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Euron Greyjoy (TWOW spoilers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwKWMSTb1qE&t=6555s


We’re joined by special guest PoorQuentyn for a look at Euron Greyjoy’s past, present and future. This episode includes spoilers for The Forsaken chapter from The Winds of Winter. Listen to our episode on The Forsaken here.

Credits
Our introduction and the Westeros and Essos maps were created by Michael Klarfeld (Klaradox), with the cyvasse pieces created by dutchmogul. Check out the episode on YouTube or the Acast player below to see those images and some great art of Euron while listening, as well as the newest art of Mazzalicartho, by Azany. You can also find these images below.

The primary topics in this episode:

Meta-History
Becoming Crow’s Eye
The New Old Way
Above the Game… of Thrones
Outro

Tell the Crow’s Eye he’s afraid of kinslaying, and he’ll murder one of his own sons just to prove you wrong.” – ADWD, The Wayward Bride

“Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air… I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy… protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence.” He laughed. “Godless? Why, Aeron, I am the godliest man ever to raise sail! You serve one god, Damphair, but I have served ten thousand. From Ib to Asshai, when men see my sails, they pray.” – AFFC, The Iron Captain

Euron by Mike Hallstein

Mike Hallstein

Euron by TheThreeHares

TheThreeHares

Euron by Dejan-Delic

Dejan-Delic

Euron by Artur Mósca

Artur Mósca

Euron's Sigil by Drafturgy

Drafturgy

Mazzalicartho

Mazzalicartho has grown! Art by Azany.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: aeron damphair, aeron greyjoy, asha greyjoy, asshai, audio, balon greyjoy, bloodraven, bran stark, brynden rivers, cersei lannister, daenerys targaryen, dragon egg, dragonbinder, euron greyjoy, hellhorn, joffrey baratheon, pyat pree, quellon greyjoy, ramsay bolton, ramsay snow, the silence, the wall, the winds of winter, theon greyjoy, twow, tyrion lannister, valyria, varys, victarion greyjoy, video

The Winds of Winter: The Battle of Ice Part 3 (mega spoilers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zwzarmwQyw

In this episode, Aziz is joined by guest Jeff Hartline (Wars and Politics of A Song of Ice and Fire) for this three part series on The Battle of Ice. Ashaya sat this episode out due to the flu.

Though there are a variety of ways the Battle of Ice could play out, there are only two possible basic results, a Bolton/Frey victory, or a Stannis victory. Given that, we only have two paths to chart out, and we’ll be following them both as far as we can reasonably (or unreasonably!) go. Of particular importance will be the effect of the battle on the Northern political outlook, the series itself, and what it will mean for a host of different characters.  We’ll also discuss how a possible battle at Winterfell itself might play out.

I think a lot people suspect Stannis won’t last the series, but losing to the Freys in the midst of a snowstorm isn’t exactly a popular guess for how he’ll go out. The feedback we’ve gotten on parts 1 and 2 of the series definitely back this up. Most of us expect Stannis to win the Battle of Ice, and for his end to come in some other way, or not at all. Only a few predict Stannis to sit the Iron Throne by series’ end, but it remains possible. Other possibilities range from villainy to heroism, casting him as Night’s King come again, or ponder the notion of Lord Commander Stannis Baratheon, leading a reformed and regrouped Night’s Watch at conclusion of ASoIaF, manning the Wall in force. That is, if there’s even a Wall to man, but that’s another topic, not directly related to Stannis winning the Battle of Ice.

So this episode will have a Stannis-wins bias in terms of how we spend our time. We expect Stannis to win so we prepared with that in mind…

The king stood outside his tent, staring into the nightfire. What does he see there? Victory? Doom? The face of his red and hungry god? His eyes were sunk in deep pits, his close-cropped beard no more than a shadow across his hollow cheeks and bony jawbone. Yet there was power in his stare, an iron ferocity that told Asha this man would never, ever turn back from his course.ord Manderly had brought musicians from White Harbor, but none were singers, so when Abel turned up at the gates with a lute and six women, he had been made welcome.”

 

“White Harbor might prove troublesome should Lord Wyman survive this coming battle … but I am quite sure that he will not. No more than Stannis. Roose will remove both of them, as he removed the Young Wolf.”

 

“Lord Manderly had brought musicians from White Harbor, but none were singers, so when Abel turned up at the gates with a lute and six women, he had been made welcome.”

