‘Game of Thrones’ Channels You Should Be Watching

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As with many cultural phenomenons, Game of Thrones fandom has taken on a life of its own … which you probably already know if you’re reading Watchers on the Wall. Fan works such as theory analysis, editorials and history overviews deserve recognition but with so many Game of Thrones videos on YouTube (approximately 7.9 gazillion of which address Jon Snow’s parentage), what are some Game of Thrones-focused channels that are actually worth watching?

Sub Cultured: Game of Thrones

Sub Cultured recently started covering Game of Thrones, and their three videos unpacking theories pertaining to Jon, Bran and Rickon are well worth a watch. Unlike other Game of Thrones fan theory analyses, Sub Cultured spends each episode focusing on a single character and the several theories surrounding him which, I find, allows for more open-ended speculation.

Reality Punch Studios: Westeros Crash Course

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Westeros Crash Course is a comprehensive Game of Thrones channel, providing videos on theory analysis, editorials, overviews of Westeros cultures and histories and parallels to historical figures. The videos are short, concise and interesting.  Also, the parchment backdrop sets Westeros Crash Course aesthetically apart from videos on similar topics.

Comic Book Girl 19

Comic Book Girl 19 has easily the most personable and laid-back presentation style of any channel on this list. Though she covers a range of topics (including, as you might have guessed, comic books) her videos on Game of Thrones and ASOIAF are among her best. The highly subjective nature of her recaps is enjoyable when you agree with her … and significantly less so when you don’t, so I recommend starting with her Epic History series in which she explains the backgrounds of individual Westeros houses.

Alt Shift X


My personal favorite on this list. Alt Shift X analyzes popular Game of Thrones and ASOIAF theories, presents textual support for even the most outlandish claims and weighs in on the theory’s canonical likelihood. Though the voice over’s monotone takes some getting used to, the sharp, perceptive and dryly humorous writing is immediately absorbing.

So, what are your favorite Game of Thrones channels? Tell us below.

141 Comments

  1. Balerion300 – the channel of Elio & Linda, co-authors of the world-book, who make hour-long reviews of each episode.

    And the youtube videos of that handsome Axey fellow.

  2. Mihnea:
    The Dragon Demands,

    Hope this is a joke.

    They’re very informative.

    Oh I don’t agree with them all the time – I rather like the TV-Tyrells and they do not — but they can very accurately take apart when the show goofs up on basic stuff.

  3. Preston Jacobs’ videos take quite a few leaps, but they’re usually quite inventive. Alt Shift X is pretty cool.

  4. The Dragon Demands,

    Yeah, no. Those are houre long rants. Would rether watch someone who plan’s to see S6.
    Or hasn’t insulted D&D, called them idiots, threaten to spoil the S6 finale, called people who disagreed with them ”retards”,..etc.

    Or you know, anyone who acts like a 12 year old.

  5. Emergency Awesome is really good too. It covers a lot of other interesting stuff regarding tv shows and movies, and Charlie is awesome.

  6. Tomigreyjoy,

    Yes EW is very good. While he points out if there are any deviations from the source material, he never insults anyone.

    And you can clearly see from his videos, that he actoully enjoys the show/books.

  7. Maceless Fan:
    Preston Jacobs’ videos take quite a few leaps, but they’re usually quite inventive. Alt Shift X is pretty cool.

    Love his delivery method! Very entertaining!

  8. Piyush Sharma,

    I also like Charlie but sometimes he talks like he knows exact facts about stuff that we dont know nothing about(I dont like that shittalk). Like how is VSteel made and how Daenerys resurrection worked….

  9. Can’t offer any words of wisdom on these, but vaguely related, this is my favourite version of the theme tune. One for those of us with a sillier sense of humour 😀

  10. Maybe I am not as big a fan…sigh. I don’t watch any of it. I come here. I can access this site with my mobile phone, which works better than my laptop. I might check some if the sites out once it gets colder outside. What can I say…I love gardening.

  11. AltShiftX is my favorite. Unfortunately he only posts a video every full moon or so. As of late, he has a Patreon going. If he reaches 2000 USD, he wants to go full time.
    Emergency Awesome was my first “love”, so to speak. Charlie is really quite nice and interesting to listen to, even if his theories are more for the uninitiated. Still, I’m always happy to watch another of his vids.
    Preston Jacobs is just a little to tinfoil for me at times. I can only watch his stuff when I really have nothing else to do.
    I’m new to Factomundo, so I’ll have to see if it sticks and has me coming back for more.

    Thanks for the other suggestions, Petra!

  12. CB19 said she will not be covering Thrones any more because it is outpacing the books and, from what I’ve seen, she tends to land on the side of “difference is bad”, which is strange for someone who so frequently covers comic book adaptations and such. But her House videos are good, of course. Cheers for recommending the Westeros Crash Course 🙂

  13. Here is one of the old ones. Seanzoz has been doing GoT parodies since the beginning. He hasn’t done season 5 yet, but I’m pretty sure he will hat some point. He does some parodies about video games as well, but GoT is still his main thing. Check him out, I love his stuff.

