The Game of Thrones The Game, of Thrones the Game of Thrones

Telltale Games proved itself in adapting worlds from other form of media to video games ("The Walking Dead", "The Wolf Among Us", "Jurassic Park", "Back to the Future). So when the company announced that it is making a GOT game, you have every right to get excited. And more good news is, Telltale Games twitted the following which means we get to see a story driven GOT game before 2015. Fingers crossed...

1. A short trailer for the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkWYiRfKTpw

2. Video to watch to pass time until the release(and other videos of Hey Ash): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwgPBWQS6kM

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21.These are questions for wise men with skinny arms- KHAL DROGO

So I've got an idea floating around in my head about Khal Drogo's return. Nothing in the books is ever final, it's often the things we think most final that make the biggest plot twists (Lady Stoneheart...). That being said, I know I'm wearing a bit of a tin foil hat. Though most of these points are other theories that have some solid footing here already.

In ADWD, the "prophecy" Mirri Maz Duur makes gets restated by memory in Daeny's chapter.

When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and the mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before.

For what its worth, these checkboxes look like they'll be resolved by the end of TWOT. Let's go through them one by one.

1) When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

Clear candidate for Quentyn of Sunspear, who is born in Westeros and perishes in Essos.

2) When the seas go dry

This one has the weakest grasp, but a post earlier has me feeling it will happen. My guess is that Davos Seaworth and/or his remaining family in Cape Wrath will die. With Connington using the Golden Company for Aegon's conquest, the initial plans on controlling the whole peninsula, Davos' family is at risk and he is clearly for Stannis and not any Targaryen.

3) Mountains that blow in the wind like leaves.

Whether you think CleganeBowl (get hype) is going to happen or not, it's not hard draw the parallels that The Mountain, Gregor Clegane, is a reanimated and is the new Kingsguard Ser Robert. Supposedly, his head has gone to Dorne. My guess is that he is some kind of Shade, given that his armour is supposedly so heavy that no one would be able to move while wearing it - but he'd need something like that to bind his ethereal form. If and when he is vanquished, the mountain will blow away like leaves in the wind.

If you don't like the sound of all that, consider that most of The Mountain's Men are either already dead or on Arya's Hitlist and/or on their way to the wall. Yeah.

4) When your womb quickens again

Daeny's final chapter in ADWD shows her having her period again. Why else include that inconsequential detail... Perhaps it was GRRMs showing the passage of time, but again, he uses it as a way to bring up the prophecy again.

5) and you bear a living child

She's got no lack of people trying to bed her, if her womb is in fact functioning again, any number of people would be potential father candidates. Daario. Victarion. Aegon? Maybe even Jorah or Hizdar.

As for what would actually cause the Khal's return - besides knowing that resurrection is possible, I don't see anything currently that really alludes to when where how and in what form he would return.

It seems like almost all the pieces are there, they just need to happen.

Or not.

Thoughts?

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20. Direwolves

Lets talk about the sigil of our favourite house, the direwolf. These wolves were much bigger than regular wolves and believed to be extinct. They are also more intelligent than regular wolves (if you ask me, they are smarter than lots of people in the books too :) ). Direwolves were introduced at the start of the first book. The six children of Eddard Stark adopted six baby direwolves. If they were found by any of the other Houses in Westeros, the pups will probably be killed on sight. But the direwolf is the sigil of the Starks and Eddard Stark is a superstitious man. He let his children keep the direwolves but with a condition; they must take care of the pups by themselves, nurse them, feed them and most importantly train them.

