Girls Gone Canon Cast - ASOIAF Episode 52 - Jon ACOK Intro & Jon I

Episode Date: May 24, 2019

Jon and Sam prepare for the Great Ranging! But before they can embark on their journey, everyone needs to tie up a few loose ends—including learning a little Targaryen family history.   *Please ...note this episode was recorded before the series finale.   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 Chloe's blog: www.liesandarborgold.com

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello and welcome to Girls Gone Canon, episode 52, John in a Clash of Kings, chapter one and interim. I am one of your hosts, Chloe, you know me every week on the internet at Lies in Arbor and on my blog, liesinarborgold.com. And I am another one of your hosts, Eliana, and you know me every other week as GlassTableGirl on the Song of Waste and Fire subreddit, on the Maester Monthly Podcast, maybe as Arithmetric over on Twitter. Chloe, you're the only other host. They're only every
Starting point is 00:00:53 weeks, but oh well. We do this every week, Eliana. Every week. So every other week. So I was right. Okay, so every other week, yes. Only this month. Is this foreshadowing? Next week, I think so. No, it's character development. Oh, is it?
Starting point is 00:01:10 Next week, you guys, we are not going to have a Jon episode releasing on May 31st, but we will have a surprise for you. So stay tuned. You'll see it when you see it. We will have also for patrons $5 and up an episode on prophecy that will be coming out next week for them. So check that out. If you haven't been to our Patreon, patreon.com slash girls gone canon. This will be the 10th episode for patrons.
Starting point is 00:01:35 Our 10th Patreon episode. We're really excited about that. Happy 10 months, guys. We could have had a baby. We didn't. We did. It was this podcast. Yes. And now it's 10 months old. 11 months old. It is't. We did. It was this podcast. Yes.
Starting point is 00:01:45 And now it's 10 months old, 11 months old. It is. Wait, no, our Patreon is our, now it's over a year old. Congratulations us and Patreon. And along with that exciting news, we are very jazzed to do this prophecy episode and not do a dance episode yet. Once again. episode and not do a dance episode yet. Once again.
Starting point is 00:02:06 We have an episode that came out together with Sarah Jo Buckley over on his podcast, Isle of Faces, which is an awesome podcast that interviews different people within the Song of Ice and Fire fandom. And also he had a fantastically exciting announcement.
Starting point is 00:02:22 Yes, so exciting. And I'm so bummed because he originally announced it on Drunk A Song of Ice and Fire History, my old pet project. But the episode has unfortunately
Starting point is 00:02:31 been very delayed by a year and a half. It's hungover. You know, sometimes life is hard. It's very hungover. That episode is extremely hungover.
Starting point is 00:02:39 Joe understands. It's like a four episode or four hour long episode. So we're getting there. It might come out. But Joe has just finished and is publishing a book on the castles in Westeros, the great castles. Any castle you'd want to look at from the noble lords, right? We're going to look at Winterfell, etc.
Starting point is 00:02:56 Really excited to read that when it comes out and gets in my little greedy hands. Some beautiful illustration work as well. So congratulations, Joee for publishing that book we look forward to reading it yep and the illustrations are done by aranja or on rania honestly unsure how you pronounce it it's called a-r-o-n-j-a and it looks like it's going to be really fantastic so we're very excited and congratulations joe yeah he is just one of the nicest humans and he's so smart so knowledgeable you might know him from uh writing on tower of the hand or also from some of his writings he
Starting point is 00:03:31 does with history of westeros some really good esteemed people in this community that write some great stuff and he is one of them so check out isla faces you can check them out on podbean islafaces.podbean.com and along with that shout out we have some other emails and tweets of note this week user imperium16 on twitter says i absolutely adored the discussion john is such a drama queen with all the no one loves me i'm all alone crap laughing emoji and i'm just calm down princess literally everyone loves you get a grip laughing emoji again this is such a cute chapter with just everyone being kind and considerate yeah i love that it's just teenagers at their most teenageriest even boys you know everyone's always like teenage
Starting point is 00:04:17 girls are the worst and it's like whoa i think john can change your mind. I like that Imperium's like, literally everyone loves you. Right, like he's literally the world's favorite bowl of porridge. So I'm just kidding. He's really interesting in these two books. There are some really good bowls of porridge that I'm going to throw that out there. Like ariscaldo and congee, avialemono. You know, I even like to go real classic. Some raisins, you know, some some craisins some dried craisins
Starting point is 00:04:45 in there with some brown sugar and a little butter and a tiny bit of milk and just more of a savory anyways see i'm not a savory not a savory you and i uh this is we balance each other out we did get another great tweet from our good friend mary maester mary m-a-e-s-t-e-r-m-e-r-r-y if you haven't checked out her work please be sure to she can be found on youtube on her blog at upfromunderwinterfell.wordpress.com give her a look online
Starting point is 00:05:14 she's fun she's got some great discussions and theories and she said love your discussion of john's friends rescuing him from his angsty teen self it's amazing that this theme the friends that save us from ourselves resonatessty teen self it's amazing that this theme the friends that save us from ourselves resonates across the series and even with the show a game of thrones the book
Starting point is 00:05:30 is so good and my heart needed this cast this morning i get you girl i get you i think everyone needs a little reprieve uh just a step back from the the show the great show my favorite show in the whole world i mean the last chapter was jane the virgin no wait yes okay um while we're talking about jane the virgin because now i've decided fuck this first of all right now at this moment in the books we are technically a john the virgin but anyway um thank you thank you um and yes uh he's he continues to be one in this chapter. He decides not to go to Molestown. And I love that point that the friends save us from ourselves.
