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chillyravenart · 4 years

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Thoughts on Seara Targaryen?

I've mentioned this briefly here but let me add a few more of my thoughts.

I feel like Saera is treated like some faultless feminist icon in the fandom (how surprising lmao) but let's be absolutely real here: she was a spoilt, headstrong princess who was never going to cave into societal/parental pressure. I’m personally not a fan at all but I want to list a few things about her personality and upbringing that may be of some use in understanding her better. Forgive my rambling in advance!

Princess Saera, three years younger, was a trial from the very start; tempestuous, demanding, disobedient. The first word she spoke was no, and she said it often and loudly. She refused to be weaned until past the age of four. Even as she ran about the castle, talking more than her siblings Vaegon and Daella combined, she wanted her mother’s milk, and raged and screamed whenever the queen dismissed another wetnurse. “Seven save us,” Alysanne whispered to the king one night, “when I look at her I see Aerea.”

Not to forget, George loves hitting characters where it hurts and that's through their children. And George went in particularly hard with Jaehaerys and Alysanne's children. I absolutely adore the older bunch, Aemon, Baelon, Alyssa... but the younger bunch didn’t exactly speak to me the same way. I suppose with so many children, it was natural to have a few bad eggs, and Saera was one of them. Jaehaerys spoilt her as child and she grew up to be very bright but also had a cruel streak too.

... and long before she was half-grown, Saera had learned the art of getting anything she wanted from her father: a kitten, a hound, a pony, a hawk, a horse (Jaehaerys did draw a firm line at the elephant). Queen Alysanne was far less gullible, however, and Septon Barth tells us that Saera’s sisters all misliked her to various degrees.

The border between innocent pranks, wanton mischief, and acts of malice is not always discerned by one so young, but there can be no doubt that the princess crossed it freely.

Septon Barth also commented on Saera’s disposition, and her hunger for the attention her older siblings received:

“She is the king’s daughter, and well aware of it. Servants see to her every need, though not always as quickly as she might like... If she were the king’s firstborn, or better still his only child, she would be well content. Instead she finds herself the ninthborn, with six living siblings who are older than her and even more adored.”

Saera pranked her sister Daella with cats and bees, dyed the KG cloaks pink, and would show up drunk to the sept for prayers. And since Saera had every whim granted to her, it's natural that she would want more from the world and succeeded in carving out her own kingdom across the Narrow Sea. I definitely don't think she would have been content with living a normal life in Westeros, married to some lord and running his house.

“She wants what she wants and she wants it now,” Grand Maester Elysar wrote of the princess in 69 AC, when she was only two. “Seven save us all when she is older. The Dragonkeepers had best lock up the dragons.” He had no notion how prophetic those words would be.

At fourteen, she told the king she meant to marry the Prince of Dorne, or perhaps the King Beyond the Wall, so she could be a queen “like Mother.”

By fifteen, Saera had other ideas however.

Why dream of distant monarchs when she could have as many squires, knights, and likely lords as she desired? Dozens danced attendance on her, but three soon emerged as favorites. Jonah Mooton was the heir to Maidenpool, Red Roy Connington was the fifteen-year-old Lord of Griffin’s Roost, and Braxton Beesbury, called Stinger, was a nineteen-year-old knight, the finest lance in the Reach...

And initially it was Queen Alysanne who voiced her dismay regarding Saera’s behaviour with her newly acquired suitors. “Saera is clever, but not wise” and she also criticised her choice of female companions as well as Beesbury/Stinger who was rumoured to have sired a bastard. However Jaehaerys brushed it off unconcerned that she would get up to any mischief at court with so many watching eyes. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Then came the incident at the Blue Pearl with Tom Turnip, and her three favourite lordlings (including Stinger who later fought Jaehaerys in his trial by combat) which made matters worse. I highly doubt any other noble lord would have been ok with his daughter cavorting with household knights in a brothel- least of all a KING. When questioned about her actions, Saera really didn’t do herself any favours:

I could marry all three of them, why not? Why should I have just one husband? The Conqueror had two wives, and Maegor had six or eight.” She had gone too far. Jaehaerys rose to his feet and descended from the Iron Throne, his face a mask of rage. “You would compare yourself to Maegor? Is that who you aspire to be?”

After the horrors Jaehaerys and his siblings had endured under Maegor, it’s no wonder he was so shaken by her blase attitude. And again, Alysanne was able to soften his anger and reconcile him to forgive Saera, but she ran away that very night and tried to steal a dragon which sealed her fate.

Alysanne wept when she heard, for she knew her cause was hopeless. Jaehaerys was hard as stone. “Saera with a dragon,” was all he had to say. “Would she have taken Balerion as well, I wonder?”

One of my favourite aspects of this whole saga was Jaehaerys fighting Stinger for her honour, "This old man," just takes me out every single time. Forty-nine year old Jae, taking out nineteen year old Beesbury just reminds me too much of Daemon vs Aemond - WHY ARE FORTY-NINE YEAR OLD TARG MEN SO BADASS?

I also understand that Saera was a plot device to add filial conflict to Jaehaerys’ reign, after all a successful king doesn’t always make a successful father. Jaehaerys was the quintessential medieval monarch with a kingdom to run and keep in order after a very volatile period and Saera was a royal princess and expected to uphold those standards. As Grand Maester Elysar put it, “He was better with roads than with daughters.” I think Jaehaerys had his flaws for sure, but again, this is asoiaf and I really don’t understand how people expect paternal relationships to be as open and affectionate as they are today- seriously look at how fatherhood has evolved in the last fifty years alone and tell me a medieval king would have been braiding his daughter’s hair and having heart-to-hearts with her. He could have done more to understand her, but then we wouldn’t have this embittered storyline and everything would be hunky-dory. That’s not how GRRM works unfortunately.

I am certain Jaehaerys had loved her as a daughter, and her actions had caused him pain which had hardened his heart at the time. But it is also apparent later on that Jaehaerys was hit hard by this event and also mistook Alic*nt for Saera on his sickbed. I also feel heartbroken for Alysanne who lost so many of her children and felt Saera's loss very acutely too. She also became withdrawn and was clearly shaken by all the losses she had endured.

The years had taken their toll on him, and those who knew him well said that he was never the same after his daughter Saera had disgraced and then abandoned him. He had grown thinner, almost gaunt, and there was more grey than gold in his beard now, and in his hair.

The Old King sometimes mistook her for one of his daughters, calling her by their names; near the end, he grew certain she was his daughter Saera, returned to him from beyond the narrow sea.

Anyway I am glad Saera got to set up her own empire and lifestyle (Hot Girl Saera ™), she is arguably the first Targaryen entrepreneur of sorts too. She is most certainly not the feminist kween this fandom treats her as IMO, raise ya standards! Ultimately I wouldn't say I'm a fan mainly because her character didn’t appeal to me, particularly when I read Fire and Blood. Besides, Saera’s domain lies outside my circle of interest and I'm more concerned with what happens to subsequent characters in Westeros.

Hope that answered your question!

#saera targaryen #asoiaf #fire and blood #jaehaerys i targaryen #anon asks #chillyravenart answers

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tinydragonstories · 3 years

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Heat vs Steele Pt 3

Masterpost

Logan doesn’t see the other prince until later in the morning when he’s found marveling over the extensive library that Logan’s ancestors had built years before he was even conceived.

“Your father said I might find you here, Logan. I wasn’t expecting it to be the other way around” The tanned boy sends a bright smile over to him, which Logan promptly ignores. Instead, he goes over to a shelf to examine the books for a suitable title.

Roman pouts at the lack of reaction and comes up behind him, leaning over his shoulder a bit to peek at the book’s title. Logan turns and jumps back against the shelf in surprise, eyes wide and locked on Roman, his book clutched to his chest.

“Sorry! Sorry, I was just curious about what you chose!” Roman puts his hands up and backs off. Strange…

Logan merely retreats to the couch and sits down, opening his book to start reading. He can hear Roman sit next to him and try engaging him in conversation numerous times, but his only response are one word or quick answers. He manages to get to the rising action before Roman stops talking altogether. It isn’t long until a sly hand slides up his chest to his chin and gently tilts his head to face endearing, brown eyes, Roman’s free hand sneaking a bookmark in and snatching his book.

“Roman, I would appreciate if you gave that back.”

“But then I wouldn’t have these lovely star-filled galaxies looking at me,” Logan feels his heart skip a beat, but hides any indication.

“Won’t you forgive the intrusion this morning? I’m only here to make you happy!” Roman smiles softly and Logan finds himself wanting to freeze time for a moment longer before he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

“Mi amour, you’ve entranced my heart with your whole being. Tell me, what can I do to prove myself worthy of your affections?” Roman leans closer to him, barely taking Logan’s hand as the one on his chin moves to his cheek.

“You can leave me alone!” Logan shoves him off and flees to his room, scratching at the itch on his covered arms. Servants dodge out of his way when they see his expression and the guards don’t try to stop him, despite their orders to keep the two together. He locks the door behind him and shouts for Virgil as he rips his shirt off as fast as he could, scratching at the scales growing on his shoulders and back. He’s soon relieved by a cold, wet cloth gently rubbing at them and he lowers his arms.

“Something got you riled up. Was it that prince? I bet it was.” He can practically hear the grin Virgil was surely portraying as he rolls his eyes.

“He attempted to kiss me.”

“Already? He should know that courting law states that PDA is forbidden.”

“We were alone, Virgil. In the library.”

“Oo! He’s got taste!” “Sir Virgil!” Logan tries to twist and look at him but the cloth pressing against his neck prevents any harsh words.

“I knighted you, and I can take it back!” he shivers, despite his words as the cloth trails down his back.

“But you won’t~” Virgil sing-songs and rubs at the newer scales,” you’ve mentioned that you don’t want anyone else hearing about your ailment and it definitely helps that I was there when it was inflicted, so just relax and let me help you.”

Logan grumbles but allows Virgil to continue rubbing his dead skin off of his -no, the- scales so it was less uncomfortable on the prince. He sighs in relief and Virgil chuckles,” do you want me to redo your chest and upper arms?”

“If you don’t mind. I believe some dust might have gotten under one and it’s quite noticeable.”

“Yeah, okay, Dictionary. I gotcha.” Logan rolls his eyes at Virgil’s nickname and turns around so he can work on Logan’s chest. They sit in silence as Virgil works, watching pieces of dead skin fall off the deep blue scales.

“Look, Lo, I know you aren’t having the best of times dealing with this, but at least they’re a pretty color, right?”

“Yes, they’re aesthetically pleasing, I suppose.” He sighs and looks away towards the window. He could see the forest spread out over his father’s land, past the rolling hills of farmland and pastures. The sun was high above the treeline, causing the deep green to brighten in the light. Shadows fled from the light of day and Logan finds himself understanding the tactical retreat.