1.  Shaggydog:  This one belongs to Rickon Stark, youngest of the Stark family. Contrary to Snow, this one is completely black. Like its color, it is opposite of the Ghost. While Ghost remains mostly silent, Shaggy is mostly ill-tempered. Like Rickon, it becomes angry and vicious after the fall of Bran. It was chained and kept away from castle folk.
2. Summer: Last named direwolf at Stark family. Although most of the GOT fans like Snow the most, I prefer Summer. All naming process reflects their respective owners but Summer reflects the hope of all Northern People. In a land of caution (Winter is coming, anyone?), a symbol of hope appeals to me the most. Or maybe it is only the way it was presented to me :)
3. Nymeria: The free spirit. It is like a combination of Shaggydog and Summer. It can attack to protect the family but I cant image it being as savage as Shaggydog. From time to time Arya sees through her wolf, but she does not control it as her brothers do. Still it would be cool to see these two killers meet again.
4. Lady: The victim. It was a cute and obedient member of the direwolf family but I dont have much to say about it. Maybe because I dont like the portrayal of Sansa very much. To compensate my lack of interest in Lady, here is a fun fact: When Season 1 wrapped up, the dogs used as direwolves were offered to the young actors who played their owners in the show. Sophie Turner (Sansa) took the dog who played Lady. Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran) wanted to take Summer, but his family already had two dogs at home. (http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Direwolves)
5. Grey Wind: Maybe Robb could be the king if only he listened to Grey Wind and avoided the Red Wedding. However ,like they battle together, they died together. After they die, the Frey men cut off Robb's head and sew Grey Wind's onto his body. To be honest I expect them to return from the dead as the first werewolf of the Westeros and avenge its family. One can dream, right :) ?
6. Ghost: Jon Snow named his albino direwolf Ghost because white walkers were already taken. They share skinchanging abilities and he is much more informed (second only to Bran) on skinchangers because of the information he gathered from the Wildlings. Both wolf and boy go to the Wall and beyond it to defend the kingdom from the Others.

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Comment About Something

I feel like every few months there's a new summary of the houses plot for non-readers/watchers lol. But basically, at the beginning of the series house Baratheon is in control of the Iron Throne and King Robert Baratheon rules Westeros, and has been ruling for the past 15 years after overthrowing the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen. With the recent death of the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, Robert rides to Winterfell to offer the position to Eddard 'Ned' Stark.

At the same time, Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen, surviving children of the Mad King, are across the Narrow Sea in Essos, where Viserys has just married off Daenerys to Khal Drogo in hopes of getting his Khalasar to help Viserys win back the Iron Throne. on Daenerys' wedding day, she gets the gift of three dragon eggs, a three-headed dragon being the symbol of house Targaryen.

Back in Westeros, Jon Snow, illegitimate son of Ned Stark, plans to go the Wall. It's a gigantic wall of ice manned by the members of the Night's Watch, a group of men dedicated to protecting Westeros from threats from north of the Wall. And that pretty much puts you at the start of the series.

With all the houses being families, I wouldn't feel right giving a personality summary as each character is different. House Baratheon - Sigil: Crowned Black Stag on a Yellow Field - Words: Ours is the Fury - Seats: Storm's End & King's Landing - Head: King Robert House Stark - Sigil: Grey Direwolf on an Ice-White Field - Words: Winter is Coming - Seat: Winterfell, Head: Eddard, called 'Ned.'

House Lannister - Sigil: Golden Lion on a Crimson Field - Words: Hear Me Roar, commonly misattributed as A Lannister Always Pays his Debts - Seat: Casterly Rock - Head: Tywin - Notable for being incredibly rich Targaryen - Sigil: Three-headed Red Dragon on a Black Field - Words: Fire and Blood - Seats: Red Keep (Formerly) Dragonstone (Formerly) Summerhall (Formerly) - Head: Queen Daenerys - "Like their dragons the Targaryens answered to neither gods nor men"

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19.This is not Winterfell-BENJEN STARK

Alright everybody, get ready for this one... This is going to seem farfetched but at least this theory hasn't been discussed yet so it will give you something to ponder! Before I continue I would like to say that this theory came to me after reading the books and as the books are not with me at work right now nothing is referenced and therefore some details could be off (although this isn’t so much as a line for line theory as a bigger idea right now).

Benjen Stark's whereabouts always has intrigued me in large part because he went missing early on in the first novel and has yet to resurface.

The first option for Benjen that most people (myself included) go to is that he is Coldhands. Easy enough right? The child of the forest disproves this in my eyes by implying that Coldhands has been around for a lot longer than Benjen has been missing for. We all know that GRRM likes to disguise his characters as other characters and no character is ever dead without a firsthand account. By this logic I will make the argument that no, Benjen is not frozen to death in a ditch North of the Wall but instead he is in disguise as another character we know.

Well that raises a lot more questions since there are so many characters. Ones that can be ruled out immediately are people that would recognize Benjen. Therefore, he isn't with any of the Starks or with anyone familiar with the Stark family. Wow, that doesn't leave us many options now does it?

