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Saturday, September 30, 2017
Scientists try to explain the long seasons on Game of Thrones
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Glass Candle Dialogue: the Rise and Fall of Littlefinger
This week, Luka and I start down our long list of dead Game of Thrones characters we want to analyze, starting with Mr. Goatee himself, Petyr Baelish! We delve into the gender politics of his storyline, the tropes he thought he embodied, and the delicate balance between enjoying a problematic character and pitying or, worse, admiring them.
Petra: There’s something very pleasantly anticlimactic about Littlefinger’s story. He was a foil to Varys in a lot of ways, he was this master puppeteer who orchestrated all these elaborate machinations, and the big question on all our minds was “what does he want?” And it turned out that what he wanted was to get the girl. It was this very complex journey to a very human, emotional and quite petty objective. And I enjoyed that.
Luka: Though I’m sure the mechanics of his downfall in the books will be far more complex, I hope it’s thematically similar to what we got on the show. Fans sometimes get attached to certain characters because they see themselves reflected in them, which is fine and good … most of the time, but it can have a dark side. I’m going to get a bit political here. In modern terms, Littlefinger was the nerd revenge fantasy gone wrong; he was this very intelligent outcast while the Starks were the jocks —
Petra: The Loki to Brandon Stark’s Thor.
Luka: Yeah. So I think some fans were attracted to that aspect of him, and that’s why in their eyes he could do no wrong and always had an answer for every eventuality. As his story neared its end, whenever he failed his fanatics got quite angry — “Littlefinger wouldn’t have fallen for that!” Of course, he fell for his rather evident emotional blind spots, but they can’t see that. He’s essentially a Mary Sue of their own creation.
Petra: I wouldn’t say he’s framed in a positive light, though.
Luka: No, I wouldn’t say the books or the show themselves are at fault, but nevertheless some fans see him that way. When Sansa got ahead of him I don’t think that sat well with them. Even those who expected him to die at her hand wanted it to be epic; they wanted him to remain cool until the very end. But he didn’t. Because he never was cool.
Petra: To be honest, I’ve only met one Littlefinger fan in my life. It was at my very first Comic Con. We had an interesting conversation. Have you met more?
Luka: You should explore the darker corners of the internet. Or perhaps you shouldn’t. A friend of mine is in love with the character. She’s also a big fan of Snape. You know the archetype — the “misunderstood” (big quotes) emo creeps. It can get disturbing.
Petra: Littlefinger falls into that archetype perfectly. He uses brains instead of brawn. And he’s using it to get the girl, which is normally considered a good thing to do.
Luka: Hardcore fans love to see the characters’ stories from their perspectives, to really get in their shoes. This is a wonderful thing we all should do, but there is a big difference between gaining an appreciation for a character by comprehending their point of view and actually agreeing with them. Sadly, the worldview that Littlefinger purports has become a real problem online, especially with new, tech-savvy yet retrograde, misogynistic organizations. It permeates everything from the obvious sphere of politics to gaming and film criticism. Unlike some of us, these particular nerds who were bullied in school learned the wrong lesson from the experience. They can’t see now they are the oppressors rather than the victims. They were wronged, so now any reprisal is justified.
Petra: They can’t see they’re not entitled to the girl as a reward. Baelish is an interesting deconstruction of the self-proclaimed nice guy … though he’s never really nice.
Luka: To be fair, he’s more superficially nice in the first few seasons, and in the books overall, though every character who knows him a little bit knows not to trust him.
Petra: His arc feels reminiscent of the typical wish-fulfillment ‘80’s movie in which the weak yet likable every-man goes up against the big bully and is rewarded with the girl in the end, but instead it’s this dark villain origin story in which, in the end, he failed.
Luka: It’s just as Baelish told Ros in season one: “The little hero always beats the big villain in all the stories.” But he didn’t. That was such a telling scene: he insists he “used to be Catelyn’s confidant,” that she could tell him “anything at all.” If Baelish lived today, he would whine about being “friendzoned” — an abhorrent concept perpetuated by the Littlefingers of the world who believe they deserve sex or romance for being nice. Or, worse, there are those who believe they don’t even need to be nice to anyone because of how smart they are — the kind of people who watch Breaking Bad or Rick and Morty oblivious to the fact that Walter White and Rick are the villains of their own sad lives.
Petra: I guess I’m surprised so few people find his love for Catelyn endearing because that’s usually what fans go for. It’s very similar to Severus Snape’s love for Lily Evans in Harry Potter. I’m not saying this to demean Snape fans but there are some serious points of comparison between those two unrequited love stories, yet one is considered romantic by a large portion of the fandom, while the other is creepy for most people.
Luka: I think a lot of it comes down to a difference in framing.
Petra: Now that I’m thinking about it, though, love informed their characters very differently: for love of Lily, Snape became a double agent and sacrificed himself to save the wizarding world; for love of Cat, Baelish became a conniving, pedophilic creeper. So it’s really not the same thing. Again, there’s nothing wrong with finding a character who does bad things engaging but there’s a difference between that and “woobifying” them. There are other people who don’t fit the gender roles of Westeros who have chosen to react to their predicament differently. Sam, for example, was also bullied relentlessly for excelling in brains instead of brawn but he chose a different path than Baelish.
Luka: Sam is the nerd that we should all aspire to be, the kind of person who is empathetic because of their suffering, rather than vindictive. Sam values emotion, as we all should. Littlefinger believed emotion to be worthless. Littlefinger was dead wrong.
Petra: The comparison to Sam is apt, but I usually see Littlefinger as a foil to Varys, especially in the show, in which he’s completely detached from passion. Yet, I love Varys!
Luka: Yeah, me too.
Petra: But it’s curious, isn’t it? They are framed as diametric opposites, explicitly early on, but they have a lot in common. They’re similar yet we like one but not the other.
Luka: I wouldn’t say they’re truly similar. The tools they wield are often almost identical, but that’s very much taking them out of context. Baelish’s endgame was always self-serving. Whether we agree with Varys’ ends or not, he isn’t nearly as egotistic.
Petra: They’re similar insofar as they’re inverse reflections of each other. They’re master manipulators and for much of the show we didn’t know what their motivation was.
Luka: I do want to point out that there’s this cool air of mystery surrounding them both, mostly because of how they act, but if we think back, in the very first season you can see Varys talking to Illyrio and laying his plans for Targaryen restoration, and Littlefinger was quite explicit about what he wanted in that infamous brothel scene.
Petra: True! Varys and Littlefinger came from similar backgrounds but the former chose to help others, in his way, while the latter chose to serve only himself. To be honest, I was expecting a twist in regards to Littlefinger’s motivations. I thought it couldn’t be that his endgame was merely to rule and get Catelyn, or Sansa as a Plan B.