‘Opposites, such a strange concept’, thought Logan,’ one can’t exist without the other, yet they’re constantly at ends with the other. What makes them opposites? What dictated that light and darkness could not coexist? Why must one always be smaller than the other? Candles and shadows, so different yet so similar at the same time.’

He looks out at the light and imagines what it must be like for the shadows suddenly pinned to objects and people. He imagines what his own shadow thinks, the dismay it must feel when the sun peeks over the horizon and it must return to his side to survive the day. Does the light feel the same? Was it leashed to candles and torches during the night? Clinging to humanity for dear life as without the fire, it would die? He felt his mind start itching for answers that he would never receive.

“Lo, you’re doing the thing again. Kinda weird dude.” Logan blinks and suddenly he’s back in his room, back with Virgil, and back in that insufferable situation with Roman.

“You alright?”

“Yes, Virgil, I am adequate. Would you retrieve the corset from the wardrobe?” Logan pulls his shirt back on and buttons it up.

“You’re going to dress up?!”

“I’m going to attempt to divert his affections. If it does not work, I will be mildly uncomfortable at worst. If it does, he will leave by tomorrow morning.” The prince watches as his personal guard comes back and starts tying the laces with expert fingers

“Alright, Lo. I trust you.” Logan’s breath is stolen as the corset suddenly tightens around his stomach,” though I fail to see how thinning your waist is going to remedy the problem.”

What if it only made Roman try harder?

Logan’s silent for a moment,” I’m not sure. All I know is that he touched my waist when we were alone and I did not enjoy his burning touch.”

“Logan, he’s human, not a fire elemental.”

“I know, Virgil. It doesn’t make sense for his touch to have been that warm nor for my skin to tingle after I retreated-“

“Ran away.”

“Retreated. It was a tactical retreat.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Lover Boy. Get out there and annoy that pesky prince,” Virgil chuckles and steps back to allow Logan to move once more.

“I assure you, Virgil, I have no interest-“ the guard interrupts him by shoving him out of the room and locking the door behind them.

“It doesn’t matter if you do or not. He clearly holds something for you and I’m going to make sure his pretty little fingers stay off of my crown prince.”

“Logan, my darling!”

Both males groan inwardly and look at each other at the sound of the foreign prince.

“I have aquired flowers to apologize for my actions in the library. I hope you accept these as a token of my affections and deepest apologies.” Bluebells were lifted above Roman’s head as the prince kneels at Logan’s feet,” I noticed you seem to like blue, so I went to find the bluest flowers I could pick for you!”

“Roman, -Virgil stop growling at him- I accept your apology, however I ask that you give these to maidens in the town as I am mildly allergic to their pollen.” Logan gently pushes down the flowers and watches Roman lift his head, locking eyes with him.

The prince grins and nods eagerly,” of course! I will return to your side as quickly as I can, mi amour!”

Logan nods,” then you are free to go.”

Roman races off with the flowers, practically skipping, and Logan chuckles in light amusement.

“You never told me you were allergic to bluebells.” Virgil looks up at him suspiciously and Logan shrugs.

“I must have developed it rather recently then.”

Virgil laughs and shakes his head,” if you wanted him gone, you could’ve just said so. No need to get his hopes up with this.”

“Now, I never said that I wanted him to leave quite yet. I’m rather starting to enjoy this game of chess he’s started. He’s not entirely bad at it either, quite the opponent.”

“Logan, was that your way of saying you’re interested?” Virgil stifles a chuckle as the prince sputters in indignation.

“Absolutely not! What ever gave you that idea?!”

“Okay, Logan, calm down. I was just teasing! Let’s go see your father, I believe he’s looking for you.”

Logan’s fire calms down and he leads Virgil away to the throne room, his guard jabbing at the metaphorical buttons that he knew Logan would react to. The guards allowed them through the doors and Logan kneels at the King’s feet,” yes, father, what did you need me for?”

“Logan, I can see that this is taking much too long. Tell me, how much do you know about Prince Roman?”

Logan narrows his eyes suspiciously,” not much, admittedly, except that he’s a major flirt.”

‘And a massive thorn in my side’

“Ah, so I was correct. We will need to speed this courting up so I will be hosting a kingdom-wide ball for you two. The nobles and fellow royalty will be attending so you’ll be attending to their children.”

“Must I, father? You know how I hate their ideas of small talk.”

“Yes, Logan, and you will be wearing the suit that the tailor makes. I’m thinking red on white with a black embellishment.” He looks Logan over and holds his hand up to silence his protests,” I’ve been lenient enough with you, this ball is a chance for you to build relations with the other kingdoms despite your current hold over them all. Yes, they currently owe Elmaria a debt from the winter, but that could change with a flip of Fate’s coin. Your best bet is to build strong relations with other countries so you have aid if the kingdom needs it.” No

“I understand, but as you know, I am inadequate when it comes to social situations. I am severely behind the others when it comes to the social aspect of ruling.” Logan stands and brushes himself off.

“That’s why I allowed Roman to court you. For where you are weak, he is strong. He is incredible at social events and loves the spotlight whereas you tend to be more of a background, technical character. The matchup is perfect!”

“Father, he is also quite annoying. He has not left my side since last night and is most likely waiting outside this room for me.”

“So you feel because of him?” The king smirks and Logan quickly corrects himself.

“I never said that. He merely makes it difficult to accomplish my allotted duties and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Alright, whatever you say, son. You’re dismissed.”

Logan bows once more and walks back before leaving the room, the oaken doors closing behind him. The king smiles softly and shakes his head,” that boy…”

Logan sighs softly once the doors shut behind him and looks up at the prince standing there waiting for him,” Roman, I see you’ve returned.”

“I could not keep myself from your side for much longer, my dear. Come, allow me to make up for the loss of time.” He takes Logan’s hand and barely manages to press a kiss to the back of it before it’s ripped from his grasp. Logan holds it behind his back and sighs through his nose,” I suppose we should make it seem like we tolerate each other’s presence. Where would you like to go? We have the gardens, the castle, the forest, plains, and-”

“Mi amour, I only wish to stay by your side.” Roman smiles tenderly at him and Logan rolls his eyes.

”Alright, I get it,” Roman chuckles,” how about we go horseback riding in the forest? Perhaps we will stumble upon an adventure and fall in love along the journey!”

“The likelihood of that occurring is too low to consider, but fine. We will go horseback riding and plan something else for this afternoon.” Logan walks with Roman back to the guest’s suite and bids him farewell for the moment before returning to his chambers.

“How’d it go with princey?”

Logan jumps at the voice behind him before relaxing,” Virgil, why do you insist on scaring me every time I enter this room? Anyway, it went alright. He apologized and insisted we go horseback riding in the forest. You-”

“Will be coming along,” Virgil gives him a look of respected hostility and Logan chuckles a breathy laugh.

“Of course, I would not be able to attend without you at my side.” He stands still as Virgil unties the ribbons and removes his corset to allow Logan to breathe. His servant rushes around to gather his riding clothes as Logan undresses himself and lays out his previous outfit on the bed. Virgil returns to his side and helps dress the prince for his ride in a white tunic, tan riding pants, a blue vest and a generic brown cloak. Logan sits and starts tying his boots as Virgil switches his own outfit out for a dark aesthetic and a black mask that covers his lower face.

“Virgil, I don’t really think this is necessary. You’ll overheat and we’ll have to return early.”

The guard thinks for a moment and takes off his dark coat.

“I assume that’s the best answer I’ll receive. Come, let’s collect Roman.” Logan leads Virgil out the door and down the hall a bit to the guest suites where Roman was waiting for them outside his room with Patton by his side. They exchange cordial greetings and Roman kisses Logan’s hand again before the (barely) taller of the two leads them all to the stables, his answers to Roman’s prodding statements quick and to the point.

“My dear, where are we going?”

“Simply down a path my family enjoys taking when we need a moment to think. It’s nothing special, really. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if it was necessary for our servants to come along. I was originally going to have Patton remain behind but asked him to come along when I saw yours coming.” Logan notices his eyes flick nervously to Virgil, who’s listening to Patton, but clearly keeping an eye on the two royals.

“Virgil’s presence is always required when I leave the castle, however Patton’s is not if you wish to allow him to remain behind.”

Roman looks back at the servant and quietly asks what he’d like to do. Virgil and Roman switch places unintentionally and the guard looks up at his charge,” what’s our pathing for this ride?”

“Just a quick trot down the normal path -you should know it well enough by now- and we’ll turn around before we reach the old castle. The first one that the royal family built after staking their claim on the land.”

Virgil nods and is silent for a moment,” you aren’t afraid he’ll find, you know, your place?”

“Virgil, how likely is it that you’re going to allow us anywhere near those old ruins? We’ll be perfectly safe and he won’t see anything of importance. Besides, it's in the tower and he’ll clearly see that it’s unsafe to proceed across the drawbridge.”

“Drawbridge? My love, are we going to see your country’s first castle?!” Roman beams and looks at Logan with hopeful, bright eyes.

“Yes, you know of it?” He looks over at the other in curiosity,” I was not aware others knew of it.”

“Of course I know of it! I studied your country’s history so I could have something to discuss with you if we needed a topic. Besides, it’s such a rich, passionate history, it was more like reading a fairytale! The castle was known as the world’s most impenetrable fortress as every attack was absorbed and returned tenfold by the ballistas and archers hidden behind the trapdoors that protected them from any incoming fire. The moat used to be filled with seawater and your ancestors made a pact with the merpeople that allowed them to swim in the moat to defend against any foot soldiers in exchange for land materials they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. It’s said that one day the child of the Lightheart family will return and bring forth a power hidden inside its walls so powerful, it can raze an entire country!”

Logan and Virgil share a worried glance before turning their attention back to Roman,” I see you’ve done your research. Yes, we are visiting that very castle, however we will not be able to cross the moat. The drawbridge is raised and it isn’t safe to cross the waters after the merpeople went back to the sea.”

“I see, then we must at least explore the surrounding land! Perhaps there are secret passageways leading to the interior that were never discovered!” Roman tugs Logan along down the hall faster and their servants had to run to keep up.

Logan’s hand went to his circlet to ensure it remained where it was and trips over his own feet trying to keep up with the enthusiastic prince. They slow down once they reach the stables and a stable hand brings the two horses out to the princes while another brings two others for Virgil and Patton. Logan’s was black and had a crescent moon between her eyes while Roman’s was pure white. Virgil’s dapple grey mare nips at Patton’s creme steed. Each rider takes the reins of their mount and swings up into the saddle. Roman practically bouncing in the saddle at the prospect of their destination. Logan ensures everyone is situated before clicking his tongue and riding out the gates with his small group behind him.

