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occupyvenus · 5 years

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Human Genetics 1.0.1

Plus: How closely are Jon and Daenerys related exactly?

Dear @iheartdandelions, this this is no way supposed to be an attack on you but I’ve seen you claim that Jon is more closely related to his mother than his father one too many times and felt the need to clear some things up. See this as an opportunity to learn something about this fascinating topic, rather than becoming defensive about it. You misunderstood or misinterpreted a lot of the things stated in this article and I just have to point them out.

What this isn’t about: I am not making a point about incest being necessarily bad in the asoiaf universe. I’m not arguing that Jon and Dany’s close genetic relation is a reason for them to not be together. I will not even talk about it. I don’t care. This isn’t about ships but scientific accuracy.

What this is about: Jon did not “inherit more genetic makeup from Lyanna than Rhaegar” because he looks like her. There is no conceivable way in which Jon and Dany have as little as 1,7% of their DNA in common. Both those statements are objectively and factually wrong. Jon is half Rhaegar and half Lyanna, no matter how he looks and he and Dany have anything between 30 and 50% of their DNA in common, most likely 44%. I will prove it with science and explain it in excruciating detail.

This essay is structured into the following sections:

1. DNA, Genes, Chromosomes and Alleles

2. Genotype vs Phenotype / Dominant, recessive, co-dominant and intermediate inheritance

3. Mitosis and Meiosis

4. The 1,7% were based on outdated, flawed data

5. Targcest vs Nocest / the coefficient of relationship and how closely Jon and Dany are actually related

Anyone who thinks they don’t need to refresh their knowledge on basic human genetics can feel free to jump to the last section. It might still be interesting.

1. DNA, Genes, Chromosomes and Alleles

This is the your DNA:

It is made up of about 3 billion adenine-thymine and cytosine-guanine pairs. It’s the main thing that makes you you.

Portions of DNA that code for specific proteins are called genes.

The majority of human DNA is actually not used for producing proteins and was formerly called “junk-DNA”. We falsely believed that it was pretty much meaningless. We are only now starting to understand how much non-coding-DNA influences the way our genetic code works.

Your DNA is packaged into chromosomes. Every species has a different amount of them, which is the main reason why different species can’t interbreed or why the offspring of different species (Mules, Ligers, etc) tends to be infertile. Human beings have 23 different chromosomes. 22 autosomal ones that are not sex-specific and one sex chromosome (either X or Y) that specifies your biological sex.

However, only sperm and egg cells have 23 chromosomes, which is called haploid.

All other cells in your body are diploid, having two different sets of the 22 autosomal chromosomes and 2 sex chromosomes (either two X chromosomes if you are biologically female or one X and one Y if you are biologically male). That would look like this:

You have two sets of chromosomes because you inherited one set from your mother and one set from your father. You always owe half of your genetic material to your father and half to your mother, no matter who you resemble more.

You also have DNA that isn’t packaged into chromosomes. For example your mitochondrial DNA which is only inherited through your mother. When compared to your chromosomal DNA however, it’s amount is so minuscule that it won’t influence how closely you are related to your mother and father in any meaningful way. (And no, mitochondrial DNA does not influence your appearance so this isn’t the reason why Jon resembles Lyanna more than Rhaegar.)

Gametes (sperm and eggs) only have one set of chromosomes because they are going to be combined with the set of another person to produce a new human being. That human being will again have two sets, one paternal (from the father) and one maternal (from the mother).

Your paternal and maternal chromosome 1 (for example) are called an homologous pair. The genes present on each will have the same general job, they will however not be exactly the same due to random mutations and genetic variety. Mutations can lead to the same genes working in slightly different ways. (eg coding for brown or blue eyes. They still both influence eye color.) Every human being has the genes that make him a human, but humans still aren’t exact copies of one another.

Different variations of the same gene are called alleles. You can either have the same alleles on both chromosomes, what is called homozygosity, or you can have two different alleles on each chromosome, which is called heterozygosity.

These variations in alleles for each gene is why people look the way they look. To find out why people sometimes resemble one parent more than the other, we have to look at how these different alleles can interact with one another.

2. Genotype vs Phenotype / dominant, recessive, co-dominate and intermediate inheritance

Genotype = your actual genetic code in its entirety

Phenotype = what traits (appearance, behavior, diseases, metabolism, etc) can be observed

Someone's phenotype doesn’t necessarily tell you what exact genes they carry. Here’s why:

2.1 Dominant vs recessive

In some cases one allele will be dominant and the other recessive. This means that the dominant trait will always be expressed when present, while the recessive one will be expressed only if no dominant allele is. If one dominant and one recessive allele is present, if you are heterozygous for that specific gene, the dominant one is expressed while the recessive one is only “carried”. You can still pass it to the next generation.

Two people could carry the allele for a recessive trait without even knowing it (due to it being silenced by the dominant one) and still have a 1/4 chance of producing a child with that recessive trait.

The children in this case did not inherit more genetic makeup from their father, they simply ended up expressing the dominant trait inherited from him and not the recessive one inherited from their mother. However, all children in this setup will end up carrying the recessive allele and can potentially pass it on to their children.

One of the few traits in human appearance that are inherited monogenic (only one gene is responsible for a specific trait) and dominant-recessive. Your type of hair-line would be one example.

If neither you, nor your wife have a widow’s peak, your children won’t have one either, since you are both homozygous for a recessive trait.

If one of them does have one ... it might be time to call Jerry Springer.

We believed for a long time that hair- and eye-color are also inherited like this (with darker colors being dominant and lighter ones being recessive) but we do now know that things are more complicated than this and that several genes (and epigenetic factors) are involved in deciding your hair color.

Generally speaking however, both darker eyes and darker hair tend to be dominant. It thus makes perfect sense that the child of these two people:

is most likely to take after his mother’s darker coloration.

Not because he inherited all his “hair and eye color genes” from her and none from his father, but because his mother's genes are more dominant and will thus be visible in his phenotype. He still carries some “blond” alleles from his father and could have blond children if whoever woman he has children with, also has “blond” alleles.

Ned figured out that Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are NOT Robert’s children with the exact same logic. Every time a black-haired Baratheon had children with a blonde woman, their children had black hair. Which is pretty consistent with real life. None of Robert’s children with Cersei following this trend was just too much of a coincidence.

This is the main reason why genetic diversity and avoiding inbreeding is so important. The more closely people are related, the more likely the are to carry the same recessive alleles for a specific condition, the more likely they are to have a child with a condition. As good as every person alive carries recessive alleles for one disease or another, but, not reproducing with people we are closely related to, makes it unlikely to meet up with a person who carries the exact same recessive alleles as you.

The coefficient of inbreeding tells you how likely it is that a person is homozygous for a specific allele by descent. It is actually impossible to accurately calculate for House Targaryen, because we do not know how many generations ago they started marrying their siblings. Even generous approximations (assuming the Aegon I was the first to incest) sets it way higher for Daenerys than for any known real human that has ever lived. But since we don’t care about Dany’s risk for recessive disorders, but only her relation to Jon, we are just going to ignore this. Only bringing it up because it is a thing.

2.2 Co-dominant alleles

Co-dominant alleles will both be expressed to the same amount, none of them is dominant enough to silence the other. They can however still be fully dominant against a third trait. The ABO system of blood types would be an example of this in human beings. The traits for blood type A and B are both dominant to O, but co-dominant to each other. This means that a couple where one has the blood type A and one has the blood type B have equal chances of producing a child with any of the four blood types if they are heterozygous and carry the allele for O as well.

A child ending up with blood type A ( A == phenotype, AO == genotype) didn’t inherit “more genes” from its mother because she shares the same blood type. It merely inherited a dominant trait from its mother and a recessive trait from its father.

2.3 Intermediate inheritance

The third most common way for alleles to interact is the intermediate one. Meaning that if two different alleles that code for two different traits are present, the phenotype will be a mix between the two. If a flower's color is inherited this way, a white and red flower will produce pink ones.

This is for example how human skin color is inherited. In reality, it is an immensely complex process that we don’t fully understand yet, but simplified: We have numerous genes that code for the production of melanin in our skin and certain mutations lead to a reduced production, leading to lighter skin.

Let’s assume we have only three genes A, B and C that all contribute the same amount to the color of our skin (in reality it’s much more and not all have the same influence, there are also epigenetic influences but we are trying to keep this simple here): An uppercase letter means that the gene will contribute to melanin-production, a lowercase letter is a mutation that will not. Three genes on two chromosomes makes six alleles in total. Having six ... let's call it “melanin-points” will lead to the darkest skin coloration possible while having zero means producing no melanin at all.

Even in this extremely simplified version we only have 7 phenotypes and 24 different genotypes showing once again that simply looking at someone doesn’t tell you all that much about what specific genes they are made of. Let’s look at a little example of what would happen if a dark-skinned man and light-skinned woman had a child:

Their child would have a 50% chance of its skin color being a perfect mix between the two and a 25% each, of being a bit more on the light or the dark side.

A child ending up inheriting 4/6 “melanin-points” would not be more closely related to its father and a child ending up with lighter skin would not be more closely related to its mother.

This is of course far more complex in real life but it can occasionally lead to mix-raced couples having children with vastly different skin tones. It’s the most obvious (and cute) when it happens to fraternal twins (twins that are only as related as normal siblings and don’t share 100% of their DNA).

These children are 50% mom and 50% dad, they are in no way more closely related to their black or white parent. The one with darker skin just happened to inherit more alleles coding for the production of melanin and statistical improbabilities can sometimes lead to extreme variations.

This also goes the other way around. I won’t write out all possible genotypes (it would be 64 in total) but here are the probabilities if both parents are medium-dark-skinned:

While highly unlikely, two people with medium-dark skin can have children with far darker or far lighter skin. Genetics can be weird like that.

Some alleles involved in hair- and eye-color also interact like this, instead of dominant/recessive.

