Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 11 - Barristan The Queensguard/The Discarded Knight

Episode Date: July 13, 2018

Heavy is the cloak, they say - or is it blinded by the white?  Eliana and Chloe unravel the the legend himself, Ser Barristan Selmy.  Barristan Selmy finds himself alone with his regrets, set aside by yet another 'King'.      intro by Anton Langhage     Check out the following required reading: u/stressedalmostwriter's Septa Lemore Theory  u/Hamfast42's Why the People of Meereen don't say Your Grace Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric Eliana's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/glass_table_girl Eliana's blog: https://themanyfacedblog.wordpress.com/   Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/liesandarbor    

Hello and welcome to the Girls Gone Canon podcast. This is the 11th episode. My name is Chloe. You can find me on Twitter as at Liza Narver, on Tumblr as Liza Narver dot Tumblr dot com, writing meta analysis. And hello, I'm Eliana. You

can find me always on the Asanga Vice Inspire subreddit as GlassTableGirl and on the Maester Monthly monthly podcast thank you for joining us again second berry episode it is and now we're actually getting to his chapters the good stuff we're also getting to like the quickest overview ever of like a bunch of Danny chapters too. Yeah. We'll get into that.

Yeah. We had some housekeeping before then. If you missed out, we were on LML, Lucifer Means Lightbringers live cast on Sunday between two Weirwoods. It was a live panel. It was very fun. We talked about parenting in A Song of Ice and Fire with the wonderful Amanda,

Crow Food's daughter. Uh, it was a really fun time. We talked a lot about Ned. of Ice and Fire with the wonderful Amanda, Crowfood's daughter. It was a really fun time. We talked a lot about Ned. So if you're missing dad, like we are. It was, yeah, I had a lot of fun. And I don't know. Maybe we'll do it again. It was a great way to revisit Ned.

And especially through the lens of his kids. As opposed to just in Ned's POV because yeah it was about parenting and being parented and I don't know Ned's not Ned interestingly doesn't think that much about parenting yeah we did get to talk about my favorite Sandor so I was happy I had a real good there's a real good long section where I'm just yodeling about Sandor that was fun we also talked quite a bit about as a way to contrast with the Stark family

Tywin and how he raised the Lannister kids did he though? Tywin and how he was there while the Lannister kids got older not necessarily grew up but I'm like

all the spiritual guiding he did all the mentoring he did they turned out great yeah they did they really turned out real good Game of Thrones finished filming this week that's a thing

it's over wow Thrones finished filming this week. Yeah. That's a thing. Yeah. It's over. Wow. When are we going to get this announcement for date? Do you think it's going to be spring next year? I dream of spring. Huh. Yeah, I guess they have to release it in spring.

Otherwise, it's like a missed opportunity. They can like market it and everything. Come on, HBO, do your worst they also used to release it in spring anyway so yeah it's either like spring or summer or spring maybe they'll release it winter you know because it's coming that'd be cute january 1st just kidding if they're finished if they're finished now i think they could finish our production and stuff by spring. And like to be fair, we could also releasing it winter wouldn't work.

We could probably look at like what shows they have slated for their winter schedule in general already too. I know Insecure is coming back, but that's summer. Yeah, that's summer. I'm super stoked about that. Maybe Silicon Valley, which I do think is hilarious, but I could see, like...

Oh, it's time, though, I think. It's one of those shows, it's like, it is good, I love it, but it's time. Yeah, maybe they're gonna, like, actually finally succeed for sure. I don't... I would be interested to see if that is what happened. I don't know.

We'll see, we'll see. Hopefully it'll happen, because I'm itching anyways for content. Oh, happy birthday to one of our followers, Emma Smith. She was really excited. We changed our recording and release schedule to Fridays for release. And it's her birthday today. So if you're listening to this, happy birthday, Emma. Hope you have a good one.

Thanks for listening. We did it for you. We, this, happy birthday, Emma. Hope you have a good one. Thanks for listening. We did it for you. We like found your birthday. I know. I called Eliana. I was like, you know, you know, Emma's birthday is actually I did say that, though. I'm going to be. All right.

I guess this is it. I guess it's. Let's jump into it. We got a lot to go through so we kind of you guys we decided it would be really smart if we did a very long lightning round to get you caught up barrison's chapters we'll talk about this a little later but he comes at the end of a dance with Dragons in the second half of the story. So we're going to go over some of the marine chapters that we're missing so far, just kind of how

we ended last episode chatting about the Myrnaese Knot. This is what has led to needing Barristan. This exact lightning round is what you're going to hear. So we'll go through some of these. Sit tight, just to remind you of what you're missing in Daenerys' arc and even in Quentin Martell's arc

yeah we just briefly touched on Quentin we don't even like do Tyrion oh yeah I forgot he exists he's not it doesn't matter to this plot right now sorry Tyrion later Tyrion you'll get your day we'll get there

yeah in like three years we'll get there. Every dog has his day. We'll get there. Exactly. Yeah, in like three years, we'll get there. In Daenerys I, one of Daenerys' unsullied soldiers, Stalwart Shield, is killed by the Sons of the Harpy. Ghiscari noblemen from Meereen defying her reign. Barristan tells Dany that she does not need to see Stalwart Shield and how he died. to see stalwart shield and how he died. During the day, Daenerys holds court and hears petitions from the sack of the city, people who lost animals to her dragons, and the charred bones of a child.

The Merchant's Man, the first Quentin Martell chapter. Adventure Stank learns the new boy, Quentin Martell, as he searches for a faster way to the Dragon Queen. RPG adventure, go! In Daenerys 2, the Sons of the Harpy continue to bring murder

to the streets of Meereen, including to Missandei's brother, Masador. Amidst heightened security and chaos, Quaithe brings a prophetic warning to Daenerys, sowing seeds of unease as the Queen begins to see perfumed seneschals everywhere. For comfort, she asks her old knight for a story of how he escaped King's Landing.

He says there is no valor in running for your life, and he defends Eddard Stark when Dany denounces him as trash. Ned, Barristan says, was the only one who stood up for Daenerys in Robert's court. As Dany goes to visit her dragons, Barristan warns her not to get too close, that he would rather not she die on his watch. Daenerys III. Dany hosts the Carthene merchant, Zaros Zoandoxos, in Meereen. He offers galleys if she will leave for Westeros,

finally, and of course, quit disrupting the slave trade. As she refuses Zararo's fake advances, Dany learns that Piat Pree and other warlocks sailed for Pentos after she left Qarth. War simmers in Slaver's Bay as Dany refuses to defend Ostapor against Yunkish troops and again refuses Zaro, finally leading to a declaration of war from Karth. In Daenerys IV, Daenerys meets the Green Grace, who once more suggests marriage and a possible suitor, Hizdar Zolorak. In the meantime, Barristan has been instructing Grazar and other boys in the ways of Western chivalry. Daenerys agrees to meet with Hizdar in exchange for peace.

Soon after he leaves, Barristan enters, expressing disapproval and urging his queen to leave the land for Westeros. He warns against loveless marriages, having seen Aerys and Rhaella in what it costs the realm. After meeting with Barristan, Dany meets with Daario and hears his barbaric suggestions

before sending him away and telling Barristan to forbid Dario from meeting with her directly ever again, which she comes to regret. Anyway, the windblown. Quentin, Chloe's son, maybe also her lover,

and his company join the soul sword company the windblown, unsure of how they'll convince and double cross the leader, the Tattered Prince, until it falls right into their laps. He is playing both sides and plans to defect to

Daenerys. It's like things went so well for him for so much that it shouldn't have. What do you think was going to happen in this story? They were like going okay. I mean, like he lost some of his friends. They were like going you know it was like 50-50 you know. You win some you lose some and then.

