Game of Thrones Tyrion: Lannister or Targaryen?

Having now watched the series through a few times I'm ready to start putting forward some theories about what could come next or what I would like to see happening. It's fun to just discuss theories and try to find evidence to back them up! So what is my theory? That Tyrion Lannister could actually be the bastard son of The Mad King, and not a Lannister!

 

My favourite character has always been Tyrion Lannister-loathed by his father and sister who blame him for the death of his mother in childbirth, and reviled through the Seven Kingdoms for being a dwarf. He is called The Imp, The Demon Monkey and Halfman but he is the smartest man of all of them and I just think he's great.

Lets start with the physical appearance. Book Tyrion is described as pale blonde hair close to white, with one black eye and one green. The Targaryens have silver blonde hair and purple eyes while the Lannisters are blonde and green eyed like Cersei and Jaime. Could Tyrion's dark eye be more dark purple than black? And where does he get the pale hair if not from a Targaryen bloodline? Interesting! There is also the thought that the mothers of Dany, Jon and Tyrion all died in childbirth. Did each die giving birth to a true 'dragon' Targaryen?

The Dragons. In season six, Tyrion decides to go and visit the dragons who are chained up and who have never met them. The dragons do not attack him, listening to him talking about his fascination with dragons as a child and how sad he was to learn that no more existed. The dragons then let him unchain them and leave him unharmed and able to leave. Did they sense that Tyrion was there to help them or did they sense Targaryen blood in him? Tyrion is the only person to be alone with these dragons and survive, other than Dany herself.

"When I was your age, I used to dream of having a dragon of my own. Oh, yes. Even a stunted, twisted, ugly little boy can look down over the world when he’s seated on a dragon’s back. I used to start fires in the bowels of Casterly Rock and stare at the flames for hours, pretending they were dragon fire. Sometimes I’d imagine my father burning. At other times, my sister. Don’t look at me that way, bastard. I know your secret. You’ve dreamt the same kind of dreams."

Looking at that passage in the book 'A Game of Thrones' when he meets Jon, it is interesting that Tyrion dreamt of using dragons to burn Cersei and Tywin, something The Mad King liked to do. It is also interesting that he said that Jon had those dreams too as Jon we now know is the child of Rhaegar Targaryen. Is this a hint that the men are half brothers?

The Mad King was very taken with Joanna Lannister when she married Tywin, serving as Hand of the King, and took 'unwonted liberties' with Joanna during the bedding ceremony, something that Joffrey seems to be planning for Sansa. Tywin steps in to stop this happening, perhaps remembering what happened to Joanna. Queen Rhaella then fired Joanna from her household in King's Landing. It may have been jealousy, knowing that her husband fancied her servant or it may have been for having an affair with her husband. The Queen had previously sent other ladies from her household away for the same crime so it does look like there is a chance that something happened between The Mad King and Joanna. She visited the court rarely after her first children were born. In 272 AC Joanna went to a tourney in King's Landing where the King made comments about her breasts and infuriated Tywin who tried to resign his position. If something happened during this visit then Tyrion could be Targaryen as he was born in 273 AC.

Tywin Lannister has never been short of words about Tyrion's whores, despising him for it despite most men including Tywin using prostitutes. The Mad King was always with other women so did Tywin think that his son behaved more like the Mad King than a Lannister? Did Tyrion's behaviour remind him of the man who tried to seduce his beloved wife or was there something more sinister to his hatred? 

"You are an ill-made, devious, disobedient, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust, and low cunning. Men's laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors, since I cannot prove that you are not mine."