  14. Go back a couple posts in the comments and you’ll see I brought this very topic up asking who’s ur favorite GoT youtuber

  15. The Dragon Demands,

    Insults never need to be made. Unacceptable against anyone.

    They would get a lot more respect if they didn’t show so much contempt for the show when making criticisms, but their bitterness has completely ruined the westeros.org forums. Criticising the show is fine, but a lot of the stuff they come out with is vitriolic and quite personal. Fans often wonder why creators rarely interact one-to-one with fans. It is because of people like Linda that they don’t.

  16. Preston Jacobs videos start out good, then make huge leaps of logical fallacies. Can’t believe so many people quote him proudly in the forums. I consider that channel as a weed in the ASOIAF fandom.

    All elephants are animals. All pigs are animals. All animals belong to the kingdom animalia. All animals are living things. Fungi are living things. So fungi are related to animals. Therefore, fungi are elephants in disguise.

  17. Emergency awesome is really good, but for those who really want to now about game of thrones/ASOIAF should watch civilizationEx because its just so good

  18. The Dragon Demands,

    The Dragon Demands:
    Mihnea,

    Some insults need to be made.

    No, calling someone ”retard”, ”idiot”,…etc. Because a TV show is not fully following the books, is simply not acceptable. under any condition.
    These people work 200+ days a year to make this show the best they can. They deserve a bit of respect for that, not being insulted by people who are simply mad for not being in the spotlight anymore.

    Saying the changes are bad, and you don’t agree with them is one thing.
    Calling this people, who have spend 6 years working to bring these books to life is simply rude. Calling people retards, for not agreeing with their views, threatening to spoil the S6 finale, is rude, and also childish.

    And making videos in where you dedicate 80% of the time, to insulting the writers of a TV show, for not doing what you want them to do, is also rude, but funny at the same time. When you think that 2 people, spend houres of their time ranting and insulting a TV show…

    And no what ”goofs” does the show need to be criticized for? The story you don’t like? The AFFC/ADWD story many people do not like?

    Sorry for off-topic, but I can’t simply stand these people. For me they embodie all thats wrong with this fandom.

  19. Alt Shift X is awesome!! Yes, his voice is monotone but it’s highly compensated by his dry humor.

    I enjoyed most of Comicbookgirl19’s episode reviews up to the end of season 4… I mostly disagree with her assessment of season 5 and she seems to be too disappointed with the show so I don’t think I’ll keep watching her reviews (if she decide to keep doing them). Her “Epic History” series are very entertaining and informative, though.

    For those who speak Spanish, Mas Claro Water (https://www.youtube.com/user/Masclarowater) has very funny videos (well, at least for those who enjoy the peninsular sense of humor). I enjoy the early ones, then he became way to “complainy” 🙂

  20. I don’t watch any shows or listen to any podcasts. The thing about video and audio vs. text is that when I start reading text and it looks like total crap, I can skim it in 2.1 seconds. With audio and video, it’s harder to separate the wheat from the chaff, and there is so much damn chaff. The last thing I have time to do is listen to people prattling on with their inside jokes or listening to them erupt into laughter.

    Also, say I’m in a hurry and only want to read news about say.. Stannis. I can pull up the latest Watchers comments, Ctrl-F Stannis and just read comments regarding him while ignoring the endless Sansa discussions.

    So, channels and podcasts? I know people put time and effort into them and Power to the People, Fight the Good Fight, No Taxation Without Representation. All that supportive stuff, but I’ll pass.

  21. The omission of Preston Jacobs is rather glaring. While his theories are almost certainly wrong, how he comes about them is strongly rooted in textual evidence so you can understand how he is coming to those conclusions. He knows his material though. He also goes through individual show episodes and points out things which were not adapted or missed by the show.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXU7XVK_2Wd6tAHYO8g9vAA

    Also, History of Westeros has a Youtube channel; they do audio podcasts but they also record their episodes and upload them to Youtube. They mainly focus on historical topics, but they have show discussions for S4 & 5, split into “show discussion” with a friend who hasn’t read the books and “book discussion” where the main anchors Aziz and Ashaya look at it from a book readers perspective. Their episodes are meticulously researched and cover very interesting topics, I came across this last year and it greatly enhanced my knowledge of the ASOIAF universe; you miss a hell of a lot in such large books.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiYwENpLDO4gyB4dBrMYrjQ

  22. Westeros radio, Westeros history, and my show favorite, ozzyman reviews. Oh just remembered, rawrist, she’s very thorough with it and wraps it up in 10min

  23. Sam the Slayer,

    Indeed, I know 12 year olds who are more mature and respectful than Lindaaa is.