You really lose. You go to a Miranese barbecue you know what I'm saying. Yeah I mean he was really he was really trying his luck there though. Poor Quentin. Poor Quentin. Poor Quentin. In Daenerys 5, resuming her routine of counting enemy ships in the harbor, Daenerys has an argument with her admiral, who thinks she should have her dragons attack the 25 enemy ships in the water.

Dany counters with him, sending ships to do the job, but his ships have all been dismantled. It's been 26 days since a murder has been attempted, according to Skahaz Mokandek, who has been following Hizdar in secrecy. Skahaz questions if Hizdar is of the Harpy himself and asks to question him, but Daenerys will not let him because mistrusting him could mean open rebellion. He suggests she takes hostages, which she rejects, and Barristan says that she did the right thing. Astaporian refugees arrive in Meereen, and Daenerys learns that Astapor has fallen and the bloody flux is loose. More and more, people ask Dany to use her dragons, but they cannot be controlled.

Even the Unsullied are afraid of the dragons now. She orders a camp built outside the city until the mayor has passed. Barristan asks Daenerys to take to battle with the enemy, but Daenerys must represent her people and not her person. She decides she must marry Hizdahr for the good of the city. Y'all, it's dysentery. All right. Dany 6. Daenerys visits the camps outside of Meereen and orders Grey Worm and Ago to wash, heal, and burn the bodies of the dead.

She returns to her pyramid where Eri and Jiki are play-arguing about Rokaro. They are just girls, Sansa thought. Dany makes herself presentable and dons her floppy ears to dine with his dar, before being informed by Resnok-Mo-Resnok and Gala galazagalare that she must have her body inspected by his dar's house before the wedding ha ha ha tricks on you she can't have no babies she initially refuses but finally caves like i don't know were you gonna like turn her down for what i mean she got dragons. Anyways,

she is also asked to open the fighting pits as a wedding gift, but it is the one thing that she will not give. His Dar informs the Nereys that Yunkai will make peace for gold and the right to have slaves once more. But Barristan tells her to do otherwise. The Yunkai are marching and Dario has returned. Dany meets with Dario, I thought we weren't doing that, and learns that Brown Man Plum and the Second Sons went over to Yunkai, but several of the Yunkai's sellswords defected to her. She commands the gates be closed to Meereen, leaving the Astapori outside. But she opens

another set of gates and lets Dario come into her castle. I do want to comment this is not obviously a Daenerys analysis right now. We're analyzing favorites in this podcast, but Dario's gotta have that good dick dude because it was like one chapter

later that she was like opening her gates to him yeah and i mean i get it yeah he's got that swagger i mean like when we get to denarius i'm gonna be just unbearable because i'm gonna be a dario defender i'm like you'd fuck him too. So what if he has that blue hair and the gold tooth? I'd fuck him. I mean, yeah. Also, just like, I don't know, who hasn't had maybe many people, but

I don't know. But in my experience, who hasn't had a fuck buddy that they've kept around too long, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Even if the dick's not that okay anyway wow uh in denarius seven danny wakes next to dario nervous about the choice she's made in marrying his daughter rejecting dario's hand as she knows she must she returns to her life the young kai are building siege weapons and ships to attack the city.

Dario brought along three Dornish men to meet her, and the secret alliance between House Targaryen and Martell is revealed, a pact signed by Oberyn Martell and Willem Derry, sealing a marriage between Viserys and Arianne. Dany refuses to marry Quentyn and continues on with her marriage to Hizdar. Dany VIII. Yunkai sellswords and slaves besiege Meereen and continues on with her marriage to Hizdar. Danny 8. Yunkai, sellswords, and slaves besiege Meereen as Hizdar feasts their lords and captains,

celebrating peace and the reopening of the fighting pits. The Yunkai present their representatives of the windblown Longlances, Company of the Cat, and Second Sons, and then they exchange seven hostages to put in place um in order to maintain the peace during the wedding ceremonies pay attention to this this is coming back right now okay eager to replace the swords lost from the second sons danny decides to listen to barison's counsel he offers to arrange meetings with some of the leaders, but admits that he's not the best man to do that. He suggests she speaks with Quentin, which she does,

and suggests that he leave as he is not safe here, which Quentin declines. Dany retires to bed, allowing his dar to have his way in their marriage bed, and when he passes out, allowing his dar to have his way in their marriage bed, and when he passes out, Missandei comes to comfort the queen until she falls asleep. In Daenerys IX, the screams and fresh scent of blood attract Drogon to the fighting pits where Misa sits, disgusted at the reopened pit fighting, and chaos erupts. Strong Belboss has been poisoned. No! Spears are flying through the air.

Hisdar commands his men to kill Drogon. Daenerys tames Drogon, leaping upon his back and soaring off into the air, Meereen and her people growing smaller and smaller below. And finally, that brings us to the Queensguard.

Night gathers, and his watch begins. The ever-loyal Queensguards, that is. Most fear that Daenerys is dead, and Ser Barristan and company are left to pick up the pieces from the mayhem in the pits. With most of Dany's crew dismissed by his dars of Lorax, Seneschal, Resn-Moresnok, or Prisoners of the Yunkai, Berestan and Nisande remain in the royal apartments. The pale mare rides through Meereen and in the Yunkish camps, and Berestan finds himself once more being dismissed by this false king, though this time in a foreign land. this false king, though this time in a foreign land. Skahazmokondak, the Shavepate secretly sends for Barristan, convincing him to conspire against his dar. The Queen's Guard I am the Queen's man still, today, tomorrow, always, until my last breath or hers. Barristan Selmy refused to believe that Daenerys Targaryen was dead.

Daenerys has not returned. Rumors have erupted everywhere that she's dead, the Dothraki are sent to search for her across the worm river and strong belwas is still poisoned from honeyed locusts which is bullshit you don't just do that to strong belas you absolutely cannot do that to strong belas but because of the way that the story is set up we know that he's going to survive this or at least that maybe he'll be brought back to life from the dead because we've had that set up earlier in the books and of course based on the way that his story's been going we understand that his is the song of ice and fire baristan also continues to distrust the blue graces that are in charge uh and in charge of strong ballasis' health. The Yunkai still hold their hostages,

Jogo, Dario, Admiral Grolio, and Hero of the Unsullied as their hostages for peace during this time. Barristan finds himself then set aside by his dar and his seneschal, Rezok more resnok. Deja vu. Also, Admiral Grolio is totally a Star Wars meme, right? Is it?

It does feel like it. No, it definitely does. Yeah. Barristan is totally offended by being set aside, but not for the same reasons you think. He doesn't take this as a blot on his honor, like being discharged from the Kingsguard is.

The way the Myrnaeus court runs is almost a joke to Barristan after he sat through ages of it in Robert's reign, and we see a lot more of that in the next chapter also. Absolutely, and I also feel that there's like something going on here too, where Barristan just no longer fears being set aside and he kind of seems to want his dar to do it because he just dislikes his dar so much and now that the band-aid's been ripped off once of his dismissal like

whatevs what's another one from like a king I don't care about Razanak is constantly trying to make Barristan call his dar by the eastern stylings of his radiance, his worship, his magnificence, and Barristan really refuses to don the floppy ears. I do want to call out how the Westerosi, especially Barristan, just don't seem to understand why these titles are so important to the giscari a few years ago um my fellow moderator and friend hamfast42 who made a great george rr martin cosplay at ice and fire con also wrote a great thread called why the people of mirin don't say your grace and like it's short enough that i'm just going to read basically what he says aloud so why is his dar so annoyed with- he doesn't talk like this at all. So why is his dar so annoyed with being called your grace? Because for the people of Meereen, grace means priestess. Per the wiki, the temple of graces houses various priestesses slash nuns,

including the green grace, the high priestess, the blue grace, the healers, the red graces who are sex workers, the white graces who are young girls, and then the pink graces who are servants of the green grace. So saying your grace is not particularly flattering to a male monarch, to monarchs in general. So they pick a different word that doesn't imply sex work priests or plague victims uh so tldr when sir baristan says your grace he's accidentally or on purpose i don't think he like picked up on it it's definitely not on purpose that he's calling his dar a nun or a priestess so for me when like he's constantly being corrected on it, like, Barristan's like, oh, it's just because he's so vain that he wants to be called your magnificence,

or whatever. And I think that's actually not his dar's vanity, so much as it's actually Barristan's cultural insensitivity, or just misunderstanding. He shows a lack of understanding. And we're going to talk about that in a couple different aspects. And it's also showing a lack of respect for the Ghiscari religion. Right, and to contrast with what we see with Daenerys, Daenerys knows in her chapters, even though she hates it, that she must put on her floppy ears. She has to go to court.

