Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 183 — ADWD Bran I

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

A monster on the Other side of the Wall protects Bran and friends from becoming prey while Summer finds, wins, and eats some "meat."   Links mentioned: "—All You Zombies—" by Robert A. Heinlein A Thousand Eyes and One - https://youtube.com/@AThousandEyesandOnePodcast   Background music: Dragon and Toast Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ --- 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 Chloe's blog: www.liesandarborgold.com Intro by Anton Langhage

Hello and welcome to Girls Gone Canon Reads A Song Of Ice And Fire, Episode 183, Brand 1, In A Dance With Dragons. I am one of your hosts, Chloe. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana. I really thought you were going to end that line with Brand 1, Adowada. I was like, we're doing it. We're doing it. I really thought about it because it's way more on brand. On brand.

On brand. We're on it today. Adowada. Adowada. Yeah. more on brand on brand brand we're on it today yeah bringing back that bookshelf stud flavor to the podcast there what do you mean by flavor like are we eating him today are we cannibalizing him today it turns out unfortunately the community has said bookshelf stud was one of the rangers uh welcome back to your number one place to get cannibalism content in a song of ice and fire girls gone canon eliana is our professional that we're featuring today on the panel our cannibalism perfection i shouldn't say that i'm sorry i'm sorry eliana i'm actually not i feel like some of these movies you have to get paid to be a professional right some of these movies that came out. You have to get paid to be a professional. Yeah, right. Some of these movies that came out, I don't actually know. I have not looked into what the menu is about, but I assume it's about cannibalism, but I don't really know. It is? It is?

It is. I watched. Yes. I actually, I watched it. You're the expert. Watched it. Whoa. Unfortunately. Unfortunately. I think we share a little bit of the expertise when we talk about cannibalism and we're going to talk more about that but first let's get through some of our housekeeping because I'm actually like a brand storm of swords lover oh interesting and I like a da da I think it's a

fine book and I like the story but it's never gripped me in the way that storm brand or clash brand does surprisingly I think I could be in a minority for a lot of people when I say that It's never gripped me in the way that Storm Bran or Clash Bran does, surprisingly. I think I could be in a minority for a lot of people when I say that. However, however, just like pizza, all Bran is good Bran. Whole Bran is whole Bran. All Bran is great to me. And I'm now, I'm really into these chapters. There's a whole new light I'm seeing them in and I'm loving them.

So excited. Same. I've never read all of Bran's chapters altogether like this. So it's cool. I think my only complaint about the Bran and the Dauda chapters are that there are so few of them. Like all the other ones, we have at least what, four chapters per book. And that gives you a little more time to really see that arc and story. And I kind of wish that there were just more, because I think there's a lot that's going on here, and there probably used to be more. We'll discuss in a second how there probably used to be more brand chapters in Dance. Yeah, but we are probably going to get a little more brand content going this month, in a way. Not just brand, but Bloodraven content, right? Because our patrons in the Stranger tier and above,

which is the $5 tier and up, over at patreon.com slash girlsgonecanon, get access every single month to a bonus episode. Sometimes those bonus episodes are Song of Ice and Fire episodes, and this month they are as

well. We are going to be covering the Mystery Night, covering Maynard Plum, Maynard Plum, who goes to town and is definitely not Bloodraven. But we're going to be covering the Mystery Night, and we're going to be talking a lot about Bloodraven, a little bit about Bran probably in there, and a few of those parallels.

And as kind of a special treat we're going to be releasing our patreon episode that we did with our friend joe from isle of the faces on the sworn sword and of course that has been released by our wonderful patrons for you but if you go back in time to a time that once existed to relive the adventure that was Drunken Egg, The Hedge Knight, you can hear a special 2017 Night of the Seven Kingdoms, The Hedge Knight rendition where Eliana and I fell in love and were plastered. So go digging. I'm not linking that for you. Like, that is like a scavenger hunt, if you dare. A drunken egg Easterter egg hunt oh my god

it is it is those were some days they were some days it's when chloe met eliana actually they met before that but it's when they met yeah that's that's out there so you can just go find that but we will be giving you right here on this channel here yeah this one you'll see that we we swear it we swear our sword to you that will be releasing the last week of february here in 2023 for all you girls gun canon historians from the future tuning in through the weirwood web that will be be publicly available for you on February 24th, 2023. Yeah, the 24th of February. And we'll be back next month, of course, to bring you more Bran, the final two Branisodes.

Next month, actually, we'll be returning for Bran 2 with a special guest that I'm very excited about. And we'll talk about that in a moment after, Eliana, you tell me about our discord brunch yes patrons in the ten dollar tier and above the thunder tier and above also get access to our special patreon discord where there's channels and fun to be had as well as brunch and this month's brunch is going to be on this coming sunday which is february 19th yeah 1 to 3 p.m et and the other thing we have going on for our discord members is that there's a his dark materials series 3 rewatch this week's episode is episode 3 i think if you're listening

to this as it drops and they're doing this every single week. It's going to end, I want to say, front of April. It'll end, but they're gathering, having watched already, and chatting about the episodes on Saturdays from 1 p.m. ET on. That's being hosted by Pete, Cassidy, and a bunch of guest hosts, some of our friends and patrons. And big thank you and shout out to them. They're doing a wonderful job so far. Everyone has had a good time so far. It's been a good crowd of just like everyone with some good thoughts and jokes, lots of jokes, I'm sure. Indeed, indeed. And they're putting a lot of effort into that. So there's a lot of detail and great points of discussion as

they, you know, relive this heartbreaking moment of our lives. Which is kind of what we like to do every week. It is. Whatever book we're reading. It actually really is. So we have some other special things coming your way in March, right? We've already announced that end of March,

we are starting our coverage of once a month, re-watching Sailor Moon Crystal. But we have one more very fun announcement for you in regards to our coverage of Bran. Our next episode, Bran 2, Adowada, will have a special guest. I'm really excited to have this guest on. We got to actually meet them a little bit ago at a George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman event, which was really cool. But Tanya from A Thousand Eyes and One podcast will be joining us. And A Thousand Eyes and One is great. Nikki and Tanya cover so much, right?

They cover Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, House of the Dragon, The Wheel of Time show, N.K. Jemisin, Nnedi Okorafor, and more, right? Oh, and the Trivia Nights. They host like Trivia Nights live and online. Even during the pandemic, they were hosting these online for everyone. Yeah, they used to do them live, I think, in New York at a brewery, which is very cool. I'm not sure if they've been able to resume doing that in person yet. But yeah, along with all the authors you listed, they also have covered some of Gaiman's works, which is really fun, because yeah, we did get to meet them at that event. And I'm really excited. They're both like very, such smart hosts. They have great insights. Definitely recommend anyone who's a fan of like these martin series and any of these other authors

to check them out i really like their coverage of house of the dragon and yeah um if they bring trivia back like those those were hard those were really hard they asked some really good thinkers i can't remember there was like a jamie lannister season seven one they got us with that i remember you and i were like what is the answer to this i don't know it was a hard one i've gone to a couple of them and i'm like i don't do i even know this fucking series yeah i highly recommend if you are in the brooklyn area new york area if they start these back up live and you get a chance to check out their site please go to one of these they're a blast and i will say whenever we remind people that,

yes, we love A Song of Ice and Fire, there are other books to cover. A Thousand Eyes and One is a great way to start, like finding other books to cover. Like, you know, they did a couple of different books by N.K. Jemisin, including N.K. Jemisin's, what is it called? Great Cities Duology. It's fun because the first book, especially especially is so focused on New York. I haven't read the second one yet. And so like Tanya and Nikki like bring this really, really fun spin to it that I really love. I'm so glad you called it out to that they're a great gateway drug to other books, right? People should read other books and I'm glad that they're living by that. Yeah, I'm like, I'm not innocent of that. that right i know that i've not there's times where

i'd rather just sit and curl up and read a book that i love right which is usually in a song of ice and fire book or a world in that universe last year because of the house of the dragon excitement i was like constantly chugging fire and blood and i haven't touched it probably since last year now since we finished recording and i'm so glad because I'm like I need a chance at something new it's good it stretches the brain out they're great for that and I'm like them and I'm a need more wine podcast

Jocelyn's podcast is great I really really recommend that too they cover some really great shows that get me out of like my show watching habit too they're the show equivalent for me of that so definitely check out a thousand eyes and one read some other great books we're gonna try to read some other great books too this year i think on top of a song of ice and fire and some just other books they don't have to be great yeah and again i also will probably plug all these

again too i do want to plug the a thousand eyes lies and ones house of the dragon coverage it was so good yeah well let's talk about some things that people have sent us and once more we are pushing back maddie's email sorry maddie further into dance because it just matches with a da wada brand two more yes it's definitely intended for a da wada too we're gonna come back to it with Tanya next month for the next episode but that said I would like to redact calling it an email I feel like that's reductive it's an essay it's actually a brilliant piece of work god I'm serious though that I did paste it into my notes because I wanted to go through it and read it and I was like damn Maddie this is the episode girl I don't even have to do it now.

She did the damn thing. So I can't wait to bring up some of her points next week and share them with you all. While you await Maddie's famous novel, her work that honestly, in my opinion, it rivals Tolstoy. You know, I mean, it is brilliant. It is deep.

