#game of thrones analysis

[it-happened-once-in-a-meme]

Margaery Tyrell with Joffrey Baratheon & Homophobia (One of the Things I Dislike About the Show) 💀🏳️‍🌈

People talk a lot about how cute show!Margaery is with Sansa and say she's such a great ally, but when Joffrey mentioned having toyed with the idea of punishing homosexuality with the death penalty, Margaery was way too eager to support him.

I personally really hated that since it: a) makes her disagreeable unncessarily (her own brother is homosexual, and she's probably not straight either) b) isn't smart of her: her goal should be to make Joffrey like her enough to become Queen and to make sure he doesn't treat her badly. This would've been a good moment to support his gentle side. She could've complimented his hesitancy to enact such a cruel law.

#game of thrones season 3 episode 2 #game of thrones analysis #margaery tyrell analysis #game of thrones homosexuality #game of thrones homophobia #margaery tyrell homophobia #anti game of thrones #margaery tyrell #anti margaery tyrell #margaery tyrell x joffrey baratheon #joffrey baratheon #joffrey baratheon homosexuality #joffrey baratheon homophobia #game of thrones adaption #anti d&d #game of thrones essay #margaery tyrell and joffrey baratheon

[amber-laughs]

catelyn throwing her blanket off her with ned’s cum still running down her legs in front of maester luwin vs Jon being ass naked dripping wet in front of alliser thorne, othell yarwyck and bowen marsh STOP calling each other names! neither of you have any fucking decorum

#more evidence of him being her narrative heir #MOTHER AND SON #should’ve put this in my characters analysis of them #catelyn tully #jon snow #asoiaf crack #well… sorta kinda #i stole this from my own twitter account #valyrian scrolls #catelyn stark #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #game of thrones

[flying-ham]

I got bored at work this afternoon so I decided to find out the breakdown of male vs female povs in asoiaf by wordcount. so far I've found affc to have the greatest proportion of female povs with 60.76%, and adwd to have the smallest with 25.68%.

full breakdown:

agot - 45.01% female, 54.99% male

acok - 41.35% female, 58.65% male

asos - 39.66% female, 60.34% male

affc - 60.76% female, 39.24% male

adwd - 25.68% female, 74.32% male

total series - 41.24% female, 58.76% male

I'd like to play around w things more when I'm not tired of reading in data BUT that's what I've got so far lol

#i'm sure someone has done this already #but its fun i like doing shitty data analysis in r #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #agot #a game of thrones #acok #a clash of kings #asos #a storm of swords #affc #a feast for crows #adwd #a dance with dragons #valyrianscrolls

[witchlingcirce]

There’s such a heartbreaking parallel between Lucerys and Jaehaerys final send-offs.

Lucerys:

Lucerys funeral is presented to us as an intimate moment between family members. Every single person at that funeral cared for/knew Lucerys in a way. It was a send-off, a last way to say goodbye, his family’s last goodbye.

In the photos, you can see the heartbroken look on Jacaerys, Rhaenyras and Jofferys faces. That is their BROTHER and they aren’t even able to burn his body, only his clothes. But either way, it’s their moment to grieve someone who meant the world to them. It’s almost like their last way to say goodbye to him.

Jaehaerys:

Jaehaerys is displayed as having a public funeral, being brought around for all of king landing to grieve.

I think I am right to believe that the prospect of showing poor Jaehaerys was to gain sympathy from the people of kingslanding, displaying the black's cruelty. Turning them away from Rhaenyra.

To me, this is such a horrible thing to do, and I think it’s to the dismay of Helaena and Alicent. Who are almost being parading around the city.

I think it’s worse when you realise this is probably a week or even a few days after Jaehaerys was murdered, I don’t think either woman had time to grieve. Even in the pictures, you can see that they don’t want to be doing this. Instead of being able to grieve in private, it’s made to be a public display. I especially feel horrible for Helaena, who looks heartbroken to be there. I can’t imagine your son dying and then having to parade his dead body for the whole of Kingslanding to see.

I think it’s an interesting perspective of both sides. One of them was able to get a private funeral, despite there not being a body to burn. And one of them getting a public funeral 💔. My heart breaks for both Helaena and Rhaenyra.

#asoiaf #game of thrones #house of the dragon #a song of ice and fire #hotd #house targaryen #valyrianscrolls #helaena targaryen #alicent hightower #jaehaerys targaryen #Jaehaerys (son of Helaena) #rhaenyra targaryen #jacaerys targaryen #team black #team green #Jaehaerys(Son of Aegon) #analysis #parallel

[knowledgeabletrash]

Homies I’m gonna be so real I think a lot of people really miss the point of hotd and got in general. The whole green vs blacks argument feels very akin to the team peeta/team gale phenomenon in the Hunger Games fandom- the very existence of these “teams” in any serious context is a manifestation of the very thing their media is criticizing.

You’re not supposed to be EITHER side in the Dance of Dragons. Spin it any way you want, but as a whole, the entire story is a critique on dynastic monarchy and blood/racial purity in politics. Both Rhaenyra and Aegon II are vying for power to a fundamentally corrupt system that, really, neither of them are entitled to or equipped to have. Dynastic Monarchy Bad, yaknow?

