Send us a text Davos isn’t dead. The Manderlys' animosity was all for show. They know the Freys lie. But they’re not ready to join Stannis yet. However, if Davos can find and return Rickon Stark, then that would seal the deal. Mackelly and Simon debate who that might be. Chapter Review: Davos Seaworth is kept waiting for his execution. The gaoler refers to him as “The Dead Man,” but he’s fed and has more than decent accommodation. After several days Robett Glover comes and takes him through secr...
Aug 19, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 301
Send us a text Jon makes a controversial choice for his ranging crew, gets unexpectedly bested in the yard, gets even more unexpected news out of Barrowtown, and receives a pair of impactful prophecies from Melisandre. Jenny and Mackelly break down Jon’s busy day. Chapter Review: Lord Commander Jon Snow has commanded nine Night’s Watch brothers to range north of the Wall. One of those nine is Ser Alliser Thorne, who is not happy about the assignment. He tells Jon that if he dies by an Other’s bl...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 300
Send us a text Tyrion and Ser Jorah make it to Volantis where Tyrion seeks escape. But when he finds out that they’re headed to Daenerys, not Cersei, his outlook changes markedly. Mackelly and Simon refuse to take the bait. Chapter Review: Tyrion Lannister arrives in Volantis as a prisoner of Ser Jorah Mormont. He tries all his tricks to wheedle out of his predicament but gets nowhere. In the city, they see the High Priest of R’hllor preaching a pro-Daenerys message to a multitude of slaves, who...
Aug 05, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 299
Send us a text Asha Greyjoy learns that Theon lives, that previous kingsmoots have been contested, that Tris Botley is not interested in a thruple, and that where there’s five northmen there’s probably 3000. Simon and Mackelly wish that our favorite Kraken could find happiness. Chapter Review: At Deepwood Motte, Asha receives a letter from Ramsay Bolton written in ironborn blood, that includes a party-favor of some of Theon’s skin. She had thought her brother dead. She has sex with Qarl the Maid...
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 298
Send us a text Quentyn Martell and his traveling companions joined up with the Windblown to get to Slaver’s Bay. Now it’s time to ditch their new friends and turn their cloaks to Daenerys Targaryen’s side of the war. The timing of the move is integral. However, before they can make their break, they catch a break that makes their task a whole lot easier. Simon and Mackelly offer them fresh brown cloaks to turn. Chapter Review: Prince Quentyn Martell and his traveling companions survived the sieg...
Jul 22, 2025•47 min•Ep. 297
Send us a text Jon Connington and Aegon Targaryen meet the Golden Company. The route to Daenerys is closed, so the young prince suggests that instead they head West. Connington, infected with greyscale, is impressed. Simon and Mackelly carefully examine their extremities. Chapter Review Griff, Jon Connington, leads young Griff, Aegon Targaryen, to the encampment of the Golden Company. They are led to the commander’s tent. Within Homeless Harry Strickland is bathing his sore toes, Connington is n...
Jul 15, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 296
Send us a text Daenerys agrees to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq as long as he can bring peace within Meereen. This news leads to tension with Daario Naharis. Simon and Mackelly love a soapy love triangle. Chapter Review: Daenerys Targaryen dines with Galazza Galare, the Green Grace. The older woman is glad to see that the hostage-wards are still in one piece, despite continued provocation from the Sons of the Harpy. Dany cannot bring herself to hurt the children. Galazza has a suggestion for the queen:...
Jul 08, 2025•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 295
Send us a text Tyrion isn’t dead. But will have to (painfully) test himself for greyscale for the rest of his life. On a detour to a brothel during a fact-finding mission, he’s waylaid by a bear-like Westerosi knight who plans to take him to the Queen. Mackelly and Simon wonder which queen? Chapter Review: Tyrion Lannister wakes aboard the Shy Maid. His companions have pulled him from the river and are treating his extremities with vinegar to prevent greyscale infection. He must prick his extrem...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 294
Send us a text Jon takes supplies to the Free Folk huddled in Mole’s Town. They’re not thrilled. But he has an offer: join the defence of the Wall and get full rations. Several heed the call. Mackelly and Simon (and Jon) wonder where the Free Folk's loyalties lie. Chapter Review: Jon Snow heads south to Mole’s Town with wagons of supplies for the Free Folk. Along the way he sees newly carved faces in the trees. Clearly the conversion to R'hllor hasn’t universally landed. The new residents emerge...
Jun 24, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 293
Send us a text Reek/Theon helps secure Moat Cailin for the Boltons. His ironborn brothers pay the ultimate price. Ramsay meets his new bride-to-be, but Theon sees through the Bolton ruse. Today Simon and Mackelly discuss difficult topics such as torture and self-harm. Please seek help for yourself or reach out to a friend who might be struggling with thoughts of self-harm. Chapter Review: Reek has been cleaned up and is pretending to be a prince of the Iron Islands. He is granted admission to Mo...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 292
Send us a text Davos meets with Lord Wyman in front of a packed court. The Freys blame a most unlikely culprit for the Red Wedding. Davos’ arguments for the Manderlys backing King Stannis fall on deaf ears, minus one. Ultimately, Lord Wyman makes his final decision; off with his head (and hands). Mackelly and Simon light a candle to the Father. Chapter Review: Davos Seaworth is brought before the Merman’s Court. He’d hoped for a private audience with Lord Wyman Manderly, but the hall is packed w...
