Episode 66: A GAME OF THRONES, BRAN VII: “Only in Dreams”

Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

In this episode, good ol' Maester Luwin reassures Bran and Rickon that their creepy nightmares about their dad being dead are meaningless...and of course, he is proven 100% right. Since when do dreams *mean* things?!

This week, we:

-Discuss the different directions George considered going with books four and five

-Set up the struggle that will dominate Bran's storyline in the next book: the secular v. the magical, the Stark in Winterfell v. the Winged Wolf

-Dig into the layers of political and personal history down in the Winterfell crypts

-Pay tribute to the Ned Stark shaped hole inside Bran, Rickon, and his own tomb

-Ponder where the Children of the Forest went and what they did after the Andals arrived per Luwin's story...

Next week: AGOT, Sansa VI with new guest Michal Shick of Hypable, Nice Jewish Fangirls, and Vassals of Kingsgrave!

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Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish

Episode 65: A GAME OF THRONES, ARYA V: “The End of the Beginning”

Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

In this episode, George RR Martin finally stops dicking around, pulls out our hearts, and steps on them while we watch. This is the chapter where Dad dies.

We also talk:

- An off-screen event we would have loved to see on-page

- Ned's death is a tragedy, not a genre deconstruction

- Arya's training arc continues and she grows through adversity

- Red Wedding and Ned's death parallels

- Who really killed Ned Stark?

This episode is also available as a video which is 1 hour longer! Check out the director's cut of the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBK5edZJGRM

Next week: AGOT, Bran VII!

Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF

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Our facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/289889118235797/

Our youtube page: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmmDfPdG…iew_as=subscriber

Emmett's twitter: twitter.com/PoorQuentyn

Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish

Episode 64: A GAME OF THRONES, DAENERYS VIII: “Shadow Puppets”

Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

In this episode, George gets his horror on as everything collapses around Dany--personally, politically, and of course, magically.

We also talk:

- Daenerys as a physical dragon

- Foreshadowing things to come with flies, hitting the mood just right

- The importance of POV: a bad act by someone we sympathize with

- The real (black) magic was the friends we made along the way

- Emmett answers all of Jeff's questions about magic!

Our next livestream on AGOT, Arya V is tonight if you're listening on the release date and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwKS3Gl5viI

Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF

Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIAF

Our facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/289889118235797/

Our youtube page: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmmDfPdG…iew_as=subscriber

Emmett's twitter: twitter.com/PoorQuentyn

Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish

Thrones Review, Season 8 Episode 6: “The Iron Throne”

Episode 63: A GAME OF THRONES, CATELYN X: “Moonlight Sonata”

Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

In this episode, Catelyn Stark describes the Battle of the Whispering Wood with such lyrical beauty you almost forget that a bunch of people are dying horribly.

- Discuss Arianne and Daenerys

- Unpack the poetry and the hard tactics of the battle

- Contrast Robb's relationship to Cat with Tyrion's to Tywin

- Chest-thump for Robb's victory, but what does it all truly mean ultimately?

Next week: the shadows come to dance my lord in AGOT, Daenerys VIII!

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Our facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/289889118235797/

Our youtube page: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmmDfPdG…iew_as=subscriber

Emmett's twitter: twitter.com/PoorQuentyn

Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish

Thrones Review, Season 8 Episode 5: “The Bells”

Episode 62: A GAME OF THRONES, TYRION VIII: “The Iron Rose”

Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

In this episode, Tyrion has yet another frosty conversation with his dear old Dad, meets the woman he’ll murder at the end of book three, and then gets knocked out by a hammer, thus missing the battle ...oh wait, that’s the show. No offense, they didn’t have the budget to bring the Battle of the Green Fork to life! But books don’t have budgets, so we’re gonna get to dive into the real deal.

- Talk about who the main character in AGOT is

- Discuss Tyrion and Tywin's ever-increasing-ratcheting-always-upward toxic relationship

- Shae's introduction and how Tyrion projects Tysha onto her

- it's Battle of the Green Fork time!

- So much foreshadowing and groundwork launches off this chapter

- Did Roose Bolton throw the Battle of the Green Fork? (Absolutely, yes.)

Next week: the woods are full of whispers in AGOT, Catelyn X!

Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF

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Emmett's twitter: twitter.com/PoorQuentyn

Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish

Thrones Review, Season 8 Episode 4: “The Last of the Starks”

Episode 61: A GAME OF THRONES, DAENERYS VII: “Paying the Iron Price”

Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week!

In this episode, Dany plays witness to the war crimes committed by Drogo and his Dothraki in the name of her claim to the Iron Throne, and decides to save (some of) the innocents...one of whom will change her life forever.

This week, we:

-Discuss those weird half-dragon (?) Targaryen babes

-Compare and contrast the atrocities in this chapter to what's going down in Westeros

-Praise Dany's heroic instincts while noting how poorly they fare in this specific cultural context

-Introduce Mirri Maz Duur, everyone's favorite witchy aunt

-Debate whether she genuinely tried to heal Drogo or had his downfall in mind from the start

Next week: It's time for the First! Big! Battle!! Namely the Battle of the Green Fork (along with the introduction of Shae and Podrick Payne) in AGOT, Tyrion VIII!

Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF

Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIAF

Our facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/289889118235797/

Our youtube page: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmmDfPdG…iew_as=subscriber

Emmett's twitter: twitter.com/PoorQuentyn

Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish

Thrones Review, Season 8 Episode 3: “The Long Night”