Get Fire and Blood: amzn.to/34i9FZK Previous Video - George RR Martin on How the Tale Grew in the Telling: • George RR Martin on Ho... A Song of Ice and Fire Author/Game of Thrones Creator George R. R. Martin Interview
What a creative mind. He is literally talking about these characters like they are real. But in reality they all are just figments of his imagination. Incredible.
It stems from his childhood. Lived in poverty and didn’t travel more than 5 blocks from his government subsidized apartment. You have to have an imagination to look beyond such humble and simple surroundings.
I wasnt sure on the casting when announced. Having seen him in 'The Crown' was unsure. But I am pleased to say I was wrong and he is excellent. Episode 3 was brilliant.
I am not convinced with his character the way he was written by George he was supposed to be a man of action this TV aegon doesn't say much he is not very well fleshed out plus he was muscular and was the leader of the gold cloaks
@lo l seriously, you don't think so? the history of Rome alone is far more interesting, if you don't believe me, just look at the Punic wars up to the reign of Augustus.
@lo l A song of ice and fire is definitely more interesting than 99% of the real history. That said, my interest in game of thrones has sparked another interest in real history as well. I've always been one to get lost in the lore of a show or game I love (zelda, avatar the last airbender, naruto, game of thrones, greek mythology bc of percy jackson) but with how similar game of thrones is to real history (grrm is basically a historian. Pretty much all major events in the books are based on something that happened in history) watching the show has made me realize I actually do enjoy reading about history. So I would recommend if you're here, watching videos about the lore of asoiaf, then you'd probably enjoy learning about real history as well. Atleast that's how it was for me. Like a lot of people, a lot of my interests are kinda connected to eachother in one way or another, and there's a lot in history that just fascinates me. An easy, popcorny way to get into it is by watching some of the more highly acclaimed historical movies, or playing in some of the assassin creed games as arcadey as they can be lol. Anyway, that's just me. I think you might be suprised by how interesting the history of the world is. On a personal level, I find most of it boring. But there are pockets of time, throughout various cultures, from anywhere in the world, that just fascinate me. And I'm sure any given person has atleast a few cultures or time periods that they find interesting or relatable to them. So I encourage you to read or watch or play any kind of art related to any of this.
I never cease to be amazed at how GRRM created the entire history of this fictional world and gave every character a fully developed backstory. It’s pretty mind boggling.
Right? It seems like this amount of information that he has created for the entire world is keeping him from finishing the books though, which sucks. The way he even gives details to basically NPC characters is awesome, though. Wish I could see how he maps out events/character choices.
I burst out laughing when he said,"There is some speculation"like he doesn't know,when he's literally God in this world.It's an awesome story telling tool
@@TheMasonK Was gonna say the same thing. It's Tolkien to a tee -- not everything has to be consistent or explained. A bit of mystery and uncertainty is part of any world, real or manufactured
Dino Fabela yeah, in the book called fire and blood. Balerion was a battle hardened dragon who never lost a fight and lived to be over 200 years old, spent his final years in the dragonpit. In his older age he was still by far the largest dragon alive but he had gotten a lot slower. His last rider was viserys the first. Viserys struggled to even wake him, and when they took flight balerion only had the strength to circle kings landing 3 times before he had to come back down and rest. The dragon then died less than a year later of old age. Shortly before the dance of dragons.
@@LegendInThaMakin Gods would be so great if Bloodraven was alive at the same time as Balerion, not even to ride him, just to become one with the ancient dragon and see old valyria by his eyes... I just hope a random skinchanger got to do this at some point and put the memories in the "weirwood net" so Bran can see them in the next book or something like that... I know, probrably will not happen, but a man can dream xD
I just finished a dance with dragons not too long ago. I can't remember if it was in that ore maybe some lore video on here but I think there is something implying that the white walkers and possibly wights have been around for a while. kinda lingering in the background and the events of aSoIaF are a kinda new mobilization on a scale they haven't been at for a long time.
It’s not that deep. Dragons hate the cold. Every Targaryen dragon that’s ever landed in the North has always had a really bad attitude, snarling and hissing.. north of the wall is even colder. Silverwing felt the temperatures dropping even lower and said “hell no”
@@LegendInThaMakin it's not just that. Silverwing already arrived exactly at the wall when Queen Alysanne visited the men of the night's watch. If you read the books, then you know that dragons can sense threats to them and danger to their riders. Sometimes, they even arrive before the coming threat occured. So it wasn't just the temperature that held her back.