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aboveallarescuer · 4 years

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Daenerys Targaryen in A Storm of Swords vs Game of Thrones - Episode 3.5: Kissed by Fire

In this series of posts, I intend to analyze precisely how the show writers downplayed or erased several key aspects of Daenerys Targaryen’s characterization, even when they had the books to help them write her as the compelling, intelligent, compassionate, frugal, open-minded and self-critical character that GRRM created.

I want to make it clear that these posts are not primarily meant to offer a better alternative to what the show writers gave us. I understand that they had many constraints (e.g. other storylines to handle, a limited amount of time to write the scripts, budget, actors who may have asked for a certain number of lines, etc) working against them. However, considering how disrespectful the show’s ending was to Daenerys Targaryen and how the book material that they left out makes it even more ludicrous to think that she will also become a villain in A Song of Ice and Fire, I believe that these reviews are more than warranted. They are meant to dissect everything about Dany’s characterization that was lost in translation, with a lot of book evidence to corroborate my statements.

Since these reviews will dissect scene by scene, I recommend taking a look at this post because I will use its sequence to order Dany’s scenes.

This post is relevant in case you want to know which chapters were adapted in which GoT episodes (however, I didn’t make the list myself, all the information comes from the GoT Wiki, so I can’t guarantee that it’s 100% reliable).

In general, I will call the Dany from the books “Dany” and the Dany from the TV series “show!Dany”.

Scene 5

This episode was written by Bryan Cogman, but he admits here that the scenes in Essos were actually written by D&D.

Before I talk about the scene itself, we need to consider that its premise is flawed to begin with. Neither Barristan nor Jorah are known for making jokes and being friendly and amusing in general, they are actually known for lacking a sense of humor:

And Daario Naharis made her laugh, which Ser Jorah never did. (ASOS Daenerys V)

"Give that tongue of yours a rest unless you'd rather I tied it in a knot."

Tyrion swallowed his retort. His lip was still fat and swollen from the last time he had pushed the big knight too far. Hard hands and no sense of humor makes for a bad marriage. That much he'd learned on the road from Selhorys. (ADWD Tyrion VII)

Twice exiled, and small wonder, Tyrion thought. I'd exile him too if I could. The man is cold, brooding, sullen, deaf to humor. And those are his good points. (ADWD Tyrion VIII)

Littlefinger was the last. As Ned looked to him, Lord Petyr stifled a yawn. "When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, the best thing to do is close your eyes and get on with it," he declared. "Waiting won't make the maid any prettier. Kiss her and be done with it."

"Kiss her?" Ser Barristan repeated, aghast.

"A steel kiss," said Littlefinger. (AGOT Eddard VIII)

In the purple hall, Dany found her ebon bench piled high about with satin pillows. The sight brought a wan smile to her lips. Ser Barristan’s work, she knew. The old knight was a good man, but sometimes very literal. It was only a jape, ser, she thought, but she sat on one of the pillows just the same. (ADWD Daenerys II)

Which is not to say that they can't ever laugh at people's jokes or make jokes themselves, but it's noticeable that the show's time to depict Dany's storyline is limited and that they still chose to write a scene that has little to do with their core personality traits.

Even more importantly, these two are unable to be friendly with one another because Jorah is too suspicious of Barristan and wants to isolate Dany from other men:

“In King’s Landing, your ancestors raised an immense domed castle for their dragons. The Dragonpit, it is called. It still stands atop the Hill of Rhaenys, though all in ruins now. That was where the royal dragons dwelt in days of yore, and a cavernous dwelling it was, with iron doors so wide that thirty knights could ride through them abreast. Yet even so, it was noted that none of the pit dragons ever reached the size of their ancestors. The maesters say it was because of the walls around them, and the great dome above their heads.”

“If walls could keep us small, peasants would all be tiny and kings as large as giants,” said Ser Jorah. “I’ve seen huge men born in hovels, and dwarfs who dwelt in castles.”

“Men are men,” Whitebeard replied. “Dragons are dragons.”

Ser Jorah snorted his disdain. “How profound.” The exile knight had no love for the old man, he’d made that plain from the first. “What do you know of dragons, anyway?” (ASOS Daenerys I)

“It was said that no man ever knew Prince Rhaegar, truly. I had the privilege of seeing him in tourney, though, and often heard him play his harp with its silver strings.”

Ser Jorah snorted. “Along with a thousand others at some harvest feast. Next you’ll claim you squired for him.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

“A warrior without peer ... those are fine words, Your Grace, but words win no battles.”

“Swords win battles,” Ser Jorah said bluntly. “And Prince Rhaegar knew how to use one.” (ASOS Daenerys I) 

“...A change in the wind may bring the gift of victory.” He glanced at Ser Jorah. “Or a lady’s favor knotted round an arm.”

Mormont’s face darkened. “Be careful what you say, old man.”

Arstan had seen Ser Jorah fight at Lannisport, Dany knew, in the tourney Mormont had won with a lady’s favor knotted round his arm. He had won the lady too; Lynesse of House Hightower, his second wife, highborn and beautiful ... but she had ruined him, and abandoned him, and the memory of her was bitter to him now. “Be gentle, my knight.” She put a hand on Jorah’s arm. “Arstan had no wish to give offense, I’m certain.”

“As you say, Khaleesi.” Ser Jorah’s voice was grudging. (ASOS Daenerys I)

Ser Jorah watched with a frown on his blunt honest face. Mormont was big and burly, strong of jaw and thick of shoulder. Not a handsome man by any means, but as true a friend as Dany had ever known. “You would be wise to take that old man’s words well salted,” he told her when Whitebeard was out of earshot.

[...] “This Arstan Whitebeard is playing you false. He is too old to be a squire, and too well spoken to be serving that oaf of a eunuch.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

“Sit, good ser, and tell me what is troubling you.”

“Three things.” Ser Jorah sat. “Strong Belwas. This Arstan Whitebeard. And Illyrio Mopatis, who sent them.” (ASOS Daenerys I)

But when Mero was gone, Arstan Whitebeard said, “That one has an evil reputation, even in Westeros. Do not be misled by his manner, Your Grace. He will drink three toasts to your health tonight, and rape you on the morrow.”

“The old man’s right for once,” Ser Jorah said. (ASOS Daenerys IV)

“Whilst you have an honest beard, is that what you are telling me? You are the only man I should ever trust?”

He stiffened. “I did not say that.”

“You say it every day. Pyat Pree’s a liar, Xaro’s a schemer, Belwas a braggart, Arstan an assassin ... do you think I’m still some virgin girl, that I cannot hear the words behind the words?” (ASOS Daenerys IV)

“Khaleesi, before you kneels Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who betrayed your House to serve the Usurper Robert Baratheon.”

The old knight did not so much as blink. “The crow calls the raven black, and you speak of betrayal.” (ASOS Daenerys V)

I doubt their book counterparts would spend their time apart from Dany talking to each other about their pasts, and I think that's a significant change because it's another way that makes show!Jorah (whose book counterpart is a slaver who tries to groom, isolate and undermine Dany) be seen in a much more positive light than in the books.

JORAH: It was a bitch of a siege.

BARRISTAN: Mm, you were first through the breach at Pyke?

JORAH: The second. Thoros of Myr went in alone, waving that flaming sword of his.

BARRISTAN: Thoros of Myr. Bloody madman. Robert knighted you after the battle?

JORAH: Proudest moment of my life. One knee in the dust, the king's sword on my shoulder, listening to the words. "In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave." All I could think of was how badly I had to piss. In full plate metal for 16 hours. Never occurred to me till the fighting was over. I was very nearly the first man knighted to piss on the king's boots.

In the books, the siege of Pyke is brought up in this context:

“By then my father had taken the black, so I was Lord of Bear Island in my own right. I had no lack of marriage offers, but before I could reach a decision Lord Balon Greyjoy rose in rebellion against the Usurper, and Ned Stark called his banners to help his friend Robert. The final battle was on Pyke. When Robert’s stonethrowers opened a breach in King Balon’s wall, a priest from Myr was the first man through, but I was not far behind. For that I won my knighthood.”

“To celebrate his victory, Robert ordained that a tourney should be held outside Lannisport. It was there I saw Lynesse, a maid half my age. She had come up from Oldtown with her father to see her brothers joust. I could not take my eyes off her. In a fit of madness, I begged her favor to wear in the tourney, never dreaming she would grant my request, yet she did.”

[...] “What did she look like, your Lady Lynesse?”

Ser Jorah smiled sadly. “Why, she looked a bit like you, Daenerys.” He bowed low. “Sleep well, my queen.”

Dany shivered, and pulled the lionskin tight about her. She looked like me. It explained much that she had not truly understood. He wants me, she realized. He loves me as he loved her, not as a knight loves his queen but as a man loves a woman. She tried to imagine herself in Ser Jorah’s arms, kissing him, pleasuring him, letting him enter her. It was no good. When she closed her eyes, his face kept changing into Drogo’s.

[...] She had heard the longing in Ser Jorah’s voice when he spoke of his Bear Island. He can never have me, but one day I can give him back his home and honor. That much I can do for him. (ACOK Daenerys I)

As we can see above, the siege of Pyke is brought up to contextualize Jorah and Lynesse's relationship and parallel their relationship with Dany and Jorah's current one. It is there to service Dany's storyline, motivations and relationships - with that backstory, she realizes at that point that, while Jorah loves her, she can't love him back. This makes her feel guilty, so much so that she thinks she has to compensate by bringing him back home. This is also an instance that displays how deeply ingrained patriarchal views are on this universe - because Dany is a woman, she thinks she owes her knight something in return for his protection. The roles of liege and object of desire intersect in a way that wouldn't happen to a king.

But why am I saying all of this? My point is that connections between past and present in ASOIAF matter only to the extent that they say something about our POV characters. The Arianne/Rhaenyra and Arianne/Nymeria comparisons matter only to the extent that they inform Arianne's motivations and storyline, as well as the Jon Snow/Blackfyres one, which informs Catelyn's views on Jon. By contrast, the show brought up the siege in Pyke only so that we would empathize with show!Jorah again, but that was never the main purpose in the books, in which the backstory primarily serviced Dany's character. But then, the show writers are intent on erasing how creepy and disrespectful Jorah's treatment of Dany in the books is.

Also, the only new detail that they added was that Jorah wanted to urinate while Robert was knighting him. Was that really necessary?

BARRISTAN: Robert would have laughed. He was a good man, a great warrior. And a terrible king. I burned away my years fighting for terrible kings.