Before moving on with this I will also state that I believe Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna and Rhaegar. Also, Benjen was said to be close with Lyanna and therefore I will make the biggest assumption of this theory (please don't condemn me for this one): Benjen Stark is aware that John is Lyanna's son and that Lyanna loved Rhaegar (also an assumption, I know). The justification for this is that if Lyanna didn't ever make her feelings towards Rhaegar known to Benjen, Ned would. Why would Ned? To me it seems like why wouldn't Ned? Benjen is family and would deserve to know the truth about his sister and since he is safe on the wall, Ned wouldn't be paranoid that Benjen could let it slip after a few too many brews at the family reunion.

Okay so to summarize where our thought process is right now:

Benjen is alive and disguised as another character

Benjen is aware of Lyanna's relationship with Rhaegar and her Targaryen sympathy (she chose Rhaegar over her own brother and father even if unintentionally)

Alright so back to who could Benjen be in disguise? As already demonstrated by Barristan, Dany is the perfect victim to be fooled for a character in disguise. She was raised in Essos and literally is not familiar with most of the characters in Westeros and she is willingly accepting help from strangers (from her perspective) for the most part. Therefore it is conceivable that Benjen is with Dany and she has no idea.

The next question that this brings up is why would Benjen go to Dany? Here there is definitely room for interpretation so this next part is completely what I feel makes sense.

Benjen is the First Ranger of the Nights Watch. He understands the true magnitude of the danger (the Others) that the Seven Kingdoms is about to be faced with. If Benjen was to learn about Dany and her dragons he could reason that they would be a huge help in the coming war against Ice. How did Benjen learn of Dany and her dragons though? Ships from Essos occasionally make their way North so that's possible. Information tends to move through Varys so maybe he even suggested it to Benjen as a part of his grand scheme. Or maybe Benjen saw her in the fire similar to the way others have (I know Benjen hasn't had any Fire Priest tendencies before but this could be an exception). If Benjen knew of Lyanna’s love for Rhaegar and that they had a child together he would be much more receptive to helping Dany.

Okay, so if you've stuck with me to this point, Benjen possibly could have gone to Dany to help her and guide her to the wall where he knows she needs to be (by instinct, Varys or prophecy I don't know). Another side point to make is that Dany is unwillingly collecting a legendary assortment of individuals about her in preparation for her destiny. A Stark would definitely be an asset to her.

Who then could Benjen be if indeed he went to Dany? This is where the theory materializes.

I think that Benjen Stark is undercover as Daario Naharis. I can hear some of your screams of denial already. Why Daario you ask? That seems completely random and improbable!!! Yes, maybe that is true or maybe there's more to meet the eye.

First let's start with their appearances. Both seem to be of similar age and average build (warrior types smaller than the Hound/Mountain). Not saying much I know but at least they aren’t worlds apart. I believe both have blue eyes but once again I don’t have the book with me to quote anything. Both have beards and long hair (hardly a tell tale sign but still a match nonetheless). My next point convinces me the most however. Daario seems like he is in a disguise. Yes, technically all Tyroshi would seem that way but what better person for Benjen to pretend to be than a man that dyes his hair blue, has piercings and wears bright, distracting colors? One glance and you say "Oh that's a Tyroshi sell sword" and think nothing of it. If Benjen were to hide his appearance, a Tyroshi get up is the equivalent to a costume.

Alright so maybe these two guys look similar and maybe Benjen is posing as a Tyroshi sell sword as a disguise but how would it come about? The timeline seems to work for them both. Benjen disappeared early on and could have gone East and joined a mercenary band. He's a very capable fighter as are most Starks and particularly the First Ranger of the Night's Watch. Therefore it is believable that Benjen rose in the ranks of a mercenary group very quickly, just in time for Dany to come strolling along. The company had three leaders at the time so it seems as if the leaders are flexible and probably combat based (not as formal as the Golden Company per say). But before I continue on this thought let me jump away briefly.

I'm sure many of you are still feeling like Daario was just a random guess of who Benjen could be and you're right, it is. However, I have been suspicious of Daario right from the start. What are his motives? He meets Dany for the first time and immediately kills his fellow leaders to gain control of the mercenary band and support her. Why do this? Certainly sell swords are treacherous so the betrayal isn't the surprise but why betray his comrades to join Dany? She has dragons and she's hot and she has the makings of an army and potential to be Queen. If that's enough for you than you should stop reading this. If you are like me and you don't think it’s enough, let’s continue. A sell sword would want to see a return on his investment, in this case for supporting Dany. As Davos' pirate demonstrated, sell swords and pirates are typically not patient when it comes to compensation. Yet Daario is so patient and utterly loyal right from the beginning...... two characteristics that scream out to me as him being a fake sell sword!