So, now that we have that out of the way there is only one more thing we have to cover before moving on to the topic of how related you are to what relative. It gets a bit more complicated when it comes to siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc but with your parents IT IS ALWAYS 50/50. ALWAYS.

3. Mitosis and Meiosis

Mitosis is the process of normal body cells duplicating themselves. One mother-cell produces two identical daughter-cells with the exact same DNA. We don’t need to get too into detail here, what’s important is that the initial two (!) sets of chromosomes are copied perfectly, leading to 4 sets of chromosomes being present temporarily and later the mother-cell dividing itself into two new cells who take two sets of chromosomes each with them. Creating two completely normal diploid cells.

Meiosis is the creation of four haploid germ cells out of one diploid cell. Four (4) because this process starts out the same way as mitosis: by duplicating the existing diploid chromosome set. Meiosis produces four haploid cells instead of two diploid ones is the one big difference. The other being the recombination of your homologous pairs of chromosomes. What happens is that some portion of the paternal chromosome will be swapped with the same portion of the maternal chromosome.

This is also called “crossing over” and just like sexual reproduction itself, it increases the genetic diversity of someone’s offspring. The newly created germ cell won’t simple receive one half of the maternal or paternal chromosome, but can potentially inherit a random combination of the two.

This is what the article you read talked about. In the example above Child 2 inherited far more DNA from it’s maternal grandmother than grandfather. This will however only influence how closely related the children are to their grandparents and to themselves. They still share 50% of their DNA with their mother and 50% with their father.

This will happen with all 23 chromosome pairs and will most likely average out to 50% shared DNA between siblings, 25% between grandparents/grandchildren, etc. Those number are of course only averages and there is indeed some range. If through pure coincidence child 2 consistently inherits a bit more from it’s maternal grandmother, it will indeed be more closely related to her than to its maternal grandfather. It still doesn’t change its degree of relationship to its mother or father. Which are, by the way, all things the author of that article mentions.

The less closely related two people are, and the more crossovers can occur, the bigger that range gets respectively and the more likely it is that their actual shared amount will deviate from the statistically expected one. With close relatives like aunt/nephew however, the expected amount of shared DNA is vastly bigger than 1,7% even when working with the lower limit of that range. Why that is, is what we’ll talk about next:

4. The 1,7% ... were based on outdated, flawed data

Some things about this chart ... just don’t look right.

The average cM for Aunt/Uncle is stated to be 1703, the range given is 121 - 2227. One should think that random processes like this would lead to a Gaussian normal distribution, but while the highest cM given is 524 points higher than average, the lowest is 1582 (!!!) lower. An almost three times bigger deviation. That doesn’t sound right.

Also, other relations of the same degree (with similar averages) have extremely different ranges:

Grandparents: Avg: 1760, 875 - 2365

Half-Sibling: Avg: 1731, 787 - 2134

The same is true for other relations of the same degree. Half-niece/Half-nephew having a lower range of 540, while first cousins only have 83 (!!!) , Great Aunt/Uncle having 236, Great-Grandparents having 547.

This all looks immensely inconsistent.

After doing some digging I found out that this chart was created by the “Shared cM Project” that introduces itself like so:

The Shared cM Project is a collaborative data collection and analysis project created to understand the ranges of shared centiMorgans associated with various known relationships. As of August 2017, total shared cM data for more than 25,000 known relationships has been provided. To add your data, the Submission Portal is HERE. I am always collecting data, and perhaps the next update with have 50,000 or 100,000 relationships!

Collecting genetic information by asking the public to only submit data about known relationships? Whatever could go wrong? When you have to rely on people knowing for certain whose sperm produced which child? Except for people not being quite as closely related to each other as they think they are .... Do I have to bring up Jerry Springer again?

I looked at their website a bit longer and could find this additional information about the chart above:

When compared to the minimums of the other Aunt/Uncle subgroups it is quite obvious that “121″ is a statistical outlier that shouldn’t have been included in the final publication.

I am afraid you fell victim to bad data.

Or maybe you willfully fell victim to it, since the person writing the article you love quoting did bring up the possibility of it being a fluke:

He probably should have been a bit more assertive about this being a runaway value (because it most obviously is) but still. I would have honestly been very shocked if a Stanford professor would be negligent enough to overlook this.

Looking at the newest published data from April 2018, it becomes even more apparently clear that the first one from 2015 simply didn’t have enough reliable data yet to show any conclusive results. (and they probably shouldn’t have included the absolute minimum and maximum but the 99 percentile as they did here)

Average cM and range for Aunt/Uncle from 2015: 1703, 121 - 2227. Average cM and range for Aunt/Uncle from 2018: 1750, 1349 - 2175.

That looks ... more reasonable. A lot more reasonable to be honest. Which would put the lowest possible amount of shared DNA between Aunt/Uncle and Niece/Nephew according to this data at ... 19,27%. Which also sounds a lot more reasonable than 1,7%.

Another thing to keep in mind when looking at these numbers is that DNA-tests are not necessarily 100% accurate. Whether your DNA is compared to somebody else’s by a private company like 23&Me or by law enforcement, they are not going to sequence your entire genetic information. The costs for sequencing an entire genome are still estimated to be around 1000$ and ain’t nobody got money for that. What they do instead is look at several distinct sections of your DNA and calculate your degree of relation depending on the matches in differences they find in those. The more sections they look at, they more accurate the results will be but depending on how much money you invest it will be somewhere between fairly and somewhat accurate.

The information put forward by this project will however get better and better the more data they collect and it’s pretty cool endeavor over all.

That still doesn’t tell us how closely Jon and Dany are actually related, since this chart does not consider the insane amount of inbreeding that went on in House Targaryen.

5. Targcest vs Nocest, the coefficient of relationship and how closely Jon and Dany are actually related

Jon and Dany might be aunt and nephew in name, but not in genes.

To start things out, let me show you how brother-sister incest influences the genes shared by their children by the hypothetical path of one chromosome pairs inheritance. I determined which parts of which chromosome would be passed on with a random number generator.

But where do the expected 12,5 and 75% come from? I didn’t just pull them out of my ass, so let me explain:

5.1 Calculating the coefficient of relationship

That percentage is also called the coefficient of relationship. It tells you what percentage of DNA two people are expected to share by common ancestry. The easiest way to calculate it is through drawing a family tree and simply counting lines. The more generations that family tree includes, showing also any degree of inbreeding in the past, the more accurate the calculation is. Using the last three or four will however be sufficiently accurate in most cases.

This is your average family tree without any inbreeding:

To find out how much DNA the siblings John and Jane Doe have in common, you look at all common ancestors through which they are related, ie through which you can draw paths from one to the other without passing through the same ancestor twice. In this case, this is only true for their parents. Let’s simplify their family tree down to that relationship.

I have included their grandparents to highlight why they can’t be used in the same way. If you were to connect John and Jane through one of them you would always have to go back through either their father and mother and passing through the same person twice isn’t allowed.

There is one unique path through which they are connected through their first common ancestor: Their father.

Now, what does the number of line segments tell us? As stated above Jane Doe and Joe Doe are each going to inherit 1/2 of their fathers DNA. Put differently, each part of Papa Doe’s DNA has an equal chance to be inherited or not.

It’s like flipping coins, there is a 1/2 chance to get heads and a 1/2 chance to get tails and if you flip a coin several times it will show heads 1/2 of the time and tails 1/2 of the time. This essay has already gotten way out of hand already and I don’t want go into the basics of probability calculation as well but I promised to explain all this in excruciating detail so I guess I have no choice.

You have 1000 thousand coins, flip them and lay them out in a row. ~500 of them will show head, ~500 of them show tails. Heads symbolizes the half of dad’s DNA that is passed on to the firstborn child, tails is the half that isn’t. This symbolizes the 50% of Joe Doe’s DNA that John inherited, symbolized by line 1 in the graphic above.

You do the same thing once again for the second child and lay out the row next to that of it’s older sibling. That’s the 50% Jane inherited from her father, that’s line 2 in the chart.

To find out how much DNA inherited from their father it has in common with its older sibling, you look at all their coins that show heads and count how often their siblings coin next to it also shows heads.

Since you are again looking at a sample of randomly flipped coins, about 1/2 of them will show heads and half of them won’t. That means 1/4 (one half of one half or 1/2 x 1/2) of the coin pairs will both show heads, meaning that 1/4 of their DNA is identical through inheriting the same genes from their father.

One (1) line segment simply stands for a probability of 1/2, and since 2^-1 is just another way of writing 1/2 we will use this notation. (2^-2 being equal to 1/2, 2^-2 to 1/4, 2^-3 to 1/8, 2^-4 to 1/16 and so on and so forth.)

The amount of identical DNA two people inherited from a common ancestor is 2^-[amount of line segments].

In this case it’s two lines, so 2^-2 = 1/4 = 0,25 = 25%.

We do the same thing for their second common ancestor, their mother, and also get 2^-2. By adding this two together we get our final answer:

2^-2 + 2^-2 = 0,25 + 0,25 = 0,5 = 50%

They inherited the same 25% from their father and the same 25% from their mother, making 50% in total.

If you want to calculate the amount of DNA shared between someone and their direct ancestor (mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, etc) you simply count the lines directly connecting the two. 2^-1 or 50% for parents and child, 2^-2 for grandparents and grandchildren and so on.

Next are first cousins. John Doe and Jane Doe each got married and had a child with their perspective partner (that have no relevant, close common ancestry with each other or with the Doe family)

They can be connected through two common ancestors: Grandpa and Grandma Doe. They can both be connected through either of them with one unique path:

If we count the lines and enter the number into our little formula, their coefficient of relationship is 2^-4 + 2^-4 = 0,125 or 12,5%.

You can also see in this charts how closely related Daughter Doe is to her Aunt Jane Doe: You simply ignore the fourth line that would connect her to her cousin and get 2^-3 + 2^-3 = 0,25 or 25%.

Before jumping into the clusterfuck that is the Targaryen family tree here are two examples that are a bit more convoluted but that can still happen in real life, with no incest involved.

