Day 8 : Game of Thrones - Beyond the Wall - Review

This is also an episode that was leaked much before the official airtime of the show. Except this time there was far less restraint from the fans. They all spoiled the plot and the deaths much in advance. I don’t really blame though, it was irresistible. And in all of this, if there really was someone to blame it was HBO. They’ve done a lousy job of putting their house in order this year. Hope it doesn’t get this bad next time around. So without much ado, let’s start with the episode.

The first plot point we have is at Winterfell where Littlefinger works his magic to isolate Sansa. The tensions between two sister’s intensifies ever since the younger sister discovers the other had sent a letter to their mother asking her to convince Robb to bend the knee to Joffrey and give up his title of King in the North. The two sisters are going at it hard. Then Sansa sneaks into Arya’s room to find her Bag of Faces. Arya enters the room and gives her the scare of her life. Sansa now for sure realizes her sister is a murderous psycho and she needs to keep her wits about if she expects to live with Arya under the same roof. She enlists Littlefinger’s help with this. Brienne is sent to King’s Landing to respond to call by Cersei Lannister. Not a good move, kid. 

Then we go to Dragonstone. Last time we were here the group had decided to capture a wight as proof to present Cersei to enroll her help fighting the Night King. Now however, Tyrion counsels Daenerys about her upcoming negotiations with Cersei. There is a little yap yap about Dany’s little crush on Jon. But all fun is sucked out of the room the moment Tyrion mentions succession. Dany’d said multiple times before in the show how she was prophesized to never bear any children. And Tyrion being the diplomat he is, is mindful of the transfer of power. Dany now rulers a substantial chunk of land in both Westeros and Essos. It would all turn to rot, if there is no one to take charge of her mission, somebody who shares the same moral compass as her. 

And then comes the main event of the whole episode. We are taken beyond the Wall, Jon leads a raiding party of people who have clear reasons to hate each other. But their shared hatred/fear of the Night King has brought them together. There is a lot of male bonding between them. The Hound and Tormund’s is the best. I would pay to watch a buddy cop movie with these too. After successfully capturing a wight, the group is besieged by the White Walker army around a small rock surrounded by an ice-capped lake. They also discover that when you kill a Walker, all the wights he’d turned also die. (loophole!) But right now they have bigger worries to take care of. Like how to get off that rock alive, and with that wight they’d captured. Jon sends Gendry to Eastwatch and send a raven to Daenerys to request for help. Thoros freezes to death out there on the rock, this means this is the last life for Beric Dondarrion. There is an amazing battle sequence which has Daenerys arrival and her saving most of the group with the help of her dragons. The Night King, jerk, throws an ice spear at Viserion, one of Daenerys' dragons, and kills it. Daenerys reluctantly flies off, along with the raiding party, but is unable to save Jon who till the very end is still flaying his Longclaw around chopping wights. Out of the blue, Benjen Stark arrives and sacrifices himself to allow Jon to escape on his horse. When Jon and Daenerys are reunited, Jon pledges himself and the North to Daenerys as Queen.

The Night King resurrects Viserion, making the dragon a part of his army. This was the highlight of the whole episode. The Others now have a dragon on their side. And it definitely doesn’t look like a fluke. The Night King clearly knows what he’s doing, he was waiting for and luring in the dragons. Notice the three spears, the iron chains, and the nice spot he got the Suicide Squad cornered? This was all pre-planned. He didn’t get the sweet job like leader of an undead army for nothing. He is a badass!

Day 6 : Game of Thrones - Spoils of War - Review

SPOILERS AHEAD (REALLY?)

This was the shortest episode of the whole show. But also by far the most watched, the highest rated and the most badass episode ever!

HBO did fumble the ball a bit when it comes to the episode. They were caught up in a large scale hacking incident, a big chunk of content and sensitive information was stolen from their servers. Including this episode, which was leaked into the internet a few days ahead of telecast. A lot many people did see it beforehand. But I guess due to the sheer goodwill of most of the fans still stuck around till the actual telecast, giving this episode the highest viewers of the entire series. And they were all rewarded for their wait, this was the best episode of the season so far. Maybe even better than BOB episode last season (?)

Give this guy a bunch of Castles already! 

At the very this was definitely an episode where every minute of screen time was something significant. So without much dillydallying ourselves let’s get into it.

The show starts in the Reach right where it ended last episode, Highgarden. Jaime is still pissed off with that last zinger the Queen of Thorns left this planet with. Bronn does question him about it, but Jaime doesn’t spill a word. This is something that Cersei would have to know of first. Instead Jaime hands him a big bag of gold, something that was promised. And a Lannister always pays his debts.

Then we are taken the most important Lannister in the Seven Kingdoms – Queen Cersei. She is meeting with the delegate from the Iron Bank (Mycroft Holmes, they are clearly running short of British actors). Cersei tells him about them taking over House Tyrell and that the Bank would be getting all their debt paid in full. There is a bit of high talk and kiss-assing, in the end Cersei is recommended to enlist the services of the Golden Company. They are a band of swords for hire, notoriously savage and extremely efficient. Readers of the book would recall this is where the Aegon Targaryen is. He is the only surviving son of Rhaegar Targaryen, a major character. Seems pretty fishy introducing him so late in the game. Or maybe that is just a coincidence, maybe this would be a character only living in the book and not the show.