She has to wear the styling. She has to wear the styling. She has to do the thing. So it's a very interesting contrast when we see inside Daenerys' head and what she thinks is the right way to rule and how she's trying to rule and trying to maintain control over the crazy situation going on in Meereen

and how Barristan keeps the homeostasis but doesn't do anything really for it. Yeah. Hizdar surrounds himself with pit fighters instead of any of Daenerys' people. And we get this really great quote that I do want to put out there. I'm going to throw out this whole entire next handful of chapters. Less than a handful, I guess I should say.

I will definitely be pointing out all of these chapters but barrison has a lot of i'm freaking tired chapters because he's gonna die so sad i know because he's old as shit i know die but it makes me like feel sad yeah because it's grandpa dude and it's like you're supposed to respect old people even if you're like grandpa come on man yeah together yeah i don't care if it was different times back in 236 ac or whatever the hell you were born i think i just feel that way and i'm going to talk about this many times throughout the cast because i'm like i'm getting old I'm not that old, but I feel old. You're like five. Yeah.

The Great Pyramid of Meereen was 800 feet high from base to point. The sentientals' chambers were on the second level. The queen's apartments and his own occupied the highest step. A long climb for a man my age, Sir Barristan thought as he started up. He had been known to make that climb five or six times a day on the queen's business, as the aches in his knees and the small of his back could attest. There will come a day when I can no longer face these steps, he thought, and that day will be here sooner than I would like. Before it came, he must make certain that at least a few of his lads were ready to take his place at the queen's side i will knight them myself when they are worthy and give them each a horse and golden spurs

we can like yeah it's i mean it's not even just like barrison makes me think of my grandparents exactly grandpa and i'm like, oh no, they're not going to be able to go up the stairs that much longer. And I'm just sad. Yeah, dude. Life, it's mortality, and it's seeing a legend die. That's what we're reading. We're reading a legend die. We're seeing the end of this legend's life.

But will we see the birth of a new one? I don't know. Okay, that was cheesy. I'm cutting you. Okay, go for it cut the cheese um baristan wanting to raise these knights up is also him trying to do what he could not do himself trying to have them kind of be better than he was at his job he wants to give them a horse and golden spurs and he sees these boys who are freed slaves as someone he wants to give a better life.

He feels responsible for them, just as Daenerys feels duty to her people and her children. In a way, they both feed off of this duty of his instilled into her and vice versa. Gives them purpose in their life. Yeah. Missandei is

the only one of Dany's servants who seems to be remaining in the royal apartments but she has also been replaced there's this weird moment where barrison then talks about these cup bearers uh who are actually just like hostages from the noble families of marine and then how he and danny have become so fond of them though that they don't think of them as hostages and I'm just like buddy like I don't think that they forgot they were hostages like that's cute that like you really

like them but they don't feel that way yeah it's like it's like a Theon Greyjoy but it hasn't rained there for like three days and it's like hot Theon Greyjoy. But. It hasn't rained there for like three days and it's like hot and sticky and sweaty and gross.

Yeah, I know that feel. But also I think there's a kind of a dialogue between this idea of that lack of rain uh and in one of the chapters that we just like synopsis did did zaro zoan doxos talks about how rain might seem like a nuisance or a bad thing but is in fact a good thing as he tries to like argue that slavery is also like can seem like a bad thing but it's necessary it's like no dude as danny points out slavery and reign are definitely not the same thing but like this together with like that very strange line about the hostages in my opinion creates this weird like uncanniness this uneasy feeling regarding this morality of people as property and it's very interesting coming from a guy from Barristan who's judging Hisdar for keeping pit fighters as guards.

Like, it's blurring those lines. And also, rain and slavery are definitely not the same, and slavery is bad. Which totally is Barristan's whole shtick, right? Barristan's whole shtick, right? We get him, you know, feeling guilty that he didn't do more and that he, you know, he was one of the knights that would hear Rayla in the bedroom with Aerys and he knew of bad things happening, but he said, you know, it's my duty. I'm just going to say it's because of duty and that's what I'm going with. And it's that line of blurred morality for Barristan. Absolutely. Yeah yeah maybe we need to go through the hard times of the drought and the lack of rain to get to the other side of better things

that like like these are not necessary evils these were completely unnecessary evils by what right does the wheat stalk judge the lion? By what right? Disease keeps spreading through the city and outside the Yonkish camps, and the streets are quiet, the markets are closed, and greasy human meat flesh smoke rises from Slaver's Bay.

Not even the fighting pits are even drawing a crowd, and the Myrines begin to shun the Temple of the Gracesaces even. Barristan thinks on how the slavers will find some way to blame Daenerys for all this, and how soon enough they will probably just declare her dead. Wee-oo, wee-oo.

Barristan nostalgia break incoming. You're gonna get these periodically because he goes into these old-ass man thoughts all the time. They're so sad. Where have all the years gone? Of late, whenever he knelt to drink from a still pool, he saw a stranger's face gazing up from the water's depths. When had those crow's feet first appeared around his pale blue eyes? How long ago had his hair turned from sunlight

into snow years ago old man decades where have the years gone this is like a whole ass paragraph where barrison selmy is just being old he's thinking about how old he is he's like my hair's not blonde anymore it's fucking gray it's been like that for decades i got crow's feet i'm tired and i'm old and i mean i don't think about how i could die soon all the time but i do relate to some of these feelings and i'm just like only 27 but like i've been finding wrinkles and i feel like george rr. Martin just captures this idea of like oh where did the time go very well absolutely and there is actually a great time reference thing I love that George does is how

he talks about time and how it passes how he uses different things to signify it whether it's change of the moon in Brienne's chapters or hair length and brienne's chapters and i do love that we do get some of that speaking of time i love that here he talks about it turning from sunlight into snow especially because in some cultures and by that i mean like i'm a total wee. But you know how they always talk about the springtime of youth? People talk about, like, your life occurring in seasons, and here we're seeing Barristan as though he feels as though he's entering that winter of his life. Of course, right on the cusp of the winds of winter, theoretically. theoretically.

Barristan thinks about how he was knighted after the tourney at King's Landing and King's- King Aegon's sword on his shoulders and how he choked saying his vows because he was just so emotional. And then he- Oh, like Sansa in season 6?

Just like that. When she forgets how to knight someone? Oh my god, precious. And then he ate real good that night. At the feast, though, he had wild boar prepared with spicy Dornish peppers. Oh, it sounds so good. It sounds real good. I'm real hungry. A mood.

A mood. Mood. 47 years, and the taste still lingered in his memory, yet he could not have said what he had supped on ten days ago if all seven kingdoms had depended on it. Boiled dog, most like, or some other foul dish that tasted no better.

He thinks a lot about how he belongs home, not in Slaver's Bay, which again goes back to not only his disdain for this amount of people taking over the rule in Daenerys' stead, but also his ignorance that we kind of touched on a little bit earlier. Barristan finds himself reflecting on how he got here and how he lost Dany, just like he failed Aerys and Robert. He regrets that he ran too slowly after her, wondering if Daario could have run faster.