Luka: But it had to be just that. Baelish was a sad, clever man with the cold calculations of a sociopath and the emotional intelligence of a particularly clueless child.
Petra: Ooh, I like that. I should put that in bold!
Luka: [Laughs] Baelish never got passed that duel with Brandon Stark. His motivations and stunted emotional development may have all stemmed from that defeat. His clever machinations grew more complex but his emotions never grew past that moment.
Petra: Is it realistic for someone to remain fixated on the same person from childhood? That’s a very common occurrence in fiction but I’ve never encountered that myself, nor do I care for the concept. “I’ve loved you since we were five years old.” Is that a thing?
Luka: I’d say it definitely is. It may rarely be healthy, but it’s still a thing, especially in a situation in which both children grow and develop together, so there’s fuel to stoke the fire over time, if you will. But that’s not the kind of “love” Petyr felt for Catelyn. That’s why he could so easily transpose his so-called love for Catelyn onto Sansa.
Petra: His love for Catelyn was never for her as a person. It wasn’t based on common values or shared tastes in ice cream flavors or whatever. It was an object-oriented love, not only in the sexual sense but in terms of achievement: his inadequacy had been framed around his love for Catelyn. Brandon humiliated him and their power dynamic was established in reference to how they related to her. So Catelyn became his goal.
Luka: For me, Petyr’s character was always all about his inadequacy, which is why I was very happy when he resorted to pleading for his life and reverting back to a pile of mud before his death. I was a bit apprehensive about that moment as the scene began, because I wasn’t sure what his emotional response would be. The showrunners get enough shit already, but it’s true they sometimes resort to the “cool” option rather than the one that’s truest for the character, so I was a bit worried. But I was so happy they didn’t fall for that trap! I saw a reaction video with a guy who was a big fan of Littlefinger precisely because of how much of an “alpha” Machiavelli he was (or rather wanted to be,) and his ending was such a shock: “No! Don’t go out like a loser!” He was empathizing with Littlefinger, seeing himself in him, so he didn’t want to see the truth: that Baelish was always a loser. He was never a brilliant, cool-guy badass. He was a clever yet affectively vacant sociopath. Lacking feelings is not “cool.” Incidentally, this fan had been a gung-ho “Stannis the Mannis” proponent too, with similar results, but that’s a story for another time, when we get into Stannis, who I appreciate even more as a character, yet I also consider him to be disturbingly glorified by some fans — men, mostly.
Petra: I’ve been thinking about Petyr’s death a lot in preparation for this dialogue. It felt similar to Roose Bolton’s death, in they were both men who always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else, but got blindsided. But I like how it fit thematically. The moment Baelish finally overplayed his hand was when he tried to split up the Starks.
Luka: He never felt anything as deep as sisterly love, so he never realized his mistake. When he tried to lead Sansa to the conclusion that Arya was trying to overthrow her, that was the moment Sansa knew he was deceiving her, because Sansa knew that Arya would never aspire to rule Winterfell. He could have realized his mistake if he’d been capable of understanding that kind of love. See, I usually hate how media portrays mental illness. Sociopathy, for example, is often portrayed as an evil superpower, which it isn’t. For starters, sociopaths aren’t necessarily smart, or evil. Their ethics are based on consequences instead of morality, by necessity, because they lack empathy, but that isn’t a superpower. It’s a mental handicap. Littlefinger appears to be a “cool” movie sociopath when he plots and spies on people, which is in character for him, but it’s also in character for him to be completely bereft of empathy and to fall because of it.
Petra: The topic of love is so strange to discuss in relation to Game of Thrones because Westeros is such a cruel world, but I like that love was Littlefinger’s undoing. His love for Catelyn wasn’t a warm and giving love, but it was the closest thing he had. That “love” was Littlefinger’s motivation for the entire story. Yet, his underestimation of actual love was what caused his downfall. I like how damn sad that is, how pathetic.
Luka: Pathetic! I love that his end was pathetic. He didn’t die with a smile on his face.
Petra: I’m not happy about the death of his foil, though. We know Varys is going to die…
Luka: Unless Melisandre was just taking the piss, yes, we do.
Petra: I have hope that he at least gets a dignified death.
Luka: It’s difficult for me to picture Varys in any kind of undignified position, to be honest. Then again, it was difficult for me to imagine Littlefinger pleading for his life, even though that was exactly what I wanted. Or what I didn’t know I wanted. Anyway, it was difficult for me to picture and I think Aidan Gillen did a wonderful job. It felt real. I don’t want to get into seriously diagnosing fictional characters, because that’s a problematic road, but I do see him as sociopathic; I think he was being sincere and heartfelt with his pleading, but only as much as he ever could … which isn’t much.
Petra: I don’t know if I bought his crying.
Luka: Let me rephrase that. I didn’t buy it but I bought that he bought it. Just as he thought he loved Catelyn and Sansa. When he said “I loved your mother” and “I loved you” and Sansa came back with “Yet you betrayed her” and “Yet you betrayed me,” I could see in his face that he was trying and failing to wrestle with the contradiction. He genuinely believed that he loved them … he just didn’t know what love actually is.
Petra: It felt like he was playing his last card: “Well … guess I’ll drop to my knees now.”
Luka: He tried to use his position as Protector of the Vale and to undermine Bran, and when all of that failed he tried use his personal connection to Catelyn and Sansa, but that’s the problem: he doesn’t have any. There’s this mix of feelings. When he dropped to his knees and pleaded it felt choreographed until Sansa retorted with “Yet you betrayed her” and “Yet you betrayed me.” From that moment onward it felt completely real.
Petra: The fact that he got his throat cut felt appropriate. It’s one of the gorier ways to go and it was the same way that Catelyn was killed. I think her death was somewhat dignified, in the show at least, but his … well, that wasn’t a dignified way to go. In the audio commentary for “The Lion and the Rose”, Martin said Joffrey’s death was so horrifying because he had time to know he was dying. The same was true of Littlefinger.
Luka: He lived long enough to realize that he was dead, that he had failed — definitively.
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Friday, September 29, 2017
The Winners of the Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season Digital Download Giveaway!
It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for us to announce the winners of the Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season Digital Download Giveaway!
The latest season is newly available on digital download, with a neat exclusive bonus featurette from episode 6 “Beyond the Wall”. To celebrate the arrival of the complete season on digital, we kicked off a giveaway of five codes, providing free digital copies of the complete season to five of our readers.
Are you ready? It’s time to announce the winners! Our five lucky winners are:
1, Michael (Comments)
2. @SerNickStark
3. @TheMapleNerd
4. Mariah Lovegood (Comments)
5. JoAnne O’Bar Legat
Congratulations to our five winners! We’ll be in touch about sending you your prize codes.
Thank you all for entering. If you didn’t win- well, guess what. Next week, we’ll be throwing a worldwide giveaway, starting Monday, for an adorable pair of Game of Thrones Dorbz! Come by next Monday for details and to enter!
