more viewing options: http://imgur.com/KNGRLaw

1. Mimi adopted a doughnut eating kid?????
2. My answer to what Westerosi people would do to celebrate Valentine's Day (further up north, at least...) = they'd stuff themselves with muffins in caves. Maybe hold competitions. Jon Snow is invited every year but still feels too sad about Ygritte/too embarrassed to attend. How did everyone in Westeros know??

^^^^AWESOME^^^^^^

Who did Maester Bane? He is awesome!

[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/IkMPZ7WeDck?autoplay=1&wmode=opaque[/YouTube]

SJLee is Maester Bane and may I say, I was practically giddy when I heard him at the end of the last two episodes. So hilarious and amazing. Thanks for doing that Steven. It helped me get over my near heart attack over that "Ashley is leaving the podcast" trick. Pure evil Amin.

Also, that art is sweet.

Great picture Vaarsuvius! You're so talented.


SJLee generously recorded them for us after the Writer's Workshop episode. I added L's theme because of my aforementioned fixation with Death Note. Here's all of the spots:

VOK Commercial #1: MP3
VOK Commercial #2: MP3
VOK Commercial #3: MP3
VOK Commercial #4: MP3


Ugh, he even inserted 5 seconds of silence so that the listener could squirm.

Anyway, I just wanted to give Amin and Kyle a big thanks for having me on. It was very strange to hear them talking to me, and saying my name. Once or twice I had to remind myself that I wasn't listening to a regular podcast, and could interject on the conversation.

Some other eligible Westerosi bachelors: Littlefinger (hide yo wife, hide yo daughter), Harrion Karstark, Addam Marbrand, Edric Dayne (heir to Starfall?), Edric Storm (heir to Storm's End?), Quentyn Martell (he lives!)

That felt really long. I was yelling at my phone "Say something Kyle! Say something Duncan!"

Nice art, Vaarsuvius!

Nice Bane, SJLee!

Nice guest hosting, Valkyrist!

Nice try, Amin.

Great to have two episodes coming at the same time. Loved the Valentine questions as well. Chuckled (and later screamed Gendry! Mors and Dickon Manwoody!) when listening to the boys getting confused on who should be Westeros most eligible bachelor.

SJLee as Bane is awesome. I was like, "wow that's the same voice in the full castle recording!" and foolishly forgot who he was, sorry man

That was cruel, making me think Ashley quit the podcast. I was about to get a petition going. I hope she's back in time for the TV reviews (and Mimi too, although that seems unlikely). Great episode, everyone was great. And the Sansa chapter was both completely appropriate and horrendously inappropriate for Valentine's Day. Nothing more romantic than getting your first period, and realising that you are now ready to be a breeding machine for a psychopath king, then having a comforting meeting with your mother in law. And Dontos tries to get you to kiss him, and the Hound taunts you about your dead father.

It was kind of awesome how Sansa stood up to the Hound though, and she sees through his facade that he is actually terrified. And Cersei really comes close to revealing the truth about her and Jaime here - I guess she thinks they're all going to die and that Sansa is stupid and won't realise, but this doesn't seem smart to me.

I really wish that Sansa had tried to burn her mattress in the show - her absolute manic panic in that scene always really underscored how terrible her situation was.

Awesome artwork as usual, adding it to the main page now and gallery. But please explain the intricacies , is Kyle the guy in pink then? Seems like 2 different versions of ashley at the table? Is that a mug of shadow coffee or shadow cider?

Also Duncan, for shame that you haven't watched BSG OR Firefly! My two all time favorite shows.

One wonders if Kyle's flowers and the note reached their destination.

#

BSG rocks! When the LOTR marathon finishes I totes want to do a BSG VOK.

I watched the first season of BSG. It was good. Occasionally great. I'll definitely get around to finishing it, but I haven't really felt compelled.

I think it felt more relevant and pressing at the time because it was so clearly a comment on the early stage Iraq war etc.

This ^

I'd be excited to listen to this considering I watched BSG all the way through in 2009/2010?

Also, great job Duncan! This episode was a lot of fun.

a few points I missed out on earlier:

1. Duncan, you did such a fantastic job on the podcast... you were really pleasant to listen to! Your voice is like... super soothing. Don't be mad if people nod off during one of your talks, k, it's all cuz your voice is so calming!
2. FIREFLY 5EVA, CAN'T STOP THE SIGNAL YO
3.


this x1000.

This crazy act of desperation is =/= her. But she knows that even if she had all the manners of all the highborn ladies in the whole world, that's not gonna be able to save her from being Joffrey's baby machine. I wonder if Sansa and the Queen of Thorns will meet again. I want them to have a good long talk... Plus Margaery as well. I'm really looking forward to seeing Margaery again in the books.
4. Maester Bane kicks ass. I wonder what chain links he has... Mimi mentioned in an early episode that the podcast could be best describe as not shocking but molestationary and creepy... Is there a chain link for that?

Thanks everyone who commented on the picture. It was fun to do.

And Amin, the guy in pink is totally Kyle. Ashley only appears once, with her natural hair colour. The other lady is just a pretty serving wench. And the mug is full of shadow wine. Or maybe cider. :3

Would this be our first repeat VoK? I love the idea of addressing subjects a multitude of times with different people but was not a VoK done on BSG?



It had a lot more weight in the moment but I watched a couple episodes two weeks ago and it still ages well.

