The Real Events That Inspired the Greatest Show on Earth
Today Galileu, a Brazilian magazine about science and culture, interviewed me about my take on the history behind Game of Thrones. Here is a link to the article: A verdadeira Guerra dos Tronos. I’ll try to post an English translation of it soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of images taken of version translated using Google:
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Today, I realized I’d made an oversight about Walder Frey, the treacherous lecherous slayer of Robb Stark. I kind of had an “Oh no!” moment. Rather than returning to my series of posts about the “Second Sons,” I’m going to correct this right away. George RR Martin may have drawn inspiration for Lord Frey from Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (“Warwick the Kingmaker”). As I’ve mentioned previously, George RR Martin likes to mix and match his “borrowings” from history….
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When Ned Stark finds Arya’s sword “Needle,” he quickly realizes the sword wasn’t some castoff from one of his men. Ned knows the sword was superb quality and custom-made for his daughter. Luckily for Arya, Ned accepts her interest in learning to fight. But, how does Ned know the sword was superior? He found “Mikken’s mark” on the blade. That is, a symbol indicating Mikken, the best blacksmith in Winterfell, created the blade. But, what is a blacksmith’s mark? And, what is the significance of…
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In Game of Thrones, bands of soldiers-for-hire (known as “sellswords”) sell their fighting services to the highest bidder. Without loyalty to a country or king, they fight for whomever holds their contract. In the “Second Sons” (Season 3, episode 8), Daenarys encounters a company of sellswords in Yunkai known as the Second Sons. “Men who fight for gold have neither honor nor loyalty. They cannot be trusted.” – Ser Barristan Selmy “They can be trusted to kill you if they are…
Read MoreThis was a fantastic season on Game of Thrones. I really enjoyed it–for better or for worse, it certainly had some of TVs most memorable moments. I’m sad the season is over so quickly. I wasn’t sure what to do or if people will keep reading this blog now that the season is over, but I really enjoy writing the posts so I’m going to keep blogging. To prevent spoilers, my blog posts will continue focusing on events depicted in…
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House Tully called Lord Frey the “Late Lord Frey” because, during Robert’s Rebellion, he delayed arriving with troops until the outcome was clear. As far as I know, however, Ralph Neville was not known for failing to provide military support. For that aspect of Lord Frey’s reputation, George RR Martin may have taken a cue from the fence-sitting Thomas Stanley. This post is continued from Historical Basis of Lord Frey. The fourth husband of Margaret Beaufort (Henry VIII’s grandmother), Stanley was…
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