Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Special guest Benjamin Nielsen joins us for Book 4, Chapter 9 & 10, "Shelob's Lair" and "The Choices of Master Samwise," in which everyone's favorite giant spider stings Frodo, leaving Sam to take up the gauntlet of the quest, whether he likes it or not. (Spoiler: he doesn't.) Our...
May 23, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep 228•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's our episode wrapping up Book 4, Chapter 8, "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol," in which Frodo survives the Witch-King thanks to Sam and his stories, right before everything goes horribly wrong again. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastaso...
May 16, 2022•20 min•Ep 227•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's our episode on Book 4 Chapters 7 & 8, "Journey to the Crossroads" and "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol," in which Gollum leads Frodo and Sam to the happiest place in Middle-Earth: Minas Morgul. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoiaf.t...
May 09, 2022•22 min•Ep 226•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's our episode on Book 4 Chapter 6, "The Forbidden Pool," in which everyone was getting along until Gollum shows up and ruins everything. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoiaf.threadless.com Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIAF ...
May 02, 2022•24 min•Ep 225•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the second episode on the fifth chapter of Book Four, in which Faramir takes the hobbits to his hidden hideout, where they talk about better days and Sam repeatedly puts his foot in his mouth. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoi...
Apr 25, 2022•31 min•Ep 224•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the first episode on the fifth chapter of Book Four, in which Faramir puts Frodo on trial for the murder (?) of his brother Boromir. The next episode will cover the rest of the chapter, including the titular Window of the West. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Ou...
Apr 18, 2022•27 min•Ep 223•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the fourth chapter of Book Four, in which Sam's just trying to enjoy a home-cooked meal when the war interrupts, bringing with it a new character: Faramir. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoiaf.threadless.com Our twitter: twitte...
Apr 11, 2022•27 min•Ep 222•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the third chapter of Book Four, in which our hobbit heroes finally arrive at the entranceway to Mordor...only to find that there's no way through, and they'll have to trust in Gollum yet again. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastaso...
Apr 04, 2022•22 min•Ep 221•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the second chapter of Book Four, in which Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the happiest place in Middle-Earth: the Dead Marshes. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoiaf.threadless.com Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIAF Our ...
Mar 28, 2022•34 min•Ep 220•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the first chapter of Book Four, in which Frodo and Sam wander in circles before running into their new best friend: Gollum, aka Smeagol. Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoiaf.threadless.com Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIA...
Mar 21, 2022•33 min•Ep 219•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! Jeff is off for a couple months, so Emmett is resuming his Lord of the Rings episodes. Here's the last one on Book Three, covering Saruman's downfall at Isengard and Pippin finding the Palantir, before we begin coverage of Book Four next week with Frodo, Sam, and their new best friend Gollum.
Mar 14, 2022•38 min•Ep 218•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 Targaryen makes Astapor go boom This week, we: - Abandon analysis and live in the moment, wishing we were reading this chapter for the first time - Watch as Dany wears masks and falsehoods before donning the garb of war - Witness Dany re-embrace her ethereal and magical side to make positive political change in the present -- but with long-...
Mar 07, 2022•2 hr 42 min•Ep 217•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Jon explores several cave systems with Ygritte. This week, we: - Wave farewell to Ghost - Break down Jon's crucial line: "we look up at the same stars, and see such different things" - Continue Jon's espionage storyline from previous chapters - Weep for the tragic romance of Jon and Ygritte - Look back at Gendel and Gorne Next week: "dracarys." Our ...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep 216•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 cools his heels in jail before chatting with his jailor Melisandre and his fellow prisoner Alester Florent. This week, we: - Frame this chapter as a crucible pivot point within Davos' ASOS arc - Explore the ambiguous duality in his dynamic with Melisandre - Deconstruct Melisandre's rigid binary worldview - Poke fun at Alester Florent - Set up ...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep 215•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, GRRM indulges in Tolkien pastiche before transitioning to the most famous in-universe story in the books: The Knight of the Laughing Tree! This week, we: - Announce our next patreon episode on the 2003 Battlestar Galactica: Miniseries - Look into the woods with Bran and Summer. - Talk about Bran in the context of the hero's journey and what that mea...
Feb 14, 2022•2 hr 51 min•Ep 214•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 hands are on deck for Dany as she tries to figure out what to do in Slaver's Bay. This week, we: - Take stock of Dany's different kinds of power - Analyze her relationship with Irri given that power - Revisit Dany's dragons as her subconscious feelings given form - Talk about her complex feelings toward Jorah - Explore the system of the slave tr...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep 213•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Dany descends into hell, aka Astapor, our first city in Slaver's Bay. This week, we: - Introduce Slaver's Bay as the major new setting in ASOS - Dig into the hellish imagery of Astapor specifically - Explore the cultural context of the history and language used here - Take stock of the horrors involved in the training of the Unsullied - Analyze Barr...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep 212•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 Stark rides through the Riverlands with her new friends ... captors. Both. This week, we: - Follow Arya with the BWB and see the resistance movement in the Riverlands - Discuss the realities of the BWB: its noble methods but its lack of an endgame - Enter the magical world of the Riverlanders living in the trees - Analyze one of the best one-ch...