It was a BOK episode, not VOK.
http://bastardsofkingsgrave.wordpress.c ... galactica/

Here's some extra notes on the Sansa chapter I forgot to mention (perhaps I was too starstruck):

-There’s a nice parallel between Jon’s last chapter and this one. At one point, each character stops to survey the landscape: they both see fires burning in the distance. I think this represents the literal and psychological dangers that loom. Technically they are safe, and the fires are far away, but a palpable dread looms large. In Sansa's case, the prospect of having Joffrey's child is worse than Stannis' host. Her anxieties eventually spill out into the really frightened and desperate act of burning her mattress. She’s starting to lose it, and Cercei almost seems to take pity on her for that.

-Dontos makes a comment about how the power players watch each are constantly scrutinising each other, while the so-called fools of court—Sansa, Dontos, Moon Boy—are left to their own devices. In particular, he mentions Lady Tanda’s simple daughter, Lollys. Now, this is pure crackpot, but I’m wondering if Lollys has more intelligence and agency than she lets on. Obviousy what happens to her during the riots was horrfying, and she’ll bear those psychological scars for a long time. But if we move ahead to book 4, Bronn and Lollys have seized control of Stokeworth, a fairly major seat in the Crownlands. Now, while Bronn has a certain low cunning, he’s never struck me as a particularly savvy political animal, and is employed more as an instrument of violence by the real power brokers. Could his "simple" wife have been the one filling his ear with ambitious ideas?

-We assume Sansa’s vision of the mob is a flashback to the riots, but since so many dreams are prophetic, could it illuminate some future incidend? She recalls a thousand faces with monstrous inhuman masks. Could this be the Others? She also gets stabbed repeatedly, which didn’t happen during the riots. Of course, the knife is also part of her subconscious, her body telling her she’s started her period. She begs for the blood to stop, but her body has betrayed her: “unfurling a banner of Lannister crimson” (eww).

-Cercei says that love is fatal, but a lack of love is actually what contributes to her downfall. The reason Maegery wields such power and influence over the city, is because she is loved by the highborn and smallfolk. Cercei, on the other hand, is either lusted after, or feared. And the Faith robs her of both those assets.

-One the criticisms leveled against Sansa, particularly in this book, is that she is very passive. She is more like a fly on the wall, a window into the lives and actions of far more vital characters, such as Cercei, Littefinger, the Hound, and Joffrey. However, I think what we’re witnessing is Sansa learning how to act and observe. Inside, she is a tumult of emotions, but her exterior is demure and non-threatening. Much like Arya, she’s putting on various masks to blend into a very dangerous situation. I’ve heard it said that, for all of Arya’s resolve, she would never have survived in her sister’s place. The mask Sansa wears must be a lot more subtle and deliberate. Her weapons are words, and I think even this early in the series, we can see her honing those skills. Of course, in this chapter, we see some of that inner tumult spill out, when she tries to burn her mattress. It is definitely a "wild wolf" moment.

-Also, I don’t think Sansa gets enough credit for the courage she shows during ACOK. For example, Tyrion offers to house her in the Tower of the Hand, to protect her from Joffrey’s torments. However, she rebukes him, because she knows it will prevent her from seeing Dontos anymore. She refuses to let the dream of escape fade away. She is not resigned to her fate.


Er, thank you... I think


She got a pet doge (not a spelling error), who enjoys doughnuts of the squeaky variety.

Speaking of which, Nadine was awesome in episode 132, but we need more pictures of the VOK mascot - baby Rhaegar.

It always annoys me when people don't give Sansa credit for her courage in King's Landing. Both Arya and Sansa show themselves to be true daughters of the North, just in different ways and in differing situations. People seem to confuse Sansa acting passive to Cersei and Joffrey in order to survive for actually being passive and accepting her situation, despite having access to her POV when it is shown that she does want to act out against her captors, she just doesn't have the opportunity to do so (and is smart enough to realise that it wouldn't be smart to be aggressive in her situation).

If this was Cersei taking pity on Sansa, than that is freaking terrifying. I see what you mean though - in her sadistic way, she is trying to advise Sansa. In some ways, Cersei was like Sansa when she was younger in her belief in love and romanticising Rhaegar. It's weird how she recognises that Sansa is smart enough to lie to her about her true feelings, but still seems to think she is stupid. But that's just Cersei being arrogant I guess.

I'm with Runcan. I watched the first season and a few more episodes of BSG, but haven't felt the urge to go back to it. I guess some of the god stuff is pretty interesting but robot babies not so much.

You should watch that space cowboy show though, worth the time investment.

Yes, she was!

132 and 133 were both really good episodes. I thought it was funny that Kyle referred to 132 in 133 but did not remember that it was the most recent pod that he had done.

Am I seriously the only one who heard "Maester Bate", not "Bane"? I blame my crappy car speakers and my cheapo cassette-shaped headphone jack thingy that I play stuff through on the car stereo (not that the right side works more than half the time) while I'm driving. Where have all the d!ck jokes gone?! Which reminds me, thanks to the podcast team for posting up this double-header!

Anyhow, bachelors... There's Harry The Heir who'll probably inheit the Vale, or maybe a Frey; they're quite powerful now... The one who's probably the real father of some of Lord Walder's kids and been quietly killing his way to next in line, is it Black Walder (assuming he's not married)? I get them mixed up, might even be talking about 2 completely different stoatfaces there. That's all I got for now.

The flowers reached their destination. Except instead of pink roses, red ones arrived. Also I ordered them in a vase but the vase and flowers arrived in a box. And apparently the note was slightly hidden because she did not discover it right away.

I paid about half the price as a usual flower order so I don't know how upset I can be.

FAIL

*makes a creepy friend request of Kyle on Facebook*

Happy (late) Valentine's Day, Kyle! *heavy breathing*

Hah! You think that's creepy? I intercepted Kyle's mail and replaced the roses he was sending to a lady friend.

Haha! Oh you guys coughyourealldeadcough!

Well that explains what happened to the flowers if was expecting from Kyle.