Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 26 - ACOK Sansa Stark VI

Episode Date: November 9, 2018

In a special 1-chapter episode, the girls begin their great Blackwater extravaganza.   War descends on King's Landing, and Sansa Stark is thrust into Maegor's Keep with Queen Cersei. intro by Anton Langhage Eliana's twitter: https://twitter.com/arhythmetric Eliana's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/glass_table_girl Eliana's blog: https://themanyfacedblog.wordpress.com/  Chloe's twitter: https://twitter.com/liesandarbor

Hello and welcome to another episode of Girls Gone Canon, episode 26, Sansa in a Clash of Kings, chapter 6. I'm one of your hosts, Chloe. You can find me on the internet as at Liza and Arbor on Tumblr and Twitter. And I'm another one of your hosts, Eliana, and you can find me on the internet as GlassTableGirl on the Mace and Runtly podcast and on the Song of Ice and Fire subreddit and as Arithmetric on Twitter. Welcome! Patrons, guess what? Your stickers are on the way.

Some of you have gotten them already and thank you so much for taking pictures of them and being happy about them. It makes me really happy. Yeah, we were really excited to just have a treat for those patrons that signed on for $10 and up the tiers before September 1st when we launched our patron, we have a lot of cool kind of stretch goals we're going to implement at some point.

And just some more fun stuff coming to you guys, not just what's on the tiers and what's in the description. So thanks so much for being our patron. Patrons that are $5 and up, make sure you check out our episode we just released last week every day is halloween about disguise and identity in a song of ice and fire yeah even though it's no longer october uh there's definitely a lot there that is always relevant to the storyline i mean every day is halloween so exactly this is halloween this is halloween halloween it's in its title it's in its title um great yeah so we're here at sansa six as you'll notice we've only said one chapter for this week it's a special surprise no okay we're probably not going to do a 10 year long episode for the blackwater at least not right now maybe in the future we could have i do strongly believe we could have done a 10 hour

episode i was planning it out as a chloe if we did it like this i think we could stretch it out to 10 hours i mean we still could we could the problem is it would have to be 10 consecutive hours yeah you're like yeah what's the problem this would take like three weeks to edit The problem is it would have to be 10 consecutive hours. Yeah. You're like, yeah, what's the problem? This would take like three weeks to edit. Oh, I just figured it would be worth going to. I mean, you're going to be like Circe in this chapter, you know? Hashtag unedited.

Yeah, absolutely. No filter. Hashtag no filter. Hashtag the real world. Yeah, I think for now, we will at least be examining these chapters on their own solo, get really into those nitty gritty details and talk about some of the stuff that we just usually glaze over. Exactly. So before we dive into that, we're going to talk about some of the things that you all have said. Yeah, we got a great tweet from ThirdEyeCrow at HeisenbergsGoat on Twitter. Always a fan of their tweets at us.

And I am really enjoying these Sansa chapters from solid analysis to whimsical and hilarious character impressions. I feel Chloe and Eliana really give us great insight into the character's psyche and motivations and the social constructs shaped this worldview added. I'll admit that before listening to Radio Westeros' episode on Sansa, I had no idea the depth and beauty, not just physical, of Sansa and also her strengths. Sure, she has her weaknesses, as we all do, but I think men, in general, not specific, overlook the fact she is a young girl being manipulated by all around her on her first read. Personally, I was guilty of this bias, and it wasn't until I sought out the views of eminently more enlightened folk that my views changed rapidly.

That's the great thing about this fandom, is there's always something to learn, which will only enhance your appreciation of great works great job girls gone canon for continuing to shine a light on sansa and i look forward to the week-long live stream for battle of blackwater episode hashtag it's illegal to hate sansa very true uh i thank you heisenberg's goat third eye crow for your following of the law the law in this podcast i enjoy that the law on like not a cast is stanerman and the law here is like it's illegal to hate sansa stark so it's illegal to hate sansa stark also yes week i will literally call the cops week-long live stream that's really

that's what we're doing here those might be my favorite parts like that was a great really nice couple tweets and those are probably my favorite parts though because was a great really nice couple tweets and those are probably my favorite parts though because i am a child i'm just a small child just like sansa also a small child yes everyone will remember so thank you so much heisenberg's goat uh that made us really happy. Chloe needed it. Chloe needed it. I needed it. We are pleased. Thank you so much.

Next is, next is, um, we got an iTunes review from someone named drinking pretty, which is what we are doing, you know, in preparation for this episode, wine mom episode,

wine mom episode. The of this itunes review is my favorite thing ever which is like that's a lot to say ever heavy is the crown wow i know right hollow crowns and what is it anyways they said i love girls gone canon they provide insightful analysis of each character, amazing catchphrases, it's illegal to eat salsa, and fun banter. My boyfriend has literally had to come check on me because I was laughing so hard in the other room.

Give them a listen. Wow, with great power comes great responsibility. Am I right? Truly. This is now a Spider-Man podcast. We've got a cut. There's a redhead. Oh my god, it sounds as dark as Mary Jane Watson and here's 10 reasons why. Oh my gosh.

Well, this is definitely the Wine Mom episode. I'm excited. I am situated with my wine. I think Eliana's drinking something else. I'm drinking bourbon as I tend to do because it's autumn and I can mix this easily into the apple cider. I'm going to heat up and

mix with the bourbon. Well, that sounds really good. Very seasonal. Very autumnal. I personally went with a nice deep Merlot from a box. Merlot? Yes, but it's not

actually what Cersei drinks in this episode. She drinks an Arbor Gold. We will go past that. You know, lies. Of course, we will jump into a very short lightning round of what we missed. There's not a lot, finally, between the chapters. As we talked about last episode,

Sansa's chapters are really building up toward the end of this book. They're really, you know, escalating toward the Blackwater, the big event. The first chapter between the last Sansa chapter, Sansa 5 and Sansa 6, is Davos 3. The Battle of the Blackwater begins as Davos Seaworth sets sail into the mouth of the bay. Within the water's deadly maws, what seemed to be a strong naval battle devolves into hell as the imp's wildfire consumes Stannis' men. There's a lot in this that harkens into those Barristan chapters that we read.