    I’ll cast another vote for Emergency Awesome. I enjoy Charlie’s vids, even if they are targeted more towards the unblooded.

  24. Emergency Awesome – meh. I really like Westeros History for their thoughtful and fun spoilery discussions. Also like Hollywood Prospectus (Grantland) during the GoT season- specifically the two book experts they have to give story background.

  25. ScipioHibernicvs: The omission of Preston Jacobs is rather glaring. While his theories are almost certainly wrong,

    And there you have it. This isn’t my post, but if it was, that’s why I wouldn’t include Preston Jacobs. None of his theories are sound, and I don’t think they have textual evidence most of the time.

    Anyway , these are just a few video suggestions of channels that were also not featured in our last podcast post (we’re overdue for another one, really). People shouldn’t take it as a personal insult to some channel if it wasn’t one of the few mentioned.

  26. Looks like I have some catching up to do!

    I do like Alt Shift X and Emergency Awesome. Saw one recently regarding Jon and Meera’s relationship which was an interesting concept that I had never considered.

  27. I watch quite a lot of Emergency Awesome. Not everything but for example GoT, Arrow and the Flash videos.

    Putting aside the occasional mistakes that I’ll mostly pin on him not taking too much time for each video (as he does a lot of them), My biggest complaint about Charlie is his habit of making assumptions from thin air and stating them as facts not speculation.

    For example in his recent videos he says Nymerias superpack and other Starks kids warging are/will be part of the show when there’s not been even a single hint about them being part of the show.

    Also he talks about casting news etc. originating from wotw but I guess it takes too much time to ever mention the site.

  28. This list is incomplete without Preston Jacobs.

    Preston and Alt Shift X are easily the best out there.

    Yes, Preston is “tin-foily,” but who cares? His research is deep, and he lays out his theories in an intelligent and well-articulated manner with a side of humor to boot.

    Alt Shift X doesn’t postulate anything ground-breaking, per se, but his production values are high, and again, he’s smart and well-spoken. I love his dry humor, too!

    Add Ozzyman’s show reviews to make it three heads of the perfect dragon, and that’s all you need.

    Everything else is second rate.

  29. Cersei\’s Brain:
    Emergency Awesome – meh.I really like Westeros History for their thoughtful and fun spoilery discussions.Also like Hollywood Prospectus(Grantland) during the GoT season- specifically the two book experts they have to give story background.

    HP is one of the best pop culture podcasts on the World Wide Web. Andy and Chris are fantastic.

  30. Hallelujah and kudos for not including Preston Jacobs.

    Those aren’t theories. They’re click bait for the gullible.

    Radio Westeros is my all time favorite.

  31. I don’t tend to watch a lot of videos, but sometimes I’ll be in the mood to look around, so thank to both Petra and those who have recommended other channels.

    On a side note, I have watched a few of Elio and Lindaaa’s videos. After about the 3rd one, although Elio does tend to be more low-key, this gif kept popping into my mind whenever Lindaaa would start in with her, what I consider, nonsense.

    http://damernasvarld.se/wp-content/uploads/import/images/2013-09-15/308534.gif

  32. Jeb:
    The Dragon Demands,

    They would get a lot more respect if they didn’t show so much contempt for the show when making criticisms, but their bitterness has completely ruined the westeros.org forums.

    And that is really ironic, but there is some kind of poetic justice in their self-destruction.

    Westeros.org was the biggest forum for show fans, now it became rant and rave bullshit. People at westeros.org were always book purists, but there were many others who have made great contribution to discussions in the past.

    Now it is just rant and rave for 20-30 people.

    Elio and Linda clearly don’t understand one simple truth. They are the few, we are the many.

    GoT is the big hit, and they won’t have any benefit from it, because almost every show fan has left that place. GRRM will never finish his books, so their forum and site is destined to die.

    People who care only about the books are a vast minority. After S8, everyone will find new big TV show or fantasy franchise to follow, GoT will be remembered as one of the greatest TV shows of all time and westeros.org will lose its purpose.

  33. Comic Book Girl’s Epic Historys are pretty good, but she pretty much blew off this season, so I unsubscribed. Alt Shift X is great, and Emergency Awesome is good, too. I like the What the Flick? and Post Show Recaps vids, but they only do stuff during the season.

  34. Alt Shift X is also my favorite. Preston Jecobs is entertaining to watch, to the point that it can become addicting, yet I don’t and can’t take any of it seriously. He’s a conspiracy theorist; his reasoning is exactly the same as that of all “Truthers”. Fortunately, his conspiracies are about a fictional story so I don’t find him deplorable, as I do other conspiracy theorists. As for Emergency Awesome, I can see the appe but for some reason I find his delivery irritating; not his fault, though.

    The Dragon Demands,

    You are a funny man.