Sibling-cousins or 3/4 siblings if two brothers have two children with the same woman (or vice versa)

In this case, John Doe, the Second and Jake Doe, the Second, have three relevant ancestors in common: Their grandparents and their mother.

They are connected through their mother with two lines, so we can start our calculation with 2^-2

and through their grandparents with one unique line each with a length of four, which makes: 2^-2 + 2^-4 + 2^4 = 0,375 = 37,5%. Another way of coming to that number is by thinking about them being both half-siblings (25%) and cousins (12,5%) and adding those percentages together 37,5%. You could make the joke that their fathers are also their uncles. Just without any incest involved.

The last special case I want to talk about before moving on the Targaryen family tree, are double cousins. When two siblings marry two siblings.

Son Mustermann and Daughter Joe have four grandparents in common, whereas “ordinary” cousins will only share two. You can again look at all the unique paths through which they are connected through those four to get their shared DNA:

Through Grandma Doe: 2^-4

plus Grandpa Doe makes: 2^-4 + 2^-4

plus Oma Mustermann makes: 2^-4 + 2^-4 + 2^-4

plus Opa Mustermann makes: 2^-4 + 2^-4 + 2^-4 + 2^-4 = 0,25 or 25%. They are quite literally ��double”cousins. We have already doubled the amount of shared DNA between the children of two siblings and we haven’t even thrown incest into the mix! Which we shall do now.

5.2 How closely Daenerys and Jon are actually related

The last known common ancestors of Daenerys and Rhaegar who were not related to each other were their Great-Grandparents, Aegon V and his wife Betha Blackwood. Adding earlier ancestors wouldn’t make any sense since their paths would need to lead through Aegon twice (which we don’t do). Here is the relevant part of the Targaryen family ladder in all it’s incestuous glory:

As you can already see, there are tons of unique ways through which Dany and Jon are connected through common ancestors. In order to make this a bit simpler, I will work my way down from top to bottom.

How close are Aegon and Betha related? 0%. No known common ancestry.

How close are Jaehaerys and Shaera related? 50% Same as every other brother and sister. You can just look at the example shown above.

However, how close Aerys and Rhaella are related is an entirely different matter. We can draw paths through both their parents and grandparents without going through the same ancestors twice.

Their coefficient or relationship through their mother and father remains unchanged: 2^-2 + 2^-2 = 0,50. Things are a bit more complicated when it comes to their grandparents though:

Aerys and Rhaella are connected through Aegon through two (2) distinct paths with 4 segments each: 2^-4 + 2^-4

and through Betha through two distinct lines with 4 segments each: 2^-4 + 2^-4.

You may notice that this is the exact same configuration of lines as the double-cousins example above. The only difference is that their four shared grandparents are condensed into only two people. And indeed, Aerys and Rhaella are both full-siblings and double-cousins. Aerys’ mother is also his aunt and his father is also his uncle and the same is true for Rhaella.

By adding the expected amount of common DNA inherited from each ancestor together, we get:

2^-2 + 2^-2 + 2^-4 + 2^-4 + 2^-4 + 2^-4 = 0,75 = 75%.

And Rhaegar and Dany? They are related through their parents with 50%, to their grandparents with 25% (same as Aerys and Rhaella) and also through their great-grandparents through ...

4 times 2^-6 through Betha and ...

4 times 2^-6 through Aegon which ...

makes 4 x 2^-6 + 4 x 2^-6 = 0,125 or 12,5% common DNA through their Great-Grandparents which ....

makes 50 + 25 + 12,5 = 87,5% in total.

I will even do you the favor and calculate their 99 percentile range according to the latest data of the shared cM project!

They are full siblings: ave % = 50, range = 42 - 64%

They are first cousins two times over: ave % = 25, range = 16 - 35%

They are second cousins four times over: ave % = 12,5%, range = 2,5% - 27,6%

Making their (very unlikely) minimum amount of shared DNA: 60,5% and their (equally unlikely) maximum amount of common DNA: .. 126,6%. Let’s just say 100% because more than that is ... literally impossible.

If we now want to calculate the coefficient of relationship between Jon and Daenerys we can either do that whole thing again, adding one line-segment that connects Jon to Rhaegar, or we can just take the easy route and take Dany and Rhaegar’s coefficient and divide it by two (since Jon got half is DNA from Lyanna and half is DNA from Rhaegar and he will inherit the parts shared with Dany and the ones who are not proportionally).

Which means ... Dany and Jon are at least (!) 30,25% related (if you want to be intellectually dishonest and assume that they always only inherited the least amount possible from each common ancestor they share), most likely 43,75% related, with a potential maximum amount of 50%.

Not 1,7% or 25%, but ~30% or ~44%. Or maybe even 50%.

And I haven’t even considered their shared ancestry through their Blackwood great-grandmothers but since we don’t know how those two were related to each other and it’s only going to matter to ~1% I just won’t bother with it.

Whether Jon looks more like Ned or Daenerys doesn’t matter. He “only” shares about 25% of his DNA with Ned and about 44% with Daenerys and that is a fact. While big differences in shared genes might make a bit of a difference in which grandmother you resemble more, that effect is going to be dwarfed by the interplay of dominant and recessive alleles. He only shares about 12,5% of his DNA with Arya (okay, maybe a tad more because of the intermarriages in house stark, but I really don’t feel like going through all the trouble to calculate that as well. It’s not going to be as severe as the incest of House Targaryen) and they still look super alike because they both inherited the same dominant genes.

After reading all 5201 words of this, you will hopefully never, ever, ever again write or even think that a) Jon got more genes from his mother and that b) he and Dany might only share as little 1,7% of their DNA.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, isn’t genetics a fascinating topic?

#Jon Snow #Daenerys Targaryen #House Targaryen

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shipping-receiving · 5 years

Text

Fictober 2019 Day 7: “No, and that’s final.”

Rating: T | Word Count: 2219 Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones Relationship: Jaime Lannister / Brienne of Tarth Tags: Alternate Universe – Modern Setting

(read on AO3)

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“Please.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“Please, Jaime.”

“No, Brienne.”

“I promise I’ll do that thing you like, as often as you want.”

“You like it too, and you already do it as often as I want.”

“It’s still honest work!”

“And the answer is still no. In any case, I no longer trust any of your promises.”

“Why not?”

“You said we were just coming here to volunteer for the day. It’ll be a good distraction, Jaime, from everything that’s going on, you said. You promised we weren’t going to leave this shelter with a cat. All. Lies.”

“Those things were true when I said them!” Brienne snuggles the cat in her arms. “But this one has been stuck here for so long, Jaime. Look at it. It looks so sad.”

Jaime does look at it, and it does not look sad. It looks extremely grumpy and fed up with this whole situation. It might even be trying to escape from Brienne, though it’s no match for her strength. Do cats even come in that colour? Or shape? Or size? It looks like an average-sized cat in Brienne’s arms. And Brienne is not average-sized.

“Maybe it’s been here for so long because it barely even looks like a cat. People probably thought it was a mistake.”

Brienne glares at him. “Jaime! Don’t be mean!”

“It’s not as if it can understand what I’m saying!”

“The first time we met, you said I barely looked like a woman. And look where we are now.”

Oh no, she did not just— “You do not get to pull that card just so you can adopt a cat. I have more than redeemed myself for that comment.”

This must be one of the strangest arguments he’s ever had with Brienne. And that’s counting the ones they had before they were even friends, let alone… boyfriend-and-girlfriend? Lovers? Partners? Life partners? They had never really talked about labels. At first, they had hated each other. And then they didn’t. And then they were spending more and more time together, besides that one month—never mind, he doesn’t want to think about that. And then it was kind of like they were dating, maybe? And then she was barely sleeping in her own bed, at her own apartment. One day, he asked her to move in with him. She thought about it for the next month, then broke her lease. And after all of that, there’s been all the… the everything-that’s-going-on.

Jaime would never regret asking her to move in with him in the first place, but now she wants this ‘cat’ to move in with them too, and that had never been on the table. Brienne likes cats, he knows, but he thought it was at the level of petting stray cats on the street, and feeding them a treat if she happens to have some on her. She never said anything about owning one until now, and the one she falls in love with is this. This… ‘cat’. It is not only a very strange ‘cat’, it is also a very furry ‘cat’, and he doesn’t want its fur all over his very expensive furniture.

In addition to that crucial point, Lannisters don’t have pets. They just… don’t. He wonders what his father would think of all of this, if his father were still alive. Tyrion, he knows, wouldn’t be able to stop laughing. “Even if I could believe you enjoying the company of a non-human life form, Jaime, that looks nothing like a cat,” his brother would say, upon seeing the beast. Cersei would—

Well, best not to think about his sister. She’s part of the reason Brienne dragged him to the shelter in the first place. A good distraction, Jaime scoffs in his own head. I am the victim of a con.

“Come on, Jaime,” Brienne pleads again, and widens her blue eyes at him in exactly the way she knows he can’t resist. “I swear, I’ll do all the work. Feed him—” oh, it’s a ‘him’ now, not just an ‘it’— “change his litter, take him to the vet, everything. I’ll carry a lint roller on me at all times. I’ll carry two lint rollers. You won’t even have to lift a finger.”

“No, Brienne, and that’s final.”

It was not final.

Jaime found, once again, that he could never be entirely immune to Brienne’s inexplicable charms. He doesn’t even know if charms is the right word for it. She just manages to make him feel so heartless and—he thinks the right word might be dishonourable, even in this day and age—when he doesn’t go along with what she wants. What she wants, in fairness, is usually something honourable, like giving a ‘cat’ a good home.

In his defence, she did do the whole… eye thing. When they had first met, she walked around like she wanted to fold her body into herself. Now she’s learned to maximise her best assets. She has an eye thing, and it is immensely persuasive.

