In addition to this TWOW chapter guide, you can find the chapter guides for the rest of the series here. The timestamps will take you to that spot in the video, and FB will take you to the corresponding discussion posts in our Facebook group.
Victarion I (with JoeMagician)
Barristan I (with Game of Owns)
Barristan II (with Jim McGeehin)
Alayne I (with Radio Westeros)
Arianne I (with The Isle of Faces)
Arianne II (with Scad and Manaro)
The Forsaken (with InDeepGeek)
A great panel from Con of Thrones 2018, featuring Ash, Joe Magician, Bookshelfstud & JoannaLannister. Why scrapping the five year gap was a great idea, why GRRM planned it in the first place, and how many of the characters might have turned out if he hadn’t.
“It’s a lot harder [in real life]. Sometimes in my own life, I wish I could play a montage of my life. I want to get in shape now. So let’s do a montage, and boom — I’ll be fifty pounds lighter and in good shape, and it will only take me a minute with some montage of me lifting weights and running, shoving away the steak and having a salad. But of course in real life, you don’t get to montage. You have to go through it day by day.” – GRRM.
“It worked for characters like Arya and Dany but not so much for the adults or those who had a lot of action coming. He was writing chapters where Jon thought, “Well, not a lot has happened these past five years, it’s been kinda nice.” And Cersei chapters where she thought, “Well, I’ve had to kill sooo many people the last five years.” So he ended up dropping it. He said he would have done it sooner if he hadn’t told so many fans about it. And there is no gap anymore. “If a twelve-year old has to conquer the world, then so be it.” – SSM.
Let’s talk about animals in ASOIAF! A live roundtable discussion centered around selected favorite animal-related quotes, plus an Ice & Fire Con ’18 chat! Ash is joined by Lady Gwyn (Radio Westeros), Haley (The Manimals & DrinkingGOT), Chloe (Girls Gone Canon, Drunk ASOIAF History) & Tara Lynne (The Geekiary, Ice & Fire Con). Listen to our other ‘Why We Love’ here.
The king was in no mood for more argument. “Enough, Ned, I will hear no more. A direwolf is a savage beast. Sooner or later it would have turned on your girl the same way the other did on my son. Get her a dog, she’ll be happier for it.” – AGOT, Eddard III
Her son was attended by his kittens. As she watched the cats frolic about his feet, Cersei felt a little better. No harm will ever come to Tommen whilst I still live. She would kill half the lords in Westeros and all the common people, if that was what it took to keep him safe. – AFFC, Cersei VIII
He always slept better with the great white wolf beside him; there was comfort in the smell of him, and welcome warmth in that shaggy pale fur. – ACOK, Jon VII
Explore the dark and ancient past of House Stark and Winterfell. We discuss the crypts, statues, history, dreams, and Bael the Bard. Plus skinchangers, direwolves, dragons, the fires of the earth and so much more. So let’s descend into the crypts of Winterfell. Spooky~~~
Find the History of Westeros Facebook Group here. You can also join our Discord here.
The castle itself is peculiar in that the Starks did not level the ground when laying down the foundations and walls of the castle. Very likely, this reveals that the castle was built in pieces over the years rather than being planned as a single structure. Some scholars suspect that it was once a complex of linked ringforts, though the centuries have eradicated almost all evidence of this. – TWOIAF
By ancient custom an iron longsword had been laid across the lap of each who had been Lord of Winterfell, to keep the vengeful spirits in their crypts. The oldest had long ago rusted away to nothing, leaving only a few red stains where the metal had rested on stone. Ned wondered if that meant those ghosts were free to roam the castle now. He hoped not. The first Lords of Winterfell had been men hard as the land they ruled. – AGOT, Eddard I
Sean, Aziz & Ashaya chat about Season 7 and Con of Thrones 2017! Listen on your podcast player of choice, otherwise go to the YouTube version. You can also find our full Con of Thrones album at our Facebook page here.
Drogo He Didn’t (Daenerys & The Targaryens!)
The Manimals
You’re Welcome Filks from Ice & Fire Con
Clegane Rap Battle from Ice & Fire Con
An episode dedicated to all kinds of ASOIAF dreams and dreamers, whether mundane or magical. Green dreams, wolf dreams, dragon dreams, dreams of guilt, fever dreams… and an accompanying Q&A to go with it, answering all the burning (and freezing) questions sent us regarding the last episode.