You're going to hear it next episode. But in the meantime, our friend Brandon, who's been emailing us, and actually he has a new title. This is deep. You're going to hear it next episode. But in the meantime, our friend Brandon, who's been emailing us and actually he has a new title. This is amazing. I really did laugh at this one. He said he's the king who emailed because he's a Brandon. He has to have some sort of, as

we've discussed, moniker. He wrote in to talk about our coverage of Sailor Moon Crystal that he's looking forward to that's coming to a podcasting platform near you next month in March. He's glad to hear that we're going to be covering Sailor Moon Crystal and it makes sense to start because both Bran and Usagi Tsukino are lovable, compassionate leaders, and crybabies, which I personally relate to. So first of all, how dare you? He goes on to say after crystal maybe we should

do an episode on yuna and titus from final fantasy 10 and that yuna is magical enough and i'm you know i'm sitting here and i'm like yes yes let's start on final fantasy girls can we do final fantasy pov i gotta play all of them episodes um that could be a fun project I love this for you but spoilers Final Fantasy X if you don't know but he says Tidus being the main character even though he remarks this is my story it's really Yuna who carries the story and the game and the party on her

back just as Catelyn carried A Song of Ice and Fire for the first three books on her back he says true very true bestie similar to a song of ice and fire ff10 rewards on replay when you revisit it after learning the meaning of yuna's pilgrimage and what it means for her and her guardians so he cannot wait for sailor moon and also aria in march he says because he believes aria is the next pov and he says we all know it's

actually fake aria impersonated by jane pool so actually the next pov. And he says, we all know it's actually fake Arya impersonated by Jane Poole. So actually the next POV is not really Arya, but Sansa. Because it's true. We are doing Sansa all over again. Sansa again. Absolutely. I thought this was a fun suggestion of doing Yuna from Final Fantasy 10. And Brandon is right, because it is Yuna's story. And that is confirmed by X2, which is literally Yuna is the main character of X2. She learns about short shorts and other clothes. And there's- I will die on the hill that the dress spheres were fun.

Are they not? And then also like, so there's a video somewhere. I missed one of the notes, but it's fine. My friend and I, I want to say it's Otakon. This is or 12 oh i sent it to you that's right 10 or 12 years ago of us singing like a thousand words from x2 i do the english version my friend this is the japanese version she's dressed as renoa right from a different final fantasy game so eight yeah uh i also like my friends used to call me so this was back before i'd even played the game because of like what my hair looked like in high school some of the kids in anime club because

yeah of course i was a weeb in anime club called me yuna just very cute oh yuni how cute yeah so that's her nickname that's what riku calls her oh yeah i guess we could be that like that oh my god yeah i don't know final fantasy 10 would be fun to talk about i would love to go we got to get you playing some final fantasy some other ones and then we got to come back to it for sure i mean it is sad enough right oh yeah that's why i love it i love that shit i'm actually in the middle of a eight replay for a friend's podcast i don't know anything about eight other than like what they remastered it or we did it recently right yeah i've got an eight tattoo i know i do know this that's my my baby that's my baby it's a good 19 year old choice you know

i don't know as a as a older woman now i'm like would i have done it again i don't know but i love it why not In my mature age. Well, speaking of the passage of time. The passage of time. This brings us to our lightning round where we discuss what we missed between Bran IV in A Storm of Swords and Bran I in A Dance with Dragons. And right off the bat, I want to say we missed a lot. Right? A Storm of Swords happens. You know, there's more death oberyn does the whole like

you raped her you murdered her the mountain there's there's a good amount of stuff you've read the book yeah yeah a lot of shit oh tyrian shit he's there he's in this book too yeah fuck a lot happens right so then a feast for crows happens we don't happens. We don't know, right? We don't know. What even happened in that book? I don't know it. Well, okay. To be fair, that book got too big for its britches and got snipped in half and became a Feast for Crows and a Dance with Dragons. That's what happened during a Feast for Crows, what you're missing.

And as Eliana kind of alluded to earlier, I believe we're missing a Bran chapter, right? I want to say there was one Bran chapter that should have stayed in and got pushed to the Winds of Winter. What that chapter holds, Rip, what that chapter holds, we don't necessarily know. However, as we get into today's chapter, which almost feels like the mystery of cold hands being unfurled across from us, maybe there's an answer that we're waiting for in the winds of winter. We'll talk more about that today, but during A Feast for Crows, I think Brandon Stark and

his companions were probably still cold and still walking all the way to this cave. Are they out there touching tree lips? My dad always said, you don't want to lick a cold weirwood, man. Your tongue will stick to it. That's not what my dad said.

Your dad did not say that. It's actually like a metal pole, but... Adowada, the prologue, which we have covered. Baramir is injured and looking for a new host. Tyrion I. Emotionally wrecked, Tyrrian stays with Illyrio, who convinces him a three-headed dragon from across the sea should reign in Westeros. Daenerys won. A different dragon across the sea grieves one of her soldiers, while her people grieve their losses as well.

Jon won. Another dragon. No, I'm just kidding. Through Ghost's ghosts eyes john remembers his pack and by day he tries to lead a very different pack interesting interesting fighting evil by moonlight not my god not by daylight so always running from the real fight he doesn't know if he's a Stark or Snow. He's going to get stabbed. So, that brings us to Adota, Bran 1. A new member joins Bran's party as they work to complete their quest in finding the Three-Eyed Crow. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Bran never said the words aloud, but they were often on his lips as their ragged company trudged through groves of ancient oaks and towering gray-green sentinels, past gloomy soldier pines and bare brown chestnut trees. Are we near? The boy would wonder as Hodor clambered up a stony slope, or descended into some dark crevice where drifts of dirty snow cracked beneath his feet how much farther he would think as the great elk splashed across a half frozen stream how much longer it's so cold where is the three-eyed crow yeah so that opening line of are we there yet and all the other questions below of how much longer right on one hand i'm like is this a meta of george talking a little bit about how he was trudging

through writing a dance with dragons and also a feast for crows because those both got delayed a lot and dance with dragons even more so and when that split happened and then on the other hand it is just in general a reminder of rand's age It harkens to those tropes of how children feel during, you know, road trips. If you were once a child taken on a journey by your parents, probably not nearly as harrowing as Bran's, but in a car. You didn't grow up in Michigan, so. In a car. And then also, you know, again, like parents dealing with the kids asking are we there yet to remind us of brand's youth yeah when i read this i immediately thought that it was a very clever play on brand's childish nature and the things he's grappling with with being both a child and being thrust into this great green seer responsibility he's about to come upon against a horror-filled frosty landscape right

this chapter actually while in a way it serves as filler in my opinion and a transitional chapter between the fact that you've been gone for probably a book and a half if you really think of it that way there are a good chunk of chapters after brand four right brand four ends and we're put into darkness with brand we get nothing until a dance with dragons now besides the the bits with uh i guess with the sam back and forth but brand four kind of ends and brand ends with it for a while and now when you come back it serves as a purpose to remind you of where we are slash where we have come, right? We are now surrounded by snow. We're surrounded by trees. We're surrounded by much less.

The harrowing journey before was that someone was following them. Someone was following them. And we're going to learn about what's going to happen to what was following them in this chapter. And as you go through, there's almost these little bits like from old Nan, right? Who's still narrating, although she's no longer on the page with us. She's still narrating, and you get kind of the horror story sense of the being followed and on the harrowing journey. And next chapter, we'll talk a lot as this landscape turns, I mean, just straight awful, right?

You have arms and bodies coming out of the snow at you to take you. So this is the calm before the dance with dragons storm for bran or the calm after the storm of swords get it way after yes it it is it is and excited to jump into it and it's kind of funny when you think about it because like this chapter doesn't really as it transitions us into here doesn't really do a lot of the whole like last time on bran or like here's what you missed right which is interesting because i think tyrian's chapters actually do that too much his first few chapters in dance so bran's chapter that is interesting a little tighter bran's crypt sword became useful for bashing trees full of snow out of the way as Hodor

totes him along through the frigid cold and on the journey to the wall, they told stories to, I don't know, keep company. And apparently the story they didn't tell was, I guess, the Song of Ice and Fire for all those years. But it's too still here, even before the snows began. Now everything is buried in white with an occasional raven flying overhead. The ranger, nicknamed Cold Hands, sits on the elk, grim, silent, pale. His hands are black and hard as iron. He's wrapped in layers of wool and leather

and ring mail. His features shadowed by his cloak and a scarf about his face, too. I'm really loving the change of scenery. It's very different from where we were. You can tell we're beyond the wall now. We're getting into the heart of the cold. The storms, the snows are much heavier. And it's weird because I was sitting here thinking about it, and it's totally a we're not in Kansas anymore moment, right? And then I was like, wait a second.

This is very Wizard of Oz, right? You have the boy and his dog, his three humanoid companions-esque, swept away from the wreckage of their destroyed home and entering a world where it's eerily different from before, past the threshold. He's asleep and he's dreaming on and off, right? And perhaps it's the hero's journey in being a bigger thematic connection for Dorothy and Toto, but there's something kind of like it, like even the flying monkeys, right?

Except it's whites in the next chapter instead of flying monkeys. And now the only way for Bran and his companions to return home is to follow the road that leads to the Wizard of Oz, who is supposed to help him fly. Right? He's supposed to give him something magical. But once he gets there, it turns out it's a different kind of magical thing to cure him and for him to fly. He's not going to fly. He's not going to walk. Not physically, at least.