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Maisie Williams is the first Game of Thrones star to arrive in Belfast for season 8!
Game of Thrones Season 8 to begin filming soon as Maisie Williams arrives in Belfast
Back in August, Nikolaj Coster Waldau revealed Game of Thrones season eight would go into production in October. We never got to know when in October filming would begin, but there are always clues; for example, a telltale sign would be if actors began flocking to Belfast, where the production is headquartered. Well, that’s exactly what’s happening!
Cindy Cross made us aware of the following photo on Twitter, in which we can see Maisie Williams is the first Game of Thrones star to be spotted returning to Belfast:
@Maisie_Williams Great seeing you today on the flight to Belfast this morning x pic.twitter.com/zBZpUc9mts
— Ray Jorden (@RayJorden) September 29, 2017
Undoubtedly, many of Williams’ co-stars will return to Northern Ireland as well in the coming days. Things will get particularly interesting when location shooting begins, in Northern Ireland and Spain, and we get our first glimpses of the characters as they will appear next year and the scenes we will witness in the final season of Game of Thrones.
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Check out the full list of Histories and Lore segments from the Game of Thrones season 7 Blu-Ray
John Bradley on the “Downside” of Game of Thrones, and Maisie Williams Uses Her Fame For Good
Working on the sets of Game of Thrones isn’t always sunshine and daisies. Just ask John Bradley whose character, Samwell Tarly has been put through the ringer several times over. While he was kept in the North over the first 5 seasons, Bradley was given the opportunity to travel southward and experience other locations in seasons 6 and 7. From the wayward rockings of a moving boat, to the brooding mansion of House Tarly on Horn Hill, to the stony enclaves of the Citadel in Oldtown, dealing with all sorts of wastes and excrement, Bradley’s weathered it all. In an interview with Shortlist, published in Digital Spy, Bradley admits that while he loves being part of the GoT community, there’s more to filming these scenes than meets the eye.
“There are some really beautiful costumes on Game of Thrones. Mine isn’t one of them. When the show’s over, I’m going to ceremonially burn that cloak.”
Ouch, John – don’t do that! At least drape it on the floor like the IKEA rug we know it to be. Bradley also has a few gripes about the weather he’s had to face throughout filming:
“I remember huddling with Kit Harington and a couple of other actors in Belfast in season 1, swearing I couldn’t think of anywhere I could go where I’d be colder or more exposed to the elements. A few days later, an email with ‘ICELAND’ at the top popped into my inbox and I realized I’d spoken too soon”
Meanwhile, as each season aired, we, the fans, were busy enjoying the very best that HBO has to offer, as GoT became our latest watercooler show. Seemingly there’s no shortage of people with whom to talk Thrones, and this list has only grown exponentially throughout the years. Bradly can’t catch a break, it seems:
“The way people talk about the show, it always makes me feel like I’ve missed out. I love those big TV moments, those parts of Breaking Bad and The Wire that leave you speechless.”
It’s not all bad, though. I can say he made one fan truly happy when yours truly ran into him in London in 2015 (something of a hobby of mine), so that’s gotta count for something:
That time I ‘chose wisely’ on which street to turn down
In a separate interview, Maisie Williams talks growing up Arya Stark, her transition into adulthood on the set of GoT, and the time she’s spent championing causes about which she is passionate. Her upcoming film New Mutants, which recently wrapped shooting gave her the opportunity to sit down while in Boston for a chat with Highsnobiety Magazine:
“It’s nice to be a part of this sort of new wave of characters being written and actresses coming into fame that don’t really stick to the norm. I believe that my generation is one of the most accepting generations that there is, and I sort of see that reflected in film.”
We all know her as Arya Stark, but it’s great that Williams sees herself as a pioneer of young women’s portrayals in the media. It’s not exactly new information that women are frequently overly sexualized or written directly under the male gaze, so latching onto the part of Arya was something deeply personal for her:
“It’s made it okay to see little girls not just in dresses, and it’s okay for little girls to look like little boys, and it’s not quite so shocking and awful anymore.”
As someone who has always argued that the X-Men movies are the best comic book franchise out there, I get more and more excited for New Mutants each day! First we got Sophie Turner (Sansa) as Jean Grey, and now Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane…Who’s next, Isaac Hempstead Wright (Bran) as Charles Xavier?
Williams continues to talk about her charity work, and how she’s been influenced by Lena Headey (Cersei), one of her many mentors. Through Headey’s work for Plan International, Williams was invited to experience the challenges of the IRC (International Rescue Committee) during the refugee crisis in Greece. When she’s not busy saving the world, however, Williams is busy trying to give young artists new opportunities. She recently formed Daisy Chain Productions, a production company with her partner Dom Santry:
“I want to give other people the opportunity to make incredible things. There are so many members of my generation that have all the talent and just no platform.”
It’s amazing to see how dedicated Williams is to helping not just young artists, but also the betterment of humanity the world over. I recommend giving the rest of the interview a read-through, as she’s always a gem. Would that I were able to concludewith a photo of me and Maisie Williams; alas we’ve not yet met – One day, though. One day!
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From the Maester’s Desk: A Flayed Man Holds No Secrets
The article contains spoilers from ASOIAF.
This isn’t happening to you for a reason. Well, one reason: I enjoy it!
Ramsay Bolton (formerly Snow) was for sure a villain we all loved to hate. Much as certain characters like to remind us how much of an unpleasant person Joffrey was, the boy king didn’t hold a candle to the bastard of the North.
Technically, he made his entrance at the end of Season 2, besieging the Ironborn-held castle of Winterfell, but budget and time constraints prevented him from making a proper appearance, leading to much confusion when we were shown a sacked and burnt castle and no real indication of what happened to the Ironborn who betrayed Theon.
The book version of the character does show up in the second book, A Clash of Kings, but under the guise of Reek. He plays Theon like a fiddle and poses as his servant and advisor, until he finally drops the facade (after slaying Ser Rodrik Cassel, who was the one besieging the castle) and takes Theon prisoner. Then Winterfell is torched, and its people (along with the Ironborn) are killed.
From that moment, Ramsay and Theon vanish from the novels until A Dance with Dragons, but both characters didn’t take a break from the show, returning in the third season. Ramsay is introduced simply as “Boy”, keeping his real identity concealed until the season finale (“Mhysa”).
Throughout Season 3, Ramsay takes on a “Reek”-like persona, pretending he’s an ironborn emissary sent there to help Theon escape the Dreadfort. It’s all mind games for Ramsay’s amusement, of course, and when the metaphorical mask comes off, he starts to do his thing with gusto: torturing Theon in a variety of ways and culminating with a very literal emasculation.