Starting point is 00:06:14 And it was a very pure chapter. Yeah, it's his new wolf pack, right? The pack survives. Yes. And we had another great comment from Warren Dud dudson aka the hedge knight long-time friend big time fan of girls got canon hi warren bigger time mom our mother warren he thinks we're his mom's what really warren's our mom hello mom really like maybe warren was the mom we made actually he is isn't he hi warren uh warren says normally i'm raving about arithmetic voices in girls gone canon
Starting point is 00:06:52 and her jr mormon is exceptional thank you um but the ease with which lies in our verse which is into a northern english john snow and out again is mightily impressive tune in folks you won't regret it and And yes, Chloe, your Jon Snow is great. There was another voice you did last time that I thought was really awesome, and I was like, oh. It was Pycelle? Was it Pycelle in the show
Starting point is 00:07:16 we talked about? It was the show episode. We talked about his line about eunuchs and cravens and women in poison. Yes, I think that's what it was. I was like, damn. We should have had you do it. Yeah, missed the opportunity, but it'll come back it'll come back someday we'll get tyrian and cersei and we'll get some more pie cell for you don't worry i'll serve you up some pie oh some free pie cell yeah some free pie cell you know uh i'm not trying to make it a competition but i'm just saying coming for your throne eliana coming for your throne you know it can be shared
Starting point is 00:07:43 you know i'm not we can have a we have a marriage alliance it's fine that's true we don't care about incest wait you're not my aunt never mind just also sister whatever two moms anyways my sister life but that lands us at the overview of john in a clash of A Clash of Kings, John has to do some more choosing, right? That's the name of the game for John, choose some more. Yes. Is he on a train? Oh, look at all these choo-choos. I have no regrets. But yeah, as you said, A Clash of Kings continues a lot of what happened in John's first book, and it combines it with John finally going on that adventure that he longed for. And now that he's chosen duty and service, he has to choose a lot of little more nuanced things
Starting point is 00:08:39 within it. These manifest in many different ways, such as through Ygritte. We see what those choices look like with Khorne half-hand and those consequences. But we also see what it means to choose duty and service through other characters like Squire, Dalbridge, Bless. That's Eliana's character of this whole entire book. Absolutely. He also tells them to give an apple to his horse. What a good guy. He is. John could have really learned from him before not
Starting point is 00:09:05 touching his dog uh i love that clash of kings is kind of like the feast to agot right like clash is uh everyone's picking up the pieces our patriarch has died our lead hero was actually not the hero the whole time and he was killed and now all these characters have to pick up the pieces after the storm. They have to pick up all the rotting carcasses and choose. Choose and choice is a huge, huge theme in A Clash of Kings. You have Sansa with the Blackwater and choosing, you know, Sandor comes to her room and tries to take her away. And does she choose Sandor or does she wait for Dantos,
Starting point is 00:09:42 which she thinks might be a safer bet? You have Jon choosing his loyalty you know you were wrong to love her you were wrong to leave her is a great line that comes up in Storm and you have other characters too choosing what king to follow for example between Renly and Stannis and of course with Cersei's regime with her children it's interesting that the whole book just outlines what will you do and how far will you go when duty calls for you. And of course, we'll come back to this throughout this chapter. But another character who has to make a lot of choices in the Clash of Kings is Theon Greyjoy.
Starting point is 00:10:14 But you all already know about how we feel about Theon Greyjoy and his choices. I love him so much. I know. I miss him. I miss you, Theon. My Pyralarvae. You're a good man, Theon. Great job.
Starting point is 00:10:30 Okay, you're done. So what we missed between the end of A Game of Thrones, which we did do a lightning round last episode to tell you what chapters end the book after Jon, this time what we've missed since the start of Clash of Kings, we begin with the prologue. Maester Cressen recalls the kings that he once knew as boys, and he attempts to murder a red priestess. It costs him his life. Arya I. Arya has taken on a new identity, traveling north to the
Starting point is 00:10:58 Night's Watch with Yoren. Sansa I. Sansa attends Joffrey's name day tourney and she saves Ser Dantos Hallard's life. Tyrion 1. Cersei grudgingly accepts Tyrion as hand and Varys discovers Tyrion's latest secret. It's a girl. What is it not? Bran 1. Resenting his broken body, Bran listens to the wolves howl and he dreams in Summer's skin. Arya 2. Gold cloaks
Starting point is 00:11:26 come to arrest Arya's friend. Gendry! Don't know him. Overview of Jon I in A Clash of Kings. Sam has found maps that will help the men beyond the wall on their ranging. Jon and Donald Noy discuss the new recruits, watching them
Starting point is 00:11:42 train, and then Lord Commander Jeor and Jon chat about Maester Aemon's past. hidden lamp john blew out the taper he carried preferring not to risk an open flame amidst so much old dry paper instead he followed the light wending his way down the narrow aisles beneath barrel-volted ceilings that library porn i love it love it i can't wait for sam chapters because he's basically all of us i mean yes but also let's be real we've been treating all of these chapters basically like sam chapters ever since he showed up yeah well that's the unity between them i mean yes exactly they're bffs even if brothers oh yes an even deeper bond john finds sam in the library where sam has likely been
Starting point is 00:12:39 up all night and john actually didn't believe rath saying that Sam deserted because he thinks that Sam has no courage to desert which is like what the fuck we'll come back to this yeah and then John calls Sam a sweet fool for not sleeping in his bed and is like you're gonna miss it when we're out there on the cold hard ground but turns out Sam's been looking at a lot of things
Starting point is 00:12:59 he was supposed to be finding maps and he found some including ones from before the conquest it reminds me of when I was a kid and my parents would be like go clean your room and then i'd like start playing with barbies or read books instead that's what it reminds me of like sam go find this stuff sam but i found all this stuff instead like i remember like parents come in and i just be like i am cleaning them i'm organizing their clothes yes very slowly me putting the books in the bookshelf i'm not reading it i wonder if these conquest maps are going to come back into play during some of the wars to come maybe uh i don't know maybe there will be some maps there about different like
Starting point is 00:13:38 places around the country slash nation and different keeps and little ins and outs and secrets not just casterly rock which we'll probably get a view of from tyrian with the pipes and drains but i wonder if there's just secrets in this map from before the conquest here's a tinfoil but kind of fun what if there's one of all the different tunnels that run underneath westeros i don't know but yeah i do think we get the sense that these might come back into play especially because sam keeps finding other books that do it reminds me a lot of denarius's books that she is gifted at her wedding from jorah it makes me wonder you know what's in those books
Starting point is 00:14:17 that danny so desperately needs of course george or martin has said that you know fire and blood the novel that came out last november that would be a book that Dani should consider reading about her ancestors. It would be a very enriched history that she might do well from reading. If it's long as fuck. Yeah. We haven't even finished doing the dance episodes, Chloe. John then suggests that maybe Sam should write an account of the ranging and turns out this is a misstep because Sam's like, oh shit, the ranging. Yeah, it's not where Sam wants to be whatsoever. I love that. There's that cheesy kind of cute idea slash theory that Sam will, you know,
Starting point is 00:14:54 write this all at the end. It'll be a book of a song of ice and fire in the annals. And I do love that Sam is constantly documenting things like this ranging, something that will go down in the history of Westeros in the future not the podcast yeah not the pot it could it might go down it's been technically on a meta level this is what is in the history of Westeros podcast yes thank you Sam but if the Alexandria I mean the Citadel burns down then they're gonna need new history right and they need people to rewrite and to copy and
Starting point is 00:15:25 create other books and tomes and sam might just be a maester-esque figure in charge of that we don't know for sure though something that i cannot imagine is sam writing himself down in the books and being like yes and then sam the slayer took down another you know yeah i doubt that i doubt that probably like he'll probably write it and then he'll like rip the page out and put it in his pocket and then he'll be like i'm so embarrassed and someone else will have to like make the song for him about that it also reminds me of jamie with the white book for example too and how he hopes that one day he's going to be called golden hand the just and like that's cute. Yeah, maybe, you know, stop banging your sisters, stop pushing kids out of towers,
Starting point is 00:16:08 and we'll find you in the Winds of Winter. We'll see what's up. Yeah, see what's up. But until then, Sam explains why all this information that seems trivial needs to be recorded. An inventory, Sam said, or perhaps a bill of sale. Who cares how much pickled cod they ate 600
Starting point is 00:16:24 years ago, John wondered. I would. Sam carefully replaced the scroll in the bin from which John had plucked it. You can learn so much from ledgers like that. Truly, you can. It can tell you how many men were the knights watched and how they lived, what they ate. They ate food, John said, and they lived as we live. You'd be surprised. This vault is a treasure, Jon. Truly, Jon Snow knows nothing, because this would obviously come in handy during the long night they're about to go through. But Jon doesn't know that's a thing yet. He just has seen the others. But truly, this is very important stuff right here that Sam is looking at. It turns out knowledge is power.