So kind of a bust when you get to behind the curtain at Emerald City, right? Yeah. And maybe even something more sinister, right? at least so kind of a bust when you get to behind the curtain at emerald city right yeah and maybe even something more sinister right than silly man lovers or i guess he does have lovers right it seems like maybe blood ravens and pulling some lovers but i like what you're saying here about it having that wizard of oz osk feel because it's almost in the reverse when it comes to the colors we go from the land of west rose where there's all these different colors of fall, the leaves, etc. And then now we come to this wilderness where everything is kind of in black and white, right? Which is what happens in The Wizard of Oz, but in reverse.

You start out with the black and white cinematics, and then suddenly you're like, oh, color. It's like, what, the first color film or something. Right. Are you saying listen to Pink Floyd backwards and you'll hear brand chapters? Probably. Wow. Wow. Be into that.

Yeah. That's kind of why I'm not writing it off as a legitimate thought I had. I was thinking it as I was thinking it, I was like, that's silly. And I'm like, wait a second. Is it silly though?

Is it silly? Follow the yellow brick road beyond the wall meanwhile mira has been trying to keep her brother warm slash alive and he's shivering violently he has frozen snot under his nose like that one pokemon it's like a little bear with a snot thing under the cub chew like cub chew he looks small and weak even more so, and Bran thinks, and I'm a cripple. Ouch. Not great. Things are not going great for Jojen. I've had that thought before, right? Like, and I'm already broken, so like, if you're not doing hot, I worry for y'all. Sorry. Thinking about everyone.

Especially Jojen. God. Cubchoo. Cubchoo. I'm worried for Jojen constantly. I don't know if he's gonna make it, man. I don't think Jojen knows if he's gonna make it I think Jojen does know if he's gonna make it I think that's the problem actually Summer brings up the caboose of all of this

still limping on his injured leg from Queen's Crown which Bran can feel whenever he slips into Summer's skin he had been doing it more often than not lately being able to see and hear and smell better than the boy in the basket could. We have this quote of, Other times, when he was tired of being a wolf,

Bran slipped into Hodor's skin instead. The gentle giant would whimper when he felt him and thrash his shaggy head from side to side, but not as violently as he had the first time. Back at Queen's Crown, He knows it's me, the boy liked to tell himself. He's used to me by now. Even so, he never felt comfortable inside Hodor's skin. The big stable boy never understood what was happening, and Bran could taste the fear at the back of his mouth. It was better inside summer.

I am him and he is me. He feels what I feel. This is why consent is literally sexy. Like, I'm not kidding. This actually shows something, right? That he's like, it feels bad inside Hodor. Hodor does not want me there. And I can sense that.

I can feel it. And coming off, of course, of Varamyr's chapter, reading this, there's a lot to think about there, especially with Thistle, right, at the end of the chapter. It was better inside Summer. You know, their connection is different. And I don't know, it feels better when the other animal is okay with it or the human is okay with it, it sounds like. Yeah, not many humans would be. But I have read stories where, like, they experiment with that. But it is consensual, right?

That's something that both parties wanted to play around with, teenage things. And I like that you draw that explicit connection. I mean, it's obviously inherently there. We're going to see him in this chapter with the Varamyr prologue, but how you compared it with the scene with Thistle, because it says here, Bran could taste the fear at the back of his mouth and that reminds me of what thistle does to try and eject viramir from her body she bites off her own tongue you know tasting it at the back of your mouth or removing your sense of taste in order to to preserve your autonomy over your body hodor i'm so sorry hodor i love you yeah he's a man bad for him right now.

As Mr. Lewin tries to remind us. He's not just a horse. He's not. He's not. And like, everyone's kind of treating him like one. Yeah. This journey's reduced everyone to something. And for Hodor, it's a bigger toll.

Hodor and Jojen. Jojen's like, I'm paced. Yeah. It's an interesting, like, juxtaposition, right? Jojen's going into this knowingly, knowing what he's giving up for Bran. Hodor, it's being taken from him. They say he's Hodor-ing less because of the cold, but I'm like, I don't know if it's just the cold part of it. It could be because he's being broken down inside.

Yeah. Sometimes Bran senses Summer sniffing after the elk, wondering how to take it down. Summer was used to the horses, but this was an elk. Prey. The warm blood was enough to make Summer slobber. And Bran, too. A raven quarks nearby, and by day, half a dozen ravens stay with them, flitting tree to tree, riding the antlers of the elk, going and returning as they please. But as the sun sets, every branch of every tree for yards around gathered squawking birds. Coldhand seems to understand those squarks.

They were his eyes and ears scouting for him. I just like the imagery of the birds perched on the elk's horns as they walk along. It's just cute. Just really need to call that out. Yeah, I love also that you can sense Bloodraven is watching too. Yeah, yeah. The that you can sense Bloodraven is watching too. Yeah, yeah. The ranger pauses finally. Some are growling at him, fur bristling.

We have a line of, The direwolf did not like the way that cold hands smelled. Dead meat, dry blood, a faint whiff of rot, and cold. Cold overall. So, I tend to get inspired to write notes about things pretty much right after we record i don't know what my brain does it like adhd kicks into gear and it's like you have energy you should be using this towards productive means and as soon as we got done recording with our friend ann for last week's episode i could not stop thinking about the theory that she brought up about

everybody kind of you know theorizing what if cold hands was made from brands brands powers from brand brand was controlling cold hands and brand you know kind of was cold hands and eliana you made me read a short story today it was very good well okay it definitely inspired george all right this is one of George's heroes. Okay. Yes. So this story, Eliana, would you give us a brief description? Yeah. So I don't want to give everything away just because it's such a short story that I do strongly think that people should try to check it out. It's like, it'll take you what? I don't know, 20 minutes to read? If even? Yeah, it took me 20 minutes.

Something like that. It's Robert A. Heinlein's All You Zombies! Exclamation point, exclamation point. Like literally, I think there are two exclamation points. And it's a short story about time travel and affecting the past and timelines through that time travel. We'll link it. You all have to read it. But I will warn you that after hearing discussion of this, if you go into it, you will not be going into it with no perceived ideas or notions because I was able to guess what was afoot very easily. And I was like, oh my god, Eliana, it all makes sense. And she's like, no, just finish it. And I was like, so I was right. But there was even more. There was bonus to what you said it was a lot of it anyway yes well and something that i know you're going to bring up throughout the episode is that idea of the circle and of things completing themselves and so i mean the first thing i thought even just reading this chapter and then especially the next chapter there's something off about cold hands besides the whole undead kind of thing like that's off chapter there's something off about cold hands besides the whole undead kind of thing like that's off obviously there's something about cold hands but there's also something in it about creating your own monster in your own horror and realizing what you've done

when you can understand it right and maybe it's kind of this there's an idea of that of like expressing your grief or expressing your power or what's within you and it manifesting something right or creating something and that i feel like is very prominent in horror or in sci-fi a horror for example right like manifesting your own thing that terrorizes you or your own poltergeist in the night that's a very common thing a common trope but there's something here that's almost like that of cold hands everything around him reeks of the last green seer being involved and if bran is going to blood raven's throne and eventually going to be asked hey branny boy you want to connect into

the throne forever until you wither away i mean that's the point right like he becomes that last green seer so he effectively inherits and absorbs everything the green seers have done so in a way cold hands is either sent by blood raven or by him and reanimated by them is kind of how I feel like it's by one of them but if it's by one of them isn't it also by the other one am I crazy I don't know I haven't considered that blood raven might become part of brand but I think that's interesting now that like with the other one am i crazy i don't know i haven't considered that blood raven might become part of brand but i think that's interesting now that like with the other themes that are going on and what we're discussing here about cannibalism and consumption that is really interesting very yes yeah i see what you're saying let's come back to that in a bit but to what you're saying of

you know ann's theory i think is that cold hands is bran in the future skin changing i don't know some corpse as cold hands and i i do kind of after rereading this and some things kind of feel there are times when i feel like yeah that could totally be it and there are other times that i feel like it's what you're saying, right? Like that Bran reanimates and makes this as opposed to it being Bran actively at the time. I'm not sure. I go back and forth. as a theory is like you have those kooky plots in sitcoms or in sci-fi shows i mean doctor who for example you'll find it every other episode because it's a show about time travel you won't bitch but don't get me started i don't have time for you we have brand to talk about today but every other episode has some kooky you know like you got a checklist of things you have to do to make sure the thing goes right so that there are no paradoxes where everything blows up and i don't think that

this is that kind of story however the story you made me read today this short story this doesn't right it's a different thing right because it goes between those lines of like it's not the main character does go in this short story through a little checklist of some time travel things in a way but the way it's done is pretty pretty subtly done and not in your face about it where doctor who is literally a show about keeping timelines right a swath is not a book about that in my opinion and i do think like it's a weird line and i tend to to lean towards george underwriting that plot right like a loose i don't think it's going to be a detailed explanation of it at this exact time

bran decided in the future he was going to go back and skin change and cold hands and make sure cold hands got them there but there are so many signs in this that tell me it is you know it's definitely something to do with blood raven or bran i agree um so i don't know i think we're out of something there i don't know if we'll necessarily get a chapter in the future of bran sitting there and mapping out oh shit i gotta go back and save them via cold hands oh no i don't think it's that however i could definitely see him as he is absorbed into a weirwood somehow or just chilling being in the net him going of course i did that i remember now of course i did that is me all of this is me yeah or even like you know you're talking about that the grishka the grishka the grishka it reminds me of the grishka too and the the seers it also makes me think of like last chapter when

you talked about the body horror aspect of bran being in hodor and then hodor from hodor's perspective seeing bran's like limp body in there and the idea of if bran through the weirwood witnesses himself because it has to be himself right no one can skin change into him in that way doing heinous acts right things that are abominable if you will and then that it's in of itself being a body horror like it's not even someone else controlling your body it is and it isn't you see it as yourself and then a sort of uncanniness to that sort of horror of you cannot stop this thing that you see yourself having done or doing. Yeah. I think that's a big part of it too because this chapter is very dark. It takes