Jaime did, however, manage to wrangle naming privileges from Brienne. And so Jaime dubbed the beast ‘Bear’, much to her chagrin, even though she had to concede that Bear does look more like a miniature grizzly than his own species. Jaime did also offer the alternative name of “Cat”, on the condition that they include the quotation marks on any paperwork, and do the stipulated air quotes every time they refer to the animal by name. Brienne refused immediately. You can’t give him a name with punctuation, Jaime, she groaned. Alright then. Bear it is, he responded, triumphantly.

Bear is curled up in Jaime’s lap right now, purring away. Gods, it’s really much uglier in daylight. It’s been three months and he still thinks so. But the damn thing loves him. Oh, Bear shows Brienne some cursory devotion when he needs to. He’ll rub against her calf, ask her for the food and treats he knows she’ll give him. But if Bear has to choose between both of their laps, he always chooses Jaime’s. Jaime is even starting to think that Bear only tries to scratch his very expensive furniture because he knows Jaime will pick him up immediately. And then Bear holds on to Jaime for dear life, and refuses to let go. If Jaime manages to get him off, he goes right for the couch, claws at the ready, until Jaime grabs him again, and gets swindled into another cuddle. What was all that crap about cats being antisocial? He’s got himself one manipulative, overly-affectionate brute.

Nonetheless, Jaime has to be grateful to Bear for one thing: ever since they got him, it’s gone some way to mend the rift between him and his niece and nephew—his children. It was a rift that had formed after they had discovered, in the process of Cersei’s divorce from Robert, that Jaime was their biological father (how they managed to keep that out of the papers was some kind of miracle).

Of course, Bear had no impact on his relationship with their eldest. Joffrey is a lost cause, off wreaking havoc at some university to which Cersei must have donated a generous amount, given that the boy has neither the brains nor the discipline to get accepted legitimately. Jaime doesn’t want to be a father to Joffrey, quite frankly. He is the worst parts of Cersei and Robert combined, even if his blood is all Lannister.

But Jaime does care about his relationship with Myrcella and Tommen, which had been tender, if distant, before the paternity tests, and had taken an understandable turn for the worse after. And that was made considerably more painful by the fact that since the divorce, Cersei—whether out of instability, or nonchalance, or just being Cersei—has taken to leaving Myrcella and Tommen with him for extended periods. Days at a time, even, and going off to do Gods-knows-what. Thankfully, Jaime has an extra bedroom and a comfortable pull-out couch in his home office, which is a room he barely uses anyway. Plus, his apartment isn’t too far from either of their schools.

And Brienne has been a saint about it all, of course. Even though Cersei often couldn’t decide which was more vexing to her—Brienne’s presence in Jaime’s life, or Myrcella and Tommen’s presence in her own.

Still, the first few times the children had stayed with their uncle-turned-father were… trying. At least, it had been that way with Myrcella, who seemed to fluctuate between sullen and irate, all her negativity directed at him, at her mother, at Robert, at the world in general, and even on rare occasions at Brienne. Tommen just seemed unsure as to what to do, and took to following his sister’s example, in terms of the sullenness, if not the irateness.

In the era of Bear, though, things seem to be looking up. Tommen was beyond excited when he found out that Jaime finally has the cat that Cersei would never let Tommen have. Jaime’s neph—his son—began opening up to him in a way that he thought would never happen. Myrcella, too, is starting to warm up to Jaime, swayed as she is by Bear and how much the ‘cat’ loves him. It seems that Bear, like Brienne, has his own inexplicable charms.

“You planned this all along, didn’t you?” he had asked Brienne one night, nodding towards Bear. The ‘cat’ was nestled at their feet, on Jaime’s ludicrously expensive duvet cover, instead of in his own ludicrously expensive heated cat bed. “Bear, and the kids.”

“Maybe I did,” she had said, with a small smile. “Tommen told me how much he wanted one when we saw one of the strays out on the street. I thought it was worth trying, to help with the kids. But I didn’t want you to get disappointed if it failed, so I didn’t tell you. I’m glad it turned out better than I expected.”

“You’re better than I deserve, you know that?”

“I wouldn’t be with you if you were less than I deserve, as I always remind you when you say such things.”

“I know, I know. Speaking of the kids, I… I’ve been thinking.” Jaime had been thinking about it for weeks, actually, but he had felt too nervous to broach the subject with Brienne till then. “About… custody. I haven’t spoken to a lawyer yet, so I’m not really sure what my options are. But they’re here so often, these days. And… I don’t think things are going very well back home, with Cersei.”

“No. I don’t think so.” Myrcella had told Brienne some things, Jaime knew, though Brienne had promised his daughter to keep them secret for now.

“Will you mind, if they’re here even more often? Or… permanently? I—I know you didn’t sign up for all of this. My past, and… everything.”

“I signed up for you, didn’t I?” was her reply. “I knew enough, before we even started dating.” In fact, when she had first found out—or rather, first confirmed the rumours that had swirled around the Lannisters for years—she hadn’t spoken to him for a whole month. He had thought he had lost her friendship forever, young and shaky as it was back then. “People have their histories,” she continued, as if Jaime’s history isn’t infinitely more fucked up than most. “You’ve had to deal with a fair share of mine.”

Jaime had kissed her, then.

As he runs his fingers through Bear’s fur, he thinks about how he’s had to deal with Brienne’s histories, all her traumas. They still manifest, in small ways, every day. But what he’s done for her, it seems like nothing compared to what’s he’s asking her to do. She didn’t think she was going to be living with anyone other than him when she moved in, first of all, and now there’s a child and a teenager in their apartment more than half the time. And she’s had to become a sort of—guardian to the kids, alongside him. He doesn’t really know what else to call her, or himself, since Robert is still their father on paper. Of course the man hasn’t been around lately, not that he was a particularly present father for the two younger children when he and Cersei were still married, between his businesses and his mistresses.

But if Jaime does become their father, legally—he’s not looking forward to discussing this with Cersei—what would Brienne be, then? He supposes she’d be their stepmother, perhaps, if she agrees when he finally asks her to marry him. He expects she will take weeks, maybe months, to give him an answer. She knows what she’d be signing up for, marrying Jaime. That’s a decision that will take time.

Anyway, they’ll work it out eventually. They always do, him and Brienne. In the meantime, he will sit here with this ‘cat’ that looks nothing like a cat, a ‘cat’ who couldn’t care less about Jaime’s history. Even if his feline brain could comprehend any of it, Jaime has the sneaking suspicion that Bear might love him regardless of it all.

Once, Jaime thought he had done far too many terrible things in his life to warrant such a love. A love, regardless. But—that was a long time ago.

That was before Brienne.

#fictober19 #jaime x brienne #braime #my fic #HOW DID THIS HAPPEN #THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CUTE FIC ABOUT CAT ADOPTION

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ao3feed-briennejaime · 4 years

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The Princesses of Nowhere At All

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3aazVGQ

by MarvelousAvengfulSlytherin

What if Rhaella survived the birth of Dany on Dragonstone? What happened if Elia had a plan to keep at least one of her children alive? What if the three kingsguards that protected Lyanna under Rhaegar's instructions kept the child of ice and fire alive when the mother died?

-----

"They won't be princesses not until Robert gives up the throne," The old commander of the Kingsguard told them.

Jaime looked down at Sansa-Visenya, his mind corrected which sounded like his twin sister tutting at him. He banished thoughts of her and of Tyrion away for it felt like it could break him. Sansa made a sniffling noise as if she could hear his thoughts and not liking them for they must have been too loud for her. He gently rocked her in his arms because he was the only one that Sansa seemed to like besides Arthur.

He told Gerold Hightower the plain truth. "They'll be princesses of nowhere at all."

Words: 2593, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Game of Thrones (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Jaime Lannister, Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Sansa Stark, Arianne Martell, Benjen Stark, Ned Stark, Cersei Lannister, Oberyn Martell, Robert Baratheon, Jon Arryn, Addam Marbrand, Selwyn Tarth, Brienne of Tarth, Theon Greyjoy, Robb Stark, Arya Stark, Tommen Baratheon, Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, Gerold Hightower, Betha Blackwood

Relationships: Jaime Lannister & Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Jaime Lannister & Sansa Stark, Selwyn Tarth/Rhaella Targaryen, Arianne Martell/Benjen Stark, Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth, Cersei Lannister/Oberyn Martell, Robert Baratheon/Cersei Lannister

Additional Tags: No Twincest, R Plus L Equals S, Jon Snow is Not a Targaryen, Jon Snow is a Stark, Sansa Stark is a Targaryen, Sansa Stark is Not a Stark, There's a Red Head in the Targaryen Family Tree somewhere..., Joffrey and Myrcella are not Jaime's kids, Tommen Baratheon is a Baratheon, Original Blackfyre Characters, Sister-Sister Relationship, Lots of Ser Dad in this fic folks!, Rhaella Targaryen Lives, just a huge AU, Cersei Lannister is a sane but boss ass bitch, Rhaella Targaryen is a boss ass bitch as well, Rhaenys Targaryen Lives, Aged-Up Arianne Martell, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3aazVGQ

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #jaime x brienne #braime

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ao3feed-gendrya · 4 years

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The Dragon Has Three Heads

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2ovjym7

by visenyasdragons

Major fix-it fic, from the very beginning of the ASOIAF books. With some notable exceptions such as Joanna Lannister, everyone is alive, even if not everyone knows it.

The year is 298 AC, Jon Snow and his twin sister Alysanne, or Alys, live in Winterfell as Brandon Starks bastards with their protector and long-time nursemaid, Wylla. Daenerys is on the run in Essos with her brother Viserys and niece Rhaenys, cared for by Elia Martell and Jaime Lannister. Robert Baratheon is on the Iron Throne in Kings Landing, with Cersei Lannister at his side. In Oldtown, a Dornishman called Rolly is studying under Maester Marwyn to learn the secrets of the Long Night and other magical mysteries the world has to offer. The roses of Highgarden plot, while the snakes of Dorne lay silently in the grass, ready to strike.