Starting point is 00:17:04 And it's something that is important that even like historians and anthropologists look for nowadays right they're like how were the lives of earlier humans and how did those things change so and on top of that i love that this passage is outlined straight up like us book readers with all of our friends going you fucking nerds that's true john's Jon's like, you nerd, they ate food. Like, what do you want from this scroll? Just go eat a sandwich. Yeah. Sam is worried about returning to the ranging,
Starting point is 00:17:34 and Jon says that the Great Ranging comprises 200 men, three-fourths of which are rangers, so 150 if you're short at math like I am. Thanks, Eliana, for doing it for me. Corrin is bringing another hundred men with him from the Shadow Tower. You'll be as safe as if you were back in your lord father's castle at Horn Hill. Sam will tarly manage a sad little smile. I was never very safe in my father's castle either.
Starting point is 00:18:00 Well, Sam, then button up, because you're doing better here. Yeah, actually, is Sam- Turns out, is Sam kind of safer on the other side of the wall? Thoughts? I mean, he has a guardian. He has Jon Snow and his friends now. So I think he's a lot safer than he'd be at Horn Hill. No one's going to let him be chained up to a wall and put bull's blood poured all over him. Yeah, I mean, the wall's too far behind him.
Starting point is 00:18:23 That's why he's on the other side. You could never get the chains that deep in the wall either. That's true. You could totally pull them out. Or his body heat would melt where they were. They'd totally come out. Or he'd get stuck, you know, like when you put your tongue against a frozen pole or something.
Starting point is 00:18:37 I would never do that because I've seen what happens. But anyways, a lot of this actually centers around Jon thinking of how other people would actually be more suited for this ranging than sam based on how terrified sam seems to be of this and john sees him very much as timidly and a coward and bad at like shit like going on ranging and riding a horse but they need to bring him because someone has to be out there to tend to the ravens and write things if something happens and finally sam actually voices his own fears about it we're all scared we'd be fools if we weren't too many rangers have been lost the past two years even benjen start john's uncle they had found two of his
Starting point is 00:19:16 uncle's men in the wood slain but the corpses had risen in the chill of night john's burnt fingers twitched as he remembered he still saw the white in his dreams, dead Othor with the burning blue eyes and cold black hands, but that was the last thing Sam needed to be reminded of. There's no shame in fear, my father told me. What matters is how we face it. Yeah, I like this because John is thinking so much about Sam's fear throughout this chapter that because it's played up, it makes it that much more impactful when sam actually does slay another because this is something that he's actively overcoming or even when he like in a few chapters decides like hey i'm gonna go talk to gilly and everyone's like what the fuck are you doing we don't talk the crassers don her wives
Starting point is 00:19:58 uh but like part of what's so great about John's storyline though I think and his character is that through characters like Sam or a lot of his other mentors he's always having his worldview questioned and a lot of times it's in this guided manner and he always has to reassess his worldview and I think that's part of what makes John also very lovable as a character because when his worldview is questioned he doesn't dig into it or be like oh no they were wrong he learns from it he internalizes these lessons and he steps up and does better and you can see that this lesson about fear is something that ned taught his kids in many different ways and john as well as sam is very much facing his fear by going beyond the wall
Starting point is 00:20:41 especially after what he's experienced and these nightmares that he continues to have about the whites. Yeah, and you even see his growth, obviously, in Sam. In this chapter, he still thinks he's craven, he's cowardly, but by the time we get to the end of Clash of Kings, John will feel much differently about Sam. Yes. After going through tunnels and climbing, John recalls seeing the White Raven, marking the end of summer and the beginning of fall. Once before, John had seen winter, but it was very short. The wall is described as the end of the world, and it feels like a living, breathing thing. And of course, he thinks, and we are going beyond it. The Red Comet is above, and before the big trip, the rangers kind of head out to Molestown, you know, digging for buried treasure, kind of trying to get their jimmies, get their dick wet a little, you know, shake it off before they get into the ranging and battle and murdering some wildlings.
Starting point is 00:21:43 talks about the library and all of the books and there is a treasure and then here we have that play on words again where we're reminded that molestown is talked about as digging for buried treasure and i think that there's maybe an aspect of this that's setting up that dragon class cash that they find later on but in the idea that like there are multiple ways to interpret what is a treasure like dragon glass obsidian doesn't seem like that cool but i think it's for me i'm, I'm seeing it as, even within this chapter, you know, we're getting different views of what it means to be king, what different people want when it comes to duty, and just the idea of what is valuable to different people. Yeah, that's a great call. I didn't actually think about that with a digging for buried treasure kind of idea. That's perfect. It has to be some sort of little wordplay setup in that situation. You just have to live your life in puns yeah i try i really do i know i know i'm following
Starting point is 00:22:30 the good lord like i'm intended to but be part of part of my world john and sam both want nothing to do with going to the brothel though some men want whores on the eve of battle and some want gods john wondered who felt better afterward. The sept tempted him no more than the brothel. His own gods kept their temples in the wild places where the weirwoods spread their bone white branches. The seven have no power beyond the wall, he thought, but my gods will be waiting. I thought this was a nice line because first of all, yes, we all know that the wildlings
Starting point is 00:23:04 still keep the old gods and turns out, yes, there's a lot of skin know that the wildlings still keep the old gods and turns out yes there's a lot of skin changing and things that are associated with the old gods up north but i like the idea that the seven have no power beyond the wall because we've discussed before how it seems like the seven doesn't have any magics behind it unlike some of the other religions but there is a very socio-political power behind the faith of the seven but beyond the wall if no one keeps it then there's none of that power there either absolutely and it keeps that idea that the old gods are watching him which we know turns out to be blood raven and bran later on oh his brother then we have sir andrew tarth who actually we
Starting point is 00:23:42 don't know how he's related to brienne. We just know he's a Tarth. He's a master at arms while Sir Alistair Thorne is away, thank god. And he's the one who's teaching the new recruits. Then Sir Donald Noy comes up and makes some small talk with Jon about Rob. Rob is now a king. This is reminding us of, you know, all that shit that happened at the end of A Game of Thrones. And Jon's like, he's gonna be a good one. And they and they like use the word loyally to describe how john says that noi then warns john that he thought the same actually of robert baratheon but warns that
Starting point is 00:24:15 kings are never the same once they put on that crown and of course we get that iconic line of how robert is the steel stannis is the iron, and Renly is the copper. Yeah, and Jon thinks, and what metal is Rob? Jon did not ask. Noy was a Baratheon man. Likely, he thought Joffrey the Lawful King and Rob a traitor.