Jun 10, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 291
Send us a text Tyrion floats down the Rhoyne through the unnatural fog of the Sorrows. He divulges top secret information before unwillingly taking a swim in the eerie waters. Mackelly and Simon reach for their goggles. Chapter Review: Tyrion Lannister and his companions aboard the Shy Maid have reached a ruined city along the Rhoyne now called the Sorrows. A mysterious, unnatural fog surrounds the Shy Maid, unsettling its passengers. Passing ruins like the Palace of Love, Tyrion reflects on Tys...
Jun 03, 2025•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 290
Send us a text Jon tours the quickly dwindling food stores of the Night’s Watch and then is summoned by King Stannis. The king offers Jon a surprising gift, then adds to the shock by revealing his risky plan to win the north. Jon redirects him to a new plan that is safer and has huge upsides. Mackelly and Simon fear that Stannis is not earning their loyalty. Chapter Review: Jon Snow joins Bowen Marsh to inspect winter food stores held beneath Castle Black. Despite past generosity from lords and ...
May 27, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 289
Send us a text Daenerys gets an offer she cannot refuse from Xaro XHoan Daxos. But she refuses and adds one more enemy to her list. Simon and Mackelly lose count. Chapter Review: Daenerys Targaryen is feasting Xaro Xhoan Daxos’ dancers. He’s here to plead with Daenerys for her hand in marriage and to take the 13 ships he’s brought with him and to go back to Westeros. He makes a case for reinstating slavery, which she will not hear. She refuses his proposal, but she’ll have her people inspect the...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 288
Send us a text Davos reaches White Harbor. The intel he’s able to pick up does not bode very well for his King Stannis. He wonders if he should have fled with Salladhor. Mackelly and Simon give him a pep talk. Chapter Review: Davos Seaworth arrives in White Harbor aboard the Merry Midwife. He’s disguised as a common sailor. He notes signs of increased defense and military buildup. This could be good news, but then he sees the Lionstar at the dock, flying Tommen’s colors. Inside the city, he sees...
May 13, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 287
Send us a text Tyrion gets to know his new traveling companions, and, by dint of his cyvasse skills, some secrets about their mission. Mackelly and Simon consider their opening gambit. Chapter Review: Tyrion Lannister wakes early on the Shy Maid. He watches with undisguised interest as Septa Lemore bathes in the river. She shows signs of having given birth at some prior point, but remains an attractive woman. Ysilla makes breakfast and keeps all at bay, with the exception of Young Griff whom she...
May 06, 2025•56 min•Ep. 286
Send us a text Bran Stark survives a run-in with wights and meets Children of the Forest and the three-eyed crow. Simon and Mackelly admire the plumage. Chapter Review: Bran Stark and his companions have reached the foot of a hill that contains their final destination. A warded cave halfway the side of the mountain. But Coldhands and other sensitives know that they are under attack from the undead. The entire group is exhausted and hungry. Meera is supporting Jojen, almost as much as Hodor is Br...
Apr 29, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 285
Send us a text Theon Greyjoy has been tortured and abused into being Ramsay Bolton’s latest Reek. He’s going to be a part of Ramsay’s plans to gain Winterfell by facilitating and witnessing Ramsay’s wedding to Arya Stark. Simon and Mackelly are busy that day. Chapter Review: Reek has caught a rat and is eating it raw when the Walders Frey come to his dungeon. He’s been summoned to attend his master Ramsay Bolton. Theon could overpower the two children, but he’s tried escaping previously and it e...
Apr 22, 2025•57 min•Ep. 284
Send us a text Daenerys comforts Missandei, whose brother has been murdered by the Sons of the Harpy. She gets spoilers from Quaithe and visits her chained dragons. Another bad day in Meereen. Mackelly and Simon consider free-range dragon rearing. Chapter Review: Daenerys Targaryen is again roused with news of loyal men being murdered by the Sons of the Harpy. Missandei’s unsullied brother is amongst the victims. Dany decides the time has come to bring her unsullied back within the confines of t...
Apr 15, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 283
Send us a text Jon watches as Mance Rayder and the Horn of Joramun are consigned to the flames. Stannis displays Lightbringer and the free folk are invited to come through the Wall, to bend the knee, and to get a bowl of onion soup. Mackelly and Simon fear that Stannis is not earning their loyalty. Chapter Review: Jon Snow watches as Mance Rayder is dragged to his death. The former Brother of the Night’s Watch and King Beyond the Wall is a broken man desperately pleading for his life and disavow...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 282
Send us a text Davos is marooned on Sweetsister, Salladhor Saan has lost patience with his unpaid service to Stannis. The local lord is sorely tempted to sell his guest to Queen Cersei. But tradition dictates that he aids a rebel. Mackelly and Simon assume Davos will be OK, at least until he gets to White Harbor. Chapter Review: Davos Seaworth is brought before Lord Godric Borrell. The onion knight has rowed to Sweetsister after being abandoned by Salladhor Saan. The Lyseni pirate has given up f...