But before this article turns into a recap of sorts, I’d like to talk about some of the fundamental differences between both versions of the character. There are some in terms of story to be sure, but also in regards to the physical appearance and personality.
The same way Roose’s eccentricity was toned down for the show, Ramsay traded his fancy pink-and-red silk clothes for a black leather jerkin. Now, I’m not a member of the fashion police, but I feel the gaudy garments wouldn’t have worked all too well in the adaptation. It’s a similar situation to Daario’s blue beard and gold-tipped mustache: I think it would’ve been too distracting, to the point of looking downright silly.
Martin also describes him as a pudgy individual who’s on his way to become fat. Rheon’s version is far more athletic in comparison, as we could see in the infamous moment when he and his dogs made Yara and the Ironborn run away. The change makes sense, considering his love for hunting people for sport with said dogs, chasing unfortunate “prey” through the woods. He should look fit and not like someone who’d experience shortness of breath while running.
In terms of character, we can all agree the tv version kept the character’s sadistic impulses and glee for hurting other people through torture and/or manipulation. He’s not a muffin, that’s for certain.
Whereas the book version is said to be undisciplined and never taught at arms, using his sword like a butcher’s cleaver, in the show he’s portrayed as a capable commander, essentially winning two major battles – against Stannis and Jon Snow. Were it not for Sansa and the aid from the Knights of the Vale, the Battle of the Bastards would’ve had a different outcome. He was also shown as capable of wielding swords and using bow and arrow with great accuracy (sadly for Rickon). 
The necessary streamlining of the story in the adaptation proved to be a double-edged sword in Season 5. I’m not too eager to delve into that particular controversy, but to dance around it and pretend it doesn’t exist would be a disservice to the article. So, onwards to address the elephant in the room:
I’ll just say that I understand the reasoning behind it, since Sansa took on the role of Jeyne Poole (a “fake Arya” in the books, so to speak) and Ramsay wouldn’t want to waste time to “consummate” his union with her. Was it necessary, however? I think some other options could’ve been explored, or the scene itself could’ve handled in a different way: an earlier fade to black when either Sansa or Theon realizes what’s about to happen, maybe. The implication is clear enough to be disturbing without going the whole nine yards.
What’s done is done, nonetheless, and fortunately the screenwriters have avoided similar controversies. I very much prefer (much as it tends to annoy me, I have to admit) to see polemic regarding traveling times or whether wights can swim or not.
Season 6 was the final one for Ramsay, and one that saw his personal pile of corpses rise ever higher. After dispatching his own father and stepmother (and his poor newborn brother too), Osha and Rickon fell at his hands, courtesy of the traitorous new lord Smalljon Umber.
I must say I was disappointed with the way Osha exited the screen adaptation. It was a rather short scene, and considerably lacking in suspense, almost feeling like an afterthought or a “let’s just get this over with” ticking of the box so we could move on. I’m of the opinion that most characters, even minor ones, have been given memorable or at least exciting enough demises. Even memes are born from some of them, like in the case of Tommen Baratheon.
Osha didn’t have such luck, a fate she shares with The Waif (whose off-screen death didn’t work the same as with Stannis, in my opinion), but I’m starting to digress.
There can be no more guessing in regards to Ramsay’s future in the show. He’s dead and gone for good, as opposed to his book counterpart.
A Dance with Dragons left us in suspense, and we don’t know the results of the battle between Stannis’ forces and the Boltons’. I’m of the opinion that Stannis lost, not just because that’s the route the show took, but rather because I think Jon is in a way destined to either face off against his polar opposite (when it comes to northern “bastards”) or to avenge Robb.
Had Stannis won the fight, and liberated the North by himself, it would feel anticlimactic in a way, especially if we consider it was Ramsay’s letter what ended up triggering the mutiny at Castle Black.
I’m less certain about Roose’s fate. I doubt his bastard son will be the one who kills him.
The show surely went that way for reasons of simplification, positioning Ramsay as the sole antagonist, which works better than having two different baddies sharing the spotlight.
That’s not to mention how much more complicated the Winterfell scenario is in the books, with all the northern bannermen around (some of them already paranoid because of some mysterious deaths happening in the castle). Roose also seems to be aware that Ramsay would be more than willing to off any true-born Bolton born of Walda Frey, so he (most likely) can’t be surprised with his guard down.
The Bolton patriarch, despite his “peaceful land, quiet people” rule, has some serious reputation as someone who you don’t mess around with. Several POV characters think of him as an unfeeling, cunning, intimidating presence, way more malevolent than Vargo Hoat, but without all the theatrics. Ramsay, on the other hand, despite being feared because of his violent antics, is generally being frowned upon by everyone, and if I had to bet, I think his “mad dog”, unruly behavior will take him to an early grave, leaving Roose as the “final boss”.
Appearances can be deceiving, however. And having a fearsome reputation doesn’t amount to much in Martin’s world, as we saw with Tywin Lannister, who was caught with his pants down and died in the privy.
Since Littlefinger and Sansa have nothing to do with the Boltons in the books, I don’t see the Knights of the Vale pulling a last minute intervention. That is, unless Sansa hears of the situation in the North and is able to act from where she’s currently in.
The battle was always going to play out differently, regardless, since Davos, Osha and Rickon are in entirely different places and their paths are unlikely to intersect with Jon’s or Ramsay’s anytime soon. Also, the Smalljon Umber died at the Red Wedding, so he’s not fighting any more battles (and it’s doubtful he would turn on the Starks, anyway).
In the screen adaptation it was only fair that Sansa would carry out Ramsay’s execution, but I don’t think Jeyne Poole will get to do it in the novels. The Bolton bastard will probably die in similar fashion, though. If not eaten by his own hounds, then in some other messy way. But if it’s Jon who kills him in the end, I can see him going the clean, Ned-style way: a chopping block and a swing of the sword.
Despite being considered a one-note character (and it’s easy to see why), I’d say Iwan Rheon provided Ramsay with a surprising amount of depth and emotion. Some of the scenes he shared with Alfie Allen were really riveting, and I’m somewhat shocked neither of them ever made it to the Emmys. Alfie still has a chance for the final season, but Rheon’s time is up.
The character wasn’t deserving of any sympathy and his death, unlike the case of many other characters (Hodor comes to mind), was satisfactory and deserved. A brilliant performance, to say the least, and a haunting presence in both show and books.
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Thursday, September 28, 2017
The 2017 Watchers On The Wall Awards: Now accepting nominations!
Welcome back to another year of Watchers on the Wall celebrations for our favorite show! Every year, Game of Thrones fans gather and choose the best of the best from the latest season. That’s right, it’s up to you to decide, and it all starts now!
How does it work? The initial suggestions for nominees in every award category come from you, the fans, and run-off voting determines which top five win the final nomination in their category. The final fives battle it out in each category, readers choose our ultimate season 7 winners, and eventually we announce the winners in a live Watchers on the Wall Awards ceremony packed with fun and giveaways!