Oh, absolutely. War is hell. I totally, like, didn't even think of that. Anyways. Everything's hell. Yeah, pretty much. Tyrion XIII. Yeah, pretty much. Tyrion 13. It is like dragon fire, Tyrion thinks, looking out upon the inferno he's created, destroying both fleets.

Time to lead the sortie! But the man who's supposed to lead it is no longer up to the task. The Hound's own personal demons have come out to play, leaving Tyrion to take the lead. Okay, what I just highlighted off the record, and maybe I'll just leave it in, whatever. Do you think it's like Dragonfire, Tyrion thinks, looking out upon the inferno he created? Is that just like future foreshadowing? I do think

it is, because like, I mean, it's it is like Dragonfire is literally a quote from that chapter because I was like, I'm gonna skim these, because we definitely need the context, right? To be able to talk about the Blackwater. And I do think there's something in there

that's definitely foreshadowing. When we get to Tyrion's chapters eventually it's going to be extremely interesting, huh? To kind of dig back into that. In like four years? Yeah, like in 12 years when we do Tyrion chapters. Yeah, right next to when we do it's 12 years when we do tyrian chapters yeah right next to when we do it's close to when we do the dandy chapters right so it'll be right before the one's

winner comes out in sansa stark six as the battle outside rages the queen's ballroom is full of a false sense of calm the gentry folk and struggle to maintain a sense of peace while the fate of King's Landing tips back and forth. Sansa sits at the foot of Cersei Lannister, drunkenly dispensing wisdom in her own very weird way. And so we open up Sansa six, Clash of Kings with Ilan Payne standing over the room. He doesn't eat or drink.

He just waits totally foreboding totally foreboding it's some weird fire white shit but like i mean he's alive ill and pain's azura high oh shit ill and pain is the song of ice and fire. The silence song. He's carrying ice right now. Yeah, and the fire was when they lit his tongue area on fire to, what's the word? When you cauterize the wound. Yeah. Yep, it's lit. Rip.

Rip. Rip. The queen's ballroom is alight from the metal sconces. There's still a ton of darkness, and Sansa finds that within Lord Giles Rosby's cough, which, why is he there? I thought this was girls only, so get out. And of course, from

Asni Kettleblack's later whispers to the queen. Yeah, Giles Rosby, get out. Also, there's some great juxtaposition here in terms of how this entire scene is framed, with that silvery light contrasting with that green hellfire that we have going on outside the battle that you just saw in those last two chapters. And then, of course, that the darkness in everything doesn't come necessarily from it being nighttime outside.

It's so bright that the darkness comes from the people. It's what's in our hearts and it also continues to open the chapter with a lot of those descriptions of sound uh same as in sansa's previous chapter it's really driving home that idea of like different voices in this part of the song of ice and fire because we're gonna see kind of like a duet between tyrian and sansa's chapters which we're not doing right now because we're, turns out, not actually doing a 10-hour Blackwater episode polluted by Davos. So Sansa sips broth as Osni enters from the back of the room and he speaks to his brother Osfrid. I don't know the difference between these people.

It's almost like, so Osni has, okay, so let's just recount the ones we know there's osmond osney osfred and there's as well so this isn't the place i'm going to talk about this but we will get into this eventually probably sometime in storm where we talk about the kettle black theories because there are so many different kettle black theories because sansa in a minute we'll see things like these guys came out of nowhere and everyone feels that way right but so asni tends to be kind of the more ring leader especially as we go forth into a feast for crows eventually asni is kind of the leader of the three brothers i'm so glad that you're here because i've never really bothered to think about that yeah i know uh one

of them i guess osni turns to talk to the queen and then sansa overhears a conversation which turns out the fleet is locked in battle and how does destroying archers on the shore tyrian is raising the chain he created and drunkards are starting to riot and loot in Flea Bottom. Baelor's sept is completely packed, everybody is in there praying, and Joffrey is walking Baelor's steps with Tyrion, boosting the morale of the armies. I'm sure he is. Yeah, I'm sure. And while Tyrion's chapters give us a lot of the action, like, there on the ground of the Blackwater. Sansa's chapters give us a more expansive view of the city.

Not only is there a battle raging between Stannis' men and the Lannisters, there's also a lot of that class divide that permeates the entire city where the lowborn folk are the ones who are most at risk. And then this idea of Cersei asking like, what's up with my son?

Specifically the line is Cersei saying like, and my son, when she's checking in on the status. It reminds me of Dorne Martell in the Winds of Winter, Arianne 1, where he goes, where are the dragons, he asks. Where's Daenerys? And Arianne knew that he was really saying, where's my son? Yeah, in her own overtly maternal way, she was definitely doing very similar. Cersei calls for a glass of arbor gold from her page, and she's drinking quite heavily, as one does when war is afoot. Her cheeks are flushed, and Sansa thinks that she looks beautiful, but she also thinks she has the eyes of wildfire. We see this repeated later on in the burning of the Tower of the Hand, and Jaime, of course,

observes Cersei in the following quote. He thinks, let him be king over charred bones and cooked meat, Jaime remembered, studying his sister's smile. Let him be king of ashes, and he sees that in his sister. And in these moments, Cersei starts to transform as a character. We see her becoming more aligned with this idea of fire as opposed to being that ice queen that she's portrayed as in the first book. And we also kind of see her coming into her own in her own very strange way with Robert no longer in the picture, which is kind of what we see for Sansa later on in the story

when she finally escapes Joffrey and his abuse. Though you can also see that in many ways, Cersei's projecting a lot of herself onto Sansa throughout this chapter. Yeah, absolutely. We saw it last chapter as well. When you look at her saying, you know, like, oh, Joffrey will never give you such adoration or love. Moonboy and Ser Dantos entertain the crowds and they try to keep spirits up.