If Daario is Benjen in disguise, his rapid loyalty and support for Dany makes sense. Having sex with her seems like a random thing for Benjen to do but if she is as hot as she sounds and Benjen wants to earn her trust why not? I definitely would in his situation.

The next question one might have would be why would Benjen just abandon his brothers on the Night's Watch like this? He swore an oath to serve the realm until his death! Starks do not take oaths lightly. Well technically he still is keeping his oath. In fact, helping Dany and enlisting the best chance for help the Night's Watch has ever had is doing more for the realm than any of the boys freezing their dicks off on the wall. But why wouldn't he tell anyone? Well the Commander would probably argue he has more value on the wall than chasing a wannabe princess so faking his death would be the only option for an extended leave of absence like this. Once again, if Varys has a role in this, that would be the first thing he would suggest to do.

Another point is that Benjen's disappearance with Jon's arrival seems coincidental but what if it was intentional? It is said that a Stark must always be on the wall. Perhaps Benjen, knowing Jon's background and maybe he has some other insight as well about Jon's importance (Azor Ahai anyone?), needed to bring Jon to the wall prior to leaving to help Dany. Sure, some say that Benjen came to Winterfell due to the rarity and grandeur of the King coming North but there could be more to that as well. What if Benjen, privy to the fact that Robert was coming to drag Ned South, knew a visit to Jon would convince him to join him on the wall. By playing a little devil's advocate and saying the wall will always be there for him, he gambled that Jon would be more excited rather than deterred. Benjen might not have known for sure if it would work but maybe once Jon joined the Night's Watch so quickly Benjen was able to proceed with his bigger plans and head East.

So to summarize a bit, I think that Benjen Stark is Daario Naharis in disguise because:

1) It is likely Benjen is alive and another character (GRRM's style).

2) Dany is ignorant about the people in Westeros making Benjen joining her possible and also she is important making Benjen's purpose more plausible.

3) Daario hasn't behaved like a typical sell sword would and his dyed beard and piercings would make a perfect disguise for Benjen.

4) Benjen must have a bigger role to play in the grand scheme of things or he would have been found dead already. What bigger role could he have than helping Dany bring the dragons to the wall and save the Seven Kingdoms from the Others?

I think that covers all I wanted to say AND I effectively wasted an hour at work. Double success. Let me know what you guys think if any of you have the heart or stomach to get through this and try not to ruthlessly rip it apart since I haven’t even reread the books with this theory in mind. Sorry for the length of the post but I wanted to convey all of my thoughts since this theory is walking on thin ice (pun intended).

EDIT: Something to consider as well that I thought of after that some of you might find interesting would be that Benjen=Daario would have very strong parallels with Jon going undercover with the wildlings. Both had to abandon their brothers in a time of need for a greater cause, both had to lie about being brothers of the Nights Watch and both even had to forsake their vow to never have sex for the success of their missions (once again assuming Benjen/Daario did so in order to gain her trust and protect her). Also related to protecting her, if Benjen was a pawn of Varys maybe it was Varys' idea to gain a mercenary group so that Dany had more soldiers at her disposal for her protection.

Thanks everybody for the feedback and enthusiasm

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18.Unsullied

The Unsullied are eunuch slave soldiers, trained from a young age in Astapor to unquestioning obedience and martial prowess. They are used as guards all over the Free Cities. They are sold by the century or the thousand. They make excellent guards, do not loot and will never rape.They also worship a goddess of their own, whose name is kept in secret among them but is known as the Lady of Spears, the Bride of Battle and the Mother of Hosts.

They were most famously used in the Battle of Qohor, where three thousand Unsullied held back a Dothraki khalasar over fifty thousand strong. Only 600 of the Unsullied survived, having killed 12,000 of the Dothraki. To honor the Unsullied, the Dothraki rode in before the Unsullied line, throwing their cut braids down in front of them.

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17.I've seen a man who could change his face, the way that other men change their clothes- FACELESS MAN

The Faceless Men are an organization based in the Free City of Braavos, though their members range far and wide across bothEssos and Westeros. They are reportedly a guild of assassins who command exorbitant fees, but have a reputation for success that is unparalleled by any comparable organization.

The Faceless Men possess the ability to physically change their faces, shapeshifting so that they appear as an entirely new person.