Bran in a lot of dark directions. So if you add this third layer of the things he does through cold hands out of necessity and out of knowing the way that the future will go and knowing what he has to do to make sure they arrive in a certain way and safely it's interesting to consider it adds this total crazy layer and now i can never think of the books ever any other way it's awful when you're talking about it like as you know he feels that he has to do it out of necessity right and these are like monstrous acts and stuff and now also makes me think of like bran in the same context as someone maybe like tywin lannister right tywin thinking that we must do this out of pragmatism wow you heard it here on girls gone canon bran is just as bad as tywin that is what you said i'm just talking about

journalism i'm just talking about you know like that idea of like when you or or stannis you know stannis thinking you have to do this thing who in terms of second sons man second sons in terms of you know like again being like this is necessary to do this this act must be done to save things and i don't know maybe brand's right because he has way more knowledge than any of us because maybe brand knows how these books fucking end um well and you look at blood raven look at the things he's done and the things he's had to do too i think that's the ultimate way to parallel it and we'll talk about that in the next chapter a lot more so cold hands warns that something is behind them bran knew they were being followed for days wondering if it's wolves again another thing that makes me think we're on to something here is that cold hands's knowledge

only seems to be the same stuff brand knows knows. Brandt could hear the pack every night of wolves and they seem closer and closer and he thinks the wolves must smell his weakness. He would wake often before the dawn hearing the wolves calling to one another and he thinks if there are wolves there must be prey. Until it came to him they were the prey. Very chilling line that he realizes they were the prey especially this coming before later of like you know i don't know man eat man world i mean dog eat dog world i mean man eat dog man eat man whatever kind of eating it is that gives significance to why the rangers get yeeted so that brand and his company do not get yeeted they don't get yeeted as long as they

aren't eated right i think that's important like he realizes oh we're the prey of the forest and if we don't fight first yeah we're food it makes me think of in in covering some of george's short stories you were talking about this sort of time period that he came out of in sci-fi and stuff and like the alien movies the alien and alien versus predator stuff yes and even like terminator stuff right like the fear of term the the thing about terminator is that it makes you feel like you're the prey because humans were able to what do long distance endurance running to chase down prey and terminator turns that on its head for humanity so very true about this chillingness and then i don't know there's something about that language of specifically using the word prey right and the fact that they find out they're not being hunted

by wolves or any other creature that they are being hunted by other men and again that comes back to that specter of consumption because the word prey has a connotation of whatever is the prey is going to be eaten. So then it comes back again to that cannibalism aspect. First, you think that it's wolves chasing other wolves, right? Like chasing, because you're in the skin of summer. But then turns out it's like men preying upon other men, eating men. And doesn't that sum up a feast for crows and a dance with

dragons like completely too yeah wow yeah i mean it all goes together i wonder what i really hope we get to learn if he is skin changing into a white to create cold hands i wonder what the capabilities that are enhanced for him when he sees through cold hands would be compared to bran or to compared to summer because through summer he has enhanced smell and sight through cold hands i wonder what he could see more of because then we have this passage where cold hands says he hears men not wolves he corrects bran and he's like no it's not wolves it's men and he says they're not as shy and that he's going to have to turn back and deal with them and tells Meera to protect them and the boy head to the

fishing village take refuge and he will catch up with them and he goes off you know to do whatever aka kill the rangers and cook them up I find it really interesting to the way that he's presented in speaking when he speaks and when we who we're seeing him speak through with bran and like the unreliable narrator of it all it is really interesting i didn't even realize that maybe he has different capabilities than what he hears or can sense and i mean i wonder if it's like bran can't tell it's men you know then yeah but whites can they can sense life right because they look for life to kill it and reanimate it or it's because there isn't like another you know perspective in there it may if it

is just brand in there like can tell when you're hearing human voices whereas like when he's in summer sometimes he doesn't have the language or like the the rap reasoning abilities to understand what certain things are also makes me he has TARDIS translation uh sure it's basically the idea that whenever the TARDIS has a circuit within it that translates whatever it lands so if you landed in Italy right now you'd know you'd be like oh I know what they're saying I remember I remember this aspect yeah it's it's that or like also I don't know you were talking about if he's like white or not I kind of wonder if like cold hands is just like a different method

or something that is similar to whatever happened with the whites you know but not the same like a modified or different version original version I don't know I would argue that you might be right there because you know what just happened

alongside this in the last book there were a lot of things stuff oh yeah you're right gregor cliggins death and his reanimation that comes up in last book is sir robert strong's reanimation isn't there black puddingy skin pooled up yeah or like a primal version or something before the others started doing what they were doing, right? Because we know that these are related to one another. And there's, despite

whatever, you know, is going on with the others, at the core of it, their motivation, something happened there that has a very human motivation, something that we ourselves would recognize at its emotional core they were humans too yeah even though george says they have no culture and i'm like you have no culture no i'm joking like you don't know that are you saying that they are no longer their past

selves they go new jersey i'm joking i'm just coming for george for no reason i'm sorry george i'm like i feel like whites rights doesn't work, though. So, George, you need to re-white that one. Whoa. Whoa. Re-white. Mira wants to argue about these orders, but Jojen basically commands her to do as Coldhand says. Jojen's eyes are dark green and mossy, but they have a new weariness to them. The little grandfather had been wise beyond his years south of the wall, but here, he is as frightened as the rest of them.

Mirra listens all the same, and Coldhands leaves with four new ravens following him. Mirra turns to them, asking, what did he mean by men? Wildlings? And he had told them they'd go to the three-eyed crow but it seems like in mira's opinion they're going in circles they passed this river before and bran's like actually that's not possible rivers twist and turn and lakes and hills have to be gone around as we've done so you will see this is actually not the same river i think i would be the person to be like, we've fucking been here before. And I want to come back to something we discussed long, long ago.

I want to say it was actually in Theon's chapters, right? About crossing rivers. It's not the same river, right? Because they are not the same. Therefore it cannot be the same. The passage of time means that you're a different person.

And that makes sense. It's a story that is very interested in the passage of time because we are talking about timey-wimey stuff chloe and i made a reference it's also a story that's interested in when it comes to time and going back in it this very circular nature of things whether that means means patterns repeating in cycles in terms of we're seeing maybe a new age of heroes, right? But also in a literal sense, again, that ability to relive events through time travel and memories, like getting stuck in a weirwood, seeing the people that you love alive over and over again. It's a story about being caught in loops. I mean, even Ned, right? He was caught in a cycle of his grief, unable to break free from the past. That's what makes that third chapter so good. Oh, God.

I'm so excited. my god and let them grow up as brothers and let my lady wife learn to forgive well forgiveness let's talk about can you imagine lady stoneheart he's undead no i cannot imagine her and her putting soft. Anyways. What the fuck? Mira hates secrets. She doesn't like or trust cold hands. Who is he?

What is he? Anyone can put on a black cloak, she says. Anyone or anything. Interesting line. She questions why he doesn't eat doesn't speak and bran doesn't say it but she's right he thinks and in my head i'm like how much of it is she right about bran whenever they take shelter the ranger keeps away from them with his eyes closed but yet does not sleep and the scarf was odd he's definitely hiding something under there he

brings it up now saying you're kind of right his scarf never gets hard with ice like hodor's beard but at the same time they'd never seen his breath their entire party's hot breath could be seen whenever they speak but not cold hands very quick aside some of this is it makes sense that melisandre's chapter what we learned about her is in this book too too, alongside it. That's a very interesting call-out. In fact, there's a lot of Melisandre, I feel like, in this chapter. A little bit of a R'lyeh talk to come.

Also, that line, anyone or anything can put on a black cloak, was interesting. Like Jon. Especially if he comes back undead yeah that's true i mean everyone you too could be an undead watchman is gonna probably be asked to to join the night's watch in a way it makes me think of this is completely unrelated end of spider-verse where they're like anyone can put on the mask you can wear the mask or whatever it is everyone can be part of the Night's Watch and be a hero. Or a monster. Just like at the end of Mean Girls when they break up the tiara.

Yes, it's literally the same. Yeah. That might be the end of A Song of Ice and Fire. Oh my god. It's just like, wait, is that Mean Girls the end of A Song of Ice and Fire? Sansa Stark stands up and she takes the crown and she starts breaking it.

It's just plastic. Plastic. Next POV, Sansa. Bran remembers the tales that old Nan used to tell him when he was a wee babe. The giants, the ghouls beyond the wall, the snarks, the grumpkins. But they can't pass, so long as the wall stands, so long as the knight stands. The men of the watch are true. So go to sleep, my little Brandon, my baby boy, and dream sweet dreams. There are no monsters here.