You just, like, you gotta let her go, dude. Like, you can't stop her. You can't save these rulers from themselves, but also, like, they're their own people making their own decisions. Learn to make decisions, Barry. I don't know, dude. It's like this whole ashara like the start guy because he was hot danny likes dario because he's hot why can't i save them i don't know it's like come on live your live your

life bro live your life and he's just like kind of he doesn't ruminate on it but it's kind of the same thing with robert so i guess this is just kind of Barristan's storyline and all these other kings that died. Whatever, Yolo. But you can't save them from themselves. He dreams then of the fighting pit. Of Strongbell was puking. No! I know.

And Hizdar urging the dragon slayers and people screaming and shouting and running and fighting and then daenerys her hair was aflame she had the whip in her hand and she was bolts coming at him and how he breathed flame upon them and killed 214 people injuring thrice as many rumors are rampant that the yunkai sieging marine mounted scorpions so they could try to kill drogod if denarius returns in this sequence right here we're we're finding out what happens after danny flies away this is the mirror and he's not untangling itself we open this chapter on that aftermath of finding out what the political situation is in the marine with like his dar already in power and it's only that we learn the rest of like what happened in those fighting pits in dosnox through barriston's memories his recollection the city state of course is in political chaos and it's all echoing in the

dreams it's it's throughout all of these chapters and you can even see why barriston was needed at this point in these chapters his chapters come so late in the book like we said earlier that in the second half of dance there are only four of them it was the only way to tie it all together and it was the perfect bow that george needed just to wrap it up baristan thinks on how denarius had been riding drogon which like get it girl actually seriously we read that chapter like get it girl. Actually, seriously, reread that chapter like, get it girl. It's like, yes, yes, higher. It's like,

oh girl. Okay. Like the Targaryens of old, of lore, of legend. The legend is thinking though about Daenerys being a legend. Hashtag meta. And he begins to think that Daenerys might be flying home to Westeros

when Missandei appears. Give her a point of view, chapter. We deserve this. I mean, she deserves this. She's fucking earned it, dude. Dude, she's the best. She really is. She tells Barristan right in the nick of time that

Daenerys would never leave without them, which, yeah, I don't think our girl would for sure. She'd come back for her people. She puts on for her city, obviously. She also tells him that a brazen beast with an owl mask would like to speak with him. That's so polite sounding, isn't it? Like, a brazen beast with an owl mask would like to speak with you, Sir Barristan? Like, real polite.

Like, Mr. Barristan? Mr. Barristan, the burb man the burb man we do find out that it is gahaz mokandik the shade pate who wants to meet with him extremely secretly very sneakily and uh the brazen beasts of course as a reminder are basically the new city watch of marine formed by daenerys under her power and of course barriston nostalgia hour incoming we should be timing these drink every time this happens we should no time i gotta drink you gotta drink we can do this i'm out i finished it i'm out okay i know i was real sneaky you were talking about about, like, strong Bellas. Barristan worries, how can I protect the queen when I am not with her?

While speaking with Missandei and trying to stay strong for the child's sake. He thinks of the kings he's served. He thinks of receiving the cloak of Maelys the Monstrous, of standing in that cloak watching Aerith succumb to madness. Stood and saw and heard, yet did nothing. And compare that line that Chloe just read aloud with this other one that comes a little bit earlier, describing some of the different knights of the Kingsguard. Most were only men, quicker and stronger than most. More skilled with sword and shield, but still preyed to pride, ambition,

lust, love, anger, jealousy, greed for gold, hunger for power, and all the other failings that afflicted lesser mortals. The best of them overcame their flaws, did their duty, and died with their swords in their hands. The worst?

The worst were those who played the Game of thrones just like it's pretty dramatic barrison i mean he's really dramatic have you noticed that he's a little dramatic i mean he's been seeing everything through the lens of i guess like heroes because he's gotten to be one but like just like barrison all of these different knights and heroes they're all just people and i mean was it really the worst of them that played the game of thrones or is it worse to actually just stand aside and support a tyrant just say I feel like Barristan thinks he's just above the game when in the end he's a pawn in the game

he's used as a piece in the game he's I mean in the game. He's used as a piece in the game. He's, I mean, in the end, the way that he defends his duty and does his duty and tries to do what he thinks is right isn't always him doing what's right. And by him not taking his own control over his destiny on the board, he really is just a piece. He's just as much of a pawn as Sansa Stark is right now. He's always just been a piece, a player. I mean, yeah, he went to Daenerys.

That was big. But he is figuring out right now who he is in this game. All he did was join a different game. Like, you know, you play or you get played. Like, get rich or die trying. In the words of 50 Cent, you know? Play on, play on. Barristan reminds himself

this isn't necessarily fair, how hard he's being on himself. He simply did his duty. And then that's backed up immediately by regret and guilt at him rescuing Aerys at Duskendale, of Rhaegar not ascending the throne, of Jaehaerys, of Aerys, of Robert, of Rhaegar, of Elia, of the babes, and the cat. But the cat's still alive. We saw it in Agat. So if you guys remember that book that we talked about a little bit ago, we were in for like 15 chapters. We're out of there, but we'll hit it. We'll hit it again when we hit Arya someday

in 10 years. And now, of course, Daenerys, who is lost. Daenerys, his bright shining child queen. She is not dead. I will not believe it. Gross. Miss Child Queen, uh, very chill out. You're like

95 years old. You have like 10 million rings. You tree, around your neck. Yeah, I'm bright, shiny, child-free. Like, save yourself, dude. Just not a good language. Yeah. Yeah. Just be you. Be true.

Be you, be true. Barristan spends the afternoon training his boys in all things knightly, especially chivalry which in his opinion makes knights better than any pit fighter would be he goes and he has supper it's very simple he changes out of court clothes into a hooded traveler's cloak with sword and dagger we get the scene though where like Barristan's just eating alone and watching the sunset and thinking about stuff and it it just makes me real sad.

I don't know why, like, the way that this whole thing's just written, it makes me feel really uneasy and sad. Hey, Barristan, what you thinking about? Uh, just how I could've done better and I didn't, and now I won't take responsibility for that? Sad, dude. Sad. Even, like, seriously, though, his supper is described as simple. sumper is described as simple his dinner is described as simple it's just him and misande somewhere in the royal apartment and the ghosts of everyone else that was sent away or hostage or killed he just climbs down the bajillion and seven steps

to the pyramid he checks the dragons he makes sure they've been fed also he's a little terrified of his boss's pets did you notice that he's just like okay well this was fun for me dragons bye yeah i mean same normal lizards like i even like small lizards like scare me i'm not like super scared i'm cool with those i just like i'm not cool with like no i'm cool with snakes and stuff i'm not like weird i guess like i i don't know they were like small small lizards when i was like living in the philippines and they're just they're everywhere and i mean they're fine i'm just like don't touch me you're probably dirty snacks are probably okay depending i don't know there was like this

we don't need this tangent never mind oh my god anyways if the queen had commanded me to protect his dar i would have had no choice but to obey but denarius targaryen had never established a proper queen's guard even for herself nor issued any commands in respect to her consort the world was simpler when i had a lord commander to decide such matters some reflected now i am the lord commander and it's hard to know which path is right this is him like straight up saying like i don't really know what denarius really wants actually but i think i'm doing it but also just like i don't know i feel like this right now at my age and i'm just like how did you

get this 60 years old like without ever having to think for yourself like I mean I get it you like had a job but like there was some really great discussion today and by today I mean Monday on Twitter where people were talking about Barristan and the ages of like various knights and this idea of arrested development and I truly am starting to think after I read this that maybe they're right about Barristan like Barristan still had a choice and this kind of thinking of like I the world was simpler when I had a lord commander to decide such matters like for me I mean I'm like you are a grown man you're an adult like this kind of thinking of like i don't have to make my own decisions is like what led you to just stand aside while aries

destroyed his people that led you to save this man whose like madness would kill his kingdom yeah by what right does the wheat stock judge the lion by what right oh make it happen chloe all of you westeros you think you are your sigils wheat stocks dragons eating their tails anyway baristan goes to find the shape paint the shave paint reveals that the sons of the harpy poisoned the locusts that belwos ate which were intended for denarius and the valentine fleet has sailed and his dar means to open the gates for them which of course with that whole ned comparison here you go here's your sack of kings landing moment true true we're gonna get into this like pretty deep later yeah absolutely skahaz wants baristan to meet with gray worm and selmy conspires with the shave paint against his

star breaking the siege to kill those slaver lords attacking the Yunkai before Volantis can take the city and enslave all of its people. Breaking the siege. Breaking the siege. Okay. Her children were the freedmen. Misha, they called her. All those whose chains she broke. Mother. The shave paint was not wrong.

