Winter is Coming.

Here you will find a compilation of recipes inspired by Game of Thrones that any game of thrones fan could appreciate and any character would enjoy, from a highborn noblewoman or the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch to a lowly tavern baker. There is a recipe for every occasion, so you should be covered from sun-up until dessert after dinner. Enjoy a day of eating Westerosi-style!

“All of Time” Bran Muffins

For this recipe, I took a family recipe created by my grandma called “Anytime Muffins” and renamed it in honor of Brandon Stark. Bran is the Three-Eyed Raven and can see things that happen in the past, present, and future, hence the title, “All of Time”.

What you will need:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups boiling water
• 4 eggs—beaten
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 1-2 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cups All-Bran cereal
• Optional: cherries, berries, or other fruit

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix together rolled oats and boiling water. While that is cooling, combine beaten eggs, buttermilk, sugar, and oil. Add that mixture to the now cool rolled oats. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Combine dry and wet ingredients, as well as bran cereal. Mix just until all ingredients are moistened, do not over-mix or muffins will be tough.

Fill oiled or paper-lined muffin tins ¼ full. Add fruit if desired, and continue filling muffin tins to ¾ full. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Leftover batter can be refrigerated for up to 6 weeks (this recipe makes SO much batter).

These muffins both taste and smell heavenly. Even my fiancé, who, until yesterday, was adamant that he hated bran muffins, said he loved them. I’d recommend this recipe for a cold day where you can curl up by the fire and pretend you’re in Winterfell. While I’m not going to suggest that these muffins will make you an omniscient force of nature like Bran, who is basically the internet of Westeros, maybe they will make you feel a little more connected to our friend the Three-Eyed Raven.

Sansa’s Favorite Lemon Cakes

It is a well known fact that Sansa Stark loves lemon cakes. So well known, actually, that fans make it a habit to send her actress lemon cakes in fan mail. Unfortunately, the actress Sophie Turner HATES lemon cakes. I decided as part of the project I would make some and see who has the right opinion on lemon cakes: Sansa or Sophie. The recipe I used can be found here.

What you’ll need:

• 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
• ½ cup melted butter
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• Zest & juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 to 3 Meyer lemons

Candy the lemons 24 hours in advance. Slice Meyer lemons into 12 thin circles. In a sauce pot, simmer water and sugar. Place the lemon slices in the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the slices from the sauce pot and dry overnight on greased parchment paper.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a muffin tray and then lay a candied lemon slice in each muffin cup.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, yolk, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently fold in the wet mixture and then fold in melted butter.

Scoop about 1½ ounces of batter into each muffin cup. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Remove from the oven and immediately flip onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in the tray and then remove.

After trying this recipe, I can definitively say that Sophie Turner is dead wrong about lemon cakes, they are delicious. As my friend who helped me make (and eat) these cakes said: “I could imagine myself eating these on a balcony in King’s Landing, drinking wine with Tyrion and executing uppity Northerners”. It was a joke of course, Sansa is far too loyal to the North to ever do such a thing, even during her time at King’s Landing. The sentiment is true, however; I really can picture myself on a King’s Landing balcony or a terrace in High Garden eating one of these delicacies. They are fit for royalty.

Little Finger’s Chicken Fingers

Another family recipe that I renamed several seasons ago to be my go-to season premiere food. The chicken fingers themselves are pretty classic, but the dipping sauce that goes with them is what makes these babies stand out. They are always served with my mom’s famous raspberry-jalapēno dipping sauce. Subtle but with a kick, this recipe is sure to spice up a premiere party. Plus, the hidden bit of spice would surely be Lord Baelish approved; after all, he did warn you not to trust him.