For a more detailed explanation of the process, jump to the Rules & Process below.
Let’s get to it! The 2017 categories are:
Best Episode: You do NOT need to make any nominations in this category- all seven episodes of season 7 go into the category final!
Your favorite leading performers, the ones who hold up the show and their storylines:
Best Leading Actress
Best Leading Actor
The supporting categories, suitable for regular/recurring Game of Thrones actors who support the leads:
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
It can be tough to decide who is a lead and who is a supporting actor on GoT, since this can vary between seasons and it’s always been a fine line, with such a big cast. We’ll use your votes as our way of deciding, and things like screentime to help, should there be ties.
Next are the guest categories, for the short-term scene-stealers and amazing performers who snag your attention even with a limited amount of screen time. Who qualifies for this? There are TWO QUALIFICATIONS the performer must fit: actors and actresses with credited appearances in 4 episodes or fewer in Season 7, and no more than 15 episodes total for the complete series of GoT. Check the performer’s credits on IMDB if you’re uncertain if they qualify. People nominated for this who don’t qualify will be dropped into the Supporting pool of potential nominations.
Best Guest Actor
Best Guest Actress
For fun this year, we’re adding in a new category:
Best New Costume! Celebrating the incredible costume design work of Game of Thrones, in this category you’ll nominate your favorite new costumes from season 7! (This is one category, not divided by gender.)
Next: our quote categories celebrate the best of the words in season 7, and of course the dialogue’s delivery! These categories are:
All-Around Best Quote: the most brilliant and memorable quotes from Game of Thrones season 7!
Funniest Quote: A funny/clever line of dialogue or short exchange that you find humorous.
Best Speech: what it says on the tin.
We love to award individual awesome scenes throughout the season, not just the Best Episode so we have several types:
Best Visual Effects Scene: Dragonfire, wights, and White Walkers, oh my! So many to choose from, think long and hard. Nominate the scene that you think best demonstrated the show’s legendarily amazing effects. Be specific (not just episode titles or battle names, because battles take up half the episode sometimes)!
Best Death Scene: There is only one god, and his name is Death. On Game of Thrones, anyway. Choose your favorite death scene!
Funniest Scene: An entire scene that tickles your funny bone the most.
Best Dramatic Scene: the scene with the dramatic moments that had you glued to the screen and begging for more. The very best of Game of Thrones.
Action categories can present a little difficulty in categorization! So we have two distinct categories- one for smaller-scale fights and skirmishes, and one for the big episode-consuming battles.
Best Fight: smaller-scale fights, 1 on 1, small groups, etc.
Best Battle: large-scale battles
*Please be specific! But if you’re not sure which category your choice belongs in, nominate the scene you have in mind anyway and we’ll figure it out where it belongs. It’s all in good fun!*
Post your list of nominees in comments below, with the categories/nominees clearly labeled. You’re permitted to submit more than one nominee per category in this initial submission process. Go on and have fun, and have your choices in by next Thursday, October 5th, at 12PM Eastern Time!
For our newer readers, here is the complete run-down. #1 is especially important as it pertains to the nominating starting today!
The Rules & Process
Phase 1- Initial Gathering of Nominees: Please submit your nominees ONLY in the Comments section below. Please make your nominations with the categories they’re for clearly labeled in Comments.
You may use more than one post, as many as you need, or if you decide to add more nominations at a later time, that’s fine. You can also nominate more than one performer or scene for an award in this initial submission-gathering process!
*People have very different opinions on whether an actor is supporting or lead, so it’s important to label your nominations carefully! Ultimately, a performer can win a best actor/supporting nomination in only one category, and it will be in the one in which they gained the most votes. Using the submission ballots, storylines and season 7 screen time as a guide, the determination of placing a performer into lead versus supporting will ultimately be at WotW’s discretion.*
Phase 2- First round Preliminary Poll: After everyone has posted their nomination submissions, the pool of info will be sorted into categories by the WotW staff and volunteer community members. Each category will then have a run-off poll. The top five vote-getters in each category win the nominations.
There may be some categories where they aren’t five noms to begin with. They’ll skip this round and go right to phase 3!
Phase 3- Final Round Voting: A second round of polls will determine the winner of each finalized category.
The winners of the Watchers on the Wall Awards will be announced on one night, on a date to be determined in the near future.
Greatjon of Slumber is helping out with the vote sorting and polls, so we’d like to give him a huge thanks!
We’ll keep these comments open until Thursday, October 5th, at 12PM Eastern Time to accept initial nominations. We’ll count up and sort the votes, and soon after that, we’ll start the preliminary voting polls.
Put your thinking helms on and get to nominating!
The post The 2017 Watchers On The Wall Awards: Now accepting nominations! appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
Via http://watchersonthewall.com
John Bradley (Sam) discusses the downsides of working on Game of Thrones
Baltimore Comic-Con Announces 2017 Costume Contest Winners
The Baltimore Comic-Con is happy to announce the winners of our 9th Annual Costume Contest. The contest took place this past Saturday, September 23, 2017 for both amateur and professional adults, and Sunday, September 24, 2017 for kids. Visually stunning costumes ranged from classic superheroes to video game and movie characters and beyond, and our contest has proven to be one of the most anticipated events at the show.
This year’s costume contest separated amateur adults from professional adults, and held a separate contest for amateur kids as well.
The grand prize winner for Best in Show Costume, and the recipient of the $1,000 cash prize, was Matt Yeager for his “Monster Hunter Gen. Dreadking Rathalos” costume.
Special thanks go to everyone who entered the contest and showed their support, as well as to our sponsor, Super Hero Stuff and Masters of Ceremonies, Greg Bell and Patrick Storck!
Winners for this year’s contest include:
Professional
Best Overall Costume: Matt Yeager, Monster Hunter Gen. Dreadking Rathalos
1st Place: Brad Hallock, 5th Element Police Character
2nd Place: Kathryn Redfield, Merida
3rd Place: Nile M. Wilson, Queen Ravenna (from Snow White and the Huntsman)
Amateur
1st Place: Sarah Figut, Kraang Sub-Prime
2nd Place: Brian Parker, Fierce Deity Link
3rd Place: Jeff Ludthe of Capt. Shanks Cosplay, The Flash
Best Group:
1st Place: Bartholomew and Jennifer Macasieb, Cowboy Curtis with Conky and Miss Yvonne with Chairy from Peewee’s Playhouse
2nd Place: Jordan Poino and Tam Luckett, Suited Shockwave and Soundwave
Amateur Kids
Kids Prizes in the Age 12 to Age 17 category:
1st Place: Olivia, The White Queen from Alice in Wonderland
2nd Place: Claire Marie, Erza Scarlet
3rd Place: Aidan, Cyborg
Kids Prizes in the Newborn to Age 11 category:
1st Place: Audrey, Ciel Phantom Hive
2nd Place: Shahira, Kanna from Ms. Koboyashi’s Dragon Maid
3rd Place: Keira Pullen, Undyne
Honorable Mention: Declan & Oliver, Charlie Brown & Linus
The Baltimore Comic-Con would like to thank our 2017 judges: Maria Bella, Lauren Singleton, Kevin Uribe, Kristina Green, Candice Miller, David Cardin Schmidt, Jacob Dillow, Sam Gras, Casey Sanders, Bambi Galore, Jim Baxter, and Amy and Greg Bell.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, because we can’t wait to start making announcements for next year’s show, our biggest yet, which will be held the weekend of September 28-30, 2018!