The ranger wore the black of the knight's watch, but what if he was not a man at all? What if he was some monster monster taking them to the other monsters to be devoured? You're a monster, Brandon Stark. You know, this reminds me of a quote from Freddie N. Big Nietzsche.

Nietzsche Nietzsche on the philosophy ones and threes. Who the fuck is this Freddie N? I decided you were talking about like Freddy Krueger or something. No, Nietzsche. He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. For when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you me thinks that big niche here is on to something because branny bran is kind of looking into the abyss and the abyss is looking into him it feels like

definitely it makes me now think of that the undying right they stared into something too long and look at what happened to them this is what you could become yeah yeah well actually now that i think about it wait literally because they are trying to eat denarius's body if i remember correctly the trees right the uh contrasting trees with the blue and black and the white and red something's going on here and yeah i mean again we just discussed that cannibalism with the the undying and it's here too right because literally the language is what if he was some monster taking them to the other monsters to be devoured yet as we know and we'll be discussing more and more bran also being a monster within this story and

we have something going on here of like you know something that's familiar and the unfamiliar with taboos being broken and we'll probably talk more about that in Freud's essay on the uncanny next episode because I was too lazy to relearn it for this one

I feel like it really comes up in the next episode though so i'm excited too i feel that too so it's like it's okay sorry i'm ready for an eliana essay some freudian eliana is how i spice up my life i'm not kidding unfortunately i wish i could say that in a um maybe a more clear way that isn't you know freudian itself oh bran hesitates because he remembers that the ranger saved sam and the girl from the whites and now is guiding them to the crow mira argues crows have wings why won't he come to us and her my brother grows weaker daily jojan coughs and says we will get there yeah this isn't like a critique or anything or like me saying

anything about Mira. It just kind of reminds me a bit of like in the Storm of Swords when they're like, why won't Doran just come to us? And it's like, well, he can't really walk. It's a very difficult journey for him. Bloodraven is literally tied to a tree. It's a difficult journey for him. Yeah, she's going to be eating those words.

I mean, as long as she's eating something, apparently that is the problem this this chapter yeah i mean to her credit here since you were obviously coming at my daughter no i'm just kidding it's a fucking fictional character i was just like i know you put the disclaimer so that i wouldn't yell at you well no one knew that doran was like actually legit sick they're like he's just being rude no that man is sick fucking faker no it's true though because that's literally like i will push myself to do shit even when i know health-wise i probably shouldn't be going on some big trip or doing something if i know that i'm not like healthy

for it like i will push it because i don't like how people think like that exactly people think that way so that's a really great point bitches but then they go and then they see him tied to the tree, and they're like, oh, okay, I get it now. He was with us the whole time with the birds. Yeah, this motherfucker literally could not come. He was there. He was there. He was not an absentee bird dad. They arrive at the lake,

frozen with snow as far as the eye can see. It's hard to tell where the lake ends when the shore begins. Even the trees aren't really a help. There are decorated wooded islands deep in the lake, and then around them is just barren land. Snowdrifts are higher than Bran himself, and there's a strong, cruel wind, putting snow in their eyes, leaving them blind. It's shorter and crueler than the last each day. They think they should have come up to the village by now, and it's getting closer to nightfall. They need shelter, fast. Bran's face is numb,

Jojen's lips are blue. Hodor's beard is ice, staggering more than once in the snow. No one was as strong as Hodor, Bran thinks, no one, if even his great strength was failing. He realizes he can use summer to find the village and slips into summer's skin where the woods come to life with noise and wind, the elk, Hodor's breathing, and familiar scents of leaves, grass, rotting carcasses, and man's sweat.

Man's sweat. I know, man's sweat amidst the man rock. The elk teases him, but the boy whispers to the wolf, he is not prey. Leave him and run. The direwolf spr him, but the boy whispers to the wolf, he is not prey. Leave him and run. The direwolf sprints off through the snow, his paws wet and cold, to a hill with pines, turning in a circle,

howling. Man smells. Ashes. Burnt wood. Soot. Charcoal. A dead fire. The wind is gusting, so it's hard to follow, but Bran directs Summer, stumbling upon a village by the lake under a crescent moon. Yes, we're getting the moon in a lot of Bran's chapters to show us the passage of time in terms of how this journey is going. And then now we have buried under the snow.

The stone houses could have been boulders or hillocks or logs. It was empty, abandoned by the free folk who lived there for reasons that we all know. Like the rest that they passed, some were burnt, but this one was spared. They find a dozen huts in a long hall to shelter in and try to find food. They find the ashes of a fire instead, floors of dirt, in a bone-deep chill. An ice-covered stream runs nearby and the elk cracks it with his hoof. Mira fetches broken ice for them to suck on so cold it makes them shudder and summer refuses to follow into the hall brand tells him

to go hunt but not the elk off limits brand wants to go too but thinks later oh brand's learning a little discipline here he's growing he's growing in different ways it's not a straight arc to maturity i know this myself time is not linear after all no it is not not when it comes to growing up supper is acorn paste it's bitter and bran gags trying to keep it down jojen doesn't eat mirror tells him to eat but he says he wants to rest. This is not the day I die, sister. I promise you. You almost fell off the elk. Almost. I'm cold and hungry. That's all. Then eat.

Crushed acorns. My belly hurts, but that will only make it worse. Leave me be, sister. I'm dreaming of roast chicken. Dreams will not sustain you not even green dreams dreams are what we have all we have the last of the food that they had brought from the south was 10 days gone oh so now jojen gets to be poetic about not eating i i just think there's a hilarious like kind of. Not hilarious. It's actually really sad.

Student teacher reversal here. As Jojen is now the one who's refusing to eat. And everyone's like Jojen you gotta eat. It's even sadder when you realize. That he knows it's not worth him eating the supplies. Because he knows he's probably going to die any day now. So it's better they eat it anyways. Because he knows there's nothing to save him. And he knows. And they don't know when it's coming. But he knows it's better they eat it anyways because he knows there's nothing to save him and he knows and they don't know when it's coming but he knows it's coming yeah so he goes and he eats he partakes

though quite a bit of the the other pig later but that's because i guess he i don't know maybe he's just dreaming of meat real food sustenance well it actually reminds me of amen when he goes and at the end how he went i feel like that is something that we're supposed to be feeling here yeah sam suffers it at the same time yeah interesting hunger had walked with them each day and night summer couldn't find game in the woods either they lived on crushed acorns and raw fish oh this is fancy sushi thanks to mira's prowess with her frog spear right but it had been three days since she had caught anything hodo rocks back and forth muttering on his haunches it's too cold to talk and cold hands had warned them not to light a fire

you cannot know what the light might summon from the darkness. I've decided that's my cold hands voice now, you know. I came up with it just now on the spot. I like it. Thank you, thank you. Hopefully I remember it. You won't. It makes him shiver and sleep won't come. So he slips into summer skin, leagues away, the night rank with a strong scent of blood.

A kill wasn't far. Not elk. Not deer. Something else. A third secret thing. The wind blows its scent away. Secret. And he tries to find it, losing it several times until he hears a distant sound of wolf. The scent of blood is back. Meat is back on the menu, boys. But other souls too, like piss, dead skin, bird shit, feathers, and a wolf pack.

He would need to fight for his meat. You cannot know what the light might summon from the darkness is so reminiscent of R'hllor. To me, it makes me think of Melisandre coming back to her in R'hllor. It makes me curious about that relationship between Seers

and R'hllor and that pool of magic even more. And it kind of brings me back to Davos 3 in Akak, Akak, A Clash of Kings, where he and Melisandre have that conversation before she summons the Shadow Baby. And he tells her the God of Darkness protects him. And she says, speak not that name, sir, lest you draw his black eye upon us he protects no man i promise you he is the enemy of all that lives it is the torches that hide us you have said so yourself fire the bright gift of the lord of light i absolutely agree there's something about the light summoning from the darkness that that is very reminiscent of rollerism and mel's stuff and you know there's something about like i don't know the uncanny

tune not only does the light lure things or summon things from the darkness but it's also a revelatory aspect right like it like doesn't technically always summon things from the darkness but when you cast it what you're able to see might be, you know, maybe even darker than what was hidden because it's now out in the open and the secrets unfurled. Like, who is Cold Hands? I love that. And to top that off, it reminds me a little bit of that mythological aspect, right? In a lot of religions or lore, right? Folklore that have moon or sun lore.

And it's interesting in the idea of like darkness versus light right like this is an origin story of the darkness and the light having a fight for all time and one time the darkness won and it was the darkest time of all but now we're up close and we've seen the servants of the darkness we've seen some of those servants of the darkness and what they look like and what they can do yeah and when you put it in that in that light of the darkness and what they look like and what they can do yeah and when you put it in that in that light of the origin stories you think about you know the supposed maybe birth of dragons or something right coming from a light source the moon a moon an egg ah moon is not egg, Eliana. Moon is egg. Moon is a very expensive egg. Moon is not egg, Khaleesi.

Used to be a saying in my household like every day. I just need you to know. I say it all the time. I'll be like, moon is not egg, Khaleesi. About the most random shit. Doesn't even have to be anything egg-shaped, but always. The female wolf chews a leather boot with legs still attached. The pack leader, a grizzled old male that you might know with a blind eye who snarls,

moves to meet him. A younger male bears his fangs too. Around them is a nest of entrails and blood, a head staring up at the moon. Men. Alive, they were five. Now they are none. Dead. Done. Meat. men alive they were five now they are none dead done meat once cloaked and hooded in black now meat summer's meat the boy back in the village stirs thinking their nights watch but the dire wolf doesn't care bearing his fangs and beginning the dance but the wolf and the dire wolf's eyes meet, and they realize. Warg.