What you’ll need:

• Chicken breast, sliced into strips
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Seasoned flour or bread crumb mixture (for mine I used store-bought flour mixture)
• 3 cups vegetable oil, or enough to fill the bottom of a deep-frier and cover the chicken strips
• 6 large red jalapēnos
• 1/2 head garlic, skinned and chopped
• 8 oz raspberries
• 1 large honey crisp apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup apple-cranberry juice
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 tsp salt

For the raspberry-jalapēno dip, roast the jalapēnos, de-skin, split in half, and remove seeds. Sauté garlic until browned. Put jalapēnos, garlic, raspberries, apple, and vinegar into food processor and process until smooth. Place processed mixture in pan with vinegar, honey, apple-cranberry juice, wine, and salt and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a low simmer until 1 half reduction, stirring occasionally. This last step will take about an hour.

When the dipping sauce is finished an cooling, begin to prepare chicken fingers. Heat up vegetable oil in deep frier. Roll the strips of chicken breast in olive oil and then the seasoned flour mixture. Cooking several at a time, place coated chicken in the deep frier and cook 5-10 minutes. The chicken should turn golden-brown and start to float when they are fully cooked.

The chicken strips and dipping sauce, which are always a hit, were delicious as ever. I’d recommend serving this dish with a handful of raspberries to cool it down. While the sauce takes an extraordinary amount of time to make, every second I spent on this dish was worth it for how delicious it is.

Deviled Dragon Eggs

For this recipe, I loosely followed the directions for a recipe I saw on Buzzfeed. The aesthetic in the recipe was so cool and I was dying to try it but didn’t think I’d have the opportunity because what college student has time to sit around dying eggs? (This was before I began this project). Well, luckily for me it was the week of Easter and a friend invited me over for an Easter egg dying party, and I used it as an opportunity to make the deviled dragon eggs I saw on Buzzfeed. It ended up being so much fun that it inspired this whole final project.

What you’ll need:

• 8 eggs
• Food coloring of your choice
• 1/4 mayonnaise
• 2 tsp yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup dill pickle relish
• 2-4 tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
• 1 jalapēno, minced
• Salt, to taste
• Paprica

Begin by hard boiling the eggs. Place eggs in a large saucepan. Cover them with cool water by 1 inch, then cover pan with a lid and bring water to a rolling boil over high heat. When the water has reached a boil, set the timer for 6-9 minutes, depending on the texture of eggs you most enjoy. Boil over medium-high heat until timer ends and then allow to cool.

To achieve the marbled affect on the eggs, crack the shell but do not peel it off. Put each egg in a plastic bag with a bit of food coloring, and gently massage the egg so it’s coated in the food coloring before letting it soak for half an hour.

Because I made my eggs at an Easter egg dying party, I made my eggs with an Easter egg dye kit and let the gently cracked eggs soak in cups of dye-vinegar mixture instead of putting them in plastic bags of food coloring. Follow the Buzzfeed recipe; my eggs did not turn out well. While they might have looked cool with the shells on, only 2 of my eggs (the red one and the teal one I’m lifting in the picture) actually came out nicely, the rest all only had a couple spots of color or none at all.

Rinse the eggs in cold water and peel away the shells. If you followed the Buzzfeed directions, hopefully you will have beautifully marbled eggs. Cut eggs in half length-wise and scoop out the cooked yoke into a bowl. This was one of my favorite recipes to make because I took a lot of liberties with what I wanted to go into them. The Buzzfeed recipe calls for the mayonnaise, mustard, jalapēno, and salt, as well as 2 tsp of tabasco and 3 slices of cooked and chopped bacon. I added dill pickle relish and vinegar because I wanted them to taste like the one’s my grandma would make for me as a kid. I didn’t strictly follow any recipe but added ingredients a little at a time until the had the taste and texture I was going for.

Once you’re happy with your deviled egg mixture, scoop it into the empty egg whites and sprinkle with paprika.

These were a huge hit with my family when I made them on Easter (which also happened to be the day the final season of Game of Thrones premiered). Even though they weren’t perfectly marbled like I was hoping they’d be, they were delicious and got me in the mood for the season premiere.

