The Bard of Banefort

I knew about the similarities between the Targaryens and the Ptolemys, but I recently realized that there are some between the Targs and the Romanovs too. Both families reigned for roughly 300 years, and Elia/Rhaenys/Aegon’s shadowy murders are reminiscent of how the Romanovs were murdered by the Bolsheviks, both due to the informal brutality and how the following regime tried to obscure what happened from the public. (And then there are all the theories about whether Anastasia/Aegon secretly survived and fled overseas). On another note, after finally reading up on the Jacobites a bit, I must say. . . they definitely had a better argument than the Blackfyres did lol. The coup against James II is pretty bullshit from a modern perspective. My knowledge of British history is limited, but it’s so crazy to contemplate how a country that was entirely Catholic managed, in the span of a generation, not only to become almost entirely Protestant but also virulently anti-Catholic.

(Edit: Whoops, meant to respond to @Tyrion2024) I always wondered if this was why Pedro was overlooked for The Mandalorian. I know he was nominated this year for TLOU, but it was weird that Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito were stacking up nominations but not him. It makes me wonder if there was some BTS drama.

I don’t think it’s the sort of thing that a writer can control. How the audience interprets his work, especially with him releasing so little of it (the last original piece of writing, Fire and Blood, came out nearly five years ago) is out of his hands.

It’s not really anything specific, but more so their characterization in general. If I read their chapters without knowing their ages, I would think they were both well into their teens, especially considering Arya’s remarkable survival skills and Bran’s emotional maturity. Most ASOIAF characters seem to skip the awkwardness of puberty. A 6’2” fifteen-year-old boy would likely be gangly and uncoordinated, but Aemon’s written as a complete Chad. It’s not a big deal, but it’s one of those details that strikes a discordant note. It’s more like a high school TV show from the 90s, where the teens are all played by actors ten years older than them. But for what it’s worth, I think the notion that age works differently in Westeros will probably become a more common sentiment among readers in the years ahead. People need to find ways to be at ease with what they’re reading, and the sexualization of the younger characters is something people are increasingly pushing back on in this fandom. The old approach of “fiction is meant to challenge you/depiction isn’t endorsement/it was a different time” just isn’t acceptable to many people anymore. That time has passed.

Most book fans like George enough that they try to maintain some sympathy for why the books aren’t finished. Whenever GOT comes up among show-only fans and they’re reminded that the books aren’t finished, their response is more in line with. . . well, with how people on here talk about D&D. You see it a lot on places like Reddit or in the YouTube comments section.

@EggBlue and I spent a fair amount of time advocating for this, or for making the years longer. Personally, I don’t think the kids act like kids. But more than that, they don’t physically resemble kids either. Just consider how 15-year-old Aemon and Jocelyn are described on their wedding day. There’s also the fandom perspective. Go on r/ASOIAF or ASOIAF Twitter and take a shot every time you see the word “groomer.” You’ll be unconscious within the hour. Obviously GRRM isn’t responsible for how other people interpret his work, but I do wish he made it just a tiny bit easier for the rest of us to evade the lectures. Make ASOIAF Fun Again! #MAFA

I’m sorry for everyone who lost their friend. I browsed the website and found the posts about Dany funny (in retrospect, the slavers forcing the Unsullied to kill puppies was a bit heavy-handed) but most of his stuff also gave me strong early-aughts vibes. It was like stepping into a time machine. Sadly, I have now realized that since I never talk about what websites I go on with people in real life, no one here will have any idea if I meet an untimely end. If a new ASOIAF book comes out and I fail to comment on it, just assume that I’m dead.

I think the action roles are probably the ones she wants. They pay better and have wider reach, so they’re more likely to lead to other high-paying roles. But I agree that she’s more suited for comedies/intimate dramas. She’s much better at playing emotional characters than stoic ones. I think she’ll probably return to TV eventually, and that’s fine. TV doesn’t have the stigma for actors that it used to. Just look at Alexander Skarsgard, who wasn’t able to make the transition to movies, but ended up racking up Emmy nominations once he returned to TV. Emilia looks great, but she is definitely older now, and it’s pretty strange to see. I remember seeing photos of her on set in Meereen for her 30th birthday.