In the books, Barristan has more conflicted feelings about Robert Baratheon than he ever lets on in the show:

“Some truths are hard to hear. Robert was a ... a good knight ... chivalrous, brave ... he spared my life, and the lives of many others ...[”] (ASOS Daenerys VI)

I came to bring Daenerys home. Yet he had lost her, just as he had lost her father and her brother. Even Robert. I failed him too. (ADWD The Queensguard)

And what did Robert say when he saw them? Did he smile? Barristan Selmy had been badly wounded on the Trident, so he had been spared the sight of Lord Tywin's gift, but oft he wondered. If I had seen him smile over the red ruins of Rhaegar's children, no army on this earth could have stopped me from killing him. (ADWD The Kingsguard)

Barristan may admit Robert's value as a knight (highly questionable as it is), praise him for showing mercy to the Targaryen loyalists and be ashamed for "failing" him. At the same time, Barristan still feels anger for the deaths of Rhaegar's children, so much so that he can't stop himself from thinking he would avenge them if he had seen Robert smiling at the sight of their corpses. Also, when he thinks about the people he failed, he thinks that he failed "even Robert", which shows that he had considerably less regard for him than he did either Dany or Rhaegar.

I don't think Barristan would ever call Robert a "good man", and I think his feelings for Robert are particularly important because they inform Barristan's siding with Ned when he asks Robert not to kill Dany, as well as why he chose to follow Viserys (Rhaegar's heir) instead of Stannis (Robert's heir) and why he demands that the Shavepate does not kill Dany's hostages if he is to side with him.

Also, again, Barristan would never share his personal feelings (much less negative ones) about anyone with Jorah.

The infuriating part, though, is this one:

JORAH: You swore an oath.

BARRISTAN: Yes. And a man of honor keeps his vows, even if he's serving a drunk or a lunatic. Just once in my life before it's over, I want to know what it's like to serve with pride, to fight for someone I believe in. Do you believe in her?

JORAH: With all my heart.

First, they portray show!Jorah as a reliable source as to whether we should trust show!Dany or not. While one might argue that these are two different characters, not only the erasure of Jorah's negative behaviors for the sake of an unrequited love story is still disgusting, but Jorah was never a reliable source about Dany in the books.

Second, Barristan's arc is partly about finding out on his own that Dany is a worthy liege after spending years following bad kings:

“...The truth is, I wanted to watch you for a time before pledging you my sword. To make certain that you were not ...”

“... my father’s daughter?” If she was not her father’s daughter, who was she?

“... mad,” he finished. “But I see no taint in you.”  (ASOS Daenerys VI)

“So I am a coin in the hands of some god, is that what you are saying, ser?”

“No,” Ser Barristan replied. “You are the trueborn heir of Westeros. To the end of my days I shall remain your faithful knight, should you find me worthy to bear a sword again. If not, I am content to serve Strong Belwas as his squire.” (ASOS Daenerys VI)

“I flung my sword at Joffrey’s feet and have not touched one since. Only from the hand of my queen will I accept a sword again.”

“As you wish.” Dany took the sword from Brown Ben and offered it hilt first. The old man took it reverently. “Now kneel,” she told him, “and swear it to my service.”

He went to one knee and lay the blade before her as he said the words. (ASOS Daenerys VI)

“Freedom to starve?” asked Dany sharply. “Freedom to die? Am I a dragon, or a harpy?” Am I mad? Do I have the taint?

“A dragon,” Ser Barristan said with certainty. (ASOS Daenerys VI)

Having show!Barristan ask show!Jorah's opinion on show!Dany diminishes the impact of the passages above, which display his own judgment based on the time he spent on Dany's side.

Having show!Barristan ask show!Jorah's opinion on show!Dany undercuts Barristan's arc. The show writers might have show!Barristan say that he wants to "fight for someone [he] believe[s] in", but that's just lip service; these words ring hollow because we don't see him finding out for himself.

Could the show writers have added an original scene that gives the characters around show!Dany more to do? Of course (though I've argued before that even the scenes focusing on show!Dany are often seen from the viewpoint of her advisors and prevent us from fully experiencing the journey with show!Dany herself). But they should have thought about whether it fits into their characterizations in the books and, if it doesn't, why is that change necessary? What does having show!Barristan not find out on his own that show!Dany is a liege worth following cause besides undermining both Dany's and Barristan's characters? What does having show!Jorah not be a creepy and be a reliable source about show!Dany cause besides making a slaver look better?

Show!Grey Worm's first scene has its strengths. I like how it displays show!Dany's genuine empathy for the Unsullied, as well as show!Grey Worm's admiration for her. The actors gave good performances. There is one departure from the books (that I don't really understand the purpose of; they probably forgot about it), though:

DAENERYS: What is your name?

GREY WORM: Grey Worm.

DAENERYS: Grey Worm...

MISSANDEI: All Unsullied boys are given new names when they are cut ... Grey Worm, Red Flea, Black Rat. Names that remind them what they are ... vermin.

The books go even further on the slavers' dehumanization of the Unsullied:

“This one’s name is Red Flea, your worship.” 

The girl repeated their exchange in the Common Tongue. 

“And yesterday, what was it?” 

“Black Rat, your worship.” 

“The day before?” 

“Brown Flea, your worship.” 

“Before that?” 

“This one does not recall, your worship. Blue Toad, perhaps. Or Blue Worm.”

“Tell her all their names are such,” Kraznys commanded the girl. “It reminds them that by themselves they are vermin. The name disks are thrown in an empty cask at duty’s end, and each dawn plucked up again at random.”

“More madness,” said Arstan, when he heard. “How can any man possibly remember a new name every day?”

“Those who cannot are culled in training, along with those who cannot run all day in full pack, scale a mountain in the black of night, walk across a bed of coals, or slay an infant.” (ASOS Daenerys II)

Not only their names remind them that they are vermin, they are also changed every day so that they lose their sense of individuality.

Even with this change, I'd say that the scene still conveys how unacceptable and cruel the slavers' treatment was.

There are other changes that I find more concerning. The first is the most inconsequential: why is show!Missandei calling show!Dany khaleesi instead of Your Grace? Only Jorah and her khalasar call her by that title in the books. I suppose this is a Doylist issue since s3!Dany was more recognized as "khaleesi" than "Daenerys" by the audience, but it still goes against their characterizations.

The second is that, as I said in my 3.4 review, this scene would have made more sense in Astapor:

One of the first things Dany had done after the fall of Astapor was abolish the custom of giving the Unsullied new slave names every day. Most of those born free had returned to their birth names; those who still remembered them, at least. Others had called themselves after heroes or gods, and sometimes weapons, gems, and even flowers, which resulted in soldiers with some very peculiar names, to Dany’s ears. Grey Worm had remained Grey Worm. When she asked him why, he said, “It is a lucky name. The name this one was born to was accursed. That was the name he had when he was taken for a slave. But Grey Worm is the name this one drew the day Daenerys Stormborn set him free.” (ASOS Daenerys IV)

Dany still had to choose which freedmen would occupy the ruling council, so I assume she stayed in Astapor for a few days. With that in mind, if abolishing the custom of new slave names was one of the first things Dany did after the fall of Astapor, it's much more likely that she did it there rather than on the march to Yunkai. Why couldn't they have written this scene there? Because seeing her leave Astapor makes for a more visually impressive scene, I guess. As I said before, though, it gives weight to the superficial reading that show!Dany only went to the city, took its military force and left (even if we'll later find out that she also installed a ruling council there in 4.5). Being faithful to the books would've prevented any misconception of this sort from happening.

My third and final issue is that this scene is meant to be of secondary importance in the books. As one can see in ASOS Daenerys IV, it only appears as a brief flashback in the context of a scene in which Dany is seen giving Grey Worm military orders. That's because the focus of the chapter is on Dany's character development as a leader and a military tactician (similar to how ASOS Daenerys VI only shows the conquest of Meereen as a brief flashback in the context of Jorah telling Dany that her "sewer rats" won her the city; that's because the focus of the chapter is less on the adrenaline and victory and more on the aftermath of the sack and its negative consequences, intertwined with Dany's personal problems).

One might argue that we could have had both this scene and show!Dany's character development in the next episodes. However, as I will explain in future reviews, the show writers don't care about show!Dany's character development at all, which is why it becomes enough of an issue for me to bring it up.

JORAH: King Robert wanted her dead.

BARRISTAN: Of course he wanted her dead. She's a Targaryen. The last Targaryen.

JORAH: I suppose no one on the small council could speak sense to him.

In this interview with Bryan Cogman, Elio Garcia interprets show!Jorah's actions as if he were "fishing for information about just what Barristan knew about him and his dealings with Varys". That's not an unreasonable guess, but it's another one that does a disservice to Barristan's character. In the books, Barristan only hid information from Dany about Jorah because revealing Jorah's betrayal would mean revealing his identity. If his identity had been already revealed, he would have told her much earlier - that's what happens right after she finds out that he's Barristan Selmy, after all:

“...And since the day you wed Khal Drogo, there has been an informer by your side selling your secrets, trading whispers to the Spider for gold and promises.” (ASOS Daenerys V)

However, because the show writers probably know this, they made another change just as detrimental to Barristan's character:

BARRISTAN: I didn't sit on the small council.

JORAH: No? Doesn't the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard traditionally ...

BARRISTAN: Traditionally, yes, but I killed a dozen of Robert's friends during his rebellion. He didn't want advice on how to govern from a man who had fought for the Mad King. Can't say I minded much. I always hated the politics.

I'm not saying that the Barristan of the books loves the politics or that he's one of the best political players of the books. Far from that. Still, his character development culminates in these realizations:

The gods of Westeros were far away, yet Ser Barristan Selmy paused for a moment to say a silent prayer, asking the Crone to light his way to wisdom. For the children, he told himself. For the city. For my queen. (ADWD The Queensguard)

His queen was the Mother of Dragons; he would not allow her children to come to harm. (ADWD The Kingbreaker)

"You would break King Hizdahr's peace, old man?"

"I would shatter it." Once, long ago, a prince had named him Barristan the Bold. A part of that boy was in him still. (ADWD The Queen's Hand)

Before Dany, Barristan remained silent as he watched Aerys and Robert committing atrocities and abusing their power. After Dany, he's not only revolting against a bad king (Hizdahr), he's also taking on her anti-slavery cause and declaring war against the slavers. That's character development. Siding with Ned against Dany's death was Barristan’s first (albeit small) act of rebellion and the beginning of an arc that will later lead him to fight against slavery because of the very girl whose murder he opposed.

On HBO, not only we'll never see show!Barristan doing any of this (because he'll be killed off earlier), we are seeing him dismiss the importance of political action, which is the very opposite of the ultimate realization of his book counterpart's arc. And what's worse is that all of these changes are being made for the sake of show!Jorah's character.

JORAH: Yeah, I imagine I would, too. Hours spent jabbering about backstabbings and betrayals the world over.

