Hi folks! On most normal Mondays, we'd be releasing the our next chapter by chapter analysis, but the week we'd normally record our next analysis (ACOK, Arya IX) was a week we took off. Not to fear though! We are releasing a patreon sample episode that you would normally get at the $5/above level over at our patreon at www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF ! And we're delighted to give the general public the first of our five part series on TWOW, The Forsaken! So, if you like what you hear on our regul...
Aug 24, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep 136•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, new guest Stanford Fraser joins us to dissect the fall of Winterfell to Theon Greyjoy, who in his finest hour somehow still looks less impressive than his child prisoner Bran. This week, we: - Explore Bran's longest wolf dream to date - Talk through the changing dynamic between Theon and the Starks - Praise Bran for doing his duty, and Ned for ...
Aug 17, 2020•2 hr 34 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Edmure fights and wins the Battle of the Fords. So why does Catelyn feel so afraid...? This week, we: - Examine Edmure's personal and political motivations - Dig into Catelyn's lifelong devotion to duty - Ponder the role songs and stories play in drumming up war - Describe the Battle of the Fords as it unfolds in all its terrible beauty - Watch...
Aug 10, 2020•2 hr 54 min•Ep 135•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Tyrion slaps Joffrey and tries to clean up after the mess the Lannisters have made. This week, we: - Unpack the conspiracy to send Tommen to Rosby - Get a glimpse of the streets of King's Landing after the riot - Analyze Tyrion and Shae's relationship and wince at Tyrion slapping Shae - Talk about Varys' origin story Next week: we're back with ...
Aug 03, 2020•2 hr 3 min•Ep 134•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Tyrion slaps Joffrey and tries to clean up after the mess the Lannisters have made. This week, we: - Judge the Lannisters justly for their conduct regarding Lollys Stokeworth - Talk extensively about Tyrion slapping Joffrey (again) - Get into the political fallout from the riot - Examine the root causes of the riot - Theorize on what happened t...
Jul 27, 2020•2 hr 50 min•Ep 133•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Tyrion bids farewell to Myrcella and runs straight into a peasant riot. This week, we: - Examine Myrcella as a political figure - Peel back the layers of Tyrion's mindset RE both Stannis and the smallfolk as threats - Contrast the potentially manufactured spark of the riot with the genuine grievances motivating it - Praise George's exquisite pa...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 20 min•Ep 132•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Davos sails Melisandre beneath Storm’s End, where she gives birth to a beautiful baby boy with his Dad’s face This week, we: - Discuss the metaphysics of Davos and Melisandre's morality and culpability in the act that's about to happen - Get in on the parallels between Robert and Stannis/Ned and Davos - Note that Melisandre's onion metaphor is ...
Jul 13, 2020•2 hr 41 min•Ep 131•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, we are joined by Matt aka Joe Magician as Stannis and Davos continue their conversation from last time. We're never getting out of this chapter alive! This week, we: - Talk about Stannis' tent and how well it captures the man - Dig further into the complexities and contradictions of the Stannis-Davos dynamic - Lay out all the many options Stann...
Jul 06, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Ep 130•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Stannis calls forth Davos to give him the truth. Much debate ensues. This week, we: - Talk Stannis' relationship to his turncloak lords and how it contrasts with his relationship to Davos - Explore Davos' self-image and how it leads him to both tell Stannis the truth and shape that truth into euphemisms - Watch as Stannis slowly realize that hi...
Jun 29, 2020•2 hr 10 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Stannis and his new turncloak lords would very much like to move on from Renly's death, please...but Ser Cortnay Penrose won't let him This week, we: - Talk D&D - Introduce (and say farewell) to Cortnay Penrose - Loudly boo the arrogant hypocrites who have joined Stannis - Praise George's brilliantly written dialogue - Discuss how Davos' perspe...
Jun 22, 2020•2 hr 32 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast Our special Q&A episode is now available for everyone! Next week: ACOK, Davos II! Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIAF Our facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/289889118235797/ Our youtube page: www.youtube.com/channel/UCmmDfPdG…iew_as=subscriber Emmett's twitter: twitter.com/PoorQuentyn Jeff's twitter: twitter.com/BryndenBFish...
Jun 15, 2020•2 hr 14 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Daenerys gets rejected by the Pureborn, gets manipulated by Xaro and watches a really fun magic show. Oh, and Quaithe is there. Yay? This week, we: - Talk about GRRM's worldview vs Tolkien's. - Get into the Pureborn and what boredom and wealth do to the Pureborn (and people) - Demonstrate that Xaro is a total POS - Talk about the rise of magic ...
Jun 01, 2020•2 hr 33 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Catelyn returns to the riverlands, Brienne swears her sword to Catelyn, Edmure announces his battle plans and Ned's bones show up at Riverrun. This week, we: - Analyze the Petyr Baelish backstory - Evaluate Catelyn's mental state as she returns to the Riverland - Answer whether Starks can commit war crimes too (they can) - Get deep on Brienne a...
May 25, 2020•2 hr 11 min•Ep 125•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Tywin "the Lion Loser" Lannister marches from Harrenhal, and Arya whispers a second name to Jaqen H'ghar...only to regret it far too late. This week, we: - Praise George's writing of an army in motion - Talk about the transitional, small-scale nature of the second of three wishes - Frame this chapter (laden with animal imagery) as the food chai...
May 18, 2020•2 hr 30 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Theon Greyjoy descends through the first five layers of hell, takes a look around, and decides that the fifth layer isn’t deep enough. He’s going for the sixth layer. This week, we: - Praise George's in medias res structure for the chapter - Watch Theon's opposing identities come into conflict - Roll our eyes at the selfish violent ways he trie...