Neither one of them deserve the throne, just like every monarch who inherited their power from their family before them. The Targs in general have a whole lot of Mandate of Heaven/Manifest Destiny/Blood Purity thing going on that Martin is clearly criticizing in the series as a whole.

The point of the Dance of Dragons is that it is the result of two people who both believed that they were, through some law or divinity, The Chosen who deserved power. House Targaryen already had it all, but tore itself apart over their own ideas of prophecy and destiny, Who Deserved It More. There’s a reason neither Rhaenyra or Aegon II end up on the throne, there’s a reason that almost all of the Targs died in the war: it’s a cautionary tale. Through the Dance, Martin is able to criticize both the Valyrian Supremacy ideals of the Targs and the patriarchal governments within Westeros. Monarchy and patriarchy hurt everyone.

I think most fans with media comprehension understand that both sides of the war committed unforgivable atrocities, and both sides experienced unimaginable loss and grief. The irony is, it is almost all self-inflicted. By playing The Game, Rhae, Aegon, and House Targaryen lost everything, and the rest of Westeros was just collateral.

Anyway I don’t wanna see anymore misogynistic bullshit. You can critique the characters without saying the most sexist shit imaginable (this goes for greens and blacks, I’ve seen some truly heinous shit in the trenches). This show is fun and really enjoyable to watch, and I would love to see a fan community that isn’t constantly at each others throats over made up characters in a made up war.

#house of the dragon #alicent hightower #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #team green #team black #hotd analysis #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #aemond targaryen #daemon targaryen #dance of dragons #hotd discussion

[howtofightwrite]

Does Ser Arys Oakheart’s performance in The Queenmaker in AFFC (killing a handful of men and jumping clear of his palfrey before being swiftly dispatched by Areo Hotah) suggest a decent amount of martial competence on Arys’ part, in your view?

I’m going to make George R.R. Martin fans angry again and say, no. However, this is because I don’t feel any of Martin’s characters (throughout his work) really demonstrate any degree of martial competence. A lot of Martin’s characters aren’t supposed to possess any martial competence, but even the ones who are meant to don’t have it. Their “martial competence” is roughly the equivalent of action figures being angrily smashed together. For me, his fight scenes/battle scenes are the weakest part of his writing and I tune them out. Martin heavily focuses on “ironic” surprises and subversions of expectations like in the scene with Arys Oakheart, where everything is going well and then the character is just randomly and unceremoniously offed.

Boom. Goodbye.

“Like they would be in real life!”

I’m going to imagine someone yelling that because I’m sure someone, somewhere wants to.

Look, unlike Starke, I read A Feast for Crows and I genuinely have no memory of this character. They have been memory holed. They are gone. (Which is wild because I remember random minor character deaths from a lot of other major and minor fantasy properties that I read as a tween ages ago.)

The thing about reality is that real people are also capable of the following: Strategic and tactical awareness, long term strategic planning, working in unison with their fellow soldiers, and, yes, that includes knights in the Middle Ages. Knights in the Middle Ages might’ve (sometimes) been wealthy bastards, but they had to be functionally aware of violence and its impacts or they weren’t knights for very long.

Martin does not understand how armies and professional combatants function, their purpose, or their place in maintaining order in a feudal society. The irony is that politics are not his forte. His combat sequences read like they were written by someone who spent a great deal of time reading original historical accounts and not enough time thinking from the perspective of the people committing those gruesome atrocities. Make no mistake, medieval warfare was far, far more gruesome than anything you’ll find in Game of Thrones and the most terrifying part is the reasoning behind those atrocities was actually sound. Once you’re past the shock value, GOT is fairly comforting because the majority of the time no one makes sense. There’s a moral lesson hidden in the undercurrent ready to bludgeon the audience when they least expect it and all the violence works from that perspective, and all of it is written very specifically with the audience’s reaction in mind. Martin doesn’t seem to care how it works both on the technical front or in the utilization of violence to deliver narrative catharsis, he cares how the audience will react.

His violence doesn’t feel good, which is his intention, he doesn’t want it to feel good, but it also doesn’t feel bad. The violence just sort of exists.

One of the pieces of tragedy that is fundamentally important is a sense of foreboding. In fiction, death flags aren’t necessarily bad. In a tragedy, they’re necessary. Character death doesn’t need to be surprising to be meaningful. In fact, death is often more meaningful when the audience knows it’s coming. Whether it’s because they want the character to die or because they don’t want them to die. Their death creates narrative catharsis. The catharsis releases the tension, it feels good. Satisfaction through tears. When the audience and the narrative knows death is coming, it creates tension. If you invest early, the tension builds, and builds, and builds until it pops. The trouble is that, one way or another, the author has to invest in the character for that to happen. The surprise can be how the character dies, the manner of their death, and even who kills them, but not the fact they die. Shock value is sudden. The reason to use shock sparingly is that it lacks a lasting payout and eventually the audience acclimates. Too much shock obfuscates the narrative importance of a character’s death and shortens the long term impact of their loss. The impact of the death ends up as sudden as the death itself. Here, then gone, then forgotten.

