And we’re back! Join SEK and I as we discuss alliances, booty shots, the Real Housewives of Westeros, and which flavor of evangelical cults we prefer…
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Race for the Iron Throne 
Traffic’s much heavier at LGM. No surprise as they have heavier traffic, generally. Just wanted to say that the podcasts this season are getting progressively more interesting . I think that part of that is due to the material getting better as things are starting to really happen. However, I’ve always really enjoyed these podcasts. IIRC, they were the “gateway drug” that got me to actually read all the books.
Thanks! Glad you like them.
Ah the joys of coming home after a long day, and having a new podcast to listen to.
Great eye for details and catching the burning heart of Rholl’r Steve-like SEK, I was so focused on Arya I didn’t notice the statues at first. Loved the man receiving ‘the gift,’ and death as being a potentially positive thing in the House of Black and White. There’s a certain terrible beauty to it all, I think.
And yeah Arya’s ‘training’ totally mimics Karate Kid and Arya is the Westerosi equivalent of Batman.
“Real Housewives of Westeros” HA!!! Poor Tommen stuck between those two…then again considering his wedding night, maybe Tommen isn’t to be pitied. Not yet…Sob.
As Amanda Marcotte once noted one thing GoT has in common with soap operas is that what happens in marriages is arguably even more important than on the battlefield. And yeah, I like Roose basically admitting that now while Tywin dead, he considers their old alliance with the Lannister’s now useless. And god Sophie Turner is so good at this stone faced Goth thing, it’s scary.
And yep, the series has now made its focus Winterfell again. KL is amusing but it’s just a diversion…what’s happening in the North is what counts.
Didn’t catch what SEK did about the contrast between the respect the FM show death and the disrespect and sacrilege committed by the Boltons…sitting here typing this I realize that another figure who completely disrespects death is Qyborn…and he may be a FM target someday.
And yeah, I’m NOW panting for Theon/Sansa too. AA and ST should be able to act the hell out of that.
Like you, I believe that Sansa is now the logical focus for Stark loyalty. As Amanda Marcotte noted if Robb was “King in the North,” then Sansa might now be “Queen of the North.”
I knew Jon wasn’t going to make Alliser Latrine captain. He may not like but he does respect him and while Jon may not be above vengeance he sure as shit ain’t petty. And damn, the entire sequence with Jon executing him was well done. It wasn’t easy and for a moment you feel pity for Slynt…but what Jon’s doing is necessary and we all see that. It’s part of his character arc and how he’s growing into a leadership role just in time for a certain Big Reveal…
LOVE the way they depict the Sparrows. Yes they’re fanatics and they’re scary but the show manages to capture *where* this fanaticism is coming from. The smallfolk are suffering horribly under the boot heels of decadent, and incompetent elites. In the meantime, the Sparrows whatever else their flaws *are* giving people real material aid. Johnathon Pryce’s take on the High Sparrow, was I thought perfect. He gives the character humility, charisma, and radicalism all at once. He’s compelling and charming, but with just a hint of scary in there.
On one hand it seems implausible that LF wouldn’t know about Ramsay…on the other hand, I always got the impression that LF’s spy network was concentrated in the South and he was somewhat ignorant of events up North…hence why he missed the ARMY OF THE UNDEAD SHAMBLING TO THE WALL.
I think there WILL be an alliance between the Vale and the North and Sansa will be key…its just that neither the Boltons or LF are going to live to be included in the deal.
I do hope we see more of this new priestess of Rholl’r. Makes sense that Dany would get religious support as well.
I DID notice the mention of the stone men. Yep, greyscale is coming. The question is who’s going to get it? Jorah and/or Tyrion is my bet.
Didn’t Ramsay flayed the Ironborn garrison of Moat Cailin? Or hunted girls in the woods? Or recently flayed Lord and Lady Ceirwyn plus their brother?
It seems a lot to miss.
The whole thing makes sense for Bolton, but LF and Sansa? No, not really. And the comments about how much of a player she becoming are confusing, since she being manipulated into doing a rewind of her story: marriage to a sadistic abuser, used as a political claim and under the threat of violence. And everything LF says about Cersei as Queen also applies to him as Lord Protector of the Vale.
It’s funny how Tyrion is such a smooth talker that he charm a sex slave into giving him sexual services for free with the risk of punishment by her owner. Maybe he’s a skinchanger too!
It’s a fair point, but think about how word would have traveled – the only eyewitnesses to the fall of Moat Cailin all went north, not South, there’s no witnesses except reek to the hunting of girls, etc. LF has a spy network, but he’s not omniscient.
