The Ghosts of Harrenhal: A Song of Ice and Fire Podcast (ASOIAF)

A Game of Thrones | House of the Dragon
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Join us, as we venture chapter-by-chapter through the books in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" (ASOIAF) series, by George R.R. Martin. We will discuss the details of a chapter, provide insights, give background information, and hit you with other tidbits that we find interesting. However, one thing we won't do is give spoilers! So come, let us be your guides on this epic journey. Follow us on Twitter at @GhostsHarrenhal, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, Discord, and YouTube!

  1. 4D AGO

    Chapter Sixty-Five - Cersei 2 - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Cersei does the walk of shame through King’s Landing. Mackelly and Simon wistfully recall their college days. Chapter Review: Queen Cersei Lannister is shaved (all over) and must walk through the streets of King’s Landing, from the Great Sept of Baelor to the Red Keep to atone for the cherry-picked sins that she has confessed to. She’s a lion and won’t be cowed.  She keeps her eyes on the Red Keep and the promise of seeing her son King Tommen again as the crowd pelt her with insults and rotten flora and fauna. She stumbles, slips in excrement, and sees faces from her past in the crowd. Eventually the abuse takes its toll and she realizes that she has made a fatal mistake. This crowd of baying peasants will never again see and fear her as the queen. WIth this she breaks and runs, then crawls the rest of the way. But she is met by Qyburn and the newly appointed Kingsguard brother Ser Robert Strong - all 8ft of him. Suddenly she feels a great wash of relief. Her chances to prove her innocence in the trial by combat have just increased meteorically.  Characters/Places/Names/Events: Cersei Lannister - Dowager Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Mother to King Tommen. Tommen Lannister - Younger son of Cersei and King of the Seven Kingdoms. Kevan Lannister - Uncle to Cersei, King regent. Lancel Lanniser - Son of Kevan, former lover of Cersei. Now a convert to the militant branch of the Faith of the Seven. Qyburn - Disgraced maester of the citadel. Ally to Cersei. Margaery Tyrell - Wife to King Tommen. Despised by Cersei. Ser Robert Strong - new member of the Kingsguard. The size and shape of the now (believed) dead Mountain (Gregor Clegane). Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 21m

  2. APR 28

    Chapter Sixty-Four - The Ugly Little Girl - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Arya gets her first assignment as an assassin for the House of Black and White. She also gets a new face, that of a little girl who had been badly beaten. After a successful mission, Arya is promoted to Acolyte and given her first apprenticeship. Simon and Mackelly decide to stop biting their coins. Chapter Review: Arya Stark witnesses a meeting of priests of the House of Black and White. When the meeting ends, one of the men talks with her. He accuses her of being too soft, selfish, and proud to be one of them. However, in the end, he gives her an assignment. She is to kill a ship insurer. To scope out her target she will resume the role of Cat of the Canals. While selling her cockles and watching her mark, she notices that he bites every coin he receives. A plan comes to her as to how best to deliver him the “gift.” The Kindly Man takes her deep into the heart of the temple where the faces are stored. He removes Arya’s face and replaces it with that of a girl who had been beaten by her father to the point of disfigurement. From her perspective, Arya can’t tell the difference. However, the Kindly Man assures her that nobody who sees her face will soon forget it. The next day Arya waits for a man to walk by on his way to pay the ship insurer. She cuts his purse and grabs a handful of coins. The man turns to stop her and coins spill to the ground. Arya runs and hides for a while. When she returns to the House of Black and White, she tells the Kindly Man that she replaced one of the man’s coins with one she had poisoned. When her target receives the payment he will bite the coin, and at some point later that day his heart will give out. The Kindly Man tells her she might not be hopeless after all. He gives her the robe of an acolyte, but tells her not to get too comfortable in it. Starting tomorrow she begins an apprenticeship. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Arya Stark - Younger daughter of Ned and Catelyn Stark. Kindly Man - Priest of the Many-Faced God. Waif - Priestess of the Many-Faced God. Many-Faced God - God worshiped in Essos that embodies all gods. House of Black and White - Temple of the Many-Faced God in Braavos. All Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 8m

  3. APR 21

    Chapter Sixty-Three - Victarion 1 - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Victarion Greyjoy follows Moqorro’s advice and gains many victories. He believes that he is now blessed by two gods. Simon and Mackelly wonder if poly-religiosity is frowned upon by the deities. Chapter Review: Victarion Greyjoy is advised by Moqorro where to sail. Repeatedly the red priest comes up with the goods and the Iron Fleet swells with each captured vessel. Victarion emulates his intended (well intended by him) Daenerys Targaryen by freeing the galley slaves. They still have to row, but now as freemen. The captured captains don’t do so well. Particularly those who tell him that Daenerys is dead or that he is a fool - well the Drowned God needed some offerings. Moqorro inspects the dragon horn that Euron gave to Victarion. The priest can read the runes and explains that the horn will bind the dragon to the master of the horn, but that he must establish that mastership with blood. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Victarion Greyjoy - Younger brother of Euron Greyjoy, Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet. Euron Greyjoy - King of the Iron Islands. Daenerys Targaryen - Queen of Meereen, wanted as bride by Euron Greyjoy to allow him to claim the Iron Throne. Moqorro - Red priest of R’hllor. Recently shipwrecked from the Selaesori Qhoran. Dusky woman - Unnamed and tongueless slave given to Victarion by Euron before the journey.  Meereen - Largest city on Slaver’s Bay. Isle of Cedars - Island at the mouth of Slaver’s Bay. Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 17m