Warg. What is it good for? Warg. And, yeah, it is kind of interesting that before when Bran's like, no, leave the elk, you can't eat him. Summer's like, sure. But here with, like, the dead people, Bran's like, no, no, we can't. And Summer's like, but here with like the dead people brand's like no no we can summer's like yes we can the dead brothers of the watch especially like that line of dead done meat and being described as meat it makes me also think of coming back to cold hands if cold hands is a corpse reanimated by brand using a term that is specifically mostly used for

food it reminds me of some of george's other short stories that involve controlling corpses or bodies aka like his corpse handler short stories of overdrive nobody leaves new pittsburgh but most famously which plays into this the idea of meat house man so again you know meat and consumption in which you become a part of something or someone and it becomes part of you and again skin changing as a form of cannibalism as you consume or use their body and how it's different right assuming that maybe this is like there's literally nothing to prove that Skagosi cannibalism is like a misunderstood ritual for honoring the dead. But if it were, there's nothing about skin changing a human, as far as we can see, that is about ritual or honoring the person whose body is being consumed, right? Like they aren't dead, but they're alive and being used.

consumed right like they aren't dead but they're being they're alive and being used and you talk about the kind of the power of consuming too and what it means it's very spiritual right for some cultures that utilize said cannibalism but like thinking about it if this is a legitimate thing that george is going, in my opinion, it makes Jojen Pace that much more true. Because it sets the ground clearly. But not only that, but also if blood strengthens Bran's power, and consumption of human meat and flesh would enhance his power, and he reanimated Cold cold hands slash is whatever is going on with cold hands yeah it would require a lot of gas in the tank is what i'm implying to do that right for a little boy who's not yet in control of his power to be able to do that so thinking

about it this made me think about why specifically specifically, besides being starving and dying, those humans could be consumed. I wonder if, like, they have to be alive. It's like a live flesh thing, right? I mean, we see sacrifice being done to the trees. In honor of the trees, yeah, like in the third Bran dance chapter. But it's also, like, you know, what you're saying of Jojen Pace. but it's also like you know what you're saying of jojen paste and then again remembering that with the undying they tried to literally eat denarius starting with her boobs um the sexiest part of the meal i guess it's fatty you know you think about it it's it's got a lot of fat

so is it like i don't know kobe beef i i don't know how girl danny is like a5 wagyu you are so right well also she was but at the same time she was starving at that time like just a little bit before so i don't know she could not have been that delicious and i don't know why where i was going with this oh no now i remember i wanted to ask you so interestingly after jojen died the way he died in the television show some people thought they were like oh that disproves Jojen Pace but for me that he got killed off at that time made me think oh Jojen Pace is real that's an interesting way to look at it like meta wise because I think there's something to that too agreed I don't know how did you feel like or did you not think about that at all I don't think I was as big of a believer in Jojen Pace at that point.

I think it... Let's talk about how Jojen Pace has evolved from being very meme-y to actually being... And this is also literally a result of a fandom that's on pause. Yeah, that's true. It did used to be a meme. It used to be very meme-able. 2014, 2015, Jojen Pace was... No one believed it or cared about it.

The people that did were real, you know, higher living, woke. But the people that were not were like, it's a meme. It's a meme. Especially on reread of these chapters in this linear way. I'm sorry, but I don't know if it's a meme. This right here is really

laying some groundwork for some gruesome stuff with the cannibalism and the way that George reveals things and the way he builds things in his world it wouldn't surprise me and now that you add the tv show to it i'm like they really didn't want to show much cannibalism besides the what the night's watch deserters not really even yeah they didn't they just had like some guy like edgy edgily like drink out of skull which is like boring let's show people eating people and like there are shows that do that and yeah i i felt it was a meme until like that happened in the show then i was like oh oh it's real i decided in that moment i mean even

the walking dead did a great bit in i want to say season five it was a really good season long arc where they get herded like cattle to this place and it's been out for like 800 years there's like 47 seasons of the walking dead so i feel i'm able to spoil this but they get herded they get part of their the place is advertised as a utopia and of course it is not because no place in the apocalypse is a utopia that's not possible it's the point uh so in the apocalypse is a utopia. That's not possible. It's the point. So they get herded into these blocks where it's quite obvious that like some of the people are getting passed through as like legit to join that team. But that team is just butchering humans.

And that's how they have a happy world full of meat. And you actually watch a guy. You like have a screenshot. Wake up. He gets kidnapped by them and you watch him get his leg eaten. Like he's just chilling. They're like roasting part of his leg. And bit by up, he gets kidnapped by them, and you watch him get his leg eaten. Like, he's just chilling. They're, like, roasting part of his leg. Bit by bit, he's still alive.

It's very aggresome. It was a crazy plot. Like, if you watched episode by episode, week by week on it, it was one of those real good burn episodes where you're like, what? I would have loved to see more cannibalism on Game of Thrones. I'm surprised they didn't do, like, they shied away from that. But it's the same sort of surprise that I'm like, why didn't they do Ariane? You know, like. Played it so safe.

I feel like it would have fit what they were going for. Boobs, cannibalism. Soylent Greenseer. Yeah, Soylent Greenseer. Please make that your new Twitter name. Can you please? I know, Sailor Moonblood. I don't want to.

It's just like i just like it's a brand there but i do like maybe i'll just put soylent green seer somewhere but i don't know anyway that's my new thing today not like a thing that's what i have brought to you that is my gift to all of you soylent green seer you are my favorite soylent green seer i really yeah i never gave it much credence, that theory, but as we reread it this way, that's all I can think about is that there Jojen paste.

That there Jojen? I bet he's not even delicious right now. He's wasting away. Yeah, maybe sinewy, you know? Lean. Maybe the sacrifice is better that way. We don't know. We would love to know the rules. Yeah, one day, maybe know, lean. Maybe the sacrifice is better that way. We don't know. We would love to know the rules.

One day, maybe we will know. As the wolves battle, the world shrinks down to tooth and claw. I love that line. They're rolling, snarling, snapping until finally, after a good fight, the one-eyed wolf lies down and shows

his belly. You can, in fact fact touch dog bellies. Um, so this battle between this wolf, right, versus a one-eyed, older, maybe like weaker wolf slash warg foreshadowing for a confrontation with Bloodraven? Yeah, we'll talk in a little bit. This is, of course, Varamyr's pack, but it absolutely... The first thing I thought of when rereading,

I was like, one-eyed? That's so funny. George. George. So funny that you did that. And then it also... I started going through all the one-eyes. I was thinking of Aemond, I was thinking of Euron, I was thinking of Bloodraven, and. I was thinking of Aemon, I was thinking of Euron, I was thinking of Bloodraven, and then I was thinking of the Umber.

I was thinking of all of them, and what do they have in common? Everything. But then I was like, ah, Bloodraven is next. Thank you for bringing us through these eye patches, George. The direwolf snapped at him twice more, sniffed at his butt, then lifted a leg over him. A few snaps and a warning growl on the female and the tail submitted too. The pack was his, the prey as well.

Golden showering the doggo. Wow, Bran, power move. Next we have him sniffing from man to man, settling on the biggest, gulping down the blood and meat. We have a line of, no flesh had ever tasted half as good. When he was done with that one, he moved on to the next. And devoured the choicest bits of that man, too.

He leaves the other wolves with the scraps and thinks that they were his now. They were Pak. And, uh, the Grishka. Uh, but the boy whispers, no. We have another Pak. He thinks on his dead siblings, Lady and Grey Wind. But somewhere there's Shaggy, Nymeria, and Ghost. And then Chloe's favorite line of, remember Ghost?

There's a line right before this there when he says, no flesh had ever tasted half as good. That reminds me, I was trying to figure out what it reminded me of. It reminded me of when Sandor wraps Sansa in his cloak when she's being beat in the throne room. And she thinks no, what should I say, no satin had ever felt so fine or whatever. It's just an interesting turn of phrase that reminded me of that. But yes, on to the sadness. Yes, yes, let's keep going to the sadness. Continue.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, in regards to the sadness, right? Like Bran reminding Summer, like, no, we have a different pack. It speaks to that idea of having, right? You can have multiple packs in different families and how the story is constantly asking, who is your family? And that's especially true for Jon's storyline. dark he has a wolf to show that he is part of that pack but he also has brothers another family in the night's watch like sam who's like john was my brother and i'm like oh sam and and then we'll also learn later on that john has another family his girlfriend right talk about found family uh as well as being seen as a leader amongst the free folk. Found family, fuck off. Found family, found out my family. Found something inside your family, like your cock.

Something I love about this so much is the way that it ramps up, though. Summer is lost in Berserk, and there's that great line we've been discussing, right, of Bran versus Summer, and when is it Bran, and when's it Summer, we've been discussing right of bran versus summer and when is it bran and when's it summer and when does the wolf become the boy and the boy the wolf and when does he let summer take over because summer is better at feeling certain things or is able to do different things that he's not and etc and his humanity allowing him to do different things in different ways i find that fascinating but it ramps up as summer goes berserk and he has

to remind summer of their family, right? Like not just this pack, but also our actual family. And then it breaks and we have this passage that literally breaks my heart. Makes me want to sob. It's so sweet and sad. Falling snow and feasting wolves began to dim. Warmth beat against his face, Falling snow and feasting wolves began to dim. Warmth beat against his face, comforting as a mother's kisses. Fire, he thought. Smoke. His nose twitched to the smell of roasting meat.