Jan 24, 2022•2 hr 37 min•Ep 211•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome to the NotACast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week! In this special episode, Emmett talks about Jon Snow and Stannis Baratheon as characters made in each other's image. Next week: Arya rides across the countryside with the Merry Men in pursuit of Robin Hood in ASOS, Arya IV! Our patreon: www.patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our merch store: https://notacastasoiaf.threadless.com Our twitter: twitter.com/NotACastASOIAF Our f...
Jan 17, 2022•23 min•Ep 210•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Jaime grabs a sword and gets his butt kicked by Brienne before the Bloody Mummers show up to make everything worse. This week, we: - Arrive at Maidenpool to find the town sacked and the castle locked - Wave farewell to Cleos Frey, who dies as he lived: without dignity - Break down how Jaime's certainties falter throughout his duel with Brienne - Tra...
Jan 10, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Ep 209•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, it's child murder, lord murder and the all-but-fall of the North. Cheery Stark stuff. This week, we: - Analyze Rickard Karstark, his reasons and his weak-ass rationale for child murder - See how Robb Stark is reacting emotionally to the fall of his kingdom - Dread alongside of Catelyn at the loss of the Karstarks and what this means for the Stark ca...
Jan 03, 2022•2 hr 38 min•Ep 208•Transcript available on Metacast Hi everyone and happy holidays 2021! Today, we're doing a full analysis of Theon's ADWD arc as part of our annual holiday tradition of releasing a holiday bonus episode for everyone. If you like what you hear, consider becoming a patron at https://patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF . If we get up to 950 patrons, we'll start our analyses of the Theon TWOW sample chapter! Love you all. Thank you for spending your 2021 listening to us. See you in 2022! Our Patreon: https://patreon.com/NotACastASOIAF Our tw...
Dec 27, 2021•2 hr 59 min•Ep 206•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 watches the game of thrones from the outside. Poor Tyrion. Kind of. This week, we: - Watch the members of the Small Council play musical chairs - Analyze how Tywin and the Lords of the Reach play politics with the North - Chuckle and wince as Littlefinger uses his little finger to unlock the Vale - Break down the Lannister family dynamics - S...
Dec 20, 2021•2 hr 53 min•Ep 207•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Samwell Tarly fights internal demons and an external one and rises as the Slayer. This week, we: - Engage our senses on the Battle of the Fist of the First Men - Empathize with Samwell with all the horror he's experienced and is experiencing. - Remember the bear! - Triumph alongside of Samwell as he kills the first Other in thousands of years - Fram...
Dec 13, 2021•2 hr 39 min•Ep 205•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Samwell Tarly is walking in a winter wonderland...y'know, let's make that terrorland. Sounds right. This week, we: - Break down how George structures the reveal of what happened at the Fist - Praise the formal experimentation of interweaving past and present - Shiver in fear at the exquisite tone of dread a la Stephen King and found footage - Analyz...
Dec 06, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep 204•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Cersei gifts Sansa a dress for no nefarious reason whatsoever. Good guy Cersei. Who know!? This week, we: - Examine how Cersei continues her manipulation of Sansa -- which Sansa suspects - Take a close look at the Tyrell cousins, see how they work as a team and yet are still naive - Analyze Margaery's behavior closely - See Littlefinger's manipulati...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep 203•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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, Stefan Sasse joins us as Jon Snow meets giants, talks with Tormund, and barely escapes execution by getting laid. What a day. This week, we: - Mosh furiously as giants arrive riding mammoths - Take apart Tormund's satirical self-presentation through stories - Laugh at Jon trying and failing to suppress his feelings for Ygritte - Hold our breath as J...
Nov 22, 2021•2 hr 59 min•Ep 202•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 did nothing wrong. Or did she? Or Robb?? Or Edmure??? Or all of them? That'll do. This week, we: - Take stock of Catelyn's growing sense of dread - Welcome Robb back to the narrative... - ...before dropping the bomb of his wedding - Analyze Catelyn's reaction to her baby boy getting married - Break down the complex emotional dynamics among t...
Nov 15, 2021•2 hr 30 min•Ep 201•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 is chased, chases, reunites and is chased yet again. This week, we: - Examine Arya's journey into the dark woods and how she's coping with the violence around her. - Express some criticism of some of Arya's early ASOS chapters - Get emotional over Arya and Harwin's reunion - Check in with the BWB and find out their organizing principles - Theor...
Nov 08, 2021•2 hr 34 min•Ep 200•Transcript available on Metacast Hello and welcome 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 just can't quit Shae. This week, we: - Compare and contrast Tyrion's rise in Clash with his fall in Storm - Dig deeper into Varys' character as we see his quarters - Shake our heads as Tyrion ties himself in knots over Shae - Point out all the ways Tywin is reversing his son's policies - Ask the big question: who's Varys' spy in Oldtown? Next...
Nov 01, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Ep 199•Transcript available on Metacast 