  4. APR 14

    Chapter Sixty-Two - The Sacrifice - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Asha Greyjoy watches a preview of her own possible gruesome fate, listens as Stannis’ army argues over their best course of action, and has a most unexpected reunion. Mackelly and Simon must remember their names. Chapter Review: Asha Greyjoy stands, cold and hungry, as the Queen’s Men chain four naked men to poles before setting the men on fire. The condemned men’s crime was cannibalism. Asha isn’t surprised. The lords and knights have access to horse meat and a warm longhall. The smallfolk are left to starve and freeze. King Stannis attends with Arnolf Karstark at his side. After the show is over, Ser Clayton Suggs asks Asha if she enjoyed watching her own fate play out? He’s chased off by Aly Mormont and Ser Justin Massey. After Justin escorts Asha to the longhall for dinner, she eats horsemeat while noticing the clear divide between King Stannis’ army. The northmen sit on one side while the southrons sit on the other. When Justin begins to argue with the others about the best path forward, Arnolf says if they march on Winterfell they will defeat Bolton’s army within a moon’s turn. Justin disagrees, and when his courage is called into question, he storms out of the hall. Asha follows him out but is immediately lost in the snow. She’s once again accosted by Suggs. However, they’re distracted by the sound of horses. Out of the snow and night comes a band of riders. After a tense few moments, Tris Botley bends his knee in front of her. He and several other Iron Born were ransomed by Tycho Nestoris, who urgently needs to speak with King Stannis. When the Braavosi banker realizes who Asha is, he says he brought her a gift. He presents an old man and a young woman. Asha is confused until the old man calls her sister. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Asha Greyjoy - princess of the Iron Islands. Stannis Baratheon - Claimant to the Iron Throne, as Cersei's children aren't Robert's. Justin Massey - Knight of the Crownlands. Clayton Suggs - Knight and Queen’s Man. Arnolf Karstark - Castellan of Karhold, sworn to King Stannis. Tycho Nestoris - Envoy of the Iron Bank of Braavos. Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 6m

  5. APR 7

    Chapter Sixty-One - The Griffin Reborn - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Jon Connington retakes his ancestral home, pines for Rhaegar, plots his next move, and hopes that a splash of cheap plonk will keep the greyscale at bay. Simon and Mackelly celebrate the Westerly motion. Chapter Review: Jon Connington and the Golden Company successfully retake Griffin’s Roost. It wasn’t hard, security has become lax. Not all of the ships that set out have arrived, so the force is split between those liberating stormlands holdfasts and keeps, and those waiting at the intended landing site for stragglers. Prince Aegon is there. It’s nice to be home, but Connington is plagued by memories of Rhaegar, and how he failed his prince. He vows to do better by the son. His next aim is the considerably more ambitious target of Storm’s End. He sends for Aegon. \The prince arrives with more men and a few elephants that have arrived. The local holdfasts have all fallen easily but because no banners have flown no actionable intelligence should be getting out. Connington writes to Dorne announcing the news of Aegon’s return. The young prince is determined to be in the vanguard when they attack Storm’s End. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Aegon Targaryen - Teenage nephew of Danaerys. Believed murdered in the sack of King’s Landing. Jon Connington - exiled lord of Westeros. Loyal to the Targaryens. Raised young Griff as his foster child. Homeless Harry Strickland - Commander of the Golden Company Golden Company - Essos based company of sellswords. Trace their lineage back to the Blackfyre rebels.  Battle of the Bells - Fought at Stony Sept in the early days of Robert’s Rebellion. Griffin’s Roost - Seat of house Connington, in the Stormlands. Storm’s End - impregnable seat of house Baratheon in the Stormlands. Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 18m

  6. MAR 31

    Chapter Sixty - The Spurned Suitor - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Quentyn Martell stays in Meereen and offers the Tattered Prince his heart’s desire if the latter can help Quentyn to steal a dragon. Simon and Mackelly think that that might be quite risky. Chapter Review: Quentyn Martell and friends discuss Ser Baristan Selmy’s warning to go home. Quentyn is resolute, Daenerys’ words about the dragon having three heads has given him a glimmer of hope. His companions stay with him, but they’re less convinced. They arrange a meeting with the Tattered Prince, the leader of the Windblown sellsword company. He’s not overjoyed to treat with oath-breakers whose treachery has led to the ongoing incarceration of several of his loyal soldiers.  He finds it particularly galling when the young prince tries to make a pact with him, based on promises of future payment. The request? Oh the simple matter of aiding Quentyn in stealing a dragon. Well, in that case the payment would have to be the whole of Pentos. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Quentyn Martell - Eldest son, and second child of Prince Doran Martell of Dorne. Gerris Drinkwater “Dink” - Quentyn’s companion. Archibald Yronwood “Arch” - Final member of the trio. Windblown - Sellsword company that has entered the fight against Daenerys Targaryen. Tattered Prince - Captain of the Windblown. Daenerys Targaryen - Last remaining descendent of the royal Targaryen line, Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, claimant to the Iron Throne of Westeros, Queen of Meereen. Meereen - Largest of the major slaver cities of Slaver’s Bay. Hizdar zo Loraq - Ghiscari nobleman and King Consort to Daenerys. Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 2m