Westeros is in the long summer, and the realm has been at peace since Robert Baratheon had taken the throne, but dark things are on the horizon. Our players take on new roles, secrets are revealed in shocking ways, and the old gods and new take a more active hand in the comings and goings of the realm. READ RELATIONSHIP TAGS FIRST!

Words: 4529, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage

Categories: F/F, F/M, Other

Characters: Jon Snow | Aegon Targaryen, Original House Targaryen Character(s), Lyanna Stark, Rhaegar Targaryen, Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark, Catelyn Stark, Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Rickon Stark, Bran Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, Myrcella Baratheon, Tommen Baratheon, Elia Martell, Jaime Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Doran Martell, Oberyn Martell, Quentyn Martell, Arianne Martell, Stannis Baratheon, Shireen Baratheon, Selyse Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Loras Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell, Olenna Tyrell, Garlan Tyrell, Willas Tyrell, Daenerys Targaryen, Jorah Mormont, Missandei (ASoIaF), Grey Worm, Viserys Targaryen, Rhaella Targaryen, Aerys Targaryen, Quaithe (ASoIaF), Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, Samwell Tarly, Edd Tollett, Other ASoIaF Characters

Relationships: Robb Stark/Original Female Character(s), Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen, Podrick Payne/Sansa Stark, Joffrey Baratheon/Sansa Stark, Robb Stark/Margaery Tyrell, Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Jaime Lannister/Elia Martell, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, Robert Baratheon/Cersei Lannister, Rhaenys Targaryen/Willas Tyrell, Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Jon Snow & Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Rhaenys Targaryen & OC, Jon Snow & Rhaenys Targaryen & OC

Additional Tags: Aegon was never born, Everyone Is Alive, Fix-It, Character Death Fix, Major Character Injury, Major character death - Freeform, Jaime helped Elia and Rhaenys escape, but hes still the Kingslayer, Rhaegar Lives, Lyanna Stark Lives, BAMF Lyanna Stark, Ignorant Ned, Not for Catelyn fans, some pairings are short lived, or one-sided, Jon has a Twin Sister, they have dragons, Bran becomes three eyed crow, but hes not crippled, idk i changed a lot, obviously, AU, oh also cerseis kids are not jaimes, but they're also not roberts, Targaryen Restoration, Slow Burn, Stark Redemption, bc FUCK season 8 and what it did to them, and everyone really, plus more of the tyrells, bc i love them

read it on the AO3 at http://bit.ly/2ovjym7

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #gendrya #arya x gendry #axg

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joanna-lannister · 5 years

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Meta: Will the Lannisters end like the Targaryens?

WARNING: possible mentions of spoilers/leaks

@fcrncody Thank you Ana, my partner in crime, for being my beta reader! 💖

First of all, this theory is purely for the show, not the books (even if I'm gonna use some quotes from it). I do believe the fate of some characters will be different, I could be wrong tho.

"History is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again." I'm quoting G.R.R.M here but as a big History nerd, I always say that History repeat itself and I think that what's going to happen with the Lannisters : their downfall will be a parallel to the Targaryens one at the end of Robert's rebellion. I have this theory in mind for almost 2 years now and since I keep thinking about it, I needed somewhere to write it down.

During the rebellion, we had 4 Targaryens still alive : Aerys, Rhaella, Rhaegar and Viserys (plus Dany and Jon on the way). I'm not sure if I should count Maester Aemon since he took the black and I don't count Elia and Rheagar's children since he disinherited them. Now for the Lannisters, we have Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion still alive, plus baby!Lannister on the way. I think their deaths or possible survival will be a mix of how these last Targaryens died or survived.

First, the Lannisters have always been connected with the Targaryens one way or another:

Tywin wanted Cersei to marry Rhaegar and she wanted it to

Tyrion and his obsession with the dragons

Jaime killed Aerys

Tywin used to be friend with Aerys and his Hand

Cersei and Tyrion both used wildfire

Joanna was harassed by Aerys

And I could go on...

But one of the biggest connection we can make between the two houses is the incest. The perpetual incestuous marriage between the Targaryens slowly brought their house to the extinction and Cersei and Jaime's relationship caused the war of the five Kings and thus, their own downfall. They have been compared to the Targaryens more than once, by themselves or by other characters.

The Targaryens wed brothers and sisters for 300 years to keep bloodlines pure. Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We shared a womb. We came into this world together. We belong together. - Cersei, S01E07 You Win or You Die

Tyrion: Sins? The Targaryens... Cersei: Wed brother and sister for hundreds of years, I know. That's what Jaime and I would say to each other in our moments of doubt. It's what I told Ned Stark when he was stupid enough to confront me. Half the Targaryens went mad, didn't they? What's the saying? Every time a Targaryen is born, the Gods flip a coin. Tyrion: You've beaten the odds. Tommen and Myrcella are good, decent children, both of them. - S02E07 A Man Without Honor

You think I disapprove? Why? Because people disapprove of that sort of thing where you are from? They disapproved of Oberyn and me where you are from. Here no one blinked an eye. 100 years ago, no one would have blinked an eye at you if you'd been named Targaryen. - Ellaria, S05E09 The Dance of Dragons

We could marry him to Myrcella, once we've sent Sansa Stark back to her mother. That would show the realm that the Lannisters are above their laws, like gods and Targaryens. - Jaime, ASOS

"I am sick of being careful. The Targaryens wed brother to sister, why shouldn't we do the same? Marry me, Cersei. Stand up before the realm and say it's me you want. We'll have our own wedding feast, and make another son in place of Joffrey." She drew back. "That's not funny." - Jaime, ASOS

Then, we have Tywin and his ambition. He wants to outshine the Targaryens and build a dynasty that could last 1000 years.

The future of our family will be determined in these next few months. We could establish a dynasty that will last a thousand years. Or we could collapse into nothing, as the Targaryens did. - Tywin, S01E07 You Win or You Die

Cersei wants to emulate her father.

I understand we're in a war for survival. I understand whoever loses dies. I understand whoever wins could launch a dynasty that lasts a thousand years. - Cersei, S07E01 Dragonstone

The parallel is clear here, I have even made a gifset. The funny thing in that conversation between Tywin and Jaime is the fact that Tywin points out they could collapse into nothing when it's already happening, because of his own children. And again, he compares himself to the Targaryens. Foreshadowing?

Before talking about each characters, I want to say that if this theory is correct, I don't think Jaime and Cersei will die together. This show is full of plot twists, irony, parallels and yet, anti-parallels and the characters don't get what they want, this is not a Disney fairytale. And dying together is something they both want, they expressed it numerous times, in the show and in the books, maybe too much?

Bronn: How do you want to go? Jaime: In the arms of the woman I love. - S05E04 The Sons of The Harpy

We've always been together. We'll always be together. We're the only two people in the world. - Cersei, S06E06 Blood of My Blood

I cannot die while Cersei lives, he told himself. We will die together as we were born together. - Jaime, ASOS

We will leave this world together, as we once came into it. - Cersei, AFFC

If he were dead, I would know it. We came into this world together, Uncle. He would not go without me. - Cersei, ADWD

It's so obvious, as viewers (and also readers sometimes), we expect it to happen. The cast keep telling us how unpredictable the end is, I honestly take everything they say with a grain of salt but I think I'll make an exception for this time. Also, the writers omitted the Valonqar part in Cersei's prophecy. On purpose? So we are going to be surprised if Jaime is indeed the Valonqar? I find it weird when it's already obvious like I said and when they dropped clues back in S7.

Cersei:You murdered your own brother. Euron:You should try it. Feels wonderful. - S07E01, Dragonstone

Olenna: She'll be the end of you. Jaime: Possibly. - S07E03, The Queen's Justice

But I could be wrong and the writers will choose the easy path... However, while it's tragic for Jaime and Cersei to die together, killed by each others, I think it would be even more painful for their characters to die apart. Like us, they expect to die together. They are twins, they spent their whole life together and they think it will always be that way, Cersei only feels complete with him... and ripping Jaime away from her? Yeah, sadly poetic.

And now for the characters...

JAIME: ↳ Rhaegar / Aerys

I start with Jaime first since I think he's going to die first.

Source: (x), (x)

In the first still (from the 8x02?), he's wearing a Northern regular armor, similar to the one Robb used to wear. In the EW promo, the armor is almost the same but more more redish, more Lannister, and looks a little like bit the one Podrick used to wear back in the previous seasons.

I presume the costume change will happen after the battle in 7x03. My guess is that battle will not be the last. Wrapping the White Walkers storyline in 1 episode? No, impossible. The war will happen in two times: first that battle, Winterfell is destroyed and the White Walkers are still a threat, Jaime comes back to King's Landing (with the Starks?) [if I remember Nik was spotted on the King's Landing set, could be for this or something else] and then another battle and Jaime dies during this one by the hand of Night King.

Why the Night King? Simple. One of the most important moment in Jaime's life was when he killed the Mad King, a man obsessed with fire. He was mocked all his life for breaking his vows, nicknamed Kingslayer, when he took the right decision.

And then when the king turned to flee, I drove my sword into his back. "Burn them all," he kept saying. "Burn them all." I don't think he expected to die. He ... he meant to... burn with the rest of us and rise again, reborn as a dragon to turn his enemies to ash. - Jaime, S03E05 Kissed by Fire

Most people in the fandom think he will kill either the Night King or the Mad Queen, I bet on the other way. I admit I also thought about Dany becoming the Night Queen and killing him, a nice parallel since he killed her father but I don't see her branding a sword even if she becomes the Night Queen so I stand with the idea of the Night King, a creature made a ice. Honestly, a Kingslayer murdered by a king? What an irony... And, A Lannister always pays his debts.

That was for the Aerys part, now for the Rhaegar part. They are both warriors and if Jaime dies in a battle, it will already be a parallel with Rhaegar dying at the the Trident. Nik also said that Jaime's obsessive love for Cersei "follows him until his very last scene of the show". At first, I was; okay my theory is wrong but then I remembered that quote about Rhaegar:

Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name. - Daenerys, ACOK

We don't know for sure who was the woman Rhaegar mentioned but Jaime murmuring Cersei's name would completely fulfill the parallel with him. And again, a bit ironic here since Cersei wanted to marry Rhaegar.