I don't know if show!Jorah reducing politics to "jabbering about backstabbings and betrayals the world over" is necessarily proof that this is what the show writers think. That being said, that dismissal can be considered foreshadowing of how little they will care about adapting Dany's ADWD storyline properly. It can also be interpreted as proof of how they tend to oversimplify the characters according to their basic archetypes. If Jorah and Barristan are warriors, of course they don't care about politics and are friendly with each other (all men are friendly with each other and all women are catty with each other, right? See also: Tyrion/Davos, Jon/Gendry, Sansa/Arya, Dany/Sansa, etc).

BARRISTAN: Mm-hmm. Still, she'll have to wade through that muck if she wants to rule the Seven Kingdoms. She'll have good men around her to advise her, men with experience.

JORAH: Which men do you have in mind?

BARRISTAN: Forgive me, Ser Jorah, for what I'm about to say, but your reputation in Westeros has suffered over the years.

JORAH: It suffered for a reason. I sold men into slavery.

BARRISTAN: I don't know if your presence by her side will help our cause when we go home.

JORAH: Our cause? Forgive me, Ser Barristan, but I was busy defending the khaleesi against King Robert's assassins while you were still bowing to the man.

BARRISTAN: We both want her to rule. Am I wrong?

JORAH: You only joined us a few days ago. I can't speak to your intentions.

BARRISTAN: If we're truly her loyal servants, we will do whatever needs to be done, no matter the cost, no matter our pride.

JORAH: You're not Lord Commander here. You're just another exile. And I take my orders from the queen.

First, I don’t know why the heck would show!Barristan tell show!Jorah rather than show!Dany that Jorah’s presence might not help her cause. Not only it makes him dumb (because show!Jorah obviously wouldn't take that well), it also makes it seem that he likes show!Jorah enough to advise him to leave, which is not true at all in the books, as I've already showed above.

Second, I hate that this exchange makes it seem that show!Jorah feels guilty for selling men into slavery (he doesn't in the books). He was still trying to normalize slavery in 3.1 and 3.3!

I know that fandom tends to praise Bryan Cogman for trying to correct plot holes and for paying attention to the books' events and the show's continuity. That knowledge doesn't mean he necessarily understands the characters well - he certainly does not understand Dany well, and this comment is proof of his ignorance:

“Yeah, it’s probably refreshing for Iain Glen! How many times can he explain something about Essos culture to Dany? ;)”

If he really understood Dany, he would also say that we don't just see Jorah giving Dany knowledge. We also see her retain that knowledge and apply it later, we also see that she has knowledge of her own (because, let's not forget, she has lived in Essos for almost her whole life, certainly for a longer period than Jorah) and we also see her making decisions of her own volition. The misconception that Dany is ignorant and too reliant on the men around her is dismissive of her character, but it unfortunately informs the show's writing of her, for they erase many moments showcasing her intelligence and competence.

He also says that "the Dany stuff is a challenge" because of the lack of material, which is a flimsy excuse - many key scenes of her chapters were cut (see here), even if she doesn't have a lot of chapters in ASOS. Lack of material to adapt was never an issue for anyone in any storyline. The show writers should have been overwhelmed with the amount of material they had and the necessity to select them properly (which they failed to do because they mostly looked at the scenes as plot points).

I'm nitpicking his comments, admittedly, because he also said that (show!)Dany's story is "the rise of a villain". He really doesn't know anything about her.

For this review, there's no comment of mine on any Inside the Episode because D&D's Inside the Episode 3.5 doesn't talk about show!Dany's storyline. I'm not commenting on show!Dany's clothes either because she's wearing the same clothes from episode 3.4 and I've talked about them here.

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #barristan selmy #grey worm #asos vs got #asoiaf vs got #jorah mormont #a storm of swords #s3

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metalempire · 5 years

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Fire Emblem Three Houses Review: A Great Game Crippled By Squandered Potential

Now that the clickbait title has grabbed ur dick and engaged the hate boner it’s time to sit down and take a look at the newly released Fire Emblem game everyone loves (including me, to an extent, despite what the title says.)

I’ll put the whole thing under a readmore to safeguard from spoilers, save dashboards and for anyone who doesn’t give a shit to just stop reading now at a convenient point. As for mobile users, fuck you, I’m a phone hating old man. Read this on an Apple Refrigerator or die.

The TL:DR version is: Game good overall, but not enough variety and near lazy repetition makes both gameplay and story feel a bit disappointing overall once you play all the routes.

Also you can’t fuck Rodrigue so 0/10 worst game in the series.

Right now I’ll address the good points about the game since I do in fact have heaps of praises to sing it’s just easier to clickbait with negativity of which I do have but the positive bits come first cos I said so.

The gameplay is good Fire Emblem, unlike SoV which was ass don’t @ me, as the kids say. Aside from fog of war and a very occasional desert map there’s not too much unpleasant shit and there’s not really any spam which is great since the past few games were getting guilty of that. The maps are a bit plain in layout but they’re not bad either and the enemy placements, choices, map features and terrain are all nicely put together to make a fairly pleasant experience with each one. There are no desert fort maps surrounded by 5 range archers on all sides. There are no cantors spamming infinite terrors or infinitely spawning faceless reinforcements. The weapon triangle might be absent but the breaker skills have been retooled and brought back to allow you to choose if you feel like opting into it or not on your own end. It allows alot of units and weapons to shine and combined with the class freedom the game gives to allow you the wiggle room to make your own playstyle, so if an entire army of Wyvern Lords if your thing then the game is nothing short of an enabler there. Combat Arts are back and nicely well balanced and feel more useful than in SoV, not to mention gambits being a natural expansion on them, Battalions being a positive this game brings to up the scale of warfare rather than it just being Anime Teens VS The World and adds another combat art not tied to a weapon and nice stat boosts and effects to change how you interact with enemies, such as using Assembly to drag a boss off a heal tile, and so forth. The more options the better, and the game is full of freedoms for you to play around with.

Garreg Mach Monastery is where most of the game takes place and where a good chunk of hours are spent. Being able to train weapon and movement type ranks outside of battle is also great and adds more micromanaging onto a series about alot of micromanaging and helps units keep up with each other, as well as letting you farm your own resources, bond with the gang and do little activities to give you some reprieve between fights. You can tell Koei Tecmo did alot of work on the development of Three Houses since this section of the game reminds me of Dynasty Warriors when you go back to your base and sort things out there and wander around. It also breathes some life into the setting and gives a good sense of permanence to the world and its’ characters.

The world of Fodlan is also a major strong point, there’s lore, backstory, history, politics, a culture and even clashes and divides. It’s the most well realised world in a Fire Emblem game since Jugdral which it clearly has drawn inspiration from and I cannot praise Fodlan enough for being as well realised as a setting as it is, since the characters and exposition really give you a proper impression of how this world functions on social and political levels. The school setting of Garreg Mach is one I was initially iffy about but it fits surprisingly well and definitely grows on you over time since the game does a good job of immersing you in the role of a teacher.

Tying into the world is also Crests, which, when combined with the Ability system, is great, making you pay attention to your characters crests, what they do, how they can benefit you, how you could use them, and to pay attention to enemy bosses and minibosses to see what crests they have, and in turn, pay attention to abilities some more too, to both create your ideal units, and keep an eye out for the same on the enemy team. It’s quite well balanced overall and is a sneaky hint of a possible Genealogy remake on the way someday.

The characters are also wonderful, often three dimensional with their own political views, own social perspectives, quirks, oddities, backstories, character conflicts, relationships, and of course, boatloads of trauma. Watching them all interact with each other and reacting to the story events and getting to know them was an excellent experience in proper character writing and interactions that the series has been starved of thanks to the very hit or miss (mostly miss) characterisation from Fates. The main lords are also incredible, from Edelgard and her dark as fuck backstory and her powerful resolve and willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve her wider scale goals, to Dimitri and his intensely personal conflicts and emotional baggage and his journey of highs and lows, to Claude and his boundless charisma and similarly his own ambitions and dreams all wrapped together in a charming package. The characters are all great and I can’t really find myself with any grievances about them that don’t boil down to wanking off over nitpicks over Hubert’s left testicle being out of place in a cutscene or something daft like that.

The soundtrack is good. Not my favourite one but as always with Fire Emblem it’s good and makes the maps more fun since you can listen to a nice tune while thinking about how to murk the pair of armour knights. My only gripe really is the normal versions of songs all sound better than the in-battle variations they get. I also like that a boss theme or miniboss theme will continue to keep playing on the map itself until you beat that character, so you dont have to dip and dive into chip damaging Lyon to hear The Prince’s Despair anymore.

The overall story is fairly decent, not as bad as Fates’ writing, or the fairly bland writing of some of the past games like Awakening that play it too safe. It’s willing to go in dark directions and focus in worldbuilding with its’ plot. However I do have alot of negatives to say about it by contrast but know that the overall story of the game and its’ many routes is one that I don’t hate, but I certainly feel wasn’t as well handled, especially in the second part of the game, as it should be. On an individual level, each route is decently well paced, aside from Edelgard’s route which is mysteriously 4 chapters shorter than the rest for no discernable reason at present until developer interviews shed light on that. The plot is for the most part decently well executed on an individual level.

Now I’m going to insert a very important opinion of mine. I think a game can have a bad story, or no story at all, and still be great, so long as the gameplay is good, because gameplay is what makes a video game a video game, rather than just a dvd with an interactive menu. A game can have a great story, but if the gameplay is shit, the game suffers as a result, and it needs to play its’ focuses very well in order to redeem that. I try not to put as much important on story if I can’t help it, since I’m playing games for the game part first and foremost.

I bring that up because unlike Fates, where you can ignore the plot and have a good time with it, Three Houses isn’t so merciful, due to how much raw time is spent in cutscenes before, during and after battles, as well as engaging with the story at the monastery too, alot of time in Three Houses is not spent in the gameplay portion, but interacting with the story instead, so I have to place importance on the story because the game is, so I have to put more focus than I usually do on it because the game does by necessity of raw amount of time. Otherwise I honestly wouldn’t mind either way if the story was bad or good.

This is to transition over to the negatives.

For the bits where I’m not tying the gameplay and story together for reasons seen in a bit, understand that I was wary about the removal of the weapon triangle. While I don’t mind how it’s been handled, I still think the game is missing something for not having it since the beginning, and it’s definitely a core aspect I enjoy about the series, since now you can forgo unit variety and planning weapon level ups and just use whatever to win, and that level of freedom can hamper strategy in thinking on a more necessity based level, which in turn has subtle but noticeable effects on difficulty.

The amount of time you spend not doing maps is honestly still jarring. Most of the time in these games if you’re ever spending lots of time between maps, it’s usually to get through a mountain of supports you forgot about, rather than spending alot of your time in cutscenes and doing stuff in a monastery. While I don’t hate it, I find alot of my time is spent not doing the Fire Emblem parts of the Fire Emblem game I’m playing and considering the fact that each route is 18-22 chapters long, compared to most FE games which go more than that typically, and you come to realise that the other stuff is sort of padding to distract from the low chapter count overall.

