long run and that all comes down to the execution of the alterations to the adaptation and consistency of the characters within both.

Fullmetal Alchemist the manga ran in Square Enix’s Monthly Shōnen Gangan from around 2001-2010. This slow long run was partly due to it being a monthly manga, and therefore didn’t update as frequently as the weekly stories. It was popular enough that an anime was commissioned very shortly into its run. This anime, called Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 by those who are fans of the series, was very faithful at first. It was whenever they wanted to drag out the first act by a lot that they began to add filler and then would go back to the main story. Yet they diverged with a pivotal moment: the death of Maes Hughes. From then on out, the stories had the same characters in the same country but they could have not been in more different stories. The manga had a deeply analytical and dark political intrigue story with themes around power, knowledge, and humanity. The anime instead went almost faustian with its take on the world of Amestris and leaned into more supernatural elements and brought in the idea of other worlds and questions of what is means to be human, but not too deep into that. The plot with Dante and Hoenheim of Light is very faustian to my eyes, full of strange magic, regrets over a loved one dying because of their hubris, and the desire to have more power. Yet despite it being vastly different from the manga, whose ending was more coherent than the anime, that first anime is still looked at fondly. Yes, it deviated a lot and yes, it went down many strange rabbit holes before it was all through, but they kept the characters at the core of it all consistent. The Elric Brothers were still the Elric Brothers, their values were still the same and they still acted like themselves no matter what. It was also wildly creative with its new material in a way that was actually enjoyable as well to those who like harder science fiction stories.

Then there’s HBO’s Game of Thrones. This is a case where they had a lot of source material but they burned through it faster than GRR Martin was able to write the sixth book and came to the point with the end of season five where they now had to make their own way forwards without Martin’s expert storytelling guiding them. Season 6, as far as that was concerned, was actually somewhat competent. It had a lot of Season 5’s threads to draw from and help guide their hands but there were still several missteps that they made in the eyes of the fans in how that was all handled. Seasons 7 and 8 are by far where their lack of skill is most evident. Characters who were known as smart are suddenly losing several IQ points and making blunders in such ways that is seems out of character for them to be caught up so easily. Some of it is the fact that humans are fallible but the moves they had them make were not only questionable but at times, highly controversial. While FMA 2003 kept the tone and characters similar to its source, HBO’s GoT seems to now favor flash to substance. Spectacle to careful plotting. Nowhere is this more evident than with Episode 3 of Season 8. “The Battle of Winterfell.” Firstly, the battle plans themselves were asinine. That is NOT how you mount a castle defense. You lace the ground with traps and pits and shit and keep the troops WITHIN your walls and have your best archers manning the walls and several vats of flammable shit ready to go to dump down and make an undead inferno. Civilians in the crypts still but maybe with a few more armed people.

Elite soldiers are to act as the vanguard and those less experienced at fighting in the rear guard. More people should have been on Bran. Jon should have had Rhaegal PARKED on the walls next to the God’s Wood and Dany should have been in the air if they needed someone in the skies lighting stuff up. Also, actual targeting of the white walkers. Jon knew canonically that a walker’s death would spell the death of any wights it reanimated. Instead we get a barely visible (at times) spectacle that keeps your so tense you can’t notice how terrible this battle strategy is until later. Then there’s the twist they decided to put in as of their writing of season seven: Arya gets to kill the Night King. I’m not actually against this idea. It was just executed so poorly that it takes away any impact it might have had and because of her lack of role in later episodes, it just gave Arya a premature high-point to her character arc that cannot be matched by the rest of her arc (should one call it that) for season 8. Bran for all his prophesizing, is just a lump. He’s not even trying to do anything beyond those ravens his sends up once. The books are building up to a prophecy. The show mentioned it but in the end the show runners decided to shove it for a “gotcha” moment and make all the threads from the books they’d actually maintained through the prior seasons just fall loose and flat. They did their own thing and in this case they robbed characters of moments they maybe needed or should have had as character development. They also cut a lot out of the books as they burned through them, which meant characters were cut. In one instance they cut a somewhat important character and that is now biting them in their asses as they’ve seemingly grafted his plot lines onto two other characters: Jon Snow and Danaerys Targaryen.  It’s making both act somewhat out of character at times—Danaerys more than Jon—and making things just feel out of sync with the previous characterizations.