There are musicians that are musicking and jugglers that are juggling the guests laughed but it was a joyless laughter the sort of laughter that can turn into sobbing in half a heartbeat their bodies are here but their thoughts are on the city walls and their hearts as well and that idea of laughter turning into sobbing is so much of what we see in a song of ice and fire with that idea of like, if ice can burn, love and hate can mate. And like opposites just kind of becoming the same as one another. Yeah, I guess like the most prominent one I can think of is Cat 7 in Storm when they're at the Red Wedding with, that made her laugh until she screamed. I too am screaming and crying. why would you remind me of this in this moment sansa thinks that the food would be great any other night but tonight it tastes

like fear it's laced with fear tonight and they had broth salad with apples and nuts and raisins and i think this is the one the salad there's a salad that you can find that's called sansa salad in a feast of ice and fire which you should consider picking up this thanksgiving holiday season and cooking some of the recipes for all of your friends and loved ones i really need it honestly i can't believe i don't have it lord giles is again coughing more than he's eating how does that man swallow anything and lawless stockworth is over here sitting and shivering while one of lancel's men's brides is weeping is weeping uncontrollably then cersei commands maester franken to put her to bed the dream one who the hell is maester franken? He is the Stokeworth maester,

and it's the maester that checks Sansa out after the riots. Yep. Tears, she said scornfully to Sansa as the woman was led from the hall. The woman's weapon, my mother used to call them. The man's weapon is a sword,

and that tells us all you need to know, doesn't it? Men must be very brave, though, said Sansa, to ride out and face swords and axes, everyone trying to kill you. Jaime told me once that he only feels truly alive in battle and in bed. She lifted her cup and took a long swallow. Her salad was untouched. I would sooner face any number of swords and sit helpless like this, pretending to enjoy the company of this flock of frightened hens. A. Eat your fucking salad, Cersei. B. So much of this book is building on stuff that was set up in Game of Thrones, like Cressen's poison in that first prologue to Cersei being like, love is a poison.

And then finally, here we have Cersei talking about tears as a woman's weapon, which the last time we heard that was Pycelle, I believe, talking to Ned. And while it might seem like it's pointing to Cersei, especially because she's the one saying it this time, as Jon Arryn's poisoner, it's all actually slowly building up to that reveal of Lysa's the one saying it this time as John Aaron's poisoner. It's all actually slowly building up to that reveal of Liza's the ultimate culprit, slowly poisoned by herself. Or slowly poisoned herself by her love for Peter until, you know, she dies. Yeah, absolutely. And of course, Alyssa's tears. I mean, there's just so many, like we said in those Ned chapters, so many things leading to it.

It's practically screaming in your face, all these, until you get it at the end of Storm. Which, like, it isn't screaming in your face, right? Like, unless, until you get it. Does that make sense? Yeah, it was hiding in plain sight this whole time. Exactly. Exactly. Sansa is extremely taken aback because the Queen asked these people to be here,

and Cersei explains she didn't want to ask them. It was her duty as queen. This chapter is finally deconstructing Sansa's viewpoint on Cersei as a queen and really breaking down that she's not who Sansa wants to be. We've had minimal Cersei actions in this book so far with Sansa because she's been really busy with different political duties, as we read in Tyrion's chapters, and Joffrey, of course, has been busy torturing Sansa. Certain things are expected of a queen. They will be expected of you, should you ever wed Joffrey. Best learn. The queen studied the wives, daughters, and mothers who filled the benches.

Of themselves, the hens are nothing, but their cocks are important for one reason or another, and some may survive this battle, so it behooves me to give their woman my protection. If my wretched dwarf of a brother should somehow manage to prevail, they'll return to their husbands and fathers full of tales about how brave I was, how my courage inspired them and lifted their spirits, how I never doubted our victory, even for a moment. J-J-J-Jaded!

Is that right? No, it's not. I'm sorry. Everything about Circe's trajectory, though, up to this point, is perfect, and those last two lines, those last lines of those tales of bravery and courage and courage it sounds it's the same sort of language right as like the sorts of the way that people tell tales of the men fighting on the battlefield yeah absolutely it's the narrative that gets spun victory or history written by the victors of course so if

they win it turns into that yep sanza then asks what happens if the castle falls circe says they may be able to hold for a while in magors as long as none of the guards betray her and that if she can she's gonna go yield to stannis and she's gonna work out some terms but circe tells her that if the guards do betray her it kind of means like a lot of bloodlust for the men and then everyone who's in there isn't in for a bit of a rape he's in for it he was in for a bit of a sodomy including is Giles Ross be like yeah I guess probably I mean I guess that's the whole point right it's um about violence our version of power yep Sansa's horr violence and absorption of power. Yep. Sansa's horrified because Cersei here, she's talking about these well-born

ladies. How could they also be in for a rape? Cersei says that their birth protects them to a certain degree, but after a night of blooding swords, men want to fuck more than they want money. True, they're so stupid. This reminds me a lot of the paper shield that Ned has in a Game of Thrones, right? When

Cersei rips it and says, like, was that your shield? It reinforces this idea of men being without honor, right? Are there no true knights among you? And of course, in the last sack of King's Landing, it was famously bad, right? It was not good. It's silly to think this one could be any better better especially considering stannis's new religious alignment although he's not really as much of a worshiper as his whole entire court and you know his mistress that everything would be on fire right just like looking around everything on fire which of course it already is yeah i was thinking the exact same thing and like the language in this scene just really drives that home because like the way that Cersei describes it she says even so a golden shield is better than

none which again draws that comparison like you said to that paper shield and it's of course on top of the fact that like throughout Sansa's chapters we get that idea of courtesy being a lady's armor but throughout the chapter we also see that Cersei's not longing for a shield she wants a sword she doesn't want to be defending. But I have a question. So you were talking about how like the sack of King's Landing went famously horrible, right? It was really bad. But of course, the leader of all that was Tywin Lannister. Do you think that a sack led by Stannis Baratheon. Who is known to be much more strict about the rules. To send rapists etc. To the wall.