In a well-structured tragedy, it doesn’t matter whether the audience cares about the character who dies or not. It helps, but the focus of the impact is on how it affects the other characters, how that loss is felt, and the way it’s internalized. An observation that’s always stuck with me is when I was in college studying Shakespeare, and my professor told us that Shakespeare structured his tragedies and his comedies the same way. They’re the same until the fourth act, and it’s the characters’ decisions leading into the final crisis which ultimately decides whether the story will end happily or tragically. All Shakespeare’s characters are important cogs in his play (including the bear.) When one of them goes, the narrative and the characters feel it. If a character is never important to the story, then the impact of their loss can’t be felt.

Martin’s characters don’t fight smart. They don’t fight cleverly. They don’t really fight stupid either. They fight with the combined equivalent of a single brain cell failing to function harmoniously. Probably the standout sequence for me that demonstrates this point is the Battle of the Crab from House of the Dragon. They had two dragons, a beach, an isolated cave system where their enemies were hiding to get away from the fire. They had corpses, and they had tar. And what didn’t they do?

Set shit on fire.

Smoke. Cave. Smoke. Cave. Smoke. Cave. Smoke.

The easiest and most low energy plan in the world that should be obvious to anyone who has ever cooked in an enclosed space. While this is a great way to signal that your characters suck at warfare, the characters involved were supposed to be the ones good at it! People being burned alive as they got smoked out of a cave is more gruesome than what actually happened and would have demonstrated the power of the dragons a lot better. Instead of, you know, the mighty House Targaryen being outwitted by… a cave.

If the dangers of dragons could be mitigated by a cave, people would just live in caves and not castles like they do on Pern.

Thank you for listening to my fanwank.

(No, the presence of saltwater would not have, in fact, saved the pirates. However, the Targaryens could have tarred the driftwood, set it ablaze, and let the tide carry it inside in addition to setting fire at every entrance like real military tacticians. Which shouldn’t be a reach given that half the army was made up of sailors.)

(They could’ve also used the crabbed up bodies for this with the added bonus of it being extremely horrifying, smelly, and gross.)

(We’re not talking about the Crab Army.)

(I mean it!)

-Michi

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get access to new posts three days early, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’re already a Patron, thank you. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

#house of the dragon #game of thrones #literary analysis #how to fight write #writing advice #writing reference #writing tips #michi answers

[morallyinept]

A full character analysis on OBERYN MARTELL from the TV show GAME OF THRONES.

I've created this as a point of reference when writing for Pedro's characters, and I hope you find it useful. Even if you just want to learn more about the character. 🖤

FULL MASTERLIST OF PEDRO'S CHARACTERS ANALYSED

FULL CHARACTER STUDY:

Basic Details:

Full Name: Oberyn Nymeros Martell

Nickname(s): The Red Viper

Appears in: Game Of Thrones, 2014 (first appearance on screen in episode 1, season 4, seen at approx. 09:13)

Age (if known): Oberyn is stated to be around 42 when he died

Sexuality: Bisexual

Nationality: Dornish. According to author George R.R. Martin, Dorne is loosely inspired by Spain, particularly the south's Moorish heritage, which culturally sets it apart from the rest of the country and of Western Europe.

Family: Eight daughters (Obara Sand, Nymeria Sand, Tyene Sand, Sarella Sand, Elia Sand, Obella Sand, Dorea Sand & Loreza Sand). Younger brother of Doran Martell, younger brother of Elia Martell

Spouse/Partner: Ellaria Sand, paramour

Relationship Status: In a sexually open relationship with his paramour, Ellaria Sand

Current Living Status: Deceased, killed by The Mountain, Ser Gregor Clegane

Languages Spoken: English, Dornish

Education: Oberyn studied poisons at the Citadel, earning six links of the Maester's chain, rendering him a specialist in his field and a master at poisons. He left when he got bored of studying.

Occupation:

Job Role/Title: Prince of Dorne

Special Skill(s): Fighting, poisons, bedding many lovers

Notable Colleague(s): Ellaria Sand, Tyrion Lannister

Distinguishing Features:

Tattoo(s): None

Piercings: None

Scar(s): None notable

Other Markings: None notable

Prominent Feature(s): Slight greying in his hair, beard and moustache

Injuries: Oberyn is knocked to his feet by The Mountain unexpectedly during the fight, and punched in the mouth, resulting him losing most of his teeth. He has his eyes gouged out by The Mountain using his thumbs. Then having his skull crushed and caved in is what ultimately kills him

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Personality:

Traits: Seductive, cunning, vengeful

Oberyn is from Dorne. Dorne is one of the nine constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms. It is the southernmost part of the continent of Westeros, located thousands of miles from Winterfell and the North, and has a harsh desert climate. Sunspear, also known as the Old Palace, is the seat of House Nymeros Martell and the capital of the Principality of Dorne. According to author George R.R. Martin, Dorne is loosely inspired by Spain, particularly the south's Moorish heritage, which culturally sets it apart from the rest of the country and of Western Europe. Oberyn speaks with an accent reminiscent of his heritage from Dorne, of which Pedro mentioned he used his own father's Chilean accent as inspiration.