Those angry words from Tywin are quite revealing. The phrase 'cannot prove' suggests that he at least suspects that his wife produced Tyrion out of wedlock. Yes it could just be wishful thinking since Tyrion is a dwarf and Joanna was killed giving birth to him. 'Ill Made' could be a reference to being a dwarf or it could be a reference to him being a bastard. It could also suggest that The Mad King actually raped her as her marriage to Tywin was a happy one. Would Tywin have stood back and let this happen to his beloved wife without taking revenge? Is this why after Robert's Rebellion that Elia Martell was raped and murdered by The Mountain? Despite giving Tyrion the Lannister name, Tywin is hellbent on not letting him inherit anything and is happy to put him in dangerous situations where he could die. If Tywin really believes that Tyrion is The Mad King's why did he let him live at all? Was he worried that killing Tyrion might confirm to the gossips that Joanna had been with another man? Or was he in denial about Tyrion's parantage as he was over the gossip about Jaime and Cersei? His final words to Tyrion are 'You're no son of mine.'    

Anyone else love the idea of Dany, Jon and Tyrion as three dragon riders???!!! I shall be paying great attention to everything said in the rest of the books!

Book Review: Kiss Of Death by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #8)

Vampire musician Michael Glass has attracted the attention of a big- time producer who wants to cut a demo and play some gigs-which means Michael will have to enter the human world. For this, he's been assigned escorts that include both a dangerous immortal as well as Michael's all-too-human friends. And with that mix of personalities, this is going to be a road trip from hell...

My Review: 
Michael has been offered the chance to do a demo for a record producer down in Dallas and Amelie gives Claire, Eve and Shane permission to go with him for a few days break from Morganville-but only if they take Oliver as a chaperone to ensure they come back. Getting away from the Morley problem and the tensions at the house seems like a good idea. However it becomes clear that Oliver is on some kind of mission for Amelie and this road trip turns out to be just as dangerous as Morganville itself.

The unlikely group stop after dark at a small town that Oliver instructs them to go to, saying he has business there for Amelie and they should stay in the car. Of course Eve decides that she must have ice cream and they go inside where they receive a cold reception. Eve seems oblivious to the stares about her Goth looks and proceeds to act like a brat, shouting to the waitress that she wants served and rubbing everyone up the wrong way. I really wanted to slap her. It turns nasty when Michael has to intervene and only Claire's apologies lets them walk out without serious violence. Eve continues to whine and bitch at Claire for her intervention and then demands they go into town to look for ice cream which leads to a sheriff pulling up Claire and Shane for public indecency and their weapons almost being found. She behaves so childishly that I was getting sick of her.

It doesn't end there. The sheriff escorts them out of town where they wait at a nearby motel for an irate Oliver and the men from earlier come along and set fire to Eve's car, to the horror of the motel owner who chases the men with a gun, while the gang have to deal with a bloodied Oliver who also found trouble. After getting a new car from Linda's grandson, Eve notices that the motel where Oliver and Michael are sleeping is surrounded by police and she draws them away, only for the three of them to be arrested for the murder of the car burning men. Unknown to the group, Morley and his people have escaped Morganville and are heading their way...

Lets have a look at the struggles of the characters in this book. Eve is having a hard time and invites Jason round to dinner which does not go down well with her friends but after a tense meal, he leaves and Michael makes it clear that he will not be welcomed a second time. It is a blow to her as she just wants to repair her relationship with her brother. Eve is already very worried about her relationship with Michael, scared that becoming a real musician will be the end for them when fame and groupies come calling. However, her stubborn decision that she must have ice cream in a town that dislikes her on sight, leads them into a lot of trouble and she is so whiny in this book! Michael is angry about Eve asking Jason to come over when he has already caused so much trouble and he is nervous about making the demo and where it will lead.

This is not my favourite book in the series. I wasn't a fan of the road trip idea as that means that there is no Myrnin to have fun with and I miss all of the day to day Morganville terrors. Instead we get the steriotype small town where all outsiders are viewed with suspicion and hatred. I wasn't a big fan of the first half of the book but I am glad that at least Oliver was with them as I love his character. The second half was better when we get the vampire action starting to happen and we find out what Oliver is doing. I would rather we were back in Morganville though but it was still a decent read. 

Read June 2017
3 stars.  