Starting point is 00:24:36 Among the Brotherhood of the Night's Watch, there was an unspoken pact never to talk about politics. I mean, never to probe too deeply into such matters. Men came to the Wall from all of the Seven Kingdoms, and old loves and loyalties were not easily forgotten,
Starting point is 00:24:49 no matter how many oaths a man swore. As John himself had good reason to know, even Sam, his father's house, was sworn to Highgarden, whose Lord Tyrell supported King Renly. Best not to talk of such things. The Night's Watch took no sides. They make you swear and swear.
Starting point is 00:25:06 Fuck. Shit. Damn. Oh. Not that. Not that. Imagine if that was what it was about. Oh my god. So, the last book was obviously really about choice, just like
Starting point is 00:25:21 the themes that continue into this book of choice, especially with different kings, but this book is also who are you and what are you? Donald Noy is almost passively asking him, what kind of king would you choose? Or what kind of king would you be? Are you steel? Are you iron? Or are you copper? This follows through with the setup of the trajectory for Stannis in Jon's plot later on in A Dance with Dragons, and him being kind of a warning of Jon in his rule, how to rule, how not to rule, and also sets that stage well for Jon's kill the boy moment in A Dance with Dragons. But for now, it's a perfect stage setting for Jon's excursion beyond
Starting point is 00:25:56 the wall and his loyalties that are very difficult to choose between. Yes, I love that you point to that kill the boy moment, because in a way, it's not even just about being a king, but definitely about power. Because you see this in Thorin Smallwood, who we're going to see in like a minute, making an entrance wanting to be first ranger. And of course, Jon has some power when he's Lord Commander. And there's definitely I think, a discussion within Jon's storyline of how power changes people, whether it's a king or his lord commander. Different people bring different things to it, depending on who they are, whether it's entitlement or responsibility or the toll that that power takes on them. And interestingly, I think it's funny that these quote-unquote half-brothers, Jon and Rob,
Starting point is 00:26:38 respond similarly to power when outsiders look at them, because they both become so much more withdrawn from the people around them they feel they they look so burdened by that responsibility and that i think contrasts greatly with the young gray jay who does also become a little more isolated but he gets both power and freedom for the first time in a very long time in his chapters that uh you know are paralleling Jon's here in Clash. But when he takes power, he builds it pretty fucking irresponsibly.
Starting point is 00:27:11 Yeah, Jon has seen so many people abuse their power. He's seen what happens when you play with power from his father. And I mean, on a meta level, his actual father too, obviously. So Jon is very careful about that power. If you pay attention through the books, he doesn't want that. He doesn't want a crown. He says no to Winterfell. It's interesting that Jon is always, like you've talked about, reluctant leader, not accepting the rulership how you think he would. But he's not the same reluctant leader as what we get with like Robert for example sure yes you're right there's there's a difference like he's a reluctant leader and he treats it as a responsibility his duty yeah exactly as his duty whereas Robert's like I don't want this and thus runs from that duty yes I also wanted to point out just because we were talking about Theon uh and by we I mean I guess me whatever uh in terms of in terms of people not forgetting some of those loyalties and connections
Starting point is 00:28:07 upon joining the Night's Watch it reminds me of Barbary Dustin talking about who were the fucking maesters before they became maesters okay like this is suspicious they're all rats they're all scurrying off with your ravens and your words I'm imagining a little rat carrying a raven right now
Starting point is 00:28:24 I think the raven would carry off or kill the rat whatever anyway still a better maester than pie cell true true true true oh god that just like sank in anyways sam as we're heading up to jr mormon's quarters says i hate stairs and i just really want to point out this parallel. Yeah, to both Chloe and Anakin Skywalker. Saying, I don't like sand. Coincidence? I think not. Obviously, George wrote this purposefully.
Starting point is 00:28:54 Both Georges. There you go. Lucas and Martin. Thorin Smallwood, who Eliana just foreshadowed. Just kidding. She talked about it. My character developed him. You character developed him.
Starting point is 00:29:05 Stop. You know, honestly, inside the episode, Eliana almost forgot that Thorin Smallwood existed. I forgot that Thorin Smallwood was a POV character. Oh my god. Thorin Smallwood says that he's First Ranger now, and J.R. Mormont's like, uh, no you're not.
Starting point is 00:29:22 I'm going on this ranging and you're not the First Ranger. What the fuck? Yeah. And I just love this line where J.R. Mormont's like, uh, no you're not. I'm going on this ranging and you're not the first ranger. What the fuck? Yeah. And I just love this line where J.R. Mormont goes, first ranger. The old bear's eyes landed on Sam. I'd sooner name you first ranger. I'm like, god damn. He must really think Thorin
Starting point is 00:29:37 Smallwood's super unqualified if he's like, I'd rather make Sam. I just really wanted to have that line in here. I love the rest of that line, though. He's like, he has the effrontery to tell me to my face that I'm too old to ride with him. Do I look old to you, boy? And then everything from Jon's chapter in the interior, and he's like, you look.
Starting point is 00:30:01 And he's like, shut the fuck up. That's like if your dad is like, do I look like an idiot to you, son? Yeah. And you's like, shut the fuck up. That's like if your dad is like, do I look like an idiot to you, son? Yeah. And you're like, yes. Yeah, but like everything, like after he says that, John's just like, well, he has all these spots on his like balding head. And he's like, uh.
Starting point is 00:30:19 Like you are kind of old, JR. John. Deafo gonna die. I mean, yeah, but not because he's old because but because his men are treasonous anyway the maps that sam brings are also old um and jr's like what the fuck is this and john says it's fine it's fine the villages might have moved and stuff but the hills and the rivers are still the same and then sam leaves and jr is just like yeah is that boy like good for anything which really really i think brings that line again where he would rather make sam first ranger into focus once more over freaking thor and small yeah i'm like wow
Starting point is 00:30:59 anyways and then we learned that jr actually had a thought to send Sam down to treat with Renly because we know that Randall Charlie is high up in Renly's camp right now. But JR was worried that Renly wouldn't listen to Sam, and so he decides instead to send Sir Arnell, who is a green apple Fossaway. I love the green apple Fossaways. They are your favorites interestingly enough sir arnell is never mentioned again in the story outside of like sending him down to treat with renly so i guess my head canon is like did he make it did he desert i like to think maybe he deserted for renly because i mean think about it if somebody came to renly with like a zombie hand or like tried to get support from him what would he really do like Renly would be like oh you should get out of the night's watch you would look better in a rainbow
Starting point is 00:31:48 cloak come join us yeah Renly's the kind of person to be like fuck your bells come hang out Renly doesn't care about the night's watch obviously he cares about the latest fashions yeah and then J.R. Mormont says of the things that he would have asked from Renly like the same things I'd have of all of them lad men horses swords, horses, swords, armor, grain, cheese, wine, wool, nails. These are a lot of things. No wonder. The knight's watch is not proud. We take what is offered.
