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Patreon Episode #38: A CLASH OF KINGS IN REVIEW Questions! (Patreon)

Published:
2021-04-08 18:15:00
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Hi everyone!

Hope you're well. We are just about to finish A Clash of Kings, and per our tradition when finishing a book, our patreon episode for the month is a wrap-up of the entire book. And for those of you who might remember, we solicited questions from you all about A Game of Thrones when we did our A Game of Thrones wrap-up episode back in 2019. 

We return to you now to see what questions you might have for us in our patreon-only episode wrapping up ACOK. Our focus for the episode will be on ACOK, and we'd love to hear your questions about the book/characters/plots/themes/theories/meta/etc!

Have your way with us!

And hey, thanks for spending a whole second book with us! We love you all.

Emmett and Jeff

Comments

Micah Clark

My question: Who are some more minor characters you grew a greater liking to while rereading? Who are some you look forward to seeing again come Winds?

Frank B

For the things that you were less enthralled by (Arya's early wonderings, Dany's arc, etc.) what would you alter to make them better?

James R Ward

I have Craster Questions: Do they have birth control? Because if not he should have a lot more girls. A healthy woman of child bearing age tends to have one child every 3 years or so. Why don’t the Others steal boys (or girls for that matter!!) from all the wildings? Why just get them from Craster? Do they need to be a “gift freely given” or such? How long has this been going on? Did Craster always just expose the boys, and the others happened by one day, out of all the places in the entire north of the wall area?

Lord Wesley of House Wyatt, Warden of the West

Favorite non-magical elements of this book? Did Jeff find any sort of appreciation for Qarth and Quaithe this time around? For a book about kings that's nearly consumed by fire in its climax chapters, we really took it for granted that the book closes out with Jon and Bran in the snows of the North. This was my first reread since the show ended and man the Bran is King stands out so strong now.

Kompe

You can rewrite Dany's chapters, but you have to keep at least the same amount of Quaithe and Qarth in the book. Ideally, you should strive to give them a larger role in future books. How do you fix this character and Make Qarth Great Again? Kompe, aka Count Olaf of the Great Council and also undoubtedly the rightful heir to the Baudelaire Fortune.

Aslan Christbeard

How much material of ASOS do you reckon GRRM had already written by the time ACOK was completed/published?

Madelyn Morgan

Bran’s Clash chapters are my fav POV sequence in the entire series. How do you think Bran’s child pseudo-court in the Winterfell Godswood (Jojen, Meera, the Walders, etc.) compares to the various Small Councils, Dany’s court in Meereen, and Jon’s “court” as LC at Castle Black? Any similar tropes or character archetypes? Any potential foreshadowing for TWOW? Second Honorary Stannis Question: Has your opinion or interpretation of the prologue at all different after going through all of ACOK? Do you think Stannis’ ACOK storyline foreshadows anything for Daenerys in TWOW?

Javi Marcos

Do you feel more tired now that after AGOT reread? ACOK is longer, more dense, and the end of black-and white morality of AGOT makes the analysis of ACOK more complex. Bonus question: would you have preferred to do this ACOK reread without knowing the ending of the show? Thanks a lot!

Random

Do you guys think Sandor and Sansa will meet again? If so under what circumstances will the reunion happen?

Thomas Taliaferro

I would love to hear your theories on why the seasons are so long in Planetos. My theory is George was using the seasons of ASOIAF to represent the real world economic cycles. No one knows how long a recession will last or how long a period of growth will last. I think like the economic cylcles of the real world the seasons are influenced by the choices of people in power.

Colm Kearns

Having re-read the book with such a nuanced attention to detail, what aspect(s) of aCoK do you feel are most misunderstood or misremembered among the wider aSoIaF community? (first time commenting, so I should take the time to say: you have a terrific podcast that you both should be very proud of. Thank you for all the work you've put in and all the enjoyment you've given your listeners. I appreciate it all the more in these trying times. Stay safe and stay sane, lads)

Ryan Weikel

Urrathon Nightwalker gets mentioned for the first time in Dany’s Qarth chapters - do you think this relates to Euron and his glass candle? This also ties into the Hooded Man theory during Theons chapters at winterfell in ADWD. Just curious on your general thoughts about urrathon nightwalker being euron

Ric_Rome

A question for/to Jeff: why is it that you get so involved when speaking about Tywin Lannister? He’s a villain, but there are others too, perhaps even worse than him (Ramsey, the Bloody Mummers to mention a few) but you don’t put that dose of (personal?) grudge when you talk about them. Is it because he is cruel and hypocritical but above all a major lord who’s cruel and hypocritical? Yet hypocrisy is very much inscribed in the very nature of feudal rule - l the Starks, with their “our subjects are like our children” attitude, are no less hypocritical in a way (I mean it’s easy to rebel against the injustice of feudal rule when you’re feudal ruler is an asshole like Tywin, but the “good lord” is in a way a worse thing for common folk in search of emancipation...). I’m curious about Jeff’s motivations and Emmet’s view of that (if he has any). Thanks and keep up the fantastic work

The Bool

Which character most needs a hug by the end of the book?