Oberyn is seeking vengeance for the murder of his sister Elia against her murderer, The Mountain, Ser Gregor Clegane. He also named his fifth daughter after his sister.

Oberyn has eight illegitimate bastard daughters (born outside of marriage), collectively known as the "Sand Snakes". Four of which he had with his current partner, his paramour, Ellaria Sand.

Whilst in love, Oberyn and Ellaria are not married as Ellaria herself is a bastard (born outside of marriage). Although Oberyn is allowed to be with her, marrying her would not be allowed as in Dorne as a Prince cannot marry a bastard.

As soon as Oberyn arrives in Kings Landing, arriving in the dawn to avoid a greeting party, he immediately goes to the brothel to indulge with Ellaria.

Oberyn's overall attitude was that life is short, and one must enjoy all of life's pleasures while one can. He would rather live life on his own terms, openly challenging his enemies and risk destruction rather than live by someone else's rules. Rather ironically, it was Oberyn's zest for life, his temper, overconfidence, love for his sister, and hatred towards Ser Gregor Clegane that ultimately led to his death.

​Despite Oberyn dying at the hands of The Mountain, he was still able to extract revenge from beyond the grave. While The Mountain is being treated for his injuries, it is discovered that before the duel Oberyn had his spear blade coated with Manticore venom, which causes The Mountain's already severe wounds from the fight to putrefy horribly, leaving him in a catatonic, decaying, and agonized state.

Pedro learned Wushu to fight with a spear in the fight scene against The Mountain to enable Oberyn to move with speed and grace.

Fashion/Outfits:

Outfit 1 - (Opening scene) Golden yellow robe embellished with bronze sun studding, orange silken undershirt, leather boots, brown leather belt, brass/bronze chain with pendant

Outfit 2 - (King Joffrey's wedding ceremony and feast scenes) Cream/white robes embellished with satin, silken embellished scarf wrapped around waist, leather boots, brass/bronze chain with pendant

Outfit 3 - (In the brothel scene) Dark black embellished scarf, dark lounge pants, brass/bronze chain with pendant

Outfit 4 - (Walking with Cersei and on the council scenes) Golden yellow robe embellished with bronze sun studding, yellow silken undershirt, sand coloured pants, leather boots, brown leather belt, brass/bronze chain with pendant

Outfit 5 - (Talking with Lord Varys scene) Yellow/orange silken embroidered robe, orange silken under shirt, leather brown belt, leather boots

Outfit 6 - (Tyrion's trial and visiting Tyrion in his cell) Golden yellow robe embellished with bronze sun studding, yellow silken undershirt, sand coloured pants, leather boots, brown leather belt, brass/bronze chain with pendant

Outfit 7 - (Fighting the mountain scene) Brown leather snakeskin embossed armour, brown leather belt, brown pants, brown leather boots. Matching helmet, which he did not wear.

Accessories: Oberyn wears a brass/bronze pendant with floral detailing on the plate. He wears a gold band ring on each thumb. His belts also act as sheaths for his dagger and sword.

Weapons Used:

Weapon(s): (Exact weapons pictured below)

Oberyn has a dagger he wears on his right hip in a sheath on his belt. The dagger has a dark handle, possibly onyx, with red jewelled detailing blended into the handle.

Oberyn's spear is entwined with a golden snake and the shape of the blade is said to be modelled to represent a snake's tongue. He laced the spear head with poison. The tassels are made from snakeskin.

Oberyn's sword has a snake head handle and has the same black and red jewelled detailing as his dagger. Oberyn is not seen using his sword at all, instead favouring to use another spear when his first one is broken by The Mountain.

Modes of Transport:

Vehicle(s):

Oberyn is not seen using any forms of transport, however as a Prince he would have his own horse. Tyrion sets out to greet the cavalcade of horses, however Oberyn, in place of his brother Doran, had already arrived in the early dawn in secret. According to the book version of Oberyn, his horse is a Sand Steed, "a stallion black as sin with a mane and tail the colour of fire" when arriving in King's Landing.

Dialogue:

🗨 See Oberyn's full dialogue from the show, including deleted scenes.

Further Character Links (if any):

Oberyn Martell A Fire & Ice Wiki, Oberyn Martell A Wiki Of Westeros, Behind The Scenes The Viper & The Mountain

FULL MASTERLIST OF PEDRO'S CHARACTERS ANALYSED

#oberyn martell #pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #oberyn martell game of thrones #game of thrones #the red viper #pedro pascal character database #oberyn martell character analysis #pedro pascal character analysis

[cacodaemonia]

Still watching this video about the Marvelization of cinema and 'storytelling entropy,' but I'm definitely nodding along so far.