  35. Elio and Linda clearly don’t understand one simple truth. They are the few, we are the many.

    Ask not the sparrow how the dragon soars.

  36. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    I read somewhere that Elio is actually quite a nice guy and Linda is the crazy person f*cking up westeros.org, although I don’t really have any experience with Elio himself – just Linda or both of them combined.

  37. Redteam review was good, but I feel he has becaome too cocky and arogant. He is surrounded by people who agree with him and applaud at every stupid joke he is making. And he is responding very harsh to criticism. His opinion is also not very consistent. He often contradicts to his own statements. And I also think he doesn’t have any idea of general audience’s opinion on GoT, because what he often claims is general opinion is basically opinion from his comment section.

    Holywood prospectus and What the flick?! are the best podcasts for the show.

    Ozzy man reviews became almost book purist during S5, and he was criticized by many for that. By the end of S5 I think he return to his former self.

  38. The Dragon Demands,

    A yes, you are the enlighted few/ you alone are those who see the truth.
    You alone qoute poetry.

    We are the dirty peasents, for enjoying a TV show.
    We are simple dirty peasent, who bow to your superiority, for being able to read a fantasy books.

    We 20 million people who like the show, are incapabile, of seeing just how bad the show is.
    But I thank you for trying, to free us, from the dirt we live now in.

  39. Preston Jacobs actually quotes the books directly so I don’t really see how people think his opinions are so far fetched. His opinion on game of thrones being a sci-fi novel is actually pretty grounded, providing countless examples from GRRM’s other novels. It is painfully obvious that GRRM is heavily influenced by his past sci-fi writings and that many of his works have common threads. Preston’s memory of the source material is pretty keen.

  40. asfastasican:
    Preston Jacobs actually quotes the books directly so I don’t really see how people think his opinions are so far fetched. His opinion on game of thrones being a sci-fi novel is actually pretty grounded, providing countless examples from GRRM’s other novels. It is painfully obvious that GRRM is heavily influenced by his past sci-fi writings and that many of his works have common threads. Preston’s memory of the source material is pretty keen.

    So much of what he quotes is taken out of context. And then he builds his theories on false assumptions. Like a house of cards.

  41. Tomigreyjoy:
    Emergency Awesome is really good too. It covers a lot of other interesting stuff regarding tv shows and movies, and Charlie is awesome.

    Charlie is the best! I watch his GoT posts religiously. Alt Shift X as well. His posts can be quite funny sometimes and always detail oriented.

  42. Linda is horrible. Elio enables Linda’s bullshit, which makes him just as horrible. I get a kick out of them railing against the show with childish insults and no one of any value paying attention to their awfulness. Stay thirsty, assholes.

  43. asfastasican,

    “Quoting the text” doesn’t mean “understanding the text”. He takes quotes out of context constantly. None of his theories are any good (I challenge anyone to say otherwise), and most aren’t even original. He steals them from forums and doesn’t give credit. Just like he did/does with the artwork he uses. He also ignores all literary angles, a huge mistake. He’s a hack who knows people like tinfoil, and he’s giving them what he wants. He’s good at that much.

  44. Preston Jacobs’ original videos are a little more grounded. They’ve just gotten more ridiculous over time as he’s run out of material. That being said I do like his What You’re Missing videos where he goes through each episode and explains what the show leaves out from the book. Even as a book reader, there’s a lot of little details I forgot.

  45. HotPinkLipstick:
    I don’t watch any shows or listen to any podcasts. The thing about video and audio vs. text is that when I start reading text and it looks like total crap, I can skim it in 2.1 seconds. With audio and video, it’s harder to separate the wheat from the chaff, and there is so much damn chaff. The last thing I have time to do is listen to people prattling on with their inside jokes or listening to them erupt into laughter.

    Also, say I’m in a hurry and only want to read news about say.. Stannis. I can pull up the latest Watchers comments, Ctrl-F Stannis and just read comments regarding him while ignoring the endless Sansa discussions.

    So, channels and podcasts? I know people put time and effort into them and Power to the People, Fight the Good Fight, No Taxation Without Representation. All that supportive stuff, but I’ll pass.

    I add my signature to the preceeding quotation. 🙂

  46. The Dragon Demands,

    And thank God.

    Sarcasm doesn’t translate well to text. Your sarcasm, for thosr who know of you, even less so, as it is virtually indistinguishable from normal behaviour. Sorry, “behavior.” I wouldn’t want you to ban me over using British English!

  47. How is History of Westeros not on here? They are pretty much the best of the best.

    And you included CBG19 (who I LOVE) when she doesn’t even do regular GOT videos anymore because she has lost passion for covering the show.

  48. Sam the Slayer,

    I have not visited that site and am familiar with their names only through regarding the assistance they have provided to GRRM. My assumption, from what I’ve read, is that they consider ASOIAF “their baby” and attack any one or anything that alters it in any way. However, the TV series is an adaptation and personally, I don’t want to see the books acted out word by word on the screen. I enjoy what each artistic medium has to offer.