Nick H

Hey guys, two questions for you. Firstly, how different would your perspective been on Theon if instead of having his P.O.V in this book, we saw his actions from the other Ironborn characters? Aeron when Theon returns to islands and on the Stony Shore. Perhaps even a chapter of him back on Pyke telling Balon about Theon’s questionable decisions. Asha with the Esgred deceit and in Winterfell. Maybe even include a chapter of Victarion talking to Theon and Victarion realising is a dumb greenlander now. Secondly, regarding Victarion, did you find it strange on reread that the Iron Captain doesn’t gets as developed as a character as Aeron or Asha? From the brief scenes we see of them we already have a clear understanding of them as a character, yet Victarion is just there. He doesn’t even have a single line in the book. Was it a case of George not having a clear grasp of his character yet and if so why is that the case? Love the podcast and can’t wait to start Storm.

Kompe

Another, more broad topic I would like to hear your take on: What are your thoughts about the ages of the Stark (and some other) children? To me, this seems like a weak spot for GRRM - all of them feel older to me. This could be because they all are older in the show, but I don't think that's the whole reason. I know GRRM planned to age them all up with the five year gap, but that still doesn't really help all the oddities happening before that gap. To me, Sansa in ACOK acts more like a 15 year old, Robb like he's 19 or 20, Arya 13 or 14 and Bran 11 or 12. They do have some moments where they think or act younger (or should I say, act their age), but those feel more like exceptions than the rule. In my headcanon, I've just convinced myself that the years of Planetos are a bit wonky, like the seasons. Maybe every year is a little bit longer than ours (which would make Maester Aemon terribly old), or maybe they're just hard to keep track of, so every birthday is an estimate. I don't really know what to believe, other than that I don't believe Sansa is 11. Sincerely, Count Olaf Baudelaire

broken king

Hey guys! I want to say a big thank you for your work you have put! You really put your NotACast episodes have been a bright spot in a rather bleak period(for me and for the rest of the society)! You really seem to be putting your soul in you work and it shows! Now regarding a Clash of Kings,which modern era politicians/political leaders do you think each of the 5 kings and the 2 Hands (Tyrion and Tywin) resemble the most?Which elements of post WW2 politics are more prevelent in Clash?

Pancho Rosenfeldt

If you had to sum up ACOK in one single sentence, what would it be?

Family Atomics

I'd be interested in you in exploring something that I think you've touched on a bit but that could be unpacked on several levels. It seems to me that in ACOK, George really commits to the idea that Dany is going to go through her whole arc with no teachers. She has advisers, both formal and informal, but no teachers. In AGOT, there are some hints that George might have had different ideas (e.g Irri and Jhiqui), but in ACOK, he seems to have decided on a different course. Since Dany is very smart and intuitive, she picks up a lot by absorption and is able to puzzle things out. And she's incredibly creative. But she really doesn't know any history, military strategy, formal theory about governance, etc. She never seems to think that she should hire a teacher, and none of the people she picks up along the way every steps into that role. She also goes through several cities, which presumably have libraries, but doesn't instruct anyone to find her useful information, for example dragon lore. One way to look at this is as contrast with Jon and Young Grift. The former starts off with a formal education of a Westori lordling and then he gets organic instruction from a series of mentors. He also sees the value of people of learning, as exemplified by having Sam search for information about dragonglass and the Others. Young Grift has nothing but formal education that's completely constructed for him and therefore wholly artificial. (We also have the examples of the strange educations of Bran, Arya, and Sansa as contrasts.) What do you think George is doing thematically with these three examples and what might it tell us about the end state of characters? I'm also curious if there's anything in George's blog posts and interviews that sheds light on this approach to the different approaches, particularly Jon and Dany, but also the other Stark POVs.

Sarah Skilton

Really appreciate the insightful analysis you provide in your podcast! It’s eye-opening and engaging and just a hell of a lot of fun. Thank you! I was particularly intrigued by the idea that Tyrion and Cersei are BOTH using Lancel as substitutes for Jaime, and the concept that Tyrion (unconsciously?) acts out his resentment of Jaime this way because it’s safe. I’m curious what motivated Cersei to continue using Lancel post-Robert’s death, in your view. She got what she wanted out of him, yet their dalliances continue. Is she bored? Lonely? Is it as simple as missing Jaime or is there more going on? She’s “greedy for love” and we eventually learn later on that she regrets taking him to her bed. We only have Tyrion’s perspective to go on in ACOK but what do you think might also have been driving her or contributing to her decision to use/abuse Lancel beyond Tyrion’s simple explanation?