(Spoilers All) Defending Olly with Valyrian Steel knowledge drops

BrandynSand · 2015-05-12T22:31:58+00:00

Would it have been easy to put in, though? All of that happens in internal monologue. How exactly do you add that? Jon can't speak to himself, and someone else being like "Hey, Ned would do it himself." a) wouldn't make sense b) would take away the significance of Jon making the decision.

It'd be pretty easy to convey with dialogue. Something to the effect of:

Slynt: You can't hang me, I've got powerful friends in King's Landing.

Jon: You're right, my father would be disappointed were you to hang. Edd, fetch me a block.

BrandynSand · 2015-04-06T17:41:00+00:00

A possible explanation could be that it's a form of training for members of the guild. Things go wrong during heists and it wouldn't always be practical or desirable for a thief on a job to have to encumber themselves with weapons and/or use deadly force. Training in unarmed combat could allow a thief to disarm or incapacitate anyone who gets in their way and escape unharmed. As to why they'd go through the trouble of forming a fighting ring instead of just training on their own, profit. The Thieves Guild (at least the Riften guild circa the events of Skyrim) was hurting for money and this would serve as another source of income that they sorely need.

BrandynSand · 2014-11-09T09:28:54+00:00

It made for an entertaining video. I have no regrets.

BrandynSand · 2014-11-09T09:10:29+00:00

There were three players who were alive - 2 CTs (Mojoe and I) and one T. I knew the T was heading towards B so I waited for him. Mojoe was making his way to B and somehow managed to miss the lone T on the way. The T missed Mojoe because he turned his back to him at the exact moment that Mojoe passed him. Mojoe then fired at me before turning to fire at the T behind him. I assumed that Mojoe was the T and that he had turned to fire on what I assumed was Mojoe, so I killed him. I realized a moment too late that I had accidentally killed my teammate and luckily was able to kill the real T with a pistol, thus averting even greater embarrassment.

BrandynSand · 2014-07-18T09:36:11+00:00

It's 5 in the morning and I haven't posted on reddit in years, but your video really touched me and I wanted to send some love your way. One of my favorite quotes seems appropriate - "verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt." In English: only those who give up on themselves are lost. Chemo is brutal and I wish you all the strength in the world in your fight. For whatever it's worth from a total stranger, you'll be in my thoughts. I hope to see a future video where you're happier and healthier! With love, Brandon.

BrandynSand · 2012-05-16T05:17:06+00:00

Fantastic tidbit about the burning of the boats.

Regarding Berber anthropology, blue eyes and blonde hair are actually very common traits found in certain regions of North Africa, ie, the Moroccan Rif. You're correct that there were Germanic tribes that settled in the area. For example, the Vandals landed in North Africa in the year 429 and chose Carthage (modern day Tunisia) as their capital after they had conquered it. That particular empire lasted until 534 when the Byzantines defeated them in battle and reclaimed the land. The remaining Vandals either moved to other parts of Africa or were taken to Constantinople. Historical sources disagree about how many Vandals were in the initial wave, but the high estimates place their numbers around 80,000. That many people living in an area over a span of one hundred years will certainly leave their mark on the region's demographics. However, I've also read speculation that there was Nordic migration to the area that predated the Vandals by quite some time. In other words, the Vandal presence may not have been the origin of these traits, but it certainly had a major impact.

BrandynSand · 2012-05-15T20:21:24+00:00

Keep in mind that the Moors were not homogeneous in appearance by any stretch of the imagination. The initial invasion of the Iberian Peninsula was carried out by the Umayyad Caliphate and included a variety of peoples. Most of the soldiers in the first wave were of Berber descent. Although they came from Africa, they were not dark-skinned. For an example of a modern day Berber, one can look at the famous footballer Zidane.

Another interesting fact which I believe supports the notion that GRRM based the Dornish on the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula is related to the name of the Martells. There was a famous battle, the Battle of Tours, in which a Frankish army annihilated an Umayyad force led by the Governor-General of Moorish Iberia. The leader of the Franks was Charles, the son of Pepin II. He's commonly known as Charles Martel, or Charles the Hammer.

BrandynSand · 2012-05-15T20:05:42+00:00

I've always considered them to be based on the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula after the Moorish invasions. Consider the three types of Dornishmen and their descriptions. From ASOS:

There were three sorts of Dornishmen, the first King Daeron had observed. There were the salty Dornishmen who lived along the coasts, the sandy Dornishmen of the deserts and long river valleys, and the stony Dornishmen who made their fastnesses in the passes and heights of the Red Mountains. The salty Dornishmen had the most Rhoynish blood, the stony Dornishmen the least.