Game Of Thrones Gossip #27 Arya Stark

Welcome to my Game of Thrones Gossip, where all of us fanatics get the chance to discuss everything we love about this amazing TV series. I did a few spoiler free posts about the series last year but I found that there were other bloggers out there who were also itching to talk more freely about favourite characters and events without spoiling things for those visiting the blog. So I decided to do a whole series of these discussion posts that let us say everything we want and enjoy every second of it! The topics may talk about a death, an event, a character or be season reviews and so on. Please feel free to comment fully and without restriction!

I have to warn you that it is important that you have seen all six seasons before reading any of these posts because these posts and blogger comments will be oozing and exploding spoilers all over the place. If you haven't watched the series and plan to, be warned that it's a bad idea to be here right now! I take no responsibility if you read on and things are spoiled for you nor do I take responsibility for any mistakes on the pages I link you to.

For those of you who stuck with me through my season one posts, thank you loads! Now I'm going to look at the main characters introduced in season two, what our season one characters were doing in season two and looking at all the bests bits. Enjoy the season two posts! 

Arya Stark is the younger daughter of Ned and Catelyn Stark. Brought up at Winterfell, she has a strained relationship with both her mother and sister Sansa due to her tomboy ways. She would rather do weapons training with Jon and Rob than sewing classes with Sansa. She would rather be a warrior than a wife. Arya has a close relationship with Jon Snow and her wolf Nymeria. Her parents are somewhat baffled by her boyish ways but Ned is more sympathetic to her situation than his wife.

Arya is excited by the arrival of the King's group but is actually more interested in seeing The Imp, Tyrion Lannister. Her late arrival, outspoken behaviour and throwing food at her sister during the feast puts her in her mother's bad books and she also resents having to repack her things when Septa Mordane is unhappy with her efforts. The highlight of the new adventure is being given her own sword by her half-brother Jon, which she ironically calls Needle, and packs it to go with her.

Arya hits trouble on the way to King's Landing when Joffrey and Sansa find her sparring with butcher's son Mycah, using wooden swords. Joffrey takes the chance to bully them but Arya hits him for hurting Mycah and Joffrey knocks her to the ground. Nymeria comes to the rescue and bites Joffrey who turns into a whimpering coward in front of the disgusted girl. She throws his sword into the river and chases Nymeria off, certain that there will be retribution. Arya is rightly outraged when Sansa lies to protect Joffrey and it destroys their relationship as well as costing Lady her life in place of Nymeria. Losing Nymeria and Lady, and discovering that Mycah has been killed has Arya hating Joffrey and Cersei.

Ned cannot get Arya to understand why Sansa made that choice to defend her future husband so he reaches out to her in another way. After finding Needle, he agrees to hire Syrio Forel to teach her how to fight though his methods are strange. Arya continues to defy being a lady by asking Petyr Baelish why they call him Littlefinger, to Sansa's horror. While training in the dungeons she hears Varys and Mopatis discussing the coming war-and her father. She is worried that it means he will be killed like Jon Arryn but Ned refuses to take her warnings seriously, distracted by the arrival of Yoren, who thinks she is a boy, to her annoyance. The death of Jory and the injury to her father has soured Arya on the Court but she wants to keep training with Syrio and hopes he will come to Winterfell with her and Sansa.

Syrio-"What do we say to the God of Death?"
Arya-"Not today."

When Ned's plot fails and he is arrested, it is only the intervention of Syrio that stops Arya from being taken captive by the Lannisters and she runs as instructed, finding the bodies of her father's men at the stables where they were packing to leave. A stable boy tries to stop her and is impaled on Needle as she defends herself. Now she has to survive by hiding on the streets of King's Landing.She is unable to stay away from her father's trial and is horrified when Joffrey orders his execution. Yoren, alerted by Ned, manages to get to her in the crowd, disguises her as a boy and smuggles her out of King's Landing as a Night's Watch recruit. She gradually forms a friendship of sorts with Gendry, Robert's bastard and Hot Pie. She begins to recite a list of her enemies before going to sleep, as Yoren once obssessed over the man he wanted to kill.

