History of Westeros

George RR Martin in Conversation: HOW Interviews GRRM!

On August 18, 2022, we interviewed George RR Martin in person, at his office in Santa Fe. You can watch this episode on YouTube here, or listen to it in podcast form here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M39Cq8vSKc

We are also including a transcription below, under the cut, for those who prefer to read their interviews, but we hope you check out the video to see a few looks at George’s office. At the end of this episode, we mention Ice & Fire Con, Westeros: An American Musical, and Queens: The Musical, so there are a few links for your convenience.

History of Westeros with George RR Martin

History of Westeros with George RR Martin

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House of the Dragon: San Diego Comic-Con 2022

We had the pleasure of attending the House of the Dragon panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 on July 23, 2022. It was moderated by Jason Concepcion, and had Fabien Frankel (Criston Cole), Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen), Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon), Matt Smith (Daemon Targaryen), Emma D’Arcy (Rhaenyra Targaryen), Olivia Cooke (Alicent Hightower), Paddy Considine (Viserys Targaryen), Milly Alcock (Rhaenyra Targaryen), Emily Carey (Alicent Hightower), and George R.R. Martin.

If you use any of these photos, please credit @WesterosHistory on Twitter and @ashayatara on Instagram.

The Winds of Winter Audio Play: Mercy

We organized fans to make our own production of the Mercy chapter in The Winds of Winter. There’s music, sound effects, and different voices for all the characters. We have already done Victarion I – listen here! The rest of the preview chapters from The Winds of Winter will be produced, too, so please email us at [email protected] if you are interested in submitting your voice! You can also join us on Facebook or Discord.

You can find text versions of all of these TWOW chapters here.

Mercy Credits

Narrator: Lady Gwyn – Radio Westeros
Arya/Mercy: girlnettles
Waterman: Daniele Bolelli – History on Fire podcast
Daena: Loren Scipioni
Izembaro: Matteo Barbagallo
Brusco: Ken Krouner
Marro/The Stranger: Costantino Pompa
The Snapper: Val – Because Geek
Bobono: Michael Klarfeld
Raff the Sweetling: Joggi – Through the Moon Door
Old Guard: yolkboy – Radio Westeros
Sound Design: Alex Carmichael
Engineering: Ben Anderson aka the Bengineer
Producer: Ashaya

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.”

Mercy
The Winds of Winter Audio Play: MercyDownload

The Winds of Winter Audio Play: Victarion I

We organized fans to make our own production of the Victarion I chapter in The Winds of Winter. There’s music, sound effects, and different voices for all the characters. We have already done Mercy – listen here! The rest of the preview chapters from The Winds of Winter will be produced, too, so please email us at [email protected] if you are interested in submitting your voice! You can also join us on Facebook or Discord.

You can find text versions of all of these TWOW chapters here.

Victarion Greyjoy by Mike Hallstein
The Kraken In Pursuit by Mike Hallstein

Moqorro brought it forth, and the dusky woman lifted up a lantern to give them all a look. In the shifting lantern light the hell-horn seemed to writhe and turn in the priest’s hands like a serpent fighting to escape. Moqorro was a man of monstrous size – big-bellied, broad-shouldered, towering – but even in his grasp the horn looked huge.

“My brother found this thing on Valyria,” Victarion told the thralls. “Think how big the dragon must’ve been to bear two of these upon his head. Bigger than Vhagar or Meraxes, bigger than Balerion the Black Dread.”

Victarion I Credits

Victarion: Jordan Alexander
Wulfe One-Ear: K.W. Dent
Longwater Pyke: Kris Johnson
the Boy: Javi Marcos
the Bastard’s Bastard: Bill S
Moqorro: Dom Tartaglia
Narrator: Aziz
Producer: Ash
Music and Sound Design: Alex Carmichael
Audio Engineering: Ben Anderson aka the Bengineer

Victarion I – The Winds of Winter Audio PlayDownload

The Dance of the Dragons: Part 3 – w/Radio Westeros

The Dance of the Dragons continues in the third installment of our collaboration with Radio Westeros. We begin with the fallout from Rook’s Rest, then we cover topics like the mystery of Sunfyre. Plus, we discuss Tessarion’s dominance in the South, the Battle of the Gullet, the taking of King’s Landing and quite a few other subplots in the vast and complex Dance of the Dragons. Trading places, Pyrrhic victories and extremely poor leadership dominate part 3 of our series. Watch and listen to part 1 here. Find part 2 here.

Still possessed of more dragons than her half- brother, Her Grace now resolved to use them, no matter the cost. She would rain down fire and death upon Aegon and all those who supported him, she told the black council, and either tear him from the Iron Throne or die in the attempt.