Their headquarters are located in the House of Black and White, a temple dedicated to the God of Death.

I believe the endgame of the Faceless Men is, and how they mean to achieve it. If you look at the text there are clues that show dragon eggs can be extraordinarily dangerous. Additionally, the Faceless Men have clear ideals that guide them beyond the simple desire to spread the gift. I believe the Faceless Men will use the dragon egg they obtained from Euron Greyjoy to attempt another Doom.

The Faceless Men and the Doom

In AFFC, the Kindly Man tells Arya about the history of the Faceless Men, saying,

"All gods have their instruments, men and women who serve them and help to work their will on earth. The slaves were not crying out to a hundred different gods, as it seemed, but to one god with a hundred different faces . . . and he was that god’s instrument. That very night he chose the most wretched of the slaves, the one who had prayed most earnestly for release, and freed him from his bondage. The first gift had been given." Arya drew back from him. "He killed the slave?" That did not sound right. "He should have killed the masters!" "He would bring the gift to them as well . . . but that is a tale for another day, one best shared with no one."

I believe the Kindly Man is insinuating that the Faceless Men brought about the Doom (giving the gift to the masters) and that he is waiting until he truly believes Arya is "no one" to tell her the full story.

About 600 years before the beginning of the series Hardhome is destroyed.

Hardhome had been halfway toward becoming a town, the only true town north of the Wall, until the night six hundred years ago when hell had swallowed it. Its people had been carried off into slavery or slaughtered for meat, depending on which version of the tale you believed, their homes and halls consumed in a conflagration that burned so hot that watchers on the Wall far to the south had thought the sun was rising in the north. Afterward ashes rained down on haunted forest and Shivering Sea alike for almost half a year. Traders reported finding only nightmarish devastation where Hardhome had stood, a landscape of charred trees and burned bones, waters choked with swollen corpses, blood-chilling shrieks echoing from the cave mouths that pocked the great cliff that loomed above the settlement.

In ADWD, Tyrion recalls what he knows of the Doom, thinking,

It was written that on the day of the Doom every hill for five hundred miles had split asunder to fill the air with ash and smoke and fire, blazes so hot and hungry that even the dragons in the sky were engulfed and consumed. Great rents had opened in the earth, swallowing palaces, temples, entire towns. Lakes boiled or turned to acid, mountains burst, fiery fountains spewed molten rock a thousand feet into the air, red clouds rained down dragonglass and the black blood of demons, and to the north the ground splintered and collapsed and fell in on itself and an angry sea came rushing in.

To me these two tales sound remarkably similar. The destruction of Hardhome happened nearly 200 years prior to the Doom, leading me to believe it was a test run by the Faceless Men. However, how did the Faceless Men cause these events to occur?

Dragon Eggs Throughout the series there are many mentions of the dangers associated with attempting to hatch dragon eggs. In ASOS, Lord Alester Florent says,

Did we learn nothing from Aerion Brightfire, from the nine mages, from the alchemists? Did we learn nothing from Summerhall? No good has ever come from these dreams of dragons.

In ADWD, Daenerys, reflects,

ending at Summerhall in sorcery, fire, and grief.

In AFFC, Aemon reflects on Summerhall saying,

the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his [Rhaegar's] birth

Additionally, the Ghost of High Heart says when she sees Arya,

"I see you. I see you, wolf child. Blood child. I thought it was the lord who smelled of death... You are cruel to come to my hill, cruel. I gorged on grief at Summerhall, I need none of yours. Begone from here, dark heart. Begone!"

Clearly she has suffered from what occurred at Summerhall. However, I have always found it strange that when she sees Arya she immediately thinks of Summerhall. I think the Ghost of High Heart may see Arya's future as a Faceless Man and some part of unconscious connects the Faceless Men to Summerhall.

Clearly some cataclysmic event costing lives occurred at Summerhall. Additionally, Alester Florent speaks of other attempts to hatch dragon eggs all of which ended in disaster. I want to say that I do not necessarily think the Faceless Men caused all of these events to go wrong (although it is possible) the rest of the theory is not dependent upon that. But rather to show that hatching dragon eggs is a very dangerous business. Even when Daenerys successfully hatches her eggs, the event seems dangerous and Daenerys sees strange visions in the flames.

