Episode 331 – The Door
He held the door. Hearts are broken, mysteries are ended. We tried to hold it together.
Kristian Nairn joins the podcast for a special episode tonight. But listen to this first.
Discussion Topics
Silence
The origin story
How did this happen?
The rabbit hole
The song
Moot
The great stage
Owns of the Episode
Ho…Never mind
Girrrrrl, hold the phone.
Anyone getting sound ?
Elkanah,
Nope. Not working for me either.
Elkanah,
Nope. Can’t download the file, either. Seems to be an error.
Whole lotta nothing audio-wise…I MUST LISTEN TO THOSE FAMILIAR VOICES SHARE THE MOURNING!!! I FEEL LIKE THE SWORD OF THE MOURNING RIGHT NOW!!! Misery loves company, so a man will wait patiently…in the meantime anyone know where I can find Qyburn’s Qandy Qorner? I’m on Gin Alley right now but Google Maps can’t find 3 Whore’s Way.
Had sound but had to stop listening. Glad to know I was not the only one crying. Even on my second watch. Can’t wait for the podcast with Kristian.
Who were his parents? Did the books ever say?
RIP Hodor
He was Old Nan’s great-grandson. Other than that, no specifics.
What do you guys think about this first teaser of season 6 https://youtu.be/IxI8aPISq8I
Are those lines just for this teaser or cut or are we still going to hear them?
I expect to hear Bran say, “They have no idea what’s going to happen,” not long after they’re out of the immediate danger they’re currently in.
so pissed my comment on the other thread never came up apparently it was moderated?? everything I said was what everyone else was saying , stfu!
And the clip of Drogon? “I choose violence”?
…and yeah as someone else said, I’m totally going to loose it if Hodor or Summer comes back as whites!!
I too bawled my eyes out.
Holy crap, you has Hodor?!?! Lookin forward to that one 🙂 for now I shall finish this whiskey n listen to y’all as I doze off. Yay! Watching the episode early sucked cos I’ve had to wait longer for ma podcast fixs than I woulda 😮
Now that Summer has died, the true winter can begin.
PS: not my quote, I’ve read it/heard it somewhere else… I do not know to whom credit should be given for it. But I like it.
loolaa,
tbh I’m prepping myself for the next episode to start with a blue eyed Hodor on the hunt for Bran D: pls no
tkk,
“The past is already…” was said after ToJ right?
So the quotes not mntiond so far are BR saying
“We watch, we listen & we remember”
– would be grt if Bran somwhow hears BR in a future flashback or thru weirnet somehow.
Or else it’s probably not included.
& Bran saying ” They have no idea…” – would make sense he says it soon.
Bran and Meera will run into the guy on the horse with the fireball (remember the season trailers?). I’m still hoping it’s Benjen in some form.
I don’t think Sansa wanted the men to say “Oh, yeah, let’s use Baelish’s army!!” Which would take the choice out of her hands and put it back into Baelish’s. Frankly, as a woman whose had choice taken from her for the past five seasons it makes sense. She trusts Jon, but not to take away her options. She doesn’t trust Baelish, but wants to keep him in her back pocket. And she certainly learned her father’s honesty to fault cost him his head. She’s trying to play the game. She’ll probably get burned along the way, but hopefully not something she can’t bounce back from.
NinaD,
I totally agree with you, she was clever to leave him out of anything to do with the North thus ruining his plans, I think he set her up but with the half brother comment and about her uncle The blackfish.
It’s interesting that Bran is still green seeing when Meera is trying to save him, I wonder where he is and why he can’t wake up, I will feel bad for him when he does and realises the consequences of his naive action. A big final lesson from the 3ER.
Hope the character wielding the flame ball saves them both somehow, I feel that ice mark of the nights king will be Brans undoing, I hope he makes the correct decision regarding the wall and heading south considering it is held together with magic (similar to the cave maybe?)
In one of the original trailers, there is a scene with LF meeting with someone outside in the snow, but it doesnt show who he meets with. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we didn’t see this scene yet. Who do y’all think he’s meeting with?
loolaa,
The show runners in an interview after the show aired said:
He had to be setting her up. Blackish is still prisoner by all accounts. Walder Frey looked like he was doing just fine in the trailer.
Jack Bauer 24,
Oh no I didn’t even think about that
OMG.. Brienne is in trouble?
Jack Bauer 24,
Well black fish was never q prisoner
He ran away remember
Boys and girls, you have a wonderful community and I am happy to be here. This is the third GOO podcast I listen to and I find them very interesting.
Please correct me if I am wrong (I haven’t yet read the books), but I believe a small error has crept in the podcast (about min. 12:45 of the podcast). The Children of the Forrest helped build the Wall right AFTER The Long Night, long BEFORE the Andals ever set foot on Westeros, not after. Their problem was with the First Men, not Aegon and the Andals.