And to punish them. Do you think that. A sack by Stannis' troops. Would have been at least a little better. Than won by the Lannister forces. I think it would be a bit more humane. But at the same time. You're looking at.

He's attacking with what? His whole armies. Everybody on board. bit more humane but at the same time you're looking at he's attacking with what his whole armies everybody on board that has kind of come back from Renly so we're looking at what 60k something around there I think that he wouldn't be able to control all of it and I don't know necessarily as much as like I always thought when I read this it was interesting that Cersei felt they were in for a bit of a rape you know like that she was like oh yeah we're all fucked I think that maybe not so much that but I think violence and I think because of the Lannister the Lannister regime I think because of what they'd done because Stannis is a just man that Stannis wouldn't uh he wouldn't say no to some of the violence he wouldn't exactly stop them

because they're all Lannisters in his eyes you You know, all of them. Look at how he calls Sansa's claim. He's like, I've heard enough of Lady Lannister. He doesn't see black and white when it comes to Lannisters, but I do think that he would be able to control the raping bits a little better. But the violence, I think the violence and the burnings would end up too wild, out of control. I don't think he'd have control after a while. There's just so many people. I think what you've pointed out just now how stannis

you know as you said doesn't see in like maybe shades of gray when it comes to the lannisters like and as you said calls sans a lady lannister it kind of reminds me of maybe stannis feels the way towards the lannisters the way that robert felt towards the Targaryens. Oh, of course. And you're looking at the Lannisters took Robert away, too, from Stannis, in a way. You know what I mean? They took his brother away. They took the king away. They've committed the ultimate treason in his eyes.

That's true. Wow. Look, we've just talked about Stannis. Well, we knew we were going to get to it eventually. We were going to get to it eventually we were gonna get to it eventually that's true like especially when we get to the davos chapters was like wow look at us having a discussion about stannis i think we'll bring some nuance for sure hashtag subtle nuance cersei says servants and women on the streets are not going to be treated as gently

pretty things like that serving wench of lady Tanda's could be in for a lively night, but don't imagine the old and the infirm and the ugly will be spared. Enough drink will make blind washerwoman and reeking pig girls seem as comely as you, sweetling. Which, of course, that is a shout out to Shay. Cersei has no clue that that's Tyrion's girl. She thinks, of course, that Tyrion had a different working woman in his life. So I think that's interesting. And I also think it's interesting that she references reeking pig girls. It reminds me of two things.

It reminds me of Pate the pig boy. And it also reminds me of Reek in that sentence, especially because he lays with the dogs. I thought you were going to say Penny. And Penny. Yeah. Is the other one. Because I don't know. You know, we're trying it to like, of course, Tyrion's people associated with Tyrion.

No, I don't think about Tyrion. Fuck him. Oh, okay. Fuck a Lannister. Fuck a Lannister, dog. Fuck him. Lady Lannister. Fuck a Lannister.

Fuck a Lannister. You're truly being Stannis of the right now see what I did there yeah Cersei's really playing this whole thing down she's just like

oh yeah it's a lively night and Sansa of course she sees she sees through that she's further horrified and then Cersei's like

yeah of course your vag is totally blooming and these sick fucks love blood they don't care you're a super sexy kid life sucks right like she's straight up and she's like you're a hot piece of ass sansa like now that you're 12 it's time you understand that like people want to fuck you and sans is like this is not fun for me none of this is fun for me is this fun for anyone my first war sucks yeah i also i'm just like what what what i just like don't think i don't know i think my favorite part we're gonna come to it in

a minute but it's when cersei like says no to wine and she, and she's like, I need a clear head. And I'm like, um, you should have stopped a few glasses ago, Cersei. A couple bottles ago. A, you should have stopped a few glasses ago. B, you should have eaten your salad. Get more food in there to absorb all the alcohol. You know, eat your goddamn salad, girl. Where's your bread bowl, bitch?

Yeah, drink some water. So. Anyway. Were it anyone else outside the gates, I might hope to beguguile him but this is stannis baratheon i'd have a better chance of seducing his horse she noticed the look on sansa's face and laughed have i shocked you my lady she leaned close you little fool tears are not a woman's only weapon you've got another one between your legs and you'd best learn to use it. You'll find men use their swords freely enough. Both kinds of swords.

It's not a secret that Stannis is not easily swayed by women, as we talk back with Stannis visiting the brothel and the surprise everybody had. And there's two quotes one from eddard six in a game of thrones with renly where he says we're fortunate my brother stannis is not with us remember the time he proposed to outlaw brothels the king asked him if perhaps he'd like to outlaw eating shitting and breathing while he was at it if truth be told i oft time wonder how stannis ever got that ugly daughter of his He goes to his marriage bed like a man marching to a battlefield with a grim look in his eyes and a determination to do his duty. And then there's also the quote in the prologue of A Clash of Kings where Stannis talks about how his wife has a new faith, the Red Lord, and there was no affection in his tone.