  49. Robb Snow:
    Sam the Slayer,

    Indeed, I know 12 year olds who are more mature and respectful than Lindaaa is.

    This is a late reaction, but I accidentally skimmed over your comment. Fully agreed. I was 12 when I started watching the show, and even I understood the changes 😀 (I started watching in 2012, for anyone who wants to know.)

  50. Mihnea:
    The Dragon Demands,

    I don’t know.

    But writing of Lena’s taxes sure is, it seams.

    The Dragon is secretly working on his *Sexuality & Tax Tips For Faux-Medieval Female Leaders*, to be released together with tWoW. Linda will write an introduction. That one will sell BIG !

  51. Emergency Awesome = short and sweet

    What the Flick? = intelligent while entertaining

    Sourcefednerd = fun, nerdy, and raunchy

    Nics&Nacs = Luv that Aussie girl, she needs more subs though. Only covers GoT during season.

    Thanks for the heads up on Alt Shift X

  52. Preston Jacobs, by leagues.

    He is the only one who read a lot of GRRm’s early works and makes comparisons with these books. Every theorist should do that of course.

    He doesn’t quit with Tower of Joy theories, he diggs deep into the ‘boring’ chapters of AFFC and ADWD and he shows us GRRM did write these chapters for a reason. And although he ‘may be wrong with half of this’ he let us reread and appreciate those misunderstood masterpieces more.
    I really loved The Dornish Masterplan and the series about the Ironborn. Highly recommended.

  53. Jacobs has some occasional points, but the bulk of his stuff is just conspiracy theory. The recent “Littlefinger’s Mistake” video (which I saw because some people were discussing it on Reddit) is an especially odd example, as it arrives at a general conclusion that I think is basically true (that the Gates of the Moon Royces, or at least Myranda, are playing their own game and snooping around “Alayne Stone”), but it gets to that conclusion by some really bizarre reasoning hinging on a totally unfounded assumption about Sansa’s missing shoe from the end of ASOS falling near Lysa’s body.

  54. Cersei’s Wine Goblet,

    Right – Andy and Chris are so good that I am following their podcasts during the off season for show watching recommendations. They recommended both “Mr Robot” (great) and “Narcos” (very entertaining with Pedro Pascal).

  55. Cersei\’s Brain,

    Plus, Andy loves You’re the Worst, which just started its second season and the much-loved and lamented but cancelled-too-soon “Terriers” from a few years ago. They are seriously arbiters of great taste!

  56. Same as many others for me: Alt-Shift-X and Preston Jacobs on Youtube. ComicBookGirl19 was fun and spirited but she let the book-to-show deviations get to her so she stopped. A bit fickle, but oh well…she was good while it lasted. Her lore stuff is ok too,

    Westeros.org for the sheer volume of topics, organization and diversity of subject matter and opinions. Nothing will ever beat it. reddit/ASoI&F is decent for the fanatics/addicts/troublemakers.

  57. How would you like something that’s international? It takes place within each season. However, there are times when theories are explained.

    James Johnson and his lovely Momma, LaDonna team up with Tony Teflon, teeBaby, Charlie in Westeros (Canada), Maester Payne (Canada – Manchester, UK), and Nikolina (Europe) after each show, usually on a Wednesday (Thursday morning, Europe). They break each episode down into relevant sections, and openly discuss what’s occurred. Also, there’s a chat room going on at the same time, and that’s very lively.
    Night’s King! Drink!

    History of Westeros (AA Podcast) is equally as entertaining, and very informative. They have a Show Only weekly review with someone who’s only watched the show, and just started reading the books. Then there is the Show to Book review, and this featured Yolkboy & Lady Gwyn (Radio Westeros).
    Plus, there are subjects discussed, at length, outside of each season. Aziz & Ashaya host this.

    Tony Teflon co-hosts another group with Bar de Porto. Tony’s quite a character, wearing his heart on his sleeve too. Bar is more than a very pretty face. Together, they can take on all questions fired at them, and give accurate answers.

    You only need to get to one of these on YouTube to find your way to the others. If, like me, you like what you hear (whether or not you, personally, agree), you’ll enjoy what I’ve been enjoying.

  58. Abyss,

    I’m pretty sure he’s not, as his fundraiser didn’t work. Which is unfortunate because those were hilarious AND intelligent. I especially love the ‘7K News’ segments. 😀

  59. Tony the Don Teflon is worth a sub. Most of his theories are on point and he’s correctly predicted quite a few things, and the Ice Dragon being the Others’ ultimate weapon will also be true, I believe.

    Preston Jacobs is fun to listen to because he invents new stories from the cannon, and it is amusing to listen to. Some of the stuff is probably correct as well. I especially like his recent stuff where he looked at GRRM’s other works and tried to find common themes, he might be onto something with that.