Then we are taken to Winterfell, to Bran. Meera is leaving. Bran, being the aloof cold-hearted guy he’s got to be now, tells her goodbye and good riddance. The guy clearly is undergoing his own version of PTSD. He has seen too much, he knows too much. But there is not much he can do now without inadvertently changing the future by a lot. He is the only person we know for sure is going to survive, he could possible save and protect many others. But we don’t know what would get altered if he does. Also there is Littlefinger coming in and gifting him the Valyrian steel dagger that was used to slit his throat first season. But Bran already knows, and also throws in the ‘Chaos is a ladder’ call back to let Petyr know that he knows.

Then we get to see our favorite assassin in Westeros at the gates of her home. She meets Sansa, she meets Bran. The family is back together. I am so happy. This fills me with so much joy. The three kids where never really that close to begin with. But they have all been through a lot and that shared period of torment has brought them all together as a family. Arya likes Sansa becoming Lady Stark. Sansa likes that she has a lil sword wielding badass for sister now. And they both are equally confused as to what their brother has now turned into. Bran gives the dagger to Arya. We already know it is Valyrian steel, and about its magical powers. So we can expect a lot out of it in the hands of Arya now. Also, there is this neat little training waterdance sword fight between Brienne and Arya, at the end of which they both become instant besties. I love that!

Then we come to Dragonstone, Jon is taking the Dragon Queen into the caves below her castle where all the dragonglass is. There in the cave he shows her old cave paintings made by the Children of the Forest. They depict them and men fighting together against their common enemies, the Others. He almost convinces her to join her armies with his to defeat the common enemy in the North, she simply says she will when he bends the knee. Damn, that woman is persistent. They come out of the cave to find Tyrion and Varys giving them the bad news about their defeat in Casterly Rock. Dany is pissed off. Starts lashing out everyone. She immediately wants to take her three dragons and burn down the Red Keep. Jon has seen more battle, and loyal subjects than her. He advices restraint, using her dragons to burn down castles would only alienate her to her people. In a bit, Theon shows up in Dragonstone to get Dany’s help. But she is already gone.

Then comes the big climax of the show. The Loot Train Attack. Jaime and his troop is marching towards Kings Landing. The wagons with gold have already reached the gates, the food and other loot is proceeding rather slowly along the path. And that’s when they hear the sound. They sound of thousands of hoofs pounding ground, it sounds like approaching thunder. And there it is, a big horde of Dothraki fighters. Bronn asks Jaime to turn back and go to the castle, he is a commander not a foot soldier. Jaime says nah, I’m good, and we can take them. As if in reply comes Drogon’s screech. ‘Forget something, bruh?’ Damn the look on their sorry faces! Gold. Then there is the whole glorious battle sequence, see it to believe it. In Bronn, who probably has more guts than all of Westeros, takes up one of Qyburn’s scorpions and aims at Drogon, you know the giant fire-breathing dragon flying directly towards him. He fires a couple gets one into the dragon’s shoulder. The dragon lands with Dany, not before burning down the scorpion first, Drogon is smart. They had by then almost won the war, the Dothraki is finishing up the last few of the Lannister army. Dany now on the ground beside her dragon/child, tries to remove the spear lodged into his shoulder. Jaime sees this as an opportunity, picks up a spear and rushes at her like a jousting idiot. He is almost there, Drogon sees Jaime, breathes fire on him. Jaime is saved at the last moment, and pushed into inexplicably sudden deep water.

THE END.

(Goosebumps.)

Day 5 : Game of Thrones - The Queen's Justice - Review

SPOILERS ARE COMING

I’ve said it before and I will say it again. This is the best damn show on TV now! Just take last night's episode for example. Everything was precise, everything was just where it was meant to be. And yes, Her Grace Cersei, The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, gets her sweet revenge.

As has become the tradition now, we begin in Dragonstone. They have been pretty obvious about it with the teasers and the trailers that we would be getting the big ‘Ice meets Fire’ moment. So it wasn’t a real surprise seeing Jon Snow show up at the beach with Davos Seaworth. What was kind of surprising was how the Dragon Queen was trying to show she had the upper hand every step of the way. She got Snow and his men relinquish their weapons and even took away their boat for good measure. You know just to make sure, it wasn’t clear who the boss around here was. Jon being who he was, took it all in his stride. Tyrion notices it too. But he always did like Snow. ‘All dwarfs being bastards in their father’s eyes.’ He does take it upon himself to ease the sting. After all it was Tyrion who made the case for Dany to join forces with the King in the North. Coming to Dany, she was a proper bitch to Jon Snow. I am really beginning to hate her pompous ass this season. Being all up-tight and prissy with our main man Snow here. And well Davos doesn’t help. He never was good at these courtly affairs. And trying to explain the Army of the Dead to people who have never seen it with their own eyes would have been a challenge to the best of the diplomats in Westeros. But somehow, Jon does get what he came for. Good thing that Daenerys still has Tryion around her to make her see sense. (I so wish they all knew of the Three Headed Dragon theory. All this would have been so much easier)

Oh and yes, Mellisandre doesn’t show her face to Davos or Jon and sneaks off to Volantis for some reason. I am not sure what exactly is there. The last I remember there was another Red Priest out of Volantis, in the book though. Maybe the show is catching up to that plotline. And yes, on her way out she creeps the hell out of Varys. That guy seems to have a bad time with every Red Priest that comes his way.

Then we come to Winterfell. Nothing much to see here, just Sansa bossing people around and Littlefinger being Littlefinger. We get to see another Stark Reunion though. I love it when that happens. Bran and Sansa do have their sweet embrace. Sansa does remind him that he is the trueborn son of Ned Stark, the rightful Lord of Winterfell. But Bran is not interested in that anymore. He is has bigger fish to fry. Sansa doesn’t understand any of it, can’t blame her. Three Eyed Raven is not an easy thing to understand, and Bran is creepy as hell.