CERSEI: ↳ Rhaella / Aerys

Now, Cersei, the next who's going to die, in my opinion. I think she will behave somehow like Aerys at the beginning of the season but her death will be a total parallel to Rhaella, and by extent, Joanna and possibly Lyanna.

Source: (x), (x)

Like Jaime, with the costume change, Cersei is wearing the Lannisters colors again. Someone on tumblr (I don't remember who, I'm sorry) said that her grief is over and it could mean she will subvert the villain trope or something along the line. I do agree with the grief part, that's why I don't think she will lose baby!Lannister. Why would she wear her house colors if she had lost her child?

Source: (x), (x), (x), (x), (x), (x)

Notice she has the Lannister sigil back too, as a necklace. It was a link with Myrcella and after Tommen's death, she never wore it again. Only as embroidery on her gowns. The pendant is strategically placed on her "bump", it fits her character; she's (was) a mother, she's pregnant and that child is the future of her house. Also, some people said we can see a baby bump. I personally disagree, I believe it's only the dress.

I know part of the fandom will scream at me that she's not pregnant or she will have a miscarriage because of the prophecy. First of all, I do believe she's pregnant (or at least she thinks she is) and of course, a miscarriage is still a possibility. Second of all, prophecies are tricky, ask Melisandre. The prophecy was already debunked back in S1 when Cersei told Catelyn about the black haired boy she had with Robert.

I lost my first boy, a little black-haired beauty. He was a fighter too... Tried to beat the fever that took him. - Cersei, S01E02 The Kingsroad

Yet, Maggy still mentioned 3 children:

Maggy: The king will have 20 children and you will have three. Cersei: That doesn't make sense. Maggy: Gold will be their crowns. Gold their shrouds. - S05E01 The Wars to Come

Since she was also pregnant with Robert's child in the books, we know pregnancy doesn't count for that prophecy to work. Now, in the show, she gave birth to that boy. He was sick, or got sick, but was alive. My conclusion is that the birth doesn't count either. The only fact that matter is if she raises the child. So Cersei could carry her pregnancy to term and give birth to an healthly, surviving child if she dies in in childbirth or soon after. Which brings the Rhaella parallel.

And again, I know most Cersei stans (and JxC shippers) hate that idea. I confess I wasn't pleased at first but now, the more I thought about it the more it feels like a full circle. Motherhood has always been an important theme in Cersei's journey.

First, her mother: Cersei was a little girl when Joanna died in the most gendered way. She was traumatized by her death and she grew up resenting her little brother for this.

Second, her love for her children: one of the main reason that drives her to do some... things. She repeated countless times how much she loves/loved them and tried to protect them and yet, they all die. Cersei "sacrificing" her life for her last child and giving him a chance to survive is not so far stretched.

Now, how it's going to happen... Maisie said :

After reading the scripts I went back and watched season 1 again, because so much of it refers back to that season. There are so many scenes that will look similar. And also I watched just to remind myself of the arc I've taken already. I wanted Arya to go full circle and try for some kind of normalcy like when she was younger.

I'm not sure if Maisie is only talking about Arya here, however we already know we are going to have a parallel with Jon and Daenerys arriving at Winterfell like Cersei and Robert back in the season 1. Then, if the leaks are proven to be true (Euron forcing Cersei to have sex with him and her saying she "enjoyed" it as much as she did with Robert), we can assume their relationship will be similar to the one she had with her previous husband. I think Cersei will lie and pretend that baby!Lannister is Euron's child just like she did with Robert and Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen.

Jaime: Who will you say is the father? Cersei: You. - S07E05 Eastwatch

Remember that? I'm pretty sure it was a red herring for Cersei playing Euron in the season 8. Now, we all know what happened to Robert before he had the chance to learn the truth so I bet on Cersei killing Euron in the middle of the season, maybe during the 8x04? Or maybe Jaime. Could be another parallel with:

Ned: Has he done this before? Cersei: Jaime would have killed him. - S01E07 You Win or You Die

After Euron's death (or shortly before), I predict the Starks (moslty Jon) coming to King's Landing to seek refuge or an alliance because Winterfell is destroyed and they have no other choice. Lena and Kit were spotted on set (and I think Sophie too). It could be a decoy but let's say it's a real scene. Jon looked like he bent the knee to Cersei, I believe we will have a replay of the famous scene with Ned in S01E07.

You must be gone by then ... you and your children. I will not have their blood on my hands. Go as far away as you can, with as many men as you can. Because wherever you go, Robert's wrath will follow you. - Ned, S01E07 You Win or You Die

I think Jon will propose the same deal to Cersei : giving mercy to her and her child (and maybe Jaime and Tyrion) if she leaves King's Landing/Westeros after the end of the war if she accepts to help them (bet we'll see Qyburn's scorpion again). I see her somehow accepting it unlike the first time and maybe that person who said she will subvert the villain trope was right, after all we have that quote:

You love your children. It's your one redeeming quality. That and your cheekbones. - Tyrion, S02E01 The North Remembers

Once the war is won, and Jaime probably dead, the Starks break their promise and want to judge the Lannisters for their crimes, which would be a little parallel with Aerys, when he opened the gates of King's Landing and let Tywin take the city. And like Rhaella, she will escape to her ancestral home, maybe with Tyrion and the help of Qyburn.

You'll be queen. For a time. Then comes another, younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear. - Maggy, S05E01 The Wars to Come

It would fit the prophecy. She has nothing left, no power, no crown, her brother/lover is dead... She loses the throne and survives the game. Again, a bit ironic since she's one of the biggest player since the beginning and the one who instaured the famous:

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground. - S01E07 You Win or You Die

And then, she dies tragically giving birth... Yeah, full circle.

TYRION: ↳ Viserys / Maester Aemon?

Tyrion... Oh Tyrion... He's the one I'm on the fence, for every theory that I have, honestly. He escaped deaths numerous times but all good things come to an end. I feel we don't have enough clues about his future death or his possible survival. Of course we have that famous quote:

In my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a maiden's mouth around my cock, at the age of eighty," he replied. - Tyrion, AGOT

Or that one:

One day, after our queen has taken the Seven Kingdoms... I'd like to have my own vineyard. Make my own wine. The Imp's Delight. Only my close friends could drink it. - Tyrion, S06E08 No One

I don't think that's gonna happen but if my theory is right, I assume he will take Viserys place, mixed maybe with Maester Aemon, but like I said, I'm not sure if I should count him as a Targaryen. We still have moment that tho:

Jaime: Tell me you're not thinking of taking the black. Tyrion: And go celibate ? The whores would go begging from Dorne to Casterly Rock. I just want to stand on top of the Wall and piss off the edge of the world. - S01E02 The Kingsroad

If the White Walkers are defeated, I see no reason to build another Wall and no reason to have another Night's Watch, I think it's more like a metaphor for Tyrion being casted away from Westeros and going in exil, and raising his nephew/niece.

Source: (x), (x)

Unlike his siblings, Tyrion's new costume is more subtle. He doesn't seem to wear the Lannister colors and yet... In the first still we got for the S8, he is wearing the usual outfit he has since he joined Dany Team: same shape, same colors... and in the EW promo, his clothes doesn't look really different at first because they are still black and he still has the Hand of the Queen's pin but they are! The shape of the jacket is similar to the one he used to wear in the first seasons, the clips are back and golden and the sleeves have hints of gold.

Source: (x), (x)

The patterns aren't the same tho but we can guess the connection with his family will be back once he comes back to King's Landing after the destruction of Winterfell.

Like I said for Cersei, once the war is over, I believe the Starks will want to judge him for his family's crime. Not sure if he's going to escape with his sister, it would fufill Viserys parallel but I think he will be captured/imprisoned for some time like he was during the S1. Then, he either escapes or the Starks send him in exil with baby!Lannister.

Now, why would he raise baby!Lannister? I think the clues are in the S7 finale. When Tyrion learned Cersei was pregnant during that emotional scene, they made a secret pact. No one know what is it about, neither the viewers or the characters (including Jaime). The only thing we can speculate is that this pact will ensure the safety of the child. And maybe the throne.

You say you can't have children, but there are other ways of choosing a successor. The Night's Watch has one method. The ironborn, for all their many flaws, have another. - Tyrion, S07E06 Beyond The Wall

Our child will rule Westeros. - Cersei, S07E07 The Dragon and the Wolf

During the S7, Tyrion was concerned by the possible lack of heir after Dany's death, now he has a potential one. The fandom think Cersei betrayed the pact by not sending her troups in the North and that Tyrion is too naive for believing her but... is it true? Yeah, Cersei said to Jaime she didn't trust their brother and she was lying the whole time but nowhere she informed him about the pact and the fact she broke her promise... Why? I always wondered if Tyrion wasn't the one behind the idea to not send the soldiers North. And from the leaks, it looks like he's trying to buy some time. And honestly, look at his costume in that episode:

Source: (x), (x)

Like for EW promo and the previous seasons, the jacket have the Lannister shape and the pattern, while slightly different, looks similar to Tywin's jacket. Everyone always screamed how Cersei's gowns was inspired by Tywin but here...

That pact is gonna bite him in the ass, but maybe not the way we can imagine. I mentioned above a possible parallel between Cersei and Lyanna and it wasn't only about the "dying in childbirth" trope; it was about Cersei asking Tyrion to take care of her child, like Lyanna did with Ned. Unlike Lyanna and Ned, Cersei and Tyrion have a complicated relionship; they hate each others but yet, I think deep down they somehow "love" each others. And Cersei knows her brother loves(d) her children (except Joffrey but that's another story).