    EA was good at the beginning, but now I find myself unsubbed because his vids are shallow, just surface-y stuff that you can read off wikipedia or fan sites such as these.

  60. Redteam Review</strong> FTW!

    I love his videos, because he does not try and be super PC, like Charlie @ EA, and a couple of the other Got Channels do.

    I would recommend Rawrist She has some good stuff, and her voice is so awesome (and sexy) lol.

  61. Alt+ShiftX is by far the best for me. He is very analytical but puts in a very nice, dry humor. He also does not sell his theories but just gives evidence both in favor and against some. In terms of humor I highly recommend his “The pounce that was promised video” which has me laughing just thinking of it…
    Factomundo is rather similar as well in terms of evidence based theories.

    Preston Jacobs is rather tinfoil and I did not like his Season 5 bashing nor that he thinks he is extremely funny.
    EA is very entertaining but I often have the feeling that he only has second hand knowledge of Asoiaf/GOT as he gets several details wrong.

    On the show-only reviews I really love the what the flick ones and of course Sosandrine with our Axchucker.
    Edit: I forgot to mention our DamePastry brush-ups (BTW are we still missing the last one or is that coming in time for 6.01?)

  62. Big ups on Tony Teflon and Bar Tube. Smart, regular people. I also watch Preston Jacobs, EA, and Ozzy. I also can’t miss post show recaps and separate book club show.

  63. EMERGENCY AWESOME and GOT ACADEMY are my favorites! I would highly recommend the latter if you’re interested in analysis and predictions based on real world history and politics.

  64. Love, love, love Alt-Shift-X! Even when dealing with crappy theories, takes the time to support or refute things based on the books and on the show. I like that it takes the time to consider different alternatives. And the sense of humor is great!

    Tried to watch Comic Girl 19, but no; I found out she’s not my cup of tea. And the other two I had never seen, so thanks a lot for the tip!!

  65. Enjoy Alt Shift X, great way to explore theories in a direct manner

    Enjoy CBG19 epic histories

    Enjoy Emergency Awesone as immediate after episode reviews, it’s almost an add-on to watching the episode, and then I have the text version with WoTW

    Actually quite enjoy Preston Jacobs,

    Don’t quite get the hate for him. I don’t always agree and quite often don’t especially with his R+L=Dany or whatever but that is like any thread on Westeros.org or people speculating on here, it’s just speculation and his videos have never failed to ensure I see book events in a new light, which means I look at things differently and glean new enjoyment out of ASOIF

  66. I enjoyed listening to several of these and even the Preston Jacobs stuff. It was interesting to hear a bit abort GRRM’s others work. I did begin to laugh at his insistence that there’s no ‘magic’ in ASOIF by explaining that everything is ‘Teke” or rather telepathy and telekinesis… Because this differs from magic how, exactly? They’re equally as inexplicable, implausible, and outside of nature.

  67. ScipioHibernicvs,

    It’s funny you name both Preston Jacobs and the History of Westeros folks because the HoW folks have a strong dislike towards Preston (you can google it, but long story short, Preston Jacobs is an ass who went after Ashaya after she called him out for not crediting artists).

    Generally speaking, most of the “established” folks in the fandom (HoW, E&L, Radio Westeros, APOIAF (I think)) really don’t like Preston Jacobs (and I’d have to agree)

  68. Teflon TV
    Alt Shift X
    Factomundo
    Charlie in Westeros
    Emergency Awesome
    Red Team Review
    Smoke Screen
    Bar Tube
    RSN Entertainment

  69. My top recommendation would be Game of Thrones Academy. If you like exploring links between the series and historical events then I think you’ll enjoy these videos as much as I do. They’re still fine tuning the format but the content and knowledge is unrivalled by any other GoT/Asoiaf youtubers I’ve seen.

    I watched sub cultured, and it’s okay. Not better than that though. In fact, the faux-English accent used for reading the book excerpts is downright intolerable.

    Preston Jacobs is entertaining – he clearly puts a lot of effort into his research. I probably agree with about 1% of his ideas but I appreciate the depth of thinking behind it! He can be a little obnoxious about the show too.

    Emergency Awesome is light, fun and Charlie comes across as friendly and diplomatic (no anti-show agenda). He gives opinions, but is actually more interested in sharing news and getting his viewers’ opinions.

  70. “Ozzy Man Reviews” (YT-channel) is friggin hilarious. His recaps are hysterical and I still hope he’s going to revive his “Eddie Stark – Australian Dad”-series (he seems to have stopped it after just two videos). Make sure to check his “interview” with the Baratheon soldier who burned Shireen and his recap of S04ep08 where he says good-bye to Oberyn.

    Preston Jacobs is entertaining – he clearly puts a lot of effort into his research. I probably agree with about 1% of his ideas but I appreciate the depth of thinking behind it!

