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

Send us Fan Mail It’s King Joffrey’s nameday! He celebrates by being cruel and unpleasant. Sansa saves the hapless Ser Dontos Hollard with a little help from the Hound. The celebration is curtailed by the arrival of Tyrion with his mountain tribes. Simon and Mac join the festivities. Chapter Review: Sansa is escorted by Ser Arys Oakheart to the tourney for Joffrey’s name day. En route, they specul...

Send us Fan Mail Arya is heading north with Yoren and the new Night’s Watch recruits, including Gendry - Robert Baratheon’s bastard son. Arya gets into a fight with Hot Pie whose bulk proves no match for her training. Yoren is displeased and beats her. The boys spend 20 mins discussing how they're going to stretch this out to 50 mins. Chapter Review: Arya is headed north with Yoren and the ne...

Send us Fan Mail On Dragonstone, King Stannis Baratheon’s entourage debate how to actualize his claim. Stannis’ unforgiving nature makes allies hard to come by. There’s some infighting, culminating in an attempted poisoning that backfires. Simon and Mackelly take a careful sip. Chapter Review: Maester Cresson ruminates on various omens and portents: a white raven signifying the end of summer, the...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode, Simon and Mackelly sit down with Dr. Tammy Mielke, a senior lecturer in the Honors College at Northern Arizona University. Dr. Mielke teaches a class on A Game of Thrones , as well as classes on other really cool subjects. The trio discuss a range of topics including, Dr. Mielke's A Game of Thrones class, her opinions on the female characters in A Son...

Send us Fan Mail Dany oversees preparation for Drogo’s funeral pyre. In addition to a bit of wood, and a lot of oil, she adds to the kindling the Khal’s various treasures, Mirri Maz Duur, another dead horse, all three of her priceless dragon eggs, and eventually herself. She (well, she is the last dragon) survives and the three eggs hatch into dragons. Seriously: dragons. The boys don their oven-g...

Send us Fan Mail Cat and company arrive in Riverrun to find Lord Hoster Tully on his deathbed. With both Baratheon brothers vying to take the throne from their nephew, the Northern lords don’t know who to support. The Greatjohn Umber has a creative solution, and declares Robb the King in the North to general approval. The boys dip their lances and consider bending the knee. Chapter Review: Catelyn...

Send us Fan Mail Jon decides his future lies south of the wall. He rides out to join Robb in his fight. He’s prevented from his oath-breaking by his friends, who ride after him and drag him back. Jeor Mormont announces that the Night’s Watch will march north of the Wall to figure out what’s going on, and Jon better jolly-well come along. The boys prepare for winter. Chapter Review: Jon Snow saddle...

Send us Fan Mail News of Jamie’s capture reaches Tywin. The siege of Riverrun is lifted and Edmure Tully freed. Renly Baratheon has married Margery Tyrell and claimed the throne. Suddenly the Lannister procession is in danger of becoming a rout. Tywin orders Tyrion to King’s Landing to bring the new king to heel. The boys are right there with him. Chapter Review: Tywin’s bannermen are gathered at...

Send us Fan Mail Sansa tries to come to terms with her reality. King Joffrey reveals that they are still to be married, that his name-day is coming up, and that his cruelty doesn’t end with just killing her father. Meryn Trant puts on the hurt and Sandor Clegane is uncommonly solicitous. The guys dab the blood from Sansa’s cheek and help to plot our revenge. Chapter Review: Sansa is unwashed and i...

Send us Fan Mail Dany wakes to a whole slew of bad news. Her baby Rhaego was stillborn and monstrous. Khal Drogo is alive but catatonic. The Khalasar is gone. The boys take a long hard look at Mirri Maz Duur’s medical license and consider what Dany’s options are now. Chapter Review: Daenerys  Targaryen has vivid dreams about the waking of the dragon. The dreams begin with the familiar warning, “Yo...

Send us Fan Mail Bran and Rickon both dream that their father visits them in the crypts. Maester Luwin tries to reassure them that dreams are just dreams. Osha is not so sure, especially when a raven arrives with news from King's Landing. Simon and Mac examine the dark words. Chapter Review: Bran Stark and maester Luwin watch the remnants of the north being trained by Ser Rodrick Cassel. They...

Send us Fan Mail After traversing the mean streets of King's Landing, Arya winds up following the crowd to the Sept of Baelor. There she finds her father, sister, King Joffrey, and the rest. Ned admits to treason and hails Joffrey as the true king. That should then get Sansa what she asked for: mercy for her father. However, Joffrey being Joffrey, he instead calls for Ned's head. The guy...