Incidentally, as someone whose main exposure to Marvel has been through transformative fandom osmosis, I was surprised that the narrator said End Game was 'generally well-received,' but I imagine that opinion is coming from the larger, more mainstream 'fandom' (Which I feel like I need to put in quotes because I just don't think that liking something and buying merch for it counts as fandom. That's called being a fan, but it fandom is so much more than that).

#video #media analysis #cinema #marvelization of cinema #star wars #marvel #cinematic universes #movie franchises #storytelling #storytelling entropy #game of thrones #lotr #the hobbit #top gun maverick

[v-arbellanaris]

i dont think im done talking abt this, actually. i'm going to try and explain how stupid this whole thing is because there's always SOMEONE going on about how if it wasn't for the circles, and the parallels of the circles to real-life atrocities, "the mage-templar debate" would be a two-sided issue.

actually, it's not.

the "mage-templar debate" is not an issue of ethics even before addressing the conditions of the circle, because you have other options.

the basic premise of the argument is "mages are inherently a danger to themselves and everyone around them. is locking them up to reduce the harm they pose to the general population the correct ethical decision?" but the entire concept is already bullshit even before you address the conditions of the circle, which is where most people claim the civil rights movement comparisons come from.

because. CANONICALLY. you have other options. you have options within the context of the games to reduce the "threat" or "danger" of magic. there's no cases of mass abominations in rivain. there's no cases of mass abominations (as we know understand & abominations anyway) amongst the avvar. there's no cases of mass abominations in tevinter. from the get-go the idea that "mages have to be locked up for their and everyone's safety" is already bullshit, before you even touch the issue of the circles. even before you get to the conditions of the circle, the very existence of mages in rivain and nevarra and the avvar and tevinter already renders the argument null and void.

from it's very inception, the entire premise -- mages are inherently a danger to themselves and everyone around them -- is proven to be a belief, not a fact.

#if you wanna argue rivain and the avvar or whatever are dai-canon additions. tevinter has existed LITERALLY since fucking. #stolen throne. like please shut up lmaooooo #from the get-go it was clear that the belief that mages are inherently dangerous is bullshit #and LATER it got two-sides'd. it was ALWAYS a civil rights issue in the context of the game from the get go #COMPARABLE to the issue of civil rights of elves in the game #dao never fucking shied away from the incisive analysis #da2's narrative structure FORCED a two-sidesing bc of the nature of hawke's role as the protagonist #and dai was just imperialist apologist nonsense #and giving the mages ‟dangerous magical powers‟ to ‟justify‟ their treatment in-game is literally just bioware going ''what if there was a #of oppressed people (oppressed based on a set of erroneous beliefs) but the bigots were RIGHT'' #AND YOU'RE JUST GOING ALONG WITH IT??? #it's not the hot take you think it is lmaoooo #dragon age #my da meta #anti chantry

[it-happened-once-in-a-meme]

Game of Thrones Analysis/Things I Noticed & Theories Masterlist

Margaery Tyrell with Joffrey Baratheon & Homophobia (One of the Things I Dislike About the Show) 💀🏳️‍🌈

#game of thrones analysis #asoiaf analysis #game of thrones meta #asoiaf meta

[patheticblorbloscholar]

Characters with arcs similar to Spider's:

Kovu:

Tarzan[literally they are the same character]

Koda:

Jim Hawkins:

Jake Sully[from the first movie]

Jon Snow:

My favorite character archetype

#miles spider socorro #meta analysis #jake sully #jim hawkins #koda brother bear #kovu #the lion king 2 #james cameron avatar #sully family saga #Tarzan #spider sully #spider sully formally Socorro #I may or may not be obsessed with these characters #avatar sequels #avatar spider #jon snow #game of thrones

[quietbreeze97]

It's taken me 2+ years to realise it, but 'Bloodlines will Burn' from HOTD soundtrack sounded familiar to me towards the end, and now I realise it's because Ramin Djawadi used the same theme as he did when Daenerys lost her first dragon in s7 of GoT, in the track, 'Against All Odds'.

He re-used the Targaryen mourning theme for House of the Dragon, which means it's likely to come up again in s2.

And now, I'm crying. What a genius composer.

#ramin djawadi #house of the dragon #game of thrones #house targaryen #daenerys targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #music rec #thoughts #analysis #ramble #soundtracks #scores #quiet breeze talks

[rise-my-angel]

Do you have any thoughts about Jamie and Brienne vs Jamie and Cersei? Would love to hear you speak about them cause you're so well-versed in all things GOT!! ☺️☺️

DO I EVER HAVE THOUGHTS (you've made a mistake this is so many words im so sorry I love talking about Jaime Lannister).

Jaime and Cersei are so superficially codependant on each other. In reality they know very little about who the other is in small details, and their attraction is based on a massive amount of vanity because they look so similar. But at the same time, if we're looking at Jaime, he is always the worst version of himself with Cersei.

They promote the worst in each other and it shows. Because Jaime is not that vindictive with others. He is way more honest with characters hes known for far less time then his own twin sister. He is close with Tyrion and their interactions are Jaime at his most normal. He is very himself with Catelyn to the point he confesses a strange number of things to her he doesn't for anyone else. But not Cersei.

