“It is only another empty castle,” Meera Reed said as she gazed across the desolation of rubble, ruins, and weeds.No, thought Bran, it is the Nightfort, and this is the end of the world.
Synopsis: Bran tells some stories, and then becomes one.SPOILER WARNING: This chapter analysis, and all following, will contain spoilers for all Song of Ice and Fire novels and Game of Thrones episodes. Caveat lector.
Introduction:
“In the Game of Thrones, you win or you die.” – much of the fandom seems to internalize the cynical logic that ruthlessness is the prime determinant of success. We can see this most vividly in the “Stupid Ned” meme, where the doomed protagonist of the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) is mocked for his hapless naiveté in the midst of King’s Landing’s “nest of vipers.”
But is it accurate that ruthlessness, pure and simple, is the key to victory and survival in Westeros? The thesis of this essay is, in so far as we can take success or failure in the narrative of ASOIAF as a hint to George R.R Martin’s own political theorizing, that this is not the case. An idealistic attachment to codes of honorable behavior can trip up politicians who fail to guard themselves from the unethical, but it’s also the case that those who embrace Machiavellianism for Machiavellianism’ sake ultimately find their achievements last no longer than their ability to inspire fear. More lasting success ultimately comes from those who can marry pragmatism in their methods to an overarching purpose that can inspire the hearts and minds of Westerosi.
After all, if brutality was the only measure of a prince, why is it that the blood-soaked Maegor the Cruel reigned for only six years, failed to sire an heir, and ended up murdered on his own throne, while the peaceful Jaehaerys the Conciliator ruled for over fifty years, sired the Targaryen dynasty, and is remembered three hundred years later as the best of kings?
Ok, time to finish off the Tumblr backlog before diving into the Nightfort!
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Hey folks! So it’s been about a month since the last time I did one of these, so a lot of good stuff has built up on the Tumblrs that should be shared with you fine people. So much stuff, in fact, that I’m splitting it into two posts, because otherwise it would be unreasonably long.
So here goes!
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The following is originally a Tumblr post from a couple years back (as you can see from some of the contemporary references) that I held back from publishing because I wanted to have a Roma sensitivity reader take a look at it first, and then never got around to finishing when other things came up despite their very kind assistance. However, the popularity of WandaVision brought back some pre-existing discourse around Elizabeth Olsen’s casting as a non-Romani actress and Joss Whedon and pre-Feige Marvel executives’ decision to reimagine Wanda and Pietro Maximoff as radicalized Sokovian nationalists rather than Romani.
This reminded me of the unfinished post I’d written about the difficult question of Romani representation in comics rooted in problematic decisions made during Marvel’s Silver Age and its particular relationship to subtextual Judaism in the work of assimilated Jewish creators. So after the break, I’ve posted an edited and elaborated version of my original post.
Hey folks! Next up is a pretty big chapter, where Jon fights in the Attack on Castle Black to the tragic conclusion of his and Ygritte’s relationship. However, I haven’t even outlined that chapter so it’s going to be a while coming (especially since I have grading right now).
In the mean-time, though, I’ve got some choice stuff on the tumblrs…
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Non-ASOIAF:
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Hey folks, I’ve outlined Davos V, and the advent of Spring Break (woooooo!) means that I have some time to write it, but it won’t be ready right away. Thankfully, there’s lots of good stuff in the Tumblrs.
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“Monsters are dangerous beasts, and just now kings seem to be dying like flies.”
Synopsis: Tyrion has dinner with his wife, is the last to be informed about an important message, has a tense conversation with his father, and goes back to his unhappy marriage.