  7. MAR 24

    Chapter Fifty-Nine - The Discarded Knight - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Ser Barristan Selmy gets more dispirited by Hizdahr’s rule and suggests to Quentyn Martell that the Prince of Dorne should leave town. An idea Prince Quentyn isn’t a fan of. Simon and Mackelly try to think of alternatives. Chapter Review: With Queen Daenerys Targaryen still missing, Ser Barristan Selmy attends King Hizdahr zo Loraq’s court. He sees few friends and a lot of Hizdahr loyalists.   A delegation from the Yunkai besiegers arrive with a statement in the form of Admiral Groleo’s head. The decapitation pays the price for the death of Yurkhaz zo Yunzak, the Yunkish supreme commander, in the stampede that followed Drogon’s arrival. But the Wise Masters are reasonable men, and they return, unharmed, three of the hostages. Coincidentally, the three who are related to Hizdahr. Selmy warns Quentyn Martell that he will be framed for the attempted poisoning of Hizdahr, but Selmy appears to indicate that he knows the truth of things and that the new King may soon be deposed. Nevertheless, the Prince of Dorne should go home, he came too late. Quentyn asks Barristan the Bold what moniker he’ll receive if he returns to Dorne empty-handed. Quentyn the Wise, Barristan suggests. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Barristan Selmy - Former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard in King’s Landing. Now Lord Commander of the Dany’s Queensguard. Hizdahr zo Loraq - Noble of Meereen, husband to Daenerys. Skahaz mo Kandaq (aka The Shavepate) - Ghiscari noble, loyal to Daenerys and opposed to Hizdahr. Reznak mo Reznak - Ghiscari seneschal. Advisor to Daenerys and Hizdahr. Yurkhaz zo Yunkaz - Supreme commander of the Yunkish military force. Admiral Groleo - Long-suffering ally of Daenerys and Ilyrio Mopatis.  Meereen - Largest city on Slaver’s Bay. Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 11m

  8. MAR 17

    Chapter Fifty-Eight - Jon 12 - A Dance with Dragons | A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF)

    Send us Fan Mail Jon watches as more than three thousand Free Folk pass through the Wall. He also receives desperate news from Hardhome where Cotter Pyke’s mission is going very badly. Simon and Mackelly celebrate the good news and worry about the bad. Chapter Review: Lord Commander Jon Snow rides out to meet with Tormund north of the Wall. The wildling waves his people forward. They come in a great procession that takes the whole day to get through the Wall. More than three thousand in total. While they watch, the two men talk. Tormund says that the horn that was burned was not the Horn of Joramun - when the Free Folk sought it, they came up empty-handed. Tormund’s own son, Dryn, is one of the hostages that Jon demanded. Jon makes Dryn his page. When the last are through, Jon returns to Castle Black to dark words from Cotter Pyke. He is stranded at Hardhome. The wildlings won’t board the Essosi ships believing that they are slavers. Plus, there are dead things in the water and the woods. He needs help. Characters/Places/Names/Events: Jon Snow - Bastard son of Ned Stark. Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Tormund Giantsbane - Leader of a large group of free folk. Cotter Pyke - Night’s Watch Commander at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. On a mission to rescue Free Folk from HardHome. Dryn - Tormund’s youngest son. Now a page to Jon. Hardhome - Once the closest thing to a town north of the Wall. Now home to thousands of Free Folk refugees. Support the show Support us: Buy us a Cup of Arbor Gold, or become a sustainer and receive cool perksDonate to our causeUse our exclusive URL for a free 30-day trial of AudibleBuy or gift Marriott Bonvoy points through our affiliate linkRate and review us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, podchaser.com, and elsewhere. Find us on social media: DiscordTwitter @GhostsHarrenhalFacebookInstagramYouTubeAll Music credits to Ross Bugden: INSTAGRAM! : https://instagram.com/rossbugden/ (rossbugden)  TWITTER! : https://twitter.com/RossBugden (@rossbugden)  YOUTUBE! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kthxycmF25M

    1h 9m
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Join us, as we venture chapter-by-chapter through the books in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" (ASOIAF) series, by George R.R. Martin. We will discuss the details of a chapter, provide insights, give background information, and hit you with other tidbits that we find interesting. However, one thing we won't do is give spoilers! So come, let us be your guides on this epic journey. Follow us on Twitter at @GhostsHarrenhal, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, Discord, and YouTube!

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