Then we come to our favorite nerd, Sam. He has succeeded in healing Jorah Mormont, who is not back to his grizzled old bear attitude and cannot wait to get back to Dragonstone to his Queen and her friendzone.

But this was all just filler to the actual event that this episode was all about. Cersei and her justice. Euron brings the Dornish prisoners shackled and paraded around Kings Landing for all to see. He is a bit too pleased about himself, and seems to be having way too much fun any character in GOT is allowed to have. Can’t wait for Jaime to bitch slap his smirk out of his face with his golden hand. Cersei thanks him for his gift, makes him the Commander of the Royal Navy, and doesn’t waste another moment to take Ellaria and her daughter to the dungeon. I know a bunch of folks waiting for some Gregor-style vendetta. But when Cersei did have in mind was a lot more cruel and vicious. Loved it! (and kudos to Indira Verma for acting her heart out on this one!)

We then get to see Casterly Rock for the first time, under attack by the Unsullied forces. They take the stronghold in no time. Agreed they are good, but even they know this was way too easy. Grey Worm looks over to the shore and finds the Iron Fleet putting their ships aflame. Now if they were to help their queen for battle, they would have to march across Westeros. Well played, Jaime.

Where was he all this while? He and Bronn and their band of red & gold soldiers were marching to Highgarden, House Tyrell’s keep. They’d brought the whole of Lannister might to the castle while leaving only a small troop back at their own keep at Casterly Rock. A sound strategy adopted from Robb Stark, something that I’d mentioned Tyrion had used in my last post. Seems like all of Tywin’s kids are learning from Young Wolf’s successes. Since we are in the Highgarden, we get to see one of our favourite old crone in the show, Olenna Tryell. This is one character that I really want to see a spinoff about, her and Oberyn. She is old and withered but still such a badass, imagine what she was like in her youth. She ends her days just like she lived her life – thug life meme personified. She departs telling Jaime she was the one who killed Joffrey. I’m sure Jaime not regrets convincing Cersei to kill her off so easily.

That was my favorite part of this episode. The devil is in the details. Cersei killed off the people just the way they took her children from her. Poisoned lips and poisoned wine.

We are already nearly half way done with this season, there is still a lot more to explore and revisit. Here’s hoping we get to know about Azhor Ahai next episode. Till then, Seven blessings to you, my friends.

P.S. Where the heck is Ghost?! :-/

Day 4 : Game of Thrones - Stormborn - Review

SPOILERS AHEAD

This was an awesome episode. One helluva roller coaster ride from start to finish. Not a dull moment in sight. So following the same spirit, let’s get into it!

We start with Cersei, who is not doing too great. She has called on his Lords to court in King’s Landing. She goes on about how the Targaryen Cow is at the shores of her empire with an army of Dothrakis and Unsullied. She tells them to lay down their allegiance to House Tyrell and Martell and join forces with her to rid the Seven Kingdoms of the foreign incursion. She blames Olleana Tyrell for bringing the savages and eunuchs to the west and putting all of her people and bannermen at risk. A good sales pitch. But then in Kings Landing, no alliances are made by the virtue of a rousing speech. It all comes down to some backstabbing and coercion, which is handsomely supplied by Jaime. I hope Sam’s father is not as big a prick as he seems. Oh and also, Qyburn apparently has been pretty busy himself.

We then go to the next main power centers in Westeros – Dragonstone. We see the whole Targaryen camp surrounding the Stannis’ map/table. Immediately you will notice one thing. It is all women. Every person of power in that room is a woman with a bone to pick with Cersei, and they all just want to get on with it and have the Lannister’s head served on a plate. But Daenerys’, to my surprise frankly, is the voice of reason here. She deftly handles out orders to her liege’s which becomes quiet evident was Tyrion’s plan all along. Also the plan itself reminds a lot of the strategy the erstwhile King in the North, Robb Stark used against Tywin Lannister, and with much success. Hope it works out the same for Dany. Also Melissandre, the red priestess, shows up at Dragonstone. No surprises there, this was always expected and hinted at in the trailer. Oh and also, Greyworm and Missandei finally put the will-they/won’t-they question to rest. Now all that remains is the real question, HOW did they?

Then we go on to the citadel, and get a proper look at the extent of Jorah Mormont’s illness. It does not look good. The Archmaester estimates he doesn’t have more than six months when he loses his mind to Greyscale. Samwell Tarly, a brother from Night’s Watch, knowing Jorah is the son of his first Lord Commander promises to help him. Even though he is told not to. The treatment is just too risky, painful and messy. The citadel doesn’t do messy. But hey, when has that ever stopped our Sam. You, little rebel you.

Jon Snow receives two letters. Samwell Tarly has written to him telling him how the castle at Dragonstone is built on top of a mountain of dragonglass, the only known thing known to be able to kill the White Walkers. Tyrion Lannisterhas written to him to come to Dragonstone to join forces. They both need each other. But for their own reasons. Jon and Tyrion know and trust each other. Sansa, being a good student of the Game, knows not to trust anyone. But Jon convinces her and then Northern Lords of the dire situation they are in. They need more able bodied men, and they need the dragonglass. And to get both of these, they need to join forces with the Dragon Queen.