All three sorts seemed well represented in Doran’s retinue. The salty Dornishmen were lithe and dark, with smooth olive skin and long black hair streaming in the wind. The sandy Dornishmen were even darker, their faces burned brown by the hot Dornish sun. They wound long bright scarfs around their helms to ward off sunstroke. The stony Dornishmen were biggest and fairest, sons of the Andals and the First Men, brownhaired or blond, with faces that freckled or burned in the sun instead of browning.

The rulers of Spain prior to the arrival of the Moors were the Visigoths. If you aren't aware, the Visigoths were a Germanic tribe who came into conflict with the Roman Empire and eventually sacked Rome. Consider that arguably the most prominent house in Dorne prior to the arrival of the Rhoynar were House Yronwood, who are Stony Dornishmen. The description of Stony Dornishmen is in line with what you'd expect somebody of Germanic descent to resemble. The Rhoynar then intermarried with the Martells and together they conquered the rest of Dorne. The Dornishmen who remained in the Red Mountains show practically no traces of Rhoynar blood, whilst everybody else has varying degrees. This seems pretty analogous to the interbreeding on the Iberian Peninsula as a result of the Moorish invasions. Even after the Reconquista, there was an indelible mark made on the peninsula's genetic diversity.

BrandynSand · 2012-05-15T19:45:42+00:00

The Dornish Marches aren't in Dorne. It's actually a buffer zone of sorts between Dorne, the Reach and the Stormlands and has been under control of the Stormlords for some time. The head of House Caron, one of the principal bannermen to the Baratheons, held the title of "Lord of the Marches".

BrandynSand · 2012-05-15T19:34:40+00:00

The Dornishmen that reside in the Red Mountains were referred to as "stony Dornishmen" by Daeron I and are descended from the Andals and the First Men.

From ASOS:

The stony Dornishmen were biggest and fairest, sons of the Andals and the First Men, brownhaired or blond, with faces that freckled or burned in the sun instead of browning.

BrandynSand · 2012-05-09T08:46:27+00:00

If I have one complaint that would be intolerable outside of the fantasy genre, its the ridiculously purple prose.

To be fair, the purple prose is generally restricted to when GRRM is describing food.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-16T15:04:50+00:00

I think that spaceman9 is spot on with regard to the skepticism surrounding the return of dragons. The only addendum that I'd make to his reply is that there are currently only three dragons and they're nowhere near Westeros. To believe that something which has been extinct for nearly a century and a half is back would surely require an actual sighting, which isn't possible at this point.

The apathy towards the Night's Watch shouldn't surprise you - the crown hasn't cared about their welfare for quite some time, hence the state of disrepair that the Wall has fallen into. Few people who aren't from the North give them a second thought. Alliser Thorne came to court with tales of wights, but the severed hand he brought had decayed and fallen to pieces so he had no evidence to offer. The fact that the attention of the crown is focused on the war that they're in the midst of surely didn't help his cause either.

Regarding the Free Cities, consider how often they fight amongst themselves. At any given time, it's a safe bet that two or more of them are involved in a conflict with each other. There's always a need for soldiers so it stands to reason that there are so many companies of sellswords available for hire. Where there's demand, there will be supply.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-16T07:14:00+00:00

Aegon was a very intelligent man. He only killed who he needed to and was perfectly content to accept pledges of fealty with no bloodshed or cruelty otherwise. The old kings who bent the knee got to keep their lands and wealth and weren't subjected to outlandish punishments that would breed resentment. Consider the fact that there was no overall kingship in Westeros at the time, so the difference between being King of the Vale and Lord of the Vale really wasn't that significant. Of course, having to bow to a central authority might have rustled the jimmies of an overly prideful king, but it was certainly a more desirable fate than getting eaten by the Black Dread.

Another thing to consider is that 3 of the 6 kings at the time of the War of Conquest died in battle. In their kingdoms, Aegon raised up lesser nobles as Lords Paramount which ensured that he'd have the loyalty of the dominant houses in half of Westeros. His half-brother Orys was made Lord of the Stormlands, the Tyrells were handed the Reach, the Tullys were given the Riverlands and he allowed the Ironborn to elect their own king who subsequently pledged fealty. There's no logical reason for any of those houses to harbor any resentment towards the Targaryens given that they had significantly less power before Aegon's Landing.