Chicken Sweet Potato Hot Pie’s Pot Pies

This recipe was one of the more creative ideas I came up with, and it ended up being my favorite. I didn’t see it on any lists that I found for Game of Thrones-inspired dishes; rather, I stubbled upon a recipe for a dish that Arya’s friend Hot Pie makes for her: a direwolf shaped piece of bread.

A scene from an episode that I had just recently rewatched sprung to mind, in which Hot Pie is droning on and on to Brienne and Podrick about how to make the perfect kidney bean pie. Immediately, my mind declared, “HOT PIE POT PIE!”, and it was settled, I would be making a chicken pot pie inspired by Hot Pie’s character and devotion to cooking.

I decided against a classic pot pie recipe because I find them kind of boring, even though it more likely would have been a Northern dish in Weteros. I found a recipe for a chicken sweet potato pot pie and cooked that instead. For your own dish, you could cook a classic pot pie or substitute in butternut squash for sweet potato; make what sounds best to you.

What you need:

• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp Pepper
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes
• 1 rotisserie chicken
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon (optional)
• tsp. freshly grated or ground nutmeg
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 1 large egg

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Oil four 12-ounce ramekins (each about 4-inch round). Allow puff pastry to defrost.

Cut sweet potatoes into cubes and roast in 2 tablespoons of olive oil at 375 for about 20 minutes or until softened.

While sweet potatoes are roasting, shred chicken, discarding skin and bones. Chop onions, parsley, and tarragon, and measure out all other ingredients. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, salt, and pepper, and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and cook, covered, stirring occasionally until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually stir in wine and then broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken, parsley, tarragon, and nutmeg.

Divide mixture among prepared ramekins (about 3/4 cup each). Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet.

Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 4 pieces of puff pastry. Place pastry on top of ramekins (or pie plate).

Place pot pies on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush pastry with egg and if desired, cut three slits in top of each piece of pastry. Bake until puffed and golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Like I said, this was my favorite dish that I cooked; it was sweet, savory and full of flavor. Next time I think I’ll use less potatoes than the recipe calls because they soaked up a lot of the gravy (as Hot Pie says, you cannot give up on the gravy), and I also want to try it with butternut squash. For a first attempt at the recipe, I thought it was pretty damn good though, as did my fiancé. I hope it would make Hot Pie proud.

Iced Blueberries and Sweet Cream

This is a dish that is served at the Wall in the books. It’s meant to be a dessert reserved for the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch himself.

“From the Lord Commander’s own table,” Bowen Marsh told them. There were salads of spinach and chickpeas and turnip greens, and afterwards bowls of iced blueberries and sweet cream. —A Game of Thrones

My favorite of the Lord Commanders is, of course, Jon Snow, so when I was making this I imagined I was his steward, Ollie, making what is considered a delicacy on the Wall for who he considers to be the greatest Lord Commander of all time (pre-season 5, episode 10, of course).

For the blueberries, I simply used store-bought frozen blueberries, although I suppose you could buy them fresh and freeze them overnight. The sweet cream sauce I used is a family recipe that we use to pour over berries, so it seemed appropriate that I would use it for this dish. This recipe includes uncooked egg yoke, skip this recipe if you’re worried about food-borne illness such as salmonella.

What you’ll need:

• Frozen blueberries
• ¾ lb. mascarpone cheese
• 3 egg yokes
• ¾ oz. super-fine sugar
• 6 T brandy
• 1 cup crème fraiche

For the sauce, whisk mascarpone until smooth (be careful not to over-mix the mascarpone, I did and it turned the mascarpone into the consistency that cold butter gets when you whisk it, which is decidedly NOT creamy. If done correctly, the mascarpone should be creamy and white, not chunky and yellow). Add egg, sugar, and brandy. Whisk crème fraiche and fold into mixture. This recipe makes far too much sauce, I would recommend cutting the recipe down by 1/3 or 2/3.