Our favorite little assassin, Arya Stark, is still on her way to King’s Landing. She ends up in a tavern on the way, lo and behold who does she meet, lil pudgy Hot Pie. He still makes great pies, but then our girl is not too bad at pies now either. Btw, does becoming an assassin make you extra sarcastic as well? Well, good fun nonetheless. This is here where she learns of Jon Snow becoming the King in the North and the demise of House Bolton. She makes a change in her plans and turns around. And right there waiting for her is a wolf pack, and a big direwolf at the head of it. She/we recognizes the big wolf immediately. It is Nymeria, Arya’s direwolf. Now is all grown and has her own wolf pack. Those of us who have read the books, always knew of her surviving the wars and the fact that she and her pack were preying on Lannister strongholds up North during Robb’s rebellion. Arya asks Nymeria to come along with her on her journey ahead. The wolf merely turns around and the pack spares her life. Arya smiles and says, ‘That’s not you.’ Which I don’t take to mean that the wolf was not Nymeria. I think it just means that Nymeria is like Arya, she is not the kind to do what others ask of them. It should come to her in, of her own accord.

Then we see that Ellaria Sand, Yara and Theon are on board the Iron Fleet, their way to Dorne as instructed by Daenerys. Yara and Ellaria do get a bit cozy, as suggested in the trailers. But before anything happens, boom comes the sound. Euron’s back, baby. He and his ships are pounding away at Yara’s fleet. Everything up in fire and smoke and glorious chaos. Something that every GOT fan rejoices in. More blood, more torn limbs, please. A few severed heads and thrusted spears later, Euron finally collects his gifts for Cersei and goes on his way. Oh and btw, the ships were bare of any Dothraki horde, or Unsullied. It was mainly manned by the Iron Islanders, whose cowardice was best displayed by Theon Greyjoy for all to see. Frigging Reek!

And so it was, another amazing action packed episode of the Thrones. There wasn’t a dull moment in the episode. Loved it a lot. I guess the creators did listen the fans. Less of Bran, more of everyone else!

x

Day 27 : Temporal Paradox

A temporal paradox, time paradox, or time travel paradox is a paradox, an apparent contradiction, or a logical contradiction that is associated with the idea of time and time travel.

And this is something that has been around for as long as we've had science fiction. Some of the best grossing movies of all time are based on time travel. Most of them end up the same way. How all our attempts to change the present only causes the past to repeat itself. Take 11.22.63 for example, both the book and the new TV show. It is like a cautionary tale for any nerd who dreams of travelling to the past and change it. It does have an brilliant ending though, will make you weep.

Time travel does that all the time apparently. Every single story they've written around it has ended with mourning and bitter disappointment. Including this week's Game of Thrones episode, which has got everyone weeping rivers of tears.

There is thing called causal loop. Doctor Who goes on and on about it a bunch of times. It is inevitable. You see your present is built by your past. So if you go to the past and change something to benefit your future, the present as you knew it doesn't exist any more. It becomes something else, something unforeseen. There are a lot different variations of this, the grandfather paradox, Novikov self-consistency principle. I confess I've only spent a little over a weekend on them. But I think I have learnt enough to say this much, this is way too complicated. There is no real way to just go in change what we want to and not mess shit up. 

Damn. That episode though. right in the guts. I remember right from the beginning in both books and show, everyone asking why Hodor used that one word for everything. Now we know. Because this wise-ass Bran went back in time used his mind of the past to get to his mind in the present to execute his will. Well the needle got stuck at 'Hold the door' which became Hodor, the only word the kid would ever know. And this is how people would know him in future, including Bran.

Paradox.

Your past crafts your present which is a stepping stone into your future. Things has to go through a series of specific sequence of events and actions. That is how things got to way things are now, and how things will turn in the future. Even a little deviation in those events are going to change a lot of things as we know it. People are trying to figure out a way out of this loop for ages. No progress yet. End of story.


There. We have just solved Time Travel. Pfft.

Day 23 : JON SNOW LIVES - Book & Show Theory

Snow breathes again. Hoohah!
I've been waiting so long to write this. Damn.

I'd read the books and it ended with Snow lying in a pool of his own blood. I'd completed the TV show and even that ended with him laying in a pool of his own blood stabbed my his brothers of the Night's Watch. Ever since then no matter where I go, or who I meet, I have been blabbering on about how he will come back. No matter they asked for it or now.

There were all these hints and clues all over the books that predict how even after all those multiple stabs to gut, Jon Snow will still come out alive. It becomes more obvious in show. I mean there is no other character throughout the series that has ever had anything substantial to do with the White Walkers. Nobody has fought with them. Nobody has killed one (in the books, only Samwell Tarley is actually shown killing one though). Nobody else has been so adamant lecturing everyone how the wights are our real enemies. No one. They can't just built such a huge story arc dependent one character only to kill them of just like that. Makes no sense, they would just have to redo the exposure with somebody else, which at this late juncture would just confuse the audience.

The last few of minutes of the episodes is jam packed with little information and nuance. Which I am sure we would be analyzing very closely throughout the week. Ghost was awake when Melisandre enters the room, how come he just suddenly dozed off when she started the ritual. Throughout the last episode and this one, the Ghost's eyes were blood red, angry (and glowing?). But at the very end of the episode he sits up, he feels a lot more docile and eyes weren't that vivid. Jon Snow woke up only after the direwolf let out a cry.

Me thinks - Jon Snow is a Warg.
Me thinks - he went into Ghost's skin due to shock of getting stabbed and was stuck there not knowing how to come back to his own body.

It took Bran a long while to figure out how to come and go into Hodor's body. And he had help. Jon Snow hasn't even yet realized he is a skinchanger. As per her own admission, Melisandre's magic was weak when it comes to bringing back someone from death. But her magic in someway helped Jon to enter his own body again. Or well, she just gave him a new haircut, one that we can see on him for the rest of the season at the least. We will soon know.