Daenerys would want her children protected. Which of course, like we said, the second point of view we cover, and it revolves just as much around the children as Ned's did. Barristan's boys that he's training are his children. Failing them, failing Daenerys' children, failing Daenerys like the kings and queens of before he's failed? Honorific Barry pushes himself to conspire against his dark something barrison would never regularly do we think on ned talking about how he would follow what the crown wanted

and would not have ned's back uh in the meetings that how ned thinks you know barry is just married to his honor and he would never do what ned thought was the right thing he would follow the king when shit was hitting the fan in King's Landing. And of course, back all that up with Barry is not so good at court politics. He thinks consistently through his chapter alone that. You can see it in his actions, the way he thinks about people, and even how he regards himself. You may end your days in the fighting pit, old man. Crass will eat your heart.

And Barristan makes Skahaz promise that his czar's guilt can be proven. He doesn't want to punish an innocent man, I guess. And Barristan thinks on how he's just going to kill the man himself if his czar is guilty. thinks on how he's just going to kill the man himself if his czar is guilty he just made a goddamn not good deal he's not like completely dumb though because barrison does demand he has to be able to come out on top and ask for proof during this and of course it all comes down to who's getting paid by who just like ned learns from little finger in a game of thrones when little finger points out the queen pays them to spy that's my person that's various's person it's a whole new world barrison doesn't know who's getting played by paid and played by who here which puts him at a major

disadvantage if he's about to get played majorly he's also like also at a complete cultural and language disadvantage too but about the situation in marine brendan beefish has actually written before about the situation in marine i don't know that man um but i don't think he's on a podcast it's like not a podcast right and how it mirrors the situation in king's Landing when Robert dies with this whole like power vacuum and all of this uh conspiring and so I think it's actually kind of amazing that we're reading these Barristan chapters in this situation going down in Meereen right after we've done all of these Ned chapters and I do believe that Brendan B. Fish had initially suggested that Barristan

was, in many ways, fulfilling the role of Ned while Skahaz, who some, such as Adam Feldman of the Myrnie's Blog, which, like, if you haven't read his essay on who poisoned the locusts, you should absolutely go read that right now.

They assert that Skahaz is the actual poisoner anyway um brendan b fish says that baristan in the role of ned is being played by those around him in the way that little finger plays those around him and um is lying about who is to blame for these assassination attempts, right? Like the cat's paw, the poison, and also the other actual poison. We'll come back to that. So with Skaha setting Barristan up to double-cross his dar, I'd like to suggest that with all of this talk about cloaks and arms

and the martial power that people bring, like that Barristan can deliver, what if Barristan is not the Ned of Meereen, but is rather more of a corollary to Janos Slynt, whom we see to actually be a very dishonorable man that should be an interesting contrast to Barristan who values his honor so much. And while of course, Slint was motivated by that glimmer of gold, by the promise of money, Barristan instead is motivated by that perceived purity symbolized by his white cloak. And that, I think that's what leads him astray. And I love that, of course, as we know, I'm a sucker for the colors of clothing and cloaks and everything in the story and there's so much symbolism in that white cloak i mean we see it

from sandor clegane ripping his cloak off and giving it to sansa when he leaves uh yeah i'm real sad in my feels uh we see it in all of that we see it in like we said uh eliana mentioned when we did ned that jano Slint and all of, everyone shows up, but Jano Slint's armor. Yeah, he came up with, like, fucking stuntin' ass armor. Yeah. Jano Slint shows up with stuntin' ass armor, and

he looks great, and you know you're like, that poor son of a bitch got money. And that's how you can tell right away, something's off. And I think George really does play with those kind of ideas. There definitely barrison's cloak will be stained one way or another however it happens and while i do love that can we just divulge who we think is the harpy at this point are we like on the same page i mean like what's gonna happen to our marriage like if or not it's me i'm the harpy it's kind of a turn on okay uh so i think it seems like it's the green

grace if if it's anyone yeah it has to be i mean i'm thinking if it's not like a collective of people exactly i'm like it's either like a collective and like an ideal or it's the green grace right like it's either like a bunch of nobles or it's the green grace. Right, like it's either a bunch of nobles or it's the green grace. Duh. Yeah, like the harpy's not gonna be a ma'am. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, a harpy is a woman's sigil. Duh.

Duh. And we leave this chapter with Barristan leaving to go speak to Grey Worm. And that's it. We're never doing this again. No, I'm just kidding. We're doing this again.

All right. That was it for Queensguard. Let's keep going. We got a whole other chapter, baby. Let's power through. Hit me with that lightning round. And in this lightning round, so you know,

we are going to go through all the chapters until Barristan's next chapter now. We'll briefly hit these chapters. It won't just be the Myrnaese chapters, because there aren't quite as many, but we will go through the next three. And from the Queen's Guard, we move to the Iron Suiter. Victarion Greyjoy heads the Iron Fleet near the Isle of Cedars outside of Slaver's Bay to find Daenerys Targaryen. Makoro, a red priest, swept over onto the Selessori Koran, heals Victarion's injured, infected arm, and after killing his maester, Victarion heads for Meereen. I feel like Benny Hill is just playing in the background. That's like all of

Victarion's chapters. He's so dumb. I can't wait to get there. We should just play that. We should change our intro to that. We should actually have it just on in the background the entire time. The entire hour like, hour

chapter thing. Yeah, I'm into it. Or we don't read it a lot at all. We only play the song. That's the podcast. We just upload that to Podbean every month. Tempting. It would only be like two weeks, but in Tyrion XI,

with his short-lived owner dying of the bloody flux, Tyrrian finds an opportunity to get back into his element swindling and dealing with brown ben plum he secures a deal for jorah mormont to join the second sons and enters plums employ john 12 3 000 wildlings passed the wall at Castle Black and Jon and Tormund discuss the supposed burned horn of Joramun later

a raven comes from Hardhome where Cotter Pike is stranded and that the Bravosi captains are selling wildling women and children into slavery rude right that's actually like the one thing everyone like freaks and loves hard home and i mean it was good that episode was good

it was a cool episode i did like how they like confirmed the valerian steel stuff and all that but right i really feel like exactly it was a i and b B, the slavery aspect not existing in it. I felt like that was really important because while Jon was trying to free all these people, he was losing all these people too. It's a very interesting contrast with Daenerys' chapters too, with her effects at trying to stop slavery. And how slavery seems to be the only way for her to move forward in this to get peace in her city and i also love that we get this john chapter where he's making these big moves at the wall i think it's important that these follow this chapter with a discarded knight especially since they're moves that won't really prove to help him in the long run another structural thing

that i think is really cool is that George has said in So Spake Martens that he originally had a lot of Cersei and Daenerys chapters next to each other, and that he really wanted to contrast their ruling and the things they dealt with and why they made the choices they made. And I feel like that's something that you really, if you read the feast dance put togethers of either boiled leather or any feast dance version you look at when you get those chapters next to each other

or a ball of beasts it's really a treat, it's really a pleasure sorry let me finish writing this you're good I figured. that's about it right honestly yeah yeah it's like literally what happens pretty much barry thinks some shitty shit

oh my god and his failures in this chapter barrison thinks about his failures. In this chapter, Barristan thinks about his failures. Ew. Alright. That'll do. Cool. Alright. And that brings us to The Discarded Knight.