He's closed off when he's with her. He's back to being vain and destructive and vindictive. Jaime loves the idea of being with Cersei rather then Cersei herself. He is addicted to this codependant relationship based on physical attraction to the point he ruins his own life to keep it going.

But then he is seperated from her by war. And then he meets Brienne.

Jaime, is actually not yet at his lowest when they meet but he is at the worst in terms of what his relationship with Cersei represents. When he meets Brienne he is a prisoner, chained up, filthy, stinking, probably a bit septic and quite literally covered in his own shit. He is at the opposite place which he would be with Cersei when he meets Brienne. Cersei wouldn't stick around for this version of Jaime, but Brienne has oathed to. And so their story starts at Cerseis opposite.

Then it gets interesting. Brienne is verbally combative with him and does not hesitate to push him on what she disagrees with or opposes. She is actually similar to Cersei in that shes physically close to him. But wheras Cersei is in looks alone, Brienne is in size and strength. Something that clearly peaks Jaimes interest since he switches between making fun of her size to asking things like if she wants a man strong enough to be able to wrestle with her because hes strong enough. He's interested in her for the same reason of physical, but the why is completely opposite.

Cerseis physical similarity goes no deeper. Briennes physical similarlity represents that Jaime doesnt just want more then looks, he needs more then just looks. He thrives on verbally sparring with her to the point they bond without even realizing it because theyve spoken so much.

Then Jaime inadvertantly makes a sacrifice. His hand for her honour. He makes a deal to save her from being raped and in turn his hand is cut off for his audacity of thinking making deals is how the rest of the world works. Jaimes identity shatters here.

Since like his relationship to Cersei, his identity is so superficial. Without his ability to sword fight he thinks he has nothing, just like how without their physical attraction he and Cersei, have nothing. But Brienne begins to care more. Tries to pull him out of depression and doesnt give up on him.

Then Jaime does something for Brienne hes never done for Cersei. Cersei claims Jaime would've killed Robert for hurting her, but it isn't true. We know Robert has clearly been physically abusive before considering both their reactions when he slaps her indicates he has done it before but not in front of other people. But Jaime wouldve seen the marks. He knew Cersei was physically abused. And did nothing.

Then Brienne is thrown in a bear pit with a wooden sword. And Jaime with one hand, jumps in to rescue her when he already was on his way to safety. He goes back to save her and refuses to leave without her by his side.

Now Brienne in the books is younger, but I think for their relationship dynamic I think the shows version being older works better. Beacuse now Jaime is dealing with a woman similar to his sister in age. Now he has a direct comparison on what life has turned them both into and Jaime realizes that he is full of life with Brienne.

Jaime confesses about the day he murdered the Mad King to Brienne, when hes never spoken of it before. He has never told Cersei anything like that, we know. Beacuse by then, Brienne represents everything he wishes he had with Cersei but with someone whose bond with him is the opposite of superficial or vain.

Ironically, Cersei has a version of this too. Cersei watches Margaery and Loras and is seeing what she and Jaime could have been if they did not have this toxic physical relationship with each other. Margaery and Loras love each other deeply, trust each other, protect each other and work together in harmony but without any of the hangups Cersei and Jaime have.

So when Jaime comes back and hes a different man, he tries to fit into the mold of someone he used to be and it doesnt fit him anymore. Cersei knows it, and she knows she will never actually have with Jaime what she wants.

Jaimes defining moment he could never come back from, should have been pushing Bran out that window to protect his secret relationship with Cersei. But it isn't.

It's when he sacrificed everything he didnt even really have anymore to protect Brienne in the bear pit soley because he cared about her too much to turn his back on her. That was the moment Jaime did something he could never come back from.

Jaime with Cersei is at his lowest, and with Brienne is at his highest but then when he sends Brienne away to find Sansa not knowing if theyd ever see each other again, and then he leaves to settle the remaining fights in the Riverlands, and in the books, literally burns a letter from Cersei pleading for him to come back.

Jaime has had a taste of who he is with both, and now he has to go alone for a while and figure out who he is after both of them and find out what version of Jaime Lannister was closest to who he is between them. And it's Brienne hes the most himself with, since he has literally nothing to hide from her. They started at his worst and it only got better.

He has nowhere good to go with Cersei because once the illusion of physical attraction was shattered, Jaime realized there was nothing tying him to being undyingly loyal to Cersei that mattered.

Its an interesting case of Jaime and Cersei needed each other to pretend to be whole, but Jaime and Brienne are whole without each other, and therefore are still whole when they do have each other.

#this is a mix of show and book analysis but i think one compliments the other well #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #cersei lannister

[autumnmobile12]

A question that doesn't come up often enough: Where's the rest of Trevor's family?

We know the entire Belmont line was almost completely annihilated in a mob, but the series is pretty vague on how many people were actually living in the house. With a high mortality of the medieval period, families were often big and with an occupation as dangerous as hunting monsters, the Belmonts were probably no different. This was very much a 'survival of the fittest' and 'heir and plenty of spares' mentality.