And then the forest fell away and he was back in the long haul again, back in his broken body, staring at a fire. Just the saddest, most beautiful dissolve that what kicks him out of summer's body this time is that he remembers his family and and he's able to separate himself right from from losing himself in the bloodlust of eating these men when something's like no we're human we're we're stark we're them you know remember remember who they are and that's what makes him jerk out of summer's body lose that focus and i just thought it was sad and very beautiful and i love that dissolve just picture it right it all just falls away and there he is in the cave there he is in the cave getting ready to eat people again

yum dine and dash twice, baby. Right. Mira turns a chunk of meat as he wakes, telling him he slept through supper. She says the ranger found a sow. Which, okay, sure. And Hodor was tearing apart a chunk of meat. Greased down his beard. Smoked between his fingers. Hodor, he muttered between bites.

Hodor, Hodorodor and even jojen eats and there's kind of some playful language here um the line says jojen nipped at his own joint with small bites chewing each chunk of meat a dozen times before swallowing and i think that the way that they phrase that really blurs the line of what we're talking about when it says his own joint right do we mean like oh the little piece of meat that he is holding and has cleaned or do we mean his own joint like as in from his own body bringing up ideas of for example lady hornwood or an ouroboros right like again maybe bran if jojen pays something i love that it's a math equation if Bran equals X and Jojen Pace equals

Y, X Y I love that language that's such fun wordplay George did there nipping at his own joint especially because in the end he is in the end that's gonna be him too it seems maybe maybe it's his own blunt

Jojen Reed nipped at his own blunt oh my god jojen reed smoking himself like the little blunt he is making us the tall reed oh wow wow of course the prologue comes back to us at this point in brand one right only three chapters later so it's meant to stay in our head as we watch the face off with brand summer and varamir and his pack one eye a beta male a female this isn't the only part of varamir right and his tact for abomination or at least what we've learned is abomination through hagen that's our only viewpoint it might not actually be abomination i'm just saying shows up because next we have the pig the ranger killed a pig brand thanks hold hand stands behind the beside the door a raven on his arms reflection

glittering on his eyes brand notices he doesn't eat and he fears the flames oh interesting also the pig thing right i guess it's just a long pig joke. Long pig is allegedly, allegedly a phrase that meant human flesh for consumption. But is it true or is it not? We're going to get to this in a second. Coming off that prologue where we hear the human flesh is an abomination, warging into humans is an abomination, everything Bran does, this chance meeting deep in the north brings up a phrase I like to call thematic resonance. Thank you. Ooh.

I've heard that one. I don't. That's on the bingo card this year, anyone? 2023 GGC bingo. Knock it off. It reminds me of Arya's second chapter and feast as well so similar timing to this if we paste the books back together question your meat a swath characters or not if you're hungry their cold flesh would be taken to the lower sanctum where only the priests could go what happened in there aria was not allowed to know once as she was eating her supper a terrible

suspicion seized hold of her and she put down her supper, a terrible suspicion seized hold of her, and she put down her knife, staring suspiciously at a slice of pale white meat. The kindly man saw the horror on her face. It is pork, child, he told her. Only pork. When Bran asks Coldhands what happened to the men at the campfire, which Coldhands now claims is totally fine since he killed the men. Rip Aloe with his one hand. Shout out to our minor character for Micah there. He responds,

they won't trouble them. We get this exchange between Jojen and Bran and Coldhands, where Jojen is watching this happen. Only Jojen seemed aware of what was happening as Coldhands turned his head to stare at Bran. They were foes.

Men of the Night's Watch, Bran thinks. You killed them, you and the ravens. Their faces were all torn and their eyes were gone. Coldhands did not deny it. They were your brothers, I saw. The wolves had ripped their clothes up, but I could still tell. Their cloaks were black, like your hands. Cold Hands said nothing. Who are you? Why are your hands black? Who are you? My God, Bran, you can't just ask Cold Hands why his hands are

black. The call and response is really well set up here right every beat in between you killed them you and the ravens their faces were torn their eyes were gone cold hands did not deny it they were your brothers cold hands said nothing i thought that the silence there was so deafening and rhythmic the way that it's set up right the? The lack of response from Coldhands proves what's happening here. There's no fight about it that this is obviously those men of the Watch. Bran already saw it through Summer.

Coldhands is basically admitting it through omission of information. But what's worse is that not only do we know it's human meat, but Bran is so hungry. The group is so desperate. Bran is willing to not blow the secret of the abomination, right, of the Watchmen.

He is willing to let it slide. Meera Jojen, Jojen knows. He knows what's going on. He started looking back and forth. He's like, ah, I see. But does he know more with that very knowing look than maybe we know he knows who knows but soylent green dreams soylent green dreams soylent green seers but they're willing to blissfully ignore it right ignorance is bliss for them in this moment because

they're fucking starving and in a way just like with skin changing right showing that dangerous line that brand is writing that he's starting to descend upon the rules no longer really matter he's willing to blur those lines and to be blissfully ignorant and to eat these men i'm not mad at him about the food or anything like i personally i'm not the police of brand stark on this podcast that would be eliana you would have to ask the police officer sitting across from me in the digital world rude all eliana is bad um i'm not mad at him about any of this like in good faith but this is interesting if he's not controlling cold hands food is food they're dying out there if he is controlling cold hands food is food and they're being hunted so i mean sure but also bran bran please what if this is you bran speak up speak up bran yeah i mean i also

don't blame them for eating for sustenance um if i recall correctly i don't think i really blamed i don't know the guys in stanis's camp for eating the people who fell either they're fucking hungry yeah i mean it's one thing like i guess if you kill them and then bring them back and tell the kids hey uh it's people or it's not people right like it's it's kind of like messed up to obscure it but um i don't know if brand really knows yet or realizes i think he's like right about to piece it together and just doesn't you know because he's too like engrossed in the mystery so i don't know if he knows he's eating people here yet but he will um yeah and i i don't know i don't judge it right like in terms of what

the people eating those who fell again like in sanis's camp or even like again maybe skagosi cannibalism which might be a misunderstood and heartfelt ritual probably but really there's no proof i'm just saying shit but i agree with you like very true if it is bran inside of cold hands there it's like what what are you doing did we not have other options i don't know eat some of the crows uh i will say that like yeah as we've discussed earlier some of the things that cold hands does or how he acts feels less like it might be i don't know bran because how can like bran be doing all these things maybe he sets things on autopilot or whatever which does happen a little in meat house man and more like was he created by bran right like with the language of your monster

later it definitely feels kind of like a i don't know frankenstein's monster kind of thing especially you know when it plays with the idea of like but the real don't know, Frankenstein's monster kind of thing, especially, you know, when it plays with the idea of like, but the real monster was Victor, you know, things like that. Yeah. And coming back to Qyburn and Robert Strong, I'm really feeling like those align so well with this of being able to reanimate and give them somewhat their own sentience, but also not. I would really like it if it was a little closer to that but also it speaks of that we have this 10 year old necromancer on our hands that he has all of a sudden started to kind of be able to perform some necromancy a little better i mean on par

with kyburn yeah it would have been interesting with the time skip, right? He would have been like, what? Like, I guess 11 to 13 ish in that age range. And that's an interesting age for someone to be, I think, a necromancer or skin changer in that way. Makes me think of the bloodb bending from avatar a little bit too yeah like it's i think an interesting age for that in the way that brand's age isn't if that makes sense 13 is a little more coming of age especially with puberty and life and brain and things changing yeah and like desire not necessarily sexual but just like just finding things that you want for your life yeah yeah absolutely and i think it really aligns well well coming back to the idea of the missing chapter right the chapter that we believe is pushed to the winds of winter we'll have to find out when we get it look under your seats it could

be there now. Coming back to just the chapter alignment, right, you look at Feast, and the end of Feast for Cersei is Qyburn being like, here's your champion, and to have that, you know, them finally get to the cave from their champion. Yeah, that's

a good point. I wonder if, like, maybe that part of Cersei's story not being, like, written yet, maybe that's part of why it's delayed so that some of those can all hit together at the same time. But I do think yeah, there probably was like another Bran chapter in here that was pushed to wins because we know like what 250 pages or something were pushed to wins that were originally supposed to be in dance. Jojen's death, I would imagine and Coldhand's reveal. Yeah, I do big things to look for I agree I think Coldhand's reveal would have been part of it because it feels like we're being set up for an arc that was supposed to be in this

book of like set up mystery of Coldhand's deepen mystery do other brand things and then reveal at the end of the book cliffhanger into the next one right yeah because he's getting a lot of his Jedi training arc he's Jedi training with Blood his jedi training art he's jedi training with blood raven in this book so the final chapter should kind of be like a summation

of like oh shit by the way i know that you just started to get the hang of this but everything's gonna get stirred up here's a bunch of chaos friends gonna die cold hands is here's the reveal of what you've been making this whole time as cold hands yeah you made your journey you made your journey and then like does he choose to continue right for that pragmatic aspect of we need to do this to save the world or not so again again like it's fine with where brin is now but i do think i don't know why i just feel like it's a a dilemma that would be more interesting for a 13 year old. Yeah.

