Jul 22, 2014
Episode 154: The Darkling Plain
Episode 154, for the week of July 20th, in which we continue our reread of A Clash of Kings, covering chapters 67 (Theon VI) and 68 (Tyrion XV). We are joined by Vassals of Kingsgrave forum members Amber (amberrocks) and Greg (claudiusthefool).
Notes: The call quality in this episode degrades in the second half of the episode, inspiring the title (an episode nearly lost to the darkling plain).
10 Comments, Comment or Ping
Lord Littlefinger
oh come on Ashley, Tyrion puts Shae up in a mansion and buys here all those pearls and dresses and then hides her in the castles during the battle. That is not treating her like a whore. I’ve had girlfriends with whom I would have been, well…Stannis is coming….so…. good luck out there.
I mean Tyrion is under no obligation to provide Shae with bodyguards.
Jul 22nd, 2014
Valkyrist
I think she means emotionally. Tyrion uses and discards Shae at his discretion. That’s not really a relationship.
Jul 23rd, 2014
Lord Littlefinger
Yeah, I just don’t think that’s true. Tyrion hires guards to protect her. Then sneaks her into the castle when the guards won’t be enough, then keeps seeing her even though its in his interest not to. He could have set the gold cloaks on her and had shae scourged through the streets. Tyrion could have had shae turned in to stew like Simon Silver tongue.
And of course lots of relationships involve people using one another and then discarding the other party. That doesn’t make that treatment like a whore. That’s what I meant when I said, I’ve had girlfriends I wouldn’t have tried to save from an invading army, the way Tyrion did with Shae.
Jul 23rd, 2014
Pod's Plight
The moral of the story is that you’re quite a poor boyfriend, I guess.
Tyrion treated her as an object to be possessed (and protected). She was valuable to him insofar as she served his needs (sexually and in terms of more complex twisted emotions of self worth and value). He wanted her to be happy and comfortable but he didn’t really care about her needs or desires (which, to be fair, were pretty shallow and selfish in their own right).
Jul 23rd, 2014
Lord Littlefinger
Right precisely. I never said Tyrion treated Shae well, I just said he didn’t treat her like a whore. Does Tyrion treat Shae like an object? Well to Tyrion everyone is either a player or a piece, he treats EVERYONE like objects. That is not sexism, Tyrion just isn’t a nice guy, when you get right down to it. Would you say Tyrion objectified Simon Silvertongue cause Tyrion had him cooked into a savory stew.
P.S. No I am not a good boyfriend, I don’t pretend to be either, what you see is what you get and I will leave your ass for Stannis’ army to capture.
Jul 23rd, 2014
Joey
For some reason I was thinking Jamie had referred to one of his uncles as nuncle……..damn All of your Theon hate.
Jul 23rd, 2014
Harry
He does say it a couple of times when Kevan is about to go after Beric Dondarrion and the Hound. George probably just fell in love with the word as he was writing Feast for Crows.
Jul 23rd, 2014
levellersteve
I always had the opinion it was Tyrion that had the emotional commitment to Shae, while Shae had fake emotion which befitted one in her profession. HBO Shae befuddled the waters, but the book is , I feel,
very clear that Shae sold out Tryion so she could keep her stuff given to her by him.
Jul 23rd, 2014
Aiwendil
Love how the podcast slowly descends into madness during the Tyrion chapter. You guys are awesome! (Also, aren’t all Skype emoticons supposed to move?)
Jul 24th, 2014
nemui
A little late, but I just had to chime in on the Rodrick/Beth issue at Winterfell: Theon is being perfectly reasonable. If he switches hostages, someone else takes over command and the Northmen storm Winterfell immediately, at the cost of Rodrick’s life. If he *doesn’t* switch hostages, Rodrcik remains in charge and he is stuck, unable to order the assault.
Aug 17th, 2014
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