Of course, after the First Men and the Children defeated the White Walkers, they lived together in peace until Aegon the Conqueror came to Westeros with the Andals, bringing war to both Men and the Children. But the Wall was built after The Long Night. 🙂
Figured I’d post my thoughts here now that I’ve listened to the podcast. I took the whole point of the final courtyard scene was to really drive home to Bran that the ink is dry. He was always going to make Wylis into Hodor. And while the scene was incredibly powerful it demonstrates the problem with that sort of closed loop time travel, the people involved have no free will. The 3 eyed raven knew that they would safely arrive at the weirwood, Bran would train and the Nights King would attack and that Hodor would hold the door. I think it cheapens the struggles of the journey apon reflection if you realize they were always going to make it.
Nick Hartley does not sow!
Goo, Thank you for being the podcast that FEELS.
My Own goes to the Night’s King for getting his big rival Bloodraven
#Thousandeyesandnone
That said, I do think when the time comes in the books he will get stabbed in the Skull via his remaining eye…
Epic character, and only someone as epic as the NK is able to be his undoing. He might warg permanently into Mormonts Raven though…
Still thinking on this, there’s the aspect that if they let in “outsiders” that means LF can influence what happens in the North even though Sweetrobin is a cousin, he is effectively Baelish’s creature
Blackfish is different, as Riverrun was directly a part of Robbs Kingdom
Ultimately though there is a big twist coming and being set up
It would be obvious to raise the idea of “your cousin in the Vale”, after all the first place Cat went to in season 1 was to her sister in the Vale. Very intriguingly though the Reeds weren’t mentioned either…
Who saves Bran and Meera in the trailer? ( https://youtu.be/EI0ib1NErqg?t=1m19s )
I wasn’t sure until I saw the last episode but now it seems more likely that behind the horseman there is the carriage of Bran and Meera. You can see from another angle in the episode 6 preview ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ePO5JXVULM )
So who is the rider? Coldhands?
The magic keeping the Night’s King and the whites out of the cave was null and void now that Bran has the mark on him. With that being said, what prevents Bran from passing on the other side of the wall, therefore enabling the Night’s King to follow?! Sansa’s omission makes me uneasy. However, I can’t imagine her saying oh by the way Peter Baelish who are f’d my family five ways since Sunday gave me some information and have it received well from their “small war meeting”. Peter is still playing the Game of Thrones, Sansa should remember that.
Going through my second re-watch, with a much more clinical mind given I’m err, less emotional and moved by the ending
Will say my Second Own goes to the writers/Showrunners over the Braavosi Play, it’s actually quite fascinating
Firstly for trolling the fanbase by making Ned and Tyrion villains and Joffrey/Cersei as Noble
But secondly afterwards, looking closely it’s quite hilarious and perhaps deeply symbolic to see the actor playing Ned tossing his Stark clothing to Arya “wash this my darling, it smells of me”
Secondly one of them (actor playing Robert? but it’s perhaps purposely unclear) telling the actress playing Sansa she “rang very false”
And then later we get her choosing to omit how she learned of Blackfish in the meeting, eg ringing very false
Have to go back to the Sansa/LF scene and what LF said regarding the Tully forces, “an army of your own”.
Let’s just say this does nothing to dispel my theory that Sansa rises as Queen out of Harrenhall presiding over both Riverrun and the Vale after she gets Sweetrobin to kill LF (she literally made him sy he was going to die).
Her mannerisms are fascinating in that meeting, that is the very first signs of the cynical/sinister Queen she is set to be
In the case of the books, I think Jaimie and Brienne fetch her out of the Vale, however in the show I reckon in S7 there will be a split and in both books and show I reckon there is a Jon vs Sansa civil war
I can think a bit deeper but it’s a bit more rambling, in the books early in AGoT Arya is angry at Sansa over her attitude to Jon (as he’s a bastard)
What’s fascinating is the cloak, eg actor Ned asks Arya to hold it,
Sansa basically gives Jon a Ned like cloak as well
So look at play Ned and Jon in a similar light, there’s some interesting implications about Jons arc rising as King
“The Iron Thrones what I demand”
“You cannot”
“I can”
You Will Not”
“I Will”
“You Dare Not”
“I Dare Yes”
“The line of succession”
“What’s that mean?”
“Proper Progression”
“What’s that mean?”
“The Lawful ascension”
“What’s that mean?”