Pour sauce over frozen berries. You can eat them immediately or let them thaw a few minutes if you don’t like frozen berries. I ate mine immediately so that I could channel my inner Lord Commander; my mom let them thaw because frozen berries hurt her teeth.

This was one of the more interesting recipes, especially with the brandy-sweet cream sauce. It’s definitely an acquired taste as the sauce is pretty strongly flavored and frozen berries aren’t for everyone, but I liked it and could really picture myself up at the wall eating such a dish. It wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t bad either.

Conclusions

This project ended up being a ton of fun, and it somehow managed to get me even more hyped for the final few episodes than I already was, something I didn’t imagine possible. I’d like to thank my fiancé for eating all the dishes, even though you thought you hated deviled eggs and bran muffins, and to my mother who helped me with this project every step of the way. I could not have made this happen without you helping me compile recipes, guiding me through proper cooking techniques, and keeping me motivated after 7 grueling hours of cooking. Lastly, I’d like to thank my late grandma who inspired my love of cooking 15 years ago and who had a recipe for just about everything. Thanks for keeping track of all of the Dillinger recipes for so many decades, there would have been no bran muffins, deviled eggs, raspberry-jalapēno dipping sauce, or brandy-sweet cream sauce without you. You were an awesome matriarch, chef, baker, mother, and grandmother, and Mom and I love you down here on earth.

Here’s to the final season and what has been an awesome semester!

To outsiders, a fandom may seem to serve no purpose whatsoever. It appears those who participate do so at the expense of being productive and being accepted by those around them. They are places where the geeks of the world gather to waste time discussing their geeky hobbies. Those of us that are part of a fandom know better—we know all of the good our fandom has to offer. Maybe not to a non-fan; they will get nothing out of our forums and will continue to scoff at us and ridicule us. But to each other, the fandom provides a place to share our passion, a place of acceptance, a place where we have a voice.

For me, the Game of Thrones fandom embodies passion. I have mentioned in a previous post a couple of sites that offer fun ideas and opportunities to connect with fellow fans. These sites fuel fans’ passion by providing places for fans to share themed artwork, recipes, theories, and an assortment of other geeky posts. Unlike the real world, these sites are places where geekiness—or, in other words, passion—is celebrated. The GoT fandom is not unique in our passion; it’s kind of the staple for any fandom, as seen in the blogs of my classmates.

Classmates Casey and Anthony share a love of music, albeit from different genres. Their blogs depict avid fans whose passion shines through in their writing. Casey describes how her love of the Grateful Dead was fueled at a young age, and in adulthood sought out the fandom online through websites like Reddit, dead.net, and gdao.org. She evaluates the differences between the online communities and cites the value set of dead.net users as what sets it apart from the others. While the Reddit community, for example, struck her as being in competition for who was the biggest fan, dead.net focused on shared experiences and support for one another. For Casey, this community exemplified the values of the Grateful Dead and their followers.

Anthony also discusses passion as driving the fandom, and like Casey’s view of Deadheads, he sees the values of the EDM community as central to that passion. Before coming across Anthony’s blog, I had the misconception that he argues in his first post is misguided: I saw EDM fans as being rave-obsessed druggies. I was utterly unaware that I shared the values that guides the community: peace, love, unity, and respect. The value for PLUR connects this community just as much as the music itself does.

Casey and Anthony’s blogs demonstrate how shared passion can bring a group of people together, as does my own writing on Game of Thrones. Through my classmates writing I’ve seen how fandoms can do more than just bring people together, they can also provide a place where fans feel accepted by others, thus enabling self-acceptance.

My own fandom is such a place for many people. While I personally started watching Game of Thrones when I was fairly comfortable in myself and therefore needed no assurance from others that my passion for GoT was just, this is not the case for all fans. Super-fans of the show are often seen as fairly nerdy; this is true of fans of the broader genre of sci-fi/fantasy as well. For many who are fans of the genre, fandoms are safe-havens against the cruel words of outsiders. Seeing others who share your passion makes it easier to be open about it, creating an atmosphere optimal for self-acceptance.