He is not grey, he is one of the most evil GoT universe characters, just more into crazy and unpredictable type. To be grey you have to have some white in you, usually at least 30-50%.
I like daemon, but I my favorite is Aemond. From being bullied and then rising above them all to when he took the dragon and then what he said after he lost an eye. So badass. And then in the most recent episode he’s a machine. I haven’t read the books but I heard him and daemon go head to head eventually (which is also kind of obvious and the show hints at it already), but I can’t wait for that fight. Gonna be awesome
George droping the "speculation " that Aegon knew the threat of the others casually its a great reveal, it changes the perspective of Aegon being some power hungry conqueror to a Visionary
Stannis, who is established as a military history buff, essentially says as much in ASOS. I think it was a huge hint for the reader how they're supposed to see the bigger picture beyond all the arguments about historic claims, grudges, blood, and everything else. Stannis: "This talk of Seven Kingdoms is a folly. Aegon saw that three hundred years ago when he stood where we are standing. They painted this table at his command. Rivers and bays they painted, hills and mountains, castles and cities and market towns, lakes and swamps and forests ... but no borders. It is all one."
@@user-sj6ld9ho6q I doubt it. Coldhands isn't just old, he's ancient. He may well be from the Age of Hero's and one of the first members of the Night's Watch. He's older than just a few hundred years, Coldhands is thousands of years old (probably)
And now he's our (at least mine) favorite character from the show House of the Dragon. Matt Smith as Daemon stood out for me already. Love the grey characters like Jaime Lannister in GOT. Daemon is in the same league.
For now I looked up the family tree and the breakdowns and I didn’t know it was goin to be that way the crazy part is he and Rhaenerys are basically the Targaryens who won but cost them their downfall also
Daemon is already 100% my all time favorite GoT character. He is one of the only characters in all of GoT who self-awareness wise, unabashedly knows who he is...good or bad.
That's what you can say to Tolkien and what happened to the entwives. He doesn't know. Writers who answer all questions have the least satisfying stories
Fire and Blood is an awesome book- the way it's written, I can almost believe it really is written about an ACTUAL dynasty. George has created an amazingly realistic world, and I'm forever going to be salty that the show rushed and messed it up towards the end. I have so much hope for House of the Dragon, I would pay to have every single minutiae of the book in that show!
The best part is how u can clearly see the biases in it. Its like it was written by an actual maester with his own motives and version of history. So nuanced imo
George has a PhD in Byzantine history and you can really tell in Fire and Blood. I love the different sources the narrator uses! Mushroom so much like Tyrion lol
He had a vision, it runs in the family. He probably did not see the white walkers, but most likely a vision of evil coming. Also, it is not so hard to believe as the wall was already standing by that time. He could have done some research on Westeros and merely asked the question - why would someone build a wall 700 ft tall?
@@ursaber well, Martin mentioned it in this video, which is talking about "Fire and Blood", an essential history of the Targaryen's. He also says that it's a theory. Considering that the book is written in a historical style, the writer of the book, a Maester, probably decided to add it to the history book. I have not read this book yet, but Martin has stated that the Maester who is writing this book, is adding fact, and stories to it as well. But considering that Danny has visions, and then there was that Targaryen who saw that the Doom of Valeryia was coming, it is not that far fetched. Also who knows what was going on with Rheagar?
@@jasonphoenix292 i have a copy and have read Fire and Blood multiple times. Most of Aegon's story is the same as World of Ice and Fire. There was greater detail added to his reign, but I did not read anything concering his vision as his main cause to unite Westeros under him.
@@ursaber maybe that's why Martin said it was a theory. mmm. I will have to look into it. There must be some dark corner of the internet where this started? Probably 4CHan, its always 4Chan.
From Doctor Who to now starring in House of Dragons as Daemon Targaryen... They would never find someone better to suit this role other than Matt Smith. 3 Episodes in to the show watching him and he's done so well
Daemon is absolutely an S Tier Targ. He does some badass shit in the Dance. He also wielded Dark Sister, the Valyrian blade previously owned by Visenya, one of the original three conquerors.
@@ghezoi I was seriously looking through the comments like "how are these all from under 24 hours ago.... no one's written it yet.. now's my chance!" lol
A wonderfully-written character played by a fantastic actor. Daemon’s constant unpredictability, plus Matt Smith’s ability to be convincingly good one minute and convincing evil the next, adds *so much* to House of the Dragon.