Starting point is 00:32:13 His fingers drummed against the rough-hewn planks of the table. If the winds have been kind, Sir Elliser should reach King's Landing by the turn of the moon, but when at their this boy Joffrey will pay him any heed, I do not know. House Lannister has never been a friend to the Watch. Thorne has the White's hand to show them.
Starting point is 00:32:30 A grisly pale thing with black fingers, it was, that twitched and stirred in its jar as if it were still alive. Would that we had another hand to send to Renly. Of course, as we learned, Renly is copper. He would never take the hand seriously, even if they had one
Starting point is 00:32:45 yeah probably not he'd just be like that's not my fucking problem but what I love about this scene is we see J.R. making a lot of these decisions and it goes well with Jon thinking earlier about how Donald Noy is still a Baratheon man who probably supports Joffrey. And even though the brothers of the Night's Watch renounced their old houses and loyalties, it would be, I think, pretty foolish for a Lord Commander not to keep track of these things. Like J.R. Mormont's keeping track of a lot of things that are going on in the realm and knows where Randall Tarly is and stands. And that, of course, makes it easier kind of for someone who is of more noble birth then to become Lord Commander than someone who isn't because they've had those things taught to them. But also that shows how the Lord Commander
Starting point is 00:33:28 needs to use all of these resources and politicking, not just internally within the Night's Watch with their own men, but also externally and keeping those things in mind, those powers that they're beholden to. And you're going to see that, of course, later on in john's storyline when stannis comes north yeah but first we learn about mage mormont who took a bear for a lover from jay or so uh made his sister and we learned she is the mother to many many great mormont characters like daisy and alice and yes absolutely and funny enough there's actually someone in the story who's called husband to bears oh is there yeah who's claimed to have fucked a bear uh i'll read a couple of these quotes the more i drank the more i got thinking about this woman lived close by a fine strong woman with the biggest
Starting point is 00:34:18 pair of teats you ever saw she had a temper on her that one but oh she could be warm too and in the deep of winter a man needs his warmth. Thank you, that was my torment, I don't know, I guess it was good. Yeah, I like it. And then of course there's another passage, a longer one. The woman had a terrible temper and she put up quite the fight when I laid hands on her. It was all I could do to carry her home and get her out of them furs, but when I did, oh, she was hotter than I even remember. And we had a fine old time.
Starting point is 00:34:47 And then I went to sleep. Next morning when I woke, the snow had stopped and the sun was shining, but I was in no fit state to enjoy it. All ripped and torn I was. She had me member bit right off. And there on me floor was a she-baz pelt. And soon enough, the free folk were telling tales of this bald bear seen in the woods with the queerest pair of cubs behind her. Har!
Starting point is 00:35:09 He slapped his meaty thigh. Would that I could find her again. She was fine to lay with, that bear. Never was a woman give me such a fight nor such strong sons neither. It's Tormund! Yes. I mean, I agree. I think it's Tormund.
Starting point is 00:35:25 And yeah, Mage totally brags about it too. And like, I would like to take this time to remind everyone, first of all, that Mage Mormont is alive in the books. And she is probably one of the people who's carrying Robb's will north, you know, the will that like crowns Jon. And I think that's kind of interesting with all this talk of kings in this book but anyway may just mean the the clash of oh wow oh wow i'll be here all night major goes north with the will and maybe she goes all the way up north to the person who's been crowned with it not just to winterfell to Jon, who may or may not be dead at this point in time. Unsure.
Starting point is 00:36:08 But who else is here at the ball but this guy, Tormund, husband to bears and Robb's will, I'm just saying, is an elaborate plot shipping device and nothing's gonna convince me otherwise because we stand the books, alright? The books where Mage and
Starting point is 00:36:24 Tormund belong together. poor one out for mage hated and quitted mormon she just she slept with him and she left you know i don't know i mean i think that they really uh it's a nice fun detail they added into these books after adapting it from the tv show but uh i don't know i i think it's a fun Easter egg we'll never hear about and honestly, if we really want to go that far, I mean, that will has stopped in the neck. It pretty much stopped at Moat Caitlin and I'm guessing
Starting point is 00:36:54 that it's likely that Ned's bones and the will are in Howland's home in Greywater Watch, in Bongwater Watch. Yeah. I get it. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be here all all night i think it's likely it all stopped in gray water watch and i think that howland is preserving ned's bones because we do see people like barbary who do not want ned's bones to make it north have no respect for him
Starting point is 00:37:16 are utilizing power over ned's soul and body and i'm wondering if maybe that's where the buck has stopped i think that john will be crowned without the will. I think it's possible. I just think that Mage is going to have to make it north anyway. And there's still something with her plot regarding that, especially if we still have Leona Mormont, who's still on Bear Island out here sending out notes. So maybe, but we also don't know if Mage is still alive
Starting point is 00:37:37 because last time we saw her, she was in Moat Caitlyn and Ironborn. And who knows? Lizard Lions. Hopefully. Fingers crossed. Yes. We're reminded of john's hand he's flexing it it hurts from fighting the dead jay or says to john that amen was almost once king as they chat which surprises john and we get this huge info dump on the targaryen family history yes we're gonna start with this quote and start summarizing everything else. His father's father was
Starting point is 00:38:06 Daeron Targaryen, the second of his name, who brought Dorne into the realm. Part of the pact was that he wed a Dornish princess. She gave him four sons. Aemon's father, Maekar, was the youngest of those, and Aemon was his third son. Mind you, all this happened long before I
Starting point is 00:38:22 was born. Ancient as small wood would make me. He's so salty. The salty old bear. Aemon was named for Aemon the Dragon Knight, though not so knightly himself, obviously. It's the Knight of the Mind. It reminds me.
Starting point is 00:38:38 Yes, Knight of the Mind. Fight every battle in your mind, Aemon, everywhere. A very wise man once said that in the show. Why would you do that it reminds me of this chapter this passage in john 13 and a storm of swords when he's thinking about rob when they were fighting every morning they had trained together since they were big enough to walk snow and stark spinning and slashing about the wards of winterfell shouting and laughing sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes.
Starting point is 00:39:10 I'm Prince Aemon the Dragon Knight, Jon would call out, and Rob would shout back, well, I'm Florian the Fool. Or Rob would say, I'm the Young Dragon, and Jon would say, I'm Sir Ryan Redwyne. It very much so highlights Jon's journey, as we know he is, you know, the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar. That's just canon. We've already talked about it. But if you haven't listened to us since the last Book of Jon chapters, let's remind you, R plus L equals J is literally it. So this really outlines, you know, I'm Prince Aemon the Dragon Knight, and Rob saying I'm the young dragon. And it's the same kind of exposition of Daeron and Aemon. Yes.