My theory is that the Faceless men did something with dragon eggs inside the valcanos at Hardhome and the Fourteen Fires (perhaps fourteen eggs in fourteen different volcanoes here) to cause destruction. When the Valyrians first discovered the dragons they were lairing in the Fourteen Fires. However, I believe attempts by humans using sorcery to hatch dragon eggs in these areas could have disastrous results.

Euron Greyjoy, Jaqen H'ghar, and the Dragon Egg

Like most people I believe, Euron paid the Faceless Men with a dragon egg to kill Balon. Relevant quotes for this theory are the Ghost of High Heart saying,

"I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings."

We know from Littlefinger in AGOT that the price for the Faceless Men to kill a King would be astronomical but we also know from Arya that the price is always payable if the client is willing. Euron claims that he once had a dragon's egg but,

"I threw it into the sea during one of my dark moods."

Euron is insane, but he is not stupid. He would not get ride of something so valuable and receive nothing in return. Thus, I believe the Faceless Men have that Dragon Egg.

Along with most people I believe Jaqen has infiltrated the Citadel as Pate and is attempting to steal the only remaining copy of the book "The Death of the Dragons" that Tyrion mentions in ADWD. I think this is insurance for the Faceless Men should their main attempt to kill Daenery's dragons fail and they need another way to kill them.

The Endgame

There is a lot of instances of the Braavosi sharing their opinions of dragons which is not high. Even if the Braavosi and the Faceless Men think Daenerys is doing a good thing by freeing slaves. I think the fear the mere existence of dragons. What if Daenerys dies, who controls the dragons then? Deanerys has already shown signs of being unable to control her dragons and I think the Faceless Men see this as a problem.

I believe the Faceless Men know Daenerys will eventually come to Westeros and they will allow her to free slaves across Essos on her way there. One place I think they know Daenerys will visit is Dragonstone. Not only is it the ancestral home of the Targaryen's but it is the place of Daenerys' birth. We know that the Dragonmont on Dragonstone is an active valcano and I think the Faceless Men will attempt to recreate the Doom with Euron's dragon egg here when Daenerys (eventually) arrives.

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16. Stark is grey and Greyjoy's black, but it seems we're both windy-THEON GREYJOY

Theon Greyjoy, on the show, is an heir to the hardscrabble, piratical, profoundly macho nobles of the Iron Islands. He can’t contend for the throne, but as a B-list character, he wreaks a fair amount of havoc in the War of the Five Kings by betraying the central Stark family when they allow him some power. The Starks are basically good guys, but by raising Theon as a bastard in Winterfell, instead of in his rightful place, they rob him of what he sees as his birthright, identity, and manhood. This chip on his shoulder drives his sexual insecurity, which in turn drives his terrible behavior, eventually leading to his torture and neutering.

Theon’s saga appears within a familiar post-Tolkien world, a version of what Umberto Eco once called “fantastic neomedievalism.” Westeros is a feudal, vaguely British place, with no cell phones and three dragons. It’s recognizably high fantasy, a genre once considered a sure-fire money-loser on mainstream TV. But the show is more than pastoral escapism and emphatically not a critique of modernity from the vantage point of a bucolic past. Westeros is no idyll: it’s steeped in brutal, backstabbing realpolitik. Still, like other high fantasies, Westeros plays into a contemporary longing for a more direct, unmediated, “authentic” life. “Authentic” can mean a reactionary, gendered longing for a world where men get to be “real” men. Or, in our current technological reality, so full of virtual interactions and deadlocked bureaucracies, “authentic” can also mean a world where power stands up and calls itself by name. We might see Theon, therefore, as a kind of stand-in for the modern, self-alienated viewer. His weaknesses, longings, and identity issues are important to a series fundamentally about gender and power — a series that cuts off his penis as part of a bid to be recognized as more than escapism, as a serious cultural force.

A close reading, then, of the dick in a box: Ramsay Snow mails Theon’s member to his father as a power play in the ongoing war. Snow wants to blackmail Greyjoy into withdrawing his soldiers from the north, which is now under Ramsay’s control. Lord Balon, a repellent and bitter old father, dismisses the grisly package and shows no interest in preventing the torture of the rest of Theon’s body. He knows that his son can no longer continue his bloodline. The penis is thus metonymically Theon’s name, and without his name and seigniorial function, Theon’s soul and limbs are of no importance to his father.

Lord Balon first abandoned Theon long ago, leaving him with the Stark family in a compromise intended to hold the peace. On the show, it’s not entirely clear how this adoption was intended to function — was it meant to punish Lord Balon by robbing him of his son while bringing the houses closer together? Or was the aim to hold the child’s life over Lord Balon forever more, as a kind of preemptive threat? Either way, the abandonment results in Theon’s deeply conflicted sense of self.