When the Goldcloaks come from King's Landing to question Yoren, he tells Gendry and Arya to stay hidden and refuses to coperate. He is killed when they return with more men and the recruits are taken prisoner. Arya sets free Jaqen H'ghar and his colleagues when the wagon catches fire, saving their lives. Arya watches Polliver steal Needle and kill Lommy with it and she tells the guards that he was Gendry. They are taken to Harrenhal where each day a prisoner is tortured and killed. It is only the arrival of Tywin Lannister that saves Gendry from this fate. Tywin sees therough her disguise and makes her his cupbearer, beginning a strange relationship between Tywin and Arya. Her disguise is almost blown when she has to serve Littlefinger. I often wondered watching these scenes in season two if Tywin suspected who she was and didn't say, intending to keep her as a working hostage and avoid the risk of Joffrey having her killed like her father. I was also kind of sure that Littlefinger recognised her and kept it to himself to use in a later moment.

Arya very much admires Jaqen H'ghar and what he can do. When he tells her he owes her three deaths for saving three men, she has a long list to choose from. She chooses The Tickler who tortures the prisoners and Amory Lorch who killed Yoren and caught her stealing a letter from Tywin about Robb. As his third, he agrees to help Arya and her friends escape the castle. This whole death list section is very different in the books, with Arya serving Roose Bolton and escaping without help to find her family in the Riverlands. They do part with the promise of Arya being trained as a Faceless Man if she wishes to in the future. This is the beginning of a very different road for Arya.

Book Review: Trapped by Jack Kilborn (Afraid #2)

TERRIFIED...

It was supposed to be a harmless camping trip. Six wayward teenagers who'd run into trouble with the law, and their court-appointed guardians, Sara and Martin Randhurst. Three nights on a small, deserted island off of Michigan's upper peninsula. A time to bond, to learn, to heal. Then Martin told a campfire story about the island's history. Of the old civil war prison hidden in there, and the starving confederate soldiers who resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Everyone thought it was funny. They even laughed when Martin pretended to be dragged off into the woods. But Martin didn't come back. And neither did Sara when she went in search of him. Then the laughter stopped.

...TO DEATH

The group soon began to realize that this deserted island wasn't so deserted after all. And perhaps Martin's ridiculous story had more truth to it than anyone thought. What's the most horrifying thing you can imagine? This is a hundred times worse...

My Review: 
***This book is part of a series of books. Each of the first three stories Afraid, Trapped and Endurance are standalone reads along with the books The List and Origin by JA Konrath (same author) but characters of each book are all in #6 Haunted House together.***

Martin and Sara run a residential centre for troubled kids which is about to close, bringing an end to their marriage as well, just after the birth of their baby. They decide to take the kids on a final camping trip to an island on Lake Huron. Martin starts telling a campfire story about cannibals during the Civil War and then vanishes into the bushes. Annoyance turns to fear when they realise that Martin is gone and his story might actually be true...

First lets look at the characters. Sara is the mother of the group who cares about the kids and feels that her marriage has fallen apart because Martin can't deal with the centre being closed down. The couple have a new baby and Sara has to decide on this trip whether or not to sign the divorce papers. Georgia is a sociopath with a hatred for Sara, the one person she has not convinced with her innocent act and she is determined to get revenge on her. Tom has ADHD and is on regulated medicine, Tyrone and Meadow are reformed gang members, Cindy is a reformed meth addict and Laneesha was caught stealing to feed the baby that she wants to get back from the authorities. Now usually I hate books with this kind of 'bad' cast but I quickly grew to like all but Tom and Georgia, as each is seen to have good qualities and are trying to turn their lives around.

And here they are on this camping trip from hell. They have mixed reactions to Martin telling the scary campfire story and when he vanishes, they all believe that he is playing a trick on them. Sara in particular is annoyed by the stunt but when she and Laneesha go to look for them, the darkness and no sign of Martin becomes unsettling. Cindy persuades Georgia to leave the campfire to go to the toilet but Georgia sees an opportunity to scare a few people with a trick. Meadow sees someone watching the rest of them from the dark trees and decides to challenge them despite his fear. Tom is now off his meds and losing control of himself. When Sara finds Martin bound, gagged and hanging from a tree, it becomes clear that there is something on the island that endangers them all.