Send us Fan Mail Khal Drogo’s health deteriorates, causing Dany to make a pact with Mirri Maz Duur to use dark blood magic to bring him back. This causes a ruckus in the Khalasar. Ser Jorah defends Dany, but she goes into labor. He carries her to her midwife - but unfortunately, that is mid-spell Mirri Maz Duur. The boys worry for the whole Drogo family. Chapter Review: Khal Drogo’s wounds have be...

Send us Fan Mail Robb Stark’s host lures a large Lannister force away from their siege of Riverrun. Battle ensues in the Whispering Woods. Cat watches and mostly listens, and is rewarded with the capture of none-other-than Jamie Lannister and several of his kin. The boys discuss the shift in the balance of power. Chapter Review: Brydnen Tully reports that Jamie Lannister’s forces are split into th...

Send us Fan Mail Tyrion is invited to join the vanguard of the forthcoming battle with the northern army.  He meets a young lady who might just be his match, and he somehow contrives to survive the battle.  The day belongs to the Lannisters, but key elements of the northern host are absent.  The boys weigh up the strategic advantage and moon over the charming Shae. Chapter Review: Tyrion and crew...

Send us Fan Mail Dany annoys some of the khalasar by rescuing new slaves from rape and murder. Khal Drogo hurt in the raid that won the slaves, backs her up. One of the women Dany saved is a healer and she agrees to patch up the wounded Khal. Mackelly and Simon cast an expert eye over the stitchwork. Chapter Review: Khal Drogo’s khalasar stumbles across Khal Ogo and crew attacking a town of sheep-...

Send us Fan Mail Jon gets a pardon and a shiny new sword from Jeor Mormont. His buddies are all excited but Jon is preoccupied with news from the south. Maester Aemon sympathizes and reveals a shocker. Simon and Mackelly continue their watch. Chapter Review: Jon has burned his hand in finally killing off Othor. While he’s nursing it, Lord Commander Mormont presents him with a sword. It is the fami...

Send us Fan Mail To celebrate our one year anniversary, we've dug up our very first try at recording a podcast episode. It's dull, we've got the wrong podcast name, and Simon recorded the whole thing with a sheet of paper in front of his face. But don't fear, the guys are here to liven things up a bit, by listening in and making plenty of fun of themselves in the process. Suppo...

Send us Fan Mail The northern army reaches the Twins. They need to cross the Green Fork, but only  Walder Frey can make that happen. Cat shows off all her negotiation skills in brokering a deal that gets them across safely with only two of her kids married off to Freys. Simon and Mackelly divide and conquer.  Chapter Review:  The northern host arrives at the Twins, seat of House Frey. The only cro...

Send us Fan Mail Ned suffers some pretty brutal sensory deprivation down in the dungeons. Allowing his overactive imagination to run wild. A surprise visitor gives him some advice on how to free himself, but can Eddard bring himself to do the smart thing, instead of the right thing? Mac and Simon are more than capable of both. Chapter Review: Eddard Stark is visited by dreams, ghosts, and eunuchs...

Send us Fan Mail Sansa attends King Joffrey’s first court session. It’s everything she never dreamed of. Janos Slynt gets a meteoric promotion, Ser Barristan Selmy gets similarly precipitous demotion. And Sansa begs for her father’s life. Despite a chorus of naysayers, good King Joffrey is moved to mercy. The boys cast a skeptical eye over the whole thing. Chapter Review: Sansa Stark enters the th...

Send us Fan Mail Tyrion and Co finally get back to the Inn at the Crossroads where he and his new entourage receive a frosty welcome from his father. The war is going well, but Tywin still volunteers Tyrion to fight with his new Mountain Clan regiment. The boys’ impression of Lannister Senior, is not exactly re-calibrated.  Chapter Review:  The march down the mountain road comes to an end at a Lan...

Send us Fan Mail Instead of returning to Winterfell, Cat joined her first-born Robb, at Moat Cailin, as he prepared for war with the Lannisters. Showing major restraint, rather than hug him, hold him, and scold him for riding off to war, she helps him devise a battle strategy. Simon and Mac take you through the battle plans and examine what the lords of the North are up against.  Chapter Review: ...

Send us Fan Mail Dany survives a poisoning plot thanks to Ser Jorah's timely intervention. Khal Drogo is so grateful he gives Mormont a horse and Dany what she wishes: the Khalasar will cross the Narrow Sea and take back the Iron Throne for her. Mackelly and Simon fortify their castles in anticipation.  Chapter Review:  Khal Drogo has got no interest in Westeros. As far as he is concerned, th...

Send us Fan Mail Bran watches the Karstarks arrive at Winterfell. He talks to Osha, who warns him of the Others and assures him that the danger to their safety is not from King's Landing, but from north of the Wall. Nevertheless, the Stark banners head south to defend the Riverlands and hopefully rescue Ned. The boys try to see things through Bran's eyes (all three of them).  Chapter Rev...