Sheer walls of rock, eaten away by centuries of wind and spray, hemmed them in to either side. In some places they had assumed fantastic shapes. Nimble Dick pointed out a few as they climbed. “There’s an ogre’s head, see?” he said, and Brienne smiled when she saw it. “And that there’s a stone dragon. T’other wing fell off when my father was a boy.”

Dance of the Dragons Images

  • Dance of the Dragons - The Greens (naomimakesart)
    The Greens (naomimakesart)
  • Dance of the Dragons - The Blacks (naomimakesart)
    The Blacks (naomimakesart)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne (Histories and Lore)
    Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne (Histories and Lore)
  • Alicent Hightower and Helaena Targaryen (Histories and Lore)
    Alicent Hightower and Helaena Targaryen (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Dragonseeds (Histories and Lore)
    Dragonseeds (Histories and Lore)
  • Battle of the Gullet (Klaradox)
    Battle of the Gullet (Klaradox)
  • King's Landing (Klaradox)
    King’s Landing (Klaradox)
  • The Reach (Klaradox)
    The Reach (Klaradox)
  • Jace is Killed (Histories and Lore)
    Jace is Killed (Histories and Lore)
  • Jacaerys Velaryon (Histories and Lore)
    Jacaerys Velaryon (Histories and Lore)
  • Aegon II and Sunfyre (Histories and Lore)
    Aegon II and Sunfyre (Histories and Lore)
  • Sunfyre (Ashley Hunter Rice)
    Sunfyre (Ashley Hunter Rice)
  • Nettles and Sheepstealer (Ashley Hunter Rice)
    Sheepstealer and Nettles (Ashley Hunter Rice)
  • Nettles (Histories and Lore)
    Nettles (Histories and Lore)
  • Nettles (Histories and Lore)
    Nettles (Histories and Lore)

As her lord husband Prince Daemon escorted her from the hall, cuts were seen upon Her Grace’s legs and the palm of her left hand. Drops of blood fell to the floor as she went past, and wise men looked at one another, though none dared speak the truth aloud: the Iron Throne had spurned her, and her days upon it would be few.

https://youtu.be/Wfx3bfU_ouE

The Dance of the Dragons: Part 2 – w/Radio Westeros

Our joint coverage of the Dance of the Dragons with our friends at Radio Westeros continues. You can find part 1 in this series here; there, we covered the events that led up to the Dance of the Dragons. Part 3 can be found here. In this episode, we cover the taking of Harrenhal by Prince Daemon, the Battle of the Burning Mill, the Pact of Ice and Fire, the tragedy at Storm’s End, Blood & Cheese, the Battle of Rook’s Rest, the Rise of Criston Cole and so much more! And by more, we mean more tragedy! So let’s dig in.

Even as he spoke, the Dance began. On Driftmark, the Sea Snake’s ships set sail from Hull and Spicetown to close the Gullet, choking off trade to and from King’s Landing. Soon after, Jacaerys Velaryon was flying north upon his dragon, Vermax, his brother Lucerys south on Arrax, whilst Prince Daemon rode Caraxes to the Trident.

The Dance of the Dragons entered a new stage after the death of Lucerys Velaryon in the stormlands and the murder of Prince Jaehaerys before his mother’s eyes in the Red Keep. For both the blacks and the greens, blood called to blood for vengeance. And all across the realm, lords called their banners, and armies gathered and began to march.

Dance of the Dragons Images

  • Dance of the Dragons - Greens and Blacks (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Dragon Names (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Dragonstone (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Aegon II, Aemond, and Criston Cole (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Criston Cole (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Black Council (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rook's Rest (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Borros Baratheon (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Lucerys & Aemond (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Blood and Cheese (Histories and Lore)
  • Dance of the Dragons - Blood and Cheese (Histories and Lore)
  • Daemon and Caraxes (naomimakesart)
  • Rhaenys and Meleys (chillyravenart)
  • Rhaenys and Meleys (Drafturgy)

To characterize the dark, turbulent, bloody doings of this period as a “dance” strikes us as grotesquely inappropriate. No doubt the phrase originated with some singer. “The Dying of the Dragons” would be altogether more fitting, but tradition, time, and Grand Maester Munkun have burned the more poetic usage into the pages of history, so we must dance along with the rest.

https://youtu.be/B91K0fIjSYY

The Dance of the Dragons Part 1 – w/Radio Westeros

Our joint coverage of the Dance of the Dragons with our friends at Radio Westeros begins with the key events that led to war. We will be talking about the Queen Who Never Was, the Great Council of 101, the Year of the Red Spring, the formation of the Blacks & Greens, and much more!