    I was just going to post something along those lines.. 🙂 Totally agree on the 1%-thing. He doesn’t seem to take *anything* in the books as the literal truth. Must be hard to enjoy the story when you expect a conspiracy or misdirection by the author behind every single sentence… 😉 Still: I like his “what you are missing”-videos comparing the show’s eps to the source-material.

  71. SciFiFantasyGirl:
    Preston Jacobs, Emergency Awesome and Alt Shift X so far.I love theories!

    Yeah, I really liked what Preston did regarding GrrM’s earlier Sci-Fi-works and hive-minded malevolant creatures and than supplanting it to the ASOIAF-version. There were quite a lot of links there, it’s speculation, but thoroughly researched if we are to assume that GrrM retains some of his central ideas between books (which he does), than it’s quite likely that the WeirNet+Children of the Forest could be what caused all of the mayhem. And I do like that he makes me think about characters such as Sweetrobin, in the sense of tracing back his lineage to Harrenhal/Lothston and his throne being made from Weirwood. He admits he could be wrong about most of it. Tinfoily, whatever, it may be taken out of context, but it still makes me think about characters I did not think about before, even his stuff like “Dragon of the Riverlands” made me reread several GoT-chapters. And that’s what I like.

    The Dragon Demands:
    Mihnea,
    Some insults need to be made.

    Though others do not.

    They don’t ask: they demand. And I respect that.

    Lol, says Drogo to Dany about slaves.. You Dothraki? 😛

    asfastasican:
    Preston Jacobs actually quotes the books directly so I don’t really see how people think his opinions are so far fetched. His opinion on game of thrones being a sci-fi novel is actually pretty grounded, providing countless examples from GRRM’s other novels. It is painfully obvious that GRRM is heavily influenced by his past sci-fi writings and that many of his works have common threads. Preston’s memory of the source material is pretty keen.

    I agree.

    The Slap:
    asfastasican,
    “Quoting the text” doesn’t mean “understanding the text”. He takes quotes out of context constantly. None of his theories are any good (I challenge anyone to say otherwise), and most aren’t even original. He steals them from forums and doesn’t give credit. Just like he did/does with the artwork he uses. He also ignores all literary angles, a huge mistake. He’s a hack who knows people like tinfoil, and he’s giving them what he wants. He’s good at that much.

    And Alt Shift X’s are original? Bolton being immortal? That’s his? I saw that before.

    Parts of his theories are actually pretty good and make you think, that’s all it needs to do. Nobody will accurately predict anything. But in his Time of Wolves and Robins, he at least notes a significant correlation between many of GrrM’s past works involving malevolant hive-minded societies and the Children of the Forest inhabiting the Weirnet as a social consciousness. In the books the majority already thinks that Sweetrobin is about to be killed off by Littlefinger so his Harry the Heir-plot can start, but what if Sweetrobin (like Bran) IS actually more important than meets the eye? Not saying that Sweetrobin will warg or anything, but if Sweetrobin has been plagued by Children of the Forest trying to enter his body through the Weirnet, who’s to say that Bran can’t contact him and thus Bran could deliver what he finds through his searches through the Weirnet to somebody in the South.

    I don’t agree with everything he surmises (such as there being no magic/only “teke”.. But he makes some very interesting points.

    Sean C.:
    Jacobs has some occasional points, but the bulk of his stuff is just conspiracy theory.The recent “Littlefinger’s Mistake” video (which I saw because some people were discussing it on Reddit) is an especially odd example, as it arrives at a general conclusion that I think is basically true (that the Gates of the Moon Royces, or at least Myranda, are playing their own game and snooping around “Alayne Stone”), but it gets to that conclusion by some really bizarre reasoning hinging on a totally unfounded assumption about Sansa’s missing shoe from the end of ASOS falling near Lysa’s body.

    It made you think about the possibility of characters having more importance than you thought they had before, that’s what counts. Also, have you read the comments on that video? People are honestly implying that Lysa’s body wouldn’t have been squashed on the rocks based on discussing updrafts and lee-winds.. o.0

  72. Sean C.,

    That’s the whole point, it’s entertaining and that’s what I want from a channel. Not someone who repeats everything I know already..

  73. Alt-Shift-X & Preston Jacob’s are the only really good channels.Preston is in a different level altogether and you did not even mention him. Comic Book Girl is insufferable just like Emergency Awesome… and all the others are just meh. Civilization X is quite decent too. Keep an eye on him,

  74. Defintely, Preston Jacobs. Love the original theorizing.

    For show recaps, RedTeamReview is also pretty good.

    Another good offering is Quiklore.

  75. Matt,

    And I disliked Qarth in S2…But I never insulted anyone.