I keep hearing that Secret Invasion isn’t doing well. It’s hard to judge with streaming, but assuming this is true, does this make Emilia the unluckiest actress alive or the luckiest? On the one hand, she’s now been in three high-profile flops in a row (Terminator, Star Wars, Marvel), but on the other hand, she still keeps landing these huge roles despite the one before flopping.

Paddy was up for Best Actor, Matt Smith was up for Supporting Actor. The irony of the Succession love-fest is that I don’t think that many people actually watched it. I haven’t watched Succession or Yellowstone, but I’ve heard they’re essentially the same show, and way more people watch the latter than the former. I’d actually argue that Olivia gave the strongest performance after Paddy, but she wasn’t nominated for anything either. Of course, there’s always BTS drama that us viewers aren’t privy to. It never made much sense to me that Emilia was nominated more often than Lena was, but by all accounts it sounds like she was the easier one to work with. It’s also possible that HOTD filming during the strike has reflected poorly on them, although that would have all but certainly been the suits’ decision.

He didn’t receive any nominations this season. HOTD brought back the viewers, but not the awards.

Ironically, Olivia Cooke signed the open letter that SAG-AFTRA put out a few weeks ago, which would imply that she’s a member. But maybe there are some exceptions.

George has said that he wishes he included more ranks among the nobility. The most we get are things like hedge knights, “minor lords,” lords paramount (which may not have even appeared in the text, if I recall), etc. Noblewomen like Cat and Lysa don’t have ladies in waiting, although this was retconned for Cersei and generally improved upon with Margaery and her flock of hens. I actually find George’s depiction of female friendship fun to read about, so it’s a shame we didn’t get more of it.

So are the Golden Globes more of a “genre” awards show then, since many of the shows that won this year (HOTD, Yellowstone, Euphoria) were largely overlooked by the Emmys? I’ve noticed that Starz shows don’t get nominated often, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s because they’re considered “girlier” shows. It’s a shame because The Serpent Queen was the best show I’ve watched all year.

I actually found most of the changes under Elon to be fine—the blue checks thing is stupid, but I don’t think having looser restrictions is bad when you can always just block/mute someone you don’t like. But preventing anyone without an account from viewing Twitter is just stupid. If you want to make more money, just do more ads. Twitter is very toxic, but it was probably the easiest place to get news about the Wonderful World of Westeros. But then again, there isn’t much new these days. . .

Did I mention “x is Azhor Ahai confirmed”? That was a big one for a while. The subreddits are back up again, but that little act that the mods pulled definitely killed a lot of activity. Not to mention that you can’t even look at Twitter now without an account. The fandom feels dead now in the way it never did before; whatever energy HOTD jolted back into it has dissipated. It’s so sad seeing how far we’ve fallen

Ick. What website was this?

I finally watched Quantumania. As someone who liked the first two Ant-Man movies, what I found striking is how little it felt like an Ant-Man movie. All of the charm of the earlier movies was gone—along with half the characters—and was refitted into something vaguely resembling Guardians or Thor. It was also disappointing how Wasp was sidelined, seeing as her name is in the title. I’m not sure if Cassie being a teen activist was supposed to be funny or not.

I don’t know if this is unpopular or not, but I think it’s a bummer that, with the exception of Rhaena, we never learned more about Maegor’s wives as people. Aegon the Unworthy’s mistresses feel more complex just based on the little blurbs about them in the world book than five of the six wives do in all of FnB. If they ever do adapt this era for screen in some way, that’s one area that could definitely be hugely improved upon.

I didn’t stop to consider it myself until I saw some people point out on Reddit how LF continually gets away with insulting powerful people right to their faces. This is one detail the show actually improved upon, since it included a scene where Cersei threatened to have him executed if he didn’t watch his mouth. I think he needs to be publicly exposed for the role he played in Jon Arryn’s death too. I expect that the “castle made of snow” is Winterfell. So sadly, we may be stuck with Littlefinger for another book. . .