His sister, by contrast, is raised like a first son, and grows into a more noble person than both her brother and her father. Valuing her brother’s soul and the rest of his body, she “mans up” and sets sail with troops of her own to get him back. Ramsay’s package thus has the opposite of its intended effect: in a way, it makes Theon’s prick stronger. Theon can’t get Ros, a prostitute, to sleep with him for free (in direct contrast with Tyrion’s squire Podrick, of the house of Payne, whose dick is evidently so amazing that a whole group of whores feel compelled to spend time with it gratis). But Theon’s penis sets his sister’s troops in motion: detached from his body, it finally exerts some power and leadership on Theon’s behalf. Theon’s detached penis directly provokes a female warrior to take charge and lead her soldiers into battle in his name. Fantasy world, indeed.

Even before his torture, Theon wanted his life to feel different, more direct. The Starks treated him well. At least, they treated his physical body well. After Theon turns on the Starks and attacks Winterfell, he asks the tutor he grew up with, “Do you know what it’s like to be told how lucky you are to be someone’s prisoner?” He has a warm bed and money for the occasional prostitute, but he’s emotionally tormented. This crisis of identity is the source of his obsession with sex; away from the Iron Islands, he always already felt emasculated. He tells Ros, “I don’t want to pay for it” (she tells him to get a wife). With or without the fee, he will fuck the same woman. But like the self-alienated TV viewer on her couch, Theon wants a less mediated, more authentic ride.

Theon’s Winterfell prison, therefore, is a prison of the soul. The sentence that Theon lives out before he is tortured is not one of “unbearable punishments” but of “suspended rights,” as Foucault describes our modern penitentiary-based system. Foucault contrasts modern with feudal societies, which were defined by forms of spectacular punishment. Western civilization moved away from drawing-and-quartering to psychological evaluations and prison sentences. The body becomes “caught up in a system of constraints and privations, obligations and prohibitions.” The Panopticon replaces public torture. “From being an art of unbearable sensations punishment has become an economy of suspended rights.” Foucault describes the alienating experience of living in this economy of distributed bureaucratic violence, surveilled by technicians, as a system that both constitutes and punishes the human soul.

In the feudal system, torture enacts and consolidates the power of the king on the body of the prisoner. In our regime, capital punishment is hidden away, while courts concern themselves with prisoners’ motives and mental states. Westeros therefore responds in part to a modern longing for royal decrees — even cruel ones — as an escape from Foucault’s false “utopia of judicial reticence.” Instead of secretive, hidden, distributed violence that attempts to control individuals’ souls, Westeros promises clear lines of power and a forthright relationship with individuals’ bodies — even if that relationship is violent.

Theon’s self-alienation both telegraphs and throws into relief that modern longing. In an hour that’s servicing at least eight major plots, the show spends an otherwise curious amount of time with young Greyjoy and his experience. But the show’s continuing interest in his desire for “authenticity” tracks the show’s interest in itself. These people are screaming inside, I am so not Robb Stark right now. 

Ramsay gets the information he wants out of Theon by being nice to him, like the Starks were. The torture is thus unnecessary, aesthetic. It’s deeply individualized and personal. Ramsay is a true sadist: he uses physical pain to obliterate the world of constraints, privations, obligations, and prohibitions. If what Theon wanted was for someone to pay attention and treat him as a Greyjoy, then his wish has been granted tenfold, for he is tortured because of his Ironborn name. Ramsay breaks Theon’s spirit by demanding that he call himself “Reek.” But, ironically, by going to such great lengths to efface the name, Ramsay validates Reek’s status as a Greyjoy.

Theon’s torture is not like Foucault’s drawing-and-quartering in the important respect that it’s private. It doesn’t function within the world of the show as a spectacle to reinforce the power of the king. Instead, it creates a fetishistic dynamic among Ramsay, Theon, and audience that emphasizes the show’s power over the viewer. After Ramsay cuts off Theon’s penis, he sits down and begins to eat something sausage-shaped. He cuts off a piece and holds it up. For a moment, both Theon and the viewer are led to believe that he’s eating Theon’s penis. Ramsay pauses, for a long nauseating second, before he says it’s just a sausage.