from Baltimore Comic-Con http://baltimorecomiccon.com/2017/09/baltimore-comic-con-announces-2017-costume-contest-winners/
Is Game of Thrones filming multiple endings? Nikolaj Coster-Waldau says no
Kit Harington, Mark Gatiss conspire in upcoming “Gunpowder” TV series
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Arya Stark: Defying the Hero’s Archetype
By Randy Holt
One thing that Game of Thrones thrives off of that a lot of other programs or films do not is the ambiguity of its characters from a moral perspective. Villains aren’t always identifiable as such because of their humanizing elements (see: Lannister, Cersei) and the heroes (in as loosely an archetypal definition as possible) commit acts that stretch them to the edge of such morality. There may not be a better representation of such a lack of moral and ethical clarity than the beloved Arya Stark.
It’s such a fine line that’s been drawn for Arya to traverse back and forth. Season 7 saw her pushed to the edge of the “good guy” trope and perhaps taking on a role as an anti-hero or something even more severe. The journey on which she’s been, and the trials that have been featured, have developed her character in a way that makes categorizing her into a specific archetype quite a difficult task.
Arya’s character development begins immediately after she arrives on screen in Season 1. Her upstaging of Bran as he attempts target practice, via bow & arrow, at Winterfell reveals two things: her desire to develop into a warrior and a temperament that will allow her to do so. These are obviously essential elements of her character. More than anything, though, she’s been shaped by her experiences and the mentors that she has had.
Given that she’s always had the same type of attitude and demeanor throughout all seven seasons, it’s easy to forget that she’s gone through some pretty horrific experiences. She witnessed the death of her father. She’s lost friends like Mycah and Lommy to violence. Her opposition to the Waif in Braavos barely left her alive. This has, of course, inspired a thirst for revenge, but at the same time, the fact that she hasn’t become a jaded, murderous wretch, despite possessing the skill set to do so, is somewhat bewildering. She’s gone through some of the trials that we might expect from the archetypal hero, all while maintaining at least some sense of morality. There’s a special weapon, a mentor, a crossing of a threshold, and several other elements scattered throughout her story. But can we really classify her as such? Perhaps the influence of her mentors can shed some light.
Syrio Forel (archetypal mentor). Sandor Clegane (anti-hero). Jaqen H’ghar (trickster). While none of the three represent the idea of the hero, is it possible that Arya took the best qualities of each in order to become a hero herself? Maybe, but it obviously depends on the traits inherited from the three.
From Syrio, she obviously took a certain level of skill. The perseverance instilled within her from Forel’s mantra “There is only one god, and His name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: ‘not today'” has provided fuel for Arya’s fire throughout the seasons since he was assumed dead at the hands of Meryn Trant. Given her role as a girl/woman within Westeros, Syrio provided a rare opportunity for her to exceed the bounds of what gender roles would allow her to do. He provided her with tools and skill, as well as helping her to establish a proper and stronger mindset, but it’s difficult to identify truly heroic qualities that he instilled upon her, given their short time together.
The interactions between Arya and Sandor Clegane have really provided us with some of the more enjoyable content throughout the course of these seven seasons. Despite being an adult figure in her life, though, it’s somewhat difficult to classify him as a mentor, as it’s unclear if he bestows any additional knowledge or skill upon her. If anything, he does help to further establish her character and help us to understand a bit more of what her code is, as she constantly demonstrates a disdain towards him that culminates in her referring to him as “the worst shit in the Seven Kingdoms”. The Hound also opens her eyes to much of the injustice taking place in the world and instills a sense of realism, perhaps cynicism, within her. While these are essential elements in her overall character and could serve as part of her inspiration for venturing to Braavos, it stands to question whether or not there are legitimate qualities which The Hound has influenced within her character.
Similarly, it’d be very difficult to justify the idea that Arya inherited heroic qualities from Jaqen H’ghar, essential as the skill set she adopts from him may be. What Arya takes away from him is obviously the ability to shapeshift and deceive, neither of which would be considered elements of the heroic archetype. There’s an amount of morality involved with the Faceless Men, though, and the principles of becoming No One are quite clear throughout these trials. However, the element of a code doesn’t allow her to illustrate heroic qualities necessarily, but that of a different, albeit related, archetype.
We’re using the term “mentor” loosely here in regard to that trio, but as much as they did influence her in certain ways, it’s probably not in the way that we could characterize her as the archetypal hero. There are elements of it, but ultimately there isn’t enough riding on her storyline to alter the future of Westeros, while she doesn’t demonstrate the kind of moral fiber that a hero tends to demonstrate, or have a lack of clarity surrounding her origins, just to name a couple.
Even after eliminating it as a possibility, though, it’s still a rather murky picture for Arya as an archetype. If anything, what’s been established here is that she’s a blend of multiple archetypes. There are heroic qualities here that lend themselves more to an anti-hero. She does live by her own sort of code, while constantly fighting for survival. From the point that she witnesses her father’s execution in King’s Landing to her arrival in Braavos, this is a character whose survival is the basis for every decision that is made. But that’s also to a point. She lectures The Hound for his brutality, specifically in regard to the farmer and his daughter, despite the necessity for their own survival. There’s an element of humor to her role within the show as well, though it may not be as prominent as it typically is within the anti-hero. But there are other factors and variables within her character that make fitting her into the anti-hero mold, flexible as it may be, quite difficult.
One of those is, quite obviously, the skill set she took away from the House of Black & White. Her abilities, which are not only limited to shapeshifting, could indicate that of the trickster. The trickster possesses the type of skill and intelligence to make them a deceptive figure, while also going against the norms of society. Arya’s departure from Braavos, and subsequent return to Winterfell, could indicate just that. As far as the former is concerned, she outsmarted Littlefinger, a character as deceptive as any within the world of Game of Thrones. The latter is indicated within her interactions with Sansa, as her sister demonstrates apprehension in approaching Arya, specifically in regard to her hit list that she referred to upon her return. The qualities of the trickster seem to embody what Arya has become throughout the last two seasons.