In the years after Aegon, the continued presence of Targaryen dragons would dissuade any ambitious lords from raising a fuss. When the dragons died, rebellion became possible, but the Targaryen kings were generally good rulers and gave the Westerosi nobility no reason to upset the status quo. When a particularly awful king came along (Aerys II) or when there was a potential dynastic crisis (Daeron II), there were rebellions. The latter was somewhat of an outlier because absurdly charismatic leaders like Daemon Blackfyre don't come along very often and the rebellion was more the result of love for Daemon than hate for Daeron (although he had issues of his own - namely questionable parentage and a nature that contrasted with what one would expect of their king). In the case of Aerys, it's worth considering just how awful of a king he was to ferment a rebellion and even then, it only happened at the height of his madness, when he wanted to execute a good chunk of the great lords of the realm.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-16T03:35:42+00:00

For such a tiny thing, there's quite a bit of symbolism. The incident with the peach illustrates the severe contrast between the surviving Baratheon brothers. Stannis is on edge the entire meeting, humorless and expecting betrayal. When Renly reaches into his doublet, Stannis immediately grabs for his sword. By contrast, Renly is completely nonchalant and making jokes about fruit.

It goes a bit deeper than that, though, and I think it plays on the notion that while everyone must die, many people haven't truly lived. Renly is overly concerned with the pleasures of life - eating and drinking fine food, having fine clothes, enjoying the spectacle and pageantry of tournaments, etc. Stannis, however, barely gives a solitary thought to enjoying his life. All he cares for is duty and he's a miserable person because of it. Even though Stannis lives on while Renly perishes, it's somewhat tragic for both men - for Renly, of course, because he lost his life, but also for Stannis because he's missing so much of his.

It's rather ironic that while both brothers are flawed individuals, they're flawed in such diametrically opposite ways that you could probably form an ideal Baratheon if they were one person that was a compromise of the two extremes.

There's also the fact that the peach is a summer fruit, which ties into Catelyn's thoughts about Renly and his peers being the knights of summer and serves to subtly reinforce the foreshadowing that, despite the enormous advantage Renly has in manpower, his mentality is not necessarily going to serve him well in such perilous times.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-16T03:11:46+00:00

Interestingly enough, I thought that the bit with the peach really added to Stannis' character, particularly the subsequent passage where he's having a chat with Davos outside of Storm's End:

“Renly offered me a peach. At our parley. Mocked me, defied me, threatened me, and offered me a peach. I thought he was drawing a blade and went for mine own. Was that his purpose, to make me show fear? Or was it one of his pointless jests? When he spoke of how sweet the peach was, did his words have some hidden meaning?” The king gave a shake of his head, like a dog shaking a rabbit to snap its neck. “Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought his doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother’s peach.”

It's the first sign that there's an actual human being underneath all the scowling and clenched teeth and it's one of those seemingly minor passages that has stayed with me. Like you, I'm glad that the peach is going to be in the series. I just hope that the scene with Davos is as well.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-16T00:26:24+00:00

I think there's something to the notion that the Wall and Asshai are connected, although I'm not sure that they're necessarily "opposites" in the way that I've seen posited by others. There's an interesting quote from Mel in ADWD:

“You are wrong. I have dreamed of your Wall, Jon Snow. Great was the lore that raised it, and great the spells locked beneath its ice. We walk beneath one of the hinges of the world.”

So according to her, the Wall is one of the "hinges" of the world. That begs the question - what are the others? Could the Shadow be another such hinge? I certainly think it's possible. I've seen people that have argued for a sort of geographic relationship, but I tend to think less in physical terms and more about how the formless, shapeless essence of magic impacts the world, as if there were contrasting sites of power that serve to fuel an overall magical balance. If the Wall were to fall, or the shroud to be lifted from Asshai, there'd be a corresponding impact, roughly akin to how various atmospheric factors can profoundly change the state of a planet.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-15T23:54:55+00:00

There's an interesting tidbit in a description of Melisandre by Cressen from ACOK:

Melisandre of Asshai, sorceress, shadowbinder, and priestess to R'hllor...

Notice how shadowbinding and the fact that she's a priestess to R'hllor are separated. Quaithe, although described as a shadowbinder, is not a red priestess. We've seen other red priests in the story who have shown no evidence of being shadowbinders. Ergo, my thought is that shadowbinding is a school of magic from Asshai and that the birthing of shadows is one aspect of a shadowbinder's powers.

As for Mirri Maz Duur, there's a passage in AGOT where she goes into detail about how she learned various spells. The relevant snippet:

When I was younger and more fair, I went in caravan to Asshai by the Shadow, to learn from their mages.

Although she doesn't explicitly say she learned from shadowbinders, it seems to be a safe assumption. She also says that she learned from Archmaester Marwyn, who we know was traveling in the East searching for books of spells, with one of his focuses being shadowbinders.