And that’s where FMA 2003 succeeds as having people still liking it despite its far meanderings away from the canon of the manga and people are disgusted with how far off course Game of Thrones is from A Song of Ice and Fire: Consistency of characterization with the intentioned situations, and an understanding of the world they are playing in. The show runners and writers for the HBO show seem to lack these things without a book telling them explicitly. The writers had an unenviable task of attempting to live up to GRR’s skill level and fell woefully short. By no means is all of Game of Thrones’s book free run awful: Season 6 is remarkably close to competent and parts of season 7 are alright, it’s whenever we get to the final season their strain and stretching can be seen on full display and compared to the tightly plotted first five seasons, it’s glaringly obvious they were not up the task of imitating Martin. He gave them a broad outline and the writers were unable to flesh it out as complexly as he will. It does mean a few things will happen as a result. One, people will now read Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring just to see how badly fracked the show-runners made GoT and two, it’ll lead to a redo since it is a very popular franchise.

WA Reviews “Dominion” by Aurelia le, Chapter 6: Timing

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6383825/6/Dominion

Summary: For the Fire Nation royal siblings, love has always warred with hate. But neither the outward accomplishment of peace nor Azula’s defeat have brought the respite Zuko expected. Will his sister’s plans answer this, or only destroy them both?

Content Warnings: This story contains discussions and depictions of child abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and incest. This story also explores the idea that Zuko’s redemption arc (and his unlearning of abuse) is not as complete as the show suggested, and that Azula is not a sociopath (with the story having a lot of sympathy for her). If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, I would strongly recommend steering clear of this story and my reviews of it.  

Note: Because these were originally posted as chapter reviews/commentaries, I will often be talking to the author in them (though sometimes I will also snarkily address the characters). While I’ve also tried not to spoil later events in the story in these reviews, I would strongly recommend reading through chapter 25 before reading these, just to be safe.

Now on to chapter 6!