Arya’s level of intelligence and her shapeshifting ability learned from the Faceless Men, along with her inherit quest for survival and some semblance of a moral code would appear to blend her within the trickster and anti-hero archetypes. There could be just a dash of the hero in there as well, as there are elements of The Journey reflected within her own. She goes through a number of trials, reaches an abyss, and ultimately succeeds in her mastery of her old self and the new one. Also, special weapon? Hello, Needle. At the same time, her lack of morality and thirst for revenge undoes a lot of what potentially makes her the hero. Especially given the potential route she was on in almost becoming dehumanized early on in Season 7.
Ultimately, though, there are a number of ways in which Arya’s archetype could be explored and categorized. Many of them do not easily lend themselves to the idea of a hero, but rather a blend of the two others with elements of the hero distributed throughout. The fact that Arya Stark fits into such a number of different classifications is absolutely part of what makes her such an extraordinary character.
Randy Holt is an AP Literature Teacher in Phoenix, AZ whose brain is constantly in peril over whether or not Tyrion Lannister is actually a Targaryen. A long-time die-hard, Randy has only begun to dabble on the writing side of Game of Thrones lore, despite a wealth of writing experience in the internet’s baseball division.
The post Arya Stark: Defying the Hero’s Archetype appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
Via http://watchersonthewall.com
Game of Thrones Season 8 budget revealed!
As you may have been able to tell from the show’s increasingly impressive set pieces, HBO has been pumping more and more money into Game of Thrones, year after year. According to a new report, this upward trend continues: the budget per episode for season eight is enormous — explosively so, breaking the show’s own record.
In a new feature about skyrocketing TV budgets (with a really cool cover, by the way), Variety casually revealed that each season eight episode will cost HBO $15 million.
For the sake of comparison, season six was marked at $10 million per episode, at least. The seventh may have cost around $100 million too, but spread among fewer episodes. Quaintly, the first set piece battle episode ever in Game of Thrones, season two’s “Blackwater”, which was considered to be incredibly expensive for the day, was reported to require $8 million — exactly the same amount as the average season five episode.
If this new figure is accurate, the budget has certainly increased for the average episode, and that bodes well for the kind of amazing things we’ll see in the final year of Thrones. There are two possibilities I can see here, and personally I’m left satisfied either way: either more money is pumped into each minute of Thrones and Ghost isn’t sacrificed to the altar of budget compromise anymore; or the episodes will be considerably longer, as sound designer Paula Fairfield claimed could be the case at the first Con of Thrones.
The math for this latter option works out, too: as the average season six episode cost $10 million and ran for almost an hour, $15 million for season eight episodes would come close to Fairfield’s 90 minutes run time estimate. As of yet, the longest Game of Thrones episode was the season seven finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf”, at almost 80 minutes.
Who knows, maybe we’re getting a bit of both options: some more spectacle than in season seven, and episodes that are at least a tad longer as well. The best of both worlds!
What do you guys think this budget increase means for the show’s final six episodes? Would you rather have more expensive one hour-long episodes or feature-length ones at the same production level as season six and seven? Or perhaps a happy medium?
The post Game of Thrones Season 8 budget revealed! appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
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Tuesday, September 26, 2017
“You’ll Be Fighting Their Battles Forever”: Jon Snow and the Grey King
![20160421_ep602_Publicity_still_32_00161588[1]](http://watchersonthewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20160421_ep602_Publicity_still_32_001615881.jpg)
Jon Snow has a secret. No, not his real name. No, not his parents. No, not that his direwolf has gone missing and no one cares. And no, not that he had sex with his aunt.
His secret is that he is not among the world of the living anymore. He is the undead, risen from the slab his cold, broken body rested on in Castle Black following his assassination. Jon’s life is now closer to that of the Mountain, Coldhands (Benjen Stark in the show), and Beric Dondarrion. What does that mean for Aegon- I mean Jon? Why isn’t he following the orders of a White Walker like any other wight? How long will his journey in undeath last? And what does the Grey King of Westerosi legend have to do with this?
![508_promo_stills_1100162650[1]](http://watchersonthewall.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/508_promo_stills_110016265011.jpg)
To start off with our discussion, we need to discuss what exactly Jon is. There are four known types of wights, or the undead.
First we have the ice wights controlled by the White Walkers. They have no or very limited free will, shining blue eyes, and are more animal than human. Classic zombies.
The next is Gregor Clegane, the Mountain. Saved and seemingly raised from undeath by the exiled Maester Qyburn he has limited free will as well but lacks the blue eyes and control of the White Walkers.
The third is Benjen Stark, and a similar character known as Coldhands in the books. He has full free will, and the ability to speak and interact as he did before death. This sounds like Jon Snow except for a key difference: Benjen had obsidian shoved into his heart which brought him back.
The final type of the undead we’ve been shown so far is the one Jon met this past season: the Lightning Lord, Ser Beric Dondarrion. This type of the undead is what Jon actually is. He doesn’t have the shining blue eyes of the ice wights, doesn’t obey commands of a master like Gregor and the ice wights do, and doesn’t have any obsidian in his chest like Benjen.
When Beric has been slain in the past, his friend Thoros of Myr says the ancient words of the faith of R’hllor over his body and Beric is instantly healed and brought back to life. In the above clip, the Hound nearly splits Beric in two, yet moments later he’s whole again. There’s a cost to this however, as Beric lays out heartrendingly in the books.
“Can I dwell on what I scarce remember? I held a castle on the Marches once, and there was a woman I was pledged to marry, but I could not find that castle today, nor tell you the color of that woman’s hair. Who knighted me, old friend? What were my favorite foods? It all fades. Sometimes I think I was born on the bloody grass in that grove of ash, with the taste of fire in my mouth and a hole in my chest. Are you my mother, Thoros?”
Arya stared at the Myrish priest, all shaggy hair and pink rags and bits of old armor. Grey stubble covered his cheeks and the sagging skin beneath his chin. He did not look much like the wizards in Old Nan’s stories, but even so . . .
A Storm of Swords, Arya VII
Beric is what George R.R. Martin calls a “fire wight”, a corpse animated by the power of fire. This appears to be what Jon Snow has become as well. Like Jon and Melisandre, Thoros says the words of the faith of R’hllor over Beric. Beric is healed and returns to life with his major injuries healed, some nasty scars- and diminished somehow. He loses bits of his past, his personality, his will to go on. George R.R. Martin describes what they are in his interview with Time magazine:
Q: And Jon Snow, too, is drained by the experience of coming back from the dead on the show.
A: Right. And poor Beric Dondarrion, who was set up as the foreshadowing of all this, every time he’s a little less Beric. His memories are fading, he’s got all these scars, he’s becoming more and more physically hideous, because he’s not a living human being anymore. His heart isn’t beating, his blood isn’t flowing in his veins, he’s a wight, but a wight animated by fire instead of by ice, now we’re getting back to the whole fire and ice thing.