Apr 01, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 281
Send us a text Tyrion meets Griff and young Griff. He has suspicions about who Griff might be, but Griff is plenty suspicious of Tyrion in return. Mackelly and Simon ponder the possibilities. Chapter Review Tyrion is passed from Illyrio to Haldon the Half-Maester and Ser Rolly “Duck” Duckworth, along with letters, chests, and candy for young Griff. As they depart Tyrion sees Mopatis looking forlorn. Duck provides his life story, including being dubbed by Griff watched by Ducks, confirming his ni...
Mar 25, 2025•55 min•Ep. 280
Send us a text Jon sends Aemon, Gilly, Sam, and the wrong baby away from the Wall. He appoints Night’s Watch brothers to rebuild and command castles along the Wall. Janos Slynt refuses and Jon levies a stiff punishment in response. Stannis approves. Simon and Mackelly admire Jon’s transformation - from boy to man. Chapter Review: Jon has met with Maester Aemon, who provided the same advice he once gave to his brother Egg: Kill the boy so that the man may be born. Time to grow up. Jon puts this i...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 279
Send us a text Quentyn Martell is thwarted in his efforts to get from Volantis to Meereen to woo his future wife Daenerys Targaryen. Simon and Mackelly consider opening our first branch of our Essosi travel agency. Chapter Review: Quentyn Martell tries to find passage from Volantis to Slaver’s Bay. But despite the abundance of ships, nobody wants to take him. The autumn brings storms to the southern seas, and with the Dragon Queen upending the normal order of things, there’s little prospect for ...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 278
Send us a text Tyrion and Illyrio Mopatis are trapped in a closed palanquin, hidden from the world, with just each other’s voices for company. Mackelly and Simon try to imagine what that must be like. Chapter Review: Tyrion Lannister and Illyrio Mopatis leave Pentos in a closed palanquin. Nobody can know of Tyrion’s presence or destination. He thinks that between the sailors and Mopatis’ servants the word is already out. But his host is confident of their discretion. Tyrion is doubtful. Tyrion t...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 277
Send us a text Bran and company are north of the Wall. Things are bleak but Coldhands protects them from those who would do them harm, and brings back some meat to roast. Simon and Jenny throw up in the back of their throats. Chapter Review: Bran Stark rides on Hodor’s shoulders, Meera and an increasingly frail Jojen ride on Coldhands elk. Coldhands keeps his face obscured, but there’s no hiding the coldness of the hands, nor the fact that his breath doesn’t frost before him like the others. As ...
Feb 25, 2025•54 min•Ep. 276
Send us a text Jon has a wolf dream and wakes to face a trying day. He meets with Stannis and disappoints him by rejecting the king’s plan to assume control of the abandoned Night’s Watch castles. Afterward, he talks with Melisandre who gives him an ominous warning. Simon and Mackelly interpret her meaning. Chapter Review: Ghost races along the Wall in the night. As he runs, he senses his packmates in their various locations around Westeros. Jon Snow wakes in Castle Black realizing that he was w...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 275
Send us a text Daenerys learns that the Sons of the Harpy are bold enough to murder her Unsullied and her dragons are wild enough to eat children. It’s not a great day. Mackelly and Simon consider the cost of ambition. Chapter Review: Daenerys Targaryen is roused before dawn to see the body of her Unsullied Stalwart Shield’s body. He’s been murdered by the Sons of the Harpy, a group fighting a resistance war against her rule of Meereen. She orders that he be granted honorable funeral rites and t...
Feb 11, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 274
Send us a text Tyrion arrives in Pentos wallowing in self-pity. His plans for revenge against his family are dismissed by Illyrio Mopatis who has a much better idea for the Iron Throne - a three-headed dragon. Simon and Mackelly say hello to their little friend. Chapter Review: Tyrion Lannister drinks himself into oblivion while confined below decks on a ship. He doesn’t know where he’s headed - his escape was orchestrated by Lord Varys, with no input from Tyrion. Eventually he’s disembarked hid...
Feb 04, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 273
Send us a text Varamyr Sixskins flies a bit too close to the sun and ends up dead. Just when his day looked like it couldn’t get any worse he possibly inadvertently creates an immortal enemy. Simon and Mackelly consider the state of the Free Folk. Chapter Review: The wildling army is in fragmented disarray. Rumors abound of where to go, who to follow, and what to do next. None of them offer much hope of salvation. Varamyr Sixskins lost his wargs and temporarily his mind during the battle. Only h...
Jan 28, 2025•59 min•Ep. 272