Once you’re done, you can watch and listen to the second part in our Dance of the Dragons series here; you can watch the third episode here. In those episodes, we move on to the taking of Harrenhal by Prince Daemon Targaryen, Blood & Cheese, Rook’s Rest, and the taking of King’s Landing, among other events. But first, we have the beginning of the rift:

The Dance of the Dragons is the flowery name bestowed upon the savage internecine struggle for the Iron Throne of Westeros fought between two rival branches of House Targaryen during the years 129 to 131 AC. To characterize the dark, turbulent, bloody doings of this period as a “dance” strikes us as grotesquely inappropriate. No doubt the phrase originated with some singer. “The Dying of the Dragons” would be altogether more fitting, but tradition and time have burned the more poetic usage into the pages of history, so we must dance along with the rest.

The Dance of the Dragons Begins

For this was to be a year when many of the long-simmering tensions and jealousies that had plagued the Seven Kingdoms finally came to a boil; a year when many and more would have reason to wail and grieve and rend their garments.

Images
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenyra by NaomiMakesArt
    Rhaenyra by NaomiMakesArt
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenys Targaryen - The Queen Who Never Was by Drafturgy
    Rhaenys Targaryen – The Queen Who Never Was by Drafturgy
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenys Targaryen & Corlys Velaryon by Drafturgy
    Rhaenys Targaryen & Corlys Velaryon by Drafturgy
  • Visenya, Aegon, and Rhaenys by NaomiMakesArt
    Visenya, Aegon, and Rhaenys by NaomiMakesArt
  • Dance of the Dragons - Laena and Laenor Velaryon by NaomiMakesArt
    Laena and Laenor Velaryon by NaomiMakesArt
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenyra and the Strongs by Poly-Hebdo
    Rhaenyra and the Strongs by Poly-Hebdo
  • Dance of the Dragons - Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen by NaomiMakesArt
    Alys Rivers and Aemond Targaryen by NaomiMakesArt
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenyra and Daemon by NaomiMakesArt
    Rhaenyra and Daemon by NaomiMakesArt
  • Dance of the Dragons - Rhaenyra by Doug Wheatley
    Rhaenyra by Doug Wheatley
https://youtu.be/WPTw3pm1-9o

House Blackwood: Part 2 – Ravens, Dragons, Stags & Wolves

Part 2 of our House Blackwood series continues – you can find House Blackwood: Part 1 – The Time of the Tree here. It’s clear GRRM has placed the Blackwoods carefully; they are an important part of several of the most important houses’ ancestry, with strong associations with mystical elements.

In this episode, we take a look at all the heroes of House Blackwood since the coming of the Targaryens. We have lots of thoughts and ideas of what’s coming next for them as Winter and the Dragons come. They are tied to both…

North/River Shipping

Lord Stark had marched south with a great host, made up in large part of men unwanted and unneeded in the North, whose return would bring great hardship and mayhaps even death for the loved ones they had left behind. Legend (and Mushroom) tells us that it was Lady Alysanne who suggested an answer.

The lands along the Trident were full of widows, she reminded Lord Stark; women, many burdened with young children, who had sent their husbands off to fight with one lord or another, only for them to fall in battle. With winter at hand, strong backs and willing hands would be welcome in many a hearth and home. In the end, more than a thousand northmen accompanied Black Aly and her nephew Lord Benjicot when they returned to the riverlands after the royal wedding.

“A wolf for every widow,” Mushroom japed, “he will warm her bed in winter, and gnaw her bones come spring.”

Yet hundreds of marriages were made at the so-called Widow Fairs held at Raventree, Riverrun, Stoney Sept, the Twins, and Fairmarket. Those northmen who did not wish to marry instead swore their swords to lords both great and small as guards and men-at-arms.

A few, sad to say, did turn to outlawry and met evil ends, but for the most part, Lady Alysanne’s matchmaking was a great success. The resettled northmen not only strengthened the riverlords who welcomed them, particularly House Tully and House Blackwood, but also helped revive and spread the worship of the old gods south of the Neck.

GOAT Black Aly Blackwood

Huntress, horse-breaker, and archer without peer, Black Aly had little of a woman’s softness about her. Many thought her to be of that same ilk as Sabitha Frey, for they were oft in one another’s company, and had been known to share a tent whilst on the march. Yet in King’s Landing, whilst accompanying her young nephew Benjicot at court and council, she had met Cregan Stark and conceived a liking for the stern northman. And Lord Cregan, a widower these past three years, had responded in kind.

To him gathered Benjicot Blackwood of Raventree, already a seasoned warrior at three-and-ten; his fierce young aunt, Black Aly, with three hundred bows; Lady Sabitha Frey, the merciless and grasping Lady of the Twins, Lord Hugo Vance of Wayfarer’s Rest, Lord Jorah Mallister of Seagard; Lord Roland Darry of Darry; aye, and even Humfrey Bracken, Lord of Stone Hedge, whose house had hitherto supported King Aegon’s cause.