Starting point is 00:39:45 It is. And just also showing where Jon's place was playing second fiddle to Rob. Always. And then, you know, again, info dump. We go down the line of how Aemon, Targaryen, was almost king. His eldest
Starting point is 00:40:02 uncle, the heir apparent, was slain and a tourney mishap and we all know that that's Baelor-Breakspear because there are a bunch of novellas. Which I think that came out right after Clash, right? Yes, absolutely. The very first did. And I love the passage from
Starting point is 00:40:18 The Mystery Knight where Dunk is remembering Baelor and it's And all at once the years fell away and Dunk was back at Ashford Meadow once again, listening to Baylor Breakspear just before they went forth to battle for his life. Wow, just ripped my heart out, why don't you? Very sad.
Starting point is 00:40:34 It is. Oh, Baylor Breakspear. And Baylor Breakspear's sons also passed soon after he did during the Great Spring Sickness and then King Darren at that time also died soon after during that sickness. And then the crown passed to Ares,
Starting point is 00:40:48 and Jon's like, the Mad King? That seems off. And then he's like, No, that first one. Yeah, there were two of them. That's why it was the second. And this happened about 80 years or so, according to Jeor.
Starting point is 00:40:59 And then during all this time, over in, like, I don't know, some cutaway, Aemon is forging his links and taking his vows while eris and his sister rule and then uh aries died without a child yeah so then maker amon's dad becomes king maker would have liked to have amon as his maester but amon refused he didn't want to usurp the current grand maester so he served with his eldest brother darren instead who also died and he left a feeble-witted daughter which was named vaia so interesting enough um most of the targaryen females that have a e l l a as the suffix of their name so a l or a how do you want
Starting point is 00:41:39 to pronounce it they're generally portrayed as weak or feeble characters have you noticed that there's anis and alissa who had a vaia who died young and weak uh this vaia was feeble-witted as we just read and her claim was actually dismissed in the 233 great council as a claim to the throne and then of course we also have aliceanne and daea her daughter aliceanne and jaharius's daughter daea who was sweet and feeble as well and died died very younger after childbirth and, you know, wasn't able to hold up. And then we do have Rhaella or Rhaea, however you want to pronounce that as well. So it's just interesting what they kind of portray these characters as. There's only a handful with the A-E-L-L-A suffix, and I found that interesting.
Starting point is 00:42:23 Yeah, it might be something George is playing with. a suffix and i found that found that interesting yeah it might be something george is playing with um i also want to call out i'm just pleased that we live in an age where we have all these internet resources and trees like because someone somewhere pieced together this fucking family tree from this passage like if you think about it some wild shit and then after all of them, there was Arian, who died drinking wildfire in an attempt to become a dragon. And... His reputation succeeds him, because
Starting point is 00:42:54 Jon definitely remembers, oh yeah, that guy, that guy was crazy. Yeah, he has no clue. And then there's Maekor, who died fighting an outlaw lord. That was the year of the Great Council, he said. The lords passed over Prince Arion's infant son and Prince Darin's daughter and gave the crown to Aegon. Yes and no. First they offered it quietly to Aemon, and quietly he refused.
Starting point is 00:43:19 The gods meant for him to serve, not to rule, he told them. He had sworn a vow and would not break it, though the High Septon himself offered to absolve him. Well, no sane man wanted any blood of Aryans on the throne, and Daeron's girl was a lacquit besides being
Starting point is 00:43:37 female, so they had no choice Oh, heaven forbid! but to turn to Aemon's younger brother, Aegon, the fifth of his name. Aegon the Unlikely, they called him, born the fourth son of a fourth son. Aemon knew, and rightly, that if he remained at court, those who disliked his brother's rule would seek to use him. So he came to the Wall, and here he has remained,
Starting point is 00:44:02 while his brother and his brother's son and his son each reigned and died in turn until jamie lannister put an end to the line of the dragon kings king croaked the raven the bird flapped crossed the solar to land on mormont's shoulder king it said again strutting back and forth he likes that that word, John said, smiling. An easy word to say. An easy word to like. King! The bird said again. I think he means for you
Starting point is 00:44:32 to have a crown, my lord. The realm has three kings already, and that's too, too many for my liking. An easy word to say. An easy word to like. I like that.
Starting point is 00:44:44 I like that line from J.R. Yeah. I just don't, I don't know. Is there foreshadowing? I don't know. What does the birb mean, Chloe? What does it mean? Well, I speak full birb, so let me break it down for you. I think he's talking about a king. Is it J.R.?
Starting point is 00:44:59 It's J.R., right? Yeah, J.R. King. J.R. King. It couldn't be the guy with questionable parentage. Why would it ever be Jon Snow? There was a line that stood out to me as we were reading this aloud in terms of things that are going on in the show that these books are based off of, where they talk about how Aemon refused to remain at court because those who disliked Aegon's rule would seek to use him against them, or seek to use Aemon against Aegon
Starting point is 00:45:26 and I think that's very reminiscent right of how Varys and Tyrion seem to be using especially Varys mostly and seem to be using Jon against Dany in the show yeah yeah yeah yeah absolutely uh people that mean to use that rule and that name and we obviously see that with the puppet king with Aegon VI possibly coming up here. We see that with him as well, them using him. So the puppet strings are definitely there. And I think there's a great correlation with Aemon to Jon in this chapter. Absolutely, you know, not wanting to rule whether it be the throne or whether it be Winterfell. It's very interesting. In fact, I think this is actually something where Jon having left the Night's Watch and
Starting point is 00:46:07 Slashor because the Night's Watch has disbanded not really having a purpose without, you know, without the others there actually hurts him because then he doesn't have vows to fall back on that. His shield is gone, right? He was the shield that
Starting point is 00:46:23 guarded the realms of men and that shield guarded him from being used like a political pawn like that yeah you have paper shields and then you have this as a shield and there's no longer a shield for him yep the wall is gone john is suspicious though as to why he's received this history lesson yeah jay or is like amen and you share having kings as brothers john Jon says, also a vow. And Jeor, though, has seen no lack of oath breakers. I've always known that Rob will be the lord of Winterfell. Mormont gave a whistle, and the bird flew to him again and settled on his arm.
Starting point is 00:46:56 A lord's one thing, a king's another. He offered the raven a handful of corn from his pocket. They will garb your brother Rob in silk satins and velvets of a hundred different colors while you live and die in black ring mail. I mean, is that so bad? Anyways, he will wed some beautiful princess and father's sons on her. You'll have no wife, nor will you ever hold a child of your own blood in your arms. Rob will rule. You will serve. Men will call you a crow. Him, they'll call you Grace.
