Game of Thrones (spoilers)

[Brando]

Balon's inclusion was strange in the context of the show, but the Greyjoy's did revolt when Robert was king and are currently occupying land in the North without approval from the throne. He's one of the Five Kings. Maybe Stannis was like, "I've got these leeches lying around, it would be a shame to waste them"

I think wiping out a renegade Pirate kingdom that refuses to negotiate with anyone would be a wise move for anyone on the Iron Throne.

Still, he definitely should have included Tywin before Balon Greyjoy.

That device actually kind of annoys me. Why not use 1 or 2 or 3 more leeches to simply get rid of all your major enemies? Did something constrain them to 3 leeches? I feel like we didn't get enough information there.

If this Lord of Light business gets out of control, it could be a real problem for me.

That leach scene with the Red Woman was an example for Stannis and Joer of the power of Kings Blood. The death of Rob Stark was the proof of the power of Kingsblood and the Red Woman. The Red Woman was then going to kill Gendry and use his blood in some evil way but he escaped. I think she picked those three cause they were most likely to be killed.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Thank you... That's actually a mostly satisfying answer. They were in fact the most likely to be killed. (I guess that further explains the inclusion of Greyjoy.)

I got the impression that sacrificing Gendry would have simply been a generic large sacrifice to advance Stannis's ambitions. But that makes less sense when they introduce the concept of naming names. If I were Stannis, I would be more excited about this precision sacrifice. Start chopping off pieces of Gendry and name them after your objectives. Something like that.

[Brando]

If I remember correctly, at the time of the leeches Joer had convinced Stannis not to kill his nephew. She was using the leeches to show Stannis the power of King's blood. She picked the three most likely to be killed and the ones who's death that would have the biggest impact. The death of the hand to the king isn't as impressive as a king's death. Days of late, hand to the kings haven't lived that long anyway. It was only after the death of Rob Stark did Stannis want to go ahead with killing Gendry.

I got the impression that sacrificing Gendry would have simply been a generic large sacrifice to advance Stannis's ambitions. But that makes less sense when they introduce the concept of naming names. If I were Stannis, I would be more excited about this precision sacrifice. Start chopping off pieces of Gendry and name them after your objectives. Something like that.

I got that impression as well. With a drop of his blood, she could bring about one of his enemies death. With all his blood, she could advance Stannis' position to become king and get him an army and ships and whatever else he needs to become king cause right now he needs a lot more than a few people dead.

I'm interested in what the Red Woman will think of Khaleesii. The Red Woman worships the God of Light. She worships fire and says death by fire is the purest death. A woman that can't be burned or killed by fire and heat would have to be an Anti-God to the red woman's god of light. I want a showdown between Khaleesii and the Red Woman. The Red Woman tries some fire trick to kill Khaleesii and we know how that will end.

[Fernando]

I'm interested in what the Red Woman will think of Khaleesii. The Red Woman worships the God of Light. She worships fire and says death by fire is the purest death. A woman that can't be burned or killed by fire and heat would have to be an Anti-God to the red woman's god of light. I want a showdown between Khaleesii and the Red Woman. The Red Woman tries some fire trick to kill Khaleesii and we know how that will end.

ha! I thought about that too. interesting theory but, shouldn't a woman that can't be burned is a god and not an anti-god?
also remember what Melisandre said to Davos when he returned to Dragonstone, she blamed him for losing that battle and hence the iron throne (for the time being), said that she could have stopped the wild fire had he not influenced Stannis to left her out.....so, does that mean she can control fire, therefore dragon's fire? also since dragons are magic hers would be enhanced making her really powerful....

but since Stannis will march north now that battle seems unlikely, so, is the war for the crown over for the time being?? or who will dare to fight the Lannisters? it should be Daenerys then right? but she is so far from Westeros that it'll be many many months (years probably?) till she gets to Kingslanding...

[Jeremy Blackman]

There's also the possibility that Melisandre will turn and worship Daenerys. She certainly turned on a dime when she found out about the white walkers. And Stannis looks pretty pathetic compared to Daenerys... who also has king's blood and a pretty solid claim to the throne.

Side note, the show said as much and I'm sure the books agree, but why are dragons magic? Why can't they just be creatures in this world? What happened in Qarth certainly proved that they're magic, but what magical properties do they have exactly? So far we've just seen them fly around and breathe fire (which seems like something dragons just biologically do). I don't mean to bait for spoilers... please no spoilers...

[Jeremy Blackman]

I wonder if the white walkers are (intentionally or not) a metaphor for global warming. They're this looming force of nature very slowly marching toward civilization. At first, people deny their existence. But as soon as their presence becomes apparent, they obviously threaten everyone, so there's this opportunity for setting aside politics, tribalism, and war to fight a common enemy. But it might simply make things more complicated.

[Brando]

I thought about if the Red Woman would worship Khaleesii or not. To me I think the Red Woman would be threatened by someone that can't be burned and I don't think she would consider Khaleesii the God of Light.

If I'm wrong, I still don't see the Red Woman abandoning Stannis for Khaleesii. She likes Stannis because she has control over him. Khalessii is wary of anyone dealing in dark magic so I doubt she would want the Red Woman around and definitely would never take her council.

I don't think the Dragons are magic themselves but their presence in the world allows magic. The Warlocks in season two said their magic reappeared or became stronger when the Dragons hatched from their eggs. Magic is more powerful in the presence of the Dragons and the Dragons are more powerful in the presence of Khaleesii. While I don't think they're magic, their presence has a huge effect on the magic world in Westeros. We didn't see the Red Woman until season 2 and after the birth of the Dragons. The Red Woman's dark magic maybe due to the birth of the Dragons. It would make a lot since to have these two woman's rise to power connected in someway as their both connected to fire.

I think the rise of the White Walkers could be seen as a metaphor for a lot of things including Global Warming. The Human race has a long history of ignoring rising threats.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Very interesting.

The dragons do make sense. I think I'm mostly wondering if they have magic powers that we've yet to see. But yeah, I remember there were shooting stars when the dragons were born, and it was this big sign. I wonder if Daenerys will have this magic-amplifying effect in various places she visits along the way. Maybe it's already having an effect in Westeros... maybe this explains Beric Dondarrion being able to come back to life so many times, which (judging by the Red Woman's reaction) seemed like a new thing. Maybe what's being interpreted as the Lord of Light's power originates from Daenerys! That would be sort of mindblowing.

It's hard to tell what the Red Woman's motives are. We'd expect her to be a power-hungry manipulator etc. etc., but this might be another instance of GRRM undercutting our expectations. Her motive might be pure zealotry. She didn't think twice about switching focus to the white walkers. She might simply be moved by whatever she sees in that fire. I think she could turn on Stannis at any time. For example if she hears about the dragon birth and all of that or witnesses Daenerys doing something similar, how could she not view that, at the very least, as a miracle by the Lord of Light?

[Jeremy Blackman]

[03]

don't pretend yall didnt see the south park thing

[Fernando]

I actually didn't out of fear they would spoil the books that haven't been adapted, so, I ask you, is it safe to watch them?

[03]

yeah its makes fun of the show, it doesn't really touch on the books outside of rr martin being present

[MacGuffin]

[Pozer]

For the funnies..

[MacGuffin]