Stannis had always been uncomfortable around woman even his own wife when he had gone to king's landing to sit on robert's council he had left celeste on dragon stone with their daughter his letters had been few his visits fewer he did his duty in the marriage bed once or twice a year but took no joy in it and the sons he had once hoped for had never come of course they were busy being in the test tubes on hbo yeah i mean shit's hard canon the girl's gone it's this quote that you have of stannis going to his marriage bed like a man marching to a battlefield is interesting in the context of this entire chapter because circe you've just tied it to what Circe is saying about men using their own swords

right and she's talking about the vagina also being a woman's weapon oh I get it, it's a sexual joke this entire book, everything's a sex joke when you're 13

but yeah, there's a tie in there there's a sex joke when you're 13 um but yeah there's there's a tie in there there's a thread uh saved by the bell well the kettles at least two of the kettle blacks come in it's osmond and one other one honestly do not know which other one chloe do you know they don't even say they literally don't say it's just osman then that other you can literally just fill throw one in there and be like maybe it's this one it was more than likely that one or maybe it's both at the same time is it schrodinger's kettle black right and at any given time it's one of the other kettle blacks it is schrodinger's kettle black at any given time when you open the lid which one is it the kettle blacks that are new in town and salsa just really doesn't like the stench of him because i don't know

everyone's stinky i guess in this entire book series they show up out of nowhere and they make japes and they try to get along with everyone out of nowhere and who is she who is she she hears a washroom and say though that the kettle blacks are younger and stronger and faster. They're harder, faster, stronger than the Hound. And Sansa's all like, okay. Okay. I don't believe you, but okay. Okay. Like, same, too.

Like, what? No one is, like, no one could withstand the Hound. Come on, except Gregor. And that's one time. I find it interesting that Sansa can highlight Sandor's inappropriate behavior toward her. His drunk, hungry eyes, his sharp words and actions, but she does recognize that he's better than the Kingsguard she generally gets stuck with, which really says a lot. There are a lot of grumblings

here too of the Kettleblacks rising out of nothing to replace Sandor and that whole younger guy doing the job for less money and perks kind of thing right like in with the new out with the old even more interesting is the way that the kettle blacks are physically described they're described as dark hair tall hooked noses just like sandor later on in the story in jamie chapters that i will be excited honestly to get to this osman claims to jamie he was knighted by sir a guy named sir robert stone which also draws a connection with the veil for sansa in her future time as a lane stone oh yeah see aliana that's good i've never noticed that the kettle blacks whom many people for a long time

of course thought said kettleback instead of Kettleblacks. There's a whole, like, if you go back far enough in Twitter, there's a whole series of parodies in which Emmett and I exchanged and made lyrics to Sexy Back. I'm bringing Kettleback. Yeah, it's there somewhere. I don't know.

I don't know what we even said. But it is Kettleblack, a play, of course, on the pot calling the Kettleblack. And Osney's over here, and he- I guess it's Osney! Osney came in! Right? With Osmond! It must be! There we go. He tells Cersei that the wildfire

is everywhere, and hundreds of ships are burning. And Cersei inquires about Joffrey again. Joffrey's at the Mudgate with Tyrion and the Kingsguard members. Osney tells Cersei that everyone has agreed that Joffrey's, like, a right brave boy and he taught everyone how to properly hold a crossbow yeah which I'm sure all the soldiers that have been

doing this for shitty kings for years and years were very appreciative of his demonstration on the crossbow right like Joffrey is the worst boss. This is literally a startup company, and he is the worst. I agree. I love this comparison. Yeah, they're all just holding this crossbow, and they're all like, can I just drive it into this fucking shitbag? Circe is insistent on Joffrey's living status remaining at alive. And then Osprey, we got it. We've collected all of them osprey shows up because why not and tells her that a groom and two maidservants were caught escaping from the king's

with the king's horses and all the king's men yeah couldn't put osprey back together again all right so wine mom time the knight's first traitors the queen said but not the last i fear have sir illin see to them and put their heads on pikes outside the stables as a warning as they left sharon de sanza another lesson you should learn if you hope to sit beside my son be gentle on a night like this and you'll have treasons popping up all about you like mushrooms after a hard rain. The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy. I will remember your grace, said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people's loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me.

Lots of notes here, really excited to just jump on in but first i wanted to say cersei just like sent illin off to murder those people like right now like she was just like okay well illin go take care of it and he just goes out and kills these people like uh so i digress in history there aren't a ton of good queens that we hear about right there's nemeria who's referred to as a fierce witch warrior queen. And of course, there's good queen Alysanne. But otherwise, there aren't a lot of female figures besides Jon Quill and Nereus. George just put out a great excerpt a month or so ago about Jaehaerys I and Alysanne from Fire and Blood, part one, or volume one i should say and it contained aliceane

doing a lot of sansa-y things and we're seeing them right here during blackwater like aliceane holding a woman's court where she listens to 200 women's problems and lives and where she charms a very prickly lord of the north alaric stark who was pretty sour toward her aliceane goes to the night's watch and eats of their bread and ale and decides they must give the gift to the Night's Watch for their bravery. Of course, the gift was emptied out over time, over the last years, and needs to be resettled to create a new thriving economy. Something that Ned Stark wanted more than anything to do and didn't get to do, and something that Sansa and Jon are definitely going to end up doing before the end of the story. I could like count like a hundred million dollars on it. Like that's what's going to happen. Like right now I'm betting it. I'm betting you it. Sansa's parallels

with Alysanne don't stop there. I'm sure we're going to get a lot more parallels out of Fire Blood coming out later this month, which I'm super excited for. I know we are going to the Jersey City event where george is speaking with a ton of our other buddies from uh different podcasts and from the community so if you're going to that let us know we would love to meet up i'm so excited we're going to give george a girls gone canon sticker it's gonna be he has to get it we have to give george the bellwoss deserve better sticker yeah i have no idea how we're going to do it, but we're going to do it.

We're going to climb through the sewers, pop him on the other side of the stage. Yes. Yes. To everything you said, I'm excited for all of those chapters. We zoom back to the food, which is of course my favorite part, one of the most important things

they're having crab claw pies which sound really great but like crab is good and lobster is good it's just like getting the meat out of the shell it's like is it worth it anyways mutton with roasted leeks and carrots in like panera bread bowls right it sounds so good i would eat that oh eat the hell out of one Nira bread bowl. Anyways, Lawless eats too fast and she pukes everywhere probably because she's pregnant. She's pregnant. She's definitely pregnant.

