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“Well. Things didn’t work out.”

To give you all a visual - book!sansa was the same age as laena valaryon in hotd when she was forced to marry 30 year old tyrion, who tries going ahead with their “wedding night” and when she was being sexually harrassed and assaulted by other men at court.

Mr. Pokee

Finally, someone else admitted to liking this episode!

8x04 Some takeaways (P1)

Although I’m quite frustrated that D&D still deprive us of Starks’ moments and the pack vibes, in general, 8x04 is quite a good episode in my opinion. Here I’d like to share with you my thoughts on some of the key moments in the episode. I will mainly focus on the state of warfare, my interpretation of the main players’ motivations and concerns, and my view on whether their decisions (based on the set of information each one has in hand) are good for the realm. Always keep in mind that beside Family-Duty-Honour, the running theme since the beginning of the series has always been anti-war. 

1. Fact: The Stark-Targaryen alliance is not in good shape for another warfare

The episode starts with the aftermath of the Long Night. Tens of thousand died. The survivors are all wounded, drained out and devastated. Let’s do some maths to compare the Stark-Dany’s force to that of Cersei-Euron’s at the moment.

Stark-Dany: Before the battle against the Dead, the North and Vale had 20.000 soldiers. Dany had 40.000 Dothrak, 8.000 Unsullied, the remaining of Yara’s force and 2 dragons. In total, they had around 70.000 soldiers and 2 dragons. After the battle, the size of the alliance shrinks massively. Half of the Unsullied are gone and so are the Northmen, so I assume the same survival ratio applies to the Vale and Dothraki. Thus, altogether they have around 30.000 soldiers left and 2 dragons, however all in bad shape. 

Cersei-Euron: the remaining of the Lannister army, the Iron Fleet (full strength), 20.000 sellswords from the Golden Company. So I assume they have more or less the same number of soldiers as Stark-Dany alliance. Well-rested, well-armed, well-positioned for defense behind the high walls of KL, and fully-equipped with balistas to counter the dragons. 

I will discuss the rational strategy for each side in later part. For now, we clearly see that any wise leader must understand this is not the time to wage another war. Best thing to do now is giving everyone a rest to recover from the battle fatigue before starting a new campaign. (Better not to actively wage another war at all. But if they really have to, give the soldiers a break first.)

2. The King’s speech

As usual, Jon delivered his iconic “coming together” speech. Despite giving away his crown, he is still the true commander-in-chief. By the way, where was Dany? The Queen is not really familiar with “setting aside differences to fight and die together so that others might live”, hers are more about “will you kill my enemies in their iron suits and tear down their stone houses” or “bend the knee or die”. So Jon took the job, and he did it well. 

It is our duty and honor to keep them alive in memory for those who come after us and those who come after them for as long as men draw breath.

Highlight: This war for the survival of mankind is a war worth fighting and dying for, because it ensures hope and a surviving chance for the future generations. (But the coming war for the Throne might not because it sacrifices lives for power.) Note that Sansa was always in the background during this part of Jon’s speech.  –> Hint: They might very well be the ones that pass on these memories to the future generations. Having children of their own, perhaps?

3. Dany legitimizing Gendry as a way to exert her power

The next scene was the banquet, where Dany legitimized Gendry to everyone’s surprise. There was tension in the Hall with several reaction shots before Dany finally revealed her offer to make him Lord Gendry Baratheon of Storm’s End.

Gif: gendry-aryas

Tyrion: And a Lord of Storm’s End who will be forever loyal to you. 

Dany: See? You’re not the only one who’s clever. 

Was Dany trying to gain an ally? Not necessarily. Gendry does not have yet any bannermen or wealth, so he is not of immediate use to her. What Dany wanted to show people was, she was a powerful Queen who was to fear, but she could grant mercy as she wished and make or break a Lord in just seconds. Pay attention to her word choice. She first highlighted to Gendry his father’s crimes to her family and herself to make him scared: “You are aware he took my family’s throne and tried to have me murdered?”. Then she showed everyone that she could be merciful if she wanted to, and she could grant one title and wealth at her will, “You are Lord Gendry Baratheon of Storm’s End, the lawful son of Robert Baratheon. Because that is what I have made you.” 

If Dany really wanted to reward Gendry because of his contribution in the war, she would have highlighted the fact that he fought bravely and he was a great blacksmith who forged the weapons to fight the Dead, so he deserved this. No. She didn’t talk about his contribution at all. She made it clear to everyone, he became a Lord because she wanted to. 

People in the background chanted: That’s easy, isn’t it?

If the Queen could easily do everything at her will, she could make a Lord and give wealth to him in seconds, then she can strip away titles and wealth in seconds too. What is more interesting was the exchanging look between Tyrion and Sansa thereafter, both did not seem to be excited with the Queen’s generousity at all. They both knew that the relationship between the Queen and the Lady of Winterfell was strained and tried to figure out what kind of underlying message Dany wanted to convey. 