I loved them. You know I did. You know it in your heart if there's anything left of it. - Tyrion, S07E07 The Dragon and the Wolf

I don't want to destroy our family. I never have. - Tyrion, S07E07 The Dragon and the Wolf

Cersei: I only care what it cost us. It cost us our future. Cersei: If there's no future, then why are we here? Why did you allow me to come? - S07E07 The Dragon and the Wolf

She knows her child will be safe with him. Add the fact: Cersei asking the man; she blamed her whole life for the death of her mother and dying the same way, to take care of her child and Tyrion, who was considered like the black sheep of his family, raising the future of his house: again full circle.

BABY!LANNISTER : ↳ Daenerys / Jon?

I'll be quick here. While I do think in the books that child will never exist, if this theory is correct, in the show, I believe he will survives and take either Daenerys or Jon role, but mostly Dany. If Tyrion dies, then I assume the Starks will raise him and he will not know who are his real parents like Jon but seriously, a blond baby? LOL. If Tyrion survives, then Dany.

We already have a little parallel with Dany and her conception during the 7x03, even if the circumstance are a little bit different. And if Cersei dies like Rhaella, it would be a complete replay of Dany's birth.

Then, Tyrion raises him like Viserys, but in better way, you know. I don't remember if D&D spoke about a flashforward for the end of the show but I could see that happening: the Starks living happily and the last scene is baby!Lannister being introduced and saying he wants to avenge his family/take what should be is. What goes around, comes around... for the Lannisters, for the show.

TIMELINE :

I have made a little timeline of how I think these events are going to happen but some of them can switch, I guess?

Great battle in 7x03, Winterfell is destroyed

Jaime comes back to King's Landing

Euron dies

The Starks seek refuge/an alliance with Tyrion

End of the war - Jaime dies

The Starks betray the alliance

Cersei escapes to Casterly Rock and die giving birth

Tyrion takes care of baby!Lannister

I'm not sure if my post makes sense, it feels more clear in my mind to be honest and I feel like I forgot a bunch of stuff but I really wanted to post it before the premiere. Now, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who have that theory in mind and if you have read all of this, first thank you and second, you probably think I'm crazy so I'm gonna hide under a rock...

#i won't tag any characters or the show #because i don't want people to come into my house #with spikes and forks #claiming how dumb i am #i'd rather it to stay between me and my followers #i'm so anxious tbh #it's the first time i do something like this #marie speaks about got #mine : got #tw rape mentions #tw miscarriage

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heroesofscienceandfandoms · 5 years

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Game of Thrones rewatch - season one, episodes two and three

Welcome back for episode two. doubt I'll manage to get through the whole series before Sunday, but a man can try.

*insert humming and terrible beatboxing of the intro song here*

And this one starts with my least favourite character. At least the people around her were either interesting or even likeable. Especially Jorah, he was a good guide and teacher... if only he had been honest with his beloved Khaleesi right from the beginning. That would've been boring though. And bad writing, even for the show.

I'm telling mother - oh hi Draco. And the props and wigs are already getting better. Guess it really was this typical first ep weirdness. Don't get me wrong, most of it still looks weird and rather bad, but at least better than before. And we finally get some scenes with Tommen and Myrcella who only need seconds to be more likeable than Joff.

Oh, that first boy scene... guess it was intended as a lie right from the beginning, yet I still like to believe it to be a genuine deviation from the books as it would've made Cersei way more human. Not more human than in the books, but more human than how she ended up being on the show. But that's just my opinion and most people will probably disagree with me on that.

Despite all those bad jokes, I almost forgot how short Kit is. And how he looks more like Satin than Jon. Of course Nymeria doesn't understand your orders girl... she's a wolf, not a dog. You'll get your dog (and adoptive dad) in a few seasons. One who won't take order either. Wait, that's Needle! Does Arya even use it anymore?

How I despised Cat for her behaviour towards Jon. Sure, it was understanable. Doesn't make it right though. Michelle's such a great actress, given how she manages to make me both like and dislike Cat. Guess that's what playing an interesting and two-dimensional character is about.

That conversation about Jon's mother is so weird to watch, now that we all know what has happened to her for sure. Including Jon himself.

Now that I see another feast (okay, mini-feast/picnic), there might be a simple reason why we can't have those types of scenes any more after season one: it just doesn't work as well without Robert Baratheon as it did with him. A sitcom with Ned and Robert would've been way better than what we have now. Everything would've been better. Robert talking about the war that's coming... he really was right about that, even though it took way longer to arrive than he would've ever thought. At least the war he had in mind.

Oh the good old times were people making things run still mattered. Now every castle seems to be Harrenhall. Wait, Rickon was six? And we finally have that dagger... another one of those if anyone knew items. Plus Cat realising those wolves are not as bad as she thinks them to be.

It is known. You know what's also known? That Dany's companions were all so likeable... yet so disposable. Some things seem to be crap right from the beginning

I'll never understand why some people hated Theon right from the beginning. He didn't owe the Starks anything, yet he still tries to please them, help them and be on their side, even if it's just for Robb. After what some call betrayal? Okay, I get that. But before? Nope. He did more than he morally had to.

Not talking about the extremely uncomfortable stuff btw. There's more than enough ranting about that on tumblr already.

Great actor or not, any character played by Jack Gleesson will never ever be as charming as Joffrey has been decribed in the books. I'm your prince... yeah, anyone who has to brag about his title like that'll never be anything but a whimp. Oh how easy everything would've been if Nymeria had simply torn Joff to pieces. Another missed chance of not having to have this shitshow of an adaptation.

Not much more to say about ep 2, back in the day when even small deaths weren't just cheaply thrown around.

On to episode 3 of season 1.

And we're in Kings Landing. Back when the whole place was still alive and not burning. As it still should be. Damn, Jaime never had a chance with thr oh so honourable Ned Stark to begin with. Hm... Renly reminds me of someone I know. Not sure who though. And he looks so young as well. Why on earth did they change the location of the small council meetings? This place looks just fine.

Ned trying to be a good father and messing it up still. Not too different from a modern dad, albeit a rather conservative one. And one with a very pleasant voice.

Give us back old nan... that woman makes you feel like a small boy listening to stories even when you're already a grown man. Too bad Margaret John's already dead. Would've loved seeing more scenes with her than the ones we had. Bran talking about how he'd rather be dead sounds really different now that he's practically dead and replaced by the three-eyed dipshit.

Didn't remember all those scenes at the Night's Watch to be this pleasant to watch... but apparently, they were.

And we finally get our first scene of Robert being a piece of shit towards Gilbart Chris von Muir, the King of Damcyan erh I mean Lancel. Don't fight me, but he always looked like Gilbart to me (or Edward for those of you who played the English version of FFIV).

Can anyone explain why Jorah, aka the random stranger, has one of the prettiest horses? Is he a khal now? Khal Jorah... I must admit, it has quite a ring to it. He's more of a king than Viserys ever was as well.

Looking back at all those early scenes makes me realise that Kit's been good at playing Jon... while he was still Jon. And not Aegon-who-should-not-be-called-Aegon.

And for a great way to finish this episode... season one had way too many attractive men. And probably girls as well, for those of you who are into that. So, even if the show wasn't really that good in the past (still better than it is now and nothing will ever change my mind on that), we at least had some eyecandy.

#game of thrones #game of thrones rewatch #got rewatch #got 1x02 #got 1x03

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shewholovestoread · 7 years

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will you pls update your cersie and sansa meta?? x

I’ve already written one meta about Cersie and Sansa which you can read here.

Having seen all of Season 7, I have to say I am even more convinced that the final showdown must be between Sansa and Cersie for a number of reasons.

Rest of it under the cut:

First off, there are parallels, both Sansa and Cersie are usually overlooked and underestimated by those around them. Dany doesn’t suffer from this because of her dragons, but neither of these two women have that luxury. They are both ordinary (and I use that term very loosely) women who have nothing but their wits to keep them alive. They have had to become smart in order to survive. Cersie had to do it because she was stuck in a love-less marriage with Robert, a man who never really had any ambition to be king and was therefore not as careful as one might have been had they cared about the position. Cersie also knew what had happened to Rhaegar’s wife and children and would not let that happen to herself or her children. In the earlier seasons, her entire focus is on the survival of her family and all her actions lead to that. Sansa, on the other hand, had to learn because her very survival depended on it. She had no alternatives, no protectors, no one to speak up for her.

There was something else that struck me as I was starting this meta, in a way, Cersie was a surrogate mother to Sansa. It makes sense, Sansa was twelve when she went to KL and her mother did not accompany the two young girls, which in itself if quite strange. And before Ned lost his head, Cersie made herself into a mother figure for Sansa. Sansa looked up to her and admired her, wanted to be like her. After Ned’s death, Sansa’s life became a living nightmare but, in a weird way, she still had Cersie who would occasionally advise her, in a way a mother would (albeit it was often harshly delivered, but that did not lessen the importance of the advice itself). It was Cersie who told Sansa that she could try to love Joffrey, implying that he was already a monster and even Cersie could not always control him. In her most formative years, it wasn’t Ned or Catelyn who were with Sansa, it was Cersie. I’ve also stated that, in those early years, she did care for Sansa, in her own twisted way. This gives Sansa an insight into the kind of women she really is which is why there is a part of Sansa that does admire her, because she’s survived where other, more able players have not.

Game of Thrones has been setting up Tyrion as a master strategist and this season just served to illustrate that that reputation may have been premature. He pledged to serve Dany and help her become queen of the Seven Kingdoms and was outmaneuvered time and again by Cersie. In the beginning when Dany’s war council were going over plans of taking KL, it seemed like a great plan, using Westerosi forces to take KL and the Unsullied to take Casterly Rock but while he was feeling smug, he forgot that he was dealing with Cersie. Cersie who learned from her father who was indeed a great strategist. Even at the end, she played both her brothers, especially Tyrion. That entire conversation is a very finely staged performance on Cersie’s part. Every action and word was carefully chosen. When she placed her hand on her stomach, it felt so out-of-character for her. This is Tyrion, she doesn’t trust him, she doesn’t even like him but she does have him figured out. She knew that he did genuinely love Tommen and Myrcella and he does regret that they died. Here’s another thing to consider, Tyrion does have a blindspot where his family is concerned. He hates his sister but she is his sister, there will always be a part of him that sees her through the lenses of a younger brother. Cersie has no such concerns, she would burn the world down and happily watch it burn.