Trevor lost his family at twelve, so it's very unlikely he was the only sibling. But even in the event his parents were extremely unfortunate and he was their only surviving child, the multiple siblings theory still applies to the previous generations.

So his immediate family was killed. What about the extended family?

In Lament of Innocence, Leon Belmont was a French baron, but he gave up his land and titles to rescue Sara. Following the storyline of the Netflix series, he then chased Dracula east and neither the games nor series ever mention what became of him other than the fact he fathered the entire bloodline.

Based on the games, it would be safe to assume the Belmonts are not part of the aristocracy, but as far as the series goes, they are mentioned as one of Wallachia's 'great houses' in the first couple episodes. They're not unknown to the Wallachian people. Plus, the reigning Prince of Wallachia did have the power to invest anyone he chose with a noble title. The real Vlad the Impaler actually made use of this power by elevating members of the lower classes, effectively ensuring their loyalty through gratitude. (Because if he was overthrown, things weren't going to go well for the people who benefited from his rise to power.)

So it's not impossible that somewhere in the 400 years between Leon and Trevor, some Belmont won the favor of Wallachia's monarch and was rewarded with a boyar lord's title.

'Not much of a family and not for long' seems to indicate the line was already pretty diminished before the mob attacked.

Trevor only mentions his family a handful of times throughout the four seasons, and the only specific members that come up are his parents with the reference to his mother's books and the story of how his father had once gotten into a fight with a Speaker.

The only other time his parents come up is in Season 2 when Sypha asks if they were magicians, to which he answers no, but they knew a lot about magic. At the very least, this shows both of his parents were alive long enough for him to remember them. Otherwise, the story about the fight with the Speaker could have easily been told to him by another relative that had been looking after him while the books Trevor mentions that belonged to his mother could have just been part of the family's collection after she was long gone.

With some historical context (provided we adhere to accuracy,) this actually gives some insight to Trevor's childhood. He would have known his mother very well. Unlike many other European countries where the nobility left childrearing to a nurse and other staff, the education of a boyar's son in Wallachia was actually left to the women of the household. His mother would have likely overseen every part of his upbringing that wasn't physical combat training, which would have been his father's domain.

Another possibility worth exploring is his mother was the Belmont and his father was the one who married into the family. An unusual if not unheard of dynamic for the times, but the series does subtly imply the women of the family were as much of hunters as the men when Trevor talks about how only one member of his family encountered the Infinite Corridor. It's possible they could have adopted other more non-traditional roles for the times.

This also accounts for his complete lack of surprise in Episode 3 when 'the Elder's grandchild' turns out to be a granddaughter and again in Episode 4 when Sypha reveals herself as a mage.

So we've established both of Trevor's parents were alive and well for a significant part of his early life. On to the extended family.

Unless the Belmonts were practicing Targaryen levels of incest (although marrying one's cousin was an accepted practice in this time,) Trevor should have had other relatives to rely on. Assuming the family had a traditional dynamic and his mother did indeed marry into the Belmont line, and since aristocrats generally married other aristocrats, her father would have been one of the boyar lords of the region. The same applies if his father had sisters who married into other families.

Given the primary goal of marriage in this time period was less romantic and more in the interest of forming alliances with other families for political or financial reasons, there could also be a wider family network among the nobility at play.

Side note: There's a small possibility he's distantly related to one or both of these two.

...

So what happened to those other relatives?

Personally, I think the answer to this question might play into the cynicism and bitterness of Trevor's character in general. If we explore the scenario that he did seek help from his mother's family, people who had no ties to the Belmonts other than the fact their sister/daughter married into the family, with the self-serving atmosphere of the Wallachian aristocracy at the time, I can imagine him being met with a cold reception.

And sadly, this would be an all too realistic situation for the times. As stated above, the boyars were corrupt.  There wasn’t a clear hierarchy among the nobility (That is, Wallachia did not have the equivalent of dukes, earls, viscounts, etc.) so power was determined by wealth or land-owning.  This rivalry for power went all the way to the top; Wallachia's throne changed hands once every couple years as the Dănești and Drăculești branches of the reigning family relentlessly fought over it.

In this minefield of political intrigue, the only surviving member of an otherwise shattered bloodline, especially a twelve year old excommunicate, would not have been of much use in the eyes of the nobility. With the Belmonts disgraced with heresy charges, neither branches of the reigning family would have been interested in their support and probably would have wanted to distance themselves from an alliance that could potentially damage their own reputation.

A public rejection from the Prince would have rebounded throughout the region and put the final nail in the coffin of what the Church started. None of the boyars would have been interested in helping Trevor, distant family or not. On the other hand, helping their orphaned and disgraced nephew/grandson is the Christian thing to do, but since Trevor and his murdered family are now enemies of the Church and out of favor with Wallachia's monarch, that 'help' might've extended only as far as, "We're deeply sorry for your circumstances. Here's some money, now get out."