Classmates with fandoms in other genres have experienced this as well. For my classmates Jacob and Megan, their fandoms helped them find self-acceptance and allowed them to become more open about their sexuality. The media can be very influential for adolescents coming to terms with their sexuality. For Jacob, Spongebob Squarepants was a symbol for someone who was comfortable enough in his own skin to ignore the norms of traditional masculinity, an attitude that Jacob expresses he’s taken to heart: “Absorbent and yellow and my role model is he!” Having a role model with such unwavering positivity defined Jacob’s approach to life, showing the enormous power that a fandom can have on its members.

Megan devoted her blog to another pro-queer television series: Glee. A hugely popular show within her friend group and across the country, Glee depicts a group of high school students who attempt to be unapologetically themselves, whether that means embracing the stereotypes of a theatre/singing geek or being an openly gay high school student. For Megan, seeing a lesbian couple become more comfortable with their sexuality and seeing them break the stereotypes that come with being gay women told her that being gay wasn’t a bad thing and that she didn’t have to be butch to be gay. For Megan, Glee represented that being gay didn’t mean changing who she was, but rather embracing every part of herself.

Fandoms can create spaces where people feel safe and accepted, as demonstrated by sci-fi/fantasy fandoms as well as the fandoms that my classmates participate in. Jacob and Megan both give examples of how fandoms can inspire self-acceptance, whether that means breaking away from traditional gender norms or embracing them in order to feel true to oneself. One last way that my classmates have shown me fandoms can create a better world is by offering fans a platform for them to feel heard.

The blogs of my classmates Nicole and Erin both exhibit some of the ways that fandoms can allow fans to inspire others. In her blog, Nicole looks at how influencers on social media can use their platforms to reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of other users. In our class, we talked a bit about a few of the more major influencers. Some of these influencers stand for noble causes, others use their brands to push products and make money. During Week 2, we analyzed the influence of Kim Kardashian in popular culture. In the pop-cult channel of Slack, some students, myself included, brought up the ongoing feud between the Kardashian sisters and actress Jameela Jamil over the Kardashians taking sponsorships by harmful diet products. The Kardashian’s brand is often centered around having the “perfect” body, while Jamil argues for body positivity and the abandonment of diet culture. Instagram influencers are not unanimous in what they promote; brands can focus on an array of topics, from fashion, to body positivity, to health and fitness, each with their own benefits and selling points. Nicole draws attention to several of her favorite Instagram influencers in her blog. One that stood out to me as genuinely caring about her followers was Kayla Itsines. Nicole described how Itsines encourages followers and uses her brand in a positive, uplifting manner. She also discusses Itsine’s passion for health and fitness driving her brand as well as her fandom. Nicole shows how Instagram can give users a voice and allows them to build a following. If used for good, Instagram influencers have the power to build a better world.

Erin also demonstrates how fandoms can provide a platform for improving society. Erin decided to use this project as an opportunity to write about a topic she is passionate about, perhaps giving her a voice to make a difference when it comes to gender inequality in the world of sports. Her blog became a place to examine the issues that female athletes face, from mistreatment, harassment, and abuse by superiors, to the wage gap that is especially prevalent in sports. For each issue, she provided examples and statistics and gave concrete strategies for how the issue could be addressed. Erin’s blog incited outrage in me and inspired at least one person who read it, demonstrating the power of words. If she were to grow an audience for her blog beyond this class, she could illicit real change. That is the power that fandoms hold: with enough people standing echoing a sentiment, together their voices can be heard.

Different fandoms represent different possibilities; driving each fandom is passion—passion for a movie, series, book, or video game; passion for being unapologetically oneself; passion to create a more just world. In my own fandom, Game of Thrones, Deanerys is once advised to answer injustice with mercy, to which she responds: “I will answer injustice with justice”. Daenerys’ passion reflects that of my fandom, as well as every fandom. Every fandom shares in common passion, and it is thanks to this passion that fandoms have the power to create a better world, one fan at a time.