With a babby. And then Lord Giles eats and then he drinks and then he coughs and then he drinks and coughs a lot and then he passes out with his face in his bread bowl and his hand in a pool of wine, which supposedly, from what I've heard from TV shows where kids get bullied, will make you piss yourself. Cersei is disgusted that she took the time to get Giles free because he's a gross old man. Mood. Giles Free because he's a gross old man. Mood.

It's interesting that Cersei condemns Felice Stokeworth later after she saved Giles Rosby because they are related. She can't just cut ties easily with the Stokeworths and with the Rosbys, though, because as annoying and bland as they are, they're two of the

most fertile, untouched lands during the war in the Crownlands region, and they've always done their duty to the Crown, depending on who's there. With House Tyrell beginning to cut off food supply to King's Landing, the city is relying on those kind of lands right now. We get this from Tyrion in Tyrion IV, A Clash of Kings, that his porridge was too thick, Tyrion felt, and wanted butter and honey. To be sure, butter and honey were seldom seen in King's Landing of late,

though Lord Giles kept them well supplied in the castle. Half the food they ate these days came from his lands or Lady Tanda's. Rosby and Stokeworth lay near the city to the north and were yet untouched by war. We also see fertility of their stock and crops when Littlefinger is boasting to Ned about the feast he was having at Lady Tanda's in A Game of Thrones. I'm sorry, I'm just like really confused. I got stuck on this part where Tyrion's like, the porridge is too thick and therefore we should add butter and honey. I'm like, that's not gonna make your porridge any less thick. What you gotta add is some water. You need some milk, like add some milk, dipshit. Or milk or like a broth. I don't know what kind of porridge this is. This is...

Tyrion is not a cook anyway. Yeah, he's not. Osprey returns and he informs people. He informs Cersei that people are hoping to take refuge in the castle. And Cersei's like, we're not opening those gates for those people. We're not opening the gates for anyone. And commands Osprey to have the people return to their homes. And if they don't listen, we're going to take the crossbowmen and we're going to just kill some of them.

Because, you know, fuck the small folk, I guess, right? It harkens back to that idea that people are just Cersei's playthings. We see later with Felice Stokeworth that, again, playthings, as we've seen with Jane Poole, just take care of it. Just get rid of it. For sure. And you can definitely see that thread of where Joffrey gets his disdain for the lower classes from, like, his domestic violence streak is something that he got from Robert.

But Joffrey here, like, a few chapters ago, right before the Blackwater, is all bragging about how, yeah, I was shooting crossbows at these people at the gate. Look at me, I'm killing all these poor people on the other side of the gate. And turns out Cersei and probably Tywin are all about that. my opinion, makes the fact that Edmure Tully opens the gates to his people that much more noble. Not just in terms of having lots of money, but actually honorable. That's my son!

That is my son. Chloe's over here. She's got all these devil's horns. It's rocking out. She's like, Edmure Tully! He's my son! I don't even even care edmure tully is my son when he says like my people they were afraid that is a true man right there i agree edmure baby my people they were afraid he sees him it's he sees them as like on par with himself he's like we need to protect them

exactly every single person's life is worth something and edmure tully knows that we stand edmure tully we stand edmure tully in this house i can't wait to deal with people i do i love edmure tully yeah and honestly in retrospect totally off topic we're gonna get back to the topic but in retrospect like he had no instruction otherwise like he just did what he thought was best okay he did and also you know we're gonna come back to the topic eventually but so while we're here right remember emir tully gets shit on by the starks because they're all like why didn't you do what you're supposed to do and like they're projecting all the blame onto him for like protecting his people which is what a lord ought to be doing that is that is part of the feudal contract the lord is supposed to protect his people which the Lannisters are not living up

to they completely violate as they do every other social contract but in the late in what is currently, for me, the latest Nauticast, where they talk about Bran and how Rob is projecting onto Theon. Rob is just laying into Theon. They're like, how could you leave Bran alone? Why did you do that? Now Bran got attacked and all this shit happened, and they're talking about how Rob is projecting onto Theon. It's like a typical Rob move, and your Tully was doing the right thing. Rob's just mad because they lost.

Yeah, just projecting. Anyway. After dealing with the people that are smaller than Cersei and her eyes, she turns back to Sansa. The queen's face was hard and angry. Would that I could take a sword to their necks myself. Her voice was starting to slur. When we were little, Jamie and I were so much alike that even our Lord Father could not tell

us apart. Sometimes, as a lark, we would dress in each other's clothes and spend a whole day each as the other. Yet even so, when Jamie was given his first sword, there was none for me. What do I get? I remember asking. We were so much alike, I could never understand why they treated us so differently. Jamie learned to fight with sword and lance and mace, while I was taught to smile and sing and please. He was heir to Casterly Rock, while I was to be sold to some stranger, like a horse to be ridden whenever my new owner liked, beaten whenever he liked, and cast aside in time for a younger filly.

Jamie's lot was to be glory and power, while mine was birth and moon blood. But you were queen of all the seven kingdoms. When it comes to swords, a queen is only a woman, after all. Circe's wine cup was empty. The page moved to fill it again, but she turned it over and shook her head. No more. I must keep a clear head. While we're no Sansa, and we tend to have a lot more exposition than she gets, this passage is important for when we get to feast and we get to read that line that 10,000 of your children perished in my palm. Your grace, she thought, slipping a third finger into mirror.