Now this is where I tie gameplay and story together in terms of the more major flaws to the game and what really held it back for me.

Three Houses has 4 routes, all of which I’ve played; Edelgard’s route, Dimitri’s route, Claude’s route, and the Church route. The big problem here in both story and gameplay is the raw amount of repetition and lack of variation the game has with this. Unlike Fates, where the three routes all featured both unique maps, variations on maps, or if they did share maps, usually put them at different stages in the game, Three Houses doesn’t do that at all. Map variety is something this game is weak in, since paralogues just reuse story maps, and so far, only 2 or 3 maps seem exclusive to paralogues, and even then can be repeated by other paralogues. Worse still, earlier paralogues, like Ingrid and Dorothea’s, can spoil maps later on, and don’t even make sense when you get the context for that location. In every other past FE game, the paralogues all got their own maps. Repeating maps in a single run is already a risky business, but then there’s overall repetition. The first part of the game is exactly the same on all routes, it follows the same story and overall beats, an the only variation is chapter 12, if you’re playing Edelgard’s route, if not, it’s the same for the other 3. And for context, I did Edelgard first, Dimitri second, Claude third and Church last. In hindsight, that was a terrible order, since I basically ended up repeating myself 3 times in a row thinking I was getting something different. When the timeskip hits you expect each route to get different, but only Edelgard’s does. the other 3 routes are all about fighting the Adrestian Empire to save Rhea. That’s it. Dimitri, Claude and the Church routes all follow the same story, and by extension, maps, making you do them all in the same order as each other, with a minor variation here or there like Dimiri getting a chapter to retake Fhirdiad then resuming the static map path. The only difference is in the plot contrivances that don’t come up on the other routes despite following the exact same events to steer you towards a different final boss. Those Who Slither In the Dark are a great example of this. They destroy Fort Merceus only in Claude’s route, and for no reason are barely involved in the fights of the other routes and are never dealt with. They themselves are also wasted villains, with Kronya and Solon shown off once, then killed off in their second appearances, then Thales barely being in the game only to die in Claude’s route. The game sort of forgets about them in the other routes, and, insultingly, they’re fought by Edlegard in her route, but only in the epilogue, rather than having her missing 4 chapters cover that conflict.

Really, the only point to playing a route is to get a different final boss, and to get some different lore in the final chapter. You only learn about Nemesis right at the end of Claude’s route, you only learn Byleth’s origin story at the end of the Church route. Outside of things like that, you’re just playing the same game, same maps, and same story but with different playable characters over and over again with no real variety until right at the very end, which is highly hollow. Edelgard’s route offers the most variation on all this, and yet it’s 4 chapters shorter than the other routes, so you’re either condemned to play the same shit over again, or you barely get any time with the one that’s a bit different. It really sucks since the map variety really is nonexistent. You play the exact same game for 12 chapters, think you’re getting some variety, then just get the same shit as the last run, or, only get a few maps and then you’re done. Either way, the sheer lack of variety in maps and accompanying story really makes the hyped up timeskip feel like a colossal disappointment in hindsight, and when Fates, a 3DS game, has more map and story variety (yes even if that story was awful) than a home console game, then something is deeply flawed about this game.

The pacing is also fairly bad if not close to terrible. At most the game is 22-23 chapters at the most, 18 at the least, and it spends 12 of these on the Academy phase of the game. The game drags its’ feet with the story for the first half, slow burning its’ way along, feeding you hints of lore to come and setting things up and, to be honest, doing a good job at worldbuilding. Then the timeskip happens and the war phase just rushes by at one hell of a fast pace. The maps being the same across them doesn’t help, but pacing can also damage the routes. For example, Verdant Wind builds up to fighting the Agarthans, it builds up to them but only with hints and setup while you’re busy fighting Edelgard, and then once’s that’s done, you have two chapters left, one of which has you fight the Agarthans in one map, beat them, and then have the final battle with Nemesis, which, while the map itself is arguably the best of the 4 and really feels like a final battle, story-wise comes out of fuckin nowhere just to have a cool end to the game. And then there’s Crimson flower, which steamrolls through the game and is definitely missing chapters, with key events like the battle at Gronder just not being there at all. In general the story pacing is just too wonky and every route really needed more chapters to flesh out the conflicts rather than rushing along the most engaging bits of the game.

Also the graphics are kind of weird looking for a 2019 game and some of the cutscenes are animated so stiffly it’s strange to watch. Honestly the visual presentation in Fire Emblem has never really been very good outside of fully rendered cutscenes in previous games like Awakening or Radiant Dawn, but it’s a shame the Switch’s capabilities weren’t fully utilised, especially with some textures, although Warriors with its’ JPEG stone floor in Hoshido Castle is no doubt to blame as well for that influence. That said, it’s not all that big of an issue for this series, and you really don’t notice it as much, just felt the need to address it since it is there and the Switch launched with Breath of the Wild which looks wonderful and then there’s Three Houses looking like it just got out of bed by comparison.

My main issues with the game stem mostly from the larger segment above, the constant repetition of maps in almost perfect order after each other, the exact same story playing out for the majority of what should be different routes, and the school phase being the most repetitive as well really dragging the game down. The first time I played the game I loved it, no doubt, but the subsequent runs made me realise that alot less overall variety was put into the game than I thought would be, and that hurts the quality for me, to know that 3/4 options have me doing 95% the same thing but with different units, and the other option is just a bit too short to be able to fully enjoy what it has to offer. Fire Emblem is a bigger name now than it used to be, and Three Houses honestly deserved to be a bit better than this overall.

Also you can’t fuck Felix’s dad so what’s even the point of it all, really.

I have no doubts though that people will still love this game, and rightfully so, it’s a great entry in the series, just not the best. I’m sure people who’ve only done one or two routes will think it’s fantastic, but once you do all four of them, I think the honeymoon period will pass by, and the initial spark of excitement of a new game will wear off, and just like how everyone tore into Fates a year after release, I think Three Houses might end up suffering a slightly similar fate as well once people realise that the game really doesn’t offer as much variety as it seemed to be offering. Maybe there are people who don’t mind all the repetition and the sameyness of it all, but for me, it held the game back from being truly great. The Lords are what really carry their respective routes, due to their character strengths, and a certain route definitely suffers for only having Byleth (and Seteth of all people) as the main driving force of that route.

All that said, I really recommend any Fire Emblem fan or even any Switch owner to play Three Houses. It’s not perfect, and it certainly loses it’s magic over time and really needs some reworking in places and major injections of variety, or a really good DLC, but it’s still definitely got plenty of good quality to enjoy and the bits that are good are really good and worth sticking through each route to be able to play with.

The score this game gets is a

Forever Pissed I Can’t Marry Rodrigue/10

#Fire Emblem Three Houses #Fire Emblem #FE3H #long post

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darkspellmaster · 6 years

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She-Ra Trailer Theory: Cons

Okay I’m going to pretty much put these down as they come. The longer they are the more likely I have a major issue with them, the shorter the comments, consider those more along the lines of nitpicks to meh sort of things. Those would be aspects that I personally may not get but others may like, so meh on it.

So to start with, we have the weird portal opening up.

My main issue is, what is the point in showing this? That’s not the fright zone. Certainly isn’t Skydancer mountain, and isn’t part of Mystracor. Is this supposed to be Shadow Weaver casting a spell? It looks a lot like the portal in the 2002 He-man series. If they are avoiding that show, why connect to the portal idea there? Yes Hordak was cast into Etheria but why do the same sort of thing you were doing in the 2002-03 Masters of the Universe show if you’re trying to avoid it. Seems kind of dumb to me in that sense.

Also, if this is a portal to the Horde Planet, then is this Hordak doing this, or Shadow Weaver again? And is Hordak there or in another location at this time and being called down? Or is this pulling in Horde Prime? So are they aliens or magic users here? Seems more like Aliens which ties into the mini comics, but the designs seem to imply the 2002 He-man. So what is going on here. I don’t like this shot being used as it probably will come off as confusing later on to the viewers who have no idea of the Lore of MotU.

Hordak. Okay, I will admit when I was little I liked Skeletor a lot more because I always felt that Skeletor was funnier due to his voice, and Hodak was creepy. Now, I will say this though, that creepy factor played a big point in what made him a threat. This...what the heck is this?

This is not Hordak. Sure he has on the Horde logo, but his design is not good. Let me explain, Hordak is supposed to look like a monster. He’s supposed to be creepy as he’s not of this world. He’s the brother of Horde Prime, the ruler of this group. This is not creepy. This is Man-bat from Batman the Animated series.

Let’s start with his new design shall we. What color is that face? Gray, blue? It’s certainly not bone white, which is what his face is supposed to be. At least the eyes are red, but what is with the hair on the head? His race/species/whatever the Horde are, are not supposed to have hair, save for special cases like Prince Zed. Why is he blue? Then there’s the fact that his collar blends into his ears. That collar is supposed to accentuate the face, not vanish into the head. And what is that collar supposed to be? Metal? Why not go back to his old bones design. Show that he’s a danger. Right now he looks like he would be at home on a ship with the Galra from the new Voltron, or hanging out with the leads from Skeleton Warriors.

Also, and this is more a nitpick, but what is up with making him metal with the arms. He’s not a robot, you don’t need to put him with Robotic things. This isn’t Silver Hawks. And not showing his snort, come on. Really, that’s a staple of this character. He snorts, it’s part of his thing. Then there’s the added issue of why bother having him in the dark rather than just show him. You’re not hiding anything, we see him a few scene’s later, so what’s the point?

Then there’s the fact that he’s just on screen. Why? Again, is he not on planet? If not, why? He’s the leader of the Horde. Is he stuck somewhere? Is he still on Horde world? If that’s the case, why? He’s supposed to be a major threat and instead we get onscreen moments. Okay, so...are we trying to be the Light from Young Justice, because if so then we have to talk.

There’s just something way to weak feeling about this Hordak, and that really really bugs me. He’s dangerous, a creature that can wreck Skeletor as seen in the 2002 MotU series where he manged to cause him so much pain he fell off his throne and down stairs because his head hurt so much. This guy looks more like someone that can be easily removed from play by another character, and I hope that’s not the case.

I’m gonna be blunt and probably one of the few that hold this opinion. I’m not a fan of the Catra design here. I’m not against it, I just feel like she looks a lot like a character from Thundercats with this new look. Like I can see her hanging out with Wiley Kit and Kat from the new Thundercats series. She looks like she could be Tigra from Marvel Rising. Clothing wise, I don’t like the pants, shirt is fine, headress is fine, I hate the ears though, and again that’s just my issue there.