Another theory that I believe in is of Jon being the real Azor A'hai. Stannis Baratheon was strong and just and very kingly. But he never really seemed like the kind of character that sticks till the very end. Plus his sword never really pulsed heat like the legendary Lightbringer was supposed to. All it used to was glow. While we all know Jon Snow's Longclaw is already made of ancient Valyrian steel, and has already shattered a White Walker to smithereens. His sword can easily be the Lightbringer they talk about in the legends.

There are still a lot that is unknown. Mainly regarding what has changed in Snow. Is he still going to be the babe in the woods we know, or is his personality itself going to have a reboot. If you remember during Arya's escape from the Brotherhood Without Banners we saw Beric Dondarrion brought back to life. He was clearly not stronger than The Hound, but he still fought fearlessly only because he had Thoros of Myr to bring him back from the dead using his magic. Beric says every time he is brought back, he looses some of his soul (umm Horcruxes in Westeros?) It would be interesting to see if the Night's King theory holds up at all. Or by some twist of fate he goes and joins them. Nah.

I still believe in R + L = J (it was no coincidence Lyanna showed up in Bran's dream).
I still believe in Three-headed Dragon (remember Daenery's hallucination in the House of  Undying).
And I still believe Jon Snow has a lot more role to play in the Game of Thrones.

There are a whole lot things that can happen between now and winter. Them bring back Jon Snow to life this early in the season can only mean there is another big battle to fought this season. And it is going to awesome!

Plus, for a culture where kinslaying is one of the big sins you can do. It seems almost every big player in Westeros has killed atleast one blood relative. Euron. Ramsay. Bad boy.

Plus, The Mountain is a badass,

Plus, the dragons came this close to eat Tyrion's head off.

Plus, Davos, the Wildlings, the Red Priestess all are at Castle Black.

As for us, we will all be waiting impatiently for the next episode.
This is going to be a tough week ahead for us Northerners.

Day 8 : A Dance With Dragons Part 2 : After the Feast - Book Review

I'd mentioned before, in my review of Part 1 of Dance, this book is awesome. In a lot of ways it makes up for the dull pace of Feast of Crows. And in this Part 2 of the Dance With Dragons the timelines almost overlap with that of Feast. For example, the events with Cersei Lannister ("Shame!") in Dance comes chronologically towards the end of Feast. Thus now at the end of this epic book everything now has come to a common tipping point. And the outcome promises to be a glorious chaos of intrigue and battle. As one of my friends put it, every plot point at the end of this book can lead to only one thing - War is coming!

Spoilers ahead, duh.

Bran, has traveled across half the wilderness in the Beyond the Wall and finally reached the three-eyed raven. He is now learning the art of a greenseer and is very well poised to be inherit the responsibilities of his master and his spot under the weirwood tree. He dreamed of running and flying, but in the end was showered with the gift of the See.

Tyrion, has had a lot to do in this book. Traveled up to Volantis. Then Slaver's Bay. Then with the Yunka'i. Has changed camp and allies at least three times. Was Yollo, Hugor, Groat's ghost. And now a sellsword with the Second Sons. He was as resourceful and conniving as ever. It would have been brilliant he did reach Daenerys in time. They never do though, throughout the books.

Daenerys, has all of Meereen up in arms against her. Each passing day her followers are diminishing. Firstly by the pale mare, then by gold, then by shadow war of the Sons of Harpy. She is compelled to take Hizdahr of Old Ghis blood as her new husband. But even taking him as her King doesn't stop the assassination attempt on her. Drogon's meddling helps her get out of it. Now she is somewhere in the Dothraki Sea, heading back to her kingdom on foot, weary and weak by the minute. Oh and by the way the part where she flies Drogon is awesome!

Quent Martell, the Prince of Dorne, is really not built for the Game Each of his attempts to Daenerys heart or the dragons' collar has been thwarted pitifully. And his last folly proved to be a fatal one, for himself and for Meereen.

Victarion, the captain of the Iron Fleet, is sent of by his elder brother, Crow's Eye to capture Daenerys and to make her Euron's queen. Victarion, who's tired of playing second fiddle to his elder brother all of his life, plans to take the Silver Queen for himself. But then, as for every character in this book, things don't go as per his planning and in the end he is minus a human arm and a whole lot of queer magic on board.

Griff, Rhaegar's compatriot, has reached the shores of Westeros with his Golden Company and have started plundering and putting siege to the castles and strongholds along the shores in the name of Aegon the Young Dragon. Griff is a tough guy, and determined. And his intentions are made of stone. Literally.

Arya, was turned blind yes. But she learns to use that loss to her advantage and impresses the kindly man in the House of Black and White. She soon learns the art of the Gift. And of the mysterious disguise of Jaqen H'ghar. She still is the most promising badass of the Starks.

Cersei, the Lannister Lioness has been put to the shame. And is now more timid than any household cat. But even timid cats have claws, this one has Ser Robert Strong!

Jon, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, is assigned with a tough task. And his sense of right and honor is only making him the most hated brother in Castle Black, He has already opened his gates to the wildlings, given Tormund Giantsbane and his likes the command of a number of castles along the Wall. He has allowed spearwives into the Watch. He has allowed Mole's Town to be swamped with wildlings. He has allowed a giant take refuge within the Castle's courtyard. He has allowed a wildling to marry a Northern lady of high birth. He now plans to send out all of the Watch's fleet out to Hardhome to bring thousands of the wildling this side of the Wall, better them alive and with them, than dead and walking. Jon much to his brother's woes, plans to break his oath and take a number of wildlings and march on to Winterfell to face Ramsay Snow. For which he takes those stabs, "for the watch". And as I've said here and here before. Jon Snow is not dead, yet.