Whilst you snored, I would lick your sons off my face and fingers one by one. All those pale, sticky princes. You claim your rights, my lord, but in the darkness, I would eat your heirs. Cersei's marital rape has rotted the insides of her and it's so sad that it's dissolved her to this shell of a queen, right? She got what she wanted, but she got it with the wrong king and the wrong rule. Yeah, it's absolutely true there's a lot that's highlighted in here of how cersei has just felt reduced to an animal and like sansa beaten whenever the king liked and there is though a part of me that wonders to what extent cersei would have ever been truly happy or gotten everything she wanted like if even the smallest

thing went wrong right she would have just been like fuck this and I think something somewhere would have fallen short even if she were wed to Rhaegar it also definitely shows in this passage you know this is a great passage um that shift in power that a queen held since the time of the dragons you brought up queen alicean earlier but having that same amount of martial power for women like alicean and reneara and even like we see it with rainies and visenya when agon first comes over meant that being a queen had real power and meaning to it and i think it still can with the right person like every now and then people draw comparisons between sansa and queen eliz Queen Elizabeth I and like you know believe it

or not our own world does not have dragons but there were still women who wielded power and Cersei unfortunately just wants power and as we see later on she doesn't really know what to do once she has it and of course Cersei's little monologue here serves to highlight that inequality in Westeros but also you know Cersei's not trying to make things better for all women. She's just like, if I can't have power, no one can have it and everyone's coming down with me. Oh yeah, absolutely. Some women just want to watch the kingdom burn, right?

Oh yeah. Our last course of food that we get is chèvre. It's goat cheese and baked apples. And the scent of cinnamon fills the room as Stannis' men land on the shore. These things are kind of paired in the text. And I'm also like, I totally kind of wonder if like this is on purpose, right? Like cinnamon is spicy, fiery, rilori, big red gum. I don't know.

I'm just, I'm just spitballing here. I'm just, I'm just saying spicy stuff. Like red hot. What's on the other side? Okay, Chloe, what goes on the other side? The ice. If this is spicy, do we have what? Cold? Ice cream? Mint? Ice cream, yeah. Mint.

Minty fresh. Oh. Chocolate chip ice cream. So these are the two gums. One is the spearmint. The other is your fucking pink red. Yes, that's exactly. One is Fireball. One is Dr. McGillicuddy mint schnapps, you know? Yeah.

And is Lightbringer actually icebreaker gum? I don't know. Oh my god. Or is it like the little like strips? They're carrying a ram to the gate. And by they, I mean Stannis's army. And Tyrion is leading men to fend them off. Joffrey remains with one of the Kettleblacks.

Again, which Kettleblack? No one knows. They're flinging antler men into the river, which doesn't seem very, you know, in retrospect, that doesn't seem very strategic. Cersei wants Joffrey out of the fighting, though. She cannot abide having Joffrey anywhere,

even remotely dangerous. And Osni tries to argue that Tyrion told him that Joffrey ought to remain there. Which, yes. But Cersei also reminds Osni of his loyalties to the Queen Mother. You know, it does bug me that, yeah, it is a little counterproductive, right?

If Joffrey is going to cling to his claim and cling to his throne, and he isn't embracing the antlered side of his blood, right if Joffrey is going to cling to his claim and cling to his throne and he isn't embracing the uh antlered side of his blood quote unquote I mean he's screwing himself over and flinging antler men into the river does not look good right I mean you're just sending him them over obviously they're dead but you're sending them over dead to the enemy that clings to that antler life to be like I'm a Baratheon i have targaryen blood in me i'm on the throne by rights like give it to me yeah hashtag symbolism yeah also do you think

cersei had banged osney already at this point i think she did like right around here i think she might have because she was kind of desperate to keep her hold on power after joffrey's big power move on the sept of Baelor steps, and he's not exactly allowing her to do whatever she wants anymore. So it gave her a plant in the Kingsgarden. I think Osney was definitely first. I don't know. There's nothing that like really points to it to me, but that doesn't mean that they didn't.

Right. I mean, because in Feast she discusses they've been banging for a while. So it's like, how long is a while, Cersei? Yeah. And I don't know if it's necessary. I mean, part of it, of course, is that she thinks it's keeping power over the kettle blocks. But I think part of it is just like, Jaime's been gone for a while. happy about because it was making me hungry this entire time oh my god it sounded really good the salad sounded good i don't know eat your salad cersei many ask for leave to go to the set to pray as a one last escape from maker's hold fast which i kind of wonder if these people were like oh this battle's going south like we should just leave now because we're fucked and we're gonna die in this room with the queen right like if they're suddenly realizing like oh the executioner has just been standing around real awkwardly in

the background yeah maybe they're hoping that the set like in the hunt track of notre dame notre dame sorry uh that religious building is going to be like sanctuary probably not but the hope is there hellfire oh best disney song yeah it's the best song for sure uh it's very stannis speaking of it is a singer does come forth singing the songs of john quill and florian prince amon the dragon knight and which is very fitting for sansa both of them and even namaria and her ships singing the songs of John Quill and Florian, Prince Aemon, the Dragon Knight, and Neres, which is very fitting for Sansa, both of them, and even Nymeria and her ships. And because the two, for those first two songs, right, they fit so well. I wonder if that last one about Nymeria and her ships ought to be fitting in somehow in some way, but I just don't

know yet how. Here's how. I got you. I got you. If you read the new excerpt from Fire and Blood, you'll know that Alysanne returns to the north and she hits White Harbor, right? Which Sansa, when she returns to the north, could possibly be hitting White Harbor first with the veil, having troops come up the road after them. And, you know, good Queen Sansa stuff. Indeed. Indeed. I'm hoping. And everyone's's sad and they're weeping softly at the music and sansa finds herself a part of this sad times as sansa feels her eyes moistened circe patronizes her as she's been doing this whole time but like also like in circe's defense

i'm not gonna act like i've never been drunk and tried to quote-unquote dispense wisdom unto the younglings. It wasn't good wisdom. Probably not wisdom at all, but I'm not going to act like I've never tried to do that. And Cersei tells Sansa that she should continue to practice those tears for Stannis' arrival, and Sansa feigns understanding and Cersei rolls her eyes, telling Sansa that she knows about her little treasons in the Godswood, and Sansa's heart stops. The Godswood?