Without the Mother of Dragons, his daughter attempts to hold court and bearsen watches as the powder keg of Meereen comes closer to explosion. He looks around and muses upon the conspiracies that swim beneath the surface. He then thinks upon his failures

before approaching the sun's sun with the same advice that Danny gave him. Run. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.

That's gonna be fun when we get there someday. Someday. Someday. A herald reads aloud the many titles of his Dara and calls for all to kneel, showing his whole title monologue thing might be universal and not just Westerosi. But it also is

showing that now Hizdar has kind of married his way to the top, which we hear from Skahaz, and now Hizdar has the power he needed. He married a queen and he doesn't need her. Which also plays into some of the societal norms in that higher culture and of women being lesser even if they have dragons.

Which that's going to kind of get turned on its head. Right. Can't wait for that. He deaf needs her. Yeah. I can't wait for that oh moment. Oh. Oh.

Barristan reaches for his sword preparing for a battle and i love this little line in this paragraph where he thinks no blades were allowed in the presence of the king save his protectors and it's totally a great line because that's what aries the second did he would not allow any swords on anyone in there uh near him maybe his protectors but that was it if barry did defect to agon i'm not really into that conspiracy tinfoil theory that some people oh shots fired okay from people that don't have podcasts i hear they're not podcasts uh but if he did this line would be a great bit of foreshadowing to put into that tinfoil theory that's not real. Because in general, this is like Ares II to a T. Barristan was probably experiencing some major tension and trauma in that moment.

For sure, for sure. Barristan notes that his dar has actually procured a more elaborate throne than Dany's humble bench and now also has a second empty chair for Dany no dragon chair can replace a dragon no matter how elaborately it's carved

Barristan thinks to himself and I kind of feel like this is like a Fagon reference maybe. Won't matter because he's going to die by then. Not only that though, but also the elaborate dragon throne again serves as Hizdar's power. There's a good description of jewels

and of how it's made in this kind of scene and a reminder that there are dragons and they're not just dragons, but they're Daenerys' dragons that are here. Never mind that they can't really control them but we'll pass by that. His dar sits surrounded

by his guards who are mostly made up of pit fighters. Not the classiest. Not the classiest but I guess they're like tight yeah uh then we have more of barriston waxing nostalgic as we juxtapose this i didn't grab the quote uh but it's basically juxtaposing this idea of a young day aka what we plebes call morning and how baristan feels that

he is aged and now needs less sleep than he used to i actually had the opposite as i got older i used to be able to like not sleep and now i need like lots of sleep so right to operate this is actually a passage about how baristan has seven million tree rings on his neck he is so old he is you guys he is seriously gonna die like next book halfway through t wow he's just gonna die he's gonna die maybe i don't know i think he's gonna die he's gonna make it to westeros at least i don't know about that i think he's's gonna die. We're gonna talk- we'll have a discourse towards the end of this whole thing. Yeah, you know what? Actually, really cool is I think this is a conversation

that's gonna happen in our Barristan outro. Oh, for sure. I really- I think I implore you guys to listen to it. We're gonna have some strong opinions in our first episode with a guest on it. Please stay with us. Please. Honestly, I think it's gonna be worth it. I think they're

gonna love this episode. It's gonna be some good content. For sure. I pray to all of you that you, good strangers of the internet, will accompany us on this journey, just as Barristan is praying now

alone in this land of strangers. That was my segue. I'm quitting this podcast. Wasn't the worst segue I've ever come up with? No, but it was like second worst. Maybe. It was cheesy. The throne room is full of people and heightened emotions. Anger, grief, suspicion, fear.

And hidden around the room are the brazen beasts sell me sell me wondered oh you do it you do it i thought i'd help you do it you're talking sell me wondered if the masks had meaning to the men who wore them did the same men wear the same masks every day or did they choose new masks every morning? I love that. I love that line. I think it's so, like, it's very, like, playing into the thematics of they're all liars here. You know, I just love it. Yeah, and it obviously works on multiple levels. Like, Barristan, maybe... On one hand, it is admirable that Barristan feels comfortable just, like, being yourself.

Being himself. But also, like, maybe a mask can help with protection. Among the crowd, some refuse to acknowledge his dar's rule. And they start shouting that he is no king of mine which i love that was like such a good moment like you see that yeah and it's like baristan is watching finally from the side watching this all erupt he's not there doing his duty blind to people saying that's not my king he's back there going no one else likes him either yeah hashtag not my king and like this is what we were saying earlier

his dar thinks the way some people assume that because he is the man is presumably with power that he can just assume it but power resides where people believe it resides and that just happens to be like the woman who has three dragons because three dragons and she also very much won their hearts yeah absolutely i mean that one scene in game of thrones misa that scene of them just with their hands reached out it was just such besides the white savior bullshit it was just such, besides the white savior bullshit, it was a little powerful just in general, like watching it, you're like, yeah, you can really understand what happened in Meereen. You know, you can get that feel with Ramin's music of what actually happened. Especially, even after she's gone, she's left this impression that people want Daenerys, and it's just like in the last chapter when he's waiting.

He's waiting, penny in the air. He is waiting for it to fall. He knows this isn't going to last, though. Something's going to happen. Yeah, despite all of the struggles that Dany goes through, from Barristan to some of the other people, like this person who goes, he is no king of mine, Dany inspires loyalty

berestin then internally sneers at some of resnok's words and he thinks about himself his years in the king's guard had taught him the trick of listening without hearing especially useful when the speaker was intent on proving that words were truly wind and I'm just like listening without hearing like actually though glorified houseplant oh my god Eliana

you love it he sees the Martell party and he has this internal dialogue in which he totally misunderstands oh my god nothing new oh my god prince quentin was listening intently at least that one is his father's son short and stocky plain-faced he seemed a decent lad sober sensible dutiful but not the sort to make a young girl's heart beat faster and denarius targaryen whatever else Yeah, that's why people fucking like, Barry. She wants fire, and Dorne sent her mud. You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever.

You could plant seeds in mud and grow a crop to feed your children. Mud would nourish you, where fire would only consume you. But fools and children and young girls choose fire every time. Behind the prince, Ser Geras Drinkwater was whispering something to Ironwood. Ser Geras was all his prince was not. Tall and lean and comely, with a swordsman's grace and a courtier's wit. Selmy did not doubt that many a Dornish maiden had run her fingers through that sun-streaked hair and kissed that teasing smile off his lips. He could not help but think.

But there was something a bit too pleasant about drink water for his taste. False coin, the old knight thought. He had known such men before. I think he skipped a line, right? If this one had been the prince, things might have gone elsewise? Oh. Yeah, I can redo that. I just kind of

missed it because I can't read. What up? I'm Davos. I'm 42 and I never learned how to read. Davos is way better though. Yeah. Yeah, he is. Behind the prince, Sergeras Drakewater was whispering something to Ironwind.

Sergeras was all his prince was not. Tall and lean and comely with a swordsman's grace and a courtier's wit. Selmy did not doubt that many a Dornish maiden had run her fingers through that sun-streaked hair and kissed that teasing smile off his lips. If this one had been the prince, things might have gone elsewise. He could not help but think. But there was something a bit too pleasant about drink water for his taste. False coin, the old knight thought.