CHAPTER 6: TIMING

Alright, let’s see if I can review chapter six before the day is out. I’ve got five hours. I can totally do this! So Zuko, Mai, and Lu Ten are vacationing on Ember Island, which is also where the asylum is. This is already not a great combination. I think it’s pretty funny that Mai’s palanquin has more black on it than the other two, although that defeats the purpose of it being ambiguous who is in which palanquin if someone chooses to attack their procession. Yes, they are less likely to all be wiped out in a single strike this way, but someone could still target any one of them and still achieve a devastating amount of damage. Mai is heavily implied later to have fertility issues, so taking out Lu Ten might mean there would be no heir to inherit later. Mai is the spymaster, so taking her out would cripple Zuko’s administration. And taking out Zuko would throw the precarious peace the Fire Nation now has with the rest of the world into the refuse bin. So the consequences would be nasty any way that that attack could go. Related to this, the royal family being this small means it’s very vulnerable. Sure, there’s Iroh to fall back on in case something happens to Zuko, Mai, and Lu Ten, but Iroh no longer has his own heir. He could potentially legitimize one of his bastards to solve that problem, but he doesn’t know any of them like he knew Lu Ten. Ozai and Azula are non-options as well, as far as most of the world is concerned. And there are no uncles, aunts, cousins, or other blood relations for the throne to pass to outside of these people. If another noble family wanted to overthrow the royal family, they wouldn’t have to go through that many people to get what they wanted. Sure, the people they would have to get through are powerful, but they could feasibly accomplish it if there was, say, a rebellion of the magnitude of Robert’s Rebellion against Targaryens in ASOIAF. It could be done if they had the right candidate to rally around. But back to the chapter. There’s an interesting political undercurrent going on where Ember Island is concerned, and Zuko’s initiative in dealing with it pleasantly surprised me. Mai deciding to use this opportunity to take a vacation and look for more “knives and stilettos” for her collection made me chuckle, and the mention of Sokka’s space sword was great. I’m imagining Mai presenting it to Sokka with just a hint of smugness now. Gosh, Zuko and Mai are cute before shit hits the fan in chapter seven. Him holding up a parasol for her and her exasperation about him “roughing it up in exile” made me smile. Also, Lu Ten is cute with his “white gold” eyes. I do have some doubts about him being a firebender, though. For one, it seems like him not being one would throw a serious wrench into Zuko and Mai’s dynastic plans, which could be interesting to explore in “Thrones.” Second, given that Mai isn’t a bender and Ursa wasn’t one either, there’s around a 50/50 shot that Lu Ten isn’t. So it’s both a reasonable possibility genetically and intriguing plot-wise, so I’m leaning towards him not being one at present. I also have a theory that a certain other child will be legitimized by Zuko later on, adding another wrench into the already complicated works. But I’ll get to that in later chapters. “‘Love you, bye’ [ . . . ] Was that really how Lu Ten would remember his father? As someone who was always leaving about some official business?”—This is actually really sad, because I imagine that while Zuko worried about whether he would be a good father or not, he does genuinely love his son and want to have a connection with him. “Once he convinced his people that an honorable peace was worth sacrificing a century of ill-gotten gains.”—Very nice symmetry in this line here. “He still wanted more.”—I have an AMV you should watch in regards to that, Zuko: (slash)watch?vS6fNJ79evn8. Also, that song is very appropriate for the conflict in “Dominion” in general. “He didn’t look forward to the prospect of wearing so much clothing in this heat, but if that succeeded in getting his opponents to take him more seriously, he supposed it was worth the imposition.”—Or you could strip to get your opponents to take you seriously. Oh wait. “Mai could almost understand why Lu Ten never tired of playing with [Zuko’s crown]. Beyond the fact that Zuko didn’t often allow him to.”—This makes me remember how Azula allows a certain child to play with her crown later, so this is a nice bit of (probably) unintended contrast. “/Wake the baby, and you die/”—Lol, Mai. Okay, so basically none of the loyalists want to meet up with Zuko to discuss how the Fire Nation should be run. And while he and Mai are discussing it, she says, “Not everyone’s as honest as you” and I want to laugh myself sick. Mai goes over some of the reasons why the loyalists are refusing to meet with him, then volunteers to help him with the negotiations. We also get this cute line, “She had thought there must be something wrong with him, when Zuko told her [her grimace] was her most endearing mannerism.” They have such a wholesome relationship here. It would be such a shame if something happened to it. “‘I know,’ Mai sighed dramatically, ‘sometimes I doubt my own judgement’”—I’m both laughing at that and pitying her, given later events. Okay, so Zuko expresses that he sometimes feels as if Azula wouldn’t have these kinds of problems ruling like he does. Technically, he’s right—the loyalists would much rather have Azula as their ruler than Zuko (if they couldn’t have Ozai, that is). But rather than continuing to reassure Zuko, Mai shuts this conversation down with snide remarks about the other problems Azula would have, namely being crazy. Which is unfair to both Zuko and Azula, even though I get why mentioning Azula set Mai off like that. In response, Zuko asks her, “‘Will you honestly pretend you never had /any/ regard for her at all? [ . . . ] That you /hated/ every minute of it?’” After which Mai actually admits that she was fond of Azula—the line “‘And she actually had a sense of humor.’ /Unlike someone else I could mention/” was especially painful to me. It seems like progress coming from her, but then: “That now that she consented to share her feelings, they could cry together over Azula’s sad, sad fate. Or some similar nonsense. Agni, he was worse than Ty Lee sometimes.”—The expectation the readers were building to is averted. “‘She crossed a line, when she left you to die. And subsequent events showed her for what she really was. [ . . . ] Something barely human, let alone deserving of respect.”—I maintain that Mai is wrong about Azula’s capacity to kill Zuko. First, let’s look at what happened when Azula “tried to kill” Zuko. When the ropes for the cable car were being cut in the Boiling Rock, Ty Lee, interestingly, did not express any concern about that. That would be strange if Zuko’s life was in danger, since we know she cares for Zuko as a friend. As such, while I don’t know exactly what would have happened if the cable car had hit the boiling lake, it seems as if there’s a possibility that it would have floated instead of sinking. Instead of everyone inside of it being killed, they would have been left stranded on the lake, where they could have been retrieved and taken into custody. Or it could have killed them, but again, I can’t see Ty Lee being okay with that, given her defense of Mai in that same episode. Then there was the attack on the Western Air Temple, during which Zuko seemingly falls to his death twice. The first time this happens, he lands on another Fire Nation airship—which Azula had to know was there. The second time it happens, Azula is falling along with him, until she manages to save herself. Now the question is, would she have managed to find a way to save him as well? Would she have grabbed him as she launched herself towards the cliff? Ultimately, we don’t know the answer to this, because the Gaang caught Zuko before she got her bearings back. She didn’t have to save him, so we will never know if she would have chosen to do so. As such, it’s ambiguous how serious her attempts to murder him were. It’s possible that despite her claims and her father’s orders, she might have been trying to capture Zuko instead. We can’t know for sure one way or the other. Zuko, on the other hand, would have let Azula fall to her death. No matter how any readers might feel about his characterization in “Dominion,” they can’t deny that that was something that he did in canon—and given the emphasis on being merciful to one’s enemies in ATLA, that was a decidedly unheroic thing for him to do, especially after he had been “redeemed.” Anyway, back to the chapter. Zuko thinks he should go visit Azula, since they’re on Ember Island. Not because he wants to, but because he thinks he should. “letting the fabric fall from his hands and onto their bed like a sinuous river of blood”—Great description to convey the tone of the moment. “‘You don’t owe her anything [ . . . ] And the sooner you realize that, the better off we’ll /all/ be.”—Mai’s not wrong, but we know Zuko doesn’t feel the same way. “‘You don’t know what it’s like [ . . . ] to have someone you whole life, and then they’re just gone.”—Ouch. Ouch ouch ouch. But has it occurred to Zuko that Azula probably felt the same way when he was exiled? I’m sure it hasn’t. "Mai considered in that moment just going with him, but dismissed it almost as quickly. She had never been to see Azula, and there was no telling how the mad princess would react to her, whatever improvements Ty Lee claimed in her mental state."—Honestly, Mai? Maybe you should have gone with him. I think it's clear that you're still hurting over what happened at the Boiling Rock, even if you deny it and claim that your denial is closure. Talking with her might have helped you, and it might have helped Zuko too. In addition, I suspect that the events of this story would have gone down a dramatically different path if you had been with Zuko during chapter seven. But you chose to stay with Lu Ten, which is, admittedly, a reasonable choice to make, especially given your justifications for it (namely, that if Azula got the upper hand in a fight, she could use you against Zuko). But it also meant that you missed an opportunity to head off some of this story's conflict before it began. So Zuko goes to visit Azula, while Mai practices with her knives. The "but [she] like to think it was something more, that maybe he inherited not just her eyes and thick black hair, but her enduring love of pointy things" is super cute and makes me want him to be a nonbender even more. After a while, though, Mai gets the news that Azula has escaped. Yes! Except she's not as enthused about the prospect as I am. "'Answer your Fire Lady!' Mai said stridently, taking a quick step closer to compel him and eliciting a frightened squeak from Lu Ten, who was unused to hearing his mother express herself so loudly."—Nice characterization here. "Another /cursed/ letter"—Ah, so does this mean Mai is fully aware of Azula's letters and Zuko's fixation on them? "'Dada?' he chirped hopefully up at her, with that same uncertain smile she had seen on Zuko's face too many times to count."—Awww! "while Mai removed the flame headpieces and pin from her hair, letting it fall freely down her back"—Have we ever seen Mai with her hair down? I don't think we have. I'm curious about how that looks. "And Mai reflected on the fitness of the metaphor"—While I reflect on the cleverness of the writing.

