Tyrion’s Raven to Jon Snow

Published August 1, 2017 · Updated July 6, 2022

Several brief comments…

Even if there were a traitor among Daenerys’ council, how would s/he have communicated with Euron? S/he’d need a secret raven … and how would a raven find Euron’s ships?

But I like Roger’s reasoning that the queen of thorns had an incentive to interfere with Tyrion’s plan for her army (even though I don’t find it compelling).

Tyrion’s raven

Thanks for pointing out that Tyrion’s raven to Jon Snow omitted Daenerys’ invitation to bend his knee. I don’t think Tyrion need
fear this would anger Daenerys, since enabling a conversation between her and Jon is paramount regardless of whether Jon will
bend the knee. Daenerys’ instruction about bending the knee might have been posturing, since she wasn’t alone with Tyrion when she said it. Before sending the raven, he might have obtained her permission to omit it.

How can Jon convince his men?

You guys were wondering how Jon could prove to his bannermen that the situation is dire. Only a week ago, you wondered whether his heart still beats. If it doesn’t, that would be strong evidence that strange things are happening (and that his “till my dying day” oath to the Night’s Watch is terminated).

Samwell’s redemption

Regarding whether Sam Tarley will find redemption in his father’s eyes, I expect Sam’s brother Dickon will play a pivotal role in whatever happens. Sam only needs to outshine Dickon.

About castrated eunuchs

Male warriors need testosterone to build muscle, so it would have been unwise for the Wise Masters to castrate the testicles of the boys destined to become Unsullied. Castrated eunuchs become fat & lazy like Varys, and the Unsullied are neither. I hope this comment sows more confusion about what the Unsullied actually lose.

How Euron beat the Sand Snakes

On a ship tossed by waves, Euron Greyjoy had the home field advantage over the Sand Snakes, who were used to fighting on land. Yara did pretty well against Euron.

Theon’s escape

When Theon faced Euron, he looked around and saw all his fellows on the deck, dead or dying. The battle was essentially over; he was alone and outnumbered by experienced warrior sailors. He obviously had no chance to rescue Yara. He wisely chose to live to fight another day. If he was indeed planning to fight another day, I wouldn’t call his retreat cowardice. It’s unlikely his story is over; I expect he’ll have an opportunity for a brave act of self sacrifice. On land, where he’d have home field advantage against Euron, particularly since Theon is a skilled archer.

Speedy travel

As in The Expanse, it’s an illusion that people in Westeros appear to travel fast. The series would be boring if the months of traveling weren’t left on the cutting room floor, or in the thousands of pages deleted by George RR Martin’s editor. It’d be nice to have occasional subtitles showing the date, though. Did the showrunners consider subtitles, and reject them?

Was it really readers of the ASOIAF books who’ve um-actuallied your creative pronunciations? Names are pronounced only in the tv series.

Later,
Steve

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