My interpretation: The Queen was sending a fair warning to the Lady of Winterfell. See how easily I reward Gendry, a bastard son of the man who stole the Throne from my family? You’d better behave, or I can strip you off your title and land as easily as I make a Lord out of him. 

Gif: allons-ymrholmes

So very probably, Dany wanted to warn Sansa that the Queen could strip away her land and title at ease. But if she intends to do so, who would she grant Winterfell to? The possible candidates are Bran (the only living trueborn son of Ned) and Jon (the supposed bastard, if he stays silent about his parentage). Some of you might think that this is a very Tywinesque move that Dany could never think of. But I think this is very possible. Otherwise, Sansa and Tyrion would not have exchanged that suspiscious look.

Both Tyrion and Sansa were aware of Dany’s possible hidden agenda. Tyrion then did a bit of reality check with Bran. He was always curious about the crippled boy and his adventure, and now he wanted to test what the boy wanted. He praised Bran’s extensive knowledge and said that it would be useful as Lord of Winterfell. Arghh, but Sansa is currently the Lady of Winterfell, why did Tyrion give hint to Bran that he was the only trueborn son of Ned Stark and should be the Lord of Winterfell? I think Tyrion was trying to figure out the power dynamic within the Stark family and what each of them might want. Do they want power, or do they want something else? Bran made it clear to Tyrion that he didn’t really want to be the Lord of Winterfell anymore. (Maybe he did when he was a kid, but now he doesn’t.) Since Tyrion didn’t know about Jon’s parentage yet, so to his knowledge the contenders for Winterfell are only Jon and Sansa. In Tyrion’s eyes, Jon is clearly in Dany’s favor since he is her lover. If Dany legitimizes Jon and gives Winterfell to him, Sansa would be empty-handed. To certain extent, Tyrion cares for Sansa’s well-being, that’s why he approached Sansa and raised his concerns to her before he left.

- to be continued -

Hi! I'm really enjoying your blog, your predictions for S2 and how you analyse the characters! I apologize if you already did this but I'm curious about your thoughts regarding Edward (especially if you think he cares about Esther) and Clara as characters and about the nature of their relationship with each other. Thank you and happy holidays!

Hey, nonnie!

So sorry to take this long to answer your ask. I was so consummed with my fanfic in December and then so tired I didn’t manage to get to these meatier asks sooner. Hopefully, you’re still interested in my answer.

I haven’t actually talked about Edward Denham on my blog before, aside from a little comment in one of my first metas about him and Esther being Davies’ take on Mary and Henry Crawford from Mansfield Park. In fact at the start of the series the Mansfield Park connection is completed with Clara in the place of the innocent ingenue Fanny Price that is to be seduced by the rake with his sister’s support.

One of the coolest things Davies does with Sanditon is that he takes full advantage of our Jane Austen proficency by littering this world with all the familiar Austen archetypes. But just as soon as you begin to lament that this world offers too much of the familiar and not enough of the strange, he pulls the rug from under you and reveals these characters to be something else entirely.

And no one exemplifies this better than Esther. The cold, mercenary harpy bent on swindeling her aunt and ruining a poor girl’s reputation in the process is revealed to be the true victim of this little traingle. A girl who fell in love with a bad man without any chance of escaping him. And the innocent ingenue? Well … Clara is about as far removed from Fanny Price as one can get.

However, the one character that remains unaltered, in fact the character that holds the fewest surprises in the whole of Sanditon is Edward. He is exactly as advertised: the Henry Crawford bent on seducing virginal Fanny, Wickham planning to “whisk” Georgiana away, Willoughby playing with Marianne and then discarding her.

I actually think Willoughby might actually be the closest analog to Edward. Willoughby is, by far, in my mind the worst of Austen’s villians. A true, clinical case of narcisism if there’s every been one.

Willoughby and Edward aren’t dangerous simply because they will use you to get money the way Wickham does or because they want to saw wild oats. They are dangerous because they are perfectly willing to gaslight and use their victims for as long as they possibly can.

They aren’t content to simply go on their merry way once it becomes clear you’ve figured out their true character. They will come back and prod as many times as possible, searching for any weakness which might allow them entry back into your life. Their objective isn’t just material (although both Edward and Willighouby love luxuary when they get it without having to work for it) but emotional as well.

Everytime Esther relents to Edward, everytime she follows his lead, his influence over her grows.  Their relationship is all the more damaging and dangerous because she’s stuck in a house with him 24/7.

The worst part of it is, Edward doesn’t trick Esther by making her believe he is better than he is. She sees all his ugliness, his faults, his selfishness and ego. What he does is far worse: he makes her believe she is as bad as him.