The fandom for Game of Thrones is widespread and passionate, and there are a couple online spaces where members of the community can openly discuss their passion for the show with others who care just as much. Two that stand out are Buzzfeed and the Game of Thrones subreddit. Both of these sites are welcoming of all fans and create the perfect place to fuel the fire of the GoT fandom. Both sites provide fans resources like answers to common confusions or compiled lists of fan theories, “making-fandom”-type ideas like GoT themed crafts and foods, and forums for the community to geek out together.

Buzzfeed’s Game of Thrones community can come together to read articles, take quizzes, and post ideas for just about anything and everything a person could make to create a tangible representation of their love of the show. The site allows fans to compile their knowledge into concise lists, such as answers to common confusions that fans have about the show and theories about the final season. These are excellent ways for fans to share their otherwise wasted bits of trivia and help others in the fandom. Other articles are news-based. When the new season was announced, Buzzfeed was a good place to go for information on the premier date, time, and what to expect. As the premiere neared, so did promotion by HBO and the cast of GoT, and interview began being released. Interviews, like one with the actor who plays Samwell Tarly, allow fans to feel more connected to the show’s actors, and thus the show itself. Perhaps the most popular type of article in the community are GoT-themed activities, crafts, foods, and ideas. These ideas, much like the “Making Fandom” assignment for this class, allow fans to creatively express their love of the show by applying it to everyday life. One article posted on Buzzfeed compiled a list of GoT-inspired food, cocktails, and games for a watch party. Another popular way fans express their love for the show is by creating trivia quizes and “Would you rather?” questions for their fellow fans to take and answer. These activities bring the fandom together in the Buzzfeed community.

Game of Thrones’ subreddit, much like Buzzfeed, welcomes anyone who has an interest. It is group of people who know nothing about each other, but share a mutual interest in Game of Thrones. The posts on r/gameofthrones range from discussion threads to the sharing of GoT-inspired works. The discussion threads can turn into heated debates, like in this post about the extent of Cersei’s love for her children, where users have the opportunity to dissect the actions and intentions of leading characters. Other post are dedicated to users sharing experiences of encountering fellow fans in the community, like the sighting of this veterinary clinic where “a Lannister always spays his pets” or Las Vegas’ Bellagio Fountains GoT special event. Easily the most common posts in the subreddit are posts to show off their GoT-inspired works (most of which are quite good) to fellow fans. From artwork, to homemade quilts, to baked goods, to a piñata of King Jeffrey’s face, redditors love to use their talents to express their love of fandoms, and this subreddit is honestly a very supportive place to do so.

The Buzzfeed community and the Game of Thrones subreddit vary less in the types of things posted, and more in the structure of the community. Buzzfeed shares articles written by authors for fans to view and comment on. While it doesn’t seem very hard to become a Buzzfeed author (standards for good quality writing don’t seem particularly high in this community), it does draw a line between the poster and the commenter. Reddit’s format for who can post and who can comment is very different. Being a forum-style site, anyone with an account can either post or comment, making a more open discussion. As a fan with a lot of opinions, I prefer the emphasis on discussion within the Game of Thrones subreddit, but I still enjoy reading the articles and taking the quizes on Buzzfeed. I think both sites offer fun ideas and opportunities to connect with fellow fans, and thus, I think either could make an excellent argument for being where the fandom lives.

Cersei Lannister famously said in Season 1 of Game of Thrones, “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die”. Those who play the game see the precariousness of their lives as they struggle to remain in power. There is no better symbol for power in the show than the Iron Thrown, and no character who wants power more than Lord Petyr Baelish.

An excerpt from Season 3, Episode 6, “The Climb”:

Lord Varys: A thousand blades, taken from the hands of Aegon’s fallen enemies, forged in the fiery breath of Balerion the Dread.

Lord Baelish: There aren’t a thousand blades, there aren’t even 200. I’ve counted.