The nasty trick visually aligns the viewer, again, with Theon. Watching Ramsay from Theon’s perspective, the viewer is physically reminded of her own body, again forced into a self-reflexive assessment of Game of Thrones. Did I think he was eating a penis? How far will this show go? How far will I go? Was I so angry with Theon for betraying Robb that I wanted him to be tortured? For what am I being punished? Did I participate in this not-for-broadcast horror? Is this nausea the authentic experience I came looking for? What is it that I’m paying for by paying for cable?

Either that, or the viewer thinks that HBO is just torturing her because it can — exerting narrative power for power’s sake. The viewer feels then that while she is happy to entertain criticisms of masculinity, she comes to Westeros to escape, and this no longer feels like escape. Behind the torture scenes and the “Red Wedding” episode, she feels not an exploration of the nature of power but the callous hand of a calculating author. The viewer then gets up from the couch and says, “Oh, disgusting. Fuck you, Game of Thrones.”

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15. SHAE

She is described as having small breasts, dark hair and dark eyes. Shae is a prostitute who becomes the lover of Tyrion Lannister in A Game of Thrones. Little is known of her background other than the fact that she became a prostitute after escaping sexual abuse by her father.

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14. You know nothing JON SNOW-YIGRITTE

Ygritte is part of a wildling scouting party in Rattleshirt's band, including Orell and one other, that is ambushed in the Skirling Pass by men of the Night's Watch including Jon Snow andStonesnake. Her companions are slain, but Ygritte is spared as Jon balks at killing a woman. She yields, but only offers very minimal information. As she and Jon wait for the arrival ofQhorin Halfhand, Jon reveals to her that he is Ned Stark's bastard, and she tells him the story of Bael the Bard, a song which insinuates that the Starks have wildling blood as well. Jon scoffs at this idea, calling the Bard a liar. She shrugs it off and is brought to the Halfhand, who instructs Jon to do what must be done with her. Presuming that to be an order to kill her, Jon nevertheless lets her escape.

She is present when Jon Snow, under Qhorin's implicit command, slays the Halfhand and purports to turn his cloak.

After Jon meets with Mance Rayder and convinces him he has turned his cloak in truth, he is told to ride with Tormund Giantsbane. Ygritte follows him to Tormund's company and routinely beds down next to him, though he initially refuses her advances.

When the wildling band, now well on its way to the Wall, comes upon the scene of the slaughter at the Fist of the First Men, Mance is furious with Jon as he did not warn him of the Night's Watch force there. To save Jon, Ygritte lies and tells Mance that the two are sexually involved. This knowledge helps to convince Mance that Jon has turned his cloak in truth. That night, Ygritte seduces him, and the two begin a torrid, intensely sexual affair as they march for the Wall.

When Jon is commanded to join with Styr as part of the advance party for the assault on the Wall, which is to scale the Wall and attack Castle Black from the south, Ygritte joins him.

South of the Wall, at Queenscrown, Styr's band comes upon a lone knight, whom they capture. Styr, still suspicious of Jon's true loyalties, orders Jon to slay the man. Jon refuses, and Ygritte slits the man's throat instead. In the confusion created by a raging thunderstorm and the sudden emergence of Summer, Bran Stark's direwolf, Jon escapes, despite Ygritte shooting him in the leg with an arrow as he starts to run.

Ygritte continues to Castle Black with Styr's band, but Jon has forewarned the castle of their arrival and the attack is thwarted. Along with the rest of the wildling band, Ygritte is killed, mortally wounded by an arrow. Jon finds her on the battlefield, where she dies in his arms

Ygritte was our great hope. We prayed that the showrunners would defy the books and give her more time in Westeros (what with Daenerys’ sleepy storyline and Margaery gone the way of Ser Pounce (that is, hidden from our view), we’re short on incredible female characters.We needed Ygritte. 

When she finally found Jon Snow and looked upon him with arrow aimed at his heart, she was everything we’d always wanted her to be. You could see the love in her eyes, yet she still held her own beliefs and goals above all. Then, when the boy from the Nights Watch shot her with an arrow, she almost melted. All that was left was her love for Jon Snow, as would be the case for anyone living through her last few seconds on Earth. Jon held her close as her breath left her and she used her final puffs of air to tell him she wished they’d stayed in the cave where they consummated their love before ending her life with the words that made us love her forever: “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” And there was not a dry eye in all of America with those final words as flames surrounded the grieving Jon and his lover’s limp body. 

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