Author: stevenattewell

What sort of ornament helmets/armor would kings wear to battle? Is there a way it was done without sacrificing functionality?

At least in Medieval Europe, monarchs didn’t really have to sacrifice functionality if they didn’t want to. They were certainly wearing the fanciest surcoats and armor, but so were a lot of the nobility. The main difference was the use of a circlet crown affixed to their helmet, so everyone could tell who the king was:

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This replica – supposedly of Richard III, who wore a crowned helmet to Bosworth Field, which might have made the whole business of Henry VII finding the crown hanging on a hawthorn bush a bit tricky – shown above is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Henry V used both a crowned helmet (for when he was hanging back in command) and a regular greathelm for when he went into the thick of it), which was a good thing, because he got the latter dented pretty badly at Agincourt. On the other end of the spectrum, Casimir III of Poland rocked this number: 

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Which just seems like a bit of a pain in the neck, to say the least. 

Re: Your theory of the final battle being in the North. To me that idea robs ASOIAF of any pan-Westeros sentiment if the big battle is mainly and entirely set in the North and doesn’t extend outwards. Mostly because the books largely feature Northern characters and settings, (compared to LOTR where you have Non-Gondorians coming to the rescue of Gondor which makes it truly pan-Middle-Earth). How do you think this circle will be squared? Would Euron open a second-front for the Apocalypse?

I mean, the series is called “A Song of Ice and Fire,” not “A Song of Westeros.” The Wall is in the North, Winterfell is in the North, so you have to take that into account when thinking about the end-game. 

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But seriously….I think King’s Landing is obviously an important point, where Cersei and Jaime’s fates will be sealed, where Dany will confront the lies, etc. And Oldtown is shaping up to be an important inflection point, although I think that’ll be less a second front and more blowing a horn.

Given the parallels between Volantis and Constantinople, and given the twin threats to Volantis of an impending Dothraki invasion and the rise of R’hllorism, might we see the Dothraki convert to R’hllorism and conquer Volantis much as the Turks converted to Islam and conquered Constantinople in our own history?

That would be quite interesting, although it might go in the other order, since Dany has yet to intersect with R’hllorism. 

Based on your latest CBC Analysis and your previous Dany CBC, it appears GRRM drew a fair amount of inspiration for Slavers Bay from his home country. Would you say that other parts of Essos are inspired in part by the US? For example, Volantis feels very much like the US at its most decandant and corrupt, while Braavos seems to embody the American ideal of the city on the hill, though it’s hinted to harbour some dark secrets as well.

I think he drew more than a little bit from his research on the antebellum South for Fevre Dream, but there are other influences in no small part because there were other historical parallels available: Volantis has some strong influences from Constantinople, Braavos borrows from both Venice and Amsterdam, etc.

Slavers’ Bay is interesting, because it borrows heavily from Rome – the lockstep legions, the toga-like tokars, gladiatorial arenas, etc. – but also from Carthage, given its extended conflict with the Valyrian Freehold, the Harpy standing in for Baal Hammon, etc.  

Since you said you liked the Rogue and Gambit twist I have to ask: What do you think about the Rogue and Magneto relationship? (Love your work btw, your chapter-by-chapter analysis has convinced me to study history)

Thanks very much! Very glad you decided to take up history.

It’s a fun star-crossed relationship, but it was specifically set up not to be able to work in the long run. Although Age of Apocalypse showed a more stable version, albeit with very different characters in both cases.

Personally, I find Magneto’s relationships with Lee Forrester and Briar Raleigh a bit more interesting, because it introduces a tension between his ideology and his personal life. 

If I’m understanding the movie chronology right, the guy who is a peer of her father figure actually married the teenager from X-men, in the comics? I thought the first Wolverine movie took place in Logan’s past, which means Gambit is problematically older than Rogue, no? Or is Deadpool not the only thing that movie got wrong?

Keep in mind the comics chronology and movie chronology are completely different (and the latter of which is rendered basically unuseable by the decision to have movies skip a decade between each one). 

In the comics, Rogue was not a teenager when she joined the X-Men; but rather around 22-27. Indeed, by the time she joined the X-Men, she’d had a pretty substantial career as a supervillain as part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, she’d stolen Ms. Marvel’s powers and almost killed her, she’d attacked the Avengers Mansions and gone toe-to-toe with the Avengers before having to retreat, she’d broken Destiny out of Ryker’s Island, she had a bitter rivalry with Dazzler, she’d fought the X-Men and Rom the Spaceknight, etc. 

Gambit is around 25-28.