He had known such men before. Ugh. Barry. Grandpa. We gotta have a talk, Grandpa. Yeah, let's sit down and talk. Cause like, maybe you don't know any children or young girls, I guess. Like, of course, we know where this process comes

from in his thoughts. We will see it more in chapters to come, but Bearston kind of feels this way about most women. He called Daenerys his child queen in the last chapter. He places Azshara on a pedestal, not quite unlike how Robert places Lyanna on one, and claims if only

he could have saved her, she would have been with him instead, when that's not the way of how it works at all. He chose duty over that life before he even met her, and Daenerys is choosing her duty here. It isn't that Daenerys just wants to fuck Daario all the time and that she's young and dumb. It's that she's stressed. Oh my god, she's like a 14, 15 year old ruling places. She's ruling an unruly city that doesn't want to be ruled. She wants to fuck, man.

She didn't choose, she didn't not choose Quentin because she can't leave. Fuck. She didn't choose Quentin because she can't leave her duty. Just like Barristan married himself to his. Also, a very interesting point that I won't go very far into, but I love the idea of mud and Dorne, and Dorne sending mud, and maybe Dorne's into mud. Maybe Dornish people sometimes just want safety

and they want security with a person they fell in love with. You know, like maybe they weren't fucking northern wolves anyways. So where were we with Barristan's arc? It's just like he thinks that just because he's older, he knows everything. I don't think that with Barristan, age necessarily equates wisdom because like he doesn't know how to make any decisions for himself, as he has said earlier. And especially like he's just learning how to do that for the first time at like 60 years old and he just doesn't seem to understand danny's thought process at all he thinks that he doesn't understand where she's coming from like the idea that she would abandon everything for for Dario

yeah for but like he kind of touches on it and kind of understands he's like all good queen she put her people first else she would never have went his Darzelorak but Dany herself like understands this we see it in her chapters that she's like

she understands that Dario doesn't actually love her or like her she understands that dario doesn't actually love her or like her she understands that dario likes the idea of being with a queen being with the mother of dragons and she knows this and she knows this in the same way that she knows that that's why quentin's here she understands that people aren't like actually into her for her and it's stressful for her it's a struggle for her and i don't think barison really gets that he's never had a chance to get that how could he he's never had to understand that no one wants to be with him because he was the lord commander of the king's guard i mean someone might have never had that I mean come on please someone out there bang him

because he's forever a virgin like I mean someone out there was probably like willing to you know like he we're gonna get into this earlier like a little later but you know there were members of the Kingsguard that had lovers so yeah absolutely speaking of that though he's sworn

no oath though he's sworn no oaths to dorn he wants to help quentin especially because of his fallen brother of the kingsguard lewin martel which still a good name and the way that barrison feels about wanting to help quentin on behalf of about wanting to help Quentyn on behalf of Luin kind of reminds me of how John Connington thinks about wanting to help Aegon because of Rhaegar. A little different, of course, in like some of those motivations, but there's, I think, a similar underlying thread. And then he's all like, oh, so he's all like, oh, Quentyn's from Dorne and he's all like oh so he's all like oh quentin's from doran and he's related to operon who was called the red viper so maybe like quentin knows a lot about poison and plots and intrigues he thinks quentin had grown up amongst the courts of doran plots and poisons were no strangers to

him he just like comes up with all these assumptions about like oh maybe quentin's like poison the locusts because he's from doran and i'm just like uh dude that's a kind of prejudice like hashtag not all dornish and then b baristan you were in the courts of king's landing for like longer than quentin has been alive but you still haven't internalized like how the fuck plots or poisons work so why would you just assume this of quentin even though you're like oh he's mud mud heals and like why would you think that he makes a lot of assumptions like a very strong amount of assumptions i mean like and it's good because obviously we are entertaining different ideas like barriston for once is using his noodle you know and he's like well what if and i mean overall

he ends up coming like with this thought he basically thinks that and later does bring it to him as we learn yeah and it's good that we you know that he's entertained yeah and it's good that he's like starting to entertain these different ideas that, what if the Locusts weren't really meant for Daenerys? But, you know, what if it was the Shave Pate, not Quentyn? Anyways, I'm also, like, just... I'm not convinced that the Locusts were meant for strong Belwis, but... I'm also not convinced that the Locusts weren't meant for strong belwis but i'm also not convinced that the locusts weren't meant for strong belwis i mean they could have been meant for him because i think it actually makes absolute narrative sense

to create that sense of heightened danger that thing we were talking about a few episodes ago called that pinch point for strong belwis who is our protagonist and then that was like your third strike of the whole podcast i want to say i went along the first time but yeah yep this is like many times anyways um but as baristan begins thinking about the possibility that the locusts weren't meant for denarius there are footsteps that distract him from making any headway when it comes to this line of thought and it's kind of similar to how the ringing of bells in the veil distracts catelyn from putting together some of that important information about john aaron's death and the fostering of robert

aaron and how some of the information she has isn't consistent with each other which isn't consistent with each other which i think draws more of those parallels between that a game of thrones king's landing plot uh you know with john aaron especially because it is like all about that poison yes i love that i love that we are finding all of this in here it's really cool i haven't read uh that post jeff made on it but i want to now i'm sitting here like this is it this is all i'm pulling after we just read all that yeah and then some of the youngish come in and i just want to call out this like one wise master as they call themselves who wears like porn on his breastplate breastplate they like describe it as like the third had an ornate breastplate

inlaid with erotic scenes and like this guy is like my mother's neighbor who has a sticker on his very swanky car that has like two stick figures like banging and it says no free rides gas her ass that's who this guy is oh my gosh that is it's straight up like very tacky

very tacky the wise masters brandish the head of the guy from Star Wars, Admiral Grolio, who died as payment for the deaths of the youngkish who attended the opening of the fighting pits. Grolio

had a wife back in Pentos. Children, grandchildren. Why him of all the hostages? Barristan thinks as he mourns this man that he crossed half the world with about all of these things that Grolu had in his life, which is, of course, George R. R. Martin again

reminding us that these ponds also have stories. Oh, yeah. And it's huge because it's where the true horror sets in in Barristan's arc in Meereen. Obviously, he only has four chapters in this book to really get to a certain point that makes him do something. And this is what really progresses him in his arc in these books. It's true horror. You take a step back and you look. It has a lot of similarities to the noir arc that Eddard has going on in A Game of Thrones.

Selmy is walking around the empty streets there's smoke rising everywhere traipsing through empty dark shadowy pyramids the smell of flesh trying to remain unseen figuring out what the fuck is going on in the city all while trying to remain composed and training knights and upholding danny's legacy and marine as well as he possibly can at this point. It's a really interesting way to tell this story on George's end. Then we have this other great line where Barristan's thinking to himself

and he goes, but it was easier to pose that question than to answer it. I have no skill at unraveling such knots. And I'm just like, Hey, George! Hey, George.

Hey. What up, George? I see you. Yeah, hashtag, we did it. You know, the one thing about this, and I think this is also a clue to the reader, is that Hisdar seems shaken by Admiral Grolio's head showing up. And I think that speaks better than him of what Barristan gives him credit for.

And of course, as we know, and well, as we believe, Barristan is getting a tiny bit framed into this, a tiny bit of different angles coming at him about Hizdar being the worst, which I'm not saying he's not the worst worst but he seems to finally realize what he's gotten himself into it carries weight finally and that real people are actually dying right now because of what's going on it's real now and then of course in response to how the yunkai are like uh this is what we're doing with your seven hostages barriston then speaks out of turn again and tries to explain oh this is what happened at das nox pit which is similar to the situation of where he spoke out of turn when

danny was trying to trade quote-unquote trade drogon for the installed and the yunkai of course take offense to this they're like uh why is your guard just speaking to me? But I do think somewhat to their credit, the Miranese don't throw Barristan under the bus entirely for this. No, I think the tensions are pretty high between both in general. Yunkai actually demand the dragons be destroyed. But Resenec says Dany is their mother. but Resnick says Dany is their mother. Bloodbeard, the commander of the sellsword troops, the company of the cat

says Dany is dead and the room erupts in chaos. As the meeting adjourns, Barristan thinks to himself Ser Barristan watched them thoughtful. What would Daenerys want? He asked himself. He thought he knew.