The parallel between GRR Martin and JRR Tolkien is uncanny, the other day I was listening to JRR talk about his world and he had the same tone of authority as Martin here. GRR Martin is the rightful heir to the legacy that was JRR tolkien. Long live the Kings of Lores!
Same! hadn’t listened to Tolkien’s interviews before, but now I see the resemblance and it is pretty noticeable! Both are so passionate about their works
His books are written from POV or like in a case of his new TV series, by a chronicler writing on basis of biased, flawed and contradicting sources and relations. Might be a habit at this point.
He forgot that Vhagar is still alive during the Dance of Dragons when he said Balerion was the only dragon to survive the conquest. He probably forgets those kind of small details all the time.
clicked this vid and 30 sec in realized im gonna get mega spoiled if i continue watching so i stopped the vid and for some reason thought it would be great idea to sort comments by newest. WELL FUCK
i am continually astounded by the world he's created, even after reading the books over and over. so full to the brim with character and life. i strongly believe that while it seriously suffered without George's work to base itself off, the show also suffered immensely when it stopped caring about the history and the minor characters which contribute to the beating heart of the first 4 seasons. The Jory Cassels and Greatjon Umbers whom George loves so dearly despite their minimal role in the main stories (not dimishing House Umber's role in the war, just in how much they appear to the POV characters). They got brilliant scenes at the start when George was at the helm. To use them as an example, the scene with Jory and Jaimie outside Robert's chambers (with the foreshadowing of how Jaimie will kill Jory) and of course "Your meat... is bloody tough!" They not only get a small chance to shine, but they also develop a main character alongside it. Jaimie is rude to Jory, then is reminded that Jory is actually a great warrior and has fought in some major battles; instantly he gives Jory his respect and converses with him, waxing nostalgic over the siege of Pyke, only to revert to being an asshole when he's reminded that he serves King Robert and, at that point in time, even a Stark is considered of more repute than he, heir to Casterly Rock. Then as Jory walks away you see Jaimie realise he's been such a cunt to someone who conversed with him as a friend rather than as the Kingslayer. He ponders over why he puts on that front. Boom, Jory gets a moment to himself and we learn about his backstory (nice) and we get character development for our main POV of the scene (double nice). The Greatjon scene has less subtext I guess. Greatjon doubts Robb due to his age and decision to march Umber behind Glover. He challenges the young wolf, and the young wolf succeeds. Greatjon is down some fingers, and up in our minds as a badass lord of a brilliant house. We see Robb can come into his own and lead these mighty dudes, and has an ability to command respect. Others that come to mind are Cat and Rodrik, or anything with Maester Lewin, Jorah and Rakharo, Grenn, Pyp and Edd for Sam and Jon. I much preferred the show when it did double character development with minor characters I guess. When you have 3 seasons of pure main characters developing each other it gets fucking boring. The same people are talking scene after scene. It works for a show like Breaking Bad which has existed in such a small world for all it's seasons and it's characters can hold their own in situations like that. Game of Thrones is too big to only go to King's Landing, Dragonstone and Winterfell.
Not to mention totally leaving out the awesome Greyjoy's and completely changing Euron. Also not including the Dorne storyline. I wish I has a tenth of Martin's creativity. Some of my favorite characters didn't even make it on to the show
Great analysis. I would even argue the first cracks started to show in the first 4 seasons, but of course the basis was still pretty decent. The scène between Joffrey and Ros gave me a first glimpse at D&D’s desire for shock over storytelling. We already knew Joffrey was cruel, so that added nothing. On top of that, Joffrey is a known coward that inflicts cruelty by command rather than himself, so him personally killing Ros felt OOC to me. And the rumors of the actress of Ros asking to do no more nude scènes and then being killed of like that. So I think the cracks were always there, but because they kept closer to the books D&D were kept in check (more). From season 5 you can see that they no longer follow the book material and it goes downhill pretty fast.