Don't look at Ser Dantos. Don't, don't, Sansa told herself. She doesn't know. No one knows. Dantos promised me. My Florian would never fail me. I've done no treasons. I only visit the Godswood to pray.

First, Stannis, or your brother, it's all the same. Why else seek out your father's gods? You're praying for our defeat. What would you call that if not treason? I pray for Joffrey, she insisted nervously. And here you can see that our baby girl, she's getting smarter and she's growing up, because she knows that there's still a chance for plausible deniability.

She's like, no, they can't know about Dantosos so she convinces herself not to look at dantos which definitely pays off yeah cersei then tells her to drink so sansa gets away with whatever she thought was happening and cersei tells her to drink because it might provide her the courage to deal with the truth about her life she commands her to drain her cup, and it makes Sansa gag, which of course, you wonder where Joffrey gets this from, right? Like, the worst of both worlds. Sad. It's really sad. But also, just like, it's sad when you see Joffrey, it's hard to feel bad for him. It is. It is. It almost gagged her, but Sansa emptied the cup, gulping down the thick, sweet lime until her head was swimming. More? Cersei asked.

No. Please. So, first off, totally like the Choki and Matilda. And then, like, the chocolate cake. With Trumbull. Anyways, Super Joffrey, right back to drowning Dantos with wine in the first chapter of a clash of kings yeah it's just like stop making sansa do keg stands all right she doesn't want anymore cersei admits she lied to sansa earlier on when she asked by ill and pain was there with the ladies she beckons for ill and pain to come forth and he does with ice unsheathed and attached to him blood drying on the sword is this a metaphor?

Probably. I don't know. Aren't we all? Ilin utters a choking noise. He's here for us, he says, the queen said. Stannis may take the city and he may take the throne, but I will not suffer him to judge me. I do not mean for him to take us alive. Us? You heard me. So perhaps you had best pray again, Sansa, and for a different outcome. The Starks will have no joy from the fall of house lannister i promise you she reached out and

touched sansa's hair brushing it lightly away from her neck don't touch don't touch her leave that girl alone leave her alone get a job cersei holy shit a lot to unpack right i argue that like besides joffrey ill and pain plays a silent antagonist in most of Sansa's chapters. Every moment he's near her in a Game of Thrones, she feels an impending sense of dread and doom. And we find out later she's right to feel this dread as he lops off Eddard's head with ice on the steps of Baelor for everyone to see whether he was under orders or not. That is a very nightmare inducingucing thing. And of course, she feels this dread even throughout A Clash of Kings

because of watching him do that to Ned. She's reminded every single time she sees him of the tongueless executioner carrying her dead dad's sword. He's a villain, in a way, right for her in her time at King's Landing, and he fills her with intense anxiety. I kind of hope, especially because we know he's in the same area in the Riverlands as where we'll probably see Nymeria and her wolf pack, kind of hope Nymeria eats him, you know, just just for fun. I know it's like it's kind of like, no, it's not his fault in a way like this just happened. And

he was actually somebody that spoke up against tywin and that's why his tongue's gone but like also i'd still wouldn't be sad if he got eaten by a wolf you know i wouldn't be sad yeah i have complicated feelings about ill and pain like i think as the story goes along it's weird because as you said he definitely was punished by shitty people and has received maybe like an unjust punishment but like he's still holding up the shitty system but also at the same time like then we see that maybe he's he he becomes like slightly more likable in feast but i don't know where things are going maybe Maybe, maybe he's only, maybe it's that George has only made him like more sympathetic and likable, right.

To pull that rug under us from out from under us. Like when Nymeria and the wolf pack attacks, because otherwise it wouldn't mean anything. It didn't feel too just, I don't know. Yeah. It's like, I don't,

I just feel bad because it's like you know he didn't really choose this he was turned into a monster as well it's very sandor-esque you know it's very like hired sword for the lannisters-esque but he had even less of a choice like he's been condemned to this and it even makes me think of that singer that joffrey was like do you want your tongue or do you want your fingers bitch like yeah it's just a hard way to live for a mistake, one mistake in front of a royal. It is. But,

Ill and Pain's not the only villain or gray character in the story. We're going to see a lot of that coming forth, right? In these next few Blackwater and Sansa chapters. We have a lot in the next chapter. Yeah. Sansa chapters? We have a lot in the next chapter to

get through. There's a lot. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. There's quite a few scenes that I really like. Are you? I am. There's one scene that I'm particularly looking forward to. I think we know what scene I'm most excited for. Of course. I don't think anyone could be as excited for that as for any scene

in any of the books as you are for that one. No one would hurt you again or I'd kill them. But who will protect her from him? He wouldn't, though. He even, he fesses up. He's all like, I didn't,

I took the song. She never, yeah, anyways. So this was Sansa 6 in A Clash of Kings. How's that for a full one chapter episode, you guys? One chapter in depth. Yeah, we're one hour closer to 10. Yeah, we're one hour closer to the 10 hours. The 173

hour Blackwater episode coming your way. Yep. Just stay tuned. And you can stay tuned to see when those next few episodes come out by subscribing to us on social media. Right? By subscribing to us, I mean, you know, check us out on Twitter

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at patreon.com slash girlsgonecanon for extra content that not everybody gets. But every week we will be bringing you these episodes for free. Otherwise, you can get them on several platforms. You can get them on Podbean, where we host our podcast, on iTunes, on Google Play, on Stitcher, on Acast, and most recently on Spotify. Hey, guys, thanks so much again for listening in. Make sure to listen to episode 27,

Sansa, A Clash of Kings 7. I'm Chloe, one of your hosts. You can find me on the internet as at LiesInArbor on Twitter and also LiesInArbor.tumblr.com And I'm Eliana, another one of your hosts, and you can find me as GlassTableGirl

on the Maester Monthly Podcast and the Asang of Ice and Fire subreddit. Thank you for listening! Goodbye! For now. For now. Bye, guys.