As for Sansa, I think we’ll have to see how she reacts to the marriage. Will she go along with it? Will she make an attempt to escape? Will she try to kill Ramsay? Will she use the power of the North’s memory?
– I also noticed the statue of the Lion of Night.
– SEK was referring to the way the Boltons treat corpses – flaying them, stringing them up, making them literally their calling card. As opposed to giving them a decent burial.
– regarding not knowing Ramsay – keep in mind, both in the books and the show, Ramsay’s been kept out of sight for a long time. He’s only been at the Dreadfort for two years, so I could see the bastard heir of a lesser lord possibly passing under the radar.
– I’m betting Jorah, since he’s kind of similar to JonCon in character.
Instead of Bolton or Cersei, shouldn’t the real issue for Littlefinger be Stannis? It is not all together clear what sort of strength Stannis currently has, but we know from the books he will march on Winterfell. We also know from the books and just observations about Stannis that they will never work together.
Once Stannis is beaten, Littlefinger can just make impromptu plans from whatever remains.
And let’s not forget that LF helped the Lannisters stop Ned from delivering the Throne to Stannis and arranged the Lannister-Tyrell alliance that defeated Stannis at the Blackwater. There’s really no middle ground between LF and Stannis at this point.
Good point – that gives LF another motive for helping the Boltons. He doesn’t want Stannis to get the North either.
Love the podcast! Also loving Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow. He’s already terrifying.
On the other hand, am I the only person icked out by the stuff with Tommen and Margaery? How old is Tommen supposed to be? 15? 16? And Margaery’s supposed to be what, early 20s? It might be okay in Westeros but where I live that’s rape.
And does anyone know where Littlefinger gets his teleporters?!
Tommen is 8 in s1 so around 13 or 14 methinks
Nothing remotely like 5 years has passed in the show.
Ok then 12yrs old
Can a pre pubescent boy consummate a marriage physically at 9-11yrs,or even legally in a medieval like setting?i was to busy playing with star wars toys @ age 9-11 so i can’t remember pitching a tent at that age(sorry 4 the visual).
Your a man grown at three and 10 in westeros via bran’s thoughts & renly tells loras that tommen is eight in the shaving scene in s1.
Weeks and entire months can pass in a single episode,and yara’s ship voyage which started in S3ep10 & she arrived at the dreadfort in s4ep6 must of taken at least 6 months so i woulds say that 4yrs is roughly correct.
In anycase it is lazy screen writing to not explain how much time passes in situations like sansa & LF getting from moat cailin to winterfell ect.
Sansa was 13 at the start of the series, and was still 14 at the end of season 3. No more than a few months have passed since then.
Yeah, it’s a bit fucked up. As for how old Tommen is supposed to be, it’s complicated. They’ve definitely aged him up in the recasting, but it is ambiguous exactly how old he is (the actor is 16, I think).
I was troubled by Jon’s execution of Slynt too, but I like Sean T. Collin’s take on it, the reason that Jon seems angry when he kills Slynt is that where Eddard was likely scared as well when he faced the chopping block, he still had the dignity to face it and keep his composure, while Slynt thinks he’s an exception to this and that him admitting his fear will save him from his execution. Would Slynt have done the same for Eddard? No.
I like that.
Good stuff as always!
Was that the Lion of the night in THOBW,the statue with the lion’s head?
I only spotted Mira forester on my 4th viewing 🙂 i’ll have to see if sera is there on my 5th!
There is a HUGE debate about if that is really the Telltale Mira, she was first spotted at the Purple Wedding as the handmaid cordered by Pycelle before the ‘leftovers go to the dogs’ conversation.
BUT as the game plays out that wedding in episode 3, there are doubts if that was Mira Forrester..
Wasn’t she sansa’s handmaiden who overheard tyrion & shae arguing and then told cersie?.Maybe she got a transfer to margeary afterwards!
It was indeed the Lion of Night.
I’ll begin by saying that I think this has been a pretty good run of episodes so far, with most of the storylines working pretty well. However:
1. The complete whitewashing of Tyrion has become de rigeur at this point, but the specific scene contrast between Tyrion raping a sex slave and Tyrion having a charming conversation with a depressed prostitute, leading to him chivalrously turning down her offer of sex, is so absurdly emblematic as to be hilarious.
2. This isn’t exactly in-show itself, but from the Episode BTS video they talk about Arya and Needle, and while it’s a “special gift”, they then go on to talk exclusively that Arya views it as the instrument whereby she will exact revenge for her family, and that’s why she can’t bring herself to let go of it. That’s…so, so wrong. I sometimes wonder whether these guys understand that people are motivated by things other than revenge.
3. The Winterfell storyline is complete nonsense. Full stop.