Varys: Huh, I’m sure you have. Ugly old thing.

Baelish: Yet it has a certain appeal.

Varys: The Lysa Arryn of chairs; shame you had to settle for your second choice.

Baelish: Early days, my friend. It is flattering, really—you feeling such dread at the prospect of me getting what I want.

Varys: Thwarting you has never been my primary ambition, I promise you, although, who doesn’t like to see their friends fail, now and then?

Baelish: You’re so right. For instance, when I thwarted your plans to give Sansa Stark to the Tyrells, if I’m going to be honest, I did feel an unmistakable sense of enjoyment there. But your confidante, the one who fed you information about my plans, the one you swore to protect, you didn’t bring her any enjoyment. And she didn’t bring me any enjoyment. She was a bad investment on my part. Luckily, I have a friend wants to try something new, something daring, and he was so grateful to me for providing this fresh experience.

Varys: I did what I did for the good of the realm. 

Baelish: The realm? Do you know what the realm is? It’s the thousand blades of Aegon’s enemies, a story we agree to tell each other over and over, ‘til we forget that it’s a lie.

Varys: But do we have left, once we abandon the lie? Chaos, a gaping pit waiting to swallow us whole. 

Baelish: Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the God’s, or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.

This conversation takes place in the throne room, where Varys enters to find Petyr Baelish sitting, admiring the Iron Throne. The beginning of the conversation has an air of lightheartedness, as Varys teases Baelish about his ambitious nature, but quickly turns ugly when Baelish quips back about seeing friends fail, focusing first on Varys’ failed attempt to marry Sansa off to an ally, before discreetly revealing that he knows about Ros, Varys’ spy within his service, alluding to having her killed in a gruesome manner. Varys, clearly troubled by Baelish’s words, asserts that his actions were for the good of the realm, implying that Baelish’s actions were self-serving. Baelish scoffs at the notion that the “realm” is anything more than a lie to keep from falling into existential despair. This lie is one that Varys values, as once it is gone, all that remains is “chaos, a gaping pit waiting to swallow us whole”. This brings us to the climax of the episode, where Baelish counters that chaos is not so much a pit as it is a ladder, allowing those ambitious enough to rise to the top, stating “Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is”. During this scene, the conversation between Varys and Baelish is laid over imagery of Joffrey, who we now know to be the recipient of the spy Ros, coolly admiring Ros’ body stung up from a bedpost by her wrists, her body riddled with arrows from his cross bow, as well as a tearful Sansa as she watches Baelish’s ship sail away along with her hopes of ever escaping the capitol. As Baelish gives his final line about the climb, the scene transitions to Jon Snow heaving himself over the top of the Wall, exhausted from The Climb.

The subtleties of the scene can best be understood by analyzing the literary devices being used. Each writing, acting, and directing choice was deliberate; by examining those choices, we can better understand the scene and the episode as a whole. The lighthearted tone at the start of the conversation was unmistakable, but it wasn’t genuine. Both characters were well aware of the nature of their relationship. The use of disingenuous niceties can be seen in all interactions at King’s Landing, conveying the complexity of communication in such a dangerous place. In this scene in particular, the lighthearted tone masks the sinister turn the conversation is about to take before it is revealed. The imagery of Joffrey admiring Ros’ corpse and Sansa watching Baelish’s ship depart overlaid with Baelish’s monologue trigger a sense of horror in the viewer. While this horror is not uncommon when watching Game of Thrones, the image of Ros’ strung up, arrow filled body filled me with a much deeper horror than I had experienced when watching the show, at least the first time I saw it. In combination with Baelish’s speech, the imagery of this scene reveal just how far Baelish is willing to go to climb Chaos’ ladder, and how little remorse for who he throws back into the pit on his way to the top.