Starting point is 00:47:27 Singers will praise every little thing he does while your greatest deeds all go unsung. Tell me that none of this troubles you, John. And I'll name you a liar. And I know I have the truth of it. John drew himself up, tout as a bowstring. And if it did trouble me what might i do bastard as i am what will you do marmot asked bastard as you are be troubled said john and keep my vows he's growing up yeah he is however at the same, there's a lot in this passage that's complete opposite, right?
Starting point is 00:48:06 Rob does not marry a beautiful princess. He does not father any sons. We learned Jane was being forced to drink tansy tea, moon tea, and swallow those aborificents and had no child. Rob dies at a wedding, not his wedding. Rob dies at a wedding. No songs really have been written about him that we hear yet and of course john is handed duty at every single corner once we get to a dance with dragons and stannis wants him to rule and there he turns it down again too he keeps his
Starting point is 00:48:37 resolve for now but we don't know what happens when he comes back from dead you know we don't know he doesn't pet his dog first of all and i mean yeah i agree like maybe if they do sing songs about rob they're all gonna be like real sad songs none of his valor i mean some maybe whatever and like i'm definitely reading a bit too much into this but in terms of the construction of this ending of john's chapter i think it's kind of noteworthy that of the question that's asked we don't get a cliffhanger from a mentor like we don't have even sadly saying in regards to choices like you gotta live with them as i have as i have in regards to all those it ends with john in this chapter he gets the last line the cool last line and he's the one who made the decision in the last book to keep his vows and he's sticking to that right here
Starting point is 00:49:20 now and i love jay recalling john out on his love of songs and valor because we know from throughout these past few chapters that john loves the warriors from the legends um you know it's also even in that passage that you quoted where they pick who they're gonna pretend to be and of course i think a lot of this talk of who gets valor and who remains in song, like you said, it's like Stannis. And then you also have Jaer drawing that distinction between ruling and serving, though it's interesting because I think some of the best kings that we see throughout Westerosi history are the ones who also kind of traded the role as being a servant to the realm. Yeah, because that's what political office should hold,
Starting point is 00:50:05 especially when you're in charge of all these people. It's called civil service, public service. Yeah, absolutely. Public service. You are a public servant. Absolutely. And that's something a lot of these kings seem to forget, honestly. If this whole mystery can be solved in one book for Jon,
Starting point is 00:50:20 which we've kind of seen that it could have in A Game of Thrones, this Clash of kings passage adding on is super important it's constructed purposefully for us to read all of this exposition and world knowledge and for our brains because our human brain is so spongy and we can only absorb so much so your first read through of this book you would read this passage and go oh there's so much god damn targaryen history in this but now after reading it handfuls of times knowing what we know this whole mystery could be solved after this chapter he's a direct parallel to Aemon in most of the things that he does his brother takes a crown he has the
Starting point is 00:50:57 opportunity to take his familial home back but walks away which is likely foreshadowing about what he will do when he's faced with the throne in my opinion in that Targaryen exposition no reason at all right no reason that George is discussing this Targaryen exposition at all yeah it's like you said it's all those parallels but also like Jon this is your family history as well and he's like I'm a teenage boy why did i get this history lecture yeah just like uh in john eight when amin gives him that huge lecture and he straight up tells him about his siblings his half siblings that he has no clue about oh yeah that's true so it also goes back to that passage from a storm of swords which we know ends with Jon shouting out in the middle of battle,
Starting point is 00:51:45 I'm the Lord of Winterfell. And Rob saying, you can't, you can't be. So we know there's this hurting. There's this pain in Jon, right? He wants his family. Of course, he wants the glory. Of course, he wants to be like the songs, but he has been, you know, resolved to this is his life now. And this is his duty. And this is what he's chosen absolutely and i think you see as he suffers more loss and sees what it really means to go on an adventure and lose the one you loved it's not some sad romantic story it's painful for him and he starts letting go of all those songs and his life just becomes a lot sad after that. It's almost like he loses hope. It's in one hand maturity, but on the other hand, not. Sometimes I think growing up can be a little bit of a balance of both
Starting point is 00:52:33 from my own experience. And in Storm of Swords, John 13, we get John's offering of Winterfell. And of course, he's tempted, right? You get that part where he thinks about his friends out in the yard, and he takes a bath, and he thinks Winterfell. Theon left it burnt and broken, but I could restore it. Surely his father would have wanted that, and Rob as well. They would never have wanted the castle left in ruins. You can't be the lord of Winterfell. You're bastard born, he heard Rob say again, and the stone kings were growling
Starting point is 00:53:05 at him with granite tongues. You do not belong here. This is not your place. When John closed his eyes, he saw the heart tree with its pale limbs, red leaves, and solemn face. The weirwood was the heart of Winterfell, Lord Eddard always said, but to save the castle, John would have to tear that heart up by its ancient roots and feed it to the Red Woman's hungry fire god. I have no right, he thought. Winterfell belongs to the old gods. It's so fascinating. Yeah, it shows you the
Starting point is 00:53:35 struggle of Jon's desires, but it also shows you how deeply loyal he is to the rest of the Starks because Theon's like, yeah, I'm gonna fucking take Winterfell. And then the idea that Jon is like, I can't because I'm bastard born. You know who didn't think that way? Ramsey
Starting point is 00:53:52 Bolton. And I know that Jon's all like, Winterfell's ruined, but it's not ruined anymore thanks to Ramsey Bolton and Roose Bolton rebuilding it, right? Oh yeah, absolutely. And I mean, in Dance, when Stannis is kind of being really bitter i'm just gonna skip over it i mean look ramsay avenged the red wedding i don't know what
Starting point is 00:54:11 you want that's it thank you in uh of course in a dance with dragons in john one you get that chapter where stannis is just like being stannis about how Jon turned down Winterfell, right? He's like, oh, you shouldn't have turned down Winterfell. And he's still thinking like, what if I had? What if I had? You still get all these thoughts for Jon of Maester Aemon. He still very much exists in A Dance with Dragons. And he still thinks about Maester Aemon often and Maester Aemon's plight. Interestingly enough, I love in Jon too in A Dance of Dragons where Jon has that passage that he'd been up all night looking at the maps, writing letters, and making plans with Maester Aemon. And Maester Aemon says the same
Starting point is 00:54:56 thing to him, that one last piece of counsel, the same counsel that he gave Egg when he departed from him. He was three and thirty when the great council chose him to mount the throne. A man grown with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the wall.