 

“I am sorry that our good friend Stannis has not seen fit to join us yet, as I know Ramsay had hoped to present his head to Lady Arya as a wedding gift. We shall give him a splendid welcome when he arrives, a welcome worthy of true northmen. Until that day, let us eat and drink and make merry … for winter is almost upon us, my friends, and many of us here shall not live to see the spring.”

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: asha greyjoy, audio, clayton suggs, davos seaworth, fake arya, house bolton, jeff, jeyne poole, jon snow, justin massey, melisandre, night's king, ramsay bolton, ramsay snow, rickon stark, roose bolton, stannis baratheon, the winds of winter, theon greyjoy, twow, video, wyman manderly

The Winds of Winter: The Battle of Ice Part 1 (mega spoilers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syFM7936yMs

In this episode, Ashaya and Aziz are joined by guest Jeff Hartline (Wars and Politics of A Song of Ice and Fire) for this three part series on The Battle of Ice.

Part 1 is dedicated to unraveling the complex political situation in the North.  There are Houses with compelled loyalty secretly plotting revenge, while loyal armies face the winds of winter.  Each house of note is discussed, as well as the key players from each side.

In an epic series filled with surprises, plot twists and defiance of convention, there is little we can predict with certainty. One item on that short list is Winter. We knew it was coming…the Starks told us after all. We had glimpses of it throughout the earlier books, especially at and beyond the Wall, but also in dreams that often seemed prophetic. Sure enough, by the end of ADWD, there is a massive, long running storm.

Another certainty in ASOIAF is war. We have certainly not seen the last pitched battle. With those two items in mind…does it follow that we should expect pitched battles in winter?

The Battle of Ice is just that. A struggle in which resources are scarce, the cold is literally enough to kill, and time is on no one’s side. Winter has just begun after all, and we know what the next book is entitled. Before we can Dream of Spring we must brave The Winds of Winter.

Well, not we, them. The armies of two extremely formidable and determined men, Stannis Baratheon and Roose Bolton, facing off while a ridiculous winter storm rages.

This three part series goes beyond a single battle, however. Even our love of detail is not enough to make 3 episodes out of that. We’re dealing with a campaign for the North and it has major implications for the plot and for so many of our favorite characters. In part 1 we’ll explore the motivations and goals of the various players in the North, what they want, which side they’re on, who they want to kill, and how they’ll accomplish any of this without freezing.

We are five thousand strong as I write, our numbers swelling every day. And word has come to us that Roose Bolton moves toward Winterfell with all his power, there to wed his bastard to your half sister. He must not be allowed to restore the castle to its former strength. We march against him. Arnolf Karstark and Mors Umber will join us. I will save your sister if I can, and find a better match for her than Ramsay Snow. You and your brothers must hold the Wall until I can return.”

 

 

“He needs an end to this. The castle was too crowded to withstand a long siege, and too many of the lords here were of uncertain loyalty. Fat Wyman Manderly, Whoresbane Umber, the men of House Hornwood and House Tallhart, the Lockes and Flints and Ryswells, all of them were northmen, sworn to House Stark for generations beyond count. It was the girl who held them here, Lord Eddard’s blood, but the girl was just a mummer’s ploy, a lamb in a direwolf’s skin. So why not send the northmen forth to battle Stannis before the farce unraveled? Slaughter in the snow. And every man who falls is one less foe for the Dreadfort.”

 

 

“The Frey men wore the badge of the two towers, those from White Harbor displayed merman and trident. They shouldered through the storm in opposite directions and eyed each other warily as they passed, but no swords were drawn. Not here. It may be different out there in the woods.”

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: asha greyjoy, audio, davos seaworth, house frey, jeff, jon snow, littlefinger, petyr baelish, ramsay bolton, ramsay snow, roose bolton, stannis baratheon, the winds of winter, theon greyjoy, twow, video, winterfell, wyman manderly

TV Discussion: Game of Thrones S04E05 (spoiler free)

S04E05

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=846c0DlXdh8

Another week, another episode of History of Westeros!

Ashaya, Aziz and Sean discuss the exciting events of S04E05 of Game of Thrones.  As always, we illuminate the backstory and explain the subtleties, keeping you prepared for the next episode and beyond! The end of the episode contains our spoiler discussion, as well as our discussion of the preview.