The metaphors given by Varys and Baelish in this scene are very telling of their characters. For Varys, chaos is an unescapable pit, and his notion of the Realm is his solace that he has a purpose within the world. Varys sees himself as serving the Realm and preventing it from being swallowed by Chaos’ pit. Baelish sees opportunity within chaos; while others fight each other amidst the chaos, Baelish uses their distraction to climb the ladder, often creating even more chaos to serve his own ambition. The Iron Thrown becomes a metonymy for power. As there is nothing Petyr Baelish desires more in the world, he sees the Throne as a symbol for what he can achieve if he climbs to the top of Chaos’s ladder. This is why he sits for hours looking at it, counting the blades of Aegon’s fallen enemies. This lust for power will eventually be his downfall, but not before he sacrifices countless others to the pit on his climb to the top.

The subtleties of this scene can be unpacked by analyzing the tone, imagery, and symbolism at play. This scene isn’t one of the most important for story development, but it is for character development. Juxtaposing the perspectives of Varys and Baelish, this scene uncovers the nature of two of the main players of the Game of Thrones, as well as their motivations and intentions. Above all else, this scene reveals just how villainous Baelish is, setting the stage for Little Finger’s climb to power.

Game of Thrones is a work of art within its genre and within television as a whole. The artistic merit of Game of Thrones can be seen in its cinematography and directing, the casting and acting of leading characters, and the writing of the show as exemplified by the use of foreshadowing.

While all of Game of Thrones is beautifully filmed, there are several scenes that stand out as cinematic masterpieces, most of which are battle scenes. From the early Battle of Blackwater Bay to the unrivaled Battle of the Bastards, the directors and cinematographers of Game of Thrones portray the horrors of war in an elegant and sophisticated manner.

The superb casting and acting in the show can be seen in the character growth of Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark and the villainous faces of Joffery Baratheon, Ramsey Bolton, and Cersei Lannister. Seeing the contrast between a smart-alecky and drunk Tyrion of early seasons and the wise leadership he grows into as the series progresses shows the depth of his character and the quality of acting of the man who portrays him. A second example of a dynamic character can be seen in Sansa Stark, who is hard not to despise in Season 1. The transition from a silly, stupid preteen to the badass Lady of Winterfell is not just inspiring, it’s an impressive feat for such a young actress. Dynamic characters are not hard to come by in Game of Thrones, but Tyrion and Sansa are excellent examples.

As fiercely as audiences grew to love the characters of Sansa and Tyrion, the hatred of the shows villains is even more fierce, none more hated than Joffery, Ramsey, and Cersei. Joffery is an especially impressive case as he was not an actor prior to Game of Thrones and has retired from the profession since his on-screen death. Both Joffery and Ramsey portray a level of despicableness that I have seen in no other show, and produces within me a disgust I did not know possible. Cersei, even with a certain amount of redeeming qualities, is so snake-like that she too is truly detestable. Between the impressive character growth of some characters to creation of fabulous villains, Game of Thrones gives countless examples of top-notch acting.

The show’s writing, both by the author of the original book series and the screen writers of the show, demonstrates intricate planning that creates a high-quality story. Foreshadowing of later events can be seen both on a small scale within episodes, as well as across seasons and story lines. In an early episode, a minor, foreign character is asked some of the things she’s seen in her travels, and she recounts dragon glass daggers and a man who can change his face—both of which are important details that don’t come up again for many seasons. Other examples of foreshadowing have to do with mistaken ancestry (such as Joffery Baratheon’s and Jon Snow’s). Small details in early seasons are later revealed as important, making the writing of the story especially impressive.

Aside from the high quality of the show in many different areas, the story is simple epic. Every episode I’m glued to the screen and left dying to know what happens next.

Hey there! Welcome to the start of my fandom blog honoring Game of Thrones! As you can tell, I quite like Daenerys, Mother of Dragons. Enjoy these pictures of my fiancé and I from Halloween 2017. I really enjoyed riding around on my dragon’s back all night after my feet got tired, and also strangers bowing down to me, their Khaleesi. 10/10 experience, would do again. 🙂