Which brings us to Sansa. We spent the entire season worried sick over whether Sansa would indeed betray her family. Of course, the makers never gave any proof to set up that betrayal but that’s besides the point. If Tyrion was Cersie adversary, LF was Sansa’s. As we found out at the end, Sansa’s problems from the beginning were the handiwork of LF, if not for him Robert would not have come North and would not have betrothed Sansa and Joffrey. The Starks would have stayed home, healthy and whole. But LF’s hunger for power got the entire plot going. He then betrayed Ned and then used and abused Sansa. Sansa suffered some of the worst abuse at the hand of the Boltons and that match was arranged by none other than LF. Like Tyrion (and mind you I love him) LF also has too high an opinion of himself, he’s started believing his own publicity. Throughout this season, he tried to sow the seeds to dissent, first between Jon and Sansa and then between Sansa and Arya. And it would have worked except all season, LF was telling Sansa to think about the bigger picture, to view everyone with suspicion and always play out scenarios in her head so that nothing ever surprises her. This was great advice, except LF thought that for some reason, he was exempt from all these scenarios. Killing him would have been easy but to do so without losing the support of the Knights of the Vale, that was going to be exceedingly tricky. That scene where LF finally meets his end, that too is very carefully constructed, it’s the Knights of Vale who line the Great Hall with Lord Royce present, who already didn’t like him very much but couldn’t openly oppose him for fear of Sweet Robin. She sets him up perfectly, so much so that he never sees it coming.

So Season 7 saw both Cersie and Sansa outplay men who thought themselves to be smarter than the women they were trying to manipulate..

It also set them up in contrast to each other. In Season 6, Cersie burned down the Sept with all those people inside, not to mention all the collateral damage. Whereas Sansa was more worried whether they had enough food to make sure that everyone would be fed and they could take in refugees when the fight against the WW really came. She takes a personal interest when she really doesn’t need to and her people see this. This is evident when Arya comes to Winterfell and the two sentries don’t want to bother Lady Sansa, not because they’re scared but because, in a strange way, they’re protective of her.

Season 7 has so far established 3 main groups, Dany and her quest for the IT, Cersie and her quest for who-knows-what and the North that just wants its own independence and also survive both the WW and Cersie. I’ve stated multiple times that I don’t see Jon retain his crown in Season 8 which makes Sansa the QitN. Jaime recently left Cersie and rode North to fight against the WW and while there he will join Sansa and not Dany. Dany burned his men alive, he doesn’t like her and he doesn’t trust her. Jaime redemption arc started when he was paired with Brienne and tasked with getting the Stark girls safely delivered to their family. Plus he knows Sansa, he knew her father and mother and while he may not have liked them very much, I believe he does respect them. I personally can’t wait for him to meet Sansa and see the capable woman that she’s grown into. Jaime is often blinded by his love for Cersie but he’s starting to see that most of it may have been one-sided. When it is time to make a final choice as to who he will support, I believe he will pick Sansa, simply because she’s the better candidate. The fight against the WW will end with the elimination of one of the groups and I don’t believe it will be the Starks. They’re the protagonists of the series. I believe that Cersie will make it out alive as well with Dany sacrificing herself in the fight against the WW.

In the Starks vs Cersie battle, there will be one key difference from the BotB, Jon will seek out and heed Sansa’s counsel when it comes to how best deal with Cersie.

Anyway, that’s what I think and this post got way longer than I thought it would, but I hope it makes sense.

#Game of Thrones #Game of Thrones Meta #Game of Thrones Season 8 Meta #got #GoT8 #GoT Meta #GoT Season 8 #Sansa Stark #Cersie Lannister #Jaime Lannister #Jon Snow #white walkers #Winterfell #Starks vs Lannisters

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meow-meow-motherfckr · 7 years

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The Old Gods and the New

I always forget how much I like the opening title if I go without watching Game of Thrones for a while. It’s so good. Anyhow, the episode opens with Maester Lewin sending a raven before guys with swords come in and then Theon comes in to tell Bran he’s taking over the castle because he can. Bran is kind of...wtf. I like that we get to see Bran use an assisted device to sit up. Nice worldbuilding and giving a disabled character independence. There’s some angst, and I think it’s a pretty good scene. Everyone knows that Theon is not 100% in this and doesn’t take him fully seriously, but they’re still scared. Osha promises to serve him, and Bran looks betrayed. Theon yells at Ser Rodrick about his daddy issues, and Rodrick spits in his face. With some encouragement with the guy who is standing in for Reek I guess Theon kills Ser Rodrick because that’s the iron price. Maester Lewin tries to talk him out about it, but Theon won;t listen. Rodrick is a class act to the end and convinces Theon to kill him himself. It takes a couple swings. All over a really good, well acted scene.

Up north Jon and friends are looking for wildlings while Ghost wanders. Quorin is a lot like a lot of the people I met in Montana when he talks about the wilderness. He gives Jon a talking to, about how he should fight death, and then they move on. Kind of a filler scene but ok.

Tywin gets mad at his lord for not being able to read, and Arya gives away that she can, which Tywin totally doesn’t think is suspicious at all. Then Little finger shows up to fuck everything up, as he does, and Arya gets a little nervous. She avoids facing him, and Petyr talks about how much he loves chaos. He wants to team up with the Tyrells, though Tywin is bitter about the whole rebellion thing. Petyr starts to recognize Arya, but is more concerned with convincing Tywin, so Arya escapes.

Cut to Jon, who is closing in on the wildling camp. The ambush is successfull until Jonny realizes one of the wildlings is *gasp* a girl. He can’t kill her because of protective paternalism, and plus she’s hot. Quorin is going to kill her, but Jon volunteers because he has something to prove. He is about to chop her head off, and doesn’t even have the decency to promise to bur her after, but it doesn’t really matter because he can’t do it. It’s a very well acted scene. He cuts the rock next to her head, which has got to be bad for a sword, and she runs away. He chases her and we see some nice landscape, but he catches her in the end. He realizes he’s lost, and is probably re-evaluating his life choices at this point.

We cut to Myrcella being sent away. She’s crying, and Cersei does her threaten-people-while-deadpan thing. Tyrion looks a little disturbed by that and then walks away. Tommen is crying also because he’s eight, but Joffrey tells him princes don’t cry. I have a bone to pick with whoever is doing Joffrey’s eyeliner, because it really makes him look like an emo middle schooler. They kind of throw out Sansa’s “I saw you cry” line, when they could have done more with it, but the focus is more on how wonderfully horrible Joffrey is and less on Sansa. They go back to the red keep, and Tyrion’s spidey senses are a-tingling because people are not happy with Joffrey. Somebody literally throws shit and Joffrey loses his shit. A riot breaks out, but Joffrey wants the shit thrower. Somebody rips off the High Septon’s arm, which is gross. The Hound gets Joffrey out, but Sansa is on her own. Tyrion insults Joffrey, which is nice, and then hits him. Finally Tyrion notices Sansa is gone, which doesn’t bother Joffrey, but Tyrion wants Jaime back. Sansa is in trouble, as there are about four men who want to rape/kill her, and Joffrey won’t send anyone to get her. The Hound comes and literally guts one guy, kills the rest, and carries Sansa back to safety.

In Qarth Dany is pouting because the Spice King is making her wait. Xaro believes all women can be flattered. Dany is pretty rude to the Spice King, which is probably not the best strategy. The dragon card doesn’t even get her some ships, but she does give a nice speech. Can’t really blame him for being a pragmatist.

Tywin catches Arya reading important military messages and is super chill about it, because it’s not like spies exist or anything. Apparently Jaime is dyslexic or something, but Tywin just bullied him into learning to read anyways, which is charming. Arya bonds with Tywin to distract him while she steals the letter, but gets caught, so she has to get Jaqen to kill the guy for her , and jaqen looks mildly inconvenienced that it has to be a priority express assassination. The guy gets killed just as he walks into Tywin’s office and Tywin looks mildly irritated as he shouts for his guards.

We cut to Robb wandering around the camp being one with the people until he finds Talisa and I fall asleep for a little while. They debate whether or not she is a lady, and she insists she’s not a spy. Catelyn comes in to cockblock and teases Robb about his crush, then reminds him he’s sort of betrothed already.

Jon can’t find the other Night’s Watch men, so he ties up Ygritte and they cuddle to stay warm. He rubs up against his dick, or at least she does between ten layers of clothing, and he’s getting a sexual feeling.

Down South, Roose brings the news that Theon took over Winterfell, and Robb feels super betrayed. Cat, of course, can’t resist an “I told you so”. Roose offers up Ramsay, refferred to as “his bastard” to take over Winterfell. Robb asks for Theon to be brought to him alive.

Cut to Theon, who is talking to Osha. She says the free people “know things” which apparently includes hair removal. She exchanged her freedom for sex with Theon.

She fixes up Sansa’s face, and it’s nice to see two women having a positive interaction for once. Shae explains class conflict to Sansa, and they bond.

We go back to Theon, and evidently Odha has served him well because he is fast asleep. She sneaks out, kills a random guard, then Hodor comes with Bran, Rickon and the wolves, revealing she was good all along.

Dany complains to Xaro about how nobody is giving her free shit. Xaro low-key ecourages her to prostitiue herself, which is...okay, but then they open the doors and everyone is dead and the dragons are gone. We cut to a guy in a cloak carrying the dragons to a spiky tower.

#got #got recap #rape tw #rape mention #daenerys targaryen #theon greyjor #robb stark #sansa stark #tyrion lannister #arya stark #jon snow #the old gods and the new

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