We move on to Zuko who, like us, is skeptical that the breakout at the asylum had nothing to do with Azula. Also, "cold therapy" sounds like the Fire Nation's equivalent of electroshock therapy. Apparently, it "helps" mental ill firebenders, which both Zuko and I think is nonsense. In any case, Azula got thrown into a cooler at one point, with Iroh's consent. Apparently it did not go well, because Azula flashed back to being frozen by Katara in the finale, even assuming the position she was in then, with her hands behind her back. Eventually, though, she acclimated to the cells. "'We think her fire simply burns too hot. As you are aware, she is the first bender in several generations to wield blue flames, and the first ever recorded in the royal family.'"—This is so cool. I wonder what the stories of the other blue flame benders are? "'You're used to blaming her when things go wrong, aren't you? [ . . . ] It gives you a measure of comfort."—Dr. Kwan's got your measure, Zuko. Oooohhh, so Zuko wanted Azula to be guarded by eight imperial firebenders at all times. It's no wonder she needed to set up an escape for some of the other patients in the asylum—how else to pull the guards away from her? Also, the "No joke" comment made me laugh. "Didn't these people know what she /was/?"—Stop saying "what" instead of "who" Lord Weirdo. It's contributing to your dehumanization of Azula. "This one opened outward, to prevent Azula from hiding behind it when anyone entered her cell."—That is surprisingly savvy of them to have designed the door that way. "'Her hair is /brown/! /Dark/ brown, like my /mother's/!"—Ugh from the future. "'And she's /shorter,/ that isn't /her/!"—So is it canon that Azula has a short stature, or is that more of your preference, Aurelia? Because as a short woman, I don't mind, but I also don't know the answer to that question, XD. Zuko briefly panics, thinking that Azula is pretending to be one of the imperial firebenders, which is a nice nod to her pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior in canon. But of course Azula didn't stick around like that. "But it still hurt"—The way this is led into makes me think that this is meant to be read as, "But it still hurt that she'd betrayed him," even though this isn't a betrayal, because it's not about him at all. This is also a nice echo to Azula's speech on the beach. "The guard smiled shyly, odd as that was to see in a man at least five years his senior, 'It'd be hard to forget….'"—Is it weird that I find that cute? Because I do. Azula's plan is brilliant, which of course it would be. Though Zuko thinks, "This just proved how little they knew her. Azula didn't identify with anyone, Zuko recalled. She was just good at pretending." Which is not true. Azula is capable of empathy; she just doesn't express it in obvious ways. Being raised by a sociopath who equated warm emotions with weakness no doubt influenced her in that respect. "The one part that did /not/ make an awful sort of sense to him, was how she had subdued a guard and left the cell under her own power. Kwan and the guards both confirmed that she had been sedated, and the effect should have lasted several more hours."—This primes us to both the fact that Azula has been building up an immunity to the sedatives they're been giving her, but also that she might still be effected by the drugs when we see her. This is important in light of what happens in the next chapter. Zuko's means of trying to find Azula are actually very well thought out. Then he remembers that it's Azula's birthday, which makes him remember his conversation with Ty Lee, which makes him remember when he was last on the beach with Ty Lee, Mai, and Azula. This leads him to the realization that Azula has gone to the royal family's abandoned summer home. "He knew how much she hated it there."—Is there a specific reason for that, or is it just that it reminds her of her mother and thus is poisoned by her resentment towards Ursa? "His footfalls sounded despite the dust, the faded wood floors unaccustomed to his weight, and a sudden idea struck him. Zuko removed his boots and left them sitting beside the doors"—Well that is one way to make sure you don't have to worry about the logistics of him removing them in a certain scene in the next chapter. "Not a /single/ pair of /pants/ in her entire wardrobe?' Azula grumbled to herself. 'Why am I not sur—'"—I may have laughed really hard at this, because of course Ursa wouldn't have owned any pants! That would have been so unladylike of her! Though it is also very concerning that Azula decided to look through her mother's clothes for something first. I get the rationale behind her decision, but it's also unsettling once you know she uses the same makeup as her mother too. "He did not remember deciding to look inside. That fact alone was troubling."—Brace yourself, Zuko, it's about to get 1000x more troubling. "And he had never been one to hide pointlessly. Or to run from a fight."—Pssht, who thinks that way about themselves and expects us to take them seriously? "'You came back.'"—Oh Azula, honey. I wish he had come back for you, but he came back for the idea of you more than anything else. And that cliffhanger is where you chose to end the chapter. I'm very fortunate that I started reading this when there was—gosh, I want to say sixteen chapters up already? I distinctly remember getting the notification in my inbox when "A Kindness" came out. So I didn't have to wait for chapter seven like some readers did, which I imagine would have killed me. I know waiting for "Line of Fire" almost did, and that was for Ursa rather than Azula. Though to be fair, Ursa is a fascinating character, so she was worth the wait. In any case, I'm looking forward to tackling chapter seven and heading into the meat of this story, but I might need a few days to prepare myself for it. As always, thank you for the read! Sincerely, WiseAbsol