And overall, I think something really well done for George is the POVs, right? Like missing that Bran chapter for me doesn't ruin A Dance with Dragons. It still is an enriching experience to have Bran and dance. There's no, with where it ends, I'm still fine with that because it leaves a lot of mystery and I'm very certain bran is going to be a big anchor in the story moving forward i would imagine so right i think and not removed i guess he was removed for a book never mind he had a season yeah season in a book i mean not like dnd and george who disrespect him no i'm just kidding i'm just kidding but you can also see where povs are about to diminish so like there's going to be a lot more room for Bran,

which I'm excited about. Yeah. Yeah. Coldhands tells them that when the heart stops beating, blood runs to the extremities, thickening and congealing, becoming black as pudding and answering our questions about Gregor Clegane's death. The rest of him turns milk white.

Mira demands he show them his face and he makes no move to do so. Bran, this is interesting feels bile in the back of his throat and says cold hands is dead but monsters cannot pass if the wall stands and the watch remains true like sam who brought them to cold hands mira's hand tightens around her meat impaled spear and asks who sent cold hands, and we get our for-now answer. A friend, creep, wizard. Call him what you will, the last greenseer. The long hall's wooden door banged open. Outside, the night wind howled, bleak and black. The trees were full of ravens, screaming. Cold hands did not move. A monster, Bran said. The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist.

Your monster, Brandon Stark. Yours, the raven echoed from his shoulder. Outside the door, the ravens in the trees took up the cry, until the night wood echoed to the murderer's song. Yours! Yours! Yours! Yours! Yours! Yours! Jojen, did you dream this? Mira asked

her brother. Who is he? What is he? What do we do now? We go with the ranger, said Jojen. We've come too far to turn back now, Mira. We would never make it back to the wall alive. We go with Bran's monster, or we die. Damn. I don't know why when I do Jojen he's almost scottish but when i do mira she's just a normal girl does anyone know that's my question has anyone noticed that do you associate jojen with shrek because of the green because of the bog yeah the bog i'm not kidding how linda is literally shrek and fiona anyway or sansan we don't have time for

that oh my god watch shrek the musical you're sansan uh yeah so very metal ending lots of lots of brand chapters have pretty metal endings i don't know if it's intentional but the language is confusing here with the your monster now that I read it again. And I feel like I read this line different every single time I read it. Not like when I mean, not every single time I read it in this, but like every single read through, right? And because if you look at what Bran is responding to, Bran is calling the three-eyed crow a monster based on the way that like this dialogue is layered against one another right

a monster for being a dreamer and a wizard and therefore the bad guy in the stories for defying these taboos and so therefore that would make Bran also the monster which is something that we were talking about last chapter with the knight for right especially because he's he's like the

three-eyed crow he's meant to succeed the three-eyed crow and has many of those same same powers and again the monster in the stories that bran feared in the night fort was himself but the way that everyone is talking it does kind of buddy what we are talking about when we talk about the your monster right like is it is it actually cold hands i think cold hands it sounds like cold hands is the your monster of brands but that aside brand being the monster though does fit beautifully with a lot of the themes of a song of ice and fire with some of our big three when it comes to i mean they're not the only big three but like you know tyrian right and and denarius's story and those themes and especially with the fact that like in

danny's first chapter in this book which is only two chapters before brands you have that same horror of seeing those broken eden bones so the the child's bones the revulsion she feels with the revelation as she sees the horror of what she's done what her dragons that she sees as herself an extension of herself has done and it's something that interestingly like Bran and his youth doesn't feel that yet as he devours uh the Night's Watchman as as. Of course, he does feel pretty, pretty mad about the killing of the Night's Watch brothers. But yeah, the entire book's theme really overarching is Bones, right? From this very beginning to Quentin's end and John's end, right? Where both die at the end of the book.

Yes, they do they do and then danny's having a little rebirth moment right with her i don't know ayahuasca trip and by that i mean like she's starving but in a different wilderness and then in regards to like you know again with denarius's story then the next danny chapter is about finding out like, wait, what if you're the monster, right? Which again is what we're saying is part of Bran's story. Because in Adowada Dany 2, which is right before a Reek chapter, which ties, of course, very much into Bran's story as well. We have that line. Mother of dragons, Daenerys thought.

Mother of monsters, what have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros? I am the blood of the dragon, she thought. If they are monsters, so am I. So so that i think that ties really well with where brand storyline is going to go as he realizes what he's capable of and what power really means and the cost of it and i've not considered this before but it does seem strange this is a little bit of a different idea that the three-eyed crow is considered the last greenseer and i mean like i've always kind of thought that was strange because brand is literally

right there what do you mean last we got a successor right there someone could come after brand too what do we mean by last but we're talking about cycles here right and the breaking of cycles within this story breaking of these patterns that keep recurring and if blood raven is actually meant to be the last green seer then it speaks that this world will eventually be gone this sort of rebirthing of the world so that whatever bran is whoever bran will be or become he's the first of it like a line of something different you talked about avatar earlier and by avatar we mean avatar the last airbender i'm thinking you know like in cora's storyline right where a new cycle or something begins which i love cora is something so personal to me and honestly there

are some great little parallels that you could probably bring up of that hero's journey with bran right when you talk about disability and so many different things happening with her powers I like what you're saying that Bran will be the first of something different right because he's not going to break the wheel or sorry no he's not going to stop the wheel he's going to break it as a famous woman once said on Game of Thrones This could be the start of something. I do think that though. About High School Musical? Yeah, exactly.

That we're soaring and we're flying. Oh, that is actually. Coming back to the, you know, the idea of the circle here for Bran. Not the show that you like, but the other circle. You know, it makes me think of that imagery we see from the house Toland sigil later on. And what is that? Arianne Tiwau

1. Is that a Tiwau chapter I'm thinking about? Yeah, yeah, that's Tiwau. Read the Tiwau sample chapters. No spoilers. Or listen to our Tiwau episode on Arianne that we did a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long. I don't know what that was anymore. Oh my god, girl.

2019. Way, we were different people. Yeah, but, you know, the house toll and sigil of the dragon eating its own tail and kind of for the Targaryens, what's happened for a long time, right? Like the Dance of the Dragons. Of them just tearing one another apart and in a way, this time loop

would kind of answer that brandon the blank of it all right of all these different brandons and were they one were they many no one knows but bran is a part of that cycle and also not a part of it breaking it and creating a new cycle yeah you brought up also the oroboros imagery and and the end of All You Zombies reminds us of, like, I think directly references the Ouroboros. Yes. That is kind of a cannibalism, a self-cannibalization. Self-mastication, if you will. You will.

I guess. My soylent little greenseer. Soylent greenseer, your soylent green dreams. I'm not sure which one, like more sense yet I like Green Seer yeah it does sound better because then it's the people yeah hey at home at home please write in and tell us

what you prefer I think that would be so helpful I want to know if you like Soylent Green Dreams or Soylent Green Seer better I don't know I think I said Green Seer first but then I was like I guess it's technically Green Dreams though if it's Jo better? I don't know. I think I said Greensere first, but then I was like, I guess it's technically Green Dreams though if it's Jojen, but I don't know.

Does the accuracy matter as much as the catchy branding name that will make people purchase and consume people? Who knows? Ooh, consumerism driven wild. Ooh, more consumerism. Buy, sell, buy, sell.

Well, that's a donut brand one yeah thanks for coming we've been really happy to have you yeah we'll we'll be eating you next month wait yeah yeah join us but we're having tanya for dinner wait no we're God, she's not going to want to come on with me saying this sort of shit. Run, Tanya, run. Run. But yes, so excited to have, I mean, that was part of the thing too, right? Like obviously for episodes about Bloodraven, we have to bring on A Thousand Eyes and One. But that will be going live March 3rd for the public. Tanya from A Thousand Eyes and One will be joining us to discuss Ado Adob

Rantu. And if you're looking for updates on that, where are you going to look for that? I think that the best place for you to look for that would be on social media, specifically ours on twitter.com slash girls gone canon. That's C-A-N-O-N. And again, if you have thoughts on Green Dream, Soylent Green Dreams versus Soil and Green Seer, you can email us at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Yeah, let us know if you've got a brand new bottle of Chianti

and some... Brand new bottle? My god, laying around, let us know. And make sure you're subscribed to us on a podcast platform near you, whatever's your favorite, whether that is spotify itunes google play acast stitcher audible amazon podcasts pandora you name it we're on them all pick one or two or seven i don't care and somewhere that we definitely always are is on patreon.com

slash girls gone canon where you can get bonus episodes this month's bonus episode is the mystery knight available for patrons in the stranger tier and above five dollars and up who is he and hey if you mystery oh cold hands is a mystery whoa he's the mystery knight

I gotta think about that more and if you want to support us in the thunder tier the $10 and up tier we would be so grateful and you will get an access to our private discord where weekly we have some events running right now for a rewatch

of his dark materials series 3 we will be on episode 3 this week as the episode airs with thanks to our patrons that are hosting it on Saturdays from 1pm on, but we will also be doing our monthly brunch slash happy hour. It'll be happening this Sunday, February 19th

from 1pm ET till 3pm ET, and we hope that our patrons in the Thunder tier and above can make it. As always, I have been one of your hosts, Chloe. And I have been another one of your monster, Brandon Stark. Eliana!

Regrettably, we will continue doing this every week. Goodbye. Goodbye.