Our introduction, and the awesome new Essos map were created by Michael Klarfeld (Klaradox). Dutchmogul created the cyvasse pieces. Martin Lewis of Echoes of Ice and Fire did the quotes.
“There’s different kinds,” he said slowly. “There’s the wolf dreams, those aren’t so bad as the others. I run and hunt and kill squirrels. And there’s dreams where the crow comes and tells me to fly. Sometimes the tree is in those dreams too, calling my name. That frightens me. But the worst dreams are when I fall.” – ACOK, Bran V
He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind. – AGOT, Jon III
That night Sansa dreamt of Joffrey on the throne, with herself seated beside him in a gown of woven gold. She had a crown on her head, and everyone she had ever known came before her, to bend the knee and say their courtesies. – AGOT, Sansa IV
They are children, Sansa thought. They are silly little girls, even Elinor. They’ve never seen a battle, they’ve never seen a man die, they know nothing. Their dreams were full of songs and stories, the way hers had been before Joffrey cut her father’s head off. Sansa pitied them. Sansa envied them. – ASOS, Sansa II
She had no time for sleep, with the weight of the world upon her shoulders. And she feared to dream. Sleep is a little death, dreams the whisperings of the Other, who would drag us all into his eternal night. She would sooner sit bathed in the ruddy glow of her red lord’s blessed flames, her cheeks flushed by the wash of heat as if by a lover’s kisses. Some nights she drowsed, but never for more than an hour. One day, Melisandre prayed, she would not sleep at all. One day she would be free of dreams. Melony, she thought. Lot Seven. – ADWD, Melisandre
Ash and Aziz devour this new Winds of Winter chapter as if it were a 12 foot tall lemon cake. A 12 foot tall lemon cake threatened by a pimply gingerlad. Like so many of the Alayne chapters, and anything at all to do with Littlefinger, there are major political implications, and of course, sneaky references and clues… many of them. Gather round and put on your plotting caps and enjoy Alayne I from The Winds of Winter. Listen to the rest of our Winds of Winter coverage here.
Four-and-sixty knights had been invited to vie for places amongst Lord Robert Arryn’s new Brotherhood of Winged Knights, and four and-sixty knights had come to tilt for the right to wear falcon’s wings upon their warhelms and guard their lord.
Men old enough to have known Jon Arryn in his youth said Ser Harrold had his look, she knew. He had a mop of sandy blond hair, pale blue eyes, an aquiline nose.
Robb would be his age, if he were still alive, she could not help but think, but Robb died a king, and this is just a boy.
Alayne loved it here. She felt alive again, for the first time since her father…since Lord Eddard Stark had died.
History of Westeros analyzes the fifth pre-release chapter from The Winds of Winter, widely regarded as the best of the bunch. George gives us something that is somehow dark, controversial and satisfying all at the same time. We peel off all the layers to find all the references and details you might have missed. This was released in 2014. You can now listen to our 2021 coverage here. We have also released an audio play production of this chapter!
She woke with a gasp, not knowing who she was, or where. The smell of blood was heavy in her nostrils… or was that her nightmare, lingering? She had dreamed of wolves again, of running through some dark pine forest with a great pack at her hells, hard on the scent of prey.
On stage, Bobono was bargaining with Marro’s sinister Stranger. He had a big voice for such a little man, and he made it ring off the highest rafters now. “Give me the cup,” he told the Stranger, “for I shall drink deep. And if it tastes of gold and lion’s blood, so much the better. As I cannot be the hero, let me be the monster, and lesson them in fear in place of love.”
The gods have given me a gift.
The Winds of Winter excerpt on GRRM’s site.
So Spake Martin we mention that talks about Izembaro.
[row][column size=”1/2″]A video-only edition, this is part 1 of a short series on the games of Westeros. We start with Come-Into-My-Castle.[/column] [column size=”1/2″][dropcap style=”square”]M[/dropcap]ay I come into your castle, my lady?[/column][/row]
[column size=”1/1″ center=”yes”]”…laden with very creepy innuendo.” – Ashaya[/column]
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