I finally found the old comment I made explaining why I think LF is the worst-written character in the series. I’m just going to copy and paste it here: I personally don't consider Littlefinger to be a particularly well-written character, so I hope that George doesn't find some way to make him responsible for starting Robert's Rebellion as well as TWOT5K. George may have intended for him to come off as a genial man that no one views as threatening, but that's not how he's written. He's a little shit who mocks people straight to their faces and openly betrays his supposed allies, yet is still somehow not considered a danger as late as AFFC, after he was made Lord of Harrenhal, Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, consort to the Lady of the Vale, AND Lord Protector of the of the Vale. He has too much plot armor: somehow him putting a knife to Ned Stark's throat in front of the whole court doesn't get out, he randomly produces a bastard daughter the same age as Sansa and betroths her to Robert Arryn's heir in the matter of a few weeks without anyone in King's Landing finding out, and don't even get me started on Tyrion not chopping his head off the second he became Hand. Apparently he was too important to get rid of... because no one else in Westeros (or Essos) has any understanding of economics, I guess? Who manages the finances for Casterly Rock then? There's also the awkward realization that LF is essentially Westeros' Jeffrey Epstein, even if no one knew who Epstein was when the books were first written. Clever man from humble beginnings with a knack for moving money around lies and networks his way into befriending powerful people, inflates their bank accounts, and gathers enough dirt to keep everyone quiet. Eventually becomes rich and powerful in his own right and starts preying on and trafficking young girls. They both even have a devoted henchwoman who would do anything for them. And here's where I reach a fork in the road. I have been pretty open about how I try not to be too uptight or moralistic with this series, since it's a fantasy series written for adults, but this is one instance where I struggle to do that. Littlefinger has survived this long, against all reason, and his main purpose for two books now has been to abduct and molest a teenage girl. (Even Joffrey's murder was more Olenna than him—after all, she's the one who put the poison in the chalice). And that bothers me. Ultimately, this comes back to the huge gap between the books. Maybe logistics finally start catching up with LF in TWOW, but for over a decade now, we've been left with him preying over a vulnerable girl whose family he killed, with the whole world at his feet. And then there's Jeyne Poole.

He’s constantly telling Dunk that he wants to “try my lance on you” and “teach you how to fiddle.” When Dunk tells John he’s drunk as a dog, he asks Dunk to be his dog, and that they can howl all night until they “wake the very gods.” Alyn tells Dunk that “Daemon’s mine” when he tries to kill him. Plus the world book mentions that Bittersteel disapproved of their “close relationship.”

Oh, Renly definitely does appear in the histories. Daemon Blackfyre II is clearly a parallel character to him: - Both handsome and charming - Both third-born sons - Both heavily implied to be homosexual - Both love chivalry, pageantry, and fine things - Both are introduced in their early-20s - Both had lovers from boyhood who want to be in their kingsguard - Both love playing dress-up (Daemon pretends to be a hedge knight, Cressen compares Renly’s kingship to a costume) - Both flame out spectacularly quickly

Yeah, I don’t see how the show could have gone for twelve seasons like GRRM wanted when he hasn’t even put out book six yet. It isn’t fair to the writers or the cast (and if Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon makes anything plain, it’s how taxing the cast found being on the show after the first few years. The fact that they’re all apparently too uncomfortable to watch HOTD is also an ominous sign).

Here’s another one: book fans overemphasize Tyrion’s evil. He’s definitely a dark character, and I realize that it’s based in opposition to his TV portrayal as St. Tyrion, but people blame him for a lot of things that were genuinely out of his hands. By adding the valonqar prophecy, GRRM essentially absolved Tyrion of any wrongdoing regarding Cersei—no matter how kind he was to her, she would have still wanted him dead. The same goes for Pycelle, Boros Blount, etc. They would have testified against Tyrion no matter how well he treated them in the past, because they would never cross Tywin and Cersei. And no, he isn’t actually planning on assaulting Cersei. People say things in anger that they don’t act on. Same with his threats against Tommen, which he even admitted were empty later on.