He takes this naturally honest, compassionate and intelligent woman and twists her up into a shell of herself. He breakes down her selfesteem to such a degree that while she’s with him, she convinces herself of her own immorality and after she finally manages to leave him, she thinks of herself as worthless for having allowed herself to be manipulated by him. She is in a lose-lose situation either way.

Esther’s relationship with Edward is scary, sad and very, very real in a way that becomes all the more uncomfortable, the more you think about it so it’s hard to talk about love in this context.

The real question is: can someone who is inherently unhealthy love in a positive way? I do think Edward probably loves her but his way of loving is tained by his own twisted personality so it’s not something worth having in any case.

As for his relationship with Clara, on the surface it’s a classic cat and mouse game. But I do think beneath all that is some sort of twisted attraction probably born from selfloathing. They can recognize something of themselves in each other and they end up forming a bond, if their last conversation is any indication:

Edward: The vanquished enemy retreats.

Clara: I was never your enemy.

[…]

Clara: Look at you … Alone and unloved. Trust me. That’s not an easy placeto find yourself in. I will spare you a thought now and then. I know you will think of me.

I do think in a theoretical season 2, Edward and Clara would be back, possibly scheeming together.

Thanks for the ask!

“Ask not for whom the bell tolls,” goes the famous paraphrasing of John Donne’s sermon. “It tolls for thee.” The bitter truth of this aphorism—that the loss of any life is a loss for all—gets a brutal workout in the aptly named “The Bells,” arguably the best representation of George R.R. Martin’s deconstruction of fantasy tropes we’ve seen in several seasons. The bells of King’s Landing, it turns out, don’t toll for the loss of Cersei’s authority. They toll for the loss of everyone in the city, quite literally. This story began as a way to invert the cliched stereotypes of the hero’s journey, to twist the traditional narrative of swords and sorcery in a radical way and rethink how such epics are delivered. This episode brings that philosophy home. There are no good wars; any battle that begins with hearty cheering should end with somber melancholy; it doesn’t matter who the good guys and bad guys are in the face of death; nobody wants to die; the chaos of war makes villains and victims of us all.“

Alex McLevy, AV Club TV Critic’s Review of “The Bells”

So now we’re Calling D&D sexists misogynists because we’re not going to get the ending we wanted!!!  

 Cersei is playing men  like a fucking piano she’s using her fake pregnancy to get them to do what she wants( jamie prolly left brienne and went South to try to save her and their baby) euron would do anything for his future prince and tyrion dumbly believes that cersei can be trusted because of the supposed baby she’s expecting.

Sansa is the most powerfull person in the north she’s loved  respected by the northerners lords and they even  wanted her to be their queen because she’s absolutely  brilliant at what she does , she outsmarted littlefuckingfinger  killed ramsay the man who put her through hell( jon could have done it but he didn’t sansa did it herself like a Fucking G)

Arya stole the show in 8x03 she killed the Fucking night king who saw that one coming?! we all thought jon was going to kill TNK and we were Fucking wrong. She also had sex with gendry and then left him because being a lady isn’t for her she left him not the other way around.

Brienne won a fight against  the hound and she’s now a knight

 Dany’s  been kicking men ass since seaon 2, jon gave up the north’ independence and now he’s giving up his birthright just to please her.

we also had margaery ollena catelyn…GOT writers are not  misogynists if anything they’re feminists the women are the ones who run shit in westeros .

Ideas for Season 2

What if next season the writers kept up the unreliable narrator device? 

There could be an episode next season centering on the Massacre at Vassy - the start of the many wars of religion - where Louis de Bourbon (Prince of Conde) tells Ramira HIS side of the story. In his version he is the only one fighting for Protestants to have the same freedoms and rights as everyone else. This would make for a more rounded character and an interesting look at how Louis sees himself. With his narration he becomes a freedom fighter for the oppressed. Protestants can’t teach/study at Universities, hold certain jobs, worship in public in many cities/provinces. He sees himself as the Huguenots’ savior in many ways–their version of Martin Luther King Jr. He can even physically look thinner and more dignified instead of fulfilling the short/fat one dynamic he has with Antoine when Catherine is narrating. 

Since other shows set in this time period do not have the unreliable narrator device, this show should use it to their advantage. This story is filled with people manipulating each other–why not manipulate the audience while you’re at it? 

Plus it gives Ramira some internal conflict: who does she believe? Maybe Catherine could try to make her into one of her Flying Squadron (spy/seductresses) but Ramira doesn’t like this, so hearing Louis’s side of the story could help bring tension between her and Catherine, giving Ramira something to do next season since historically she never existed and could easily be overshadowed by the show’s historical figures and events.