Varys, the spider, whoa. Of all the events and character development that has happened throughout this book, the Spider's is my favorite. He only had the last few pages of the epilogue to himself. And darn was it good. He is going to be so awesome in the next books. So much like a super Bond villian type. He is definitely not the bad guy. I don't think anyody is entirely a hero or a villian in the Game of Thrones. But Varys is so much like a villian in the last chapter, it is creepy. Will give you the goosebumps. 

What this book basically does is pack up a few initial POV chapters to build up the scene and mindset of the characters and at the end, simply goes and puts each of them in such a cliffhanger that you kinda feel hungry for more. And angry knowing that there is nothing more, until Mr Martin come around publish the next book. Can't wait for the Winds of Winter to come out. Fingers crossed.

Day 7 : A Dance With Dragons Part 1 : Dreams and Dust - Book Review

Ever since the Feast. I was so thirsty for some well deserved action. That book was devoid of any such events. I've written all about it on my A Feast For Crows review. This is not about that, this is about the Dance.

Mr Martin did mention earlier that Feast and Dance took a long while to complete because the earlier manuscripts of the books were huge and him and his editors were at their wits end to scale it down to make them a little more feasible to print. Hence he had partitioned them into geographical regions instead of chronologically. All events in Feast happen in the South and in Dorne. In Dance the events happen in the North and the Lands of First Men and Slaver's Bay. Hence you will see a lot of conflict and actual excitement as compared to the palace intrigues and vanity of Westeros.

And most importantly Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister are back. Hooyah.

Jon Snow since being chosen the Lord Commander has begun to realize how badly prepared the realm is against the real enemies. His empathy with the wildlings and Ned-Stark-ish honor is earning a lot of bad blood from the Crows. The Nights Watch has now become a sort of inn keeper to first Stannis and his Red Preistess, then the wildlings, then the people of Mole's Town. And he hardly has enough resources to feed the lot of them. The cold, the Others, and his hard rule is building up tension within his men. And what little friends he has he intends to disperse to other Castles along the Wall to man them as good as the Watch could against the Wights and Walkers.

The Imp after fleeing from the King's Landing for slaying his own father, now finds himself overflowing with guilt and in the undercarriage of strange ships. The Spider has arranged for his travel towards the Slavers Bay. Where he has advised Tyrion to team up with the Targaryen princess and help her win the Iron Throne. Tyrion as we know only does things his way, and finds himself in quite a messy situation. Albeit with the return of another favorite character. And introductions of many more characters that shed more light to the claim of the Targaryen heirs to the Throne and what came about to keep them alive long enough to try sitting on it.

There were many other POV chapters as well -

Daenerys finds herself stuck ruling a city where half the population hates her guts, while the other half is getting killed off ones the sun sets. She now also has amassed quite an array of counsels, many whose advise and prowess helps her keeping her rule. But the one thing that helped her so far is lost to her cause. The dragons. They grow faster and stronger and wilder than she had expected and cannot be controlled anymore.

Bran Stark, has now traveled farther north than any of his brother ever has. He has met the greenseer and is learning a lot about his role in the Wars, present and the ones yet to come. Jojen isn't too well though.

Davos Seaworth, is as trustworthy loyal to Stannis as ever but personally keeps losing anything that he holds dear. But his simple ideals and manner helps Stannis a lot in the end.

Reek, well. He is not doing too well. And by the looks of it, he is going to remain that way for a long time yet.

Asha wanted to be queen. The Ironborn thought otherwise.

Victarion Greyjoy, Balon's younger brother who is elected as the Iron King instead of her has taken all of the might of the Ironmen to the towards the West. He means to sit on the Iron Throne. There's a bad idea if there ever was one.

The Dorne, this is the kingdom that the Red Viper (he was so cool!) was loved and revered by all. His death by the hands of the Lannisters has angered many here. Most importantly the Sand Snakes, his bastard girls. They are all angry, and are plotting with their cousin, the daughter of Doran Martell, to tumble the Lannister's rule. Well. They try to.

Areo Hotah, he doesn't talk much or do much. Except sharpening his longaxe or cleaving heads of his enemies with them. But he listens all.

Barristan the Bold, he is also the same. He listens to all. But also is one of the most loyal and true adviser to the Mother of Dragons.

Jamie Lannister, is busy running along the Tully lands trying to bring it back to the Iron Throne's rule. He is a very smart guy. Not Tyrion smart. But a very good commander indeed. Pity his hand got chopped off, would've made a good ruler.

Cersei Lannister, the woman of Rock is pretty handful isn't she. She has finally got what she has always wanted. To be the one who calls the shots, and she is blowing it real bad. Everything that Tywin ever worked for and achieved, she has already destroyed in just a matter of months. And to come of it, her younger son sitting on the Throne is not even half as vile as Joff.

Varamyr Sixskins, a character introduced and killed off in the prologue itself. But presents a very interesting theory for the Jon Snow is alive theory.

This book has been a breeze. So many things were happening that the pages were just flying through. Loved this one. And even the backstory that were plugged into it has been enlightening and not tedious as in Feast. Already into Part 2. Excited!

~ ~ ~

P.S. Rickon, Osha is MIA. Where in the seven hells are they?

Day 2 : Why I still believe Jon Snow is not dead (book proof)

Valar morghulis.

I know I've written about this before, reasoning why I would not yet mourn Jon Snow. I simply won't believe his part in the Game is done yet. Every epic has their own set of prophecies and theories. ASOIAF's R+L=J , The Three-Headed Dragon theories don't hold up with the Lord Commander out of commission. This guy just has to be alive. Has to.

