A Song of Dan and Josh: Bran VII (A Game of Thrones)

It’s time for another episode of A Song of Dan and Josh, where myself and FanSided’s own Josh Hill walk through each and every chapter of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve read the books multiple times. Josh has never read them, although he’s seen the show. What merriment can we make?

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Today we read through Bran VII in A Game of Thrones, the chapter directly after Ned Stark dies in Arya V. Is it an effective followup?

Let’s walk through our walk through:

• Bran VII is a lot less action-packed than Arya V, which makes sense. We need a breather after Ned’s death.
• This is an info-dump of a chapter. Bran gives us backstory on the Starks of Winterfell, Measter Luwin tells us all about the Children of the Forest, and so on. Does it go down easy? How well does a chapter of exposition work in isolation? How was Martin ahead of his time in this way?
• There are a couple meaty moments, particularly when the gang goes down to the Winterfell crypts and finds Rickon hanging out with Shaggydog, who’s hungry for blood. How does Martin borrow from horror stories here?
• Let’s have three cheers for Maester Luwin, who’s doing a great job filling in as substitute dad for these wolf-loving, dream-having, emotionally turbulent Stark kids.

From a mythology perspective, this is an important chapter, even not a lot happens. What do you think?

And feel free to join us for the next episode A Song of Dan and Josh, which we’ll stream live on our Facebook page this upcoming Wednesday, October 10 at 4:00 p.m. CST! Next up: Sansa VI, where her nightmare begins.

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