Also she’s reminding me of an angry Merle from Escaflowne, and I really don’t want her to become that sort of character. The overly annoying one. I get that they wanted to show more than just humans working for the horde, but Catra and the one guy in the other shot with her talking to the Horde cadets(?), but right now it’s making it appear that only the monsters are on the side of the Horde, and thus Humans vs Monsters, which kind of sucks because there was a number of non human beings that fought alongside She-ra and the rebellion, and instead the creatures are just given a minor moment in the trailer.

Shadow Weaver. Screw. This. Design.

No seriously, I hate this look on her. The dress looks really dumb. Are they supposed to be tentacles that are walking her? Is she just floating, and if so, why? We can see she has human hands, but no feet?

The top is bad, really bad. It makes no sense to be cut the way it is. It would be a pain in the neck getting it on. There is nothing in this design that works. What is up with the turtle neck? She doesn’t need it if she’s wearing a mask and what looks like a high collar dress. It’s annoying and fabric doesn’t work like that!

Also the mask, that mask is...ugh. What are we going for here? Phantom of the Opera, Cobra Commander, Destro? M.A.S.K.? Rom Space Knight? One of the X-men? A 90s retro villain from Image comics? Like seriously? What is with this horrible design for her.

Then the hair. If she’s not a shadow creature like, Kurogiri from My Hero Academia, then why is her hair floating like that? Then it, like Hordak’s, blends into the background. Why are we having her hair float? She’s not a living shadow, she’s a former Princess from Mystacor who betrayed the others for power.

I’m damn sure that they are sticking with that backstory since it’s the most likely reason that the first princess group fell. Unless they make it where her working with the Dark arts turned her into this, because then we’re just redoing what happened to Haggar, and she’s a bit of a redo on several other various characters who go evil when they seek too much power.

Also, if they are making her the one that stole Adora, or the one to raise her, I will be really mad because that changes a huge important aspect of Adora’s life with the Horde. Yes Shadow Weaver did “raise” her, but the thing is that there was another woman involved there who actually gave Adora her moral code. Now if Shadow Weaver wants her back because she probably is the key to getting them into Eternia, then yes that is right, but if it’s “She’s my daughter and I love her” then the team really do not understand Shadwo weaver at all. Shadow Weaver is a selfish woman who only cares about herself and her desire for power. So I’m not digging this version of Shadow Weaver very much.

Where the sword is located. This sword is supposed to be with it’s twin in Castle Grayskull. Unless this show tells us point blank that the Sorceress threw that sword into Etheria and it had the vines grow over it I’m calling BS on where she finds it.

The sword of protection is the twin sword to the sword of power. They are the connecting pieces to that of Grayskull and the power that is given to both She-ra and He-man. We know the sword is connected to Grayskull as she even says it when she does the “For the Honor of Grayskull” which is in Eternia. So why would the Sorcress abandon the weapon that would be the one thing that can defeat Hordak? Again, I hope they correct this in some way and address it sooner rather than later, because they made that same damn mistake with the Snake-men in the 2002 series.

Netossa...ah Netossa...what have you done to Netossa.

Now I’m not going to complain about her looks, I’m more annoyed with the fact that she has magic. One of the many cool aspects about Netossa that made her stand out was the fact that she didn’t need magic to be a bad-ass. Hailing from the far north of Etheria, she became an expert with her ability to use nets to capture and hold enemies. She never had magic at all and became one of the best allies in the Rebellion all from hard work and practice.

When the others had issues where their magic couldn’t be used, she could easily handle things because, again, she didn’t need to worry about it because no magic.

Now we have this version giving her magic, making it where only the boys are special enough to not need magic to do things. It just sort of annoys me that they took that away from her. She was skilled enough not to need to use magic to make her special and now Bow and maybe SeaHawk will be the only ones that don’t use magic. I get the idea of making her a magic girl too, but I always loved her because she wasn’t like the other characters. She became a bad-ass on her own, and worked hard to be one.

So, I”m guessing here that the chick with the horns is probably the OC Noelle mentioned. *sighs* So here’s my question, is she just a background character that stands there and does nothing. Okay fine...I can deal. But if this character starts to play a part and replaces someone like say Flutterina, or Peekablue, it will become a sticking point for me. D&D characters should not be in She-ra. It’s a completely different franchise and personally I do not want that cross over. I don’t want her to become a mary-sue and over shadow the rest of the cast. That’s what worries me.

Okay this one is a huge sticking point for me. Spirit here better have been transformed by the damn sword before this scene, because if he’s already a unicorn/pegasus, we have a serious issue here and someone didn’t pay any attention to how that sword works.

The Sword of Protection is a transformation item. Unlike the Sword of Power, Protection can become many things as well as change many things to be used by She-ra. Spirit, her horse, who becomes Swift Wind when he changes, is a normal horse. He’s a ordinary horse, and Adora changes him with her sword to make him become more advantage to her fighting and to connect to the idea of her becoming someone different. (And I’m about to get to that in a second.)

By having Spirit already a magical flying horse you take a way a big part of the secret identity situation, as well as showing that they change into something more powerful than they are with the sword. By leaving him as a magic horse early on, you kind of screw that up. Also he better talk.

Speaking of issues about secrets...

Why the hell are we having everyone know who She-ra is! That’s sort of the deal with this. It’s a secret! Not only for the safety of Adora, but for the Rebellion as well!

Having everyone know means that word will get back to Hordak and pretty much then everyone will know her weak points! That’s damn dumb! Oh sure drama with Catra, for about an episode or two, but other than that, it makes them seem dumb that they can’t beat her. Not only that, but if they know, then if Glimmer get’s taken and Angella has to chose between telling the Horde who She-ra is or see her daughter hurt, (because they will), she’ll probably tell it’s Adora. And if Catra knows, I mean what’s to keep her from telling Hordak? Like is Shadow Weaver that dumb to Hide it from Hordak? Are they really making these guys that dumb? This is the point of the secret identity thing. It’s to keep her safe and her friends safe, and why Madam Razz, Kowl and Lookee were important to the story.

Speaking of...why are so many characters missing?

Okay I can get half of the Princesses missing because they were part timers. But Madame Regina Fancy Razz, Broom, Kowl and Lookee were all part of the show from the start. They were the ones to discover the truth and were the ones to make sure that the Horde doesn’t find out that she’s She-ra. Now everyone in the freaking Rebellion knows, and that doesn’t bode well for story telling.

Razz could contact the Sorcress, and was also someone that was up their with Shadow Weaver in the magic department. Broom was the one that helped her out with spells and also was someone who gave good advice to Adora about real situations, Kowl was the guy that was friends with Bow and knew his back story and helped him out a lot, and Look-ee, was....well he existed. Missing them though seems like a bad choice in this. Maybe as others have said they will show up in the next season or this one, but still I would think that having the person that was Queen Angella’s second best friend not around is, weird.

If that is Imp, well that sucks. One, why make him a baby? Unless he’s like freaking Koenma, from Yu Yu Hakusho, where he can get older and has an older brain in him then what’s the point of making him a baby? To give Hordak a more annoying character to hang around with? To make him be a daddy? Come on! Lame.

Imp is the most reliable of the Horde, even above Shadow Weaver when it comes to doing things. He’s a bit of a jerk, sure, but over all he’s an interesting villain with some comedic elements. Making him a baby just is weird. What’s he going to do? Cry them into a bad situation? I’m sorry, it’s just way to weird. It didn’t work in the 90s when this was a thing, and it sure as hell won’t work now.

Unless he’s Death 13′s Baby, I’m already dreading this character.

Also why is Entrapa with the good guys?

Is this Entrapa? If it is, she better become a baddie because she’s a Horde worker, and honestly having her with the good guys is way to weird.

Lastly....

Where the hell is the Horde?

Is this it?

Is the girl with the dreads supposed to be Octavia? She’s the only other female character. Unless that’s a new version of Mantenna? Like the only one that could be Leach is the green guy and he looks more like a lizard or reptile creature than one of the Horde members.

We’re missing quiet a few: Mantenna ( a Rebrunk Nuru who has several ray abilities with his eyes and is the scout for Hordak) , Grizzlor (who’s like a were-wolf character), Multi-bot (a robot that can transform with others to create a new sort of monster and armor), Dylamug (who can shift faces and is part Robot), Admiral Scurvy (Cyborg head of the Horde Navy), Vultek (who is a flying bird man creature that is in charge of Hordak’s zoo where he keeps creatures that he finds interesting -including those that are beings from Etheria), False-Face (A shape shifter that can take on any appearance).

Then there’s Scorpina. I know there were complaints about She-ra’s look, but if this is about good looking costumes, why does Scorpina have Power Girl’s window in her outfit? Her old one covered more than her new one does.

Also, straight up, are they going to at all cover the fact that Scorpina owns slaves from Etheria? She’s from the Crimson Waste and was right up there with power in regard to control over Etheria. I just hope she’s actually a force to deal with and not someone who is put under Catra’s thumb because those two would go at it in regard to power struggles all the time.

Lastly, I’m hoping that Hordak is actually the main villain and not Shadow Weaver. I’m not a huge fan of “Girl’s show must have girl villain to fight against” because if it’s Shadow Weaver as the big bad and Hordak’s just a Doctor Claw like person then I’m going to step away from this show. Hordak and She-ra’s relationship is key to this series as a whole. He stole her from her family, brainwashed her and forced her to serve him. The fact that so much of her history is being stripped here, is not a good thing. She stood up to the person that basically abused and used her, the guy that screwed over her life and fought against him. And I think it would be a sad thing to take away that powerful statement. But that’s just me.

#she-ra #she-ra trailer #she-ra theory #she-ra theories #spop #she-ra and the princess of power #she-ra and the princesses of power theory #she-ra and the princess of power theories #shera #spop theories

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jenniferfaye34 · 4 years

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#Giveaway ~ Sword of Soter by Ralene Burke... #books #fantasy #Christian #readers

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

Book Tour Grand Finale for

Sword of Soter

By Ralene Burke

We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the stops

you'll find snippets, as well as the link to each full post, below:

Launch - Author Interview

For those new to the series, what should they know? Yes, the series is written from a Christian worldview. In fact, the trilogy was inspired by the premise question, “What if the Armor of God were real?” But, no, I did not endeavor to preach or convert or anything like that in the story. It is just a fun epic fantasy adventure!

Life is What It's Called - Excerpt

Karina thrust the sword toward Tristan’s gut, but he sidestepped her advance. She stumbled forward a couple of steps, then growled, spun around, and lunged again. “No.” Tristan batted her blade away with his and swatted her behind. “You’re too impatient. You have to wait for the right opening.” Karina sucked in a breath. The more she trained with Tristan, the more she wanted to take the dull blade in her hand and run him through. Releasing a long breath, she squared her shoulders, turned around slowly, and smiled as sweetly as she could manage. “I am sorry. I have no idea what has come over me.”