I don't want to say much more about the plot details as there are a lot of great things that I wouldn't want to spoil. Basically there are two adults, a baby and six teenagers all running around in the dark trying to avoid an assortment of bad guys while trying to find each other and a way off the island. There is a shedload of tension in the early stages of the book as they all wander around with no clue of what they are up against and what is hunting them. I liked the fact that it only takes a few pages of introducing the characters before we are right into Martin telloing his story and vanishing. There is no waffle or taking forever to get into it. All other information on the characters is given as the story progresses, which was good.

There is a nice subplot taking place with Lester and those who are in the prison, including a prisoner held there who likes to do his own torture experiments and needs someone new to try his latest toy on. Lester and the others are all part of a series of experiments by your typical mad professor who wants to perfect his new work and enhance humans into psychos that he can control. I absolutely loved the introduction of Lester and the rest of the horrors at the prison! It added a whole new element to the story along with the cannibals.These are very scary bad guys but they had good depth to them, which made them fascinating to read about. The campers picked the wrong island to visit...

By the time the cannibals get their hands on the first victim, the gore is beginning! The descriptions of the torture of several victims is not for the nervous and there are worse than the cannibals out in the woods. There is Lester and his camera, who comes from the old prison of horrors on the island, and he is looking to take a few playmates back with him...Cannibals, torture, gore and tension along with some interesting characters make this another great horror tale from this author. I loved Afraid, Trapped and his co-written book Draculas and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of these books!  

Read May 2017
4 stars.

Book Review: Fade Out by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #7)

Without the evil vampire Bishop ruling over the town of Morganville,the resident vampires have made major concessions to the human population. With their newfound freedoms, Claire Danvers and her friends are almost starting to feel comfortable again…

Now Claire can actually concentrate on her studies, and her friend Eve joins the local theatre company. But when one of Eve’s castmates goes missing after starting work on a short documentary, Eve suspects the worst. Claire and Eve soon realize that this film project, whose subject is the vampires themselves, is a whole lot bigger—and way more dangerous—than anyone suspected.

My Review: 
Myrnin's lab is operational again but Claire is more concerned by Myrnin's new obsession with Bob the spider as a pet and a new pair of bunny slippers. She gets an unpleasant surprise when she opens a box and a light bomb goes off, giving her a nasty burn but it would have been a lot more dangerous to a vampire. Myrnin of course can't remember if it was aimed at him or if he rigged the trap himself. She is also upset at Eve starting to blank her in favour of hanging out with Kim, and to make it worse Kim is still chasing Shane who she had a brief fling with in the past. Is Claire going to lose Eve and Shane to her rival or will Ada kill her first?

Eve has finally landed a part in the latest Morganville theatre project-A Streetcar Named Desire. She starts hanging out with co-star Kim, and barely seems to notice how bitchy Kim is to Claire or that she is spending very little time with her best friend. Eve also realises that Michael is finally viewing himself as one of the vampires and it puts a bit of strain on their relationship. She is unaware that Kim is filming the vampires for a project, something that Oliver in particular isn't happy about. Oliver himself is concerned that Amelie is starting to lose control of the town as she broods about Sam and her trauma is putting Claire's health at risk along with the good of the town.

Morley and his vampires don't want to live under Amelie and her rules any more and want to leave town. Amelie won't let them go and forces their hand into doing something that could expose the whole town to the outside world. Myrnin isn't taking Claire's fear about Ada seriously but events are about to prove that he should have taken more notice of what he was too blind to see.  

Just when the humans think that things are getting better in Morganville, one human is about to set off a chain of events with a homicidal computer and a group of disgruntled vampires. Claire and her friends yet again will be tasked with solving the problem while Amelie and Oliver are fighting over the future of the town again. Just another day in a town full of bloodsuckers! It was a solid book in the series and I certainly liked it. Kim was the bitch from hell and I was hoping that Oliver would chew on her for a while!

Read June 2017
4 stars.