@@heliosfromacrossastar878 I hadn't really thought about the Joffrey thing. You're absolutely right. I've always had trouble watching things that were adapted from books I've read just because I've never seen any reason to change the things they change. I guess it's to make themselves feel like they aren't completely copying someone else's work and I suppose I can understand that, but what you just brought up about Joffrey and Ros is a perfect example of firstly, not needing to be changed and secondly, actually a change for the worse because it doesn't fit his character
I can still remember watching the first episode of season 1 and trying to keep myself from being annoyed that it was Will that escaped from the others and not Gared. I just didn't see the point of the switch. Gared was older and obviously had been with the Watch a long time and seen his fair share of shit go down. It makes it scarier that a veteran like himself would risk beheading to desert over it
I really liked the first four seasons at it was the greatest show of all times in my books since it is very different and but I didn’t know why I didn’t like the show from season 5. I would lose sudden interest and the way it used to give me highs were normal from season 5 only a couple episodes were up to the mark. But the way you have put it now I understand why did I lose interest
HEAVY SPOILER since they made a show version of his book . . . . . I agree with him, Daemon is the most intriguing Targaryen. A very gray character who did horrible things, but he died making the most selfless act: sacrificing his own life to stop Aemond Targaryen, the direct cause of the war, from killing anymore innocents.
I don't know if I'm 100% sold on the saving innocents angle but that battle over the God's Eye was one of the most exhilarating scene in the entire series. It's like...Vhagar is still down there. Crazy.
@@theblackpearlofbraavos Actually no. During the reign of Aegon IV Targaryen, the corpses in the lake were removed. Aemond's skeleton still had Dark Sister through his eye socket, but Daemon's body was never recovered. The skulls of Vhagar and Caraxes were then placed in the throne room.
@@HighDarkDragon That's right! For a second I thought it was just only Caraxes' remains recovered with Aemond. Thanks for the reminder. I remembered they never found Daemon. I always found his affair with Nettles intriguing; would love to see a short story on that one, and of course, whatever happened to her and Sheepstealer.
If you knew nothing about GoT and put aside the fact that dragons aren't real he could easily pass off as a history expert who was talking about actual things that happened in the past.
It didn’t man, it just talks about Daemon being unpredictable and some facts before the dance but it didn’t say a lot about the dance of the dragons which is what HOTD is about. I think people should watch it so they can understand what happened before the dance even without reading Fire and Blood
If George had worked on his creation for 60 years, as Tolkien did, where would this story have gone? The pieces are all there .. we just need more and he is out of time.
This guy has a powerful mind and his extent of imagination is unreal! The way he describes the characters as they existed is quite remarkable! No wonder, the favorite is Daemon & Daenerys. They absolutely brilliant characters that one can never forget so easily! Anyway, wish you a happy birthday George RR Martin!!! Long may he reign... 🙏
I can see why Daemon is his favourite. Just in the first two episodes he just charmed me and what a performance by Matt Smith. On ep 4 now and yeah he’s as great as George describes him.
Holy crap, I had never heard Aegon might of seen the white walkers coming. I mean it totally fits because everything about him is myths, and legends etc... But such a cool potential story thread.
Oh, so here he talks abt Aegon's vision abt the Long Night that Viseryon tell Rhaenera in HotD episde 1. So it was not just a thing the producers put there to be a reference and to tie hotd and got, it's actually cannon.
yeah George has been basically saying it could be true but not specifying whether or not it was true for a long time but House of the Dragon officially makes it canon
Targaryens have always had prophetic dreams, back to Daenys the dreamer so that is canon. But others would be Bryden Rivers, King Aegon V, and Daenerys, some other likely suspects are King Aerys and Rhaegar and potentially Jon Snow as well. However in George’s own words relying on prophecy is like wielding a blade with no hilt. Not very reliable and certainly dangerous.
Daemon is my favorite character of the new show, from the first episode I liked him. The main reason is that Daemon is honest, even in his brutality. In a sea of characters that act pure but are basically weasels or with various character flaws such as weakness, envy, etc. Daemon acts like a pure Targaryen and Dragon Rider. I believe Aemond takes much from his personality and might be an interesting character too.
The way he is able to create sooooo many characters, each one with their own ambitions, motivations, life goals, views... He doeAnd the World History. He completely believes what he has written.
I have started reading the books. They are far better than the show. I actually regret not reading the books before watching the show. I have already spoiled so much for myself.
The backstory and attention to detail on something so fictitious is truly amazing by GRRM. If you took someone that knew nothing of the GOT world and showed them these types of videos they could easily mistake it for true history. I just got into GOT in 2020 and am still amazed of the detail put into the story and characters. I hope GRRM is able to complete the story before his time passes.