With this wishful thinking always on the back of my mind, I've been reading G R R Martin's epic books to find some more insight into what the author might be planning of one of his most favorite characters. Reread the first three books, and scoured the internet for every single obscure name or legend in it wondering this could be the hint we've been looking for. Do remember, these books have been around for nearly two decades now so almost every single noun in this book has a wiki page of over a thousand words defining it. So snooping for hints isn't an easy task in these books.

And now, reaching the 5th book of the series. Enters this guy -

This seemingly bad-ass wildling goes by the name of Varamyr. He was one of the wargs in cahoots with the King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder. He and Orell were of same troop who were assigned with the task of scouting for Crows during the raid of the Wall. Orell's animal was an eagle which proved to be very adept at getting info on the Wall's defenses. Orell gets killed by Melisandre for that little nuisance. The below excerpt is from the prologue of A Dance with Dragons, just a dozen pages into the book you can find Varamyr discussing of Orell's opinion about Jon Snow. 

Read this - 

Jon Snow is a warg!

Just like his half brother Bran, Lord Snow can sense his direwolf Ghost's feelings and senses, and also when sleeping can travel into the beast's skin to be its conscious. Unlike Bran though, Jon hasn't yet knowingly changed his skin or realized the do's and don'ts of the whole concept of  skinchanging. Bran had greenseer Jojen to help him, Jon doesn't. So he, and us the reader, don't yet know the extent of his prowess or lack of it.

But as Varamyr states above - The gift is strong with this one.

In one other tense incident in the book, Jon Snow is facing off with a impertinent Janos Slynt. We get to know that the Bastard of Winterfell knows that a lot of his brothers are talking behind his back and how most of them think the bond between him and Ghost is very strange indeed. But Jon is still not ready to admit this to himself. The responsibilities of leading the Night's Watch and that of preparing of the inevitable stand off with the Others takes most of his time to think of anything else. He as lot on his plate. So all us readers can do now is wait till he realizes his truth soon.

Now that the books and the series are supposedly on the same point in time. As there are only two more books in the offing and a lot possible battles and storylines to be explored, we can be sure that the next book could have a lot of exciting news ahead. The next book is going to be be out in the second half of the year.

Here's to hoping to all of the seven gods that the last of the books don't make us wait this long. And here's to hoping Mr Martin manages to stay hearty and healthy till all the writing is done.

Day 1 : A Feast For Crows - Book Review

Finally made it through this damn book. I'd read a lot of posts online that this one is a tough nut to crack and would take some effort to get through. The second half of the book is well worth it though.

So let's see, here's where we all stand now in Westeros -
(spoilers! duh.)

Sam travels to Oldtown.
Snow wins the Wall.
Stannis is stuck in Storm's End.
Melissandre is still the b-word as ever.
Cersei makes a mess of things, via her only likeable/alive son.
Tommen is happy stamping his royal seals on every paper his mother places in front of him.
His wife Margaery is pretending to be a mini-Cersei, failing miserable at it.
Ser Loras has become a Kingsguard, trying to be close to his sister. So very Lannisterseque.
Jaime is minus a limb, but still more a righteous Knight than most.
High Sparrow brings forth the kinghts of the Seven Gods.
Arya is trying to 'see' the ways of the Many-Faced God.
Sansa trying the master the Game under Littlefinger's tutelage.
Petyr kisses her every chance he gets (that, surprisingly, really creeps me out for some reason)
Brienne scouring Westeros to find the Stark girls.
Asha tries to grab at the Seastone Chair, only to be humiliated.
Iron Islanders wreck havoc throughout the coasts of Westeros.
 Ellaria Sand and Sand Snakes try to avenge the death of the Red Viper.
Alayne tries to stage a coup with the Lannister ward in Dorne as a pawn.
Myrcella by the way is not so pretty anymore.
Arys is was introduced and snuffed out within the span of a dozen pages.
Darkstar fled the sands fearing Doran's rage, but mostly Hotah's axe.
Stoneheart is angry.
Edmure Tully and Blackfish are as honorably stoic as ever.
Freys are as craven and deceitful as ever.
Mountain is MIA
Hound is MIA.
Bran is MIA.
Bronn is MIA.
Theon is MIA.
Tyrion is MIA.
Varys is MIA.
Danerys is MIA.
Barristan is MIA.

The book is tedious in a lot of ways. Mostly because it spends a lot of time with the intrigues of King's Landing. Be it the Seastone Chair of the Iron Men or the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, you soon begin to miss the dragons and the battles of Westeros. But with that yearning, also comes the dread of losing another beloved character. Even passing mentions of the Red Wedding in this book made me sad. Damn you Martin, you friggin' genius!

Day 63 : Why I Will Not Mourn Jon Snow.

This morning the internet is filled with a lot of hue and cry over last night's death of Jon Snow, Bastard of Winterfell and the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

(If you have no clue what I am talking about, stop reading. Leave. Just leave)

I can understand where all that is coming from, honestly I do. Lord Snow is a very relatable character. Honorable and naive to a fault. And though it is a popular belief that He Knows Nothing, every time when faced against great odds he always comes through, every single time. And come on, he dueled with and killed a White Walker single handedly. Who else living in all of Westeros can say that. (Sam Tarly's was a fluke, doesn't count.)

That I think is the main reason why I just won't mourn Eddard Stark's bastard yet. The ASIOF and GOT both need a hero, someone we can all root for. Jon Snow has been playing that role for a while now. And as is the tradition of the Andals, the honorable men are always to be first beaten down, weakened, slaughtered, but always find a way back to power (or life). Come back with a bang and bring havoc to those that wronged them (remember Lady Stoneheart?).

