Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, was a great wildling leader but also a deserter and former member of the Night's
April 19, 2015
That’s What Ygritte Said A weekly Game of Thrones newsletter by Sam Ryu
THE WARS TO COME - SEASON 5, EPISODE 1 This is the beginning of the end. If Game of Thrones runs seven, maybe eight, seasons long as the show’s producers have been saying, S5E1 is where the endgame starts. Mathematically, because we are in the second half of the series. Narratively, because it almost feels like a different show than the one that premiered four years ago. The biggest driving forces in S1—Ned Stark, King Robert Baratheon, Viserys Targaryen and “his” Dothraki horde—are no longer even factors. After four seasons of world-building and raising the stakes, it’s time to start boiling the milk for your hot chocolate because Winter is Coming. Still. And soon. The most exciting way to start this? Making worlds converge. Five groups of stories meet in the North, four in the Vale, three in Meereen, and three big ones in the South (King’s Landing and Dorne). And even more characters.
April 19, 2015
Dammit, Cersei! Ask Better Questions. Little Cersei (just as mean, not as witty) asks three questions and gets three prophecies. And while these prophecies seem to be the source of Cersei’s hatred and general paranoia, we don’t know how valid these prophecies actually are. 1. “You will never wed the prince. You’ll wed the king.” The king, of course, is referring to Robert Baratheon. More interestingly, the prince she originally asked about is Rhaegar Targaryen—Daenerys’s eldest brother (not the weasel who died via “golden crown” from Khal Drogo, that’s Viserys). Rhaegar died before the show started, but we’ve heard his name referenced many times throughout the series. He was the heir apparent to King Aerys II Targaryen (aka the Mad King). Tywin served as Hand of the King to Aerys II and tried to wed Cersei to Rhaegar, but Rhaegar married Elia Martell (Oberyn’s sister) instead. Tywin betrayed the Targaryens and joined Robert’s Rebellion. Elia later got raped and murdered by the Mountain on Tywin’s orders. Tywin then successfully wed Cersei and Robert. Cersei got to be queen after all. Fun note: Robert killed Rhaegar in battle (war hammer to the chest) because Rhaegar ran off with Lyanna Stark (Ned’s sister), whom Robert loved. So you can see why Cersei hated Robert so much. 2. “You’ll be queen... for a time. Then comes another—younger, more beautiful— to cast you down and take all you hold dear.” Cersei assumes it’s Margaery Tyrell. But this is where the validity of these prophecies vs. Cersei’s interpretation of them becomes murky because “younger, more beautiful” could be Daenerys, whom Cersei has always dismissed as a real threat. It could be Sansa. Or maybe it’s her own daughter Myrcella. 3. “The king will have 20 children. And you will have three. Gold will be their crowns. Gold their shrouds.”
April 19, 2015
And this is why Cersei, for all her terrible qualities, loves and is overprotective of her children—they are all predicted to die. Robert has 20 bastard children (most of them killed on orders from Joffrey in S2E1—one survivng bastard is Arya’s blacksmith friend, Gendry). Then there’s fun wordplay with “gold will be their crowns”—does this mean literally as in they will each be royalty and/or sit on the throne or figuratively as in they will have golden blonde hair (a result of incest)? We Need to Talk About Kevan (and Lancel Lannister)
Lancel Lannister, S1E6
Lancel Lannister, S5E1
Speaking of hair and incest... cousin Lancel Lannister! He was Robert’s useless squire (job duties: serve wine) in S1 who got punked around a lot. He also kept Cersei’s bed warm (you know, sexually) while Jaime was away fighting/captured. I don’t think his conversation with Cersei this episode indicates that he helped Cersei poison Robert. Just that she told Lancel to give him way too much wine during the hunt, so he would be more accident-prone and maybe killed by a boar. Lancel was last seen getting injured during battle (S2E9). Lancel sans shoes and golden locks, seems to have joined a religious sect called the Sparrows. I’m sure we’ll learn more about them soon. We also see Kevan Lannister again. He is Tywin’s younger brother and Lancel’s father. He was seen on Tywin’s war counsel several times —the last time in Harrenhal (S2E8). Cersei and Kevan Lannister
April 19, 2015
Remember Me? I imagine this will be a very frequently recurring section for minor characters that pop in and out of the show. This week: Olyvar, who we see postcoitus with Loras Tyrell. We were first introduced to Olyvar in S3E5 Olyvar, S4E1 when he was a spy-prostitute for Littlefinger. He seduced Loras during sword practice (no sexual innuendo intended) and discovered that Loras was secretly engaged to Sansa Stark, as arranged by Varys and Lady Olenna Tyrell. After uncovering this secret, Littlefinger told Cersei, who then told Tywin, who then hatched the plan to marry Tyrion to Sansa and Cersei to Loras—this way, he keeps both the key to the North and the heir to the Tyrell family connected to the Lannister name. Olyvar then seemed to be running Littlefinger’s brothel in S4E1 (after Littlefinger was sent to the Vale by Tywin), when Oberyn and his paramour Ellaria Sand asked him to join their season-long sex party. Is Olyvar still spying for Littlefinger? Or has he now become Loras’s real lover/boy toy? Loose Ends - Everyone is rocking their goth look this episode. Not only for the funeral in King’s Landing, but it looks like Melisandre dyed her hair black for the Wall. But step aside, there is only One True Goth—her name is Black Swansa. - Robin Arryn looking pathetic wielding a sword, like Joffrey vs. Arya (S1E2). - Daenerys sex hair though. - Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, was a great wildling leader but also a deserter and former member of the Night’s Watch. To join the weekly newsletter mailing list, send an email to
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