JRRM: Aegon the first saw the threat coming from the north 300 years ago and hence conquered the world to unite it under one rule to fight against it. D&D: cErSie iS tHe rEaL enEmY.
He’s one of my faves too. Everything about his life would make an amazing movie. From his earlier days training on dragonstone, fighting all 7 of his kingsguard on his own as a child to his duel to defend his daughters honour as a 50 year old man.
Paddy Considine playing Viserys is by far the greatest actor a Targaryen character has had in any SoIaF tv show. How he elevates Viserys and brings so much depth to the character is beyond any other actor in House of the Dragon so far. He is there with Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage in the top echelon of SoIaF tv actors.
And the treasure that is Matt Smith has played him to perfection. Looks like Viserys III, sounds like Ramsay Bolton, and acts like Jaime Lannister. Absolutely unpredictable.
Every character in family tree of targaryen described very detailed, its fictional character but it's like a real character in the real history, the writer is somehow gain conection to the another universe and connect them to our universe
That´s good writing. You can tell when you, as a human, connect through them with your own emotions. Meaning they were made for that: to feel just like you.
George himself explained in a panel that GoT was inspired by Wars of the Roses, an English civil war from 1450s. HotD is also based on a historical event (can't remember the name/) where a king has only one living heir, a daughter which is to be his successor, but as you would expect, no one wanted her to be queen when the king died. Its acutally an amazing skill to pull all these happenings and real people into a great fiction
Man with how much people hold song of ice and fire world and its amazing history , shows the power of this man's imagination and the power of human imagination itself. Its crazy how real these stories feel the way they are written told and talked about amongst fans is like this dynasty actually exsited!! It's crazy I love George rr Martins books and stories definitely without a doubt up there as one of my favourite authors of all time!!!
The character of Daemon seems to be amazing from what I've seen on the show. The costuming is wonderful, the helmet reminds me of a Roman centurion or something.
This is so cool! love hearing him talk about "A song of ice and fire" the last book was epic and i have been waiting a long long time for you to release winds of winter haha but please take your time, I want it to be as epic as A Dance With Dragons. Amazing amazing work, I was thinking about writing a NeddStark fanfiction where he goes to the wall instead of dieing and stannis teams up with Eddard stark and JonSnow, I have to say no words can describe my undieng loyaty towards you and " A song of ice and fire" has given me much joy and happiness, I don't consider anything your work until i read Winds of winter. I am a fan for life thanks so much if you read this.
I’m currently listening to Fire and Blood on audible and I’m struggling so much to keep up with all the characters and their histories this guys mind is something else. He has built a complete world and history with his imagination.
I have to say just from reading the Rogue Prince, Daemon was definitely one of the most interesting Targaryen characters. Also, shout out to Baelor Breakspear for being awesome in the first Dunk and Egg book.
@@alexosae6044 That first Dunk & Egg book still kills me. “Up,” they say he said, just as he had with Thunder in the melee, “up, up.” But he never remembered that afterward, and the prince did not rise. 😭
I think Daemon has become EVERYONE'S favorite Targaryen. A good man, he is not, but an interesting man, an intriguing one, with so many layers and shades of gray, just like GRRM says. And Matt Smith's spectacular performance certainly helps!
it's kind of amazing how writers can literally create entire worlds THINK OF HOW MUCH BACKGROUND INFORMATION HE HAD TO THINK OF JUST TO WRITE THESE BOOKS....there's so much lore and house knowledge he could probably books upon books just on the history of the world he created
Man it must've been so cool/fun to create all these characters and world. it is all fictional but they feel so real. I read about them like the actually existed before our time it's fun to imagine things. George RR is a mastermind at world building, character backstory and lore. Love how he literally created a dynasty tree of characters all with bacsktories it's insane
I like Aerion Targaryen, who drank Wildfire because he believed it would turn him into a dragon. I like him because I‘m surprised nobody else tried that.
This really brings it home to me that A Song of Ice and Fire will never be finished. His favorite characters, the stories he wants to tell are older in the history. That seems to be what he finds engaging. I don't think the series will ever be finished, because he just isn't interested enough.
@Re Up so he has written 3,650 pages since book 5 was published and we still don't have book 6. This is because he has done other books and projects since then instead of finishing the series that he started. I don't know why you people are so loyal to him, he certainly has none for you.