May 11, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep 123•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, the Lannister small council absorbs the news of Renly’s death and starts finding ways they can benefit. Traitors, all of ‘em, just like Renly. This week, we: - Talk about how we evaluate combined reading orders of Feastdance and whether the battles should have been in ADWD - Get in depth on Varys and the small council as detectives in noir fict...
May 04, 2020•2 hr 38 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast that usually goes through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! But not this week. This week, we present for everyone our 27th Patreon episode: "Sunflower," an analysis of Renly Baratheon, in the wake of his death in the main cast. In this episode, we: -Force Jeff to make the case for Renly -Talk about what inspired Renly and what he in turn inspired: narrative function, historical parallels, background characte...
Apr 27, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep 121•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, King Terrorist Renly Baratheon is righteously vaporized by the magical equivalent of a drone strike. This week, we: - Talk about why Robert didn't have sworn men around him - Get into the philosophy and metaphysics of the shadowbaby and its impact on the narrative - Talk about how the shadowbaby attack didn't just kill Renly. It nearly got Brie...
Apr 20, 2020•2 hr 47 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Catelyn Stark gives herself over to her gods before making a final plea for peace...which Renly Baratheon promptly shoots down. This week, we: - Trace Catelyn's changing relationship to the Seven - Dig deep into all the gorgeous imagery in this chapter - Talk about how gods (and stories) are fluid vessels needing an audience to be complete - Pr...
Apr 13, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Stannis and Renly chase each other down the drain as the kingdom burns in the background and Catelyn threatens to send them both to bed without dinner. Everything's going just peachy. This week, we: - Indulge in one of Emmett's favorite tinfoil theories: Renly as Robert's bastard son - Discuss how the political is always personal and vice versa...
Apr 06, 2020•2 hr 47 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Catelyn Stark arrives at Storm's End and has an encounter with the one true king on the one true podcast. This week, we: - Talk about why Renly didn't back Stannis - Get into the type of castle Storm's End is and why it works as archetype for Stannis and Renly - Stannis and Catelyn dance. More accurately, Stannis huffs, Catelyn tries to smooth ...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Jojen Reed further instructs Bran on prophecy and skinchanging, as well as foreshadowing his grisly death at the hands of a new character: "Reek." This week, we: - Talk about the news Bran, Rickon and those little monstrous Freys receive from Oxcross - Analyze Jojen's green dreams and how everyone takes it so damn literally! - Witness House Bol...
Mar 23, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep 116•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, the Night's Watch arrives at the Fist of the First Men, where Jon Snow acquires yet another father figure: Qhorin Halfhand. This week, we: - Dig into the Fist of the First Men (though not literally like Ghost!) in terms of both its surface strengths and deeper weaknesses as a fortress - Watch with exasperation as Watch leadership descends into ...
Mar 16, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Robb Stark wins a glorious victory...and Joffrey punishes poor Sansa for it. Sigh. This week, we: - Contrast the knights beating a helpless child because the king said so... - ...with the not-knights, the cripples/bastards/broken things, standing up for her - Take note of how Sansa is maturing and growing wiser, even under such dire circumstanc...
Mar 09, 2020•2 hr 39 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Arya Stark strikes back against her oppressors in the happiest place in Westeros. This week, we: - Talk about what will befall Catelyn at the end of the story and how she'll be remembered. - Get deep on the union of secular and mystical in the castle of Harrenhal - Talk about the Bloody Mummers and the strategic Lannister position at this juncture in ACOK - Analyze Jaqen H'ghar, his place in Arya's story and question whether he's the better alternative to the horrors Arya has ex...
Mar 02, 2020•2 hr 44 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, all the Lannister dysfunction we talked about in Tyrion VI somehow gets even worse. This week, we: - Talk about our favorite funny lines in ASOIAF - Examine Tyrion's fun-yet-chilling conversation with Lancel - Zero in on why Tyrion goes to Shae - Analyze how Tyrion has put on masks of power, intrigue and games while forgetting about doing the j...
Feb 24, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Happy 100th episode, and thank you so much to everyone who's listened and supported us so far! In this episode, Bran is caught between magic and politics, Winged Wolf and Prince of Winterfell, as embodied by his two mentors: Jojen Reed and Maester Luwin. This week, we: - Praise how masterfully George changes moods as this chapter goes along - Shiver as Jojen ge...
Feb 17, 2020•2 hr 30 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Daenerys arrives at our VERY FAVORITE setting in the series: the city of Qarth. Hooray. This week, we: - Discuss the "leftover" bits of ASOIAF - Praise the trippy imagery in the Qarth storyline... - ...and critique the shapeless plot and threadbare supporting cast - Lay out Dany's (somewhat redundant) character beats in ACOK - Come up with oppo...
Feb 10, 2020•1 hr 15 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Arya bears witness to war crimes before being enslaved and force marched to Harrenhal. What a cheerful read. This week, we: - Talk about our favorite bad movies - Analyze the smallfolk caught in the chaos and brutality of war - Evaluate how Arya deals with her powerlessness and watching people be tortured, murdered and raped - Let Emmett go dee...
Feb 03, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome back to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this episode, Tyrion brings Cersei good news: Renly and Stannis are fighting each other! Oh, and Tyrion also poisons her, strips her of her protectors, and throws Pycelle in jail without her permission...but for Tyrion and Cersei, this counts as getting along. This week, we: - Wonder what would've happened if Tyrion had killed Cersei in this chapter - Compar...
Jan 27, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast 