Firstly this is rather ironic given that it’s an inverse of the S1 chat about how Ned only had to walk up the steps to claim the Throne as his own, not to mention the discussion of how Joffrey et al are not legitimate
But think also in terms of “Blonde wig woman” and “Ned Cloak man”. Think in terms of how this applies to the disagreement between shall we say Mel and Kinvara regarding the identity of the Prince who was Promised
Hard to escape the nagging feeling the second passage foreshadows a dispute between Jon and Dany regarding the right as the Targaryen heir to the Iron Throne’ deep deep deep into the story
Of course both will have other titles, eg Dany is basically Queen of Meereen and Dothraki via conquest, and Jon may be King in the North,
The first passage I suspect may foreshadow a dispute with Sansa as to his right to rule the North given his “bastard” origins, which of course may not hold correct if he is trueborn son of Rhaegar and Lyanna on both sides of the Targaryen/Stark coin
Eg look at the strategy scene again, Sansa makes a pretty adamant point about her name etc
Interestingly, I actually think Arya sides with Jon in this dispute and seeks to kill Sansa, there’s an argument early in aGoT between the two over Jon. Eg firstly we had Jon giving Arya Needle, but going back to what actor Ned says to her “it smells of me”
remember she is sniffing the poison while blind so she has presumably developed a keen sense of smell, so I wonder if there will be a moment where she smells Jon on his Ned Cloak….
Inbetween observing the flirting of Cersei actor and Tyrion actor being symbolic
Firstly hard to escape the feeling this portends Arya getting the idea to poison Lady Cranes Rum coincides with the idea of poisoning Cersei wine with the strangler, plus the concept of Tyrion being in close proximity while this occurs makes me wonder if he is around to “strangle the life” out of her out of mercy though
even though tbh I thought Jaimie was the Valonqar, Jaimie talking about “dying in the arms of the woman I love” to Bronn on the ship last seasonmakes me wonder if he’ll die in Briennes arms
Regarding the Visions
The Tree where the NK made is not the Cave Tree, the Cave Tree is elevated whereas the sacrificse Tree was in a depression surrounded by small Mountains
I had wondered why Bran went there when he went by himself, it seemed odd but now I get it, basically he went to the spot of his previous vision, so the same place understandably but in a different point of time, eg that very same Tree and circles is right in the heart of LoAW deeply frozen over and reflects via the 4 Horsemen and Wight Army about the NK planning the Apocalypse etc
Ghosts Lunch,
* Ah the actor is in the same colours as Briennes armour, he takes the blonde wig off, seems to portend what happens with Brienne I suspect who will come to feel Sansa is false but is still bound by her oath
The boobs are interesting, seems to make me think of SR in the Alayne chapter and “Mothers Milk” and how we are first introduced to Robyn back in S1 who like Tyrion actor has a “big appetite”
The Kingsmoot is fascinating, seems to indicate what happens with the Damp-Hairs rebellion, eg Aeron will come round to him and overcome this idea of “no Godly man may sit the Seastone Chair” by drowning and resuscitating him
The scene ending with Euron overlooking the Sea flowing into Dany overlooking Vaes Dothrak (and the Dothrak Sea?) is intriguing as well
ep 5 rating : 7.89 million (3.96) slightly up from 7.822 million last week
http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-sunday-cable-originals-network-finals-5-22-2016.html
Ghosts Lunch,
I thought play Ned said the cloak smells of mead.
Enjoyed the play within the play. Glad we will be seeing them again. I don’t think there is ever throw-away dialogue in this show, so you do have a point in making the comparisons.
Podcast: Lots of sad for Summer and Hodor. Please don’t come back as a big, mean, blue-eyed Hodor. Losing you once was hard enough! Will miss von Sydow, too. What a wonderful actor. I hope Bran at least gets his guiding voice now and then.
Tim of House Deddings,
Oh my god what great news. Excellent ratings of an excellent show.
Yeah you are probably right actually, makes more sense about it smells of Mead instead of “Me”
That said, still quite hilarious she is being tossed the Stark Cloak
Later on Jon being promoted in his Cloak, eg from his S1 E1&2 cloak to the Ned Cloak not long after handing the NW LC Cloak to Ed after he hung the traitors etc.
I do wonder if Sansa will end up hanging Smalljon Umber…
There was something in that line IMO…
Fascinating for me, when Brienne references the use of bloodmagic against “his own brother” in terms of Stannis, Mel, Davos, and Renly etc Sansa didn’t bat an eyelid as if the notion didn’t disturb her at all (that’s a deliberate camera shot and deliberate facial expression)
Does nothing to dampen my theory about Lady Lothstong Mk 2 to say the least…
Obviously when you are able to overcome the powerful emotion, this was a truly rich episode once you start to pick it up apart
Looking forward to listening to this!
Time travel is the reason Old Nan can never keep those damn Brandon’s straight in her head :'( RIP Hodor
Who….dor…?
Oh wow even higher than NBA Playoffs
Great to hear the ratings were even higher
Tbh I was worried they may have dropped a bit because of the apparent early leaking of the episode
Will be really fascinating to see if they get a bump to new heights, very encouraging we haven’t had the usual substantial dip from E1 of any given season
After watching recaps of Ep 5 a theory just occurred to me about Azor Ahai…