Which in this world is really a big deal.
This is intentional exoticism, I assume, although I imagine could tell us more about the intention behind the way Yandel talks about different cultures and peoples - and at times even about different species of men (which I found very racist when first reading it - all that crap about Ibbenese not being able to have offspring with other humans, etc.).Īnd one has to consider that in context a place the Westerosi call 'the Summer Islands' clearly evoke a worldly paradise for them regardless how exactly the people there live - simply because it is a place of eternal summer, not touched or marred by winter.
This is a trend the Yandel narrator continues very much with the cultures outside Westeros. TWoIaF does not only exoticise far away places like Yi Ti, Leng, or the Summer Isles, but also ephemeral cultures like the Ironborn (although we do have an aboriginal archmaester telling part of their history there), the Dornish, the Northmen (and especially there the crannogmen and Skagosi), and, of course, the wildlings. These are just examples of things a lot of people there believe. I know this i a big guess as we truly don't get much info where these stories actually come from.ĭo the Iron born truly drown and die then are brought back by the power of the drowned god or can Rob turn in to a werewolf, or are these just stories that people tell to scary the shit out of people based on misunderstood beliefs or the melding of camp stories. You could easily believe that.Īnd lets never forget that a lot of Sailor's are lair's and all slavers are lairs and that most of the info relayed to us about the summer islands probably came from sailors/slaver's. You’re welcome.I kinda agree with this but i feel this idea of the Summer Islands and there utopia is a false idea that that most people in this world would believe just because most of these people live in utter shit unless born in to money, When your faced with devastation on a daily bases stories are easy to believe. Look at Sansa and her childish belief in knights, love and honor. She is super privileged and has the best of everything now consider never really knowing where your gonna eat and if your gonna be a useless death in war or if your gonna be raped at any givin time and your hear stories of a far off island where everyone is safe happy and live without fear. In a very dark world, it’s just about the only bright spot, as Tyrion would happily tell you while drunkenly nuzzling several prostitutes.Īs an admirer of Game of Thrones’s more primal pleasures, I rewatched every moment of nudity and sex (including more incest than anyone asked for)* on the show so far-all 79 of them-and ranked them based on narrative value. You need something to break up all the beheading, impaling, and disemboweling. And sex is often a relief-for the characters and the viewers. The showrunners are not above giving us some Emilia Clarke fan service to keep our attention while guy-whose-name-we-can’t-remember rambles about a subplot we’ll quickly forget. (Though if the power-sex turns into sadism, à la Joffrey or Ramsay, you might be headed for a precipitous downfall.) Of course, sometimes bare boobs are just bare boobs. If you're demanding it the way Daenerys tells her bearded underling to strip, it's a good sign you're in charge. Sex is wielded in Westeros, like everything else, as a form of power. Sure, the HBO fantasy drama has (not unfairly) developed a reputation for gratuitous violence and sexual relations of all configurations-man on woman, man on man, sorceress on man, brother on sister-but some of that stuff matters. Not all sex on Game of Thrones is created equal.