And just like, I really don't think Barristan knows. I think he really doesn't. He's been kind of wrong about what Dany has wanted since A Storm of Swords. Like, in that moment where he speaks out that we just talked

about. Yeah, he really, really doesn't know what she wants, like, at all. Does not know. Barristan warns Quentin and his friends to leave the city, and we're reminded of the old dead marriage pact. I mean, that's it. It's over.

That's the pact, and it's, well, quote-unquote, done, until we hear from a certain princess of Dorne rip he also then decides to confide in the Martell party about the poison plot like those locusts and then I'm like

oh maybe he is Ned just like telling everyone about this poison stuff he decides to confront Quentin about whether or not quentin was the one who poisoned denarius spoiler alert he didn't and then barrison talks about lewin martel having had a paramour and i know that some people have like written about this and i'm i think chloe you have thoughts on this, right? Yeah, I actually really love, there's this great theory by user StressedAlmostWriter on Reddit, on the A Song of Ice and Fire subreddit,

that has a theory that Luin's paramour is actually Septa Lamor, which I find really interesting because it's not quite connected to the families, but it's connected enough where she could gain something from supporting Aegon. And it's kind of fitting in with that whole B-list character C-list character kind of theme of just like this raggedy group of people that aren't quite

people you know but they were around so we will link that for sure but I love that theory I think it's very interesting yeah it's not something that I ever really thought about but I'm glad that there are people who do right and it's something something that I ever really thought about, but I'm glad that there are people who do.

Right, and it's something that we might not ever learn, but you know, whatever, it's a cool idea. Yeah. But as for things that we do learn, we learn the story of how Bairston earned his epithet from him. Before he had gone three steps, Quentin Martell called out to him, Bairston, the bold they call you. Some do. Selmy had won that name when he was ten years old, a new-made squire, yet so vain and proud and foolish that he got it in his head that he could joust with tried and proven knights. So he'd borrowed a warhorse and some plate from Lord Dondarrion's armory and entered

the list of Blackhaven as a mystery knight. Even the herald laughed. My arms were so thin that when I lowered my lance it was all I could do to keep the point from furrowing the ground. Adorable. Lord Dondarrion would have been within his rights to pull him off the horse and spank

him, but the prince of dragonflies had taken pity on him had taken pity on the adult-pated boy in the ill-fitting armor and accorded him the respect of taking up his challenge. One course was all that it required. Afterward, Prince Duncan helped him to his feet and removed his helm. A boy, he had proclaimed to the crowd. A bold boy! Fifty-three years ago, how many men are still

alive who were there at Black Haven? Oh, this gets sad. I forgot about this. Man, Barry. The old sap. It's also some good characterization because we were talking earlier about how

Barristan is teaching these various boys who have chosen to follow Daenerys and training them to be guards and part of it is of course that like he understands the need for it but you can see him passing on that

generosity that was given to him by the Prince of Dragonflies as just a little boy he's like I should treat these young boys the same well and it's just like what we get with Dunk all Dunk knows is what he's learned from previous people and he tries to teach what sir arlen had taught him so i do love that quentin asks what name he will be called and he wallows in self

fuck hold on i'm like hearing my echo, which is really weird and I don't know why it's happening. At least it's not Ariana Grande. Right? Quentin asks what name he will be called in history, and he wallows in self-deprecation. Barristan sweetly tries to be

encouraging, though he thinks to himself that Quentin is the prince who came too late and calls him Quentin the Wise. But just as Barristan thinks his story was given to him as a foolish boy, just as Grolio, who had a wife and children, dies, not every person is the hero of the story as Barristan and Quentin. Both may learn one day. Quentin definitely learned that way earlier. Yeah, a little bit earlier. Yeah.

Not much, though, since it'll be like a book later and Beerson will die. He's gonna, I mean, he's gonna, he's like, he's ready to die. Yeah, did you read him going up those steps? Like, he didn't have to i guess die

nope but he does yeah he could have like taken that land and those castles and stuff but whoa thought at least one person stays alive strong bellis but here's a thought i'm gonna just throw this out there Strong Belvis. Yeah. But, here's a thought, I'm gonna just throw this out there. Part of why Barrison didn't accept the castle and lands to rule and stuff is because he was just like, oh my god, I'd have to make decisions for other

people? And what we're gonna do with crops? I don't even know how to heat these pizza rolls up. That's why his supper's so simple. Yeah, dude, he's a basic man baby. It makes me sad, especially

because he's all lonely and stuff, and he's like, this is my only purpose, and I'm just trying to live it. But also at the same time, I'm kind of like, dude. It teeters empathetic. And that's the beauty of George R.R. Martin,

right? You know, like that these characters have these different facets. Right, it's so nuanced. We feel very in between. Yeah, like I do feel for Barristan, but also I'm kind of like

yeah. I feel for Barristan, but also I'm kind of like... Yeah. I feel for him, but I'm like, you can do better than this. Mm-hmm. I mean, can he? But we don't know. We'll find out in the Winds of Winter. It's a good night. Yeah. Yeah, in the Winds of Winter. When it comes out next month.

All six books. it comes out next month all six books yeah i'm gonna sorry one last thing one last just because i'm like oh let's have like an ending or whatever this is not something we get in the game of thrones show right because barriston stays being that very uh this is not something we get in the Game of Thrones show because Barristan continues to be that like really accomplished knight and fighter he stays being Barristan the Bold and that's how he ends up going out we don't

end up seeing him as this actual like person who feels very out of his depth yeah we just get Barristan the Old in the show we don't get Barristan the Bold but we still get I mean he goes out as the Bold and we just get Barristan the Old in the show. We don't get Barristan the Bold. But we still get, I mean, he goes out as the Bold, and we just, like, yeah. Right. Kind of.

He was ambushed. Rip. He kind of just, like, fell down. But, I mean, you know, yeah. Anyways, glad that show's done. Uh. It's over. So is our show. We had the best of times, we had the best of times we had the worst of times

well that's it that's the discarded night next week we're gonna come back with the king breaker and the queen's hand since Barristan is just so few chapters we will save all the goodies and all the excitement of what you're going to hear next week

till then yep and of course keep following us uh on this journey for that you can find us and subscribe to us on podbean on google play on itunes we are also on Stitcher and Acast. Yeah, we are. So make sure to subscribe so that every week on Friday, your podcast list gets updated with us. Your feed is updated. As always, I have been Chloe. You can find me as the queen of love and booty at Liza and Arbor on twitter.com.

And you can also find me writing on Tumblr as at Liza and Arbor on twitter.com and you can also find me writing on tumblr as at Liza and Arbor and I'm Eliana glass table girl on reddit and on maester monthly and of course don't forget to subscribe to us on twitter

and feel free to shoot us an email if you like maybe you have like some reactions to anything that we've said here or like leave us an iTunes review because I think that those are fun. And I look at them. Oh my god. Yeah. Send us an email at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Shoot us a tweet.

You know, like there was some like really good discussion today. Oh, yeah. We've had some really good discussion today. Yesterday.. We've had some really good discussion today. Yesterday. It's been lit on Twitteros. So make sure to connect with us there. We would love to hear from you. Thanks so much you guys for tuning in.

We'll see you next week for episode 12.