Starting point is 00:55:15 It takes a man to rule, an Aegon, not an egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born. The old man felt Jon's face. You are half the age Egg was and your own burden is a crueler one, I fear. You have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you
Starting point is 00:55:30 to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born. And that's a big part of why Jon stays away from taking Winterfell as his own, right? He knows he has a bigger duty. He knows that he is one of the only commanders that can fight in the war to come and save people from the others, from the Cold Ones, from this oncoming threat. He does his duty, great or small. But like you said in the bad show, the others are gone. There's no shield for Jon to fall behind. Now what happens when he has no duty left but to serve the realm? Yes. You can see it a little in the show in the previous
Starting point is 00:56:12 seasons, but there's going to definitely be guilt on Jon's part if he is given Winterfell. I think he's going to be like, I don't belong here. And he's going to maybe dream again of those old stone kings that you cited and i mean in some ways amon was right john had the strength to try and live up to the duties of being lord commander he had the strength to choose that as opposed to the things his heart wanted i'm not sure if amon would have approved of john in john 10 being like kill the boy look at this Mr. Amon watch me but yeah yeah Amon's like not like that but so what do you think of all these parallels with Amon with uh you know Aegon the Unlikely and Amon and ruling and stepping away from the crown. I
Starting point is 00:57:05 mean, the show has obviously heavy handed it by giving us Jenny's song when it came to talk about Jon. I'm guessing that's the foreshadowing they're going for. They're going for, you know, a prince or a king giving up his crown. It's very heavy handed in the show right now. So is that what we're looking at here? Is that the direct parallel to Amon? Will Jon keep his vows that seriously, even in four books three books how many books do we have left we have another eight books left yeah um yeah so you know for a total of uh 13 books was the 13th lord commander after all who was the night king um i feel like you're leading me to an answer chloe i'm not trying to i feel like you're leading me to an answer Chloe I'm not trying to I feel like you're leading me
Starting point is 00:57:48 to an answer Chloe and as of this time I have not read the leaks the episode is not yet out as of recording but everyone will have likely seen it etc by the time that you listen to this so I feel again like you're leading me to an answer where Jon refuses everything. And on one hand, I think... I mean, I'm just literally talking about a scene in the show versus this scene in the book where they heavy-handedly reference it. So you don't have to say it for that. It feels like you're telling me that Jon breaks the wheel. That's not the real thing.
Starting point is 00:58:23 No, I'm joking. I'm joking.'m joking but like the wheel was burnt down last episode but like he breaks I don't know I've always had this feeling I know that people like to theorize that Daenerys is pregnant but I don't think she is I think the whole point is both she and Jon are sterile
Starting point is 00:58:39 they're the end of the line and the end of the dragons yes the last of the dragons just like the last of the line. The end of the dragons. Yes, the last of the dragons. Just like the last of the giants. Wow. Anyways, I don't know. I don't know what happens with Jon, but I don't know.
Starting point is 00:58:56 I mean, it's just so heavy handed. Obviously, the first book was more focused on giving you that mystery of R plus L equals J. was more focused on giving you that mystery of R plus L equals J. But now I'm starting to feel like all these class chapters that we're looking at are really heavy-handedly just saying, what's Jon going to do? What's his choice? Is he going to take his vows and reject Winterfell or no? I would love it, though, if Jon did choose to reject Winterfell and choose to reject the Iron Throne,
Starting point is 00:59:22 because in that moment he finally gets to have a real choice sure it's not power but like throughout the rest of his storyline as we've seen like he takes this vow because he he does have a choice but he feels like he doesn't and then in taking that vow and that duty his choices are limited i mean granted yes he's presented a choice every time and he always plays it right and he kind of in a way gets forced to be lord commander and that's forced into all of these other roles and i think for him to choose not to take the iron throne that's so different from uh it's not that different but like it's finally him having power over his own life and his own story he finds freedom then
Starting point is 01:00:06 rather than through the songs by not being sung about yeah he removes himself from the narrative yeah he's no longer the song of ice and fire and in that he's liberated yeah absolutely it's uh and in a way it's almost like the refusal of that self-fulfilling prophecy, right? It's the refusal to be that prince or be that king. Yeah. So I don't know how it goes, but I think that the idea that he chooses not to is interesting. Well, I'll find out. We'll find out in like a minute. Yeah, absolutely.
Starting point is 01:00:39 In a minute, honestly. We're recording this two days before the series finale. So we're going to have some really outlined, roughly outlined answers for the end game i guess since george has said his end game is pretty much gonna be this end game so it is kind of crazy this show is coming to an end right even if it is uh awful sometimes the dialogue just isn't great anymore but the action the cinematography the beautiful scenes the casting the actors work the costuming those sets god it's it's beautiful the music is amazing and it's gonna be really sad a big old empty hole right there of what we used to watch every sunday together so yeah but and we know the end that's a bummer but you know what's not gonna end and
Starting point is 01:01:20 that we won't know the end of everyone this I was going to say our friendship, but that too, the books. Fuck. I mean, everyone dies, Eliana. Yeah, eventually. I'm going to hurtle into the sun. Oh my god. All right. Okay, JonCon.
Starting point is 01:01:37 Tried to grasp a star. Oh, wow. I'm on it today with references, if you haven't noticed. You are. Wow. I'm on it. JonCon Snow Snow oh my god
Starting point is 01:01:48 wait isn't Jon Snow a Jon Con because he's not Jon he's a Con whatever his Targ name is Jon Con Ajon Ajon Aemon Ajon Ares
Starting point is 01:02:03 oh my god well you guys this has been a blast we are glad that you joined us for this episode Age on Aemon. Age on Ares. Oh my god. Well, you guys, this has been a blast. We are glad that you joined us for this episode. We are going to start hurtling into some double chapter episodes and get that length rate back for you. Get you some easy listening now that all the show content is going to die off a little bit for you. Probably not that hard, but hopefully you'll have some more room in your listening schedules. And we hope you enjoyed this episode.
Starting point is 01:02:31 We will not have a Jon Snow episode next week, May 31st, the Friday released for the public, but we will be releasing something for the public. Stay tuned for that. It will be a nice surprise. And we do have a lot of really exciting stuff coming up in the next month or two. So stay tuned for that as well. We do. And of course, if you want to keep up with when all of those things come out, be sure to subscribe to us on social media. You
Starting point is 01:02:50 can find us at Girls Gone Canon on Twitter, or you can shoot us an email at girlsgonecanon at gmail.com. Yeah, absolutely. And if you haven't, take a look at our Patreon, patreon.com slash girlsgonecanon. Patrons $5 and up get a special episode every single month. This month's episode is going to be about prophecy. We are very excited to talk about the many ways that prophecy exhibits itself in the story and chat it up. Make sure if you have any questions, send us a message on Patreon for that and we'd love to answer them in the episode. Yep. And of course, be sure to subscribe to us us you can find us on podbean on google play on itunes on spotify on acast or on stitcher and also i mean think think about maybe if you want to like leave us a rating or something on
Starting point is 01:03:37 itunes whatever do what your heart tells you eliana just wants you to leave her a rating on itunes it makes her so happy it really't. Sometimes it actually makes me really sad when I see some of them. Yeah, absolutely. As always, I have been one of your hosts, Chloe. And I have been another one of your hosts, Eliana. Thanks for listening,
Starting point is 01:03:58 you guys. Bye. Age on Targaryen.

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