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urielisko

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  1. I don't really buy that one. The name itself is a dead ringer for biblical character but nobody can be his Cain, especially not Rattleshirt. He's no shepherd either unless a shepherd of men and while he has an antagonism with kneeling farmers, no one can personify enough. If anything, this choice of alias for Winterfell mission is Mance's way of pointing a huge fat finger at: Bael the Bard obviously Barristan's short speech about Rhaegar being, first and foremost, able.
  2. More Dune stuff: During the downfall of House Atreides, lady Jessica flies from the house seat with her young son and ends up in a monstrous storm. She's believed dead. This is when she realizes she is with a child, a girl. Now we have a gender swap: after the escape, the son is accepted by a harsh, nomadic people and acquires a unique weapon - giant worms, who are also the key to understanding the deep nature of the world. Paul Atreides is a hidden heir to a vanquished House. While officially the blow has been dealt by Atreides' long-time enemies, the Harkonnens, real mover of events was the Emperor (inversion/subversion in ASOIAF). Paul has a little sister named Alia, Alia of the Knife, who is very much not a child and becomes a proficient fighter/killer very early. He joined a harsh, nomadic, warlike people - the Fremen and subconsciously fits in extremely well, up to the point of tying his sand shoes the exact correct way without ever having seen them before. One important interface between him and the Savages is tribal and (partially) spiritual leader, Stilgar. Another, possibly even more impactful on his future is his Fremen lover, Chani. One of Chani's iconic characteristics are her unnaturally blue eyes (although in Dune case, all people heavily using the Spice Melange have Eyes of Ibad, with blue irises and whites). A pivotal moment in Paul's career among the Fremen is his ritual death and subsequent resurrection. In time, Paul makes the Fremen integral part of the feudal Empire. Melisandre: "sleep is a little death". Magical importance of bloodlines. Power of prophecy vs. Missionaria Protectiva,
  3. Does the thread work both ways? As the series gains more and more prominence in pop-culture, there are more and more homages to it in other media. Being a long time player of the World of Warcraft I was struck by the number and, erm, directness of ASOIAF references in the newest expansion pack, Legion. One of the classes, the Death Knight, got some serious GRRM treatment. Of particular note are two of his Talents, available in Frost specialization: "Winter is Coming" - complete with wolf head icon - and "White Walker". Really. One of important figures in Legion story is a ruthless sorceress named Elisande. Defeating her can result in the player claiming such items of power as Farsight Spiritjewel, Convergence of Fates, Eternally Recurring Bracers, Hood of Everburning Knowledge and the fire relic Exothermic Core. Some of the named harpies around a primal forest area are named Maelisandre, Malisandra and Seersei. The last one is surrounded by petrified animals including a stag and a wolf. Odin's giant ravens have a disturbing tendency to call you by name repeatedly. I'll need to look again and see if they also ask for corn. In the same storyline you trade favours with a tree who converses with you by means of a face carved into its trunk. Of course, WoW is literally a huge mashup of other franchises, but the barrage of ASOIAF stuff in Legion does stand out. --- Back to the topic, it was already addressed on this page much more sharply, but I think it's worth bringing back up in this thread: Valyria truly is a total expy of Michael Moorcock's Melnibone. I can go on and on on this. The stories, the culture, the looks, the magic - all very closely matching the original. What I do admit however, is that Martin's cunning theft of Moorcock's work is done incomparably better than, say, Jordan's aping of LOTR. His Melnibone doesn't grate and repeated returns of the Eternal Warrior don't tire. It's a lot more a huge, elaborate, EPIC fanfic on Melibone than just repeating the story in a cut-and-rehash way.
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