There are a bunch of theories out there about what is really going to happen in the coming months and years in Westeros and Essos. Some of which G R R Martin has secretly hinted at being true. And a lot many of which involve Jon Snow. True, this mutiny happens in the books as well, maybe not exactly for the reasons as it does in the show. But yes, Jon does get stabbed by a lot many of his sworn bothers. And yes, all of them do so saying "For the Watch". In the book as it is in the show, Snow is there dying. No doubt about that. But he is not shown to be dead yet.

(And in the show... um, have you noticed Jon Snow's eyes when he lies there? The pupils dilate. Who's to say whether it was by plan or not. Who's to say that is not a hint that he's been transported into Ghost? After all he is rumored to be a warg isn't he?)

But most of all, the reason I WILL NOT mourn Jon Snow is one very specific theory about the final outcome of the Song Of Ice and Fire. - The Three Headed Dragon.

We all know there are at present three dragons in Westeros - Drogon, Rhaegal, Viserion

Did you know there are supposedly three other Targaryen at present in Westeros. Yes, Daenerys Stormborn is not the only one. Guess who?

Candidate 1:

Tyrion Lannister - Dwarf. Imp. Father Slayer. Remember that part where his father says when Tyrion shoots him in the gut for the second time? "You are no son of mine." Agreed anyone can see it as a hate spouted off of on a spoilt child shooting arrows at his father. Perfectly understandable. 

But did you know that, in the book Tyrion has one green eye (Lannister trait) and one black (Like Daenery's). Also Tyrion's hair is said to be more of a platinum blonde than the usual Lannister golden. Rumor has it. Tywin Lanninster's wifey Joanna had something with the Mad Kind, of which Tyrion was born. The outcome of the mating of the Lion and the Dragon was supposed to be ill-fated, hence the birth of the malformed infant and the death of the mother. Hearsay? Maybe. But you gotta agree, he'd be a brilliant ruler.

Candidate 2:

Jon Snow - Bastard. Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Wields the Longclaw. Rumored to be wargs with his pet direwolf 'Ghost'. As mentioned before are a lot of theories floating around about the parentage of Jon Snow. Most popular being "R + L = J". 

All along Jon's lifetime and our history with the books and the show it is been repeatedly mentioned that Jon's the son of Ned Stark, born of a woman he'd had a thing with when he was off warring with long time pal Robert Baratheon. And it is also been said repeatedly, even after his demise, that how much of a honorable man Lord Eddard Stark really is. So I sort call bullshit on the theory that this big mighty honorable man let it all go for a bit of action some damp lonely night, allegedly with Ashara Dayne. I just can't fathom Daddy Stark doing that. But how about him taking the fall for somebody else? Somebody he thought he'd be able to protect if he took the blame for fathering this child? Somebody whose protection was his solemn oath to somebody he loved dearly.

Remember Lyanna Stark princess of Winterfell? Remember her last words to Ned Stark? "Promise me, Ned". What does she want Ned to promise her? How about her child with Rhaegar Targaryen. A son. Jon Snow. A child born with the blood of the First Men and of the Dragon. The last of child of the d     ragon lineage, a dynasty that Robert had sworn to kill off no matter what. So avoid a nasty argument with his bro, Ned just takes the baby boy back to Winterfell and raises him as his own child. Now that's something like what an honorable man like Ned Stark would do.

Tentative Candidate 3:

Aegon Targaryen. There is a character from the books that has not so far showed up in the show. A child with Elia Martell. Another of Rhaegar's. So this one has the Dornish and Dragon blood running in his veins. And supposedly has a bigger claim to the Iron Throne than his aunt Daenery's.

By now we all know, the really war that is coming is not for sitting on the Iron Throne, but for survival against the Others and the White Walkers. To that effect throughout the story there has been two main Prophecies mentioned - Azor Ahai and the Prince that was Promised.

Now with all that information injected into you.

Let me paint you picture about the final battle scene of the ASOIAF/GOT.

We’re at a famous historical spot in Westeros, Moat Catlin. The same spot where the Children of the Forest camped to keep the First Men at bay. 

To the north there is the largest army ever seen in all of Westeros and Essos and Asshai and the Seven Seas. The army of the dead men, and wights, and polar bears, and giants, and ice spiders, and other ghostly cold ghouls of the Old Nan’s stories. The vanguard is a battalion of White Walkers in their special armor and weapons of ice. And their Leader King, maybe the Night King. He strong, ruthless, and commands the most deadly host ever seen.

This is a very intimidating sight.

Opposing them, to the south, is an army of all of the Andals joined together as one.  The Greyjoys, and Boltons, and Lannisters, and the Baratheons, and the Mormonts, and the Arryn, and the Khals and the Face Less Men, and Meerenese, and the Children of the Forest, and the wildlings. And the Targaryen.The leaders of each of the large houses are at the vanguard. Including three Dragons. Mounted by three Targaryens.

The Mother of Dragons rides on Drogon. Tyrion Lannister riding Rhaegar. Young Aegon on Viserion. The leader of them all Jon Snow. Brought back to life by Lord of Fire. Riding his dire wolf, Ghost, with flaming red eyes. His sword of Valyrian steel, Longclaw, is now the flaming Lightbringer. His whole body radiates heat. He is Azor Ahai. Young Aegon is the Prince that was Promised.

Together they shall all wage a glorious war against the Darkness...

Now tell me. Don't you think something like that would turn up in the final chapters of ASOIAF?!

(Ooh mama. Bring it on!)