Missy Blackwood

Aegon the Fourth had died long before Jaime had been born, but he recalled enough of the history of his reign to guess what must have happened next. “Only later he put the Bracken girl aside and took up with a Blackwood, was that the way of it?”

“Lady Melissa,” Hoster confirmed. “Missy, they called her. There’s a statue of her in our godswood. She was much more beautiful than Barba Bracken.”

– Jaime I, ADWD

https://youtu.be/T3Gz4v5LjCI

Images

House Blackwood: Part 1 – The Time of the Tree

House Blackwood and its origins begin in the most ancient of times, when the Children of the Forest held sway, and there were fewer people, and Houses, but more Kings and Kingdoms. We explore their connection to these ancient mysteries, their great creepy weirwood and the various wars and politics that led to current times, where Blackwoods marry Starks, Targaryens and others. Find part 2 in this series here.

Blackwood’s solar was on the second floor of a cavernous timber keep. There was a fire burning in the hearth when they entered. The room was large and airy, with great beams of dark oak supporting the high ceiling. Woolen tapestries covered the walls, and a pair of wide latticework doors looked out upon the godswood. Through their thick, diamond-shaped panes of yellow glass Jaime glimpsed the gnarled limbs of the tree from which the castle took its name. It was a weirwood ancient and colossal, ten times the size of the one in the Stone Garden at Casterly Rock. This tree was bare and dead, though.

“The Brackens poisoned it,” said his host. “For a thousand years it has not shown a leaf. In another thousand it will have turned to stone, the maesters say. Weirwoods never rot.”

“And the ravens?” asked Jaime. “Where are they?”

“They come at dusk and roost all night. Hundreds of them. They cover the tree like black leaves, every limb and every branch. They have been coming for thousands of years. How or why, no man can say, yet the tree draws them every night.”

– Jaime I, ADWD

Images

  • Wolfswood & Winterfell
  • Size of Wolfswood
  • Path from Wolfswood to Blackwood Vale
    Path from Wolfswood to Blackwood Vale
  • Riverlands at the time
  • Blackwood Vale and Stone Hedge
    Stonehedge
  • High Heart
  • Crownlands
  • Fairmarket
https://youtu.be/P-g5Jewsy5o

The Three-Eyed Bloodraven

The third of our THREE (1, 2) Bloodraven episodes. This one has a deep dive into the life of Brynden Rivers beginning from the point at which he took the Black. Was he a ranger? What did he and Maester Aemon talk about? Who is Coldhands? What’s up with the Raven’s Teeth, and much more in this episode on the Three-Eyed Bloodraven!

Thanks to guest producer Zack of Game of Owns!

The Last Greenseer

Before them a pale lord in ebon finery sat dreaming in a tangled nest of roots, a woven weirwood throne that embraced his withered limbs as a mother does a child. His body was so skeletal and his clothes so rotted that at first Bran took him for another corpse, a dead man propped up so long that the roots had grown over him, under him, and through him.

What skin the corpse lord showed was white, save for a bloody blotch that crept up his neck onto his cheek. His white hair was fine and thin as root hair and long enough to brush against the earthen floor. Roots coiled around his legs like wooden serpents. One burrowed through his breeches into the desiccated flesh of his thigh, to emerge again from his shoulder. A spray of dark red leaves sprouted from his skull, and grey mushrooms spotted his brow. A little skin remained, stretched across his face, tight and hard as white leather, but even that was fraying, and here and there the brown and yellow bone beneath was poking through. – Bran II, ADWD

The last greenseer, the singers called him, but in Bran’s dreams he was still a three-eyed crow. When Meera Reed had asked him his true name, he made a ghastly sound that might have been a chuckle. “I wore many names when I was quick, but even I once had a mother, and the name she gave me at her breast was Brynden.” – Bran III, ADWD

Three-Eyed Bloodraven Images

  • Bloodraven's sigil by Abjiklam
    Bloodraven’s sigil by Abjiklam
  • Eastwatch
    Eastwatch (Klaradox)
  • Bloodraven by Luciferys
    Brynden Rivers by Luciferys
  • Bloodraven by Mike Hallstein
    The Three Eyed Bloodraven by Mike Hallstein
  • Bloodraven by Luciferys
    Bloodraven by Luciferys
  • Bloodraven by Mike Hallstein
    Brynden Rivers by Mike Hallstein
  • Bloodraven by ProKriK
    Brynden by ProKriK
  • Bloodraven by Luciferys
    Bran in the Cave by Luciferys
  • Manuscript note from GRRM
    Coldhands manuscript note from GRRM
https://youtu.be/szq21CZrwts

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