So Trevor was born into one of the highest and most privileged classes in the region and is the product of literally generations of a family that has had two goals since Leon: protecting the world from Dracula and the destruction of Dracula. The night of the mob would have completely shattered a mentality he'd had since he was born. Throw that on top of that the trauma of losing one’s home and entire immediate family in a single night and then being vilified by both the people his family had protected and the wider circle of his extended family.

That is a brutal shift in world views for a twelve year old to handle, so it's easy to see why the series opens with him already burned up the anger and the grief over what happened and all that’s left for him is the aimless wandering, drinking, and getting into fights.

In all, this statement really summed up the beginning of his character arc perfectly.

#castlevania #trevor belmont #belmont family #sypha belnades #character analysis #castlevania headcanons #castlevania targoviste #character development #speakers #medieval wallachia #wallachian social classes #medieval romania #medieval history #medieval europe #wallachian politics #game of thrones reference

[greenqueenhightower]

I was thinking about the Alicent-Dyana scene today and how comforting Alicent was with her because hey-what Viserys was doing was practically marital r*pe, and she felt very close to the pain and despair that Dyana was experiencing. And then comes the absolute shock and horror that a child of hers can be a r*pist. AND NOT ONLY THAT but he is humiliating his wife, her own daughter. And still, Alicent has to maintain the balance in this "family" and this "household" the same way she has been doing with the Kingdom ever since she was instructed to keep company to Viserys, bear Viserys' children, do what the Small Council wants, what the realm wants, what would be best for the people. Keeping the balance in a situation she found herself in is all she is ever trying to do, and it is exactly what she attempted with her peace offering. But then she has to learn that the balance is not hers to keep when the actions of Aemond and the Greens get out of control. And that is why I think Alicent is a tragic and intricately designed character who has way more noble and redeemable qualities than all the others.

#alicent hightower #hotd #house of the dragon #the green queen #rhaenyra targaryen #rhaenicent #hotd thoughts #team greens #game of thrones #alicent #queen alicent #alicenthightower #rhaenyra #alicent thoughts #hotd analysis #hotd rant #hotd meta #greenqueenhightower

[ninesparrowsoftroy]

Slight Character Analysis for Daemon Targaryen!!

I do believe that Daemon Targaryen loves his family, I fully believe he loves them more than himself, only I also believe that it’s not the kind of love you’d usually associate with a brother/a son/a father.

It’s established quite blatantly in the show that Daemon is fiercely loyal to his house and subsequently to the historical culture of it too (whether this be the idea of incest, polygamy like Aegon the Conqueror, the Targaryen wedding rites, etc…) He lives for the Targaryen name, he fights for the Targaryen name, he loves in the Targaryen name, and he comes off extremely arrogant for it (which granted in no way do I deny that he is arrogant because he most certainly is). But it’s because of this intense loyalty to his own house that I stand by the fact that his love for his family is far more a contortion of dedication that it is actual familial love.

Take his marriage to Laena Velaryon, I do not doubt he cared for her just as he did for his daughters, but I also believe a significant factor of that was because they were of Valaryian descent just as the Targaryens were (and to him the marriage would have been the closest thing to dedicating himself to his house that he could get seeing as Viserys refused to marry Rhaenyra to him). It’s also very obvious in his relationship with his daughters, though I stand by the fact he most definitely cared for them, it’s clear that he favored Baela slightly more than he did Rhaena strictly because Baela had a dragon and Rhaena didn’t. Having a dragon and being able to ride it is the most defining factor of the entirety of House Targaryen, so it’s no surprise that when his own daughter bonds with a dragon of her own he immediately shifts attention to her because she is—to him—proved herself as a Targaryen (even if being a dragon rider is not something restricted to only the Targaryens!!)

Then there’s Rhaenyra and her children, and while it would be nice to believe he became a father figure to them once he finally married her, realistically that was probably not the case. However, despite this he does not outwardly ostracize or neglect them as one might think, instead he does the complete opposite and goes out of his way to defend them—but obviously not to the extent that Rhaenyra does as Daemon does recognize that they are Harwin Strongs kids and not Laenor’s. Regardless, this behavior only strengthens the idea that Daemons love for his family comes from a place of deep, deep dedication to his House as those are still Rhaenyra’s sons even if they’re bastards, and they still have dragons, and they still have claims set in place because of their birthright. It would have been so easy for Daemon to turn on them in the same way everyone else has, but instead he chooses to stand by them because Rhaenyra is the first and only child born from Viserys and Aemma, two Targaryens, and so consequently her children are more Targaryen than those of Alicent’s.

Of course, the further into this one goes the more complex and contradicting everything becomes, but for right now this is roughly of my understanding of Daemon’s character!!

#I’ve also spent like over 6 hours working on a college report so maybe I’ve gone brain dead and none of this makes sense who knows! #it’s possible this is just brainrot but whatever #game of thrones you little parasite in my head #what would i do without you #to be fair also this is not to make him sound like a horrible person #or to sway you to one side or the other #it’s just my thoughts and opinions on him because he’s a very interesting character #house of the dragon #hotd #hotd season 2 #hotd daemon #hotd discussion #daemon targaryen #character analysis #house targaryen