    You can freely dislike any story, but throwing insults is simply wrong, and rude.
    Saying Dorne needed more screen-time, to flash out more the characters is criticism.
    Saying that Arrianne’s ommision has affected the quality of the story, is also criticism.
    Whatever people agree or not is subjective, as there are as many opinions as there are people.
    But if the criticism is well writen, and in a respectfull manner, then everything is fine.

    Saying that the writers are ”idiots”, ”retards”, is, and never should be appropiate, no metter how much you disagree with their choices.

    And frankly? I liked Dorne. Mostly because I took it as a nice side-story for Jaime, not some huge plot some people wanted/tought it would be.

  76. I’ve spent meany a night after closing the bar rewatching Ozzy Mans GoT review videos. The means voice is sexy as hell!

  77. Wow people are actually making money by talking about ASOIAF and GOT? Isn’t it copyright to make money off of someone else’s intellectual property? People these days can’t form their own opinions so they have to seek out approval from some random person who has zero artistic talents and writing credentials.

  78. I put Emergency Awesome at number one, Charlie’s the man, I watch almost all of his videos since he basically covers everything I’m into. But his GoT videos are the reason I found his channel. Short, well informed, and focused on different things in each one. He tries not to spoil too much for non book readers.

    Preston Jacobs is worth mentioning. This dude is an information sponge on all things GRRM and is always comparing ASOIAF with some of his other earlier books. The problem with him, like everyone else has said, is that he’s way too over the top with the tinfoil hat theories. His “What you’ve been missing” videos are the only thing I like from his channel.

  79. I love Ozzy Man Reviews for laughs, all the recap shows, Radio Westeros and History of Westeros. There are some dreadful podcasts out there, but those two are great.

  80. My favorite is Alt Shift X. I never tire of listening to his theories. (And they make so much sense, until he starts to deliberately pick apart the theory he’s just postulated.)

  81. Wheres the small council james johnson and ladonna and charliw of westoros or the don teflon um tbaby maesterpayne…. They are thw greatest brah. Guess not many knows about them….well search em up. Youtubers.

  82. I religiously check these channels every day, in favorite order: AltShiftX, Rawrist, Preston Jacobs, Emergency Awesome.

    Subscribed to all these too:

    GoT Academy, , Factomundo, Quiklore, Red Team Review(during season), Post Show Recaps (Book Club)(during season)

    CBG19 set the gold standard yeaars ago but hasn’t done much lately but I still watch for her great epic histories!

  83. Gray Fox,

    Err.., really? What about “classic” review magazines like “Road & Track” which have been around for decades? Technically, those make a profit off of other people’s/companies’ intellectual properties. There’s obviously a market out there for advice or opinions and it’s been around since long before the advent of youtube or even the internet.

    And it’s not like people offering up opinions on other people’s products are “leeching off” those other people’s work. The makers of those products also benefit from the additional exposure they and their products are getting through reviews. Why would car manufacturers for example throw expensive press-launch-events in exotic locations if they didn’t think this would benefit them financially? I’m sure they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.

  84. Preston Jacobs is the best for me.

    Alt-Shift-X is good as well, but miles behind Preston.

    Just my 2 cents.

  85. flintwielder: Really ?
    I mean…REALLY ???

    Sorry to disappoint. I could give a shit about E&L’s tirades and opinions but the depth of the many esoteric threads there are unmatched. I was even banned there for a while for linking to a leaked Barristan chapter at TotH. Petty. Oh well, I can get past bad experiences and can wield flint with the big folk and swim with the idiots. I like the user-initiated forums/threads and I prefer a login and accountability. Plus, where do you think Alt-Shift-X and PJ and others get their ideas from?

  86. I would just like to add CivilizationEx on YouTube and Drunk on Ice and Fire podcast to the discussion.

    CivilizationEx Is really informative and really good at condensing GoT and LOTR information into visually digestible material. Drunk on Ice and Fire on the other hand is a personal preference. The podcasters are 2 British brothers that are more entertaining than anything but they provide some of the best episode analysis.

    I would also like to throw my support for Rawrist, History of Westoros, and Game of Thrones Academy.

  87. My favorite channels for anything Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire are Radio Westeros and History of Westeros. Each episode on both channels are heavily researched and very informative while remaining extremely engaging and entertaining. For show watchers turned book readers, these channels are an excellent way to come up to speed on the books.

  88. Fred,

    Games of Thrones lose to the french diffusion with Plus Belle la Vie (sooo lame, and i know what i’m talking about) in the front, and i don’t even look both those series after few episodes!!!
    Uahahahahahahahahahahaha.

  89. Rawrist is fun, especially when she gets her wine glass out! and I love Val from because geek!

  90. This is an old thread now, but I wanted to recommend New Rockstars. What makes them different is that, although Filup and Eric are also book readers, they focus on the film-making: cinematography, use of music, etc.

  91. You listed some good ones but I recommend ‘Ideas of Ice and Fire’. It was actually recommended to me a while back and I’ve since fallen in love with the channel.

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