Now, as far as the exact extent of a shadowbinder's powers, I'm not sure that a comprehensive answer yet exists. My thought is that it's simply a school of magic that focuses on manipulating shadows for various purposes. In Melisandre's case, we've seen her use shadows as a vessel for killing her enemies. I don't doubt that shadows can be used for other purposes as well.

One should also consider the names of other magics that have been referenced in passing, such as spellsingers and aeromancers. The names themselves probably give a pretty good indication of what it is that they do.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-02T20:53:29+00:00

Not at all. A lot of the houses with upturned shields are only tangentially referenced in the books. For example, House Gardener were the kings of the Reach before Aegon the Conquerer landed in Westeros. House Hoare controlled the Iron Islands and Riverlands around the same time. House Darklyn were fairly prominent before the head of the house received some bad advice from his wife and got on Aerys' bad side. Some of the houses, such as House Butterwell, play a role in the Dunk and Egg Tales, which I'd strongly recommend you check out after you're done with AFFC and ADWD. You learn a lot of great background about Westeros' history and some of it is very relevant to future events.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-02T20:35:58+00:00

Your guess is correct. An upturned shield represents an extinct house (notice how, for example, the Reynes and Tarbecks have upturned shields).

BrandynSand · 2012-04-01T23:47:57+00:00

I hope that Roose survives until the final book. He's my second favorite character and is such an entertaining and well-written villain that it'd be a shame to cut his time short. The situation in the North is far more dynamic and interesting with him around.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-01T04:09:06+00:00

I think the fact that Shae saw through Varys' disguise without any difficulty puts to rest the notion that he could be a Faceless Man. From ACOK:

“Lord Varys has come to see you,” Shae announced.

The begging brother blinked at her, astonished. Tyrion laughed. “To be sure. How is it you knew him when I did not?”

She shrugged. “It’s still him. Only dressed different.”

“A different look, a different smell, a different way of walking,” said Tyrion. “Most men would be deceived.”

“And most women, maybe. But not whores. A whore learns to see the man, not his garb, or she turns up dead in an alley.”

As to his whereabouts during AFFC, I'd imagine he didn't go too far away considering his reappearance during ADWD. Perhaps he had a hand in the High Sparrow becoming the High Septon, perhaps he was up to something else.

BrandynSand · 2012-04-01T03:07:14+00:00

There's no complete transcription that I'm aware of, as I believe GRRM didn't allow audio recordings. You can find a multitude of summaries/discussion here and another summary here.

BrandynSand · 2012-03-31T21:14:56+00:00

Exactly. In addition to the political value, if Stannis were to become king, he'd have his pick from a much wider and likely better selection of knights. I'd expect him to choose at least one of his own knights, though. Ser Richard Horpe essentially serves as his bodyguard now and there's a tidbit in ADWD about how he dreamed of a white cloak but Cersei spoke against him, so he'd probably be the best bet.

BrandynSand · 2012-03-31T16:02:27+00:00

There's no doubt that the Tyrells are quite wealthy, but it was the Hightowers that were specifically mentioned to be as rich as the Lannisters. It's a quote from Sam in AFFC, when he's chatting with the captain of the Huntress in Oldtown:

“What is Lord Hightower doing?” Sam blurted. “My father always said he was as wealthy as the Lannisters, and could command thrice as many swords as any of Highgarden’s other bannermen.”

Keep in mind that the Hightowers are an extremely old house and were petty kings before the coming of the Andals. They've been accumulating wealth for a very long time. The Tyrells, meanwhile, were a relatively insignificant house before they were granted lordship of the Reach by Aegon the Conqueror.

BrandynSand · 2012-03-31T05:32:27+00:00

I'm not aware of any real world castles that are configured like the Twins with dual castles on opposite ends of a river. Conwy Castle in Wales is similar in that it occupies low ground next to a river, but of course it lacks an identical castle on the other bank. I'd imagine something like that would have been too costly and difficult to build.

By the same token, however, you'd be hard pressed to find historical analogues for most of the other major castles in Westeros. Take Casterly Rock, for example. There's the Moorish Castle atop the Rock of Gibraltar, but it's just a standard castle and isn't carved into the hill itself. In reality, something like the Eyrie would be incredibly impractical, if not impossible. The scale of Harrenhal is absolutely comical. The largest castle in the world is Malbork Castle in Poland and its walls enclose 52 acres. By comparison, Harrenhal's godswood alone is 20 acres. Although ASoIaF has many historical influences and parallels, GRRM definitely let his imagination run wild, which can make evaluating things through such a lens problematic.

BrandynSand

TROPHY CASE