JeanBookNerd - Guest Post

A SWORD OF SOTER CHATTERER PANEL — RALENE BURKE Interviewer: Welcome one and all to the Sword of Soter panel. We have got the noble questers for the sacred armor with us today: Karina, Queen of Aletheia and Prophetess of the Creator; Tristan, Prince of Tzedek; Rashka, Guardian of Shadowed Wood; and Sam, Knight of Aletheia. Sam (growls): I am not a knight. Karina: Of course, you are! You have shown more courage and strength of character in the last weeks than most of the knights of Aletheia have shown in lifetimes. It’s an honor that would have been bestowed upon you more officially if we’d been in Aletheia. Sam: Thank you, Your Highness.

Candrel's Crafts, Cooks, and Characters - Interview

4.) What drives you as a writer? I am an encourager and a “fix-it” type person. As a writer, I seek to combine both of those traits in a way that can inspire and encourage readers. That can be pretty difficult in fiction, but I don’t mind the challenge. I live for the days when I hear from a reader and they say that my stories helped them in some way.

Remembrancy - Excerpt

Tristan stared off in the direction of the sound. “That definitely lends to the mystery of what lupens are doing this far south." Another howl echoed through the chasm and across the plains. Karina took a step toward Tristan. An answering bay came from the east, from the distant woods. More than one? Her heartbeat skittered. A chorus of howls brought frightened whinnies from the horses. Dom stomped his feet. “We need to go, Prophetess.

Wishful Endings - Guest Post

Top 10 Things to Bring on a Quest We’re going on a trip…a journey…a QUEST. First, we have to pack. Now, this ain’t a trip to the Bahamas—we can’t bring 3 suitcases on a plane to unload onto a cart and then into a car. If we’re lucky, we’ll have a horse to strap a couple extra small bags to. . .

Hallie Reads - Review

"I enjoyed getting to know Karina and the characters that surround her on her quest, as well as the challenges they face and overcome. An uplifting spiritual thread, too, can be found throughout the two stories. All in all, these books left me ready for the next one."

Christy's Cozy Corners - Excerpt

“And what has you two stooping to eat humans again?” The woman paused before the two ogres and raised her head to meet their glares with one of her own. Bogey jerked his thumb in the other ogre’s direction. “Madge’s stomach.” “What have I told you two about engaging with innocent folk?” The mysterious woman crossed her arms. From here, Sam could tell her eyes were a beautiful emerald green, the same color as her dress. No wonder she hid so well on her approach. Whoever she was, at least she seemed to be on his side. Or at least on the side of not letting the ogres eat him.

Faithfully Bookish - Interview

What did you learn or discover about yourself (or your characters) while writing Sword of Soter? R: Well, I discovered I could write 10k words in a single day on multiple Saturdays. Ha! Life was kind of hectic, and I kept having to catch up on my word count goals. On a more serious note, writing Rashka’s story in this book, helped me work through some of my own issues of “trying to do it all on my own.”

Reading Is My SuperPower - Review

"Armor of Aletheia and Sword of Soter present an action-filled allegory of faith set against the backdrop of good vs. evil . . . the author has clearly drawn some intricate world-building and left some intriguing possibilities for the third and final book in the trilogy. A great choice for young adults, to entertain as well as strengthen their faith."

Paulette's Papers - Excerpt

She opened her eyes to a shimmering green flame, reminiscent of the bonfire from their night in Greenhorn. She shrunk against Tristan’s side. He nudged her farther behind him and stood, pulling his sword. Masculine laughter rose from amid the unusual flames. Rashka, her face a stoic mask, rounded the fire with her bow poised as she made her way toward Karina. “What is happening?” Karina asked. “I do not know, Prophetess.” Rashka fixed her gaze at the fire. “Stay back.”

Library Lady's Kid Lit - Review & Interview

"After reading Armor of Aletheia earlier this fall, I was eagerly anticipating Sword of Soter. Ralene Burke did not disappoint. Burke continues the epic adventure begin in book one. Some of the characters continue in Sword of Soter and new ones are introduced. . . . If you enjoy epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia, I highly recommend Sword of Soter." Who did you have in mind as you wrote the book? The Sacred Armor trilogy was written for those who are still searching for their calling. Or those who have found their calling but are unsure they are worthy of it or how to embrace it. Each character is the story is called to something they are uncomfortable with for different reasons, much like we are.

Andi's Young Adult Books - Excerpt

Holding his monocle, the man offered a deep bow, to which Karina nodded. There was something familiar about him. “Greetings, Queen Karina. How nice to see you again. You are welcome indeed. I am sure you have forgotten by now, but I am Bormain, steward of the roy—by the Creator, Tristan Lemur, is that you?” Karina fought to maintain her composure as she turned to Tristan, who stiffened before holding out his hand in greeting. “Bormain, my good man, it is good to see you again.” Bormain looked a bit flustered. “I did not realize we had two royal guests.” He quirked a brow. “Much less that you were traveling together.”

Colorimetry - Guest Post

Building a Storybook World One of the best aspects of being a fantasy writer is the freedom to build our own story worlds. Granted, to an extent, we are still bound by the laws of science. But there is still massive freedom in creating a new world, including geography, creatures, and cultures. . .

Inspirational Reading Adventures - Interview & Review

Q: Which genre is your favorite? If you could only write or recommend readers read one, what would your ‘go-to’ genre be? A: FANTASY! I love that fantasy allows us to expand our imagination, to create new worlds, new peoples, new creatures. We can explore all the stuff we face in real life, but in a way that is removed and still provides a sense of escape. "If I enjoyed the first, I loved reading Sword of Soter! From the start, I was quickly pulled back into to this series, and having already met some of the main characters, this one holds more character growth and I loved all the awkward tension as Tristan and Karina learned to work together both with each other, and with others. I also felt this one is a smoother read, and the pacing was much better."

Red Headed Book Lady - Guest Post

#SHINEBeyond in Soter Readers often ask me where I came up with the #SHINEBeyond tagline and what exactly it means. And I’m all too happy to take the time to answer as this philosophy is something dear to my heart. Essentially, #SHINEBeyond was a culmination of all my work in writing, editing, and ministry—a cohesive theme seen in everything I tried to do. . .

Romancing History - Excerpt

As the steward opened the door, Karina cleared her throat. “Please remind the king that my business is urgent. I need to take my leave as soon as possible.” “I will, Your Majesty. Enjoy your stay at the palace.” And then he was gone. Karina turned back to the room. Tristan stood in the corner not bothering to hide his smirk. Rashka paced by the windows, looking out over the courtyard below and the sea beyond. Lady Moriah and the two handmaidens stood off to the side, watching them expectantly. What now?

Singing Librarian Books - Spotlight

Locks, Hooks and Books - Excerpt

Sabreen clasped her hands together and held them near her heart. “And you found her.” The words sounded sarcastic, yet there was a hint of some other emotion—something Sam could not determine. He chuckled. “Yeah, I found her with a bounty hunter.” She gasped. “How did you all get away?” “We didn’t. Turns out the bounty hunter was helping her. At least he was by then. After he kidnapped her. After he took her to Faramos.”

Paper, Ink, & Lizard - Review

". . . Burke’s passion for Christ shines through the pages of Sword of Soter through her characters, especially the main character Karina. Sword of Soter is a pleasant story and great for reading on rainy days."

J. L. Mbewe - Review

"Ralene Burke knows how to weave a story! . . . Sword of Soter was an enjoyable read that kept me turning the page to see what will happen next."

Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of this post...

Sword of Soter (Sacred Armor Trilogy #2) By Ralene Burke YA Fantasy, Christian Paperback & ebook, 275 Pages September 25th 2019 by Elk Lake Publishing Inc NEW KINGDOM. NEW FRIENDS. NEW DANGERS. NOT EVERYONE CAN BE TRUSTED … Karina, Tristian, Rashka, and Sam venture forth into the wilderness of Soter on the next leg of their quest to retrieve the Armor of the Creator. With the ancient evil already affecting the kingdom, nothing in Soter is what it seems—from what skulks beneath the canopies of the woods to what lies within the sleek white and gold of the capitol city to the people Karina and Tristan have known since they were children. Danger lurks around every corner. Discerning who to trust is paramount to staying alive and discovering the location of the Temple of Soter. Yet, to Karina’s horror, Faramos’s reach finds them time and again. The longer they are forced to dawdle, the more people are affected by the growing panic in Soter, and the closer Faramos is to taking over the Three Kingdoms. Can Karina retrieve the information they need while Tristan keeps his brother at bay? Or will the entire quest disintegrate before they even arrive at the temple?

(Affiliate link included.)

Goodreads│Amazon Also available on KindleUnlimited.

Other Books in the Series

Armor of Aletheia

(Sacred Armor Trilogy #1)

By Ralene Burke

YA Fantasy, Christian

Paperback & ebook, 268 Pages

August 29th 2018 by Elk Lake Publishing Inc.

The death of her king changes Karina’s life forever. Fleeing the royal house, she must leave her life behind to seek out the Armor of the Creator—to save the very people who now hunt her.

Faramos, the evil warlock waiting to unleash hell, knows the Creator has already chosen his warrior, so he sends his bounty hunter to retrieve her. After Tristan abducts her, he witnesses Karina’s gentle nature and strong independence, and he finds he can’t complete his assignment.

Together, they set out to retrieve the armor and defeat the hordes of creatures sent to destroy them. But is Tristan’s heart secure as he faces certain death for defending the queen? And will Karina have the courage to become all the Creator intends her to be? Failure will condemn the world to eternal darkness.

(Affiliate link included.)

Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble

Also available on KindleUnlimited.

About the Author

Whether she’s wielding a fantasy author’s pen, a social media wand, or a freelance editor’s sword, Ralene Burke always has her head in some dreamer’s world. And her goal is to help everyone #SHINEBeyond their circumstances! Her fantasy novels are available on Amazon.

When her head’s not in the publishing world, she is wife to a veteran and homeschooling mama to their three kids. Her Pinterest board would have you believe she is a master chef, excellent seamstress, and all-around crafty diva. If she only had the time . . . You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or at her website.

Website│Goodreads│Facebook│BookBub│Twitter│Instagram│Newsletter

Bookstagram Tour

This has its own giveaway, so go check it out! Enter at each stop for extra entries.

October 28th: @TheReadingCornerforAll

October 29th: @h.szott

October 30th: @mamabear_reads

October 31st: @brenyandbooks

November 1st: @bookishdelightz

Tour Giveaway

One winner will win a prize pack that will include print copies of Armor of Aletheia and Sword of Soter, a plush blanket, a tumbler with candy, a journal, and a pen all inside a half-bushel basket inlaid with a gorgeous book print material.

US only

Ends November 6, 2019

a Rafflecopter giveaway

#Sword of Soter #Ralene Burke #fantasy #Christian Fiction #Prism Book Tours #Hearts & Scribbles

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