The very important parts here of this quote is that not only are their bodies not physically alive anymore as we understand it, they are not performing their normal functions. They don’t need much if any sleep anymore. They don’t eat much. Their bodies are more or less frozen in time exactly as they are. They won’t heal from wounds or any kind of physical damage to themselves unless they get resurrected again. What this means for Jon and Beric going forward is terrifying or amazing, depending on your perspective.
And for that, we turn to the companion book The World of Ice and Fire and the legendary Iron Islands character of The Grey King.
Art by Arthur Bozonnet
From The World of Ice and Fire
In the Age of Heroes, the legends say, the ironborn were ruled by a mighty monarch known simply as the Grey King. The Grey King ruled the sea itself and took a mermaid to wife, so his sons and daughters might live above the waves or beneath them as they chose. His hair and beard and eyes were as grey as a winter sea, and from these he took his name. The crown he wore was made of driftwood, so all who knelt before him might know that his kingship came from the sea and the Drowned God who dwells beneath it.
The deeds attributed to the Grey King by the priests and singers of the Iron Islands are many and marvelous. It was the Grey King who brought fire to the earth by taunting the Storm God until he lashed down with a thunderbolt, setting a tree ablaze. The Grey King also taught men to weave nets and sails and carved the first longship from the hard pale wood of Ygg, a demon tree who fed on human flesh.
The Grey King’s greatest feat, however, was the slaying of Nagga, largest of the sea dragons, a beast so colossal that she was said to feed on leviathans and giant krakens and drown whole islands in her wroth. The Grey King built a mighty longhall about her bones, using her ribs as beams and rafters. From there he ruled the Iron Islands for a thousand years, until his very skin had turned as grey as his hair and beard. Only then did he cast aside his driftwood crown and walk into the sea, descending to the Drowned God’s watery halls to take his rightful place at his right hand.
Nagga versus The Grey King
A thousand year reign for one person. Those that are familiar with legendary and mythological figures know that these are often exaggerations, that no one lives for hundreds of years and it’s a way of marking the extreme length of a reign of one person or their dynasty. The Grey King though is different as his extreme lifetime is possible in this fantasy world. Over his thousand-year reign he didn’t die of natural causes or collapse into dust. The man, according to legend, over time turned a grey color that eventually matched his hair and beard color. It is implied by his walking into the sea to joined the Drowned God that he finally died by his own hands, not natural causes. This would an interesting bit of fantasy history from George, but with the fire wights Jon and Beric, this is an extremely relevant story.
As far as we know, wights don’t age as aging is a biological process of cell division and the breakdown of the genetic code over many iterations, until the systems of the human body begins to fail. These concepts no longer apply to wights. They will not grow, they do not need physical upkeep, they likely don’t even need to breathe other than by habit and wanting to talk. But wait, I hear you saying- that’s just a guess right? We haven’t seen any truly old wights pointed out. And that is where you are wrong.
The Three-Eyed Raven of the books, an ancient Targaryen bastard named Brynden Rivers, also known as Bloodraven is extremely long lived and shares traits with wights. At the time Bran Stark finds him in A Dance with Dragons, he is around 125 years old and, like Jon whose wounds do not heal, is seemingly unable to die from aging.
His body was so skeletal and his clothes so rotted that at first Bran took him for another corpse, a dead man propped up so long that the roots had grown over him, under him, and through him. What skin the corpse lord showed was white, save for a bloody blotch that crept up his neck onto his cheek. His white hair was fine and thin as root hair and long enough to brush against the earthen floor. Roots coiled around his legs like wooden serpents. One burrowed through his breeches into the desiccated flesh of his thigh, to emerge again from his shoulder. A spray of dark red leaves sprouted from his skull, and grey mushrooms spotted his brow. A little skin remained, stretched across his face, tight and hard as white leather, but even that was fraying, and here and there the brown and yellow bone beneath was poking through.
A Dance with Dragons, Bran II
The show has seemingly removed his identity for simplicity’s sake, but they have the show version communicate the very same information about his character as the book version about their situation.
The show version of the Three-Eyed Raven is a thousand years old as he claims, and the book version is the oldest person known in the story. These characters show the practical reality of the Grey King, Jon’s future if he survives the new War for the Dawn. He will not age, he will not die from natural cause; he could be the King of Westeros for centuries or thousands of years if he wants. The known mechanics of undeath allow for it. But, like the Grey King of legend his skin will gradually lose its color and like Bloodraven, any wounds sustained will be permanent while the body refuses to die. Any bruise, broken bone, stubbed toe, cut is permanent. It may be that fire wights do age at an enormously slow rate compared to normal humans. However, it’s entirely possible that unless Jon suffers injuries his appearance may not change by much. A thousand years of perfect Kit Harington brooding.
There’s also hints elsewhere in the story that there are other examples of undead, long lasting rulers who have survived to this day in the fabled city Asshai by the shadow and Qarth, the greatest city that ever was or will be as well. Click here to go to my blog post on Qarth and Asshai, or here to go the Reddit post where I go more in depth on these two ideas.
The show has almost hinted at this possibility in this past season. Jon may not be able to father children anymore despite his apparent tremendous abilities at sex. His body no longer functions beyond locomotion. This scene with Jaime and Cersei may be incredibly relevant for the end of the series. If you cannot have children, what is the point of taking the throne? And this scene later between Jaime and Bronn calls back this sentiment, as the two friends discuss what is the meaning of life without death and children as motivators, as a reminder to the viewers that Jon faces these exact questions.
Alliser Thorne, in his last words before being hanged by the resurrected Jon, says what may be prophetic of what is to come.
But you, Lord Snow, you’ll be fighting their battles forever
These could be extremely relevant questions for Jon in the future. If he cannot have children, if he has everything he wants as the near immortal monarch of Westeros, what motivates him then? In the far future, if Jon makes it out of the conflict with the White Walkers, he may have eternity to ponder the meaning of his unending life and what to do with it. Watch as all his friends and family wither and die before him, and their children, and theirs after them. His memories gradually fading over his enormous lifespan. Will he mimic his ancestors in Old Valyria and conquer his way across the world in search of more power and glory, trying to outrun death on dragonback? Sit beneath the weirwood of Winterfell like so many Starks before him and walk among his dead in the crypts? Or perhaps, one day, he’ll take off his crown and walk away from it all, like the ancient Grey King before him and join the legends of the past. Of course before any of this happens, he’ll have to defeat the White Walkers, avoid the return of the Long Night, and claim his birthright somehow. As Stannis Baratheon once said to Jon on how long he has:
Nightfall. The sun drops fast this time of year. Hurry, Jon Snow!
The post “You’ll Be Fighting Their Battles Forever”: Jon Snow and the Grey King appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.
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