Sean is an Unsullied TV viewer whose unspoiled perceptions are quite the contrast to HoW’s thorough Game of Thrones education, and this makes the review unique. Sean is an insightful reviewer who first joined us in our Red Wedding discussion episode, and has been our previous three Season 4 episodes: episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4 (spoiler free), and episode 4 (spoilers)

I heard you like ships

 

I’m a stupid little girl with stupid dreams who never learns.

 

The fifth is difficult. I named her after my sister, Elia.

Every scene (and there were a lot) of S04E05 is discussed, what we liked and didn’t like, noting interesting but non-spoiler comparisons to the books. As usual there is special attention paid to hidden detail and backstory.

Be sure to check out our forum, which is newly launched, and introduce yourself there, as well as discuss podcast and TV show episodes. Please rate and review us on iTunes as well if you have the chance!

Do you think I’m easily shocked?

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: arya stark, asha greyjoy, audio, bran stark, brienne of tarth, cersei lannister, daario naharis, daenerys targaryen, daniel portman, elia sand, ellaria sand, hodor, iron bank, jojen reed, jon snow, jorah mormont, karl, littlefinger, locke, lysa arryn, margaery tyrell, meera reed, nymeria sand, obara sand, oberyn martell, petyr baelish, podrick payne, ramsay bolton, ramsay snow, rast, robert arryn, sand snakes, sandor clegane, sansa stark, sarella sand, the hound, tommen baratheon, tyene sand, tywin lannister, video

TV Discussion: Game of Thrones S04E03 (spoiler free)

S04E03

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4inVCZwodn4

Another week, another episode of History of Westeros! Ashaya was unable to appear today, so Aziz and Sean break down the transitional and controversial S04E03 of Game of Thrones. The discussion revolves around power dynamics, likable characters doing unlikable things, and how initial reactions can evolve quite a bit after gaining some perspective.  As always, we illuminate the backstory and explain the subtleties, keeping you prepared for the next episode and beyond!

Sean is an Unsullied TV viewer whose unspoiled perceptions are quite the contrast to HoW’s thorough Game of Thrones education, and this makes the review unique. Sean is an insightful reviewer who first joined us in our Red Wedding discussion episode, and has been our previous two Season 4 episode: episode 1 and episode 2.

I don’t think I can kill a hundred wildlings.

 

The ominous they.

If you’re a famous smuggler, you’re not doing it right.

 

You’re the worst shit in the Seven Kingdoms.

Every scene (and there were a lot) of S04E03 is discussed, what we liked and didn’t like, noting interesting but non-spoiler comparisons to the books. As usual there is special attention paid to hidden detail and backstory.

Sean is asked to make a few predictions, while  Aziz struggles not to tell him how right or wrong he is!

Be sure to check out our forum, which is newly launched, and introduce yourself there, as well as discuss podcast and TV show episodes. Please rate and review us on iTunes as well if you have the chance!

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: arya stark, audio, cersei lannister, davos seaworth, gilly, jaime lannister, jon snow, khal drogo, melisandre, oberyn martell, olenna redwyne, olenna tyrell, podrick payne, queen of thorns, ramsay bolton, ramsay snow, roose bolton, samwell tarly, sandor clegane, selyse baratheon, shireen baratheon, the hound, theon greyjoy, tommen baratheon, tyrion lannister, tywin lannister, video

History/Plots: House Bolton (1st half spoiler free)

An inside look at Roose, Ramsay, and the history of House Bolton.
You had only to look at Bolton to know that he had more cruelty in his pinky toe than all the Freys combined.

Roose Bolton’s cold and cunning, aye, but a man can deal with Roose. We’ve all known worse. But this bastard son of his…they say he’s mad and cruel, a monster.

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Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: audio, barbrey dustin, battle of the green fork, bethany ryswell, brave companions, cerwyn, domeric bolton, fat walda frey, harrenhal, lady dustin, lady hornwood, leech lord, our blades are sharp, ramsay bolton, ramsay snow, red wedding, roose bolton, the dreadfort, theon greyjoy, vargo hoat, video

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Aziz & Ashaya’s Recommendations!

The Dunk & Egg Collection
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Other Short Stories in Westeros
The Rogue Prince (Prince Daemon)
The Princess & The Queen
The Book of Swords (Sons of the Dragon)

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Non-ASOIAF Books Recommended by GRRM & us!
The Last Wish - Book 1 of The Witcher
The Last Kingdom - Book 1
The Accursed Kings - Book 1
The Expanse - Book 1

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